Armed Train in the Apocalypse

A few minutes later, a furious roar burst out from the combat readiness room, like a brown bear charging out of its cave—He Jie’s Roar.

The armed soldiers who had just enjoyed a few days of peace bolted out of the train in panic, like frightened rabbits.

...

From the Gravity Zone into the Plant Zone, the eighth node of the safe passage.

The Traveler’s Tree that had been migrating toward the rooting spot planned out by Su Huan had collapsed on the ground, trunk snapped, flames roaring from its core, its outer shell already charred into carbon. All around lay the corpses of a kind of monkey Evolution Beast, along with a few mutated humans.

Based on research during this period, Director Xu believed these mutants were already a new race distinct from humans.

So he named them "Xumin", but they preferred to call themselves "Forest Wardens" and other terms that leaned toward praise.

Yet what they were called wasn’t important to Zou Ji, who was sprinting through the jungle. He not only had to watch for pursuers behind him, but also for mutated plants underfoot that might drag him away as their dinner.

Even though he was Xumin, as long as there was nutrition, plants would still eat him.

However, because his aura blended harmoniously with the surroundings, he wouldn’t provoke large-scale attacks from the jungle.

"Run a bit more and we’ll reach Broken Barrel Camp! Everyone hold on!"

A burly Xumin let out a low-frequency call. There wasn’t a single actual syllable in it, but the Xumin running across the wasteland understood exactly what he meant.

This mode of communication via evolved organs had, in just one year, unreasonably replaced the language humans had iterated over tens of thousands of years.

Though they still spoke normally in daily life, in the dense jungle, if they didn’t want to get separated from their companions, this was the only way.

This had nothing to do with civilization or savagery. People simply follow whatever way makes survival easier.

Zou Ji’s expression changed. He pushed apart the shrubs in front of him and ran diagonally toward the leader in the middle, saying anxiously, "We can’t go straight back. Those outsiders will find us!"

The leader’s one eye had already turned into a small flower with sharp teeth, glaring at Zou Ji with a chilling look. "Impossible. We are Forest Wardens. As long as we don’t show ourselves, no outsider can find our camp—unless someone exposes it!"

Raw, undisguised Anger was written across Zou Ji’s face. "My camp was destroyed exactly like that. They’ll follow right on our heels to our camp. Even if we repel their greedy assault, their presence alone will draw the jungle’s disgust and bring in something even more terrifying."

"Shut up!"

Hearing those last two sentences, the leader kicked Zou Ji flying.

His expression was dark enough to be terrifying.

The Fear in the jungle was something shared by all survivors.

It was an unspeakable taboo.

The leader glanced suspiciously around. In the heavy, murky mist, it was as if something far more terrifying was eyeing them. He shuddered on the spot, shouted a low command to hurry up, and ignored the fainted Zou Ji.

Figures slipped past all around, setting branches and leaves rustling.

No one stopped to spare Zou Ji a glance.

To them, Zou Ji was also an outsider from another survivor camp.

Only when everyone was far away did the boy slowly get up, indifferently wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, not a trace of panic in his eyes.

After checking his bearing, he set off toward another camp.

Before long, using the same "outsider" story, he lured out that camp’s combat strength as well, sending them to the ninth node of the Armed Train’s safe passage. This time, however, it wasn’t so smooth.

He had barely arrived when he ran straight into the armed soldiers.

With the average evolution level of the Xumin not even at Tier One, facing fully armed soldiers, their only outcome was slaughter. But Zou Ji had expected this long ago; before the battle even began, he had quietly withdrawn.

He didn’t go to either of the two camps, but kept moving deeper into the jungle.

He walked from daylight into night, until the sounds of fighting and gunfire at his ears completely faded away.

Only the rustling of unknown plants remained.

Thick mist shrouded the boy’s body. There was no Fear on his face. Three or four thin tendrils emerged from his fingertips; he merely glanced at them and then ignored them.

Blood dripped along the tendrils to the ground, and the strange things lurking in the fog retreated.

A massive karst cave suddenly revealed itself before him.

Pitch-black, like a skull’s eye socket.

"Where are my followers?"

A rumbling voice boomed from within the mountain. A terrifying pressure mixed with the stench of vegetation instantly enveloped the boy. He grunted, dropped to his knees, and pressed his forehead to the ground.

"You’ll soon receive followers from two camps. Five days at most. For your long Life, these five days are hardly worth mentioning."

The boy’s calm voice carried into the cave.

The being inside had its emotions soothed; the oppressive pressure withdrew markedly.

"Very well. As long as you can bring me enough followers, you can obtain everything you desire."

"But..."

"What are you hesitating over?!"

"But I’m too weak. I’m afraid they won’t submit to me. If you could grant me greater Power, the plan would go far more smoothly."

There was no answer from within for a long time.

Zou Ji kept his gaze level, staring at the rotten leaves and dead branches beneath him.

After a moment, a tendril like a giant python extended from the cave, crawling all the way to Zou Ji and placing before him a fragrant seed, the size of a baby’s fist.

"Eat it, and you will gain omnipotent Power!"

The presence inside resorted to clumsy temptation.

Back before the apocalypse, even a three-year-old would have kicked a pebble and walked away in disdain.

But to Zou Ji, this was his last hope.

He didn’t care whether the thing inside the cave was a god or a ghost. He only wished for Power—only Power could help him take revenge and snatch back Xiaoya, who had been taken away.

Zou Ji picked up the seed and swallowed it in one gulp without even chewing.

Four or five seconds later, he suddenly clutched his stomach and collapsed, his whole body convulsing, eyes rolling uncontrollably.

Cracks appeared across his skin’s surface. Mouth gaping, he fell into a vast, soundless agony.

The entire process lasted ten minutes—or perhaps longer. Zou Ji felt the pain had made him lose all sense of time. If not for the belief in revenge propping him up, he might already have died from pain alone.

When the boy rose again, his body was straighter, his formerly pallid, ashen skin turned a pale, full blue-white, like jade. The only drawback was that he was too thin, spine vertebrae sharply defined, bearing a root-like toughness.

When he clenched his fist, he could feel the endless Power surging within his body.

Zou Ji had the illusion that he could now defeat his camp’s former leader.

But he didn’t rush out. Only after the Armed Train had wiped out the combat strength of both camps would he have any chance of gathering the remaining survivors and handing them over to the "god". If the leaders of those camps were still alive, he would have no chance at all.

"Rumble..."

Along with Power came a great hunger. No matter what kind of Power it was, its essence was consumption of Energy.

With Zou Ji’s former body, not even at Tier One, even if he squeezed himself dry, there wasn’t much Energy to burn.

Filling his body up first was the hard truth.

There were many fruits in the surrounding jungle. These fruits were originally dangerous and highly toxic to the Xumin, but before the new Zou Ji they were no longer a problem.

Everything became nourishment for his body.

As he ate and drank in big gulps, the boy’s shriveled muscles gradually filled out. An aura belonging to a Tier One Evolver bloomed from him.

Yet compared to orthodox Evolvers, his presence was more feral and sharp.

Like a beast grinding its teeth and sucking blood in the jungle.

By the time Zou Ji no longer felt hunger, his body and appearance had completely transformed, with not a trace of an eleven-year-old boy left.

His ears lay closer to his skull, his hair turned a matte blue-gray, his pupils a deep ink-green like a forest pool, profound and still.

His arms hung past his knees, thin muscles sheathing his bones with immense explosive force.

With each breath, he was already merged with the jungle’s breath and emotions.

[Stuck on the draft, stole a day of updates]

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