Armed Train in the Apocalypse

But as the train conductor, he needs two assistants to run errands.

Additionally, it allows He Jie and others to quickly contact the conductor in case of any emergencies.

The group walked along the long armory hall, continuing to move forward.

”Is his data accurate?”

Su Huan asked as he walked.

Shu Wei nodded, ”Basically accurate, but considering the food consumption of Evolvers, it can only sustain a minimum of a thousand people’s consumption. For it to be enough, we need to add at least two more carriages. This is just the staple food; to maintain a balanced diet, we also need to dedicate two carriages for planting fruits and vegetables.”

”However, the ecological balance of the carriage farm is currently very fragile, with few species. It required intervention from Huang Sea to achieve the current results. If we remove other plants and only plant coarse powder grass, the balance will be disrupted, and the soil will lose its fertility.”

”It’s not bad.” Su Huan commented lightly.

When he initially set up the carriage farm, he had already prepared for the worst.

It was only enough to feed a dozen people in the front carriage, but he didn’t expect it to develop step by step to its current state, already forming the rudiments of an ecological cycle.

Apart from the soldiers in training, there were hardly any people in the armory hall.

The crew members usually used the side corridors of the carriages unless there was something urgent.

Passing Yu Jing’s mechanical modification carriage and Professor Ma’s laboratory, Su Huan moved towards the innermost section.

Yu Jing had been busy with advancement matters recently, not even starting to research the exoskeleton confiscated by Black Kite; there wasn’t much to see.

Professor Ma was mainly researching the miniaturization and lightweighting of communication equipment. They had acquired a lot of equipment from Black Kite and Deep Blue Data, and were in the process of decrypting it. Xiaozhao mentioned the progress was swift, and there would be results in a while.

When passing by dining carriage number sixteen, the aroma of cooking oil wafted through, and he took the chance to check on dinner.

Today, they were steaming buns, each over twenty centimeters large, bigger than a hand.

The dish was a large bowl of vegetable soup.

Some were fresh vegetables from the carriage farm, but most were preserved vegetable packs and dried veggies.

Served with a little bit of overly salty bean paste.

A bite of bun and a sip of soup, many didn’t even return to their dorms, eating heartily in the corridor.

Su Huan glanced around, recognizing them all, but most were newcomers from Shun’an, looking at him with awe in their eyes, and showing no interest in talking.

However, there was someone he was familiar with squatting by the door.

Su Huan, holding a half-empty bowl of soup, walked over and squatted down beside him.

”Why aren’t you eating in the lounge?”

Old Liu, who was just busy drinking his soup, only felt someone approach. Startled by the voice, his hand trembled, nearly spilling the oily soup over his nose.

”Conductor!”

Old Liu instinctively wanted to stand up but hesitated when he saw Su Huan squatting beside him, eventually choosing to stay down obediently.

”Over there, it’s all family dinners or people drinking. If I go, they’ll always rope me into drinking with them...”

Su Huan drank the last mouthful of his soup, ”Tsk tsk tsk, that’s how it is in your position; everyone wants to drink with you.”

Old Liu chuckled awkwardly, discerning a hint of irony in Su Huan’s tone.

Yet as a seasoned passenger, he found it normal. It would be strange if the conductor didn’t have a bit of irony.

Seeing the envious glances from those passing by, Old Liu whispered, ”He wants me to take his sister as an apprentice, but I always feel like taking a female apprentice isn’t appropriate. Can you give me some advice, Conductor? If you say yes, I’ll take her in. If not, I’ll just decline.”

Su Huan raised an eyebrow, ”Is she pretty?”

Old Liu choked for a moment, vaguely saying, ”Much younger than me, looks around thirty-six or thirty-seven...”

”Does she have a man?”

”She did...”

”Then isn’t it more exciting?”

Old Liu’s mouth twitched, ”She did, but during the upheaval, he was gone. Now she’s alone. But what’s that got to do with me? She wants to learn skills from me.”

The ”upheaval” he referred to was doomsday, which by this time had been about three months ago.

