Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 592 - 357: Beating in the Chest_2

Soon, other soldiers gathered around, tearing through the wall of fire to "escort" Ma Hongyu onto the train.After two quick disinfection procedures, Ma Hongyu, wearing only shorts, finally entered the train. Within a minute, this chatterbox of a man had already critiqued various devices and designs on the train and had started guessing the designer’s thought process.

The soldier behind him opened their helmet, revealing a pair of lively cat ears and platinum beast-like eyes.

The soldier who captured her was actually a mongoose.

Ma Hongyu looked a bit surprised, "You’re a ’Beastified’ type ’Defender’, aren’t you worried about letting me in when the train captain isn’t here, afraid I’ll sabotage from within?"

"I’ve heard we caught a big fish."

Following a rough voice came a muscular man, as strong as a bear, carrying an exaggerated anti-aircraft gun on his shoulder. The corridor, which was originally spacious enough for Power Armor, seemed incredibly narrow before him.

He Jie sized up Ma Hongyu, resting the gun’s muzzle on his shoulder, and chuckled sinisterly, "I heard you wanted to cause internal sabotage?"

Feeling the same Tier Two Evolver aura from the other, Ma Hongyu’s expression immediately tensed, awkwardly replying, "Just saying, are you the train captain?"

"He’s not."

A calm voice came from behind, as two figures taller than He Jie squeezed in, "Four-armed Fierce Ghost" Han Lie and "Flesh Colony" Zhao Kuo, two puppet warriors.

Seeing those who came later, Ma Hongyu’s face changed completely, "Four Tier Twos, wait, no, those two... are dead? Puppets?"

Yu Jing said indifferently, "And they have an extremely high resistance to sound."

Ma Hongyu smiled bitterly and touched his nose, "Is it really necessary, I don’t have any hostility towards you."

"Whether you have hostility or not isn’t up to you."

Lin Jin also walked in from the ceiling, followed by a young man in a wheelchair, and at the back was a sharp-eyed youth carrying a steel tank.

At this point, all five Tier Two creatures on the train were gathered here.

Their energies clashed, rubbed against each other, each occupying a corner, making the air in the carriage three times denser.

Their decision was simple—if Ma Hongyu dared to act up, all five would crush him on the spot!

No chance given!

Ma Hongyu touched his tangled beard and said seriously, "I admit I underestimated you a bit. Just relying on Ghost Umbrella Mushrooms can’t beat you, but the Spore Zone is a Celestial Disaster Zone. If you get entangled with the mushrooms too long, during the digestion phase, even if the number of Tier Two Evolvers is tenfold, you won’t come out alive."

He Jie’s thick eyebrows furrowed together, "Ghost Umbrella Mushrooms are those moving mushrooms outside? Are they the dominant creatures of the Spore Zone? What does digestion phase mean?"

"No, Ghost Umbrella Mushrooms are just one of the mushroom groups entrenched here. There are dozens of mushroom groups in the Spore Zone, just from what I know. Ghost Umbrella Mushrooms are one of the four stronger groups, characterized by hallucination and fast reproduction. Their battle mushrooms..."

"Ah, they’re here."

A loud explosion sounded from outside.

They looked outside, and the Ghost Umbrella Mushrooms, previously burned into retreat, gathered again. The original 1.2-meter tall small mushrooms were gone, replaced by 1.6-meter tall larger mushrooms where the color had deepened and they were more fire-resistant than ordinary mushrooms.

Able to push through flames toward the train.

Besides these, several new types of mushrooms appeared, most notably giant mushrooms over ten meters tall. If not for the Fungus Carpet lessening the vibration, their movements would shake the ground. The explosion sound earlier was from soldiers using grenades to blast one over.

Additionally, there were those that could eject spores, and others that would suicidally crash onto the train.

A Tier One Evolver soldier wearing Power Armor was nearly knocked off the train by a mushroom.

Yet the most terrifying was the sheer number of mushrooms; the 1.5-kilometer-long train was under attack simultaneously!

