Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 182 Going Back to My Mother's Home!

In addition, there was information provided by Wan Hao.

In the short time it took the train conductor to drink a cup of coffee, He Jie and his men broke through the security at the EMU manufacturing base. Before the bitter taste in his mouth had even faded, the director of Shun'an EMU Manufacturing Plant was already acting like a leader visiting the site, introducing the entire base to him.

"I heard the entire manufacturing base is five square kilometers, which is equivalent to a small town?"

Su Huan held a mug half-filled with black coffee in his left hand and pointed to the huge factory building in front of him, asking a question.

The factory manager felt bitter inside, but on the surface he wore a solemn yet polite smile. Hearing this, he said eagerly, "The train conductor is right. The entire factory covers a total area of ​​4.8 square kilometers, with the production area occupying 2.5 square kilometers and the rest being the supporting facilities area. Not to mention in Qingchuan, Shun'an is one of the top manufacturing bases in the whole country."

How many people are there?

"More than five thousand."

"Only five thousand?"

The factory manager said with a wry smile, "Well... the disaster came too suddenly. There was chaos for a while at first, but things have gotten better recently. We recently gathered together the families of the surrounding residents and some survivors, which brought us to just over 5,000 people."

How many workers are there?

"There are more than 3,000 workers here, as well as many experts related to high-speed trains."

The factory manager, understanding the implied meaning, quickly replied.

Su Huan asked about base data, sometimes truthfully, sometimes not, as he walked inside.

To preserve the base's appearance, the armed train did not attempt a violent breach. Most of the base's defensive structures remain intact, including a 3.5-meter-high reinforced concrete wall topped with a 1.2-meter-high high-voltage electric fence, infrared monitoring probes every 200 meters, and facial recognition gates at the entrances and exits.

The turnstiles are no longer needed, but the walls and cameras still retain their original function.

Unfortunately, the wall is a bit low for evolved beings who can jump five or six meters at a time.

Based on the practices of those bases from the previous generation, they either need to strengthen their armed forces or continue to increase their altitude.

They built it to be harder and thicker, even completely sealing off the entire base.

As long as the zombies don't evolve into second-tier zombies on a large scale, there shouldn't be a big problem.

Upon entering, you'll see a towering vehicle manufacturing center, a silver steel structure factory building hundreds of meters long, with photovoltaic panels on the roof.

Next to it is the final assembly plant, and further out is a 10-kilometer-long circular closed track, which is used specifically for testing trains.

"The core component supporting area has three standard gauge lines that connect directly to the national railway network, allowing trains to bypass from there and enter the internal closed route."

After chatting for a while, seeing that Su Huan was easy to talk to, the factory manager whispered a reminder.

"No need for all that trouble." Su Huan waved his hand. "Just drive it in."

"Drive it in?"

The factory manager was stunned for a moment. He noticed that the two armed men behind him hadn't moved, and he didn't know who Su Huan was talking to.

Suddenly, a ship's horn sounded outside the base.

Gravel and sleepers flew into the air, and the metal rails were kneaded and rubbed in the air like noodles, forming a clattering track that stretched all the way to the closed track ahead.

The armed train rattled in through the main gate and onto the closed tracks.

The factory manager stared in disbelief at the magical scene, and it took him a long time to come to his senses. He felt even more awe for Su Huan.

A man as burly as a bear strode over.

Before He Jie even arrived, his loud voice reached Su Huan's ears: "The personnel in the manufacturing base are mainly concentrated in the employee living area. They not only have family housing, but also a primary school and a community hospital. They are currently under our control. Hu Shuo is currently taking stock. The armed forces are conducting a hazard elimination operation within the base."

Su Huan nodded. "Have Wan Hao and Professor Ma come over so they can meet with the experts in high-speed train manufacturing."

He suddenly noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Neither Wanhao's automobile manufacturing plant nor the high-speed train manufacturing base experienced such a human tragedy.

Most people still maintain the pre-apocalyptic order.

Even those who occasionally harbor malicious intentions are suppressed by the order maintained by the majority.

However, areas where existing interpersonal relationships have been damaged are more prone to serious incidents.

Indulging in desires leads to becoming a beast.

……

Car No. 12.

Professor Ma's lab table was like a space environment, with all sorts of clutter floating around him.

The disassembled old-fashioned telephone, remote control, radio, signal source equipment, encoder... all the parts float neatly in mid-air. Directly opposite is a universal energy crystal and some electronic components connected by optical fiber. He is using a simple and primitive method to reconstruct these hardware.

