Chapter 217: Business is Booming (Revised)

Hengshanguan is the first major transportation hub city encountered after crossing the Dazhu Mountain Range and entering the Yunjiang Plain. It is much larger than Jiazhou City. Due to its unique geographical location, one can head north to Xilan, pass through Star Abyss No. 4 and No. 5 to reach Quancheng; the southern route leads to Qingshui, Lancheng, and Haidong, bypassing Star Abyss No. 7 and No. 8. Heading directly east leads to the Ring Star Main Track, following the edge of the Parma Grassland, passing through the Wei River and Longjiang, all the way to Jinhai and Star City—the former capital of the Long Kingdom, which the Federation government has now renamed Dawn City.

The train sped along the endless plains. The sky was bright, and no mountains were visible in the distance. On the tracks along the way, zombies that were no longer "fresh" began to appear—withered, foul-smelling, and drawn by the sound, they came running toward the tracks.

As they neared the city, the surrounding buildings grew more numerous. Kiki did not remain idle; she launched her drone to begin observing the situation.

In the other carriages, Shu Qin, Dalou, and the others also began to prepare. Zombies had been appearing one after another along the way, and there would certainly be more inside the city. Coupled with unknown factors, everyone on the train was ready for battle.

Inside the urban area, high-rise buildings gradually increased, resembling a forest of reinforced concrete. Under the sunlight, it all looked desolate.

The black rain had not yet reached the Yunjiang Plain. In the city streets, which had long been abandoned, much greenery had grown. Vines climbed up some low houses, and even some animals darted through streets blocked by abandoned cars. Various tattered zombies wandered about, drawn by the vibrations of the train tracks, emitting low howls.

Various signs were covered in dust, as if, once the people were gone, the roads and facilities had aged extremely rapidly. The railings had also begun to rust.

Inside the Infinite carriage, many team members leaned against the windows, looking at this strange city. Unlike Yubei City, which had been filled with zombies, Hengshanguan looked like an ordinary city in the midst of a flight from disaster, reminding Lin Xian of the feeling of Jiang City.

"This place doesn't look like it has many people."

The sunlight was bright. Kiki observed the urban jungle outside and spoke up.

"Are you hoping to see survivors sunbathing on the rooftops?" Lin Xian responded.

Kiki stretched: "To be honest, after running in the dark for so long, such nice weather is really perfect for sunbathing."

Lin Xian was noncommittal. He stood up and said, "We're almost at Hengshanguan Station. Get ready."

"You got it, Boss."

Clang, clang~

Hengshanguan Train Station was an elevated platform standing within the city, making it a natural shelter. However, looking at the situation, the platform had already fallen. Strangely, there wasn't a single zombie; it seemed they had all been cleared out in advance.

The black heavy train sped across the city's elevated tracks and soon approached a large passenger platform. There was a Ring Star Passenger Center here. Lin Xian came to the cockpit and took a look, his expression immediately turning stern. Inside the platform, many survivor vehicles were parked, along with a green doomsday train covered in steel plate armor that looked somewhat dilapidated.

That train had many firing ports and wasn't very long, with many armored grilles added on. Although not a very standard construction, it looked quite sturdy. The locomotive was a Ring Star mining machine series equipped with a small nuclear-powered engine. Compared to the Infinite's Twin Star nuclear-powered locomotive, it was still inferior, but a doomsday train capable of possessing such sustainable energy could already be considered quite impressive.

Lin Xian took a look. There seemed to be many people on that train. Before they even entered the station, Lin Xian, standing in the cockpit, observed several glints of light coming from the high points of the platform. He looked over and discovered quite a few people standing on the steel frame of the platform, looking toward them with binoculars.

"So many people. Could it be a convoy stranded here because of the strange entities appearing in the Parma Grassland?"

Chen Sixuan had extremely sharp eyesight; at a single glance, she saw that inside the train station, on the platforms, there were dozens of vehicles parked, large and small—motorcycles, off-road vehicles, jeeps, vans, all sorts. At the same time, quite a few survivors were gathered together in groups of three or five, as if they were all waiting for something.

Lin Xian quipped: "Change your perspective. Perhaps they are all waiting for us?"

With the appearance of the Infinite, those people began to cast their gazes toward the station entrance one after another. The machine gun turret on that green doomsday train also began to turn, seemingly wary of the Infinite's arrival. Everyone watched as a black heavy train, wrapped in a strong wind, drove into the platform.

And on the tracks and platform of the station, a large number of cleared zombies still lay on the ground.

"It's here, it's here. It should be this train."

"It's called the Infinite, right?"

