Armed Train in the Apocalypse

A woman wearing a loose outer coat was quietly standing outside the door.

The glasses on her nose were too heavy, causing her to push them up from time to time.

Just as she pushed them for the third time, the door in front of her opened.

From her angle, she could see a pair of slender feet wrapped in tight clothing, their curves as beautiful as a freshly tempered blade.

When she looked up, she met Yu Jing’s slightly upturned phoenix eyes.

Compared to her usual indifference, she was much more excited today.

Wan Xing nodded, her slender chin sinking into the broad collar.

”Speak inside,” she said.

Yu Jing led Wan Xing inside.

A cold blue glow lit up the three-meter-high space, with layers of exoskeletons hanging on the racks on either side of the compartment, and all kinds of parts fixed on the central operating table. Thanks to a special shock-absorption design, they wouldn’t fall to the ground even as the train rocked in the wind and waves.

The two of them walked through the narrow passage towards the innermost area.

A faint fruit fragrance wafted from ahead, and they stopped in a fairly spacious operation room.

The room was four meters square, with tools hanging on both sides.

The most eye-catching feature was the operating table in the center, raised forty centimeters at the edges, filled with a large amount of bright yellow liquid, like grease, gently swaying with the bumps.

And a humanoid silhouette was immersed within it.

The face was all charred black, and a silver iris pattern marked the exoskeleton.

It was none other than the long-dead Zhao Kuo.

Somehow, the corpse had been brought onto the train by the two women.

Wan Xing, hands in her pockets, bent down to look at the body in the liquid, her nose almost touching the bright yellow substance.

With a faint hint of doubt in her voice, she asked, ”Why don’t you take off this exoskeleton?”

”Mere flesh is meaningless; only by merging with the mechanical can this body reach its peak state.”

”I’ve wasted so many reagents,” she added.

”Xingzi, how can you be like this? We’re the best of friends,” Yu Jing said, her phoenix eyes narrowing into a curved line, reaching out to hug Wan Xing.

”We’ve only known each other for two months... Here!”

Wan Xing pulled out three more vials from her large coat, stopping Yu Jing’s approach, a scrutinizing glint behind her glasses.

”What kind of look is that? Like I’m some kind of BT,” Yu Jing muttered discontentedly.

”It’s the look at a loser,” Wan Xing said mercilessly, placing the vials in Yu Jing’s hand and then stepping back a few steps until she reached the wall.

Yu Jing’s eyes, with a hint of regret, swept over Wan Xing’s body hidden in her loose coat before settling on the vials in her hand.

”These aren’t from the pantry, are they?”

”Of course not. All the reagents in the pantry are logged; if you took them without reason, he’d know right away. You don’t want to tell him, do you?”

”If I told him, he’d never let me try this path of breakthrough...” Yu Jing sighed slightly.

Wan Xing pushed her glasses up, with a hint of warning, ”He has repeatedly forbidden breakthroughs in the direction of fleshly evolution, yet you dare to provoke him.”

Yu Jing looked at the corpse on the operating table, her phoenix eyes gradually tilting upward, becoming cold and resolute.

”Only by breaking into Tier One can I keep up with him.”

”Hmph, still a loser,” Wan Xing muttered softly, hiding her concern behind her glasses.

”You don’t understand; I just want to follow him and see what the broader world looks like. Only he can achieve this, and only his train might reach the destination I imagine,” Yu Jing said, drinking one vial of reagent in one gulp and pouring the remaining two onto the operating table.

After a moment of silence, Wan Xing spoke, ”By the standards of this era, perhaps he is the best conductor, and you are the most suitable passenger for him.”

The bright liquid inside the operating table began to turn murky, and Yu Jing placed her hands on the table, her eyes turning a red hue, like sparkling rubies—bewitchingly beautiful.

”...Mad and crazy,” she said.

As her words faded, a wave of energy swept out from Yu Jing’s center, permeating through multiple decks, spreading into the floodwaters beyond.

