Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 184 Modification and Training

After hanging up the phone, Haywood breathed a sigh of relief.

The person opposite him was his boss's boss, the vice president of business development, a strategic decision-maker in the company who had the opportunity to compete for the chief growth officer position.

After returning last time, he was promoted to a senior business development manager thanks to his deal with Su Huan, and he also gained the right to contact the vice president independently.

These are not things you can get by trading a logistics center.

The mere mention of "Blazing Sun Angel" caused a huge uproar within the company, and it wasn't until four or five spies were uncovered that things calmed down.

Heywood thus gained access to some of the company's secrets.

I heard from above that the "Radiant Sun Archangel" is just a concept, and even the theory hasn't been derived to that extent.

The company deduced that Su Huan had heard the news from somewhere and exaggerated it.

Therefore, only two collectors were assigned to conduct long-term observation.

But Heywood felt it wasn't that simple; the certainty and confidence on Su Huan's face were definitely not a bluff.

He simply couldn't persuade the company's senior management to change their approach and methods to take coercive measures against a small force based on his feelings.

In other words, he is not important enough, so his feelings are not important either.

Stepping out of the office, there was a large reception room where a smartly dressed man was already sitting. Even though no one was around, he remained composed on the sofa, neither reserved nor arrogant, with his collar neatly pressed.

Standing next to him was a secretary wearing a bodycon pencil skirt, with a curvaceous figure.

Haywood shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, Director Li, your terms haven't impressed the company."

Li Wangchuan wasn't surprised by the result. "Is that so? What a pity. We'll just have to cooperate again next time."

After that, he got up and left.

"Perhaps we could have some other collaborations?"

Heywood suddenly said.

Li Wangchuan stopped and calmly looked at the blond, blue-eyed man. "In whose name?"

"I have the authority to trade a batch of supplies in my personal capacity."

Heywood said seriously.

"cost."

"Go check on that train for me."

"I can't afford to mess with that jinx right now."

"You don't need to do anything to them, just observe them. I'll give you their location later."

Li Wangchuan pondered for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll send someone."

Watching Li Wangchuan leave with his secretary, Haywood mentally considered the whole situation.

Even if Li Wangchuan's men are discovered, that's a matter between the Armed Train and the Remnant Steel Council, and has nothing to do with Haywood, nor does it violate the company's rules.

"I wonder what those two data collectors are doing. They haven't sent any messages back for so long."

"You idiot who wastes company resources!"

……

Acid rain zone, Shun'an EMU manufacturing base.

It has now been renamed Armed Train, Shunan Station Base.

The heavy rain was still falling, but the entire manufacturing base was bustling with construction activity.

More than 7,000 people were divided into three groups: skilled workers and experts carried out train renovation and upgrading, ordinary workers carried out reinforcement and renovation of Shunan Station base, and the remaining elderly, weak, women and children provided logistical support.

The train has already entered the car body manufacturing center.

In the western corner of the vehicle body manufacturing center, hundreds of temporary large pots were lined up, and twenty head chefs were busy at the same time, along with odd-and-error workers, totaling more than a hundred people.

The junior cook in the logistics team is now a second-level flight attendant. He walked past the chef with his hands behind his back.

With the sizzling sound of hot oil, a few eggs were cracked in, followed by dozens of kilograms of sauce, regardless of whether it was fermented bean paste or any other brand, all of which were poured in.

As soon as you stir it with a spatula, the aroma bursts out.

A large bowl of egg sauce with only sauce and no eggs was ready.

Wang could smell the aroma from afar. Before he even got close, he heard someone greet him, "Boss Wang, the noodles are green today!"

"Green?" Wang He was taken aback. "It's probably vegetable noodles..."

Upon queuing up and stepping forward, one could see that the large iron basin indeed contained green noodles, which looked like they had some kind of coarse grain added to them. The surface was somewhat rough, and everyone was pulling on their chopsticks to eat them.

He's not picky about food; in this world, it's good enough to have something to eat.

I picked out a large bowl of noodles and scooped out a spoonful of fragrant egg sauce.

He carried the food towards the direction of the train renovation project, intending to eat it at the construction site.

Since the reform, he became a third-level flight attendant, in charge of many people. In addition, there was that colleague who didn't like him, so he couldn't feel at ease if he didn't keep an eye on him.

However, Jiang Lun hasn't caused him any trouble lately.

I don't know if he's come to terms with it or if he just had a bad day.

Loud shouts rang in his ears, blending together to form the familiar cacophony.

"Second group, get ready, first group, take over!"

"okay!"

"Bring a forklift! Can this man handle it?!"

