Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Miao Qi knew that they were scared by the explosions.

But what they didn’t know was that it was her last grenade.

These mushrooms were starting to forget the painful losses they just suffered.

Miao Qi stood up, hesitated for a moment, and then walked forward with her sniper rifle, now out of bullets.

Blood dripped from her severed arm onto the Fungus Carpet, but Miao Qi remained unaware, her energy exhausted through continuous battle and decomposition of spores, leaving her combat capabilities close to those of a 1.2-meter-high giant mushroom.

After crossing the final mound of the Fungus Carpet, the gray fog that clung like a death grip cleared a bit, leaving Miao Qi stunned.

Everything before her seemed like an illusion.

The giant mushroom above still cast its shadow, its cap like a dome blocking the sky, but threads of light penetrated the gray fog, dyeing the spores in murky amber as they flickered with each breath.

Yet, ten paces away, sunlight poured like molten gold over the bright yellow mushrooms, a gentle breeze lifting thousands of them into the air, transforming them into streams of golden light that whirled across the flower sea, finally rushing towards her.

In an instant, everywhere she looked was filled with flowing lights, warming her heart.

’An ending like this isn’t so bad, is it?’

The corners of the woman’s tightly pressed lips curled into a gentle smile as she staggered towards the depths of the flower sea, embracing the torrent.

The mushrooms, no longer stirred by the breeze, fell like small lanterns into the depths of the mushroom forest, scattering firefly-like warm light, dispelling the gray fog.

...

The armored train continued to advance towards the northeast at a slow yet steady pace.

Lin Jin stood at the front of the train, where the conductor liked to be most.

Upon seeing the endless mushrooms emerging from the Fungus Carpet, he instinctively wanted to check the conductor’s expression, whose dangerous smile was more comforting than any rally call.

But he looked around to find nothing unexpectedly.

Beside him was only He Jie, who also wore Power Armor.

A sense of disorientation, like stepping into thin air, left Lin Jin somewhat dazed.

He Jie shuddered and said, ”Stop staring at me like that, man. If you’re missing women now, go kiss your girlfriend a couple of times before coming back.”

Lin Jin’s bright smile broke through as he patted He Jie on the shoulder. ”Having you is enough!”

He Jie’s face twitched; if it weren’t for the helmet of his Power Armor, he would have spat in the kid’s face. Which actions during training made this kid have such a deep misunderstanding of me?

Could it be that he was still too gentle with them?

The old soldiers already missed their chance, so it looks like the next batch of recruits needs some heavy drilling.

Even as his thoughts wandered, He Jie, seasoned from numerous battles, directed over eight hundred armed soldiers with well-practiced reflexes, deploying them evenly throughout the train.

”Take care of the front side, I’m going to check the back.”

With that, He Jie jumped onto the deck, heading towards the rear while issuing commands.

”No one opens the windows, whatever happens. Only use the robotic arms and internal defense weapons. No Power Armor, don’t come out...”

”Use more Flamethrowers. Replace all ammunition with pistol and rifle rounds; don’t waste my heavy machine gun rounds!”

”Lao San, get your combat team to the Cultivation Pod, we don’t need you here!”

”Why are you wearing Power Armor when fighting indoors? Take it off, I’ll arrange things uniformly here.”

”Anyone got opinions? You, got an opinion?”

Hearing He Jie’s chaotic yet effective command, Lin Jin felt much relieved.

Gripping the handle tightly, the Light Machine Gun integrated into the Power Armor fired, instantly pulverizing ten or so mushrooms jumping down from above. With a wave of his hand, a wall of flame erupted, incinerating over a hundred mushrooms rushing towards the front to ash.

The flames did not stop, instead shooting skyward to form a three-hundred-meter tall, ten-meter wide pillar of flame, erasing swaths of gray fog.

Such massive energy consumption left the injured Lin Jin pale, a metallic taste rising in his mouth once again.

The fire pillar was like a signal, exhibiting the menacing stance of the armored train meticulously upgraded over half a year.

Four hundred mechanical arms, like centipedes, sprayed fire madly in all directions, and the mechanical arms Vice President Deng had upgraded with enormous amounts of energy could generally eject fuel twenty meters, though they lacked Lin Jin’s flame bursting and relighting effects, their speed and durability left the giant mushrooms lamenting.

No matter how much gray fog or moisture they stirred up, it only futilely turned into puffs of white smoke.

Most brave mushrooms perished in the fire sea before reaching the train itself.

Even the ones that leapt onto the roof were mercilessly mowed down by soldiers in Power Armor.

Most mushrooms were only on par with newly awakened Evolvers; their impact force slightly above a typical adult but were mere moving targets to soldiers who had mostly advanced to Tier One.

Only mushrooms reaching 1.2 meters in height had strength barely approaching a Tier One Evolver.

Soldiers were loath to waste bullets on them, using the weight and inertia of their Power Armor to kick them into the inferno below or cleave them into mushroom paste with an axe.

Seeing the situation under control, Lin Jin relaxed a bit, injecting himself with Recovery Potion using his Power Armor.

Though it might accelerate spore growth in his body, he currently needed more energy to fight; normal recovery wouldn’t suffice after the inhibitor injection for the energy he required.

”Your fire pillar is spectacular, but it seems it’s doing little for the war’s outcome.”

A low, hoarse male voice suddenly appeared beside Lin Jin and was broadcasted by the Power Armor.

Almost instantly, Lin Jin’s eyes turned a fiery red. He immediately activated the Power Armor’s Pan Energy Shield and had transmitted the unknown enemy’s presence to the train’s control platform.

”No need to be nervous; I’m still far away.”

The man’s voice was calm.

But Lin Jin’s mind was already on edge. The train’s ability to transmit sound over such a long distance accurately could only be done by Yu Yue, but even she would face severe suppression in the unique environment of the mushroom forest. For this man to convey his voice clearly to him in such a complex battlefield means either he’s lying, hiding nearby for a lethal attack, or his level of evolution is exceedingly high!

Either possibility signals danger!

The train door opened, and a silhouette in Power Armor shot out to approach Lin Jin. Though clad in thick armor, Lin Jin recognized the familiar way of moving on all fours.

Qu Hang’s adjutant, Mongoose.

Through the built-in comms, Mongoose’s crisp voice came, ”Target status.”

Lin Jin summarized his suspicions, and Mongoose had already leapt from the train, his agile figure flitting through the fire sea, vanishing into the depths of the mushroom forest.

Lin Jin breathed a slight sigh of relief. Being the train’s strongest assassin of this period, not even he nor Xiaoba liked dealing with a hiding Mongoose. Getting scratched was no joke.

Even though Mongoose was only Tier One and had not a single active skill, the saying within the troop was, ”Those with all passive skills are freaks.”

”Are you guys searching for me? Don’t waste your effort.”

The man spoke again.

Lin Jin ignored him until He Jie’s adjutant, Mountain Goat, stated they were ready, at which point Lin Jin coldly spoke, ”A guy who hides his face can’t have good intentions!”

The man said helplessly, ”In the few words I’ve said just now, you’ve sent out over ten assassins and at least six snipers. Revealing myself at this point means I might not even leave a complete body.”

Lin Jin said calmly, ”Even so, you have to state your identity as a foundation of trust.”

The other party straightforwardly replied, ”Have you heard of Black Kite...”

Lin Jin sneered, ”In that case, we have nothing more to discuss. Just wait for us to drag you out!”

Hearing this, the man changed his tone, ”I’m the only surviving member, Ma Hongyu, an alumnus equally cited with the Tianze University Alumni Association.”