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

The Devourer stopped 20 meters in front of gate number 29.

The 012 lead ballast car was at the very front, its eight cables slightly taut, the newly welded batter head gleaming coldly under the headlights. The 009 wrecked car was dragged behind by the thrust hook, its chassis tilted, the right side gaping open, the broken support still bearing the fresh patina of oxidation. The brake marks, extending from the rear of 009 to between two 90mm thick diagonal steel plates, were a glossy black, with iron filings from the burnt wheel rim embedded in the rail surface.

The V-shaped notch is where the two steel plates are inserted diagonally into the ground from either side of the track, their clean diagonal lines showing no signs of rust. That's not decoration. That's the cutting edge.

Wang Hu squatted on the ground to the left of the switch, shining his flashlight close to the sleeper.

Between the third and fourth sleepers. A rail spike. The spike head is reflective, its metallic sheen newer than all the old bolts around it. The arrow points downwards.

He didn't touch it. The flashlight beam veered two inches to the side.

There's a weld mark around the sleeper seam. It's been carefully smeared with black oil and coal ash, so it's practically invisible unless you look very closely. The weld mark is arc-shaped, matching the diameter of the spike head.

"It's been welded," Wang Hu said without looking up. "Someone welded this nail into the sleeper. It can't be removed."

There was a two-second silence on the channel.

Inside unit 013, Tang Lan's hand rested on the brake lever, half-locked to maintain control. The young survivor in unit 005 reported the numbers as usual: "Tail boom 16.5. Wardrobe temperature normal. Seals untouched."

Su Yuan looked at the road spike.

"Light fire. Sweep the ground on the left. Press the prompt of the clockwork code."

A small scanning light extended from the roof of the train, its low-power infrared beam slowly sweeping across the left side of the rail surface. Sleepers. Gravel. Old bolt holes. Black grease. Coal ash. It looked no different from any other abandoned maintenance area.

When the fire reached the sixth sleeper, the small fire stopped.

"Owner."

"explain."

"Below the spikes, the third layer of sleepers and below is not solid soil." The small torch pushed the infrared thermal image to the main screen. "The temperature distribution is uneven. There's a patch—approximately 3.2 meters by 1.8 meters—that's 0.4 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding area. Its edges are regular. It's rectangular."

It brings up the structural simulation diagram.

"Old-style sunken door panel. Made of cast iron. The top surface is covered with soil no more than eight centimeters thick. The door panel has interlocking grooves on all four sides."

Su Yuan didn't respond.

Qin Yan's knocking sound rang out in channel 013. The metal clashed against the frame, the rhythm rapid. Xiao Huo translated simultaneously: "Side gate. Old-style formation of the Blue Star Expeditionary Force. Mechanical door brakes activated, demolition prohibited."

Shen Yuanzhou's voice came from the direction of the stretcher, weak but clear: "This kind of door... the entrance beam is directly above the door panel. If you fire a shell, the beam will collapse first. Opening the door panel won't help."

He coughed. "We can only use the door brake."

Control room of Base 04. The veteran engineer retrieved the old blueprints for the side-mounted naval gate from the archives and displayed them on the main screen. The location of the door brake was marked on the lower right corner of the door panel; it was a mechanical structure, requiring the safety latch to be pulled open laterally from the side.

"Target found." Su Yuan removed his right hand from the control panel.

Behind the switch.

In the darkness, the fifth click of the interlocking device sounded.

The sixth tone.

The seventh tone.

It wasn't an echo. The intervals between each sound were extremely even, the metallic engagement crisp and clean. Something was grouping them together behind the switch. Section after section.

The small torch zoomed in on the radar image. The signal was blurry; the steel plate of the control gate blocked most of the echo, but the outline was still discernible—at least nine heavily loaded carriages lined up in a row. Complete darkness. No lights. No power signals. But the entire train was approaching the area behind the control gate at an extremely slow speed.

Eighth tone.

Ninth tone.

The breathing of the Bonebreaker's communications officer deepened at the bottom of the channel.

Then station number 29 lit up.

It wasn't a light strip. It wasn't a broadcast system. It was the cold, white lettering that appeared line by line on the panel directly in front of the switch. There was no sound. Only light.

"All inner gates open. Vehicle number 001, please proceed straight through immediately."

