"But after the apocalypse, during this period of combat, I feel some configurations need to change. The core position should be handed over to reconnaissance, that is, perception-type Evolvers."
Su Huan agreed, "Thatâs the brain of the team, firepower + reconnaissance, thatâs two already, what about the remaining three?"
"A medic has to take one spot. Besides combat, they can also handle material collection work. Most medics are âScavengersâ; they know more about mutated plants and what materials can be collected."
"Not bad."
"The remaining two..."
He Jie looked up at Liang Kuan, and said gravely, "I want to assign each team a pure âFighting Masterâ like Old Liang."
Liang Kuan was slightly surprised, but only for a moment.
Su Huan glanced at the two and chuckled silently.
Obviously, Liang Kuan had left a deep impression on He Jie.
Embracing violence is a manâs nature.
And to some extent, Liang Kuan was the embodiment of violence.
"Liang Kuan is an exception. Youâve interacted with Zhong Cheng from the Steel Council; other âFighting Mastersâ canât match his level, and to be precise, Liang Kuanâs profession is also different from a âFighting Master.â
"I know, but we need a melee Evolver in the team; otherwise, leaving the train, once other Evolvers get close it would be instant death."
"Alright, whatâs the last one?"
"âEngineerâ"
A clear voice came from the corridor.
The metallic door opened, and a tall figure in a white-scaled tactical suit walked in, instantly grabbing everyoneâs attention.
The outer layer of the tactical suit was a dark gray exoskeleton, resembling the [Engineer-I type] by sixty or seventy percent, but it was much more restrained, not as tall as before, and some layouts had changed, evidently a complete redesign.
"Sister Jing looks so cool..."
He Zhenzhenâs eyes almost sparkled.
He Jie glanced over somewhat jealously, unable to look away.
"Is this the new exoskeleton?"
Yu Jingâs eyes scanned around the room and then landed on the white porcelain cup on the coffee table placed by Su Huan. Her phoenix-like eyes slightly tilted up, as if locking onto prey.
A few steps forward, she drank Su Huanâs honey grapefruit tea in one gulp, sat next to him, and lightly responded.
"[Engineer-II type], just rushed it out, some engineering parts havenât been installed yet, just brought it out for the first phase of testing."
Su Huan looked at his emptied cup, "Didnât you say the research just made progress? How did a finished product come out so quickly?"
"The supercomputer was very powerful, parameters that originally wouldâve taken a long time to calculate were done in a day, the remaining manufacturing and assembly didnât take long."
He Jie coughed lightly, his eyes shining as he looked at the exoskeleton, "When can it be mass-produced?"
"The Engineer series wonât be mass-produced, itâs only for engineering use."
"Train Captain, this is a great thing, far better than that âScavengerâ. If soldiers were equipped with it, overall combat power would increase by at least thirty percent." He Jie turned to Su Huan and said.
Su Huan moodily rolled up his pant leg, showing the exoskeleton fitted on his calf, "Iâm still wearing the âScavengerâ one, strictly speaking, combat exoskeletons havenât been developed yet."
"Soon." Yu Jing blinked her eyes, "A month later when the âEngineer-II typeâ is produced, the combat exoskeleton will also be available."
"Wasnât it faster previously?"
He Jie wondered a bit.
"It was modification before, now itâs entirely self-developed and self-produced, being able to reach this speed is already impressive."
Yu Jing explained.
Su Huan was non-committal, as his power grew, exoskeletons became less and less valuable to him, only useful to develop his subordinates, so his interest wasnât high.
"Letâs continue the previous discussion, after we finish, itâll be about time to eat."
Yu Jing said indifferently, "Just happened to hear this, when the Armed Corps discussed this issue before, Director Xu also called me, and the final profession was set as âEngineerâ."
He Jie nodded, "Yes, the last position needs to control a large amount of machinery, vehicles, electronic devices, thinking it over, only an âEngineerâ has this capability, and Director Xu spoke of multiple evolution paths for âEngineersâ."
Su Huan was well aware of the evolution paths for âEngineers.â
The evolution database on this train, apart from Deep Blue Data and the Steel Council, was all provided by him.
"Seems like there are no âManipulatorsâ and âPower Suppliersâ?"
He Jie explained, "After discussions with experts, we found the âControllersâ ability is impressive, but too uncontrollable. If we want a stable organization, it has to come from replicable professions, so most of these five people come from âDefenders,â âScavengers,â âMakers,â and only when the conditions are met for âControllersâ and âPower Suppliers,â will they be considered..."
"In summary, firepower suppression, medical harvesting, reconnaissance analysis, close combat, mechanical operation..."
....
In the dining car, while Su Huan and He Jie discussed the future evolution paths for the Armed Corps.
Shu Wei in the room also slowly woke up, instinctively reaching around.
Picked up the tactical tablet and swiped it a few times casually.
Suddenly remembered Su Huanâs instructions before leaving, furrowed his brow.
Opened the log of the system upgrade failure, tapping away underneath it for a long while.
Used the trainâs internal connection channel and called Car No. 12.
"Hello Professor Ma, this is Secretary Shu Wei, applying for one-minute communication enhancement... Yes, itâs already filed, there should be a procedure approval record from the Train Captain on your personal terminal..."
Seeing the communication icon light up, Shu Wei bit his lower lip, sending out a negotiation letter almost like a challenge.
âArrogant man.â
Shu Wei sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling as the sheet slipped down, white dazzling to the eyes.
....
Storm Zone, Black Kite Headquarters.
A room roughly one hundred and eighty square meters is embedded in the cliff, with excellent house design making every corner bright with sunlight, yet not scorching enough to make anyone uneasy.
The roomâs decor mostly used a deep yellow wood-grain wall panel, with edges a black piano lacquer gloss integrated tile.
It doesnât feel like itâs built on a cliffside, rather it feels like an upscale community before the apocalypse.
No kitchen in the room, but there was a black walnut side cabinet with Mr. Shu, gray-haired at the temples, fiddling with hand-brewed coffee.
Suddenly, a blue light lit up on the edge of the cabinet.
Mr. Shu frowned, "Xiaoyi, open the door."
Moments later, a voice similar to Wang Yiâs by seventy percent suddenly said, "Okay, Brother Xin, opening the door for you."
The voice was lively and pleasant, a voice source recorded by Wang Yi in her younger days.
The electronic door silently opened, a tall secretary stood respectfully at the door and said, "Miss has replied."
Mr. Shu, while running the coffee machine, asked, "Where is she?"
"Armed train."
Mr. Shu paused, "How is the negotiation going?"
"The armed train has agreed to negotiate with us, but the time is undecided."
In the room, there was only the sound of coffee falling into the cup, after a while, Mr. Shuâs hoarse voice sounded.
"At least not entirely useless."
The secretary continued, "Madam wishes to see you."
"Probably just to scold me again."
Mr. Shu sighed.
The secretary remained silent at this.
"Xiaoyi."
"Whatâs wrong, Brother Xin, are you unhappy?"
The voice carried a hint of youthful playfulness and softness.
"Youâre always making me feel like this now."
"Sorry, Brother Xin, did I do something wrong... Xiaoyi wonât do it next time, donât be mad, okay?"
With a "bang" sound.
The freshly made coffee, along with the cup, was thrown into the sink.
Mr. Shu wiped his hands with a towel, "Help me schedule with Number Four."
"Number Four Director is not currently at headquarters, unable to schedule."
The secretary replied.
Mr. Shu frowned, "Who is currently available?"
"Number Two Director."