The "Survival on the Train" game has bugs, it's really laggy!

007.

When the torch number appeared on the main screen, no one in the driver's cab spoke.

One kilometer ahead, the radar dot's receding speed jumped from ten kilometers per hour to fifteen, then twenty, then twenty-five.

It wasn't driving normally. It was heading straight for the Devourer.

Wang Hu slid his right hand off the passenger armrest and placed it on the external ammunition compartment safety catch. His fingers didn't press down, but his fingertips were already pressed firmly against the metal.

"Seven couplings engage simultaneously." He forced out the words, "What kind of vehicle has seven couplings?"

Little Fire didn't answer. Its claws tapped on the control panel. The main screen switched to radar waveform overlay thermal imaging. The outline of the dot in front gradually became clear: flat, low, without a chimney, without a turret.

However, three connectors extend from each side, and there is one more from the front.

All seven hooks are fully extended. Extending towards the convoy.

The sound of a tape being tightened came from channel 013. Tang Lan's voice was brief.

"Everyone, shut up."

The wounded didn't make any unnecessary movements. Those who had come along the way knew what to do from Tang Lan's tone. Tighten the straps. Bite down. Don't make a sound.

Tailgate 005. The young survivor crouched in front of the double-layered pod, his left hand pressed against the anti-contamination outer shell, his right hand resting on the silencer lowering lever. He wasn't looking at the radar ahead. He was looking at the surface of the pod.

The temperature is normal. The black liquid is hidden inside and cannot be seen.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

But his palms were sweating.

Qin Yan raised her fingers on stretcher number 013. The tapping sound was very soft, almost drowned out by the vibration of the rails.

Two short ones, one long one short.

Xiao Huo translated it.

"Don't let all seven hooks close at the same time."

Su Yuan made a slight adjustment to the steering wheel with his left hand. Not a turn, but simply to keep the Devourer at a low speed within the center. There was no acceleration to rush forward, nor a sudden stop.

Sixty kilometers per hour. Uniform.

Wang Hu stared ahead. The light boxes receded one by one, their dim yellow light sweeping across the car windows. The outline of 007 grew larger and larger on the radar.

"Six hundred meters," Xiao Huo reported the distance.

"No thermal reaction. No cockpit. No turret. No weapon hardpoints."

Its paw paused for a moment.

"The seven sets of couplings are respectively aligned with: the front beam of the Devourer, the third guide frame, the tail beam of No. 013, the tail anchor of No. 005, the external mounting position of the mobile refining furnace, the external fuel rack, and the heavy-duty hoisting arm."

Wang Hu loosened his fingers slightly from the magazine safety catch.

It's not relaxation. It's confusion.

"It's not here to fight?"

"Four hundred meters," Xiao Huo continued to report.

The side wall of 007 is lit up.

It wasn't a light. It was lettering. Old-fashioned white spray-painted lettering, the same size as the warehouse signage at station 016. When the light shone on it, the lettering appeared segment by segment in the darkness.

"005 and 007 need to be transported in pairs."

"After the seven-hook calibration, access to materials at station number 17 will be granted."

The young survivor heard Xiao Huo read those words aloud and his fingers tightened on the outer shell of the hull.

The ground on both sides of the track cracked.

Not wide. Four inches on each side. But guide wheels rose from the gap—twelve low rubber rollers in a row, staggered, forcibly restricting the Devourer's path to the center line.

It won't go astray.

An announcement came on. It wasn't the female or male voice from the previous stations. It was a pure system notification tone, without intonation or pauses.

"No off-center axle. No broken hooks. No disassembly of the vehicle."

"The seven-hook calibration process begins."

"Lead vehicle, please stay in the center line and wait for coupling."

The seven couplings on 007 lit up with red positioning dots. These seven red dots pierced through three hundred meters of darkness, precisely projecting onto the seven target positions of the Devourer fleet.

Front beam. Guide frame. Tail beam. Tail anchor. Refining furnace. Fuel rack. Lifting boom.

The AM relay channel was the first to explode.

A voice on the Bonebreaker was strained. "Seven hooks locking at the same time—this isn't just a chain lock, this is kidnapping the entire train."

The fire control officer at the slaughterhouse stared at the locations of the seven red dots. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"It's not trying to kill the car this time."

The adjutant leaned closer. "What's that?"

The fire control officer pointed to the red dot on the stern anchor of No. 005.

"The goal is to turn the entire train into its cargo."

In the control room of Base 04, the veteran engineer magnified the structure of the 007's coupling device. He stared at the distribution of the force points on the seven hooks, and his expression changed.

