Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”In the small garden, dig, dig, dig...”

Su Huan opened the car door with a dark expression, and the originally tech-filled interior walls of the compartment were covered with a thin layer of flesh-colored mycelium. A gentle female voice echoed in his heart, ”Welcome back, my master.”

Hu Shuo and Shu Wei stood to the left and right. Seeing Su Huan, they didn’t even call him conductor and handed over a stack of documents and a tablet.

Shu Wei quickly added, ”These are the things that happened on the train while you were away, as well as a few matters I approved on your behalf.”

The black line on Su Huan’s forehead deepened; although the fungus carpet’s words were a bit cheesy, it was much more adorable than him.

Though Shu Wei’s workplace extends beyond the bed.

But with the fungus carpet’s capabilities for creation, elasticity, and secretions of nutrient liquid...

No, how could he entertain such strange thoughts.

Suddenly, Su Huan was startled, wondering if he had fallen under the mushrooms’ illusion techniques.

”In the big garden, dig, dig, dig...”

The foolish sound brought him back to reality. The conductor didn’t believe he could have such a silly dream, furrowing his brows, ”What is this racket?”

Hu Shuo replied respectfully, ”This is the five o’clock wake-up bell, an inspirational, sunny music selected by the command station per your request. If you don’t like it, I can have them switch it.”

”Forget it, let Xiaozhao select the music later.”

”Alright.”

”Also, ask Zhou Qing how many power armor suits they have left; the functionality can be minimal as long as they allow people to go outside.”

Shu Wei replied, ”They’ve prepared, and a hundred sets can be released today.”

Calculating quickly in his mind, Su Huan nodded, ”Produce at full capacity. The fungus carpet flow situation will continue for three days, and after that, we’ll officially move out of the Spore Zone.”

...

”December 17th, 2036, digestion period.”

”The long journey is still ongoing, with two... friends reaching their destination ahead of me.”

...

”December 18th, 2036, digestion period.”

”Scavenger-2 model, officially mass-produced, fully enclosed armor, more than twenty-four hours ultra-long endurance.”

...

”December 20th, 2036, calm period.”

”This is the slowest and fastest Celestial Disaster Zone of the train.”

Outside the train’s front, Wen Biao led two hundred people equipped with rudimentary [Scavenger-2 model] power armor to clear the ten-meter-thick Big Fungus Carpet.

Although these Big Fungus Carpets have begun to solidify, they are extremely soft and can’t support the train’s weight.

And due to excessive friction, Su Huan couldn’t run the train in these conditions and had to resort to the tedious method of clearing a section and proceeding with it. Initially, Lin Jin volunteered, having grasped some of the Destruction Rule, greatly increasing the intensity of his flames. He burned the fungus carpet with relentless force, but the consumption also became larger, naturally shortening the endurance compared to before.

According to drone detection, the Spore Zone expanded by ten kilometers during the digestion period, requiring the train to travel another twenty kilometers to ”crawl” out.

Being anxious wouldn’t help; they could only proceed slowly.

Su Huan dispatched the Tong Zizhan team to search the Gravity Zone for the mysterious forces that stimulated the Spore Zone into the digestion phase, but there was no news yet.

At this moment, he was sitting in the dining car, reviewing various experiments and achievements. Su Han was diligently grinding coffee, and Yu Yue was preparing lunch. However, the little chef seemed somewhat absent-minded recently; even her beloved meat flowers noticed her lack of enthusiasm.

As Su Huan calculated the cost-effectiveness between resource consumption and output, Shu Wei entered.

She greeted Yu Yue before approaching Su Huan.

”Director Xu has made new progress and hopes to see you once.”

”Is it important?”

”It’s about establishing the evolutionary theory system.”

Su Huan’s eyes narrowed.

...

After Director Xu finished a lengthy speech, he sipped tea from his thermos and looked at the silent girl sitting quietly beside him with complex emotions.

”That’s the situation. If evolution continues, I don’t know how long Lin Xi can endure.”

Su Huan sat silently like a black stone sculpture on the sofa, listening to every word.

Director Xu finally perfected the concept underlying evolution, exploring all the conditions limiting evolution.