Su Huan’s eyes sparked with amusement as he sneered, ”Why don’t I erect a Saint Mother arch at the front of the car, and anytime the train encounters an event, I’ll hang it up for you? She’s practically being offered to you, and here you are maintaining a facade of purity. If that’s so, send her to my cabin for inspection, and the conductor here can check her out?”

Given the world’s current state, why put up a pretense? Everyone acts like they have high moral standards.

You’re all innocent and good people.

So, on this entire train, am I the only beast?

Old Liu’s face was flushed with embarrassment. He quickly waved his hand, ”I understand. I’ll go reply to him tonight.”

Su Huan curled his lips and stood up, ”You just need a scolding. If it works out, go ahead and treat them to a bottle of wine, saying you owe me one.”

”Don’t just take one apprentice; take two. In this train, there’s a bunch of idle lads. Pick one; they might come in handy for fixing the train but make sure not to turn it into something of a family tradition.”

Shu Wei, standing by, had a peculiar expression; she wasn’t concerned about the issue.

Even though she didn’t like her father getting entangled with women, it was only natural for successful men to possess more resources.

She just didn’t expect the notorious conductor to squat and have such a lengthy, petty chat with an ordinary crew member.

Though laced with sarcasm, this attitude only made the mechanic respect him more.

Perhaps this was the conductor’s true daily demeanor?

”Remember to tell them to add more salt, whether it’s in the soup, vegetables, or even the buns. Add salt wherever you can.”

Su Huan said this, tossing the empty bowl into Bai Lu’s hands.

The latter quickly headed to the dining car to inform the kitchen.

Since there were many dining at this time, Su Huan didn’t squeeze through the corridor, instead opting to push open the side door into the armory hall.

In the distance, sporadic gunfire caught his attention.

The gunshots were distinctive, fierce, and loud.

Like a lion’s roar bursting out, brazenly announcing its presence.

This kind of sound neither the Law Enforcer nor military firearms could produce.

Not even heavy sniper rifles made such an aggressive noise.

...

At the end of the armory hall, near the end, beside the bullet workshop, a small shooting range had been set up.

To avoid impacting the train’s future separation, no solidified modifications were made; they just hung a steel plate on the rear wall with some target papers attached.

Lu Xiao pulled the bolt to eject the shell and patted his ears as he approached the pondering Boss.

He remarked, ”The recoil on this gun is immense. Even though it’s only using a 7.62mm general-purpose rifle round, it feels close to a heavy 12.7 sniper’s power, but the noise is just too loud.”

”Really? Let me have a try.”

Su Huan took the rifle from Lu Xiao’s hands, squinting as he looked into the dark barrel.

Discovering Su Huan suddenly beside him, Lu Xiao broke into a cold sweat, unsure how the gun had been taken from him.

Seeing the conductor’s dangerous action, he wanted to voice a reminder but swallowed his words upon recalling the conductor’s formidable skill.

”Wow, this barrel is much thicker than regular guns, made with Tier One materials too.”

The Boss quickly explained, ”It’s made from Tier One black steel, with the rifle body cast in one piece. It was designed to withstand greater pressure and enhance power.”

Su Huan toyed with the rifle a bit, finally holding it properly in his hands and inspecting it closely.

The entire rifle was jet black, weighing twelve kilograms even without ammo, while a normal rifle weighed only 3 to 5 kilograms. An average person would be exhausted before they even had the chance to shoot in combat; however, in an Evolver’s hands, this weight was negligible.

The rifle’s design was long, angular, exuding a wild beauty, aligning with his wilderness aesthetics.

”The sound is distinctive; did you modify the powder too?”

Su Huan asked casually.

”Yes, I added some things to the gunpowder. My concept in creating this gun was stronger and greater power.”

”You crafted it entirely by hand?”

”Yes, the whole gun’s design and creation were entirely new.”

”Not bad; any bullets left? Give me a couple.”

Hearing Su Huan’s praise, the Boss showed a touch of joy on his face, eagerly taking out five bullets from his pocket to hand them over.