Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”Could Vice President Deng have come from a munitions factory before?”

Su Huan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

”Hey! The train conductor guessed it right. Old Deng did spend some time at a munitions factory before...”

Su Huan’s mouth twitched, no wonder this old guy is so passionate.

Including Director Xu and the others currently in the base laboratory.

The armored train became a mobile retirement home before it became a mobile orphanage.

A senior citizens action drama?

As random thoughts flashed through Su Huan’s mind, He Jie and others also ascended to the highest command platform.

”By the way, I remember the energy detection device was reinstalled, right?”

Su Huan ignored them and continued to ask.

Vice President Deng adjusted his glasses and praised, ”That device is truly something, it’s already installed at the front. You can access it through the console in front of you, and there’s an even easier way.”

”Activate the energy monitoring instrument.”

Vice President Deng articulated clearly.

The moment he finished speaking, the curved transparent touch screen in front of Su Huan suddenly lit up, revealing two overlapping maps, densely populated with red dots.

Su Huan was astonished, blurting out, ”Intelligent AI?!”

”Not quite...”

Vice President Deng’s round face displayed a mysterious smile.

”It was me who activated it...”

From the workstation below, Xiaozhao timidly responded.

Wow! Turns out it’s artificial intelligence.

The train conductor scratched his head, sighing slightly speechless.

”Are these red dots the detected energy fluctuations?”

Vice President Deng explained, ”These are all the detectable fluctuations within a ten-kilometer radius. This device is quite sophisticated; it can detect everything from mutant plants to normal zombies and evolvers, presented on the monitor through the system on the ’Xuanjia’ train.”

”The topographical map at the base of this is from the train’s database. If you activate drones and sonic positioning now, you’ll have an even more detailed map, with the system automatically combining various detection results into this visual map.”

(Similar to the evolved version of a modern command center)

As he spoke, Xiaozhao tapped twice on the grading, and the dense red dots instantly decreased, mostly scattering across the map, with only two groups concentrating the most.

One group of five was about ten kilometers to the rear side of the train, occasionally dropping off the energy detection edge but catching up shortly after.

And the largest red dot, accompanied by eleven others, was approaching from due north of the train.

Looks like they’ll soon intersect with the other five red dots.

Everyone on the command platform fell silent.

They might not know how to operate the device, but they could understand the grading notes in the lower right corner.

All detected on the screen currently have energy intensity above Tier One, especially the large red dot to the north, which has already reached Tier Two.

”That northern mass could be a zombie horde, but what are the five things trailing us?”

Vice President Deng mumbled.

He Jie sneered with gritted teeth, ”What else could they be, in a rush to reincarnate.”

Already furious, he had just dealt with a batch a few days ago and even made assurances to the train conductor.

And now, still, five fearless ones are following the train today!

”These are five Tier Ones, shouldn’t be from Shun’an’s forces, right?”

Lin Jin said with some skepticism.

While they were talking, Gao Yuan, standing at the back, uneasily glanced at Tong Zizhan’s expression, noticing his face also looked grim, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

Feeling his gaze, Tong Zizhan gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Gao Yuan felt a chill in his heart.

’Darn, they’re really company people!’

The numbers and quality leave little room for guessing.

Though the apocalypse had just begun, the Deep Blue Data’s reconnaissance team had carried out many missions, and some familiar factions could tell at a glance their affiliation based on the numbers and formation.

Listening to He Jie and others already applying to go to battle, Tong Zizhan barely maintained surface calm while internally cursing up a storm.

No idea what the company is thinking, sending these five idiots out.

Not even having an energy barrier, thinking they could rest easy just by staying ten kilometers away from Yu Yue’s sound detection.

The company has an undercover evasion policy.

But what if it can’t be avoided? Who should he help?

’Stupid beyond belief!’

Tong Zizhan cursed viciously in his heart while stepping forward to say, ”Is it possible they are just evolvers passing by? How about I lead a team to take a look?”

The moment he finished speaking, Lu Xiao and Jiang Rong, who were of the same rank standing behind him, looked at him in surprise.

He Jie squinted his eyes and turned to scrutinize Tong Zizhan carefully.

Is this to stand out?

Never expected this usually silent guy dared to seek the spotlight in front of him.

Interesting.

