Armored train in the apocalypse

Chapter 196 Engineer-Type I
The bright flames instantly illuminated the fan-shaped area directly in front.

The menacing iron-eating tree fled in panic, but it was too slow. The oil had already soaked its body, and the raging flames had already shot up to the branches in the blink of an eye.

As the branches swayed, they also set their surrounding companions ablaze.

From a drone's perspective, the massive "mobile fortress" simultaneously burst into raging flames, igniting countless sparks that illuminated the surrounding area for several kilometers, resembling a dazzling fireworks display.

The clanging of the armored train, like the beat of drums, accompanied the rumbling vibrations of the iron-eating trees, spreading outwards in all directions.

Like a festival celebration.

Lin Jin paced back and forth inside the carriage, adjusting the flame temperature to prevent it from being too weak and allowing the enraged Iron-Eating Tree to get close.

Armored trains are waterproof and have electrical discharge capabilities, but their resistance to high temperatures is generally limited.

Standing on the roof of the vehicle, He Jie picked up a large flamethrower and aimed it at the iron-eating tree below.

Like an arsonist, he pruned their branches.

The orange-red flames cast flickering light on his狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) face.

"Crack..."

Yu Yue meticulously trimmed Su Huan's hair, strands of glossy black hair falling to the ground.

The firelight outside the window was reflected in the window.

The carriage was very well soundproofed; only a faint crackling sound could be heard, barely audible even from the rustling of hair being trimmed.

The raging flames and the gentle life intertwine to create a new world.

Restless yet tranquil.

……

The blazing sunlight had just pierced through the heavy Italian velvet curtains when the smart home system quietly activated. The constant temperature underfloor heating kept the teak flooring at 26°C, making it feel like walking on a sun-dried beach when you stepped on it barefoot—warm and comfortable.

The vintage gramophone by the bedside played a tender and lingering cello tune.

The woman on the bed fluttered her eyelashes and got off the bed.

As I drew back the curtains, the blazing sunlight flooded into the room, illuminating every detail.

Wang Yi frowned.

The climate of the storm zone and the acid rain zone are completely opposite.

Although she disliked the pungent smell of acid rain, she enjoyed the humid climate there, which didn't irritate her skin.

In my early years, I underwent too many cosmetic procedures to maintain my beauty, which led to sensitive skin and a sensitivity to light.

Things got much better after becoming an evolved being, but the inertia remained.

An instinctive aversion to too much sunlight.

Outside the window is a sunroom with a glass dome, the crystal glass refracting the light into a pale golden veil, enveloping the room full of blooming champagne.

Fine water droplets still clung to the petals, clearly from the water mist just sprayed by the automatic irrigation system.

Under the scorching sun of the storm zone, there is no such thing as dew.

To be precise, without someone specifically tending to and cultivating it every day, there would be no such delicate, unmutated flower stamens.

About three minutes later, the personal secretary knocked on the door right on time.

While helping Wang Yi wash up, he said, "Mr. Shu invites you to breakfast."

"Seeing him makes me feel nauseous and I can't eat. To save my appetite, I want him to get lost."

Wang Yi said with a hint of disgust.

Even without her ex-husband on the board of directors, she is still a senior manager at Black Kite, so she doesn't need to give him face.

The secretary was already used to Wang Yi's vicious words.

He said calmly, "Mr. Shu said that Miss Shu Wei is also in the team that went to carry out the mission..."

The secretary was interrupted by a loud noise before she could finish speaking.

Looking up, the floor-to-ceiling window in front of him was shattered into a spiderweb pattern, centered on Wang Yi's fist, with bright red blood seeping through the cracks.

The woman's figure had disappeared from the bedroom, and outside, the sound of her clenched teeth and angry curses echoed.

"Where is that old codger?! I'm going to strangle him to death today!"

The secretary calmly picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Someone come and replace the glass."

……

The sunlight made the plate glow white, and the steak, dipped in tomato sauce, was tender and delicious.

Mr. Shu slowly and methodically held chopsticks in one hand and used a knife in the other to cut the steak on the plate until he had cut it into small pieces, which he then pushed to Wang Yi, whose face was ashen.

Although the other party was furious, her long-standing habit still allowed her to control her temper in public.

However, the waiter's position revealed that the atmosphere between the two was not pleasant.

"Shu Wei is only at the first level now, why did you send her to such a dangerous place to carry out a mission?!"

Looking at his furious ex-wife, Mr. Shu sneered, "The result of all these years of badmouthing me to her is that I don't even dare to see her. She gets furious as soon as we meet, so she's even less likely to listen to me."

