Armed Train in the Apocalypse

But the motorcycle’s movement was too much, and the snowstorm was so blinding that he could hardly see anything. His entire face was numb with pain, but he still twisted the throttle to the maximum. As for what lay ahead, to hell with it; the order came from He Jie anyway, and at worst, they’d die together!

Right now, he wished he could find a tree and ram into this incessantly chattering old dog behind!

With this thought in mind, the motorcycle accelerated a notch, leaving the team behind.

Only Qu Hang’s motorcycle could steadily keep up. Seeing this, Mongoose leapt in the snow like a nimble snow leopard and hopped onto Qu Hang’s motorcycle. Just as she thought, there was no wind here; the old boss had broken it all open using his ability!

Mongoose was barely able to feel joy before the change in direction almost threw her off. She quickly grabbed onto something with her tail.

”Let go!”

Upon hearing Qu Hang’s strained growl, Mongoose finally realized her tail was tangled around his neck, and now her old boss was bearing the full weight of her body with his neck.

Mongoose was startled and hurriedly released her tail, sheepishly patting his collar.

After a while, she softly asked, ”Why were we abruptly recalled when the battle was going well? What happened? Where are we headed?”

Qu Hang looked ahead at He Jie and the others, twisting the throttle tightly to keep up.

He whispered, ”Captain He said the train conductor fell into a trap.”

”Fell into a trap?” Mongoose’s pupils turned into two concentric circles. ”Who? The train conductor?”

Clearly, she hadn’t connected those two words together yet.

”I don’t know the details; the situation is urgent, so we hurried here. Those behind haven’t even secured a vehicle and are racing this way!”

”Bang!”

Mongoose excitedly slapped Qu Hang’s shoulder. ”Then hurry, the train conductor is waiting for us to rescue him!”

Qu Hang sighed internally, feeling like his words were in vain.

A line of fire streaked past them, and the massive flaming wings formed an air corridor that forced their heads down due to its intense heat.

”Is this possible?”

Mongoose exclaimed in amazement.

Watching Lin Jin’s departing figure, Qu Hang became thoughtful, ”Come on, you drive.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a gale rose out of nowhere, and the green figure slid forward using inertia.

...

On the Armed Train, Tasia looked at Pang Tu in shock, her voice cold and angry, ”Can’t he see such an obvious trap?”

The latter was expressionless, feeling indeed helpless; without the train conductor speaking, how would they know where they were headed?

But even if they knew, who could stop the train conductor if he wanted to go?

Nearby, Iron Pine Forest Camp leader Song Zhiyue said with guilt, ”It’s my fault; our vigilance wasn’t strong enough, giving the enemy an opportunity—”

Tasia turned her head and coldly interrupted him, ”Your camp’s people are missing, why aren’t you going after them?”

The northern man was rendered red-faced by this remark; it wasn’t that he hadn’t gone after them, but he soon lost direction in the dark after some time. He managed to pull out a snowmobile but it was borrowed by the Armed Train, and in this icy landscape, they had no tools — they couldn’t run on foot, could they?

As for dog sleds, they might not be faster than the Evolvers in the snow, and they don’t know the way; the dogs wouldn’t know where to go either.

He could only awkwardly stay here and explain to the others in the train about what happened.

Though his reason was valid, he felt too ashamed to explain.

The train conductor was out there fighting for his people, while he stayed behind. It’s already gracious of them to only say this much.

Song Zhiyue stood up, respectfully bowing towards Pang Tu, Hu Shuo, and others.

He said in a deep voice, ”Our Iron Pine Forest Camp owes you once; given the chance, we’ll definitely repay! Definitely!”

”Has something happened?”

A gentle voice sounded from behind, and a slightly pregnant woman stood at the door, asking with slight confusion.

Being four months pregnant, Yu Yue was not bustling around the kitchen as much, and she seldom used her ability. She was mostly consuming meals delivered by He Jie’s wife, with occasional visits to Director Xu for check-ups. Remaining time was spent preparing clothes for the child at the Little Box, or browsing around the Cultivation Pod or farm.