"Seven Hooks avoided all the newly installed crash beams," he said in a low voice. "It knew where Su Yuan had reinforced."

Lu Mingyuan stood up and braced himself on the table.

The technician whispered something. Lu Mingyuan didn't hear it, nor did he ask. He just stared at the seven red dots on the screen.

007 is still retreating and closing in.

Two hundred meters. One hundred and fifty. One hundred.

The rails began to vibrate. It wasn't the wheels of the Devourer grinding against them; it was the 007's chassis that was too heavy. The resonance came from the front, causing the dust residue on the rails to be shaken into seven lines.

Seven gray lines.

From the front of the Devourer train all the way to 007, each gray line is aligned with a coupling.

Wang Hu stared at the gray lines. A sentence rolled down his throat.

"It's drawing its own path."

Fifty meters.

The main body of 007 was finally revealed in its entirety by the headlights.

Flat-bottomed carriage. No windows. No overhead lights. Three couplings on each side resemble protruding mechanical arms, with thick joints and open front teeth. The largest one is in the center front, its hook opening capable of swallowing half a wheel rim.

The vehicle contained no offensive weapons.

But it doesn't need to.

It just needs to be hung up.

Twenty meters.

A ring of white frost appeared on the outer shell of the No. 005 protective compartment.

The young survivor flinched, then pressed his hand back down. The temperature inside the hull was dropping. Not much, just two degrees. But it shouldn't be dropping.

"The temperature inside the 005 emplacement is dropping." His voice was tense. "The double-layered protection isn't breached, but it's getting cold inside."

The broadcast was amplified.

"If 007 is refused to be affiliated with the embassy, ​​005 will be deemed an isolated embargoed item."

"Isolated embargoed items will undergo on-site sealing procedures."

A young wounded soldier in cell 013 twitched his Adam's apple. Tang Lan glanced at him. The man didn't reach out or move. But his gaze drifted towards cell 005.

Tang Lan pulled the pistol out of her belt, muzzle down, and pressed it against the protective cover of the release hook.

It's not about the person. It's about an attitude.

"005 won't take it off," she said.

Wang Hu pressed the magazine safety down again. "Boss, should we fire?"

Fifteen meters. 007 is still approaching. The coupling teeth are stretched to their maximum angle.

Su Yuan did not turn his head.

"Pinkish-gray".

Wang Hu paused for a moment. Just like at station number 14, the countdown was on, and Su Yuan said to sprinkle powdery ash, so he did.

Pick up the bag of lime.

The first shot was aimed at the center line of the track.

The dust didn't scatter after landing. The vibrations split it into seven thin lines, each heading in a different direction—six curving to the sides, and one going straight ahead.

The six lines that bend to both sides do not end at the 007 coupling.

It is the side wall.

Wang Hu saw it. The ends of the six gray lines disappeared into the narrow gap next to the guide wheel base.

The second powder was scattered below the front beam of the Devourer. The powder landed between the buffer beam and the crash beam. It landed normally. There was no suction. The one of the seven red dots aligned with the front beam—the track surface directly below it showed no abnormalities.

The third shot was aimed directly at the center hook of 007. The powder was carried by the airflow and drifted to the inner wall of the center hook opening, where it adhered. There were wear marks on the load-bearing surface, but the bite teeth were intact.

Only this one is true.

"knock."

Wang Hu changed to a longer hook. He leaned out of the observation port and first tapped the first connecting arm on the left.

Thin echo. Hollow cavity. No hydraulic pressure inside, no solid forgings.

The second one. The same.

The third one. Same here.

Front center hook.

clang.

The echo was deep and resonant; the vibration traveled to the long hook shank, causing a tingling sensation in my wrist. It was solidly forged. The hydraulic lines were filled with oil.

Wang Hu shrank back.

"Six fakes and one real."

The small torch-shaped waveforms overlap. "The internal cavities of the six side hooks connect to the sidewall shearing grooves. After closing, the external mounting position is locked first, and then the guide wheels cooperate with the sidewall to move laterally—"

It paused for a moment.

"Strip the modules one by one."

In the control room of Base 04, the veteran engineer slapped his hand on the table.

"It's the same idea as the No. 12 armored train. It's not about the vehicle, it's about the parts. Once the seven hooks are attached, it pulls the external attachments apart one by one. The refining furnace, the fuel rack, the crane arm—all of them have to be stripped away."

Lu Mingyuan turned to the technician. "Where's the hook?"

The technician zoomed in on the hook structure. "It's truly load-bearing. When closed, it bears all longitudinal tensile force."

The veteran engineer added, "It uses the center hook as an anchor. First, it locks the main vehicle, then the side hooks slowly peel away the skin."

