Armed Train in the Apocalypse-Chapter 364 - 246: Chasing the Whale

"I worked from the age of twenty-six until I was fifty-four, saving up for a house, a car, and now they’re all gone... Who wouldn’t feel heartbroken..."

"Everything’s gone, the house, the car, even my wife and kids."

"Now there’s nothing left..."

"I spent my whole life driving trucks from dawn till dusk, and in the end, I have nothing."

The person who had initially retorted felt a bit uneasy and said, "But we’re still alive, aren’t we? In such a major disaster, nobody expected this time would come..."

"Exactly, if I had known earlier, I would have spent all my savings!"

"..."

"Ugh, being alive is really fucking useless..."

The man on the top bunk let out a few dry coughs with his head tilted back.

His face was streaked with tears.

His hoarse voice was filled with deep confusion.

He dared not think of his wife’s face, even deliberately trying to blur past memories, otherwise, he would lose even the courage to live.

But every time he inadvertently remembered, it felt like a dull knife slicing him, leaving him bleeding.

That’s how it is when you get older; memories increase, while the future diminishes.

Everyone felt a similar sorrow, yet neither refuted nor agreed.

The apocalypse was just a revelry for a very few, extremely few, ambitious people, bringing only pain to most, and nothing but pain. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Let’s talk about something interesting, that earlier topic was good. If you knew the end of the world was coming, what would you do?"

If it were something else, the people inside the underwater train wouldn’t have had the mood to pay attention, but at this mention, everyone’s mind subconsciously turned.

Even though such fantasies couldn’t save their current situation.

But, like hope, it always managed to keep people’s spirits moving forward.

The man watching the emergency lights had his eyes flicker.

What if... you knew the apocalypse was coming, what would you do?

"I would find a high place and stockpile a bunch of food..."

"What’s the point of hoarding food? Haven’t you heard that saying, ’neighbors hoard grain, I stockpile guns, and the neighbors become my granary’! If it were me, I’d take the opportunity to do something big..."

Someone immediately mocked, "With our organization’s response speed, you would probably be locked up before the apocalypse even hits."

"Isn’t it all about money? Aren’t there plenty of ways?"

"Get money to build a shelter?"

"No! Get a train, arm it! Then stockpile it with food, I want to take my wife and kids and run far away!"

The man who had been quietly listening suddenly spoke up.

Everyone was stunned and looked at each other.

"Isn’t that the armed train we’re on?"

"You don’t say, that’s actually a good idea, but how can you manage such a large train by yourself? This requires organization..."

"I heard the original members of the armed train were only two people."

Someone suddenly chimed in with a bit of information.

Everyone was taken aback and began to argue.

"It’s impossible for such a large train to have only two people; the modifications on this train couldn’t be done without a large team. Did you make up this information with your ass?"

"It’s not that the entire train had only two people; it was the original core members, the conductor and the driver, Liang Kuan, who then gradually expanded it to its current size."

The person retorted earnestly.

Seeing him so confident, everyone was half-believing and half-doubting.

"So how do you know?"

The silhouette sitting in the corner scooted closer to the light, revealing a slightly thin face.

It bore a reserved and modest smile.

He actually didn’t want to come out and face all these, but the train had fallen into a crisis, and the medical car’s equipment was all shut down.

So he came out, though now he’s seen the conductor, carrying a huge mission.

But his real status is just one notch above the survivors.

He’s gotten used to blending in with the survivors.

"I’m Zhang Qiang, an old passenger..."

Everyone suddenly realized and immediately gathered around.

"Then why don’t you tell us more about how the armed train and the conductor started out."

"No problem."

At first Zhang Qiang was a bit nervous, but became increasingly fluent as he went on, almost like Liu Ming possessed him, even the man on the top bunk was drawn into Zhang Qiang’s storytelling.

More accurately, he was drawn by the ruthless story of the conductor’s rise.

Everyone exclaimed repeatedly, the result being the carriage filled with cries of "Holy shit".

Everyone listened with excitement, eager to take his place.

"By the way, brother, what did you used to do?"

Someone suddenly asked.

Zhang Qiang was about to say he collected rent, but what came out was, "I held an iron rice bowl over at Dongping City."

"Everyone here, want to join the Tongzhou Association?"

"... The important thing is, we common people need to unite, help each other."

"We should stand up and protect ourselves in our own way!"

...

Su Huan was still engrossed in the thrilling ordeal of catching whales, unaware that Zhang Qiang had already taken the position inside the auxiliary train.

Ever since the armed train emerged from the water chasing the whale, the power of the whirlpool gradually weakened.

The whale manipulated the water to block the train, but inevitably disturbed the surrounding whirlpool.

Although the train was battered by the waves, without the terrible suction of the whirlpool, its momentum became even more impressive.

Sparks flew and electricity crackled as they relentlessly pursued the giant whale.

By the time everyone realized, they had already escaped the whirlpool’s range.

The giant whale felt its life force draining, its calls becoming increasingly desperate.

The whale calls had long lost their initial energy, each cry becoming a lament, not a threat but a plea.

It used all its tactics, but its crucial water control was completely countered by the "strip" that controlled electricity behind it.

Water not only failed to stop it, but even allowed the electricity to strike its head faster and more accurately.

Thinking it would be better out of the water, it ended up getting struck three times by lightning from the clouds above, thinning out the cloud layers.

The giant whale became weak and lifeless.

"The train’s damage level is at 76%, we need to dock for repairs immediately!"

The glasses man was draped over the explosives box, clutching an exposed connection wire and shouting.

Su Huan’s gaze shifted to Xiaoba beside him.

The latter used a crisscrossing steel frame to support the entire train’s engine, otherwise, it would have shattered during the collision.

Xiaoba exhaled tiredly, and resolutely told Su Huan, "I can still hold on."

"Isn’t there an island in the center of the lake, drive the giant whale there."

Su Huan said calmly.

Glasses had nothing more to say; he knew it would be like this.

Initially, everyone was worried about being blown up or dragged underwater to drown as the train was torn apart.

But inexplicably, under the conductor’s lead, they burst out of the trap.

Was the conductor strong?

Very strong.

But was this ability meant to be used like this?

That terrifying whirlpool seemed to do no harm to the train.

The greatest damage came from the collisions with the giant whale.

After that, the whale lost the courage to fight, starting to flee.

It ran, he chased.

It ran again, he chased again.

The journey out was a wild confusion.

The train surfaced, gravity returned to normal, Professor Ma gave up holding up the explosives box by levitation.

Glasses led the staff, painstakingly climbing back to their posts, starting to coordinate the train for tracking and maneuvering.

"Do we report the damage?"

A crew member suddenly asked.

Glasses turned to look at the conductor, crackling with determination.

He adjusted the broken side of his glasses, "There’s no time now, just tally it up, don’t report the damage, only report what’s related to the giant whale."

Soon, the staff responsible for generic energy monitoring shouted, "Ten kilometers away, there’s a large generic energy reaction, roughly human-sized."

Everyone was suddenly invigorated, the staff responsible for the map cross-referenced and excitedly announced, "We have reached the center of Jingchao Lake!"

"Launch the drones!"

"Blow it all up!"

"And the backups?"

"We blew up the backups, the new ones are still in storage, installation will take some time."

"Forget it, check how many good onboard cameras there are; project their footage onto the command platform."

"..."

Su Huan looked down at the screen beside his hand.

Amidst the water mist, the giant whale leapt out of the sea, and the distant island faintly appeared.

(Got up at four-thirty this morning, set out at five, returned by nine at night, new car performing well, everything went smoothly. Besides the updates, driving all day and still having to write is truly dispiriting.)