18: Chapter 18 "The Gentlemen's Club"

The darkness before dawn is always the most oppressive.

The wasteland wind carried grit, clattering against the heavy armor of the Black Iron with a pitter-patter sound.

Five kilometers remained to the target coordinates.

Inside the driver's cabin, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

Lin Xiao stood before the massive bulletproof observation window, holding military-grade high-powered binoculars, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.

Behind him, Su Qingqian was wiping her Tang Dao, "water cutter," its blade reflecting a cold, chilling light under the dim lamps.

Zhao Xiaotang was checking her slightly dented tower shield and tightening her grip on her short spear.

"Luo Yao, turn off all external lights and activate silent stealth mode," Lin Xiao ordered in a low voice.

"Received. Engine power reduced to 30%, noise suppression system activated." Luo Yao's fingers flew across the keyboard. The Black Iron's originally roaring engine quickly faded, leaving only a faint electrical hum, like a ghost lurking in the night.

Through the night vision mode of the binoculars, the scene ahead gradually became clear.

At a railway junction surrounded by several abandoned utility poles, a pink... or what used to be a pink train was parked.

That was No. 9528, the special train of the Shencheng University Dance Department.

At this moment, it was like a lamb surrounded by a pack of wolves.

The body was covered in scratches and impact dents. All the windows were covered with thick curtains, but a faint light could still be seen from inside, along with...

An aura of despair that seemed palpable even from this distance.

Surrounding it, three wildly modified armored trains were positioned in a triangular formation, pinning it down tightly.

These three trains were covered in various vulgar graffiti, with searchlights and several crude, cobbled-together machine guns mounted on their roofs.

On the most prominent part of the lead car, several large words were sprayed in bright red paint—

**[Gentlemens Club]**.

"Gentlemens Club?" Lin Xiao sneered, his eyes full of mockery. "A bunch of beasts in human skin dare call themselves gentlemen?"

The lens zoomed in.

Dozens of men wearing leather jackets, covered in tattoos—some even wearing sexually suggestive masks—were gathered in front of the door of No. 9528.

They held crowbars, cutters, and even flamethrowers.

A shirtless, burly bald man with a large gold chain around his neck,

Was standing on top of a modified jeep (which surprisingly had train wheels) with a megaphone, conducting a final "call for surrender."

"Little sisters inside! Stop struggling! Your brothers' patience is limited!"

The bald man (clearly the so-called "Brother Long") shouted with a lewd grin, his voice carrying on the wind.

"As long as you open the door obediently, I promise not to kill anyone! I'll even give you good food and drink! In this day and age, lying on Brother Long's bed is a blessing!"

"If you still don't open the door... hehe, once I blow the door open, you won't be lying down in bliss, you'll be kneeling in misery!"

"Hahahaha!"

The surrounding lackeys burst into a round of vulgar laughter.

"Brother Long, I heard this train is full of dancers? Those legs... tsk tsk tsk, I could play with them for a year!"

"I want that ballerina! I like the ones who can pull their legs over their heads!"

Even from several kilometers away, those filthy words reached the Black Iron's driver's cabin clearly.

Zhao Xiaotang trembled with rage, her fists clenching until they cracked. "Damn it! These animals! They're more disgusting than zombies!"

Su Qingqian didn't speak, but the coldness in her eyes intensified, and her Tang Dao was already slightly unsheathed.

"Don't be hasty." Lin Xiao held down Zhao Xiaotang's hand as she moved to rush out. "Rushing in now will only alert them. We either don't act, or we act to annihilate them all."

Meanwhile, the side calling for surrender had clearly lost patience.

"Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit! Burn it for me!"

Brother Long gave the order.

A lackey raised a flamethrower and blasted a window of No. 9528.

“Whoosh—”

Orange-red tongues of fire instantly licked the train body, and the already fragile glass quickly shattered under the high temperature.

"Ah!!!"

Terrified screams and cries from the girls came from inside the carriage.

"Help! Is anyone there to save us!"

"Waaa... Mommy..."

That kind of desperate crying made even someone as mentally steadfast as Lin Xiao feel a tightening in his chest.

For girls like Su Qingqian and the others, it was like their hearts were being gouged out.