007 is only eight meters away from the front beam of the Devourer.

The guide wheel is still restricting lateral movement. It won't deviate.

But Su Yuan had no intention of going astray.

"Passage module".

The fully loaded rail-pressing passage module was released from the middle section of the chassis. Su Yuan turned the steering wheel two degrees to the right—not to deviate from the center line, but to make the recognition chip of the passage module press against the center line marker.

The bottom of the passage module is a rail-pressing slider, recast from the old heavy rail components. It is heavier and stiffer than the guide wheel.

The electromagnetic reading at the center line marker changed the instant the pressure was applied.

The red dot indicating the hook on the front of 007 jumped slightly.

It misjudged.

The weight and electromagnetic characteristics of the passage module led 007's old alignment system to believe that the center line was in place.

The middle hook begins to close.

However, the front beam of the Devourer is not in that position.

The passage module is located. The front beam is 40 centimeters behind the passage module.

The hook bit into the buffer layer of the passage module's outer shell. The reverse teeth engaged, producing a harsh metallic scraping sound.

It's locked. But not the car.

"Grab the claw. 007 roof."

The heavy-duty crane boom is fully extended. The three teeth of the rapid storage gripper open and latch onto the main beam of the 007 vehicle's roof from above. It's not pulling. It's just hooking onto it.

It's just a nominal arrangement.

"013 Half-hug to death".

Tang Lan's hand was already on the brake lever. She pressed down, and brake band 013 emitted a low hiss.

"Lower the 005 silencer by two inches."

The young survivor pulled the handle. The silencer sank two inches, and the tail of No. 005 was stabilized by the extra weight.

The six side hooks brushed against the sides of the Devourer fleet.

Su Yuanzheng's train veered half a foot to the right, causing all six hollow dummy hooks to become misaligned.

The first one grazed the outer beam armor of the refining furnace, metal against metal, two clusters of sparks flew, but the hook didn't get a hold.

The second one slid past the outside of the fuel rack pressure relief lock. A white scratch was left on the insulation layer of the disconnect interface, but the structure was undamaged.

The third hook hit the crane boom base. The three-toothed gripper was pressing down on the roof of the 007, and the force was transmitted down from above, causing the 007 to sink an inch. As a result, the third side hook was lowered and passed under the crane boom.

The fourth one. The fifth one. The sixth one.

It's completely empty.

Of the seven hooks, only the middle one locked the passage module buffer layer.

The backward inertia of 007 is transmitted to the passage module by the central hook. The passage module is part of the segmented braking array, and the force is directly injected into the ground anchor hole.

The Devourer didn't budge an inch.

The voice shouting "cut off the tail" had disappeared from the AM relay channel.

Someone on the Bonebreaker swallowed hard. "All six hooks are empty?"

The slaughterhouse adjutant turned to look at the fire control officer. The fire control officer's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

007 has stopped.

The reverse speed returned to zero. Seven couplings—six were loosely attached in mid-air, and one was gripping the outer shell of the passage module. The entire carriage was suspended from the top by the crane arm, hanging eight meters directly in front of the Devourer.

Caught between a rock and a hard place.

There was a two-second silence in the driver's cab.

Then 007's top cover popped open.

It wasn't an explosion. It was a hinge release. The two top panels fell to the sides like flipping through a book, smashing into the guide wheels next to the track and crushing both sets of guide wheels.

The interior of the carriage was exposed.

Wang Hu looked in through the observation port.

Complete rows of standard materials. Heavy-duty wheel frames. Connecting cores. Wide rail trays. Material hanging frames. Neatly stacked, even the tension of the fixing straps is the same.

It's even more organized than the actual warehouse behind Station 16.

"Good stuff." Wang Hu's throat tightened.

But before his voice could even land—the 007 baseboard moved simultaneously.

A crack appeared along the center line of the base plate. Rising from the crack were not dismantling rollers or energy extraction needles, but a row of magnetic grooves. The grooves were coated with a black absorbent layer, their edges extending towards number 005.

The material wasn't pushed outwards; it was sucked inwards.

The moment the slide opened, the white frost on the outer wall of the No. 005 protective compartment intensified.

The young survivor's hand rested on the protective pod, his palm feeling icy cold.

"The outer wall temperature of 005 has dropped another three degrees!"

Simultaneously, a small fire alarm was reported: "The magnetic field direction of the 007 bottom plate groove points to the second right compartment of 005."

It's not delivering materials. It's using materials as bait. The top cover opens at the same time as the bottom plate. You reach up and grab it from above, and while you're grabbing it, it sucks 005 in from below.

