Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 436: Chapter 281: Train Phase 3 Upgrade Plan (Part 2)

Su Huan wore a serious expression, ”Let’s not talk about me playing games, why didn’t you remind me?”

Shu Wei’s face was calm and composed, ”Sorry, conductor, I only cut the projection just now, but didn’t close the mic.”

”Heh, I’m tired.”

Switching off the microphone, the conductor’s hollow eyes gazed at the roof of the train, ”Being a leader of a faction isn’t just about planning big directions, eating, and drinking every day, why are there so many small matters concerning the train...”

Shu Wei stared slightly dazed at Su Huan’s lazy appearance, and his sharp face became somewhat gentle.

Su Huan felt a pair of hands caress his brow, lightly grazing the contours of his eye sockets.

”That’s the kind of story only found in novels. However... as the train conductor, you can have anyone tell you stories.”

”But stories belong only to the night.”

A soft yet clear voice suddenly came from the doorway, followed by a figure in light yellow, hair cutting across drooping eyelids, fixed gaze falling on Shu Wei’s hands.

”Isn’t it?”

Shu Wei nodded slightly, naturally withdrawing his hands, and walked outside.

Su Huan squinted, observing the two of them, sensing a bit of tension in the room today.

Yu Yue placed the flower tea she held beside Su Huan, taking over Shu Wei’s recent task, her eyebrows lightly pressed.

Compared to Shu Wei, Yu Yue’s hands were warmer, and her fingertips softer.

”Is this the right pressure for her? Is it too light or too heavy, should I increase my speed?”

The gentle voice asked a string of detailed questions.

Su Huan thought about it, not knowing how to answer, so he simply remained silent.

Originally somewhat annoyed, Yu Yue’s heart softened as she looked at Su Huan obediently resting like a little rabbit in her arms.

Not long after enjoying this, a heavy stomp sounded in the corridor, causing the entire carriage to vibrate, followed by a whistling sound.

Before Yu Yue could retract her hands, a sharp figure had already appeared at the doorway, executing a standard turn, halting suddenly.

Clad in a brand new exoskeleton, Yu Jing stood at the door, her phoenix eyes landing on Yu Yue’s hands.

The woman retracted her hands as if shocked by electricity.

Though she knew her daughter might already know, she didn’t want to acknowledge that her daughter knew she knew the daughter knew.

Simply put, she wasn’t used to such a shift in roles, bashful.

”Uh, you guys...”

Before Yu Jing could finish speaking, Yu Yue hastily left a sentence and carried the tray out, her already delicate steps becoming crisp.

Su Huan sighed, ”What’s your business now?”

Yu Jing produced a stack of files thicker than Shu Wei’s and said, ”Could you expedite the approval of these for me first?”

Su Huan spoke with closed eyes, ”Tasks should follow an order, there should be procedures. If I prioritize you now, what about the others, what will they...”

Yu Jing thoughtfully looked at Su Huan’s beautiful eyebrows, removed the exoskeleton, and placed her hands on his brow as the conductor continued on tirelessly.

The cool, snakeskin-like texture made Su Huan’s brow twitch, and with his eyes open just a slit, he saw Yu Jing standing before him, pressing and massaging his brow.

”Is this the right pressure for her? Is it too light or too heavy, should I increase my speed?”

Su Huan: ”...”

He realized he might not be very skilled at handling such matters.

”Why don’t you get to the point?”

”Mainly it’s the application for materials and personnel, to start a new round of exoskeleton development, and by the way, talk about the third phase of the armed train upgrade plan.”

”Wait, the third phase?”

Su Huan was a bit surprised, ”When did the third phase start already?”

Yu Jing calmly replied, ”It was suggested by the factory director and Vice President Deng. Because of the substantial haul, the current Armed Train is significantly overweight. Now, the tracks can only support travel on hardened roads. If it ventures into the wilderness, it might get stranded due to the weight. So, we need to preemptively proceed with the third-phase modifications to the Armed Train.”