"They're all evolved beings, no problem."

"Defender from the manufacturing team, come here, the forklifts can't get in here..."

The flight crew and the workers at the manufacturing base mingled together. Every now and then, an expert would emerge from a nearby room, ignoring everyone else, grab his surveying tools, and start taking measurements. Then, without saying a word, he would go back and start writing and drawing.

He didn't speak to anyone during that time.

Wang looked around and saw a stack of three-meter-high composite armor next to him. He took the bowl and rushed up to it in two steps, without the noodles in his hand shaking at all.

Now he is an evolved being too; to be precise, everyone in the crew is an evolved being.

However, as a third-class flight attendant, he had accumulated some merits in the past.

The train conductor, Hu, said that the train manager had made an exception for them, the elderly passengers, allowing them to exchange a small number of points for skill potions.

He hadn't decided yet whether to use his merit to exchange for the medicine or something else.

He found a comfortable position to squat down, and while eating large mouthfuls of green noodles, he observed the situation below.

The supplies inside the armed train were all carried out, including water purifiers and other equipment, and piled up to one side.

The interior and equipment that would hinder modifications were removed from the vehicle.

The birdcages that the brothers had complained about for a long time have also been completely dismantled. I heard that this time they are going to build a spacious space for them.

But Wang He wasn't too optimistic.

The space in a train is only so big; how much can it be expanded further?

Living in a car is definitely not as comfortable as living on the ground.

He hadn't dared to think about it before, but he heard that the higher-ups were going to change the manufacturing base into the Shun'an Base, serving as a long-term base and fortress for armed trains.

This immediately put him in a dilemma.

"Stay away, everyone! Get ready, we're about to dismantle the side panel!"

Someone shouted from below, attracting Wang He's attention and causing him to lift his head out of the large bowl.

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Ba, sitting in his wheelchair, caused the more than twenty-meter-long side of the carriage to suddenly slide off, the break clean and crisp, much more natural than a simple cut. A forklift, already prepared, moved forward and lifted the entire side armor away.

Several workers operated the forklift as if it were a single person, with the more than 20-meter-long armored vehicle steadily on it.

An elderly man with a round face and glasses stood next to Hachi, repeatedly exclaiming, "This ability to manipulate metal is truly amazing, truly amazing..."

Xiao Ba pursed his lips. Lately, more people have been praising him, which makes him feel awkward.

"What's next?"

Deputy General Manager Deng walked to the side of the carriage, touched the edge, and said, "First, extend the edge of the carriage, then use your abilities to check the airtightness of the carriage and see if there are any leaks..."

Even though it had already been checked, Xiao Ba patiently checked it again.

After confirming that there were no problems, the carriage was widened.

The workers carried over the brand-new, custom-made tracks, which were a full two meters wide.

Because the carriages are too long, each carriage needs to have four pairs of tracks, and each pair of tracks is relatively independent, so even if one pair of tracks breaks, it will not affect the operation of the other tracks.

The design of the tracks took only one day; the blueprints were produced as soon as the train was moved and disassembled.

The sample, which was made overnight, will be installed today.

If this carriage is successfully modified, then the subsequent carriages will be modified according to the summarized procedures.

Vice President Deng stayed by Xiao Ba's side the whole time, supervising the work while explaining the mechanical principles to Xiao Ba.

"The outer wall of the vehicle should be tilted outwards, but the angle doesn't need to be too large, ten degrees is enough. This can effectively prevent climbing and deflect the angle of bullet firing. When it reaches the top, it should be pulled back to form a firing port. With a little additional structure, a machine gun can be mounted."

"If you ask me, you shouldn't have mounted an anti-aircraft machine gun on the roof. You should have mounted a cannon, or even a close-in weapon system. What can a small-caliber machine gun do?"

"Getting off-topic, this recessed part can store the robotic arm. I wonder when Xiao Fan will be able to design his robotic arm. I'll go and urge him tonight..."

As Vice President Deng muttered to himself, Xiao Ba listened attentively.

He wasn't picky about food; he learned whatever he heard, regardless of whether it was good or bad, or who taught him.

By noon, the modification of carriage number 1 was largely completed. Although many details were still to be finished, the framework was already in place.

It looks like a multifaceted prism, covered with dark blue-black armor, exuding a cold, hard, and heavy aura.

It has completely changed its previous appearance of being a rusty wasteland.

Although the armor was not thickened, the carriage body was more robust and sturdy than before.

After all, it's an integrated renovation, and all the structures have been carefully designed by experts, so there's no issue of it falling apart after a couple of impacts.