"What’s the digestion phase?"

Yu Jing asked.

Ma Hongyu pointed to the Fungus Carpet outside, "This thing is alive; mushrooms growing too much will consume huge amounts of energy from the Spore Zone. So at regular intervals, the Fungus Carpet will recycle some mushrooms to replenish energy."

"Time until next digestion phase?"

"Unfortunately, based on the mushroom group count, there should be a day and a half left."

Their expression slightly changed, though they hadn’t seen it firsthand, the vast Fungus Carpet moving would definitely be a calamity.

He Jie questioned, "Then how did you survive?"

Ma Hongyu laughed self-deprecatingly, "I was once the leader of a force, the leader of a hundred thousand-strong force, but now not a single living person is by my side. Do you think my survival methods will work for you?"

’Top-tier force!’

This term was like a tombstone weighing heavily on the hearts of the five.

Though the armed train had defeated many top-tier forces, it didn’t mean Black Kite was weak!

The train had never truly destroyed any major force, let alone a top-tier one.

Yet a single upheaval in the Celestial Disaster Zone could easily wipe out one, can the train withstand it?

"But there’s no need to worry, killing mushrooms will also delay the digestion phase’s arrival. Like what you’re killing now, it can delay by about ten minutes?"

Ma Hongyu shrugged as he said.

The atmosphere grew stagnant.

He Jie gave a signal to the group, and they retreated, leaving Zhong You to guard Ma Hongyu.

They gathered at the train’s secondary cabin, a highly sealed battle room.

He Jie couldn’t resist taking out a cigarette and lighting it, "That’s the situation, the train captain isn’t on board, you all speak your minds."

Xiaoba instinctively looked at others, Yu Jing seemed lost in thought, and the two puppet warriors wouldn’t speak at all.

Lin Jin contemplated, "We need to buy time for the train captain."

He Jie took a drag from his cigarette and smiled, "So it means fighting."

Lin Jin affirmed, "We must fight, at least get that digestion time down to under two days!"

He Jie pinched the cigarette out with two fingers, "For this battle, you’re the main force. Kill well, let those damn mushrooms know who the real boss of this land is!"

Within a few words, the two men set the tone.

Yu Jing coolly added, "One colony might not be enough, ask Ma Hongyu, broaden the target."

...

When Lin Jin released the first pillar of fire, Su Huan saw it.

This energy-consuming pillar of fire was intended for him to see.

"The train is under attack!"

Yu Yue furrowed her delicate eyebrows.

Watching the pillar of fire, Lu Xiao felt a chill in his heart.

If he returned now, Miao Qi would never wait for their rescue.

But the train is everyone’s home; with it under attack, can he stop them from going back?

On one side is the woman, on the other, the foundation everyone lives upon.

Even facing Xiaoma, who had been following him, Lu Xiao couldn’t say otherwise.

For a moment, Lu Xiao’s mind blanked.

He dared not recall anything related to Miao Qi.

Clearly, their relationship was one of mutual convenience, temporary. He had never made any promises to Miao Qi, they got through the days as needed, yet for some reason, his heart felt hollow, a black hole emerged, pulling him down relentlessly.

The heavy and suffocating feeling made the wounds from his chest surgery faintly ache, blood vessels in his sclera formed a web of red, like a blood pool.

"Ha, roasting mushrooms behind me."

Su Huan said indifferently, then turned his head calmly and continued chasing ahead.

The soldiers didn’t hesitate, striding to catch up.

Lu Xiao’s eyes widened, his body stiffened in place.

Xiaoma patted his shoulder, "Going to save Sister Qi, catch up, Brother Xiao!"

"Mm!"

Lu Xiao turned and dashed out, instantly surpassing all soldiers, second only to the train captain, once again feeling his heart come alive.

It thumped in his chest cavity.

[Zhijin side story axed, along with some Genetic Primordial plot. Currently Mirror is cooperating with experiments as a captive at Director Xu’s, scenes will be rearranged for future appearance]