There was a one-second pause. The second line appeared.

"The side gate is an abandoned and collapsed area. Approach is strictly prohibited."

Third line.

"The Great Wall safe access section is just ahead."

The text lit up for five seconds and then went out.

At the same instant, low metal posts rose from the ground on both sides of the rail surface in front of the guillotine. Two rows. Six posts in each row. The spacing was just right between the wheel tracks of the Devourer train. The posts were not tall, just over thirty centimeters, but the bases were wide and thick, welded to the rail panel.

There's a knife gate in front. The rear is blocked by parking barriers. There's no space to reverse.

Channel 013.

Someone took a breath. Very softly. But everyone on the channel heard it.

"Should we... let the lead car pass through first?"

The sound stopped abruptly after it had just begun.

Tang Lan didn't speak. But a sharp metallic clang came through the channel. She pulled the gun from her side, pressing the barrel against the handrail next to the detachment cover. Not aimed at anyone. But positioned it so everyone could see it.

005 direction. The young survivor's hand moved from the outer wall of the hull to the structural rod of the secondary thruster frame, his knuckles tightening.

"Tail beam 16.5," he repeated. His tone remained unchanged.

Control room of Base 04. The technician substituted the thrust estimate of the unknown rear train into the switch bearing model. The numbers were displayed on the screen.

"If nine heavy train cars simultaneously block the door... what is the probability of it being pushed open with the brakes fully open?"

He paused for a moment.

"But what if the Devourer is still stuck ahead—"

The older engineer interrupted him. "Don't bother calculating."

He stared at the positions of the two rows of limit posts on the main screen. He tapped his finger on the table.

"The limit stop and the knife switch appear at the same time. It's not to prevent you from running away. It's to prevent you from crashing into the door."

Su Yuan's car was traveling at zero speed.

The core of the Zhenshan engine is idling. The oil in the hydraulic cylinders of the newly installed large-stroke shock absorber group is quiet. The standby pressure in the synchronized brake line of the train is stable in the green zone.

He didn't look at the straight track surface. He didn't look at where the three lines of cold white text disappeared.

"Pinkish-gray".

Wang Hu grabbed a bag of lime from the outer beam.

First application. Sprinkled at the base of the two nearest bollards. The white powder settled around the base of the bollards. It didn't spread too far, nor was it absorbed. Normal.

The second application. Sprinkle the black paint into the gap next to the left-hand road spike.

The powder and dust fell down.

It didn't stop.

Upon contact with the black oil surface, the white particles slowly sank. They weren't soaked in the liquid—they were drawn in. The speed was slow, but the direction was clear: downwards.

"There's a cavity." Wang Hu remained squatting, his eyes fixed on the direction where the powdery gray had disappeared.

Simultaneous report from Xiaohuo: "There is a ventilation gap at the edge of the sunken door panel below the road stud. The airflow velocity is approximately 0.3 meters per second. Downward."

Su Yuan didn't respond.

"Knock on the limit stop."

Wang Hu changed his wrench. He walked to the nearest limit stop and lowered the wrench.

when.

The echo is incorrect.

It wasn't the dull thud one would expect from a solid pile. The sound had a delayed rebound. It was very short, less than 0.2 seconds, but it was clear—the pile was mechanically connected to a larger structure beneath the ground.

Little Fire tapped the console a few times with its claws.

"The base of the limit post extends forty centimeters below the rail surface. The base connects the left and right sides via a horizontal linkage rod. The end of the linkage rod—"

It paused for half a second.

"The closing trigger mechanism that connects to the base of the knife gate shaft."

A player died in the channel.

Wang Hu didn't take the wrench out of his hand. He turned his head and glanced at the two 90-millimeter-thick diagonal steel plates.

"This stake isn't for blocking vehicles."

"It's the trigger," Su Yuan said.

The mechanics deduction of the small torch is displayed on the main screen.

The limit post linkage rod is connected to the gate hinge. As long as a vehicle of sufficient weight runs over the limit post, or impacts the post at high speed, the linkage rod transmits the force to the gate hinge, and the blades on both sides of the gate close.

The direction of closure is from the outside in.

Cutting position – in the latter part of the formation. Between the third section and vehicle 013. Or between vehicle 013 and vehicle 005. It depends on the vehicle speed and the triggering timing.