When the news arrived, Professor Ma raised his slightly graying eyebrows and meticulously recorded the experiment in a thick notebook.

"Okay, I understand, I'll be right there."

The surrounding objects continued to fall slowly, landing orderly on the table and in the surrounding cabinets.

After tidying up his desk, he stood up with his notes in hand, looked around at the busy students, and asked, "Where did Xiao Zhao go?"

"My senior just went to the back to coordinate with Director Xu, he'll be right back."

The little box said crisply.

Just then, a handsome young man, about 1.8 meters tall, hurried in from the back of the carriage, carrying a lot of documents in his hands.

"Teacher, did you call me?"

Professor Ma glanced back at his prized student and said with a faint smile, "The train conductor asked me to go and coordinate with the high-speed train experts at the manufacturing base. You'll come with me. Make sure all the data is ready so nothing goes wrong."

Xiao Zhao nodded. "It's all ready. I heard the news from Director Xu. They're already preparing to go."

"Okay, let's go."

The two of them went straight down from the door of carriage number 12, with the giraffe who had delivered the message following behind the old man and the young man.

Professor Ma had only taken two steps when he paused. "How is Li Hong?"

"Is the teacher still worried about him...?" Xiao Zhao hesitated for a moment, "Recently I've reduced his workload a lot, and it's all unimportant stuff."

Professor Ma shook his head. "The more you need to be wary of someone, the more you need to build a good relationship with them and the more you need to show that you value them."

Xiao Zhao looked thoughtful, quietly waiting for the teacher's answer.

"Yu Jing's teacher, Xiao Lü, is also very talented. She should have been promoted to professor five years ago..."

Xiao Zhao was a smart girl and understood what the teacher meant, but she still couldn't accept it and looked conflicted. "But Li Hong is my classmate after all. Is it really necessary to make things so complicated..."

Professor Ma patted Xiao Zhao on the shoulder and said seriously, "You are all my students, but you are no longer students. You are the chief conductor of the armed train, and you must be responsible to the train and the conductor."

Xiao Zhao looked at the serious-looking teacher, swallowed her words of explanation, and became resolute.

"I understand."

The giraffe deliberately lagged behind by two steps, but the conversation between the two was still clearly audible.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Zhao was tinged with envy.

If he had such a good teacher, he wouldn't have had to join the army.

However, if he hadn't joined the army, he might not have survived until now.

Every action has its own destiny. The three of them headed towards the residential area of ​​the manufacturing base.

The surrounding area was filled with workers who had just gotten off the train. Apart from the two hundred people who had been recruited into the Corps and the three hundred people who stayed at the station, the train was carrying more than two thousand people.

These two thousand-plus people will all gather at the manufacturing base.

Only by disrupting the existing order can a new force, primarily composed of armed trains, be created.

—Shunan Station.

Led by the giraffe, the two arrived at the base's residential area. Because of its large size, the residential area did not have any tall buildings; they were all six-story slab buildings, which is the highest floor that fire rescue teams can usually reach. Any higher and other equipment would have to be called in.

The building had been extensively renovated by the workers; all the windows had been welded shut with steel plates, and small metal fortresses had been built around it, which were now occupied by soldiers from the armed forces.

At the very center is a tall building surrounded by two stepped office buildings.

Perhaps because no one lives there, no modifications were made.

Some people are entering under the escort of soldiers.

The three of them followed.

Take the elevator to the top floor, where there is a large conference room of 500 square meters with a ceiling height of five meters. As soon as you enter, you can see a huge oval solid wood table.

Su Huan sat at the head of the table, while Director Xu and Wan Hao had arrived long ago and sat on either side of him with a dozen or so experts from the base.

Upon seeing Professor Ma, Su Huan nodded slightly and pointed to the reserved spot next to him.

Professor Ma took his seat, and Xiao Zhao stood behind him.

The giraffe returned to the train conductor's back, and together with the white deer, they scanned the corner of the conference room and the people present like two bodyguards.

"Knock Knock-"

Su Huan tapped the table and smiled, "Now that everyone is here, the meeting can begin."

The combat team soldiers who were inspecting the room withdrew and closed the door behind them.

Many experts secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I've attended countless meetings throughout my life, but this is the first time I've ever attended one under the threat of gunfire.

