Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”Understood!”

The Black Star Convoy began cleaning up the battlefield.

Although they weren’t as fierce as the Armed Train, they had their own methods. Li Xinlong personally led four hundred gunmen to guard the ends of the street, clearing out the wandering zombies.

Old Yang, one of the Five Tigers, led a group of ”Gatherers” to start collecting Pan-energy Crystals and zombie materials.

A dozen zombies that weren’t completely dead were manipulated by him and then thrown out onto the street.

The gunmen ignored them, and after a while of howling, the lost zombies began to wander the street, soon merging into the zombie horde.

They hadn’t noticed the sticky red and green spots appearing on their backs.

As dusk fell, the battlefield was completely cleared, and the thousand corpses disappeared without a trace, only the ground was slightly elevated.

Bulldozers marked with the Black Star led the way, and the convoy of a thousand people, loaded with loot, began to evacuate from Zhijin City.

If the view was elevated and the enveloping sandstorm removed, the entire Zhijin City could be seen caught in the frenzy of war.

Tens of thousands of Scavengers, led by the large convoy, launched an attack on the five million zombies within Zhijin City.

Occasionally, convoys would retreat due to heavy damage or having looted enough spoils.

But soon, more convoys ready to go joined this feast.

In just three days, the forces gathered around Zhijin numbered more than a hundred thousand.

...

Listening to the screams and gunfire in the sandstorm gradually fade away, the people of the Black Star Convoy finally relaxed.

The convoy didn’t leave Zhijin City completely but retreated to the edge of Zhijin, next to the municipal sports stadium.

After so many years of development, a bustling city like Zhijin no longer really had a ”suburb.” Besides those purposely preserved parks, every bit of land was taken over by various urban facilities, leaving the stadium the most spacious area. Extending a bit further south would enter the region of Xinma County, where buildings would densely pack in again.

Soon a flashlight blinked a few times, and two motorcycles charged out from the stadium, guiding the convoy inward.

Inside the stadium, Li Xinlong had long turned it into a temporary base. A group of children and remaining personnel gathered around the convoy, eyes filled with fanatic admiration, like welcoming heroes, following alongside the convoy.

First, Pang Ke shouted heartily, causing excited cries to fill the arena.

Li Xinlong frowned, instinctively looked up, and found the venue completely enclosed.

Old Yang walked over silently, quietly asking, ”Should we calm down a bit? Too much noise might attract things from around...”

Li Xinlong looked at the children and women crowding around the supply trucks, small faces shouldering and lifting while moving supplies and sighed, ”Everyone’s been suppressed for too long, let them release a bit.”

Thinking of today’s harvest, Old Yang smiled, ”Then I’ll lead a team to check the surroundings, make sure nothing gets missed.”

”Call a couple more people, and if anything comes up, have President Nan find me.”

”Alright.”

Having said that, Li Xinlong briskly moved towards the center of the stadium, a smile softening his steps.

Jiang Rong was leading a group of women cooking. Thanks to the Black Star Convoy’s recent bounty, the food quality had improved. Although it was just fried rice with pickled vegetables, it gave everyone a sense of hope for life.

...

In the motorhome, Li Xinlong ate fried rice while recounting today’s events to Jiang Rong, skillfully omitting all the dangers.

”Mom, you wouldn’t believe it, Tier One Butcher, taken down by Ah Ke with a single shot, brains splattered like watermelon...”

”Over two thousand zombies, twelve Tier One Zombies, barely more than an hour in total, all wiped out by my squad.”

”Zombies fell like wheat...”

”Then we raided the whole street, got over a ton of canned meat, all kinds of grains and oils can sustain our Black Star’s two thousand members for months.”

Before Jiang Rong, Li Xinlong lost his usual calm and collected demeanor as a leader, chattering endlessly like a talkative child.

Jiang Rong listened silently to her son’s depiction of war scenes, finding it akin to her daily troop missions, but back then the regiment lacked Tier One Evolvers. Now her son had five around him, so she felt relieved.

She placed the duck egg yolk from the pickled egg into her son’s bowl, advising, ”Though not too dangerous, you should still be careful of unfamiliar mutant plants, keep your distance. Mom has some life-saving measures from a friend you can carry, if you can’t fight, just throw them...”

Li Xinlong: Uh?

He opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Regretting omitting too much, he stuffed food into his mouth gloomily.

After a while, seeing her son silent, Jiang Rong suddenly remembered something, tentatively asked, ”Which forces are involved in your base city plan this time? Is there the train you often mention?”

”Ah, no, they’re an outside force, they’ll leave after a while.”

Then everything is fine.

Thinking the train didn’t participate, a huge stone fell from Jiang Rong’s heart.

”Mainly it’s the four greats, Black Kite, Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce, Fuyuan Convoy, Tiejian City, plus smaller forces like us Black Star. But after this, our Black Star Convoy can rise to become the fifth largest, even ranked above Fuyuan and Tiejian City!”

Li Xinlong’s voice carried absolute confidence and conviction.

”Black Kite?!”

Hearing Jiang Rong’s exclamation, Li Xinlong looked up, noticing his mom’s gentle eyes had changed, feeling puzzled.

”You know Black Kite?”

Jiang Rong restrained her odd expression, hesitantly said, ”I heard of Black Kite on my way here, their influence is vast, not as simple as it appears...”

Li Xinlong’s face turned serious, putting down his chopsticks.

”Mom, tell me everything you know.”

Jiang Rong shared picked information about Black Kite, excluding anything involving the train.

After listening, Li Xinlong showed some relief, ”So that’s it...”

According to data from two deserters of the train, he knew Black Kite had been hit hard by the Armed Train, but he was puzzled why Black Kite didn’t quietly recover somewhere, even suspecting potential conspiracies behind their promotion of Zhijin Base City development.

But with Jiang Rong’s information, Li Xinlong was enlightened.

Black Kite was well-resourced. Though defeated in battle with the Armed Train, they still held capable strength against it.

Establishing the base city quickly revitalized their power, so knowing the train loomed threateningly at Neutral Town, Black Kite still decided to push the base city agenda, even accelerating construction.

From this explanation, everything logically aligned.

The Armed Train lingered at Neutral Town not departing, wanting to see if there was an opportunity in the base city plan.

Their attempt at intercepting convoys to poach talents was mainly aimed at undermining Black Kite.

Making their presence felt!

Forcing Black Kite into unease and discomfort!

Li Xinlong’s eyes flickered, ’If that’s the case, the standoff between Black Kite and the train actually established a sort of balance, with the key point being the advancement of the base city plan, and the train’s involvement gives Black Star Convoy the chance to rise under Black Kite’s nose!’

Seeing her son seemed to grasp her point, Jiang Rong gently suggested, ”Shouldn’t we just...”

”Bet everything!”

Li Xinlong’s eyes shone brilliantly.

...

Another week quickly passed.

Neutral Town’s market blossomed because of the base city plan.

Yet even the newly-arrived Scavengers knew, the largest merchant in the entire Scavenger Market was neither the four greats nor the recently risen Black Star Convoy, but the mysterious Armed Train.

The 1.5-kilometer long Armed Train circled the outskirts of Neutral Town like a city wall, then plunged its massive ram-equipped locomotive into the town’s main road.

Every day, hordes of Scavengers fascinated by its reputation came to observe this iron beast from afar.