Chapter 548: Chapter 335: Sorting Out (2)
According to He Jie and the others’ training plan, these people will eliminate ten thousand in the coming months. Among the remaining three thousand, the best of the best will be selected, and only five hundred will enter the armed train, while the remaining two thousand five hundred will be added to the City Defense Army and Guard Corps.
Today is the first assessment, and the last five thousand will be eliminated.
...
The four bridges leading to Zhijin North District have long been blocked by zombies with low-level intelligence.
The zombies, lacking food, wanted to disperse, but the zombies attracted from behind kept pushing forward, causing those inside to be unable to get out and those outside unable to get in. If it were other creatures, even if chaos began, they would clear themselves out after a while.
But zombies are stubborn creatures; they refuse to give way, causing all four bridges to be blocked completely.
He Jie instructed Xiaoba to build a second wall behind Iron Wall, including some district buildings, then opened a gap in the first Iron Wall, allowing a few thousand zombies to enter at a time, mixing in a dozen Tier One Zombies for the recruits to practice on.
Of course, it’s not always that precise. Just as Colonel He was lighting a cigarette, a dozen more Tier One Night Demons slipped in.
Next to him, Jiang Rong, who was brought in due to the lack of personnel for practice, frowned, "Isn’t the intensity a bit too high?"
"Intensity?" He Jie waved off the smoke in front of him, just catching sight of an unlucky soul having his head crushed by a leaping zombie, and chuckled darkly, "If we don’t increase the intensity now, are you going to have your son protect these useless people when the zombies break through Iron Wall?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Rong fell silent immediately.
He Jie looked down at the slaughter below, listening to the sharp cries like drinking fine wine, and said calmly, "The train conductor said you can choose a team to keep after the training is over."
"But you can’t pick the top one."
He Jie added.
He had sworn a military order in front of the train conductor. If Jiang Rong picked all the top soldiers, how would he explain to the conductor?
For the sake of their longtime friendship, some accommodation could be made, but not at the train’s expense.
This is an unspoken rule among the higher-ups.
"I understand."
Jiang Rong sighed slightly in her heart; she owed the train even more now.
But what the train conductor had given her was already beyond her ability to repay, so she decided not to dwell on it and focused instead on observing the outstanding soldiers below.
These would become her son’s close-knit team in the future.
Yet, her gaze was always inadvertently drawn to a bright red head.
On the rooftop of a low-level community building, Bomb with his red hair was sneakily watching below. After seeing a Tier One Slaughterer get shot down, he couldn’t help but mutter, "That Tier One Zombie looked scary, but when it came to fighting, it was just like an ordinary zombie."
Beside him, Xiao Hong sighed while holding a sniper, "That’s because we’re holding Truth, and coincidentally have enough range. Just look at the group below, twelve people, nine dead, they didn’t even have time to send a retreat signal."
Bomb glanced and then looked longingly at the sniper in Xiao Hong’s arms, "Let your Brother Bomb have a go."
Xiao Hong refused decisively, "We only have twelve bullets left, we’re counting on them to get promoted."
Bomb had anticipated this and didn’t get upset, just kept chattering about some gossip on the side.
"Heard that after this assessment, we’ll be grouped by the end of the month when we go back."
Xiao Hong felt a stir inside but didn’t speak.
"That’s not the key. I heard that an entire squad will live together!"
"Isn’t that normal?"
"Normal? There are female soldiers in our training camp!"
Bomb’s eyes shone, and his rooster comb-like hair quivered.
’Mixed-gender living quarters?’
Xiao Hong instinctively felt it was unreasonable but then thought it’s the apocalypse; there’s nothing unreasonable about it. Wasn’t he living with over thirty women?
Although he considered himself quite steadfast, there were still things done that shouldn’t be done under such close proximity.
So he had doubts about what would happen when a group of vigorous men and women soldiers lived together...
The scene was somewhat unimaginable.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Xiao Hong caught a glimpse of a Black Star, and a jolt ran through his mind.
