Armed Train in the Apocalypse

The off-road vehicle screeched to a halt in front of the sheep soup shop.

The driver opened the car door and used it as cover for a quick shot.

Violent electric currents spread like a spider web from under the feet of the man in a black shirt with long hair. In the dazzling display, the man threw out more than a dozen grenades, forcibly suppressing the overwhelming tide of corpses.

Just as he was about to speak, the man turned his remarkably long sniper rifle towards him.

The sniper rifle, which was a full 1.8 meters long, had a muzzle flickering with faint electric arcs.

Staring down the barrel, Lin Jin felt like all the blood in his body had frozen, his mind replaying the moment the bloodhound was torn apart by the sniper rifle.

He was completely frozen in place.

When he saw the slowly relaxing corners of the mouth behind the scope, it felt like stepping into thin air, his entire being plummeting into a chill that enveloped him endlessly.

The atmosphere instantly became stagnant.

Su Huan couldn't bring himself to smile now, truly, not a bit.

He even suspected that "Pan-energy Perception" had relayed false battle reports to him.

Because the clean, clear-eyed, yet cautious young man before him, who even through a high-magnification scope looked just like the Lin Jin in his memory, was a Tier One Evolver.

Recently evolved with unstable energy, but possessing limitless potential as a Tier One "Fire Bringer," and a future Tier Five "Flame Lord"!

As everyone knew, except for Defenders, Evolvers in the other four fields required a large amount of pan-energy to evolve.

Meaning they needed to devour a large number of pan-energy crystals.

But at this time, Lin Jin was just an ordinary Servant Soldier on the outskirts of the Steel Council, where did he get pan-energy crystals to use?

And he wasn't a gatherer; could he have relied on devouring hearts to get by?

This was also why Su Huan fell silent the moment he laid eyes on him.

The words he had prepared to show off were left unsaid, and those pesky zombies were closing in again.

Su Huan shot a glance at the ponderous Butcher, let a shot fly, blue light flickered, and the Butcher fell with a thud, casting a brief sideways glance at the dazed Lin Jin, "Do I need to invite you to get in the car?"

Seeing that he didn't seem intent on killing him, Lin Jin weighed his options and quickly climbed into the car.

Unexpectedly, there was a girl in the backseat, and he nodded as a greeting.

"Bang—"

Before he could sit securely, the door slammed shut.

The driver suddenly changed direction and floored the gas pedal, the powerful thrust pinning them firmly inside the car.

The off-road vehicle sped off like a wild horse set loose.

Electric light flickered across the car's body, and the bloodhounds and zombies rushing forward were paralyzed by the electric shock, then left behind.

After a few dozen seconds, Su Huan finally climbed into the front passenger seat.

The car was filled with the roar of the engine and silence, with Mountain Goat continuously observing Lin Jin through the rearview mirror, his mind swirling with absurd thoughts.

Could this entire war be just for the young man behind him who wielded fire?

"How many pan-energy crystals did you use?"

In the front passenger seat, Su Huan sat back in the chair, resting the sniper rifle on the window, squinting as he appraised Lin Jin.

In camouflage clothing, with a raincoat over it, dressed just as he had been when Su Huan saved him in their past life.

The injuries were the only difference.

The Lin Jin of the last life was far worse off, with major burns covering his body, blind in one eye, whereas now it seemed only his right hand and arm were burned, and his neck was slightly red.

He had previously thought he had used a powerful skill to go down with the foe.

Now it appeared more like the high-risk method he used to ascend ranks at the Mojiang Bridge, compressing high energy.

Lin Jin hesitated for a moment, "Are you referring to the crystals the size of a pinky nail?"

"Yes."

"Only one."

Su Huan paused before asking again, "What day did you use it?"

"Two days ago, on the night of January 5th."

Lin Jin answered cautiously, observing Su Huan's odd expression, making him suddenly anxious.

Looking at his four Evolver comrades previously, they didn't seem as powerful as him, could it be he used the wrong method and overextended his life force?

But he didn't know he had actually overextended the conductor's imagination for a genius.

Lin Jin asked carefully, "Is there a problem?"

"Heh, no problem."

Su Huan tugged at the corners of his mouth, displaying a fake smile with three parts ridicule, five parts indifference, and two parts self-deprecation.

He was completely numb.

In two days.

From absorbing an ordinary pan-energy crystal to awakening, and then solely relying on combat to evolve to Tier One.

And Lin Jin, from Tier One to Five, took under four years altogether.

During the same period, Master Eight just barely reached Tier Three!

He finally understood how Lin Jin became the only S-rank team leader of the Steel Council in his past life.

It was all entirely talent!

If there was even a drop of sweat involved, the conductor would kneel and lick his feet!

A lone person propping up a top-tier power!

Upon witnessing such talent firsthand, Su Huan even felt that the Steel Council was unworthy of Lin Jin, even if they were serving as logistics in the back.

Yet greater doubts arose.

Why did the past life Lin Jin, who was clearly Tier Five, set that great fire in the Steel Council?

With his status and power in the Steel Council then, couldn't he protect a mere Tier One Evolver?

Looking at the face before him slowly overlapping with the man in Su Huan's memory, eyes ablaze with fiery intensity.

"Su Huan, the next time we meet, I'll pave the way for you at the end of Purgatory."

What did this phrase mean?

Various doubts filled Su Huan's mind, feeling just a thin sheet of paper away from the truth, yet unable to pierce it without key information.

All things were yet to happen, with the man who knew the truth sitting before him, but his eyes were clear and cautious like those of a college student.

No answers were forthcoming even if he asked.

This stifling feeling drove Su Huan close to madness, his left hand pulling the trigger, the cool blue beam flashing and taking down a leaping Night Demon, while his right hand clawed through his hair, smoothing back and suppressing all emotion.

Baring his teeth, he put on a wide, toothy grin, "By the way, do you know who I am?"

Lin Jin glanced at the driver, then cautiously scrutinized Su Huan, "Elite Warrior from the company?"

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Su Huan's eyes twinkled with amusement, patting Mountain Goat on the shoulder as he drove, "You're not exactly wrong, actually, we do fight alongside the company's elite warriors."

Lin Jin breathed a sigh of relief; it was good they were on the same side.

Mistaking the car would have been quite troublesome.

But he didn't notice the strange expression on the girl's face beside him, trying not to laugh.

The off-road vehicle sped off quickly, ramming and charging under Su Huan's extensive control, breaking through their encirclement in three to five minutes.

Ahead, a group of Steel Council soldiers enforcing a perimeter came into view, and Lin Jin was just about to disembark.

When he saw Su Huan's seat back suddenly tilt backward, his whole body almost laying flat in the vehicle, the prodigiously long sniper rifle stock nearly pushed against his face, the muzzle aimed at the windshield of a vehicle ahead, and under Lin Jin's horrified gaze, he pulled the trigger.

The straight beam pierced through the vehicle and driver ahead harshly, driving the entire vehicle into a side storefront.

Su Huan tilted his head slightly, eyeing Lin Jin's hand on his stock askew.

"What, do you want to take a shot too?"