Armed Train in the Apocalypse

In an ordinary army green tent, Su Huan slowly opened his eyes.

He had recently developed the habit of sleeping. It wasn’t voluntary; he was carrying too many eerie things on his back, which easily pulled him into dreams at night, and he had to deal with them one by one to break free.

He sat up, stretched his limbs, and in the darkness, the conductor suddenly chuckled.

Then he yanked a giant beast’s head off his shoulder and slammed it to the ground fiercely, ”So it was you, you bastard, gnawing on my ass last night?!”

”Boom boom boom!”

The terrifying sound of vibrations came from within the tent. Qin Mian and Gangdan, the guards outside, were already familiar with this routine. Only when the sounds stopped did they shout, ”Commander Su, do you need me to fetch some water for you to wash your hands?”

”Get lost, if you’ve got nothing better to do, go bang your head against a tree!”

Su Huan cursed as he walked out, feeling rougher after spending so much time with this ragtag bunch.

It felt like something was missing from his mouth if he didn’t curse every day, making him feel uncomfortable holding it in.

”Which side are we hitting today?”

Su Huan asked.

Qin Mian shook his head, ”The higher-ups said there’s nothing left for us to fight. We should return quickly as all major units are gathering towards the United Command.”

Su Huan touched his newly grown stubble and murmured in his heart, ”It’s time.”

The return journey was smoother. They often encountered other units on the way. Towards the latter part, almost everyone was crowded together, with various searchlights making Eternal Night as bright as day, and footsteps shaking the wilderness.

Su Huan flew up to take a look, and the vast expanse of army spread across the entire wilderness, even he couldn’t see the end.

Only then did he realize what kind of preparation number three had mentioned.

When the 712th Division reached its designated position and began setting up camp, Gangdan had just returned to report, and Xu Chaoyang came in with a group of experts from the research institute. They tested Gangdan and others, and the results were unexpected—their growth speed was nearly ten times faster than when they were at the United Command.

But what made them even more restless was that Su Huan’s unit had gained over a thousand Awakened and more than a dozen Tier One Evolvers.

What had been a rare treasure for ages matured like cabbage under Su Huan.

The anomaly naturally lay with Su Huan.

As a Tier Four ”Energy-Devouring Engine”, Su Huan didn’t need to do anything. His body would instinctively absorb surrounding energy, creating an ”Energy Tide”, repeatedly purifying and increasing energy density.

After learning the principle of energy purification from number three, Su Huan began actively purifying the surrounding energy. With his energy conversion efficiency, even a division, or even an entire army group, couldn’t match his speed.

The pace naturally significantly increased.

The gathered researchers fell into silence upon hearing the reason.

”What’s the difference from a conceptual god? Moreover, this is only Tier Four. If it were Tier Five, wouldn’t he be capable of generating energy out of thin air?”

”Very likely.”

Xu Chaoyang, grasping Su Huan’s hand sincerely, said, ”Your impact isn’t really on the battlefield; your value to us is much more significant.”

Su Huan was noncommittal; he also had a great impact on Qin Mian and others.

This wasn’t something that could be sorted.

Just like number three and the others could sacrificially use one million two hundred thousand people as a filter for Donghuang, stacking lives to forge a variable.

For him, the pursuit of that ultimate source had etched itself into his bones.

He would definitely go; nothing and no one could stop him.

Seeing Su Huan remain silent, Xu Chaoyang sighed, then said, ”Number three wanted me to tell you that your unit doesn’t have to go in full force. You can leave behind some seeds; decide for yourself who goes and who stays.”

With that, he withdrew from the military camp with his group of experts.

Although this barren land was currently the safest place within Eternal Night, this group from the research institute represented decades of Donghuang’s essence. Once lost, they were truly irreplaceable and couldn’t afford negligence.

After Xu Chaoyang and the others left, Su Huan was at a loss, so he left the decision about who stays and goes to Shen Li.

