Chapter 220: Team Exploration

“Who was that person?”

After the armored car left, KIKI walked over to Lin Xian and asked curiously.

Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said in a deep voice, “It’s an organization called the SIID Foundation. It seems to be the investor behind the ‘Special Item Research Department’ from the documents you gave me before.”

“Huh?” KIKI frowned. “Are they from the Federation?”

Lin Xian shook his head. “According to her, they are a neutral organization. They probably noticed us back at the Ascension Elevator.”

“They noticed your mechanical Esper ability, right?” KIKI’s gaze swept over Lin Xian, her eyes blinking, and she immediately understood.

“Did she extend an olive branch to you, wanting to recruit you?”

“Recruit…” Lin Xian laughed. “Are we bandits, to be recruited?”

“By the way,” Lin Xian asked, “do you know if there are any large laboratories or military bases near Shijiu Lake?”

KIKI frowned at his question. “As for military bases, based on the information I’ve gathered before, there don’t seem to be any. If they are newly established or have a very high secrecy level, then I wouldn’t know. As for any large laboratories, I’ve never heard of them. Such institutions should be findable on civilian maps, right?”

“Not necessarily.”

*Click, click~*

Lin Xian crushed a tiny metal bracket in his left hand and devoured it. The bracket extended a few meters from the ground, like a simple metal arm.

“Hey, what did you just do?” KIKI noticed Lin Xian’s small action and immediately asked.

“Nothing.” Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Just installed a communicator on that car.”

KIKI’s eyes widened upon hearing this. “You want to use the communicator as a signal locator to track them? But this thing loses signal over long distances, and with the influence of the dark tide, it’s impossible to use for tracking.”

“Simple things have simple uses. Who told you I was going to track and locate them?”

Lin Xian turned to KIKI. “You just need to help me confirm the direction that car leaves the city. And it’s better to be prepared than not. Maybe this car will try to track us in the future, and we can discover it one step ahead.”

Although Hua Xiaoling had just said they were a neutral faction, Lin Xian knew that no matter what faction, they must have some kind of interest-driven motive. So, he was taking precautions first. It was always right to be a little more careful.

But then again, even if he wanted to cooperate, why not choose the Phoenix Society? With the night approaching, a private consortium’s foundation laboratory might not even be able to guarantee its own safety, let alone anything else.

“Well, well, you~” KIKI stared at Lin Xian with a scrutinizing gaze. “Why do I feel like you’re getting more and more cunning~ like an old fox.”

Lin Xian frowned at her and sneered, “Didn’t I learn it from you? In the apocalypse, you have to be wary of everyone.”

KIKI gave him an annoyed look. “Hah, now you’re blaming others. Men.”

…

Back on the train, Chen Sixuan had finished taking inventory of the supplies they had just traded for in carriage number 7. Seeing Lin Xian come in, she said happily.

“Lin Xian, we’ve traded for a lot of supplies this time. I did a quick calculation. Even with more than thirty of us eating three meals a day, it’s enough for a month.”

The weapons stored in carriage number 5 were almost cleared out, and in return, they got a lot of useful supplies. Chen Sixuan let out a long sigh of relief. “If it weren’t for that Fu Lu Shou convoy, it went smoother than I imagined.”

“Hey, Sister Chen,” KIKI walked over with a beaming smile. “Didn’t this group buying so many weapons from us make it even smoother?”

Lin Xian was also a little surprised by the number. This was the first time he had used his ability to earn supplies, and he hadn’t expected the harvest to be so bountiful.

Shasha, holding a jar of pickled cucumbers they had traded for, also smiled. “That idiot definitely couldn’t have imagined that our Brother Lin is a weapons factory. He couldn’t buy everything even if he brought all his assets.”

“Yeah,” KIKI looked at the dazzling array of supplies on the shelves, flew over, and put her arm around Lin Xian’s shoulder, saying joyfully, “I told you, with Lin Xian’s ability, we really don’t have to worry about food in the future~”

“You think I’m an ox!”

Lin Xian gave her an annoyed look. “You smart aleck, it takes me time, energy, and materials to create things. And low-end weapons aren’t that easy to sell anymore. It’s not that easy to feed a whole train of people.”

If that Fu Lu Shou convoy had come to buy high-powered weapons, Lin Xian really wouldn’t have been able to mass-produce them for him in a short time, which would have been troublesome.

KIKI smiled. “Hee hee, then I was wrong. You’re not an ox, you’re a stud horse~”

“Sister KIKI, what’s a stud horse?” Shasha asked with a curious face.

“A stud horse is… mmmph mmmph”

Just as KIKI was about to explain, a hand suddenly covered her mouth. Lin Xian glared at her. “Do you even know what a stud horse is to be explaining it? You’re corrupting a child.”