Su Huan furrowed his brow, ”How come nobody told me about such an important matter?”

Yu Jing glanced at another stack of documents left on the table.

Sifting through it, she precisely found the document labeled ”Armed Train Phase Three Modification and Upgrade Plan.”

Su Huan felt as if a fog had clouded his head today.

These little matters should have been easily handled with his mind.

”Are you tired?”

Yu Jing’s cool voice came from above his head.

”Your body temperature is around forty-two degrees, in a state of excitement, but while talking to me, your pupils have dodged my gaze three times, avoiding focus...”

Su Huan pinched Yu Jing’s waist, his forehead pressed against her cool chest, signaling her to quiet down.

He felt as though he was holding a cold, beautiful snake.

While still speaking, Yu Jing’s fingertips diligently pressed on his eye sockets, and after a moment, moved to his temples, gently massaging.

Utilizing ”Inner Vision,” Su Huan examined his own body.

Soon he discovered the cause.

Though most wounds had been repaired with his promotion, numerous minor wounds remained inside after competing with multiple Tier Two Evolvers. Even though he hadn’t slept, his body had been self-repairing constantly.

Greatly consuming his energy and stamina.

Unknowingly, his brain began to lack sufficient power.

With chaotic thoughts floating around, Su Huan inexplicably thought of this saying.

”The conductor can have anyone weave him stories.”

Yu Jing looked down at her own hands, now limp, and calmly reminded him, ”This outfit is one-piece and hard to remove, requiring equipment assistance.”

”Oh.”

Su Huan lethargically withdrew his hand.

Yu Jing tied up her hair, crouching down lightly, ”Rest a bit; there’s a personnel promotion meeting tonight.”

...

Car No. 5, activity compartment.

A red balloon was tied to a soft rope ladder on the wall, with fragments of burst balloons tied to it.

On the slender-necked bottle behind the room’s sofa was another red balloon.

Lin Jin sat on the sofa with eyes closed, beads of sweat sliding down his forehead along his hair strands. In the next moment, his entire body leaned forward to stand, turning to the right, slightly tilting his head, his eyes suddenly flaring up, an orange-red flame flickered and vanished, igniting the small slip of paper in the middle of the balloon in an instant.

”Pop—Pop—Pop!”

A few simple movements seemed to drain all his strength, with both hands supporting his knees, large beads of sweat splattering onto the ground.

”How can you divide energy into so many portions simultaneously, control it precisely without harming teammates, and face three Tier Two assaults all at once... just how did you do it?”

Lin Jin gazed vacantly, mumbling to himself.

As he spoke, ”Explosive Flame” quietly ascended to Level 5. As for the earliest three main skills, ”Flame Control,” ”High-Temperature Shield,” and ”Fire Seed,” they all reached Tier Two, Level 6. Just missing one complementary skill to advance to Tier Two’s ”Flame Dominator,” a name drawn from the Steel Council, bereft of embellishment.

Its ability characteristics are simple; Tier One involves igniting flames, Tier Two is about commanding flames.

His entire evolution centered around burning, which in his past life led to that almost world-igniting blaze.

But after witnessing Su Huan’s battle, Lin Jin was also affected.

In terms of total energy, he was utterly defeated, and even in precise control, he fell far short.

At this level, it wasn’t even about protecting his sister; he couldn’t even catch up to the conductor’s shadow.

Lin Jin’s heart surged with a deep sense of frustration.

With a clatter, the door opened as Mountain Goat stormed in.

”You’re over here adding extra training for yourself again, be careful you don’t miss tonight’s affair.”

Lin Jin shook his head, the energy drain was too harsh, making his eyes feel unfocused.

”Personnel promotion, you’re performing quite well this time, you should be in for one too...”

”Alright, aren’t you going?”

”I’ll be late, the combat groups and legion personnel shifts have left me swamped lately.”

Grabbing some items, Mountain Goat hurriedly headed out.