If they hadn't met Lin Xiao a few days ago, their fate might have been the same.

"That's about enough."

Lin Xiao lowered his binoculars, his lips curling into a cruel arc.

"Luo Yao, full power output! All lights on! Ram them!"

"Since they like playing with fire, I'll give them a real hellfire!"

"Yes! Hold on tight!"

Luo Yao shouted and slammed the throttle all the way down.

“Boom—!!!”

The previously lurking Black Iron instantly erupted with a roar like a giant beast awakening.

The boiler pressure gauge instantly hit the red.

The modified high-power xenon searchlight on the front, along with the auxiliary lights on both sides, lit up simultaneously!

“Swish—”

A blinding white light, comparable to a lighthouse beacon, instantly tore through the darkness, stabbing like a sword toward the battlefield!

The members of the "Gentlemens Club," who were still laughing wildly, were blinded by the sudden intense light and cried out as they covered their eyes.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!"

Brother Long was so blinded he almost fell off the jeep roof, but he was a veteran who had survived several days in the apocalypse and reacted extremely quickly.

"Enemy attack! Everyone on alert! Get your weapons!"

As their vision gradually recovered, they finally saw the massive object approaching at high speed.

Matte black heavy armor, a menacing ram, a dark machine gun turret on the roof, and an oppressive sense of industrial and violent aesthetics.

In comparison, their cobbled-together modified vehicles were like toys.

"Is... is this a military armored train?!"

One lackey was so scared he dropped his crowbar.

In this early stage of the apocalypse, someone who could own a vehicle of this caliber was definitely a true powerhouse!

Brother Long was also startled, but he quickly calmed down.

He saw that the opponent only had one train, while he had three and dozens of fully armed brothers.

Moreover... in this apocalypse, whoever had the biggest fist was right. If they could seize such a good train...

Greed instantly overwhelmed fear.

Brother Long raised his megaphone and shouted toward the decelerating Black Iron:

"Friend across the way! I am Brother Long, Chairman of the 'Gentlemens Club'! This area is my territory!"

"I see you have a nice train there, brother! We're all survivors, no need for killing. There are plenty of girls on this No. 9528, at least over a hundred!"

"If you give me some face, we'll split them fifty-fifty—half the girls and half the supplies for you! We'll mind our own business, and we can even form an alliance later. How about it?"

In Brother Long's view, this was already a show of great sincerity.

After all, for men in the apocalypse, isn't that all it's about?

The Black Iron came to a stop a hundred meters away from them.

The shadow cast by its massive body completely enveloped Brother Long's dilapidated vehicle.

“Zzt—”

Lin Xiao turned on the roof's broadcast system.

His voice, amplified by the speakers, was low, cold, and carried a condescending dominance that echoed across the wasteland.

"Brother Long?"

"What kind of nobody dares to call himself 'Brother'?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire field went silent.

The flesh on Brother Long's face twitched, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

But he suppressed his anger; after all, that train's armor was too thick, and biting it would surely break his teeth.

"Brother, don't be so aggressive. One more friend means one more path. In this apocalypse..."

"I'll give you three seconds."

Lin Xiao interrupted him directly.

"Get lost, or die."

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

Not just Brother Long, even the lackeys were stunned.

Is this guy crazy? One person talking like that to dozens of them?

Inside the carriage, Su Qingqian looked at Lin Xiao's cold profile, her heart involuntarily racing.

This was her man (Conductor).

No compromise, no nonsense, dominantly mesmerizing.

"One."

Lin Xiao began the countdown.

"Two."

Brother Long finally exploded.

He slammed the megaphone onto the ground, pulled out a modified AK47, and fired a burst into the sky.

"Given face but won't take it! You really think having a turtle shell makes you invincible?!"

"Brothers! Get him! Seize this train for me too!"

"Chop the man up to feed the dogs! Keep the women! There must be good stuff hidden in this train!"

"Whoever rushes in first gets first pick of the women!"

"Kill!!!"

Under heavy reward, there are always brave men.

The mob, blinded by desire, let out strange cries. Raising guns and Molotov cocktails, they drove the other two armored trains to flank and attempt to pincer the Black Iron.