KIKI struggled free from his hand and said to Shasha with a straight face, “A stud horse is a horse responsible for sowing seeds. It’s very hard work. Like your Brother Lin.”

“Oh, then Brother Lin is indeed very hardworking,” Shasha nodded.

Chen Sixuan’s face flushed, while Lin Xian was speechless, not knowing where this little girl picked up these strange words.

At this moment, KIKI suddenly leaned in and whispered in Lin Xian’s ear, “Especially some people at night, they are very diligent~”

“Is that so? Then it seems you’re too idle at night,” Lin Xian retorted, not to be outdone. “Then you can come and help in the future too.”

“I won’t!” KIKI’s face turned red upon hearing this. She quickly took a step back in a fluster and glared at Lin Xian fiercely.

“Lin Xian.”

Seeing that KIKI was about to start talking nonsense again, Chen Sixuan quickly interrupted and said to Lin Xian, “What’s the plan next? Are we still sending teams out to explore?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xian’s smile faded. “We need to wait for the situation report from the Parma grasslands before leaving Hengshan Pass. So we must seize the time to collect more supplies, just in case.”

The train was equivalent to a mobile city. For the people on board, supplies were not just food and water. Various daily chemical products, useful furniture and equipment, clothing, cups, toothbrushes, underwear, and even toilet paper were all very important. Moreover, for Lin Xian, he also needed the team to help him collect mechanical items, whether for devouring or for scanning blueprints to manufacture. The more, the better.

Chen Sixuan nodded. “Then I suggest we do as we did in Yuchi, splitting into teams to explore along the road. We can also scout the city exits and threats in advance.”

“Yes.”

Lin Xian strongly agreed with Chen Sixuan’s suggestion.

“Lin Xian,” KIKI, holding a mobile terminal, used the onboard information system to locate the communicator Lin Xian had just installed on the armored car. She said, “I took a look. They left heading south, but it’s only a 10-kilometer range. I don’t know if they’ve left the city.”

Lin Xian nodded. “That’s pretty much out of the city. Just knowing the direction is enough. Set the serial number of that communicator as an alert target. If it gets close to us later, give us a warning.”

“That’s simple.”

After finishing this, Lin Xian began to gather everyone in the information center of carriage number 2 to discuss splitting up for exploration.

“It’s just past noon now, so we have plenty of time. I’m thinking of splitting into three groups. One will follow the main railway line, where there are several large shopping centers along the way. The second will follow the northern railway line, where there’s an industrial area. The last is the southern part of the city, which is more remote, but has many residential areas. We can try our luck there.”

“Me!” KIKI was the first to raise her hand, looking eager. “I’ll go to the shopping center. I haven’t been shopping in a long time. I want to bring back a lot of stuff this time.”

“You’re not going.” Lin Xian looked at her. “You’re coming with me to Qingshui Town on the southern line. That’s in the direction of Shijiu Lake. We’ll follow the direction that person from the Foundation left in and investigate.”

“Ooh~” KIKI’s eyes lit up. “Are you thinking of going to see that crashed transport ship?”

“That’s exactly my intention.”

“Then I’ll take the main line. I’m more experienced in searching,” Shu Qin also volunteered.

“I can go anywhere, Brother Xian,” Da Lou said directly.

“Alright.” Lin Xian considered for a moment. “Shu Qin, Da Lou, Shasha, you three take a few more people and search along the main line. Sweep those large shopping centers too. Bring back anything useful. We have many carriages now, we can fit it all.”

“No problem!” Shasha immediately agreed excitedly.

A search mission like this under the afternoon sun sounded quite pleasant. With the strength of these few, zombies and the like would basically pose no threat. It was practically like going shopping.

However, a transportation hub city like Hengshan Pass had probably been searched countless times by who knows how many survivor groups. It was estimated that it would be difficult to find anything too valuable.

“Then, Brother Huo, you lead the team on the northern line. The industrial area is relatively open, and your ability will be easier to use if you encounter a situation.”

Lu Xingchen usually liked to guard the train, make tea, and sunbathe, but hearing Lin Xian’s arrangement, he still nodded directly, then spread his hands. “Am I to go alone?”

KIKI glanced at him. “What, scared?”

“Absurd.” Lu Xingchen stood with his hands behind his back, a cool and aloof expression on his face, and said with deep meaning, “Slaying demons and monsters is easy for me, but this searching for items…”

“Aiya, aiya, alright, alright, I’ll go with you.” Shasha frowned and interrupted. “Brother Lin, this guy has no sense of direction. He couldn’t even tell east from west in the warehouse last time. Let me go with him.”