If the Devourer goes straight through the gate, the car in front will pass the gate, and the car behind will be cut off.

If 009 were to crash into it—

Su Yuan glanced at the simulation on the main screen.

009 crashed into the V-shaped constriction at a speed exceeding 50 km/h, breaking through the first layer of the blade. The guillotine was deformed by the impact and could not close completely. An unknown formation behind followed through the gap created by the impact.

The entire inner door of number 29. Not a door.

It is a feeding lane entrance designed to entice the car in front to crash through and the car behind to follow.

The words on the hand-carved steel plate of 009 surfaced—"If I break it open, the thing behind it can enter the Great Wall."

The red marker for the Fire Control Officer on the Bonebreaker has been refreshed.

"29th straight ahead - feeding passage confirmed. Limit post - switch trigger rod confirmed."

Control room of Base 04. Lu Mingyuan stood, not sitting. He stared at the blurry outlines of nine unknown carriages behind him on the main screen. Slowly approaching. About eighty meters from the back of the throttle.

Su Yuan removed his right foot from the brake pedal.

"Grab the door first. Don't go inside."

The first four cables are redistributed. The first cable is thrown towards the exposed flange of the left-side gate hinge. The hook goes around the flange and locks in place. The second cable is attached to the right-side gate hinge sleeve. Tighten.

Heavy-duty brake claws extended from four positions under the vehicle, their curved claw surfaces gripping the rail surface. The rail-fixing pins, fully loaded with rail-pressing modules, spring into the old locking holes. The Devourer was pinned to the spot.

012 The eight cables of the forward-probing pulley are pulled back, and the impact head is aligned with the edge of the left sinking door panel.

Su Yuan moved his right hand to the external magazine control panel.

"Drive the limit pin linkage".

The low-velocity armor-piercing projectile is loaded. The breechblock safety is released. The projectile emerges from the short barrel, travels seven meters, and penetrates the connecting pin between the first limiting stake base and the linkage rod.

The pin broke. Metal fragments flew high into the air.

The first stake was crooked, but it didn't fall. The linkage rod sprang away from the break and slammed onto the rail with a loud crack.

The second shot. The third shot. Wang Hu used the crane arm to push down the limit posts with broken linkage pins one by one. All six were broken.

The switch is not closed.

The linkage rod loses its trigger end, and the closing mechanism of the door hinge base is stuck in the standby position.

"Door shutter."

Dark gold conduits extend from the side of the mobile refining furnace. The first one doesn't go towards the guillotine itself—it plunges downwards. The conduit penetrates the rail panel and extends into the ground. As the refining furnace temperature rises, the conduit cuts through the outer wall of the guillotine's hydraulic valve main pipe.

Hydraulic oil gushed from the rupture. The dark gold conduit reversed its flow, drawing in fluid. The valve master pipe lost pressure.

The closing speed of the two blades on both sides of the guillotine was already zero—now it can't even close. The hydraulic cylinder is empty. It can't push the 90mm steel plate.

rear.

The tenth-tone connecting device is engaged.

Then came the sound of wheels.

It was no longer a static formation stationary. All nine carriages began to move simultaneously. Slowly, heavily, the sound of wheelsets grinding against the rails layered up from the darkness behind the brakes.

It was forced towards the back of the switch.

The small fire truck reports the distance: "Seventy-two meters. Speed ​​approximately three per hour. Accelerating."

Su Yuan didn't turn around. The eight-cable reverse-draft winch stretched the two steel cables hanging on the guillotine hinges to their limit. Under the force, the two blades opened outwards slightly by half an degree.

The carriages behind continued to close in. Sixty-five meters. Sixty meters.

The front end of the first carriage was visible in the radar image.

No windows. No lights. The surface of the car body reflected a damp, cold, dark sheen. Covered in black condensation. The front end wasn't a normal cab structure—it was a row of old coupling tongues welded together, wider than the track gauge, almost completely covering both sides of the cab.

It's not trying to open the switch.

It needs to be attached. Use the entire connecting tongue to press against the back of the knife switch, and push the knife plate open inch by inch.

"It's not stopping us." Xiao Huo's voice was strained. "It's going to follow. If 009 rams the door, the door panel will warp and leave a gap, and they'll squeeze in through the gap."