"Everyone, be careful. Selling things so cheaply, there might be a trick."

"Retreat, find cover first!"

The various survivor groups became noisy. Watching the train enter the platform, they all began to retreat behind their vehicles, while some returned to their cars. Long-term flight had made these survivors extremely cautious—not just facing the dark, but also facing other strange convoys.

On that green train, many men and women looked guarded. Most of them held guns, and the atmosphere felt somewhat solemn.

Hearing those whispers, Lin Xian was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that sending out one radio message would bring so many survivor convoys. It seemed that one gun plus 120 bullets for a box of biscuits was indeed a very cost-effective deal.

However, for Lin Xian, he wasn't losing out either. Besides what had been collected from Tang Hai earlier, the train also had a large number of firearms obtained from the Fireline convoy and the Jin Gang convoy. It could be said that the train had many guns but few bullets. Adding it all up, according to Chen Laoshi's inventory, there were at least over a hundred. And if that wasn't enough, he could manufacture them directly on the train.

Seeing so many people, Lin Xian was still somewhat guarded. Except for the bonfire mutual aid society prepared by Jiang Yun earlier, this was the second time he had participated in a survivor gathering for trade, and it was one he had initiated himself.

Squeak~

Under the gaze of those dozens of survivor groups, the Infinite slowly came to a stop on the main platform, the steel wheels and tracks emitting a wail.

Lin Xian walked toward the window. Chen Sixuan, behind him, called out to him: "Be careful. I see that some are convoys that were originally stationed in the station, and some seem to have come here specifically."

"It means the message we sent via radio worked."

Lin Xian nodded at her and said: "Don't worry. We are actively seeking cooperation. In the future, such interactions with other teams will be inevitable. While remaining guarded, we can also try to make contact."

Since leaving Jiang City, except for encountering Jiang Yun's group, most of what he and Chen Sixuan had encountered were thug convoys that fired cold shots. It was no wonder Chen Sixuan was so cautious now; in fact, Lin Xian was the same.

However, cowering forever was not a solution. Sometimes, actively demonstrating strength was also a way to make others "remain friendly."

Moreover, he didn't want his mechanical ability to only be used for burying his head in building things internally. It was also very necessary to be able to use it to generate value, obtain survival supplies, or even get needed information or equipment.

"Mm." Chen Sixuan nodded.

Lin Xian lowered the window, his gaze sweeping over the numerous cars on the platform, and he spoke loudly:

"We are the Infinite convoy. Are you all here to exchange supplies?" As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man wearing a hat walked out from behind a car and shouted: "How many guns do you have, how many bullets? Besides biscuits, can other things be exchanged?"

Inside the platform, there were four or five convoys of various sizes that had turned this station into a temporary shelter, including that green train. Besides them, there were more than a dozen survivor convoys that looked like they had rushed over from other areas. Each convoy had only sent two or three people. At this moment, there were at least fifty or sixty people showing their faces on the platform, which showed that there were quite a few survivor convoys near Hengshanguan.

"Is it really one box of biscuits for one set of guns?" The cockpit window of the green train opened, and a shrewd-looking fatty poked his head out, eyeing Lin Xian with a scrutinizing gaze: "Don't try to bluff us. There are so many people here; if you can't produce the goods, everyone won't accept it, right!"

"Right."

"Exactly!"

"Don't lie to us!"

Hearing this, Lin Xian said directly and loudly: "Rest assured, we have plenty of weapons. We mainly want to exchange for some daily necessities. Food, medicine, all are fine. Blood crystals are also no problem."

Hearing this, some survivors began to walk out.

"I heard you can also repair machinery. Can you repair anything?" asked a woman carrying a rifle.

"Are you going to Star City? Can you take people on the train? We can provide supplies."

"Can you fix cars?"

!

"What kind of water purifier is it? Does it meet Level 2 purification standards?"

"Do you have the latest Soul-Oscillation Value Detector?"

Everyone spoke one after another, asking questions, as if they had completely treated the Infinite as a mobile grocery store.

Lin Xian waved his hand to interrupt everyone and said directly: "For repairs, you have to bring the items here; I need to see what the situation is. As for water purifiers, we have both Level 1 and Level 2 standards. However, we don't have the latest Soul-Oscillation Value Detector; we only have the first generation released by the Phoenix Society. Also, we are not going to Star City."

He wasn't lying on purpose. The "going to Star City" Lin Xian spoke of was a plan to sneak in quietly, not to drive the train in openly. Even if he disregarded the risks inside the train and just carried passengers, he would still have to deliver them to their destination; he couldn't just dump people halfway.

