Armed Train in the Apocalypse

The remnants retreated into the Four Nations Peninsula.

The train left half of its cars to rest while the remaining ones plunged deeper into the peninsula.

In February, beneath Chongying City, the Armed Train met Donghuang Heavy Industry once again.

Outside the city, a jagged zone was formed by sprawling anti-tank ditches and dragon tooth concrete pillars. Abandoned building windows concealed various probes, and beneath the ditches lay a field of remotely detonated mines.

Short, thick fortresses of concrete and composite armor were scattered throughout, interconnected underground, forming a crossfire network above.

Yet, more striking was the sight beyond the combat zone on the wildlands, where tens of thousands of women and children stood numbly. Most were remnants from the desolation of the Pole and the White Elephant nations, with a few from Chongying and Donghuang, densely packed the wilderness, numbering almost two hundred thousand!

And they constituted the first line of defense laid by the Chongying people.

Whether it was the Armed Corps, the Heavy Armor Brigade, or the revenging Donghuang people following the guild, all fell silent upon seeing this formation.

Despite having blood on their hands since the apocalypse, those who stood here all held onto some form of integrity.

They were defending against invaders, not invaders themselves.

Upholding morals in the apocalypse might be laughable, yet it is this slight difference that allowed them to endure until now against the Four Nations’ invasion.

And now, what Chongying aimed to do was to shatter this resilience within the Donghuang people!

The method, though filthy and disgusting, was effective enough.

With a heavy gaze, Mountain Goat asked, ”Should we notify the conductor?”

He Jie glanced at him, ”Inform Donghuang Heavy Industry, attack according to plan.”

Mountain Goat hesitated for a moment before swiftly conveying the order.

The Armed Train’s engine roared, treads creaking as they crushed the earth, shells loaded, and soldiers entering war mode.

But on the other side, Donghuang Heavy Industry remained motionless.

Before He Jie could command an inquiry, Lian Jin leaped over in a few strides, standing directly at the front of the train, frowning and asking, ”What’s going on? How do we handle these old and weak?”

He Jie looked out over the wildlands in front of him, seeing the elderly and children hugging dirt and stone, building low walls in front of them, then sitting behind. The women held weapons in their hands, gazing at them with eyes full of fear and hatred.

”All I see are enemies holding weapons!”

”But there are tens of thousands of them!”

Lian Jin irritably scratched at the scab on his chest wound.

He Jie turned his head towards him, glaring and lowly growling, ”Or what?! This war was started by them, why should I feel guilty! Have you forgotten our brothers hanging on the flagpole?!”

Lian Jin, angry, retorted, ”Why are you cursing me? It’s not like I’m unaware; the key issue is how my enlisted brothers from the regular army will be able to raise their hands against them?”

Tens of thousands of the old, the weak, women, and children, this debt could crush the entire squad!

The apocalypse altered the large environment; it did not suddenly turn everyone into cold-hearted beasts.

Especially for such a special unit, it took a vast amount of time and countless honors to place a series of chains and armor on them. What they’re doing now is no different from shattering their resolve!

Once broken, it can’t be mended.

He Jie took a step forward, closely staring into his eyes, ”Then tell me, having reached this point, should we retreat?”

”Retreating is impossible, but...”

”If you can’t do it, then let me lead the way.”

”Liang Kuan!”

A man carrying a shield silently appeared at the front of the train, standing like a mountain.

Instinctively wanting to seek his elder sister, but recalling what she had told him when she was gravely injured before, Lian Jin’s struggling gaze gradually turned cold.

A battle for national survival is no joke; someone has to carry this debt!

With gritted teeth, Lian Jin laughed sinisterly, ”Underestimate me? I’ll take the vanguard in this battle!”

”Smack.”

A crisp sound resonated.

Suddenly, a sense of dread clenched the hearts of everyone present.

A few Tier Two Evolvers displayed shock, instinctively looking in the direction of the threat.

It was within Chongying City!

A familiar white light appeared on the ground, rising like a rocket, and with fierce Pan Energy fluctuations, swept across the land.

Chongying’s citizens lifted their heads as if seeing that old acquaintance mentioned in history books.

That few minor injuries, repeatedly mentioned, had become a reflexive part of the national memory.

When the explosion began, the Tier Two Evolvers within the city felt the danger and frantically fled outside; yet, even the fastest Tier Two ”Defenders” could not outrun the expanding white light.

No matter how they bled from the mouth and nose, tore muscles, or melted, they couldn’t escape this absolute crushing force.

This is the gap in ranks.

Struggle, utterly meaningless.

Whether meticulously constructed concrete bunkers, or masses of people, they were erased like pencil sketches rapidly by an eraser.

Worlds were carved into vast blanks.

Those old, weak, women, and children that troubled He Jie and the others, were also like NPCs in a game, erased with a single keystroke, no pain, no struggle.

They died without knowing what happened, dissolving in the fluctuating white light, flesh melting rapidly, skeletons turning into crisp biscuits before crumbling into finer ash, but even Tier Twos like He Jie couldn’t distinguish this process.

Their brains buzzed with the explosion’s resonance, unable to think, all seemingly frozen like marionettes.

Two figures, unhindered, appeared at the train’s front one before the other.

The former in a black shirt, with long hair and narrowed eyes, the latter wearing a grand mink coat, exuding grace.

The boiling hot wind carrying an iron tang swept in, yet stopped abruptly in front, blocked firmly by a barrier of gust.

Su Huan turned his head, smiling, ”I’ve been listening to you quibble over this tiny issue from inside the carriage. Just summon me directly, will you? Alright, you clean up the battlefield; I’ll take a stroll inside.”

Only then did Lian Jin and the others regain their senses, their gazes shockingly fixed on the towering figure before them.

He Jie felt something indescribable swelling within his chest, trembling all over, ”Conductor...”

Su Huan waved his hand indifferently, pulled apart the barrier of wind, and amidst flickering sparks, had already entered the Chongying people’s city.

Only the figure in the grand mink coat could keep up with his stride.

Once they had gone some distance, Lord Lian quietly asked, ”Having killed so many people, don’t you have nightmares?”

”Mmm hmmm...”

Su Huan uttered an indistinct note.

Hands in pockets, strolling amidst the explosion’s lingering waves, each step could easily span dozens of meters. Like the legendary Shrinking Ground into Inches, even Lord Lian had to repeatedly leap to keep up with his speed.

Nothing remained in the city’s center; under the force of fusion, no matter could survive.

Walking on ground like molten magma, feeling the fierce wind brushing past his ears, Lord Lian understood the explosion’s might better than anyone.

If standing in the center, even she would be gravely injured on the spot.

A damage more severe than losing a heart.

But the premise is that this was the fullest power Su Huan had displayed.

But is that possible?

Recalling those two battles, where she was easily toyed with in her best forte of hand-to-hand combat, a sense of despair loomed over Lord Lian’s heart.

In contemplation, the two had already traversed the ravaged city. Behind was a small lake with a height difference of about a hundred meters compared to the city, reminiscent of a deep pool at a glance.

The city was built on the edge of the small lake.

Around the small lake, jagged rocks stood, some very smooth on top, as if frequently rubbed and polished, forming a patina, while the lake water was eerily dark, flowing downstream into the sea.

This place was already deep within the Four Nations Peninsula, only a hundred kilometers from the shore.

The explosion naturally swept over this area, causing the black lake surface to ripple violently, a stench wafting up in waves. But more shocking were the piles of skeletal remains at the lake’s edge.

And the layered cages, the blood-stained stone platforms surrounding the lake!

Decomposed, festering eyes in the cages stared directly at the two.

This was evidently a human slaughterhouse!