Mountain Goat and Qu Hang glanced at Tong Zizhan, then at the train commander, with almost the same thought in their minds.

There were not few people standing on the command platform, but from the beginning to the end, only the voices of Su Huan, He Jie, and a few others were heard.

It’s not that they lacked presence, but in the military, discipline is paramount. They were all career soldiers, and following orders and obeying commands were ingrained in them.

Now the internal system of the train has been divided into two; notwithstanding the factions in the crew, the Armed Corps is He Jie’s domain.

The train commander personally decreed the rank of colonel, breaking the rank gap.

So, often on the military side, it was only He Jie’s voice that was heard.

Su Huan, with his back to everyone, licked his lips.

He was a bit curious about how Tong Zizhan planned to resolve this matter and provide him with a reasonable explanation.

”What Xiaotong said is reasonable; Shun’an indeed cannot come up with five Tier One Evolvers, so you go out and have a look.”

The order was issued, and no one questioned it anymore.

Three minutes later, Tong Zizhan and Gao Yuan disembarked with their remaining three teammates.

One was eliminated while performing a reconnaissance mission.

”Send up the drone, I want to see what’s going on.”

He Jie casually said, not taking the previous matter to heart.

Su Huan also looked at the screen with interest.

Because the train and the dozen or so red dots due north were moving toward each other, the distance was quickly closing, and they might meet face to face shortly.

But what’s more interesting is that whether it was the light spots from the north or from the side and rear, they were all on the same side as the train.

...

Getting off the train, Tong Zizhan’s expression instantly darkened.

Gao Yuan twisted the ring on his finger, ”Since they are passing by, shouldn’t we give them a heads-up first? To avoid any unnecessary conflict later?”

Tong Zizhan carefully glanced at the train and shook his head slightly.

A reminder can’t be given now; they haven’t even seen them. If you start shooting, the people on the train might think you’re tipping them off.

With a slight sigh, the two tightened their faces and led their team toward the five-person group behind.

Around ten kilometers away on the side and rear.

The group ran quickly along the buildings, at a speed not much slower than the train.

The original five-person team now had two more members.

”We don’t know what madness the armored train is up to. We’ve been watching for days without any movement...”

One person said while running.

The reconnaissance team leader glanced at the two responsible for monitoring from the Steel Council.

He secretly shook his head.

Originally, the Steel Council could have been considered a power, but now their advantage has vanished; aside from some intelligence advantages, they have fallen to the level of ordinary survivors in other aspects.

These two monitoring personnel haven’t even reached Tier One.

They bypassed tall buildings, vaguely able to see the steel behemoth on the tracks ten kilometers away.

The rattling sound made the zombies around them start to become restless, causing some trouble for their advance.

”Find a vehicle and push into the target range of five kilometers!”

...

Due north, Zhao Kuo crouched on the off-road vehicle, HT-426 was seated in the combat vehicle’s cockpit, but the sound was clearly transmitted to his ears through the exoskeleton armor’s internal omni-channel communication device.

”The armored train has been spotted; it’s on the tracks to our right, about five kilometers away.”

Stretching his wrist, Zhao Kuo calmly said, ”447, prepare to intercept the train, 339, handle the Steel Manipulator, everyone else get ready for combat.”

According to the intelligence from Wang Yi and Mr. Shu, although the armored train can repair tracks, it must stop.

That’s enough.

He is not the Steel Council; as long as the train stops, he has plenty of ways to break open this steel can.

”Wait a moment, there are also two other groups nine kilometers away. One with about five people, the other with about seven people.”

Zhao Kuo leaned slightly forward, the mechanical devices on his body beginning a pre-battle self-check.

His voice became low and deep.

”Ignore the five; it’s likely the Deep Blue Data reconnaissance team. The seven, likely the force from the armored train, hasn’t Chairman Wang sent a few who excel in detailed reconnaissance? Gauge their level.”

”Five Tier Ones, two not yet entered Tier One.”

A cold flash passed through Zhao Kuo’s eyes, ”Elite, huh? Then we can’t let them go. The armored train doesn’t have many elite Evolvers; the Genetic Primordial with dual domains is very likely among them.”

He then opened the internal channel, ”Postpone the original interception plan, switch to capturing the seven-person team!”