Apocalypse: I Build A Doomsday Train-Chapter 220 - 215: Booming Business

Hengshan Pass is the first transportation hub city you encounter after crossing the Dazhu Mountain Range into the Yunjiang Plain, significantly larger than Jiazhou City. Due to its unique geographical position, to the north, you can reach Xilan, passing Star Abyss 4 and 5 to reach Quan City. Heading south leads to Qingshui, Lan City, and Haidong; circumventing Star Abyss 7 and 8, you proceed directly east to the main ring of Star, following beyond the Palma Prairie, through the Wei River and Longjiang, until reaching Jin Hai and Star City, which is now renamed Dawn City, the former capital of Dragon Country by the Federation Government.

The train sped along the boundless plains, with daylight fully bright, and no mountains visible in the distance. Along the tracks, some ’not-so-fresh’ zombies began to appear, shriveled and putrid, attracted to the sound, rushing towards the tracks.

As they neared the city entrance, more buildings appeared, and KIKI wasn’t idle, launching a drone to begin observing the situation.

In the other carriages, individuals from Shu Qin Building and others began to prepare. On the way, there appeared quite a few zombies; within the city, there were bound to be more. Coupled with some unknown factors, the entire train was braced for battle.

Within the city, the high-rises grew more numerous, resembling a forest of steel and concrete, appearing desolate under the sunlight. freewebnσvel.cøm

The Black Rain hadn’t reached Yunjiang Plain yet, and on the streets of the long-abandoned city, many green plants had grown. Vines climbed up some low houses, and even some animals darted through the street clogged with abandoned cars. Various ragged zombies wandered, attracted by the sound of the rumbling tracks, letting out low howls.

Various signs were covered with dust, as if after humanity was gone, roads and various facilities had aged rapidly, with railings starting to rust.

Within the Infinity Carriage, many team members leaned against the windows, staring at this unfamiliar city. Unlike Yu Bei City, teeming with zombies, Hengshan Pass seemed like any ordinary city one might encounter in flight, reminding Lin Xian of the feel of Jiang City.

"This place doesn’t seem like it has many people,"

KIKI, observing the outside urban jungle under the bright sunlight, remarked.

"Do you expect to see survivors sunbathing on the rooftops?" Lin Xian responded.

KIKI stretched lazily, "To be honest, after running in the darkness for so long, this kind of weather is indeed perfect for sunbathing."

Lin Xian made no comment, standing up, "We’re about to reach Hengshan Pass Station, prepare yourself."

"Alright, boss."

Clang, clang~

The black heavy train sped past the urban elevated tracks, quickly approaching a large passenger platform where a ring star passenger center was located. As Lin Xian entered the cockpit and took a look, his eyes lit up. In the station, many abandoned trains were parked, some even used as shelters by survivors. However, looking around, all he could see were faded bloodstains and no sign of people.

Hengshan Pass Train Station features an elevated platform situated in the city, thus serving as a natural refuge. However, from the looks of things, the station had also fallen. Interestingly, there wasn’t a single zombie, seemingly cleared out by someone in advance.

Before entering the station, Lin Xian, standing in the control room, noticed several beams of light originating from strategic vantage points on the platform. As he focused his gaze, he saw quite a few people standing on the steel frame tops using binoculars to look this way.

"Quite a lot of people."

With exceptional eyesight, Chen Sixuan caught sight of the station platform at a glance. At this moment, dozens of vehicles were parked of various kinds, including motorcycles, off-road vehicles, jeeps, and vans. Meanwhile, numerous survivors gathered in threes and fives as if waiting for something.

And with the appearance of the Infinity, those individuals consecutively turned their gaze towards the direction of the station’s entrance, only to see a black heavy train powered by strong winds entering the platform.

Meanwhile, on the station’s tracks and platform, numerous cleared zombies still lay on the ground.

"It’s coming; this must be the train."

"It’s called Infinity, right?"

"Everyone be cautious, selling so cheaply might be a scam."

"Fall back, find cover first!"

At this moment, survivors began to become noisy, retreating behind vehicles as they eyed the incoming train at the platform. Some returned to their cars; the long flight had honed their extreme caution, not just towards the night, but also towards other unknown caravans.

On the Infinity, team members in each carriage also peered outside through the windows, looking quite vigilant.

Lin Xian’s expression was slightly grave; he hadn’t expected so many survivor caravans to show up from just one radio broadcast. It seemed a gun exchanged for a box of biscuits was indeed a lucrative deal.

Yet, for Lin Xian, he wasn’t losing out. Besides the weapons gathered earlier from Tang Hai, the train held a plethora of arms acquired from both the Fireline Fleet and Jingang Team. The train had more guns than bullets, with at least over a hundred counted by Teacher Chen. Moreover, if insufficient, he could manufacture more directly on the train.

Facing so many people, Lin Xian couldn’t help but remain a bit guarded. Apart from the bonfire aid event organized by Jiang Yun earlier, this was his second participation in a survivor gathering trade, and personally initiated.

Scree~

The Infinity, under the scrutiny of dozens of survivor groups, slowly parked on the main platform, with the steel wheels and tracks emitting a hum.

Lin Xian approached the window, when Chen Sixuan called out from behind him, "Be careful."

Perhaps being too sensitive, Lin Xian nodded towards her with a smile, "Don’t worry; this is us actively seeking cooperation. Future interactions with other teams are inevitable. While staying vigilant, we can also attempt to make contact."

Since leaving Jiang City, aside from encountering Jiang Yun’s group, Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan mostly met hostile rogue caravans, so it’s no surprise she is so cautious now. In truth, so is Lin Xian.

