Armed Train in the Apocalypse

A bunch of questions clogged in my throat, unsure which to ask first.

”Leave ten people at every stairway landing to block the stairs. Is Old Yang capable of controlling corpses?”

Jiang Rong turned sideways, detached a grenade from her tactical belt, chambered it, and fired.

A mass of zombies on the ground splattered with blood and flesh, but Jiang Rong’s face remained expressionless. Her rifle flickered with blue light, and bullets steadily pierced through zombies with electromagnetic propulsion.

”He can plant a plague to make the bodies explode, but it takes some time.”

”What about living people?”

Jiang Rong asked.

”He can plant it on living people too, and the effect is even better than on zombies.”

”What are the side effects?”

”They can be controlled before detonating.”

”Alright, I’ve placed over thirty bodies on each floor downstairs. Have him plant them, then I’ll bring two hundred people, plus your remaining four hundred. Plant them all except for the Tier One Evolvers.”

Watching his mother’s calm face, Li Xinlong inexplicably felt a chill in his heart, but thinking of the terrifying horde outside, he gritted his teeth, his expression turning fierce.

”Okay, I’ll have him do it right away. But Mom, you have to listen to me.”

Li Xinlong gave a glance to the subordinate beside him.

This subordinate was one of the armed train deserters, who had been acting as Jiang Rong’s driver recently.

Jiang Rong shot back a cold glance, ’Are you talking to me, kid?’

Casually extending her hand, Zhang Yi shivered and hurriedly passed a magazine to her, the bullets of the electromagnetic rifle being much smaller than those of powder-based weapons—each magazine holding half a load.

Seeing Li Xinlong frozen in place by a glance, Jiang Rong finally realized this was her son, not one of her subordinates.

A bit awkward, she turned her head slightly, pretended not to hear clearly, and said, ”Huh? What did you say, Long Long?”

Li Xinlong looked at Zhang Yi’s obedient manner, feeling it odd, but after being momentarily intimidated by his mom, his ability to organize words was somewhat chaotic, repeatedly emphasizing, ”You have to evacuate!”

”Evacuate where?”

Jiang Rong questioned while continuing the slaughter of zombies downstairs.

Li Xinlong looked at the endless horde of zombies below, opened his mouth, his gaze dimmed.

Just reunited with his mom, does he already have to...

”Hold on a bit longer, support will arrive soon.”

Jiang Rong said.

”Support?”

Li Xinlong was a bit confused, unable to imagine what kind of support could resolve the situation before him.

Could there be something akin to a helicopter swooping in like in movies, to rescue them?

”If you don’t command soon, they’ll break through from below.”

Jiang Rong tossed two grenades, blasting away a piling of stone debris, her gaze shifting. In truth, she didn’t know if support would come, but she was certain a signal had been received on the train.

But would the conductor risk it for someone who had disembarked like her?

Li Xinlong absentmindedly rushed downstairs.

Halfway down, he realized that Zhang Yi was his little brother, so why was he following his mom’s orders rather than his own?

The hotel was a position Jiang Rong had carefully chosen, with cramped interior space, small windows, and in front was Chenxi Square, offering a wide view and being easy to defend but hard to attack.

The ensuing battle validated her choice.

Black Star, armed with six hundred people, held their ground for over ten minutes in the face of tens of thousands of zombies, only losing a dozen members.

Yet, with ammunition running low, Black Star’s firepower increasingly weakened.

Zombies piled up to eight or nine stories high downstairs, but fortunately, Old Yang’s corpse explosions tore down the accumulated zombies, buying Black Star a few more minutes.

After half an hour of fierce fighting, Black Star’s numbers had dwindled to over four hundred, with no sign of the zombie menace lessening in the square.

The collapsed buildings in the distance were already covered by zombies pouring in from the city center.

One by one, terrifying figures appeared in Chenxi Square.

Tier Two Butchers towering five meters high, Tier Two Jumpers leaping hundreds of meters, and Tier Two Night Demons with arms stretching over three meters, capable of piercing through reinforced concrete effortlessly...

At their feet and behind them was a wave stacked tens of meters high by the zombies from the city center.