"009 hasn't crashed yet. The door isn't open. They're preparing to push it open themselves."

The Bonebreaker channel. The communicator's voice was low: "If it pushes it open—"

Su Yuan moved his hand from the control panel to the push hook release lever.

The wrecked 009 was still being towed behind by the push hook. The push hook on the broken frame was fastened to the old attachment point reserved on the back rib of the left blade plate.

The hook is curved with a self-locking tooth at the end. When hooked, it only pulls, not pushes.

"All eight cables have been collected."

The first four steel cables for the door hinges are simultaneously taut. The reverse winch is operating at full power. It's not pulling backward—it's veering to the left.

With four cables and a thrust hook, all five points of force are on the left blade plate. The resultant force is not pulling apart or closing off, but rather a lateral twisting motion.

The lifting boom is fully extended. The gripper latches onto the third reinforcing rib on the back of the left blade plate. This is coordinated with the eight-cable horizontal support.

The heavy-duty brake pawls were firmly pinned to the rails. The Devourer remained completely still. All its power was channeled into the left cutterhead.

A dull thud of metal deformation emanated from the base of the blade.

A 90mm steel plate cannot be twisted in an instant. However, the hydraulic pressure of the door brake has been completely depleted. The door hinge has lost its self-aligning force. The blade is now only supported by its own weight and the weld at its base.

The solder joints are breaking one by one.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The left blade is tilted to the left by 10 centimeters. (Twenty centimeters)

"Half a foot." Wang Hu lay on the outer beam, his eyes glued to the gap between the blades, counting. "It's off by half a foot."

Fifty-three meters behind, unknown formation. Accelerate. Speed ​​has already exceeded 5 km/h.

The first unlit carriage has its entire connecting tongue on the back side of the switch.

The impact force was transmitted through the right blade plate to the door hinge, and then to the rail surface. The heavy-duty brake claws of the Devourer withstood it. It didn't slip.

However, the left blade was twisted off course by half a foot.

The left edge of the connecting tongue rested precisely on the misaligned edge of the left blade.

Ninety millimeters. Bevel. Cutting edge.

The connecting tongue is not something that is 90 millimeters thick.

The thrust continued. The weight of the eight cars behind them all pressed against the first car. The first car was being pushed forward by the train behind it. In front of it was a misaligned cutting edge.

The sound of metal cutting into something was sharp and piercing. The slanted blade of the left cutter cut into the front beam of the first carriage. Like a wedge. Three centimeters. Five centimeters.

The front beam of the first car was pushed from behind by its own convoy and slammed into the cutting edge. It couldn't stop. The inertia of the following eight cars piled onto it.

Su Yuan released the reverse push hook release lever.

"dismantle."

The temperature of the mobile refining furnace was raised to over 950 degrees Celsius. Dark gold conduits were launched simultaneously from three directions.

The first cutter penetrated the evacuated gantry brake pump body. The entire pump was lifted out from underground and fed into the bucket area along the material receiving rail.

The second cut limit stake remains. All six broken stakes, including the base, were sent into the furnace.

The third cutter cuts along the outer edge of the left blade. After the blade was twisted, the outer edge, thirty centimeters long, had already moved out of the hinge's restraint range. The dark gold guide tube cut along the deformation line. A 1.2-meter-long arc-shaped steel scrap fell into the bucket.

The fourth gate hinge sheath. The left sheath was deformed by the eight cables, and the seam opened. The conduit cut into the seam, and the entire sheath peeled off.

The refining furnace is operating at full power.

The side channel begins ejecting parts within thirty seconds.

First component: Inner door anti-shear beam. The cast iron of the door brake pump housing and the high-carbon steel of the limit pile base are fused and recast. It has a U-shaped cross-section, and its length covers the entire coupling area from section three of the Devourer to section 013. Once installed, even if a shearing force of the guillotine level comes from the side, the coupling section will not be severed.

The second item: the underground entrance breaching wedge. A flat wedge head is cast from the outer edge of the left blade's curved steel plate, combined with door hinge sheath material. It's wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, with its curvature matching the fitting groove on the edge of the recessed door panel. Pressing it in allows you to pry open the door panel.