Even a shrewd person feels immense pressure.

He was terrified that if he said something wrong, the warlord in front of him would kill him.

To them, Su Huan was like a warlord who had gained power after the apocalypse.

Seeing that no one objected, Su Huan got straight to the point, "The purpose of gathering all the experts here is to upgrade and renovate my train. The detailed data of the train is already on your desks, and you can get a preliminary understanding of it."

Several experts, including the factory director, glanced down at the documents on the table, and the sound of pages turning filled the empty conference room.

Surprise quickly appeared in everyone's eyes.

Looking around at his colleagues, he noticed that almost everyone had looked up at the same time.

Su Huan raised an eyebrow. "Say whatever comes to mind, have a free exchange, don't hold back."

The group turned their gazes to the factory manager, who then hesitated and said, "This SA-6 train was produced by our Shun'an base, but it was made decades ago, which is why everyone is a little surprised."

Su Huan's eyes lit up slightly. She hadn't expected to end up going back to her parents' home by chance. This trip had been incredibly profitable!

He quickly asked, "Is the original designer still alive?"

"This train was designed under the leadership of the former factory director. He passed away a couple of years ago, but Vice President Deng, who is here today, was one of the designers back then."

The factory manager pointed to an elderly man with a round face and glasses on his left.

Before Professor Ma came in, Su Huan had already met everyone. This Vice President Deng was the friend Wan Hao had mentioned.

We weren't exactly close, we'd only met twice.

They can connect with each other.

In this situation, the relationships we had before the apocalypse are all the more precious.

Deputy General Manager Deng mustered his courage and asked, "I participated in the design of the power system back then, but what I'm curious about is why the train conductor didn't choose to replace the locomotive? There are quite a few newly produced locomotives in the base, and they are more powerful."

Su Huan immediately became interested.

He didn't care whether the armed train was still the same one after all these changes; he only cared about whether the train could become stronger and carry him further in this apocalypse.

"Tell me."

"For example, the 'Qinglong' series of superconducting maglev hybrid locomotives produced in Shun'an..."

Su Huan frowned. "Does maglev stop working if it leaves a specific track?"

"But the [Qinglong] series is a hybrid locomotive that can generate electricity. Of course, in addition to that, we also have the [Xuanjia] series - a modular multi-energy shunting locomotive with three energy dispatching modes: supercapacitor, wireless charging, and diesel backup. It is just that the speed is a bit slow, but the pulling force can reach 30,000 tons, and the stability is extremely high."

"This is not bad, but..."

"Does the train conductor have any other concerns?"

The factory manager next to him asked.

The reason he chose the old-fashioned SA-6 was because it was a hybrid electric vehicle, which could be driven by special abilities in critical moments.

This [Xuanjia] chariot head truly crushed everything.

But now that he's at the manufacturing base, he's not satisfied with just improving performance.

Su Huan tapped the table lightly with his index finger and said slowly, "I don't know much about the technical aspects, but I have a few requests. See if you can fulfill them."

"Please speak, conductor, we will definitely find a way to complete this."

Everyone at the table listened attentively.

"First, regarding the front of the train, I hope there are more power modes, such as universal energy drive, quantum drive, bioelectric drive, or photon drive, but the electric motor drive cannot be abandoned and should be strengthened. Don't be afraid of energy loss, the more motors the better. Also, this power mode should not rely on the rails, and it should be collision resistant."

After hearing Su Huan's words, everyone was dumbfounded.

Even Professor Ma, who was standing to the side, couldn't maintain his smile.

He whispered a reminder, "Train conductor, photon propulsion is just a concept; there's no concrete theory yet. Quantum levitation has been studied, but there's been no news of any progress."

"Oh." Su Huan wasn't surprised; he didn't understand this, he just casually asked, "What about pan-energy?"

Professor Ma hesitated for a moment, "Pan-energy is a specific form of energy, and it is much less difficult to design than the previous two, but it needs to be redesigned."

The two men's conversation touched on evolutionary information, leaving several experts completely bewildered.

"Pan-energy... is it the energy that awakens the evolved beings?"

Standing to the side, Xiao Zhao quickly distributed some basic information about evolution to everyone.

The sound of pages turning filled the meeting room again.

This time it was much faster.

"Besides changing the locomotive, you can also think about whether there are any other ways for a train to travel on land if it derails."

(I haven't been updating much lately, so I'm making up for it with 4k words)

(End of this chapter)