"You dog, retreat the troops!"

Engineer Ma’s students and supplies were all escorted back to the train. The corpses from the fortress that wanted to help them were deemed unnecessary when it was heard that they were all battle personnel fed with supplies. The shelters modified by Engineer Ma’s school were all abandoned as well.

By nightfall, the off-road vehicles returned fully loaded.

It was then that Su Huan learned about the deception regarding supplies. He merely acknowledged Hu Shuo with a mild nod, indicating his awareness.

But that gentle nod symbolized the fragile balance of Xinma County being shattered; the era of the three-car convoy and two camps was ended.

...

By the next day, twenty thousand survivors suddenly found that among the "Five Giants" above them, only the Xinma Gang remained.

Coupling this with Yu Yue’s widely announced words, the formidable stance of the armed train terrified everyone.

But this uproar only caused half a day’s turmoil.

Although the bloodbath in Xinma County by the armed train was shocking, each scavenger’s first task every day was figuring out how to fill their hungry stomachs. Having half a day to inquire about this matter was already good enough.

If they weren’t worried about being killed by the armed train themselves, they wouldn’t even spare half a day.

Some ambitious individuals also thought their opportunity had arrived.

In an instant, Xinma County saw the formation of dozens of large and small convoys, some without even vehicles, with just a few electric scooters.

The ironclad nature of the armed train frightened some scavengers into fleeing in droves.

The population loss in this part was even higher than those killed by the train.

With scavengers flocking around Zhijin, the presence of the armed train spread to neighboring counties and cities. Some called it the fifth major force in Zhijin, while others said the train was merely passing through and would eventually head towards hell...

The trainmaster didn’t pay attention to these wild rumors circulating in the wilderness. However, Wen Biao diligently compiled daily movements and handed them personally to chief conductor Hu Shuo or secretary Shu Wei every evening.

After collecting debts, the armed train continued trading with scavengers as usual.

But mostly through the Xinma Gang.

The materials they collected were efficient and sincere.

They showed the potential of becoming the number one force in Xinma County.

...

"June 14th, strong winds."

"The day before the scavenger market opened, a black sandstorm engulfed us..."

The armed train was stationed in the heart of Xinma County, flanked by commercial streets five to six stories high.

Dark windows howled like ghostly caves under the sandstorm.

Rows of mechanical arms and whale bones extended to anchor to the ground. Coupled with the terrifying weight of the armored train, even if the black storm toppled several high-rise buildings and buried half the county in sand, it remained unfazed.

After half a year’s accumulation, the armed train finally welcomed its first evolution wave.

According to Director Xu’s observation, it typically takes three to five months for ordinary people to ascend to Tier One when evolution resources are ample. The variation depends mainly on the difficulty of the profession, basic attributes, and the awakening and training of special abilities.

But this conclusion only applies post-apocalypse.

The reason He Jie and his group took over a year to become Tier One Evolvers was due to the unchanged world and insufficient Pan Energy concentration in the air.

More than twenty in the Armed Corps and combat group advanced to Tier One, mostly veteran soldiers caught by the Steel Council.

The recent alignment of evolution resources also played a role.

In the conductor crew, less than ten people evolved. Evolution speed had a certain correlation with pre and post-boarding.

The "Firepower Hand" profession formula provided by Gunfire was jointly recreated by Director Xu and Wan Xing.

Though potion quantities are limited, this is the train’s first batch of self-produced complete Genetic Potions.

A single "Defender" dose, as long as basic attributes and life force are sufficient, can securely become an Evolver.

Wan Xing suspected the potion had success rate issues, but the sample size was too small for testing.

The "Firepower Hand" was officially incorporated as one of the train’s basic professions.

Some Defenders will be directly cultivated in this direction.

The second incorporated profession is "Mechanical Apprentice." Although lacking a stable promotion path, the "Maker" allocated to Yu Jing’s team, frequently exposed to machinery, had a high likelihood of becoming this profession.

The conductor crew also established a fixed profession, Tier One "Charging Expert."

To address the train’s high energy consumption, Hu Shuo temporarily established the charging group as a formal department, led by the "Charging Expert" captured with Shu Wei.

Shu Wei’s dowry was indeed comprehensive.

Every member was an elite selected from all departments of Black Kite.

The value of just this small team exceeded that of a typical Tier Two Evolver.

After tests by Professor Ma and others, Zhou Qing and the teacher basically passed the train’s evaluation, partially solving the train’s talent shortage.

The student’s level was average. However, the apocalypse somewhat honed their hands-on abilities, so Hu Shuo distributed this group of students into various departments of the conductor crew.

A minor personnel expansion.

But the total number still didn’t exceed two thousand.

Last time, the Armed Corps lost over a hundred people, a gap yet to be filled.

According to calculations by Hu Shuo and others, the armed train’s current state could carry a maximum of three thousand people, or it would affect the existing system.

So, even with Wen Biao’s persistent requests, Su Huan didn’t relent.

He only accepted a few talented kids onto the train.

Their ages were generally above thirteen; they were relatively mature due to the cataclysm.

Because there are three teachers from Engineer Ma who are experts in drones, the "Train Hive" suggested by Glasses officially began design.

Yu Jing’s exoskeleton also started progressing slowly.

...

Carriage 1.

"Although there’s a certain reserve of Tier One and Tier Two materials, given the scale of the train, it’s hard to replace everything with Tier One materials all at once and can only be done gradually."

Shu Wei pressed her pen to her forehead and said.

"This is part of the third phase plan, where the entire train will be made of materials above Tier One."

"Alright, the whole train has voted and selected the logo for the armed train."

"Let me see." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Su Huan sat up enthusiastically from the chair.

Though he didn’t care much for logos, during work, everything unrelated to work is interesting. It’s like while coding, even a stain on the mouse was worth researching.

Shu Wei placed the tablet in front of him, presenting a logo.

"The design of this logo uses the early train’s front as the signature shape, with metallic and dark red colors, sprinkled with sharpened elements and rust marks. It has significant tension and received the most votes."

(Armed Train Logo)

Su Huan raised an eyebrow, "Isn’t it a bit complicated?"

"This is the intricate version, there’s also a simplified flat version, and Little Box designed the uniforms’ badges for the Armed Corps and conductor crew based on this logo."

Shu Wei swiped the image.

"What difference does it make? Isn’t it just a color change?" Su Huan said, perplexed.

"The military rank badge needs to maintain consistency, with red windows representing the Armed Corps, colorless windows for the conductor crew, and the horizontal and vertical lines on the train’s head designed to express seventeen military ranks."

(Armed Corps Badge)

(Conductor Crew Badge)

Su Huan blinked, "Alright, just follow this model."

With the growing power, every aspect needed to standardize.

Fortunately, there were professionals to handle it, saving him considerable worry.

Shu Wei put away the tablet, hugged it to her chest, and said coldly, "These are all the matters. I have a meeting later, and I hope you can approve these documents before I return."

Su Huan glanced at the ten-centimeter thick stack of documents, his eyelids twitching.

Unkindly, "Are you ordering me to work?"

Shu Wei sighed, looked at the time, and pinned her hair back up with the pen, "I only have ten minutes."

(I haven’t slept at eight or nine in the evening for a long time, there’s a sense of breaking the taboo. These two days, the King updated the season, and I indulged myself fiercely.)