"There is no New Eden anymore."
Ah Duo habitually touched the horns on her head and faced Qi Zhendong, "Even though the priests are gone, youâre still no match for me!"
Qi Zhendong sneered, crossing his arms, fully displaying the aura of a Tier One "Manipulator," with a burst of radiance shining from his shoulders.
Iron Old Man is nostalgic, but not foolish.
Those who walked from that era understand better what the gun barrel signifies.
So, the entire shelter almost centered around one person, and that was Qi Zhendong.
Unfortunately, it was still too slow; when Su Huan arrived, Qi Zhendong hadnât reached Tier One yet.
Finally, a few days before departing, he broke through and became a Tier One "Firefly Apostle."
But against the armed train, even a Tier One was of no use.
Even the name and main function were personally told to him by the train conductor.
"We shouldnât be enemies."
After a moment of silence, Ah Duo said.
Qi Zhendong remained unmoved, "That depends on your own choice."
Although the armed train planted many spies in the shelter, bearing this title had nothing bad about it. The train would not interfere with the Qi Family rebuilding Guan Chong, and on this point, Iron Old Man had already reached a consensus with the conductor.
The two had no fundamental conflict of interest.
But he hadnât expected the train to even drop this woman from New Eden.
The trainâs reason for not wanting Ah Duo was simple: her abilities had no research value, and the train didnât lack a Tier One ability user who didnât fit in.
"Donât worry, as long as no one provokes me, I wonât look for trouble."
Ah Duo gave one last glance at the train, now just a small black dot on the water, and turned away.
âThe High Priestâs path was wrong: as modern people, abandoning technology and machines was the biggest mistake.â
âUsing faith to fight oneself, using machines to combat the world, perhaps thatâs the only way to Eden.â
...
Su Huan sat on the trunk of a Crown Pear tree in the cultivation pod, watching half of the logbook being bathed in sunlight, squinting slightly.
Qi Zhendongâs advancement to Tier One didnât surprise him.
The Tier One evolution wave came a year after the end of the world, but before that, there were some exceptionally gifted evolvers.
The Qi Brothers might just be one of them.
The qualitative change caused by quantitative accumulation was no big deal.
What really surprised him a bit was the otherâs profession, a Tier One "Firefly Apostle."
A proper gospel system, akin to his "Perpetual Engine," both belonging to the Mechanical God Cult.
"I wonder if with my interference in this lifetime, the Mechanical God Cult can still become a major force."
Su Huan closed the logbook and jumped off the Crown Pear tree.
"Bang,"
Landing in front of Xiaozhao.
The latter nodded in acknowledgment and then quickly walked down the cultivation pod.
A faint voice was heard.
"...Second inspection of supercomputer hardware, trial run of the cooling system."
Su Huan walked forward along the cultivation podâs passage, seeing that everyone else had work to do, and only he was free to wander, feeling a sense of fulfillment inside.
Before he could enjoy this hard-earned leisure, Shu Wei quickly approached him from behind and whispered.
"The supercomputer is starting up, the voltage might be unstable. We need you to stabilize it."
"Damn!"
...
"April 28th, Water Rising."
"The supercomputer is the brain of the armed train, but this brain occasionally suffers from insufficient blood supply."
While writing, Su Huan suddenly felt the book in front of him float up, and he hurriedly grabbed it. Before he could catch his breath, he found his own seat also lifting.
Then everything in the room that wasnât fixed started to float.
"Warning from the train conductor: The storm and waves are too strong; the armed train will soon roll over. All crew and passengers, please immediately stop work and hold onto surrounding fixed objects..."
The broadcast voice belatedly announced.
Sparks flew from Su Huanâs hands, firmly attaching various objects to their original positions.
"Boomââ"
The giant wave slapped against the train body, transmitting into the carriage.
Su Huan sighed.
Now he understood why other forces were unwilling to permanently reside in the Storm Zone.
In just twenty days, the armed train had encountered two major storms. The train body suffered varying degrees of damage, an internal battery had been forcibly crushed, and stable voltage was out of the question.
However, the director and others, through the tussle with the Flood Zone, had accumulated a lot of train repair experience.
Like the recent rollover, not only does it not damage the train body, but it also helps relieve stress on it. This was the director and the othersâ latest research achievement.
The sound of knocking was heard.
Secretary Shu Wei walked in, placed some fallen small objects back, and handed over a piece of paper.
"The Armed Corps and the combat groupâs uniforms have all been distributed, the new exoskeleton has made progress in development, but mass production is still some time away. Professor Maâs communication device has been reduced to the size of a walkie-talkie, and then thereâs the separate reports from Purser Lao San and Armed Corpsâ He Jie..."
Looking at the large stack of documents in Shu Weiâs hands, Su Huanâs eyelids twitched.
"Canât those two bastards say it over a meal?"
Shu Wei, with a cold tone, said, "They said there is a lot to say, not something to be finished in a sentence or two, so they wrote a formal report."
Su Huan was surprised, "Lao San wrote a paper report?"
"Written on behalf by Hushuo."
"..."
"How far is it to Xiushui City?"
"About a hundred kilometers, should be reached by dawn tomorrow."
After Shu Wei spoke, she held the documents, hands naturally resting at the roots of her thighs.
Although the atmosphere was slightly quiet, after the last incident, Shu Wei always felt she had developed a subtle connection with the train conductor.
Even in silence, it wasnât as unsettling as it had been before.
The train conductor tilted his head, looking at the wall clock, "Itâs ten oâclock, time to eat; letâs put this work aside for now."
Familiar with the conductorâs ways, Shu Wei was not surprised at all, simply saying, "You had breakfast at seven, and morning tea at nine."
"That means Iâve been working for three whole hours. I know youâre going to say I included meal time, but every order I give concerns the lives of everyone on the train; the mental strain is immense. Uh, why are you locking the door, why are you unbuttoning, are you hot..."
Shu Wei, moving her long legs, unbuttoned the front of her shirt collar with one hand, walked directly to the conductor, and blocked his mouth from above.
The cold expression instantly softened, and her light gray eyes quivered softly.
"If talking nonsense helps you relax a little, I think this method might too."
"Acting without instructions."
Su Huan spoke awkwardly.
"Boomââ"
The train started to roll again.
At eleven oâclock, the conductor walked out of the room energized, but this time without the secretary following.
A tall, brawny man was already seated in the dining car, the large solid wood chair under him like a childâs seat.
Liang Kuan was holding an empty military can in hand, forming beautiful folds under the direction of He Zhenzhen.
Several such tin cans had already been arranged beside him.
He Jie sat opposite, busy with the same task.
Seeing Su Huan, He Jie exclaimed in surprise, "You actually stayed in there until eleven today. I thought youâd gone to blow wind on the tree."
Su Huan glanced at the muddy waves outside the window, snorted coldly.
And sat on his ginger cat sofa.
The ginger cat blanket obviously had been washed by Yu Yue, bearing a faint scent of soap and sunshine.
The scent a man carries in childhood is usually determined by the mother.
Whatever the motherâs scent is, thatâs the familyâs scent.
The scent of a child is too.
Growing up, it became the wifeâs scent, except for the faint stench and hormonal heat, nothing was left of him in this home.
Women are strange; wherever they go, they leave their scent on things.
Bedding, clothes, sofas, cups...
Su Huan really liked that sunny scent, so heâd sit there in his leisure.
It brought peace.
"What childish things are you doing?"
The conductor lazily raised an eyebrow.