Armed Train in the Apocalypse

When the slightly burning sand was blown onto his body, Su Huan felt as if he were in another world.

In all the cycles of memory, the zone he was most familiar with was the Storm Zone, where the train had stayed for half a year and a city was built, although not directly by him, yet Zhijin arose because of him.

“Been years since I came, how did it become this barren? Something’s not right. When I was experimenting in the Spore Zone, I occasionally saw people mistakenly entering from here. How did it become all sand? Did the desert blow in? Wasn’t it said that the Storm Zone is adjacent to the Flood Zone, so there shouldn’t be a lack of water…”

Ma Hongyu was muttering behind, voicing his thoughts out loud.

Ah Duo took out the mushroom from her ear, confirmed the environment, found no issues, and put it back. Ordinary plugs couldn’t block Tier Three sound wave class Evolvers, but this mushroom had a special structure with unique chambers that perfectly isolated vibrations.

Su Huan’s expression remained calm, able to endure three years of no sound, he naturally could endure constant noise by his ear.

In some ways, he was indeed the one who understood Ma Hongyu’s chatter the most.

The three walked fifty kilometers towards Zhijin, when the roar of engines came from a distance, accompanied by clinking and clanking, and a small convoy stopped in front of them.

There was an off-road vehicle, two pickups, and several knights on motorcycles.

Compared to three years ago, these vehicles were even more worn out, with scratches everywhere and severely corroded paint. However, there weren’t the flashy graffiti of Western wasteland movies, just sheer wear and tear.

There were some modifications too, like a metal cage at the back of a pickup, holding a dejected mutant beast inside.

“They are Wilderness Hunters,” Ah Duo stepped forward, removing the mushroom from her ear, and explained in a low voice.

Ma Hongyu curiously asked, “Wilderness Hunters? A newly emerged organization?”

Ah Duo shook her head, “People more capable of survival than Scavengers, similar to mercenaries. They survive in the wild through hunting, exploration, or robbery, generally Evolvers with certain combat abilities. They also take on tasks from major powers in exchange for resources.”

There were some things Ah Duo didn’t say; during the Holy Church Army’s expeditions, the most encountered enemies were these vulture-like Wilderness Hunters.

As the Wilderness Hunters across looked at them, Ah Duo emitted a bit of pressure and asked sternly, “What do you want to do?”

Though she was chased by Cheng Zhan to the ends of the earth on the snowy plain, she, after all, had grasped the Rule of [Life] as a Tier Four Defender, brimming with both lethality and vitality.

Just a hint of it sent several knights dropping from their motorcycles, trembling uncontrollably.

Ma Hongyu regretfully muttered, “Theoretically, shouldn’t it be me, the lowest tier, to step up, first humiliating them from up high, giving them a sense of being able to come back for revenge, then when their experts appear, you two then step in as needed, delivering a brutal face-slapping?”

Su Huan’s mouth twitched, “What kind of sense is that?”

“It’s from novels,”

Ma Hongyu defended himself confidently, “I’ve been in that dreary place for so many years, I’d have gone mad if I didn’t find something to do. Can’t scroll through short videos, so I had to resort to novels, and movies, TV dramas. Movies are too short, just about two hours, start to feel it and they’re already over, so novels it was. Hundreds of millions to tens of millions of words, could take weeks or a month to read, sometimes even months, but as time went on, got faster, finishing millions of words within days…”

“Eventually even reading novels lost its luster, so I started researching how to write them. According to my analysis, the classic face-slapping scenes start with an opponent who doesn’t know how powerful we are, then after I give them a thrashing, they gradually reach the ultimate boss, who is best if he knows you, and he bows before you, shocking everyone.”

Su Huan helplessly commented, “You’ve really delved deeply into this.”

“You don’t understand, it’s just surface stuff. It’s essentially creating an imbalance. Imagine, as a dignified train conductor, being troubled by a bunch of little thugs, the readers are naturally upset. When the ultimate boss bows, it compensates for the imbalance, making the readers feel good, soothing the tension, a guaranteed hit?”

“Besides, what Wilderness Hunters do licking blood from the knife’s edge, there will definitely be conflict with us…”

Unable to bear Ma Hongyu’s chatter any longer, Su Huan restricted the energy around him.

All sound was cut off, and finally, there was peace.

The leader of the Wilderness Hunters approached, ignoring Ah Duo’s displayed aura, focusing his gaze on the figure at the back. Seeing those narrow teasing eyes and wild hair, the leader pulled down his glasses and mask, his lips parting to utter three words, “Train Conductor…”

…

Outside Zhijin City, the leader’s excited voice came from the off-road vehicle.

As he drove, he kept glancing at the train conductor in the passenger seat, exuberantly saying, “When Master Rong told us I couldn’t believe it, dozens of convoys were arranged outside the Spore Zone. Master Rong wanted to come himself but we sent him back, couldn’t imagine you’d really return!”

“And I happened to bump into you! If Ah Ke finds out, he’d be furious, hahaha…”

The man’s hearty laughter vibrated the car window glass, as the accompanying knights outside exchanged looks, not expecting the one called Plague Monarch to be so cheerful, personally chauffeuring someone, leaving them wondering what the background of those inside the car was.