Su Yuan's gaze swept over the row of materials and then landed on the bottom plate groove.

It paused for a second.

"Remove the outer shell. Leave the main beam intact. Do not touch the bottom plate groove."

Wang Hu hesitated for only 0.3 seconds.

The external magazine safety engages. Two low-velocity armor-piercing rounds are loaded.

"007 Side sliding groove locking pins".

Two muffled thuds came from the front of the Devourer. The armor-piercing shells did not hit the 007's casing, but rather the structural locking pins between the base plate groove and the side walls.

Boom! The left locking pin snapped off. The entire slide detached from the base plate and was caught by the dark gold conduit.

Boom! The right-side locking pin cracked. The second slide rail loosened and sagged down two inches.

The magnetic field was broken. The frost on the outer wall of 005 began to dissipate within three seconds.

The warmth emanating from the young survivor's palm was returning. He let out a long breath, but didn't let go.

The crane arm's gripper changed from a loose engagement to a secure one. The three teeth tightened, locking onto the main beam of the 007 vehicle's roof. Wang Hu pulled down the mechanical lever, and the crane arm lifted.

The entire 007 carriage was lifted off the tracks. The wheels were still spinning, idling.

The dark gold conduit of the mobile refining furnace extends from the bottom of the Devourer.

The first weld is inserted into the weld between the main beam and the side plate on the left side wall of 007. Only the side plate is penetrated. The main beam is not touched.

The second wheel frame caught 007. The row of standard materials on the floor began to slide as the truck bed tilted—the heavy-duty wheel frame came out first, was intercepted by the guide tube, and sent into the bucket.

The third insertion point is the remaining structure of the bottom plate groove. Adsorption coating, magnetic guide rail, and transmission circuitry—all rolled into the furnace opening.

007 was peeled away in one layer.

However, its seven main beams—one longitudinal beam at the top and three transverse beams on each side—have been completely preserved.

Su Yuan used the middle hook to bear the load. The middle hook of 007 was still biting the buffer layer of the passage module, and this connection point became a fulcrum. The lifting arm pulled from above, and the middle hook supported from below. The two forces made 007 flip over like a torn can lid, exposing the main beam.

The refining furnace was being dismantled and emptied as it went. Side plate alloys, bottom plate structural components, coupling cavity shells, and adsorption coating fragments—all went into the furnace inlet.

When the temperature and pressure approached the threshold, the furnace was simmered and the cycle was adjusted twice. The furnace wall vibration decreased from high frequency to low frequency.

The first batch of molded parts slides out from the side groove.

"Seven-point force connection to the hanging beam".

It is a long, forged beam. It is not a single beam, but seven short beams connected by ball joints, each of which can independently deflect three degrees. After being installed at the various connection points of the train, the seven connection points bear the load respectively: one section between the lead car and the third section, one section between the third section and No. 013, one section between No. 013 and No. 005, and the remaining four sections are allocated to the external engine positions.

Wang Hu towed the first section to the coupling position between the lead car and the third section. The veteran mechanic leaned halfway out from under the third section to catch it. The two aligned the bolts. The locking pin was hammered in.

thump.

The veteran mechanic patted the beam. The echo was different from the heavy-duty coupling core that had been replaced before—it was thicker, longer, and had residual oscillation.

"This thing has a stronger load-bearing capacity than a single beam," he cursed. "Why doesn't 007 use it himself?"

The second group. "External material mounting brackets".

The frame is curved, with quick-lock interfaces at both ends and three sets of adjustable mounting points in the middle. It locks directly onto the left rear outer beam of the Devourer. This allows the mounting modules to be hung at three different heights on the bracket, instead of all being stacked on one side.

The third set. "Quick-release receiving frame".

The folding metal frame, when unfolded, has a volume twice that of the refining furnace bucket. It features a bottom unloading flap and quick-release pins on the sides. The frame is hooked onto the secondary hook of the lifting arm. From now on, material will be grabbed entirely from the frame and fed into the furnace opening, eliminating the need to stuff it into the bucket piece by piece.

The fourth group. "Tail anchor anti-pulling sub-beam".

A short, thick triangular beam was locked at the connection between anchor 005 and anchor 013. The young survivors helped the maintenance team push the triangular beam over the platform, aligning the locking pin with the pre-drilled hole on the outside of the anchor base 005.

Thump. It crashed in.

The stress in tail beam No. 005 dropped directly from 25 to 22.

The young survivor paused for a moment. He looked at the triangular beam, then at the stress readings on the tail beam.

From the moment it entered the inner ring of the Great Wall, the tail beam of No. 005 never dropped below 23.