Embarking on the evolutionary path equals burning life to seize treasure; every skill is a treasure for an Evolver. But the weight of treasures an Evolver can bear is limited. Existing treasures must enhance oneself, which means improving the evolutionary tier and increasing Carrying Capacity.

For example, an ordinary Scavenger in the previous life often awakened skills unrelated to their profession, consuming their own Carrying Capacity.

An ordinary person’s Carrying Capacity might be exhausted; if the correct professional match remains elusive, they are stuck at a stage for life.

However, Genetic Primordials are different.

They continuously consume Life Force to generate skills.

Su Huan possesses the ”Gene Decay” loophole; unneeded skills disintegrate over time. Other Genetic Primordials can’t, having no method to disintegrate skills and continuously generating them until exceeding Carrying Capacity, leading to death.

Life Force and Carrying Capacity are like two Swords of Damocles hanging over each Genetic Primordial’s head.

Lin Xi has already generated over twenty skills.

This was despite Director Xu’s constant restraint.

He used to be confident in controlling Lin Xi’s generation speed, but recently found the skill generation rate escalating. Through extensive research, he discovered the concept of ”Carrying Capacity” and promptly reported it to Su Huan.

”Come here.”

Su Huan raised his hand, summoning.

Lin Xi walked over with hands behind her back, lowered her head, and nestled beneath Su Huan’s palm, then nudged upward.

Su Huan was momentarily stunned, his long eyes narrowing, ”Are you not scared?”

”I’ve known for a long time.”

Lin Xi said calmly.

Su Huan didn’t say anything further, taking a deep breath, feeling the warmth and faint soap scent in his palm, amplifying his energy perception to the maximum.

Lin Xi transformed from a mass of energy into more subtle, different types of energy.

This wasn’t enough.

Skills are engraved within genes; even with energy support, they are more subtle, harder to detect.

Further depth is required!

But just then, Su Huan felt his face itch slightly.

A slightly bored Lin Xi noticed faint patterns form on Su Huan’s face, the once-demonic visage now imparting a trace of holiness. Her light gray eyes blinked, puffing air toward Su Huan’s face.

Watching his eyelashes twitch, she silently grinned, revealing rows of small white teeth.

As she hesitated, contemplating reaching out, she suddenly felt a sharp pain within, akin to accidentally biting a nerve—pain mixed with emptiness, causing her heart to tremble.

”Snap”

Su Huan opened his eyes, tapping the young girl’s silver head lightly.

Whispering, ”I tried it; skills indeed contain energy, but I can only suppress, not expel them, nor help disintegrate them. I can only let them ’be injured’; her genes will begin repairing these damaged skills during this period.”

Seeing Lin Xi limp in Su Huan’s embrace, Director Xu’s gaze shifted slightly, ”But this method can’t be used repeatedly, right?”

Su Huan sighed softly.

”Using it too much will also lead to death; energy is just part of the gene, not all. My intrusion already crossed a boundary.”

Su Huan stood holding Lin Xi, saying indifferently, ”I’ll add two energy seals for her; you think of additional measures.”

Director Xu hesitated briefly, ”Should we publish this concept? Perhaps more Tier Three Evolvers could increase the probability of solving the Carrying Capacity issue.”

Su Huan contemplated deeply, ”Alright.”

...

Car Number 13, crew activity compartment.

On the little wine cabinet sat a blackboard. Director Xu, with hair neatly combed, passionately and energetically explained the basic rules of evolution before the blackboard. The front row seated a line of gray-haired elderly gentlemen and ladies, all esteemed figures like Professor Ma, Vice President Deng, Dean Zhou, etc. Slightly to the side were Luo Jingyi, Wang Duoyu, and other key scholars of the train.

The outer layer consisted of head attendants from each group, level five supervisors, including senior officers like He Jie. The entire compartment was packed with people, while adjacent compartments broadcasted live, ensuring everyone could hear Director Xu’s insights clearly.

”Based on my research, aside from the Basic Attributes and Skill Level as evident rules, three implicit rules restrict evolution.”

”They are: Environmental Inducements, Life Force, Carrying Capacity.”

”Many here already understand Environmental Inducements and Life Force; today, I’ll primarily discuss the last one.”

”Carrying Capacity.”

[Dreamed of simulation plots, woke up to find the simulation strayed, rendering it unusable, painful]