She had barely engaged with the Armed Corps’ war against the Pallid Demon, let alone the current matter.

Tasia turned her head — it was her first time seeing Yu Yue, though not the first time hearing of her. Among descriptions from major forces, Yu Yue’s status in the train ranks second only to Su Huan. If Su Huan is absent, she would be the soul figure determining the train’s course.

Then followed He Jie, Hu Shuo, Professor Ma, and others.

Just when Tasia was about to speak, Hu Shuo preemptively said in a calm voice, ”Iron Pine Forest Camp was attacked by the enemy, and the train conductor personally led a team to support... We’re waiting for the train conductor to return and plan a counterstrike strategy, right?”

The words fell lightly in the ears of those from the Armed Train, shocking them as they nodded repeatedly.

Song Zhiyue was initially confused, but seeing the other’s pregnant belly, he understood, maintaining a look of troubled but not heavy expression.

Though this truncated description made Tasia frown, she was not of the talkative nature.

Yu Yue originally felt uneasy, but seeing everyone’s relaxed demeanor, she suppressed her anxiety and smiled, ”Well, I’ll leave you to your work, then.”

Dean Zhou Qing and a few women escorted Yu Yue back.

Tasia was about to continue the discussion but was stopped by Hu Shuo’s stern gaze, as he gestured an ear-listening posture, calmly saying, ”This time the Pallid Demons’ counterstrike is intense; ammo has become the crucial issue. Do you have any good methods, Gunfire?”

Tasia frowned, replying in a deep voice, ”We don’t have much ammo either; the northern lands are harsh, and key materials like nitrocellulose are imported from Donghuang...”

”Not even raw materials?”

”If it’s not for finished products, we can spare some raw materials.”

”...”

Listening to the conversation in the dining room, Yu Yue’s gaze carried doubt — despite the war proceeding smoothly, why did she feel so uneasy?

...

He Jie and the others stood at the battlefield’s edge, not unable to go forward but simply because there was no road ahead.

The flat snowy plain abruptly turned into a large pit here, and heavy snow transformed into vapor and torrents, flowing wantonly around, then frosted at the edges of the pit under freezing temperatures, leaving marks like after volcanic ravages.

The clouds above were torn into massive sections, presently recombining slowly, while wind and snow from elsewhere arrived, covering the obsidian-like ground with a thin layer.

”Where is the train conductor?”

Mongoose stopped the vehicle, bouncing several times like a springy ball until she stood at He Jie’s edge.

His face was dark already, intensifying under the nighttime.

Seeing He Jie ignoring her, Mongoose turned her gaze toward Mountain Goat nearby; his eyes were devoid of light, indicating he was using his ability.

Feeling Mongoose’s gaze, Mountain Goat gritted his teeth and said, ”This terrain melted by high temperature indeed matches the train conductor’s ability, but I can’t detect through ability; it exceeds my limit.”

”Don’t waste time; combat of this level is beyond our capability to detect. The remnant energy turbulence will at least take three days to dissipate. We can’t obtain any effective information before then.”

Qu Hang said heavily, his voice carrying chill.

Having flown over eighty kilometers in the wind and snow, even with a windbreaker, he was freezing.

The sky lit up suddenly, an out-of-place apocalyptic red glow arose. As everyone reacted, Lin Jin had already descended gently from above, his exaggerated flaming wings melting ground snow anew.

Everyone stared at Lin Jin, his voice grave.

”No clues, can’t find any energy fluctuation, here... should be the sole battlefield.”

”Impossible!” He Jie suddenly raised his head, shouting lowly with heated eyes, ”Absolute impossibility of mutual destruction; given his body’s energy, the resulting wave from such would be massively greater!”

”Now this appearance is surely controlled intentionally by him!”

”No one other than him could control energy so minutely!”