I am twenty-two now.

His lips moved slightly, but he didn't say anything. His hand returned to the protective pod.

The main screen refreshes.

"The installation of the seven-point force-connecting beam is complete."

"Material external support bracket installation complete."

"The quick-release receiving frame is connected to the secondary hook of the lifting arm."

"Tail anchor anti-pulling sub-beam locking".

"The stability of the entire formation of trailers has been improved by 34 percent."

Wang Hu pulled the seven main beams of 07 out of the wreckage. After the guide pipes cut off the excess weld beads and connectors, the entire beam frame was hung on the material external bracket on the left rear side of the Devourer.

No more hangers. No more absorbent coating. No more bottom plate grooves.

It's just an empty metal rack. Used for collecting materials.

Su Yuan had the small torch hook removed from the passage module. The reverse teeth were burned through by the guide tube, and a layer of the buffer layer on the outer shell of the passage module was scraped off, but its function was unaffected.

007 no longer exists.

What remains is an extra set of material racks on the left rear side of the Devourer, and a towing structure that is completely different from the rest of the fleet.

Base 04 control room.

The veteran engineer stood there, not sitting back down. He stared at the list of newly added modules on the Devourer. The screen scrolled through three pages before finally reaching the bottom.

The technician's voice was a little dry. "Mandatory formation car number 007—"

"It's been converted into a materials rack," the old engineer finished speaking.

Lu Mingyuan turned to look at him.

The old engineer pointed to the structural diagram of the rack. "Seven o'clock transfer rack. The old Expeditionary Force used this structure for organizing large quantities of supplies. Once this was attached to the lead car, there was no need to stop to load and unload when passing a material depot. The whole line could be grabbed directly, attached, and driven away."

He paused for a moment.

"That used to be a privilege. Only the lead car of a military train could have it."

AM relay channels have been updated.

"Car No. 007, mandatory formation, status: converted into a material rack."

"The Devourer has gained the ability to quickly collect materials."

Someone on the Bonebreaker accidentally touched the map while doing so. The Slaughterhouse's lieutenant turned the channel volume down two notches and turned to look at the fire control officer.

The fire control officer didn't speak. He read through the entire module list of the Devourer, then turned off the screen.

The adjutant waited a few seconds. "Should we continue the pursuit?"

The fire control officer picked up the kettle on the table and took a sip. The water was cold. He put the kettle down and looked at the table.

"It disassembled everything that was chasing it and put it into its own body."

The adjutant didn't ask any more questions.

The Devourer rolled over the wreckage and debris of 007 and drove out of the perimeter of Station 16. The guide wheels behind it were half smashed by the top cover, and the other half was still spinning in vain.

Two and a half kilometers ahead.

Station No. 17.

The small fire radar scan is pushed forward.

The platform outline appeared. It was three times larger than number 16. The storage area was spacious, with overhead rails and conveyor belts on the sides.

But there was no announcement. No green light. No yellow light. No fluorescent lights.

Completely dark.

Wang Hu frowned. "A dead end?"

The small torches were extended to scan the inside of the platform.

Shelves—yes. The structure is complete. But the tops are empty.

All the shelves are empty.

The entire No. 17 bulk material distribution station was emptied.

There was only one fresh drag mark on the ground. It was wide, stretching from the outer edge of the platform all the way to the far end. The dust on either side of the drag mark had been pressed into neat ruts.

It was left behind by heavy-load dragging.

It hasn't been long. The dust hasn't settled yet.

As the Devourer entered the outer perimeter of the platform, its headlights swept across the ground.

There are words on the track next to the drag marks.

It's not an old coat. It's not system-generated. It's newly engraved. The metal fragments in the engraving haven't oxidized yet and are shining.

Take a picture of the text with a small torch and put it on the main screen.

"007 was just an empty shell. It was 008 who actually hauled away the materials."

There was a two-second silence in the driver's cab.

Wang Hu's cigarette butt rolled around the corner of his mouth. "008."

005. ​​006. 007. 008.

Consecutive numbers.

Xiao Huo's ears suddenly flattened.

It wasn't looking ahead. Its gaze turned to the rear—the seven-point material rack that had just been hung on the left rear side of the Devourer.

At the very end of the bracket. At the end of the seventh crossbeam.

There was no coupling at that location. Su Yuan had the guide pipe cut off all the coupling structures, leaving only the main beam.

But now—

Click.

A soft click. Metal fasteners snapped shut.

It came from the end of the seventh crossbeam.

Little Fire's claws tightened on the control panel.

"Owner."

"End of the rack".

"The eighth tone connector is engaged."