Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”The energy generated by the operation of this ’collective’ machine is terrifying.”

The effect of operating an armed train, a purely war-oriented organization, is immediate.

After the meeting, Hu Shuo and others allocated tasks to each group, and the chief conductors fully took over Zhijin that day.

The train’s strong stance naturally displeased the managers who hadn’t even warmed their seats, and all those who complained openly or secretly appeared at the new recruit camp’s shooting range that night.

The gunfire echoed throughout the night.

A third of the city hall was emptied.

The two consecutive days of turmoil did not cause panic among the Scavengers; rather, it attracted more Scavengers into Zhijin.

Hu Shuo led the logistics team to conduct a population census and resettlement.

The original population of one hundred thousand was divided into ten large districts, and each person was issued a temporary identity certificate. The identity certificates were made using Pan-energy, employing three methods of identification: physical photos, electronic files, and evolutionary abilities. Everyone must carry it; otherwise, they would be shot as intruders.

The identification of convoys and gang members resulted in their dispersion across districts.

The population census issue that had troubled Li Xinlong for a month was completely resolved on the fifth day after the armed train was freed up.

With newfound clarity, Li Xinlong felt as if he had opened a door to a new world.

At once ashamed yet eager to learn, he followed with several bureau and institute managers behind Hu Shuo, acting as assistants, and asked questions to understand everything clearly with each step.

When the residency issue was preliminarily resolved, Hu Shuo directly announced that everyone owed a life-saving debt to the train captain, which must be repaid with work, and consequently launched the train’s points system. However, the two were separate, with different exchange rates.

The ten thousand who aided the armed train in collecting materials were granted formal residency status at Zhijin Station.

As formal residents of Zhijin, they enjoy the following rights:

1. Allocation of housing within the inner city. (The first circle outside the city hall at Chenxi Square)

2. Each person has a daily quota of purchasing 1.5L of purified water and 500g of food. (Including fruits and vegetables)

3. Right to purchase weapons. (Excluding explosive devices like rocket launchers and calibers over 20mm)

4. Children have the right to education.

5. Eligibility to run for management positions at city hall, City Guard Army, Guard Corps, and other Zhijin stations.

6. Ordinary people can freely receive Pan-energy Crystals at city hall for evolution.

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In addition, there are more than a dozen miscellaneous regulations crafted by professional legal experts, including basic safety protections. But even these six rights are incredibly attractive to Scavengers, who struggle every day on the edge of life and death.

The complaints caused by ”working to repay debt” were immediately drowned out by overwhelming praise.

Although some people still complained, they worked even harder each day.

The train wasn’t stingy with this group, ensuring their basic safety and daily sustenance.

The factory, surrounding the train for a kilometer, experienced unlimited energy supply and operated overnight, with everyone working in three shifts, ensuring no one was idle on the streets.

Besides upgrading materials for the armed train, the factory also produced some basic necessities. Originally subsisting on reserves, Zhijin now received a constant flow of supplies, though still limited in variety and low in production.

Aside from factory work, ”Power Suppliers” could work at the Energy Management Bureau, where they received food for generating electricity each day, along with an additional Pan-energy Crystal stipend.

”Defenders” could join the City Guard Army, or the outer sentinel Guard Corps.

The former is safer, the latter offers higher stipends.

Those who awaken special skills or professions could work at the Food Production Bureau to care for mutated plants and animals, or join the Academy of Science or the Medical Institute.

Thanks to the train’s education efforts, evolutionary ability had ceased to be a mysterious force and had become a skill available to everyone. Each Evolver could find their place in urban construction.

The Glazed Giant Pit at Chenxi Square was transformed into a large auction center.

The train construction team also established two hundred fixed commercial shops around the pit. The shops have two floors with walls entirely made of a unified metal crafted by Xiaoba, with sand-filled layers inside by Chen Shan, making them resemble the war fortresses surrounding the city hall.

In fact, these shops also serve this purpose.

The underground was also cleaned thoroughly; the originally intricate underground tunnels were completely sealed, and connections were made to above-ground shops, ensuring the City Guard Army could protect the city hall through the shops if something went wrong.

Ten shops were opened for residents to purchase daily necessities such as food, controlled firearms, and evolutionary items.

The remaining shops were set aside for rent and in preparation for the large-scale trading day planned by the train captain.

The most troublesome task was clearing out underground beetles, but on that day the train captain had already eliminated most of them. The remaining Giant Beetles were subdued by the City Guard Army led by Old Xie, which sped up some of the underground cleanup work.

Under the train’s high-pressure management, the entire Zhijin City was revitalized.

While various factions had not even completed their reorganization in a month, in the hands of the train, the city gained its shape in twenty days.

The new recruit camp also gained many fresh targets.

After this period of selection, the new recruit camp expanded from two thousand to thirteen thousand people, exceeding one-tenth of the total population.

This was even with Lao Er and others driving many out through rigorous testing and voluntary dropout, otherwise the ”combat capability” of the entire Zhijin could exceed half its total population.

However, modern Zhijin simply couldn’t support so many unemployed combat personnel.

These new recruits, in addition to regular training, were often pulled out for construction work, such as the cleaning work underground at Chenxi Square, which they completed at twice the efficiency of the train construction team.