"So you didn't even notify me, did you?"

Wang Yi's gaze was icy, and she pressed closer with each step.

Mr. Shu frowned. "She's already thirty years old. Before the apocalypse, she was already a CEO worth over 100 million. She's not your pet!"

"Furthermore, I instructed Second Tier to prioritize her safety. If the mission fails, so be it. At worst, we can inform the company. Consider it training for her; it's better than her staying cooped up in the base."

Wang Yi curled the corners of her lips and said sarcastically, "You stay in the headquarters' safe zone, eating steaks that haven't mutated and drinking red wine, while I send my daughter out to gain experience. Why don't you go?"

Mr. Shu sighed deeply. No matter what kind of personality a woman has, once she doesn't like someone, she will always say countless hurtful things.

"I'm almost sixty years old, and I've already weathered all the storms I was supposed to..."

"Oh!"

Wang Yi swept the steak off the plate and said with disgust, "Don't give me your high-sounding advice. If anything happens to Shu Wei, I'll cut you into a thousand pieces!"

He wasn't given a chance to say anything further; he got up and left.

Mr. Shu frowned as he looked at the steak on the ground.

He wasn't upset about the steak; his anger stemmed from the fact that he had cut it himself.

Even though this is a very precious food in the outside world today.

But it was nothing more than scraps to his power.

It wasn't even part of the resources, but rather one of the gifts he received based on his position and the power he wielded.

Just then, a waiter braced himself and walked over, bowing and whispering, "The Vice President of Business Development at Deep Blue Data would like to see you."

Mr. Shu remained outwardly calm, but a hint of doubt flashed through his mind.

What does DeepBlue Data want with him?
However, the other party's identity made it impossible for him to ignore them.

He took the hot towel from the waiter and wiped his hands. The helplessness he had shown in front of Wang Yi completely disappeared, and a deep and stern look, typical of an old man, appeared on his face. He stood up and walked out.

"Don't waste food."

Several waiters behind him bowed slightly, picked up the steaks from the ground, and ate them without expression.

……

Two more days have passed since the armed train left Shun'an.

The rain was light that night, but the wind was strong.

The cycads said it was the most beautiful campfire they had ever seen in their lives. They danced wildly around the fire all night and left feeling great.

As for Black Kite and the people from Deep Blue Data, they did not appear until they left.

Perhaps they were kept and entertained by that group of enthusiastic cycads.

Or perhaps you encountered something else.

Su Huan didn't know either.

The armed train maintained a maximum speed of 75 km/h as it headed north. It mostly traveled on the tracks, only using tracks when encountering a broken rail. Besides being faster on the tracks, fuel consumption was also a concern.

At the same speed, the fuel consumption of the tracked vehicle is almost eight times that of the rails!
Even after refueling at Shunan Station, it still couldn't withstand such use.

Energy is needed everywhere on the vehicle.

Therefore, the logistics team selected a group of energy suppliers to inject electricity into the train engines in batches each day to alleviate some of the energy pressure.

While it cannot completely cover fuel consumption, the remaining fuel is enough for these energy suppliers to grow.

On their way to Guangren City, the armed train encountered many survivors.

However, the armed train no longer needed many outsiders, so it only recruited a very small number of outstanding talents.

After sending out small teams to trade and explore, they quickly left.

Two months of acid rain and communication disruptions, along with an endless stream of zombie-evolved beasts, caused even the most optimistic survivors to lose hope, their emotions shifting from fear and despair to collapse and finally to a numb existence.

The end of the world is not actually coming so soon.

But in batches.

The first apocalypse occurred during a period of extreme heat, when everything underwent a transformation.

This is the end of the environment.

A sudden apocalyptic crisis has enveloped human civilization.

At this time, people's hearts are suspended by fear, and they will try every means to escape, to survive, and to struggle in any way possible.

There's always a little bit of anticipation.

It could be a rescue that appears out of nowhere, resources that were previously inaccessible, or a sudden release from repetitive and tedious work.

Two months later, the survivors were somewhat more settled.

They also suddenly realized that they could never go back to that prosperous and peaceful era.

There's no convenient access to water and electricity, no social networks, and no delicious food delivered to your door with just a few clicks...

The old rules that humanity has established over thousands of years have been shattered.

Some people don't even know what they rely on to live, how they live, or why they live...

The second apocalypse truly arrived.

This is the end of humanity.

