Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Ma Hongyu rubbed his chin thoughtfully, ”There are a lot of mushrooms there, but you have to restrain yourself, or after an explosion, we won’t get anything.”

Su Huan waved his hand and walked toward Car 45, where there were windows at least allowing a sense of change outside and the passage of time.

An elderly figure sat in front of the window, quietly staring at the mushroom forest collapsing under gunfire outside.

It was the High Priest of New Eden.

Because she had been very cooperative for more than half a year, she already had the equivalent of third-level steward privileges, but she didn’t want to go anywhere, choosing instead to sit by this window gazing at the world outside when she had nothing else to do.

Su Huan casually asked, ”What are you looking at?”

The High Priest turned her head, calmly saying, ”Looking at this endless journey.”

Su Huan’s expression shifted slightly, the towering and magnificent mushroom forest outside the window was like a fantastical wallpaper, always revealing something novel, and because the train was moving, the scenery changed every moment. This window could show scenes of the apocalyptic corpse horde, floods and landslides, countless corpses underwater...

No matter how often he looked, he never tired of it, and he too enjoyed the view outside the window.

(Endless journey, a collection of works from the Rendering Competition, a moving train window, my dynamic wallpaper spanning apocalypse, warfare, the universe, wastelands, ice and snow... many splendid wonders of civilizations and time.)

”I thought you’d seen it in the prophecy.”

The High Priest shook her head, ”No, I couldn’t see anything clearly in the prophecy, nor did I ever imagine such a place existed in the world.”

”Can you see the end of this journey?”

The hitherto articulate High Priest remained silent for a moment, ”Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Su Huan paused in his steps to leave, ”Tell me about it.”

”Cities suspended in the sky illuminating the earth, the Tree of Life fostering all beings, travelers singing songs of homecoming, ’in the distance, the sound of rapid hoofs approaches, alongside faint laughter. Amid rising dust, a group of young men and women drives over, the young men showcasing their skills and prowess in vehicle handling, while the young women bloom like mountain flowers.’”

The air fell into unprecedented silence, with only the faint thud of mushrooms striking the train’s body.

Su Huan listened intently, a faint contemplation appearing on his face, ”Sounds like the apocalypse has already passed, very nice, I quite like this prophecy.”

”Is Liang Kuan still around?”

”He is.”

”And Xiaoba?”

”He has many children around him.”

Su Huan chuckled, ”Still opened an orphanage, and Yu Yue?”

”She has a child now.”

Su Huan was slightly surprised and continued to ask, ”And Yu Jing?”

”She has two.”

”Hmm?”

As each name flowed from Su Huan’s lips, the High Priest answered steadily, with each answer adding a barely noticeable wrinkle to her face and her voice growing increasingly hoarse.

Su Huan no longer inquired further, instead turning to other, lighter topics.

”How’s the scenery back there?”

”Still magnificent.”

”That’s good enough.”

A light chuckle from the train conductor echoed in the carriage, neither hysterical nor sarcastic, carrying a tone of anticipated delight.

The High Priest looked at his disappearing figure into the next compartment with a complex expression.

Su Huan asked after many people, yet omitted himself.

...

In the laboratory, the fungus carpet unfolded carefully, revealing a stone within.

The stone was pitch-black, not much different from the one in the Flood Zone.

Director Xu and others stood on the outermost circle, along with various researchers setting up equipment, all in a state of readiness.

”We’re prepared.”

Director Xu said solemnly.

”Hmm.”

Su Huan placed his hand on the stone, instantly unraveling intricate patterns while various detection and recording devices were simultaneously activated, each researcher striving to memorize every line until their eyes hurt and heads spun.

A young female voice in the carriage, discouraged, said, ”Xiao Ai can only see a jumble of strange lines, can’t make anything out...”

Unfortunately, everyone was focused on those patterns, ignoring her.

Su Huan watched the patterns on the stone before him, vastly different rules from those within himself, even more complex. He could only understand a bit, a fraction of one in ten thousand of the comprehensive Rule of Enlightenment. Although with continuous observation he might eventually understand, he didn’t want to stand here bare-chested for decades.

Who knows if he’ll even live that long.

After the dust settled and the light subsided, Director Xu rubbed his temples while saying, ”Take me along when heading to the base later.”

Su Huan was momentarily stunned but agreed nonetheless.

By the time the train stopped, Su Huan’s base exploration team had expanded from its initial small combat squad of over a dozen to a large team of more than fifty people.

He Jie, Yu Jing, and Zhong You stayed behind on the train.

The rest basically came out with Su Huan, everyone except Su Huan wore Power Armor.

The fungus carpet of the ghost mushroom wasn’t omnipotent, some mushroom spores it couldn’t handle either, and even Tier Two Evolvers didn’t want to undergo Su Huan’s surgery. Hence everyone obediently donned the Guardian-2 Type suits.

This mushroom forest was somewhat distinct from the one with ghost mushrooms, besides the same dark-red fungus carpet, there were also some purple mycelium mingled carpets, with some large red mushrooms sprouting above, not as enormous as giant umbrella mushrooms, but still towering three to four meters high, with white stout stems and red caps sloping downward like roofs of houses.

They extended consecutively into the distant heights, resembling a small village built upon mountains.

Su Huan naturally thought of the High Priest’s previous prophecy.

”Thick fog rises, new eyes will grow on the first person to fall, the train traverses structures without doors or windows, little people shuttle across the city responsible for construction and agriculture, giants are tasked with guarding, and driving away ill-intentioned outsiders...”