Now, Shen Li had already become a colonel, leading a regiment on his own.

It may have been not quite a meteoric rise, but it made his senior nearly pop his eyes out with envy.

Yet ultimately, only one company was left to guard the base; no one else fell out of line, not even those who had previously deserted.

No slogans were made; just two days of rest, and the troops set off.

When the forward troops departed, those behind were continuously rushing to catch up. After resting, they also had to keep pace with those ahead.

Streams of green advanced under Eternal Night, heading towards the battlefield.

...

The ground resembled crumpled parchment, with countless ravines, and the temperature here was unbalanced, cold and hot at intervals. The ravines were filled with piled-up corpses, each like shattered granules on an assembly line, scattered across every inch of the battlefield, countless and indistinguishable between friend and foe.

The sky maintained a brief blue tone, softly covering everything with a layer of melancholic and hazy color.

The troop carriers staggered over it, and nobody looked down. When they stepped into this area, they had already entered the Underworld.

Another ten minutes passed, and the lead SUV finally stopped. The searchlight atop the vehicle tore through the sky like a sword but vanished before the rift in the sky, with all the light absorbed, forming a truly lightless environment.

Yet Su Huan could see very clearly.

At this moment, he realized how vividly those artists portrayed things.

The gateway to the Otherworld resembled a jumble of tangled threads, changing subtly each time he looked until he activated ”Pan-energy Perception,” revealing the true appearance of the black hole before his eyes.

The edges pulsed with an unnatural dark purple glow, like necrotic blood vessels.

Qin Mian, sitting in the passenger seat, swallowed and turned around, ”Commander, we’ve arrived.”

”Afraid?” Su Huan uncharacteristically sat upright in the vehicle, one hand resting outside the window.

”Not really afraid, just a bit nervous.”

Qin Mian whispered.

Then he watched Gangdan hand the Commander a cigarette, eyes widening, ”Where’d you get the cigarette?”

Gangdan glanced at him, ”Found it. Mind your business.”

”You didn’t even share one with me.”

”No more. Just had two, one for the Commander and one for me. Anyway, you don’t smoke, do you?”

After a bit of a scuffle, Qin Mian still managed to snag one from Gangdan.

Su Huan held the cigarette in his mouth, declining Gangdan’s offer to light it for him, smiling as he watched the two of them tussle, taking inexpert puffs of smoke.

”Cough cough...”

”If you can’t, don’t force it.”

”Cough cough, Commander, what’s it like outside?”

The sudden question shifted the car’s atmosphere, and Gangdan nervously clutched the gear stick.

They had followed Su Huan for so long but never asked a single question about the outside; everyone was both eager and fearful of that answer.

After a long while, Su Huan softly spoke.

”Many have died, and many dangers await.”

”Then my parents probably didn’t survive either. They didn’t know how to do anything, so I’m relieved.”

Qin Mian exhaled deeply, as if letting go of something.

A convoy of vehicles stopped beside him; number three and the Elder Marshal approached him.

Number three marveled, ”It’s my first time seeing this thing in person.”

The Elder Marshal asked, ”What did you see?”

”Victory!”

”Actually, there was no need to make such a big deal of this...”

The Elder Marshal turned his head, calmly saying, ”You shouldn’t feel too much pressure. It was our choice, and at most, you’re just a catalyst.”

Gazing at the old man’s resolute and peaceful eyes, Su Huan fell silent.

The troops silently began to set up, and three flags were erected before them.

As the flags unfurled, a faint scent of blood drifted from them; the flags standing at the top fluttered without wind.

The Elder Marshal, pointing at the three flags with some pride, introduced them to Su Huan, ”These three flags have been through two battles but haven’t been stained with a speck of dirt! As long as these three flags stand here, two million soldiers will advance without retreat!”

Su Huan felt the soft earth beneath his feet, layers upon layers buried, and looked up at the three flags against the black hole, his narrow eyes slightly blinking, ”I am eagerly anticipating it.”