The third component is the brake derailment pin. The hydraulic piston rod inside the brake pump is left as is, with locking teeth welded to both ends. After the brake springs back into the shaft base, the brake plate can no longer return to its original position. It is permanently jammed.

Fourth item. Underbody shear protection. Two pieces of recast steel for the limit post base and the door brake pump flange, installed on both sides of chassis 013 and 005. When lateral shearing occurs, the underbody protection will withstand it.

Wang Hu received the part. The maintenance team got to work.

The inner door's anti-shear beam—the slot is locked. The lock pin is hammered in. Tang Lan confirmed in room 013 that the vibration of the connecting section was zero.

Underbody shear skirt armor—two pieces in place. Bolts tightened. The young survivor, 005, reported the tail beam: "16.2".

The deadbolt pin of the throttle was pressed by Su Yuan himself.

The dark gold guide tube delivered the piston rod to the right blade plate hinge base. The angle was aligned. The lifting arm gave a push.

The locking pin springs into the lock hole of the base. The locking teeth engage.

The right blade plate is stuck.

The left brake plate had been twisted half a foot, its blade cutting into the front beam of the first unlit carriage behind. Now the right brake plate was also locked. The entire brake system had become a clamp that had caught its prey.

The last nine cars couldn't be pushed forward. The front beam of the first car was jammed by the 90mm cutting edge. All the thrust from the following eight cars was concentrated on it, but it wouldn't move. The cutting edge cut deeper and deeper, but the width of the cars themselves limited the distance it could move.

It's completely blocked.

AM relay channel.

Lu Mingyuan's voice switched to the full channel. He was standing.

"Entrance 29 straight ahead – feeding lane. Confirmed. Road sign 009 is correct again."

It paused for a moment.

"All suggestions for straight-line gate categories are hereby abolished. No discussion, no reference, and no implementation."

The communications officer of the Bonebreaker read aloud: "From the 19th to the 29th. Eleven consecutive stations. All system broadcasts are disabled. Straight-line category, open track pursuit, unloading 005, diversion refining furnace—all highest-risk and false rules."

The slaughterhouse fire control officer's number is highlighted in red. The note has been changed to a single line: "System broadcast downgraded to background noise."

In carriage 013, the wounded soldier lying on the stretcher loosened his grip on the edge of the bed. The person next to him helped pull the blanket up, without saying a word.

Tang Lan retracted the gun to his waist. The brake lever was released from full pressure to half-press.

Su Yuan no longer looks at the guillotine.

"Breakthrough wedge. 012, go up."

Wang Hu hung the newly cast demolition wedge below the impact head of the 012 forward pulley. The curved surface of the wedge head was facing down, aligned with the fitting groove of the settlement door panel next to the track spike.

Eight cables are pulled in. The 012 pulley presses down. The weight of the forty-ton base frame is concentrated through the battering head and the demolition wedge onto the less than five-centimeter-wide fitting groove at the edge of the sinking door panel.

The sound of metal being crushed came from beneath the ground. The soil covering the edges of the door panel was crushed, and black oil and coal ash squeezed out from the cracks.

"Not enough." Wang Hu squatted down beside him, watching. "The door panel is made of cast iron; it's hard."

Su Yuan released the Devourer from the track pin. The heavy-load brake pawl retracted. The wheels turned half a circle.

The front beam of the Devourer was attached to the rear of 012. Low speed. Pushing it little by little.

The 012 ramming head and the front beam of the Devourer. The weight is superimposed. The breaching wedge was pushed three centimeters into the fitting groove. Five centimeters.

The edges of the door panel began to lift.

Soil crumbled down from the cracks. The cast iron frame of the old, sunken door panel revealed its dark gray cross-section. The latch in the locking groove was deformed by being broken and wedged.

"Door brakes," Shen Yuanzhou's voice came from the stretcher. "Bottom right corner. Mechanical safety latch. Pull laterally."

Wang Hu had already jumped down. The flashlight shone into the gap in the lower right corner of the door panel. It was pitch black inside. He reached his hand in and felt around.

My fingertip touched a horizontal metal bar. The end was bent into a ring. It was the door brake latch.

"Found it."

He grabbed the ring end and pulled it to the right. The iron bar got stuck in the rust and wouldn't budge.