*Ahem, ahem!*

As soon as she said this, Lu Xingchen immediately coughed heavily twice, forcibly covering up his embarrassment. “Actually, that’s not it. My heart is in the heavens and the earth. The path I walk is not…”

“Let’s do it that way.” Lin Xian nodded in agreement, looking at Lu Xingchen. He wasn’t surprised at all that this guy, who always liked to stand with his back to people, couldn’t tell front from back.

“Then you two take a few people as well.”

Shasha looked at Lu Xingchen with disdain and nodded.

Lin Xian looked at Chen Sixuan. “Alright then, Teacher Chen, you and Miao Lu will be in charge of guarding the train. We just traded for so many supplies, it will take some time to organize them properly. Also…”

He looked out the window. In the Hengshan Pass station, there were still a few survivor camps and the green train, the Night Charm, parked on the tracks not far away. Although they had just interacted, Lin Xian still told Chen Sixuan to be extra careful. “While we’re out exploring, you just mind your own business. There’s no need to interact with others.”

“Mmm, I know,” Chen Sixuan nodded in response.

Actually, before entering Hengshan Pass, Lin Xian’s original plan was to send Shu Qin and Lu Chang to explore the residential areas. Shu Qin and her group were all skilled in physical evolution and had more experience. They would have an advantage operating in densely populated areas.

And there were several abandoned trains on the Hengshan Pass platform. Compared to going out to search, devouring machinery to upgrade was a higher priority for him. He also needed to find time to complete the extreme energy capacitor for the electromagnetic railgun. Now that the team had grown, he could completely hand over the work of going out to search.

But ever since he heard about the Dragon-class transport ship, he had suddenly changed his mind. He wanted to go to Qingshui Town to have a look. Even if he couldn’t completely devour such a large piece of machinery, it would be valuable to scan some of its subsystems for blueprints.

He could also check out that Foundation organization. A large organization like that might have a lot of powerful equipment. Besides equipping the team with mechs, Lin Xian was also planning to install an automated medical bay.

A high-end automated medical bay could quickly treat external injuries. The train only had some common medicines, disinfectant iodine, and bandages. If they encountered a serious injury, they would be helpless. Doctors were hard to find, but an automated medical bay would be a good choice.

After confirming the teams, each squad began to move out.

Shu Qin and Da Lou, along with Lu Chang and two other team members, took an off-road vehicle to explore along the eastern line.

Shasha and Lu Xingchen took a few team members in the armored vehicle to the industrial area on the northern line.

As for the southern line, since the goal was reconnaissance and exploration, Lin Xian and KIKI traveled light, each on a motorcycle.

On the Infinity, Lin Xian left Chen Sixuan to guard the train. Director Ding, Miao Lu, and a few other skilled hands were also on board. Chen Sixuan led them to organize the large amount of supplies they had just traded for.

“Let’s go~”

This was the first time Shu Qin and Da Lou had gone out together. They signaled to each other, each driving a car with their team members, and headed out of the station.

On Shasha’s side, Lu Xingchen was driving. Shasha sat in the passenger seat, holding her Thunderstorm A1 grenade launcher and her ammunition backpack. The vehicle rushed out of the station exit, onto the street, and headed north.

“You’d better stick close to me this time. Don’t get lost just because you see some broken meditation cushion. This is a big city, not a small warehouse~” Shasha gave Lu Xingchen a warning in advance.

Lu Xingchen, wearing sunglasses, looked at the post-apocalyptic urban forest ahead and said coolly, “Broken meditation cushion? Don’t you know that for the tea ceremony, these objects of artistic conception are very important?”

“Tch~” Shasha rolled her eyes at him. “Can’t you drink tea from a thermos?”

“One cannot speak of ice to a summer insect,” Lu Xingchen shook his head helplessly and glanced at Shasha. “However, I can find something you of your age would like later, such as dolls or roller skates.”

“Pah, pah, pah~ I like this.”

Shasha raised her grenade launcher domineeringly. “The more firepower, the better. Preferably the kind that can blast your broken meditation cushion to ashes with one shot.”

Lu Xingchen: …

Vroom~

On the other side, Lin Xian and KIKI both got on their motorcycles. The survivor convoys that were originally stationed at the station all cast their gazes as the people from the Infinity went out in waves.

Cao Hong, the leader of the Night Charm, saw Lin Xian get on his bike and leaned against the window, saying to him with a baffled expression,

“Hey, you’ve got so many supplies. You still want to go into the city to explore?”

“This city has been searched a hundred and eighty times already. I advise you not to waste your time.”

Lin Xian glanced at him without speaking, revved his bike, and sped off. KIKI rolled her eyes disdainfully and followed on her bike.

Seeing that he was being ignored, Cao Hong felt a bit snubbed. He pouted, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the Infinity’s carriages, then closed his window.

—

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