Armed Train in the Apocalypse

The gangplank was steep, and Su Yi walked in the front, occasionally looking back at his younger siblings.

Before climbing up, he saw a young man reaching out to assist him.

Su Yi looked up, readily placing his small hand in the young man’s hand, ”Good morning, Uncle Liu.”

”Good morning, Little Su Yi, but today you should call me Mr. Liu.”

Liu Yu cheerfully lifted the little ones up.

Su Yi was somewhat surprised; he often saw Liu Yu at the family dining table and was familiar with him, but he didn’t expect him to be his teacher.

He obediently called him Mr. Liu, then stood by, waiting for the handover between Liu Yu and his mother.

After the exchange, he followed Liu Yu to the train school.

Little Su Li was a bit shy, holding onto his sister Su Yan’s hand as they walked behind. However, Su Yi was talkative, not matching his age, and kept asking Liu Yu questions about the school.

There wasn’t any exaggerated entrance ceremony, just asking the three little ones to introduce themselves briefly, but to Su Yi, everything was novel. It was his first time seeing so many children around his age or slightly different.

The train school was on the upper level of the Cultivation Pod, a fan-shaped area with varying heights, somewhat like a university’s tiered lecture hall but not as steep, with large transparent glass panes on both sides and overhead. Looking out, various fairy-tale-like colorful plants surrounded the school, with rustling Crown Pear Trees above.

There was no winter desolation at all, and even the temperature was much more comfortable than outside.

Children sat in the front to make it easier for teachers to watch over them, while the older ones sat further back.

The middle of the classroom was already cleared, with Su Yan and Su Li sitting together, and Su Yi behind them.

He hadn’t even sat down when Su Yi saw a few older kids winking and waving at them.

They were Qi Cheng and Qi Yu from Master Eight’s family, Sister Ya, and Liu Qiyue, who was a year older than him, all his usual playmates. However, Su Yi remembered his mother’s advice and didn’t acknowledge their greetings, instead obediently sitting in the seat assigned by the teacher.

Beside him sat a girl two or three years older, with a slightly thin face, wearing a blue T-shirt, her lips pursed as she stared at the teacher, not looking at Su Yi.

The first lesson in the morning quite surprised little Su Yi, as it was not about the pinyin or literacy and arithmetic his mother had mentioned, but rather about learning how to ”eat.”

The curriculum of the train school was not designed by Liu Yu and Lu Yu, who were not experts, but by old professors from several large laboratories. Besides learning knowledge, the important thing was to teach them how to survive in the current environment.

In the apocalypse, knowing how to ”eat” was the foremost priority.

Liu Yu presented three similar plants, first explaining them, then letting each child touch them, and finally telling them which were inedible, which were edible, and how to eat the edible parts.

Though practicing it himself was painful, Liu Yu’s lectures were very interesting, and Su Yi was fascinated.

The first lesson passed without him realizing it.

The second lesson was even simpler. Liu Yu and Lu Yu directly took them to the nearby Cultivation Pod Park to find these plants, equivalent to practicing what they learned in the previous theoretical class.

Even Liu Qiyue, who disliked studying the most, could easily find the plants specified by the teacher.

Su Yi refused the help of Qi Cheng and the others, venturing into the thicket to explore. As he walked, he wandered beneath the Crown Pear Trees, where not a single snowflake fell, and the temperature was a comfortable ten degrees above zero.

While searching, he suddenly saw Sister Ya sitting next to a strange little tree.

The small grass above slightly swayed, her expression relaxed and gentle.

Su Yi was a bit surprised; usually, Sister Ya seemed carefree, and this was the first time he saw her in such a state.

He hesitated about whether to come out and greet her.

Before he could decide, Sister Ya waved the plant in her hand at him and exclaimed, ”What are you doing hiding there? Have you found the plant the teacher wants?”

Su Yi came out, shaking his head, ”Not yet.”

”Here you go.”

Sister Ya handed the plant in her hand to Su Yi.

”I don’t want it. If you give it to me, Sister Ya, you won’t be able to turn in your assignment.”

Su Yi said seriously.

Sister Ya lightly shook her head, the little grass atop swaying along, and smiled, ”It’s fine, I’m an older kid. I’ve already taken this course. Whether I find it or not doesn’t matter.”

”But...”

Su Yi was still a bit hesitant.

Sister Ya stood up, dusting off her clothes, ”Then I’ll help you find it.”

Saying this, she didn’t give Su Yi a chance to refuse, holding his hand as they walked deeper into the plant cluster.

The tall Crown Pear Tree swayed its canopy, a strand of pure Life Force spreading throughout the botanical garden below. The plants absorbed little, while most of it fell upon the children, quietly merging into them as they ran and played.

By the time they had played enough, this lesson had easily passed.

The tripled-duty personnel from the combat group breathed a sigh of relief, as did the staff led by Li Han in the Cultivation Pod, and those like Huang Sea who came to assist.

Liu Yu and the others, who had learned their lesson after being punished last time, now held the practical lessons within the train.

This troubled Li Han and the others, as they had to move dangerous evolved plants away or process them harmlessly a day before each class, and then move them back after each lesson.