Wang Hu switched hands. Both hands together. His feet braced against the door frame. He used his waist and hand strength.

The iron bar moved. Fragments of the rusted layer crumbled and fell. The safety latch slid out three centimeters laterally. Five centimeters. It reached the bottom.

Click.

A dull thud came from below the door panel as the mechanism popped open.

The weight of 012 combined with the thrust of the Devourer caused the entire door panel to sink. Not collapse—it slid. It sank smoothly along the side guide channels. All the topsoil slid off.

A rectangular opening measuring 3.2 meters by 1.8 meters appeared on the rail surface.

It's dark inside.

The small scanning light probed inside.

The track slopes downwards at approximately 15 degrees. The track surface is intact. It is a wide track. There are old-fashioned kerosene lamp holders on both sides; the wicks are still there, but they are not lit.

The actual entrance to the Great Wall.

The 009 road spikes. The 009 clockwork mechanism. The steel road markers that 009 marked all the way from station 19 to here. All correct.

Behind the switch, the first unlit car, jammed by the blade, emitted a groan of metallic stress. The following eight cars were still being pushed, but they wouldn't budge. The misaligned left switch and the locked right switch were clamping it tightly in the middle. Black condensate flowed from the cut in the front beam, trickling down the rails.

Su Yuan glanced back at the guillotine.

The silhouettes of the nine windowless carriages behind remained motionless in the darkness. They were trapped.

"Get out of here."

012 The lead sled goes first. Pulled by eight cables, with the ram facing down, it slides into the entrance along a 15-degree slope.

The wrecked 009 was pulled in by the push hook. The tilted chassis scraped against the edge of the entrance, scraping off a layer of rust from the broken support. But the whole car went in.

The Devourer's main vehicle rolled over the edge of the entrance. The front and rear wheels sank in sequence. The piston rods of the long-stroke shock absorber engaged with the changing gradient. The Mountain-Suppressing Core output was fine-tuned to maintain a constant speed.

Section 3: Life Pod Follow-up. The coupling is operating with even force.

Number 013. Tang Lan's brake lever was pressed halfway down, controlling the downhill speed. The hydraulic signal in the synchronized brake line remained in standby mode.

Number 005. The young survivor stared at the numbers on the tail boom. "Sixteen point one. Downhill. Stable."

The silencer wobbled slightly on the slope, and the secondary anti-push frame caught on it.

The entire formation—012, 009, Devourer, Section 3, 013, and 005—dives in sequence.

The No. 29 switch is behind me. Looking at the two blades from the edge of the entrance, only a narrow slit of light remains. Then that slit is swallowed up by the slope.

The brake blade emitted a piercing metallic scraping sound. The nine carriages behind were still struggling. The blade had cut a centimeter deeper into the front beam. But the deadbolt was stuck. It couldn't get through.

AM relay channel.

The voice of the Bonebreaker's communicator slowly drifted over.

"Number 29 - Standard Gray".

It paused for a moment.

"From the 19th to the 29th. Eleven consecutive stations. All system broadcasts are unavailable. The cumulative accuracy of the 009 road sign is 100%. All station system rules have been downgraded to background noise."

The slaughterhouse fire control officer added the last note. There were no comments. Only color.

Change the dark red to gray.

Eleven gray squares are arranged in a row.

Old kerosene lamp holders on both sides of the sloping track flashed past one after another in the headlights. The wicks were dry, and rusty chains hung from the iron holders. The walls were unplastered, raw rock, with rough, evenly spaced chisel marks—carved by hand.

The slope becomes gentler after 30 meters and flattens out after 40 meters.

The small torch displays the radar data from the front onto the main screen.

Wide-gauge ramp. The distance between the walls on both sides is half a meter wider than all previous platforms. The rail surface has been polished, and the joints are neat. This is not a temporary repair—it's part of the formal construction.

Fifty meters away. The headlights illuminated something.

On the left wall hangs an old Blue Star iron plaque. The characters are painted white. The handwriting is neat and there are no signs of hand-carving.

012 The forward pulley first runs over the area under the iron sign. The eight cables are slightly loose.

Wang Hu leaned out from the outer beam and shone his flashlight on the front of the iron plate.

"No. 30 Military Train Reinforcement Depot".

He looked down. The second line was slightly smaller, but equally neat.

