"The Iron-Eating Tree has rioted again."
Yu Yue and the man on the other end of the line said simultaneously, but Yu Yue was three seconds faster.
"Mm, got it."
Su Huan hung up the communication, walked over to sit in a chair, and said lightly, "Time for a haircut."
It has been exactly two months since the apocalypse broke out, but the Armed Train is far from the ragtag group it was in the beginning.
Even a leak required the conductor's personal attention.
After the refitting and upgrading at Shun'an Station, there were no more "passenger" classes on the entire train.
Everyone had been incorporated into the train's system.
The more than a thousand people were no longer subjects he needed to guard against; they had already transformed into extensions of his arms and will.
For instance, incidents like the Iron-Eating Tree riot didn't even need his command.
The combat unit and Armed Corps should have already mobilized.
...
The living carriages of the logistics group were not as spacious as those in the front, but they were much improved compared to before, at least providing a normal living space for a family of five like Old Guo's.
The room had partitions, so a snore at night wouldn't keep the whole family awake.
Bright lights fell from the ceiling of the carriage, with two plates of vegetables and five bowls of white rice on the table in the middle.
The woman looked at the clock and gently advised the two hungry children, "Dad will be back soon, let's wait for him."
An old person sitting nearby was crocheting yarn while murmuring, "I feel like the apocalypse isn't so bad..."
The woman scolded jokingly, "Mom, what nonsense are you talking about again?"
The elderly woman smiled gently, her expression settling as she sighed lightly, "Our family hasn't had a meal together for many years. If your father hadn't passed away and you hadn't come to see me, by sheer coincidence ending up on the train, we might never have seen each other in this lifetime."
Hearing this, the woman instantly teared up, her throat choking.
She hugged her mother tightly, tears rolling down uncontrollably.
"Why are you crying..."
The elderly woman comforted her daughter in a low voice, "I'm just saying nonsense casually, look at how fragile you are, I didn't even cry like this when your dad passed away..."
"It's not the same."
Hearing their mother's sobs, the two children became at a loss.
Suddenly the door opened.
Old Guo walked in wearing a worker's outfit, looking a bit dazed upon seeing the mother and daughter embracing.
"What's going on?"
The woman quickly stood up from her mother's embrace, looked at the man who had just returned home and the two children who were eagerly looking at her, and immediately smiled through her tears.
She said a seemingly unrelated line, "It's really nice."
Old Guo was just about to ask more, but the woman pulled him to sit down and eat.
"How's work lately, any big changes above?"
Old Guo shook his head, "Fewer people affect the production schedule, and even if there are more people, there aren't enough machines to use. The bullet workshop won't change much in the short term. By the way, did you use the Pan-energy Crystal I brought home?"
"After using the crystal, mom's chronic leg pain improved a lot, and she hasn't complained about it recently," the woman quickly responded.
"What about the two kids?"
"They used it too, but it seems they didn't grow much, unlike us..."
"That's normal." Old Guo picked up a bowl of rice and said, "I asked our conductor, he said that evolution depends on individual physical condition, the elderly and children, even if they evolve, will still be weaker than adults. When they grow older and their bodies develop, this part will be made up, but it has to be used as early as possible so that the attributes grow more."
The woman nodded, somewhat worried, "But I seem to have heard that this thing doesn't have a one hundred percent success rate..."
The man's face darkened.
Pan-energy Crystal is already the safest method of evolution, but during the whole train's evolution process, two elderly people didn't make it.
Their families were heartbroken, and one family even went to cause a commotion with the stewards, but were directly put down by the passing combat group.
The news didn't make even the slightest ripple above.
The conductor told them to keep their mouths shut; times have changed, and they were to forget the bad habits from the past.
Old Guo put a bite of pickled cabbage and vermicelli stew into his daughter's bowl and instructed, "There's a box of canned fruit under the bed, I got it from a low-key trade right before we set off. Later, take your brother and give it to your Sister Miaomiao, she loves canned food."
The girl's face turned pale immediately.
Noticing something wrong, Old Guo asked, "What's the matter?"
Seeing the girl not daring to answer, he put down his bowl and chopsticks to check the canned goods under the bed, and as expected, one was missing.
His anger prompted him to thump the table.
"Glutton! Glutton! Glutton!"
"Still worrying about your appetite at a time like this! Huh?!"