”Master Rong, we’re really done for this time...”

Chen Shan spoke with an exhaustion born from overindulgence.

To have held out this long, he and Old Yang, both Tier One ”Controllers,” deserved much credit.

Yin Yinan cursed grudgingly, ”Fine by me, even if I die. I still have to go down and ask what sort of joke Wei Tian thinks he’s making, daring to covet me and then dying silently, who asked for his meddlesome, self-righteous rescue...”

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

”Wei Tian liked you, he’s liked you for a long time.”

Pang Ke chuckled softly.

But it irritated the wound on his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain.

He had been ambushed by a Hunter, his entire collarbone pierced, creating a ten-centimeter penetrating wound. If it hadn’t been for Jiang Rong’s timely rescue, he’d already have been eviscerated.

Beside him, there came an empty clicking sound. A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy furiously threw aside his gun, took an ice axe from his waist, and was about to leap out the window, only to be yanked back by the livid-faced Li Xinlong.

”Master Rong, let go of me, I want to fight it out with these bastards!”

The boy appeared akin to a firecracker, already in a bloodlust frenzy.

”Bomb!”

Pang Ke shouted, shocking the kid into sudden realization.

Seeing the increasingly close zombie horde in the distance, he slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant like a lost soul.

The sound of empty clicks increased around him, some shouted futilely for ammo, but the hotel hallway remained silent, with only the rooftop gunfire ringing clear.

Fighting from morning till afternoon, they were out of ammo, each Evolver’s energy pushed to the brink.

”Master Rong, is there really support?”

The oldest, Old Yang, suddenly asked.

”There is! Definitely!”

Pang Ke replied before Li Xinlong could.

All looked at him in surprise, only to see a sly smile on Pang Ke’s round face. ”Did you notice the clothes Aunt Rong wore? They’re the same as when Zhang Yi and the others first came!”

”Armed train?” President Nan shook his head, purple hair shimmering with a faint golden hue in the sunset, ”Distant water won’t quench immediate thirst.”

A Tier Two Jumper impatiently leaped towards them, its tall shadow cast a pall over everyone.

The golden hue faded.

Blue light replaced it.

Everybody looked up in shock, only to see a beam of cerulean streak across two kilometers of sky, abruptly piercing through the Jumper overhead.

Everyone, including Li Xinlong, pressed against the window.

”Get down!”

A thunderous voice emanated from the hotel rooftop.

In the moment of everyone’s confusion, a shield freely swung and struck the pierced Jumper, which then fell like a star crashing down, smashing into the zombie horde below, unleashing a furious shockwave, blood raining down from beneath the shield.

A towering figure stood on the shield, gazing calmly at the Tier Two Butchers, five or six meters tall, surrounding him.

He twisted his thick neck, muscles cracking sharply.

Facing five Tier Two Butchers, he exploded into action!

”Damn!”

”Is this guy for real?!”

Numerous fireballs appeared out of nowhere, sweeping through the zombie horde. Moments later, thousands of zombies were aflame, coalescing into a fiery dragon, charging furiously towards the Tier Two Zombies on the periphery.

Suddenly, a vibration was felt beneath their feet, and the metal window frame they were leaning against flew out, then was molded into a colossal barricade through some mysterious force. In the stunned gazes of the crowd, a fortress three meters thick and ten meters high rose around Chenxi Square, sealing every path into the square, transforming it into an iron arena.

Atop the barricade stood a figure like a hulking black bear, with an anti-aircraft gun mounted under his arms, standing a vehicle beneath, his hand holding a windproof lighter to light a cigar clenched between his lips.

”Click, click, click...”

For unknown reasons, despite the distance, everyone could hear the lighter clicking.

Only on the third attempt did the cigar catch, causing Li Xinlong and the others inner turmoil.

He Jie took a deep drag, the billowing smoke scattered by the gale, glanced at the Black Star people huddled in the hotel, pointed a thick finger below, encompassing all of Chenxi Square, or rather the whole of Zhijin City, in his gesture, grinned contemptuously, and said.

”This is the Armed Train’s hunting ground!”