"Those who enter can receive a full-scale military train armor."

Third line.

"But we must first hand over an empty carriage."

There was a two-second silence on the channel.

Someone in carriage 013 repeated in a low voice, "Hand over an empty carriage," with a hint of doubt in their voice.

The young survivor in direction 005 didn't respond. He stared at the numbers on the tail boom without moving.

Base 04 Control Room. The technician entered "Military Train Reinforcement Depot No. 30" into the old database for retrieval. No results found. No site entered.

The veteran engineer stood in front of the screen, tapping the position of train 009. Train 009 was damaged. No power. Wheelsets worn. Brakes unusable. Engraving mechanism disintegrated. More than half of the frame welds cracked.

Empty car.

He didn't say anything.

Su Yuan didn't say anything. He was looking at 009.

009 was being towed by the thrust hook, its chassis tilted, and it was hanging behind 012. Apart from the main beam and couplings, the entire vehicle had no other valuable functional parts left. The steel plate storage tank was empty. The spring-loaded box was empty.

It was an empty train.

The sign reads "Hand over an empty carriage".

The one that looks most like an empty carriage in the train is 009.

But 012 is also empty. It's a four-axle, narrow-wheeled, low-profile sled with only eight cable attachment points and a bumper on its frame. It's been modified, but the main body is just an empty base.

Two empty train carriages.

Su Yuan's hand did not move.

A very faint sound came from the bottom of 009.

It's not the sound of mechanical structure. It's not the sound of wheelsets turning. It's a code signal.

The spring-loaded metal box was empty. The engraving mechanism had fallen apart. But the ticking sound did indeed come from beneath the 009 chassis—metal against metal, extremely light and extremely short.

The microphone sensitivity of the small fire was turned up to the maximum.

Click. Click—click.

Three syllables. Uneven spacing. The interval between the first and second syllables is short, while the interval between the second and third syllables is longer.

When Xiao Huo finished translating, the claw paused on the console for a moment.

"Don't return empty vehicles."

There was a half-second pause. The second group of codes followed. Even lighter.

Click—click-click. Click.

"Warehouse number 30 needs 012."

Wang Hu moved his flashlight away from the metal plate and shone it on the chassis of 009. The beam swept across, but he saw nothing. At the bottom of the frame were only worn-down wheelsets and the remnants of broken brackets.

But the sound of the lottery numbers being announced did indeed come from there.

Xiao Huo confirmed the source of the sound. "Inside the second crossbeam on the right side of the 009 chassis. There is a miniature spring striking mechanism. The spring is less than three millimeters in diameter. It has extremely low energy storage. It can strike two or three more times at most."

When 009 was welding the chassis, he hid the last code transmitter inside the crossbeam.

The spring-loaded metal box is for use before switch #29. This one—is for switch #30.

It marked the way from beginning to end. Station after station. One trap after another. Marking until it fell apart.

It's falling apart but still labeled.

At the bottom of the channel, the Bonecrusher's communications officer paused for a moment.

The fire control officer's hand, which had been marked with the number "Slaughterhouse," remained suspended in mid-air for two seconds before finally falling.

The status notes column for item 009 now includes a line of small text: "Still marking the route."

Su Yuan looked at the translation result of the last set of codes for three seconds.

Don't deliver empty vehicles.

Warehouse number 30 requires 012.

His gaze shifted from the main screen to the position of the 012 forward pulley. The forty-ton low-profile frame, pulled by eight cables, sat quietly under the headlights. The paint scraped off the impact head was from the previous collision at station number 27.

012.

Su Yuan moved his right hand back to the control panel. His left foot returned to the brake pedal.

The Devourer did not stop.

The Zhenshan core output was increased from idle speed to 15. The train slowly advanced into the depths of the No. 30 military train's reinforced depot. 012 was in front, being pulled along by eight cables. The wrecked 009 followed behind 012, wobbling and leaning, the three-millimeter spring in the right crossbeam already silent.

At the end of the ramp ahead, the headlights illuminated a half-open heavy-duty warehouse door. Old Blue Star military insignia iron plaques hung on either side of the door frame.

On the inner wall of the warehouse, a second iron plaque was already faintly visible. The white-painted lettering was barely visible at the edges of the light.

Su Yuan did not accelerate.