After speaking, Lin Xian opened the carriage door and walked down. At the same time, the automatic door of Carriage No. 5 opened, and Dalou, Lv Chang, and others took the lead in carrying out the firearms using the weapon boxes Lin Xian had manufactured.

When everyone saw Dalou's imposing posture, plus the Roaring K23 electric rotary machine gun on his back, and another male team member behind him also carrying one down, their gazes all shrank. The initial shock turned into envy and craving.

The fatty on the green train was named Cao Hong, the captain of that train convoy. The convoy was called the Night Charm. As the name implied, there were many women on the train. Seeing this scene, his expression also changed, and he hurriedly greeted his subordinates: "Quick, quick, get off the train and take a look."

Lin Xian walked up, stepped on a weapon box, and said very boldly: "Automatic rifles, VOG grenade launchers, M556 light machine guns, shotguns, 12.7mm vehicle-mounted autocannons, rocket launchers—I have them all here. I also have plenty of other equipment, depending on your needs."

"Just as we announced on the radio, an automatic rifle with 120 rounds of ammunition for one box of biscuits or half a box of canned food; a grenade launcher with 12 grenades for two boxes of biscuits and one box of canned food; a light machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition for 4 boxes of biscuits or two boxes of canned food; a rocket launcher for two boxes of canned food; an autocannon for four boxes of canned food..."

According to the value of goods Lin Xian had traded with other convoys in Quguan earlier, the current value of weapons was basically higher than energy and food. After all, they were important tools for saving one's life and the primary necessity for the vast majority of ordinary people.

One Level 1 blood crystal could be exchanged for 3 Starfire Type 26 fully automatic tactical rifles plus ammunition, and could also be exchanged for food for 10 people for 5 days. That is to say, one automatic rifle with 120 rounds of ammunition could at least be exchanged for food for 10 people for nearly a day and a half, worth at least a box of 20 cans of food, or two boxes of biscuits. So, Lin Xian's price was basically a 50% discount.

At this moment, Lin Xian was like a wealthy local tycoon, beginning to sell off his previous belongings. To him, these things currently didn't have much value, so he didn't feel any heartache in exchanging them.

Moreover, he also knew that as humans continued to evolve, the value of low-end weapons would become lower and lower, and the importance of food would begin to surpass that of weapons.

Who knew that as soon as he finished speaking, the people from these survivor convoys in front of him all had their eyes light up, and they swarmed out all at once.

"I have canned food and biscuits, and dried meat too~"

"Our convoy needs quite a few weapons..."

Whoosh~

At this moment, the middle-aged man who had spoken first directly pulled open a van behind him. Inside, there were several large boxes of collected supplies: various types of food, canned goods, and even dried rat meat and dried lizard meat that had been sun-dried, and even a large glass jar filled with meat paste made from crushed cockroaches, presenting a grayish-brown color, with a few cockroach wings still stuck to the edge of the jar.

"We want the vehicle-mounted autocannon and that light machine gun. See if these are enough. If not, our temporary camp has other stock; we can pay more."

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" At this moment, Cao Hong of the Night Charm convoy squeezed in from behind the crowd with a few people. Seeing this scene, he was immediately unhappy: "What do you mean you want them all? Others haven't even spoken yet. If you want to pay more, I can pay more too. That light machine gun, I'll trade three boxes of canned food for it!"

The middle-aged man wearing the hat was clearly from a large convoy. Seeing a fatty from a large train convoy, he wasn't intimidated at all and said very arrogantly: "Brother, everything should follow a first-come, first-served basis, right? I saw it first and I bid first; what's the problem?"

"Yo, first-come, first-served is no problem. But it depends on whether the seller wants to sell. The highest bidder wins, right? How about I offer three boxes?" Cao Hong felt he was losing face and immediately got heated.

"Then I'll offer four boxes, and I'll throw in a jar of secret-flavor cockroach oil."

"Then we can add two bags of crispy stink bug chips!" At this time, the few gun-toting women beside Cao Hong also chimed in.

Ugh~

Kiki and Shasha had originally been standing behind Lin Xian, full of excitement, looking to see what good food they could trade for. At this moment, hearing about the secret-flavor cockroach oil, their faces turned green, and they almost vomited.

Shu Qin and the others also had colorful expressions. In fact, they weren't unfamiliar with these things, but now that they had boarded the Infinite, their conditions had suddenly become superior. Not only could they eat two meals a day, but they basically had canned food or starch-based food to eat, which could be said to be very luxurious in the doomsday.

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 218 =====