"Three."

As the final number came from the speaker and dissipated into the open air.

On the armored train named "Gentlemens Club," Brother Long was still screaming frantically, even pulling the trigger, trying to scratch the Black Iron with that ridiculous AK47.

"Brothers! Charge! Blast that shrinking turtle out! Whoever grabs it keeps it!"

Dozens of thugs, like hyenas smelling blood, raised crude explosive packs and Molotov cocktails, launching a suicidal charge.

Inside the driver's cabin.

Lin Xiao watched those ant-like figures crawling, a flash of pity disappearing as quickly as it came, replaced by absolute coldness.

"Shrinking turtle?"

A mocking curve formed on his lips, his finger lightly resting on the red button marked with a skull.

"Su Qingqian, remember this."

Lin Xiao didn't look back, his voice as flat as if discussing what to have for dinner.

"In this apocalypse, dignity only exists within the range of a cannon."

"Since they don't want to be decent, I'll help them be decent."

"Fire."

He pressed the button.

“Thump! Thump! Thump!”

Three dull but highly penetrating sounds came from the roof of the Black Iron.

The sound wasn't as crisp as a gunshot; it was more like the muffled knock of the Grim Reaper.

Three 40mm high-explosive grenades drew three perfect death parabolas in the air.

They ignored the charging small-fry, their target clear: Brother Long, who was still shouting on the roof, and the open-top main train carriage packed with thugs.

Time seemed to stretch at this moment.

Brother Long was cursing vigorously when he suddenly heard a strange whistling sound overhead.

He subconsciously looked up.

Three small black cylinders were falling from the sky at an extremely tricky angle, rapidly enlarging in his pupils.

"What... what is th—"

He didn't have time to finish the last word.

“Boom—!!!!”

The first grenade landed precisely in the middle of the crowd in the open carriage.

Then came the second and the third.

The violent explosions instantly ruptured eardrums.

A ball of orange-red fire, mixed with black smoke, rose from the main train of the "Gentlemens Club," forming a small mushroom cloud of death.

The massive shockwave, along with countless shrapnel, raged wildly within the narrow carriage.

The thugs who were leering and fantasizing about seizing women just moments ago instantly became sacrifices in this feast of explosions.

Human bodies were as fragile as paper before the high temperature and shockwaves.

Severed limbs and shattered organs scattered like a bloody rain, splashing everywhere.

An arm with a large floral tattoo was even blown dozens of meters by the air current, landing with a splat in front of the Black Iron's windshield, still twitching slightly.

"Ahhhhh—!!!"

"My leg! My leg is gone!"

"Help! This is the military! This is the regular army!"

Screams of agony instantly drowned out the previous arrogance.

The armored train that had been covered in graffiti and looked invincible was now a burning scrap-metal coffin.

Although Brother Long was lucky enough to jump off the roof a second before the explosion, he was still left bleeding from his orifices by the shockwave, lying on the ground like a dead dog, unable to move.

More than half of his dozens of brothers, his source of pride, were instantly wiped out.

Inside the driver's cabin.

Su Qingqian watched this scene, her pupils slightly contracting.

Although she was used to killing zombies, this scene of modern heavy-firepower slaughter still gave her a huge shock.

This was the power of technology.

In the face of this power, numbers, ferocity, and even so-called courage seemed laughable.

She turned to look at the man beside her.

Lin Xiao still maintained his position of pressing the button, his expression showing no fluctuation whatsoever; he even had the leisure to pick up the thermos beside him and take a sip of goji berry water.

This air of wiping out an army while chatting and laughing made Su Qingqian's heart skip a beat.

If he were an enemy, he would be the most terrifying demon.

But if he were one of your own... he was the most reliable god.

"Is that it?" Lin Xiao put down the cup and shook his head. "Too weak. Since we've already started blowing things up, let's finish the job properly."

He gripped the control levers with both hands and slammed them forward.

"Luo Yao, full power! Activate 'Savage Ram' mode!"

"Target: Enemy train wreckage. Smash it to pieces for me!"

"Got it! Let's go!"

Luo Yao, the violent loli, was now flushed with excitement, her fingers tapping a blur on the keyboard.