"Let’s go!"
He spoke lowly, grabbing the sniper rifle and leaving.
"Huh, changing positions so soon? Without killing a few more, how do we surpass Liu Zi, that bastard?"
Bomb complained, but his legs didn’t pause; he had already set the traps on the rooftop to trigger, and as soon as Xiao Hong slipped into the stairwell, he rushed down.
Just as the door locked, a Tier One Night Demon rushed onto the rooftop.
But the pungent smell of gasoline instantly disrupted its senses.
...
Armed train, train modification laboratory.
Various robotic arms hung chaotically yet orderly from the ceiling, under the control of crew members, processing parts on the assembly line.
A man who appeared to be in his thirties or younger stood beside the assembly line, closely observing each process.
Upon hearing footsteps behind him, he turned with a slight smile.
Dean Zhou, dressed in a crew uniform, approached with students. In the past month, her sideburns had grown an inch longer, her hair black and white, and time seemed to settle on her, bringing a profound aura surpassing life and death.
"I apologize, Professor Luo. Crew Chief Hu had something come up last minute, so I’m here to brief you," Dean Zhou said apologetically.
The two shook hands, and Luo Jingyi didn’t dwell on who was there. He humbly said, "I’ve always been working below, so it’s my first time working on the train. I hope you can guide me."
Dean Zhou smiled, "I hadn’t achieved as much as you by forty."
"To fit such an assembly line in the narrow space of a carriage showcases remarkable design innovation..."
"It’s all thanks to the former factory director, and Professor Wang Duoyu who succeeded him, not much to do with me..."
"..."
When it comes to "small talk," both were seasoned; they could chat for three days and nights if they wanted. After a brief exchange, they got to the point.
Dean Zhou gestured, "Let me first introduce you to the train’s layout."
"I’m all ears."
A flash of insight passed through Luo Jingyi’s eyes.
The two exited the train modification laboratory at the end and walked towards the front, with Zhou Qing introducing each carriage’s function, person-in-charge, and projects along the way.
If it were a regular crew member, they could be allowed to learn on their own, but as a senior technical talent, Luo Jingyi needed a proper understanding of the train’s systems from all aspects.
"So there are two types of crew chiefs?" Luo Jingyi asked curiously.
Zhou Qing nodded, "Yes, we generally refer to the one in charge of Group Four as the administrative crew chief and the one responsible for the laboratory as the responsibility crew chief. The former oversees train operations, the latter is mainly responsible for laboratory output. They have the same actual benefits, but their responsibilities differ..."
’It’s not just the responsibilities that differ...’
With his sharp sense for power, Luo Jingyi quickly discerned the "power content" issue.
For example, Hu Shuo, the chief of the logistics group, can mobilize far more resources than Zhou Qing, the laboratory chief. The only thing similar between the two chiefs might just be their benefits.
Based on Zhou Qing’s account, Luo Jingyi quickly constructed a crew power hierarchy map in his mind.
Train Conductor (Su Huan) — Secretary-General (Shu Wei) — Administrative Crew Chiefs (Hu Shuo, Lao San, Xiaozhao, Vice President Deng) — Responsibility Crew Chiefs (Vice President Deng, Yu Jing, Director Xu, Professor Ma, Wang Duoyu, Ban Yunzhang) — Deputy Administrative Crew Chiefs (Zhou Qing, Licking Rabbit, Old Jiang, Su Reya) — Level 5 Crews (Huang Sea, Li Han, Glasses...) — Deputy Responsibility Crew Chiefs (Boss, Tan Yunxi...)
Then come the ordinary secretaries and crew members.
Among them, Level 5 Crew actually holds more power than the Deputy Responsibility Crew Chiefs.
Although Level 5 Crew doesn’t enjoy higher benefits than each laboratory’s deputy chiefs, at least they lead a department, while the deputy chiefs mainly assist the crew chief in research.
The power is naturally much weaker.