Wan Xing couldn’t help but take a step forward, hesitating for a moment before retreating again.

Now was the crucial moment of evolution; she couldn’t meddle and change anything, only Yu Jing could help herself.

Yu Jing was already engulfed in a world of blood-red.

The distinctly different sensations of flesh and metal filled her senses.

As if urging her to make a choice.

The gene had also reached a point of transformation.

The Level 3 ”Pan-Energy Corrosion” had enveloped every corner of the body.

Although Yu Jing herself looked incredibly calm, everything on the operating table was undergoing intense mutation.

Zhao Kuo’s charred skin shed in large patches, polluting the liquid further.

The exoskeleton frenzied in its growth, covering his visage, forming a metallic faceplate.

The next moment, the long-dead Zhao Kuo abruptly sat up from the operating table.

He moved as if paralyzed for years, his limbs uncoordinated.

Moreover, the exoskeleton on his body flowed like liquid, repeatedly shifting and binding his limbs.

With a ”clank,” Zhao Kuo fell to the ground.

Then struggled to his feet, accompanied by a series of distinct mechanical clicks, joints locked, standing firmly on the floor as the transformation continued.

’It feels like a sign of impending success,’ Wan Xing thought with relief, suddenly realizing there was an additional person in the room.

Feeling the oppressive energy, she didn’t dare to turn her head, instead cautiously using the camera on her glasses to observe.

’Damn, we’re finished,’ she thought.

The scene she least wanted to see unfolded.

The conductor had somehow appeared by the operating table, his expression so dark it seemed to wring out water.

Jet-black messy hair, as if each strand hid infinite murderous intent.

Even though his focus was primarily on Yu Jing, a tiny fraction fell on Wan Xing, making her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.

Quietly, she edged toward the door.

”Where do you think you’re going?”

Su Huan’s sinister voice echoed.

Wan Xing had no choice but to bury her face in her clothes, awaiting her fate.

In this tense yet eerily calm state, another five minutes passed.

Su Huan continued to monitor Yu Jing using ”Pan-Energy Perception,” his brows tightly furrowed.

This was not the evolutionary direction of ”Iron Blood Symbiosis,” more like those playing with taboos. However, Yu Jing’s own flesh hadn’t undergone significant transformation; the genuine changes occurred in Zhao Kuo’s body.

Such an evolutionary path was entirely beyond Su Huan’s comprehension; the materials exchanged with Deep Blue Data didn’t cover this.

Evolution is capricious, with slightest variances yielding vastly different outcomes.

Zhao Kuo’s transformation finally subsided, his whole being merged with the exoskeleton, appearing like a mechanical version of Liang Kuan.

His torso predominantly covered in metal, only his right side remaining flesh, yet beneath the scant skin lay an assembly of mechanical components, with an eerie blue glow emanating beneath the metallic mask.

Resembling a war machine.

”Huh?”

Su Huan’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

Strangely, this war machine felt comparable to Zhao Kuo when he was alive.

He had no belief in the absurdity of resurrection.

Even if he did come back, Su Huan’s accumulated prowess could effortlessly send him away again.

Unexpectedly, it seemed this entity retained Tier Two prowess!

An Evolver of Tier One, wielding a Tier Two mechanical puppet?

What kind of route was this?

Su Huan glanced at Yu Jing in front of him. Under the tight black outfit, her previously tall stature had elongated somewhat.

Estimated at one meter seventy, she had grown three centimeters.

A woman’s upper body is shorter than a man’s, accentuating longer legs; smooth lines made her appear even taller.

Most striking were Yu Jing’s eyes, transformed completely into translucent rubies, gently rotating, shimmering in iridescent colors.

After three breaths, the red receded, becoming her normal black irises.

Watching Su Huan sneer continuously in front of her, Yu Jing knit her brows slightly, before breaking into a playful smile resembling Yu Yue’s usual demeanor.

”How about... listening to my excuses first?”