Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Two floating land masses, one large and one small, hovered in midair. One projection covered the nearby waters, just over the big crater, while the other almost blanketed more than half the county. With his eyesight he could just barely make out the jagged ends of building edges.

The winding road under their feet led straight toward the huge pit left behind in front by Bishui County.

A voice came through the walkie-talkie. ”There’s a small corpse group in the county ahead. We’ve already lured them over!”

”Copy that.” Qu Hang cleared his throat and spoke to the people in the vehicle. ”There are no signs of other forces operating around Bishui County. Requesting next orders.”

A moment later, He Jie’s voice came from the car. ”According to plan, clean up the zombies and Evolution Beasts around Bishui County.”

”Understood.”

”Everyone, prepare for combat.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the armored personnel carriers on both sides immediately changed direction, moving to encircle toward the preset combat area.

As a major, Qu Hang could command at most two Lieutenant squads plus eight NCO squads, a full fifty people.

The combat standard for an ordinary NCO squad was being able to face a hundred‑strong corpse tide led by a Tier One Zombie, while the minimum combat standard for a Lieutenant squad was a corpse tide that contained three Tier One Zombies. Including the field‑grade officer squad led by Qu Hang himself, this unit could grind down a ten‑thousand‑strong tide led by one to two Tier Two Zombies.

But the train’s combat power in all aspects was currently somewhat discounted. Take Qu Hang: as a field‑grade officer, he should be a Tier Three Evolver, but right now he was only Tier One. With the support of a high‑powered sniper rifle he had the ability to kill a Tier Two Zombie, but the environmental and timing requirements were harsh.

Among the many Lieutenants, only Lin Jin met the standard.

A proper Tier Two Evolver, and after comprehending part of a Rule he’d even overshot the mark a bit, able to brush the threshold of Tier Three.

From the UAV’s overhead view, the front line formed around mobile train cars, with armed personnel carriers wrapping the small path leading into the county, like tying off a pocket.

Qu Hang slapped the shoulder plate of his Power Armor. A small mechanical device popped out, holding two semi‑transparent sniper rounds, especially the bullet tips, which carried a fatal attraction for Evolvers.

He cleanly ejected all the rounds from the sniper rifle’s magazine and loaded in the two special bullets.

He quietly took aim toward Bishui County. The one thing a sniper never lacked was patience.

Roars of zombies came from the distance. Very soon, Wen Biao and the other survivors came fleeing back in disarray with zombies hanging off the vehicle, with a large group of speed‑type zombies on their heels. Among them, one Hunter had clearly reached Tier Two; with a single grab it easily ripped the spare tire off the back of the off‑road vehicle and bit it apart.

”Help ease some of their pressure.”

Qu Hang ordered calmly.

Gunshots rang out, instantly peeling off a layer of the corpse tide snapping at their rear. Taking advantage of the time this bought them, Wen Biao and the others managed to break away from the horde by the skin of their teeth and hid behind the mobile train cars.

At this moment Qu Hang also squeezed the trigger, aiming at the Hunter that had chased into the pocket.

In the moonlight, the head of the man‑shaped beast that was sprinting at full tilt suddenly snapped back. Its knees buckled and it dropped into a kneel‑sit on the ground, its powerful muscles plowing two furrows in an instant. Its neck whipped forward again like a spring. A tiny dent appeared on the bald skull, with a trickle of fluid inside.

The Hunter reached up with its forearm, which had evolved into a blade‑like edge, and scraped its scalp. The instant it saw that fluid, the black flecks in its scarlet pupils suddenly spread, ink‑like, squeezing the red into a few narrow slits. It lost control and lunged for its own arm to bite.

But faster than it was the Tier One Night Demon beside it, which went completely berserk and threw itself at the Hunter, ignoring the Tier Two Zombie’s oppressive aura.

Amid a series of terrifying Roars, the Tier Two Hunter was instantly swarmed and dragged down by zombies like a cloud of locusts.

The second sniper round slid neatly into the Hunter’s eye socket. The Evolution Beasts that had been crouched in dark corners ready to scavenge instantly boiled over; even those that had already turned away now swung back. Hundreds and thousands of beast eyes locked simultaneously onto the battlefield in the center.