However, constantly being overly cautious wasn’t a solution. Sometimes, proactively showcasing one’s strength is also a means to ensure others ’remain friendly.’

Moreover, he didn’t want his mechanical superpower solely focused on building internally. Utilizing it to generate value, acquiring survival resources, or even necessary intelligence and equipment, was indeed very necessary.

"Mm." Chen Sixuan nodded.

Lin Xian lowered the car window, his gaze sweeping over the numerous cars on the platform, and directly spoke aloud,

"We are the Unlimited Fleet. Are you all here to trade supplies?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man wearing a hat stepped out from behind a car and shouted, "How many guns and how much ammo do you have? Can you trade anything besides biscuits?"

The dozens of people from the Survivor Caravan were likely representatives sent by their respective caravans to handle trade investigations, with each caravan sending only two or three. Currently, there were at least fifty to sixty people on the platform, indicating that quite a few Survivor Caravans were near Hengshan Pass.

Lin Xian nodded, "We have plenty of weapons and are looking to trade for some living supplies, food, and medicine are all fine, Blood Essence is also not a problem."

Upon hearing this, the survivors began to step out one after another.

"I heard you can repair machines, can you fix anything?" asked a woman carrying a rifle.

"Are you heading to Star City? Can you take extra passengers? We can provide supplies."

"Can you repair cars?"

"What sort of water purifier do you have? Does it meet Level 2 purification standards?"

"Do you have the latest Soul Swinging Value Detector?"

Everyone began to speak one after another, almost treating the Infinity as a mobile general store.

Lin Xian waved his hand to stop everyone from speaking and directly said, "Repairs need to be brought here to assess what’s wrong. As for water purifiers, we have both Level 1 and Level 2 standards, but we don’t have the latest Soul Swinging Value Detector, only the first generation released by the Phoenix Society. Also, we’re not going to Star City."

He wasn’t lying; what Lin Xian meant by going to Star City was to find a way to sneak in rather than blatantly driving the train in. Even if he didn’t care about the internal risks of the train and only gave rides to passengers, he had to deliver them to their destination. He couldn’t just drop them off midway.

After speaking, Lin Xian directly opened the car door and got out. Meanwhile, the automatic door of the fifth carriage opened, and Dazhu and Lv Chang, led by others, began unloading the weapon boxes crafted by Lin Xian.

As soon as everyone saw Dazhu’s imposing presence, coupled with the Roarer K23 Electric Revolving Gun on his back and another male team member carrying one down as well, their eyes widened, changing from shock to envy and desire.

"Automatic rifles, VoG grenade launchers, M556 light machine guns, shotguns, 12.7mm vehicle-mounted cannons, rocket launchers, I have them all, as well as many other equipment. It depends on what you need."

"As we announced on the radio, an automatic rifle with 120 rounds can be exchanged for a box of biscuits or half a box of canned food, a grenade launcher with 12 grenades can be exchanged for two boxes of biscuits and a box of canned food, a light machine gun with 500 rounds can be exchanged for 4 boxes of biscuits or two boxes of canned food, a rocket launcher for two boxes of canned food, and a cannon for four boxes of canned food..."

Based on the exchange rate of the transaction Lin Xian made with the other caravans at Qu Guan, the current value of weapons was basically higher than that of energy and food because they were essential tools for survival and the top priority for most ordinary people.

One Level 1 Blood Essence could be exchanged for three Starfire Type 26 full automatic tactical rifles plus ammunition, or it could be exchanged for food for 10 people for five days. In other words, one automatic rifle with 120 rounds could at least be exchanged for food for 10 people for almost a day and a half, which is roughly the value of a box of 20 cans of canned food or two boxes of biscuits. So, Lin Xian’s pricing was essentially halved.

At that moment, Lin Xian seemed like a local tycoon, starting to sell off his former belongings. These items currently weren’t of high value to him, so it wasn’t painful to trade them away.

Besides, he understood that as humanity continued to evolve, the value of low-end weapons would decrease, and the importance of food would begin to surpass weapons.

To his surprise, once he finished speaking, the people from the Survivor Caravan in front of him all lit up their eyes and immediately rushed forward.

"I have canned food and biscuits, even jerky~"

"Our caravan needs a lot of weapons..."

Wow~

At this time, the middle-aged man who spoke first directly opened a van behind him, revealing a few large boxes of collected supplies, various types of food, canned goods, sun-dried mouse jerky and lizard jerky, and even a large jar of crushed cockroach meat in a glass jar, showing a gray-brown color, with a few cockroach wings sticking to the jar’s edge.

"We’ll take the vehicle-mounted cannon and that light machine gun; see if these are enough, or we have more stock at our temporary camp and can offer more."

"Hey, we want some too! Don’t exchange all the big guns," A young man from another caravan said, looking at Lin Xian. "If he’s willing to pay more, I can raise the offer too. For that light machine gun, I’ll offer three boxes of canned food!"

The hat-wearing middle-aged man was obviously from a large caravan and immediately said to the young man, "Brother, isn’t it first come, first served? What’s wrong with me offering first if I saw it first?"

"No problem, but people look at price too. If I offer more, isn’t that fair?"

"Well, four boxes should do, and I’ll throw in a jar of specialty cockroach oil."

"Then we can add two bags of crunchy bug chips too!"

Ugh~

KIKI and Sha Sha, who were originally watching behind Lin Xian to see what delicious foods they could trade for, turned green upon hearing about the specialty cockroach oil and almost vomited.

Shu Qin and the others also had interesting expressions. They weren’t unfamiliar with these items, but since boarding the Infinity, their living conditions had improved drastically. Not only could they eat twice a day, but they also usually had canned or starchy foods, which was quite luxurious in a post-apocalyptic world.