So whenever a massive armed train passes through a place, countless survivors cheer excitedly, for the roaring sound brings the lingering glow of an old civilization.

But after the last rays of sunlight faded, only endless, cold darkness remained.

Fear and uncertainty are the norm.

However, Su Huan didn't care about all that.

As a train conductor, he is only responsible for his own train.

Under his intense pressure, every member of the armed train operated like a cog in a precision machine, working efficiently and systematically.

So far, no one has been found to have any psychological problems.

Because Su Huan gave them a goal, a "plum" that, though distant, was something they could actually see.

"If the train heads north, it will escape the disaster."

This was certainly not what Su Huan said.

Rather, it was a sentence that gradually took on a different meaning when he first explained the train's objective to Wan Xing and others.

Coupled with the heavy workload every day, even evolved beings have no time to overthink.

Because all passengers on the train are evolved beings, there is no issue of insufficient energy, so the train's time system was changed from a 24-hour system to a 36-hour system.

A cycle of thirty-six hours.

I work 24 hours a day and spend the remaining 12 hours resting.

People are quite indifferent to the changes over time and don't seem to have any resistance to them.

If the train is a company, and they all live in the company, what else can they do besides work?
The production efficiency of armed trains has increased by another 20% to 30%.

……

An interesting test was taking place in the armed hall between the two trains.

Both sides were lined with soldiers from the armed corps, including He Jie, Yu Yue, Xiao Ba, and others.

They surrounded the two people in the very center.

One is Yu Jing, who is wearing a large exoskeleton.

This is the latest research and development achievement of her mechanical laboratory.

Customized exoskeleton: [Engineer-Type I], weighing 110kg.

The prototype was that enhanced functional exoskeleton, and then, based on that, all the metal frames were replaced with Tier 1 titanium steel.

It is a new type of material made of titanium alloy metal combined with bone from the spine of a first-order canine and ironwood.

Compared to steel, titanium steel is more than one-fifth harder and even 20% lighter, but its ductility and tensile strength are much worse.

In addition, it was difficult to manufacture and not as easy to synthesize as steel. When it was first manufactured, it was only stored as a new material and was not used on a large scale on trains.

Now, Yu Jing is using it to create an exoskeleton, which is quite fitting.

Compared to the "Scavenger", the "Engineer" is a completely different thing.

The exposed hydraulic lines are wrapped in carbon fiber antifreeze sheaths, the joints adopt a biomimetic tendon structure, and the surface is covered with cold-resistant composite armor plates. The overall color is matte iron gray with special fluorescent orange marking stripes.

The back is equipped with a standard engineering mounting bracket, which can be used to quickly mount scientific instruments, welding arms or light weapons.

A pair of five-node high-degree-of-freedom robotic arms were added to the left and right sides.

The robotic arm has two nodes at the shoulder, one at the elbow, and two at the wrist, allowing it to turn flexibly.

The robotic arm has two modes: hydraulic gripper and precision operation. The former can exert a gripping force of more than two tons, while the latter can perform functions such as laser ranging and 3D emergency printing.

Because it focuses on engineering and manufacturing, the Engineer series is taller and more robust, with a rough and cold mechanical feel.

Yu Jing, who is only 1.6 meters tall, put on this exoskeleton and instantly grew to 2 meters.

It's even a head taller than the widest beam on the vehicle.

At this moment, Yu Jing was holding two pistols in her hands, and each of her left and right robotic arms was holding an Iron Curtain assault rifle.

He also carried a light machine gun on his back, both aimed at a target a hundred meters away directly in front of him.

A meerkat from the armed forces stood nearby.

In front of them was a table, on which were placed two more assault rifles and a light machine gun.

Standing between the two, He Jie looked at the train conductor beside him.

Su Huan nodded.

He Jie held a timer in his hand, raising it high.

Accompanied by a beep.

Simultaneously, flames erupted from the muzzles of both guns.

However, Yu Jing had three weapons: a light machine gun on her back and two pistols in her hands.

The fifteen bullets in the [Enforcer-S1] tactical pistol and the ammunition belt of the light machine gun on his back were almost emptied at the same time.

Meanwhile, the Mongoose had already emptied its pistol and was reloading.

In this competition, assault rifles and light machine guns need to be reloaded once, while pistols need to be reloaded three times.

Yu Jing calmly manipulated the exoskeleton on her body. With a few clicks, the spare ammunition belt was loaded, and she aimed at the target in front of her and fired.

She calmly and deliberately reloaded the two pistols in her hands.

(End of this chapter)