The manufacturing team has recently developed a nano-repair coating, which is essentially a special memory metal. It is not strong enough, but it has extremely strong self-healing ability and can slowly heal the attached metal.

Applying a repair coating to the armor will not add much weight and will also give the armor a self-healing ability.

It can also be used as an anti-corrosion coating in normal times.

However, if the damage is too great, or the armor is shattered, the repair coating cannot restore it.

The repair coating is newly made and is being used experimentally only on this one carriage.

The modified carriages were not renovated; instead, they were thrown into a huge water tank outside the vehicle manufacturing center to soak. The tank was already filled with highly corrosive acid rain. The old men felt that this was not extreme enough, so they added some more harsh substances.

To simulate the effect of a flood, a pressure test must also be conducted.

After being retrieved, they undergo various experiments such as shooting, exploding, burning, and impacting.

According to the plan, these tests should be conducted simultaneously during the renovation process.

In other words, if any part of the process goes wrong, all the other modified carriages will have to be dismantled and rebuilt.

This method is laborious and time-consuming, but there's no other way.

Su Huan didn't have time to wait for them to conduct tests that often took several weeks.

So time is very tight.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Xiao Ba hurriedly ate lunch and then headed towards the central building of the residential area.

While the train crew was busy modifying and upgrading the train, the armed forces were not idle either. Under He Jie's leadership, they began to screen and train 5,000 people in the base.

The recruitment criteria remain the same: all those selected will become evolved beings.

Before Xiao Ba even reached the shore, he heard a series of footsteps, noisy and chaotic, carrying the unique heaviness of water.

He Jie never considers the weather when training his troops; to be precise, the heavier the rain, the more it inspires his enthusiasm for training.

Looking up, I saw a large group of people rushing past me, some running, some jumping, and some gliding in the water, each displaying their unique abilities.

"Little Eight!"

"Eighth Master is here!"

"Thank goodness, it's Eighth Master. We're doomed."

When everyone saw Xiao Ba, they greeted him in a flurry of excited shouts and cries, and so on.

Although it carries a hint of flattery, you can feel the recognition in it, and Xiao Ba quite likes that feeling.

At the end, a woman with cat-like eyes swept past the wheelchair, her limbs dangling in the air. In mid-air, she twisted her body and nodded to Xiao Ba.

Like a wild beast, its limbs landed on one spot, and its supple body flew out with a flick of its wrist.

"What are you yelling and screaming about during warm-up?! Today's training volume is doubled!"

He Jie's burly figure was visible in the rain. His military green vest was stained dark green by the acid rain, and his tactical boots waded through the water. He didn't walk fast, but he gave people a strong sense of pressure.

It felt like being chased by a ferocious bear.

He Jie flicked the stun gun and smiled at Xiao Ba, "Lin Jin and the others have finished their warm-up exercises and are inside."

"Okay, but I won't attend the evening class. I need to cooperate with the train crew on the train modifications."

Xiao Ba lifted the metal canopy above his head, which was used to shield him from the rain, so that he could see He Jie's face.

He Jie's face rarely showed a warm smile. "The train conductor told me in advance that if you're too busy, you don't need to come this way."

Xiao Ba is a really likable kid. He's serious but not rigid, smart, eager to learn, and has a good mind. He's much better than his own brat. With a sigh, he said goodbye to Xiao Ba and went to continue supervising the soldiers.

Watching He Jie's angry departure, Xiao Ba entered the middle staircase building.

It was clear from that chaotic warm-up that He Jie didn't pursue a rigid training method, but rather wanted the soldiers of the armed corps to leverage their advantages as evolved beings.

As long as the training task can be completed under his watchful eye, any method will do.

But don't expect He Jie to list out all the rules for you.

His method of training soldiers was simple: beat them up if they didn't like him.

A clever person will learn what they can and cannot do after a few times.

If you can't react in time, then just keep enduring it.

To this day, no one has ever been seen to have been killed by He Jie.

The twenty-odd casualties initially selected were killed by evolved beasts and zombies while performing cleanup missions.

"The final test is always the battlefield, so I want to give them the feeling of facing war."

This is the training goal that He Jie told the train conductor.

The wheelchair seemed to fly into the air, leaping over the steps and heading into the building.

The first floor of the building was very spacious, which He Jie used for indoor training.

Lin Jin, Liang Kuan, Shan Yang, Qu Hang, and others were all there.

Currently, the base's security duties have been handed over to the flight crew's combat team, so the corps members conduct daily training whenever they have free time.

While regular training doesn't help them much, it allows them to maintain peak physical function.

(End of this chapter)