”Roooar—”

The terrifying Roar didn’t scare off the birds in the sky. Instead, the beating wings drowned out the beastly howls.

The lake that had been as calm as moonlight also boiled over. Those with long legs scrambled eagerly up onto the shore; those without legs struggled and floundered their way up as well.

The small town’s once quiet lakeside scene turned in an instant into a horrifying, ferocious tableau of a beast tide.

But on the vehicle, Qu Hang remained unruffled. What he had just fired were two special rounds—local‑area inducement agents for Mutant Beasts and zombies. He’d heard Wan Xing had already tinkered out omni‑type inducement agents, and their effective area was even larger than the wide‑area version.

Thinking of that scene made even Qu Hang’s scalp crawl.

Fortunately this time was just a simple cleanup mission, no need to kick up that big a fuss.

Seeing that enough of them had converged, Qu Hang said in a low voice, ”Inducement completed as planned. Requesting train fire support.”

”Copy. Restrict Evolution Beast spread.”

He Jie said gravely.

The various‑caliber guns that had long been Gathering Strength on the rear train all let out a Roar at the same time, guided by the electromagnet railgun’s ghostly blue arcs of electricity, and fell upon the mixed beast tide in the open ground.

The birds and beasts in the sky were instantly swept clean by the blue light, and then the shells dropped smoothly.

”Boom boom boom—”

The violent explosions drowned out all restlessness and madness.

Qu Hang lowered his visor, raised his left hand, and precisely launched six high‑explosive grenades at the edges of the beast tide. At the same time, NCOs in other directions were doing the same thing.

The central explosions hadn’t yet had time to propagate outward before they were driven back by these neat, successive blasts.

Energy waves reverberated layer upon layer in the very center, and the destructive power spiked sharply.

The howling wind swept all the way past the distant train, whipping the train commander’s long hair into a snapping banner as his narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

With the UAV signals being jammed, He Jie stood at the front of the train, watching the central battlefield through his binoculars. Seeing this scene, his expression eased a little and he turned his head. ”They can handle it without you making a move.”

Su Huan made no comment. It would only take a snap of his fingers anyway, but it was good to give his subordinates a chance to perform.

What he cared about was the deal with Gunfire.

Kicking up this much noise was partly advance clearing, partly a show for the eyes watching in the dark.

”We wait here at most five days. If they don’t come to me, then I’ll have to go find them myself.”

After Su Huan spoke, he turned and went back into the train.

If after all this cultivation, he still had to worry about the remaining matters himself, then the Armed Corps might as well not exist.

Before Su Huan ate his late‑night snack, the combat report had already been delivered to his desk. Within a ten‑kilometer radius of Bishui County, zombies and Evolution Beasts had been completely cleared. They had obtained a few hundred Tier One Pan-energy Crystals and a small amount of materials, most of which had been destroyed in the shelling.

The interior of Bishui County had also been checked. There were no survivors, nor any trace of Gunfire. The entire county had been taken over by Mutant Beasts and zombies.

He Jie suggested starting an external search the next day.

That night the train drove straight across into Bishui County, flattening half the buildings and setting up camp on the spot.

Given the nature of the mobile carrier, so‑called ”camping” was basically just parking the train there sideways, with almost no prep work required.

Putting down the combat report in his hand, Su Huan tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop, producing a sharp, rhythmic sound.

The carriage door was pushed open without a sound. Su Huan didn’t deliberately reach out with his senses. From the faint scrape as the tray was placed on the table, he could already tell which woman at his side it was.

It was Yu Yue delivering his late‑night snack.

An odd thought flashed through his mind and vanished. Su Huan continued thinking about the train’s next steps.

After a while, noticing that gentle presence still quietly remained in the room, Su Huan leaned back against the chair, his expression relaxing as he opened his arms.

He gathered the soft body and the gentle presence into his embrace. This silent hug lasted a full three minutes.

Breathing in the reassuring scent from her hair, he could feel Yu Yue struggling with something, something that must be important to her. Su Huan didn’t want to press her, just waited in silence, ready to listen whenever she chose to speak.

The woman called softly, ”Su Huan...”

”Mm.”

Then there was no sound again.

No one knew how much time passed before the woman murmured in a near‑sleepy whisper, ”I want to have a child.”