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

The alarm from the wheel pressure measurement module kept ringing in the main control room of the Devourer.

A data comparison pops up on the main screen. The calculated weight is in the green zone. The actual weight is twelve tons more. It's not hanging at the rear of the train, nor is it pressing on the chassis; it's evenly distributed under the entire train.

Su Yuan's mechanical left eye gear turned once.

"Small fire, disable all external broadcasts. Maintain physical isolation in group registration status."

"Banned."

"Wang Hu".

"exist."

"012 Protect the edge of the shell, sprinkle powder."

Wang Hu grabbed a bag of lime powder from the side cabinet. He pushed open the side door, rolled down, and went to the side of the protective shell of the 012 heavy armor's forward sled. The underside of the sled was dark, with only the angled work lights illuminating the reflections on the wheel rims and rails.

He grabbed a handful of lime powder and threw it towards the bottom of the car.

The white powder dispersed in the air. It didn't fall vertically downwards; instead, it was held up by an invisible plane about half a foot below the car. The powder slid along that plane, forming an arc-shaped dust curtain with neat edges, as if someone had cut it with a ruler.

"There's something there." Wang Hu swept the beam of his flashlight over. "It's flat. It's holding up the powder. It's not connected to the base."

The echo data from the wheel pressure measurement module of the small torch is overlaid on the main screen. The mechanical impact wave sweeps across the bottom of the vehicle, and the metal echo spreads out layer by layer.

The weight of the Devourer is concentrated in the front and rear axle groups. The weight of sections 3, 013, 005, 012, and 014 is distributed across their respective chassis. However, echoes show that directly beneath these sections, there is a separate metallic reflective surface. There are four sets of ground-level rollers, two thin sliding rails, and a lead-boron base plate. It is very thin but has a large area, just covering the entire chassis projection of the train.

"It's not hung up. It's attached. The support rollers rotate in sync with the wheels, and the slide rails are parallel to the longitudinal beams of the Devourer."

Su Yuan glanced at it.

Where is the 017 stamp?

The small torch zooms in on the image. At the end of the base plate is a raised metal label with chamfered edges and the number "017" printed on the front.

"017, a fully loaded armored truck," Wang Hu read out the words. "It has stuck the cargo to the bottom of our truck."

Carriage 013. Tang Lan stood beside the cooling cabinet. The newly installed shock-absorbing base for the medicine cabinet was under the carriage floor. The temperature stabilizer needle was stable in the green zone. After listening to Xiao Huo's report, she placed her right hand on the release cover.

Several wounded people in the carriage turned their heads to look out the window at the same time.

Someone instinctively wanted to ask a question. Tang Lan didn't turn around. She raised her left hand and pressed a button on the side of the control panel. All external communication channels for number 013 were manually disconnected.

"Don't ask anyone." Her voice wasn't loud. "The lead train didn't report the number of carriages, so we shouldn't report its weight."

Carriage 005. A young survivor pulls a maintenance light from under his seat. The light shines on the enclosed outer shell of the compartment. The outer frame of the 0514 double-compartment compartment is secure, the externally mounted serial number lock is lit with a green light, and the physical disconnect switch is in place. The seal on the second cargo compartment on the right is intact, and there is no leakage of black condensate.

"The protective pod wasn't opened. What was stuck there?"

"Bonebreaker Channel." The communicator's voice was hushed.

"Twelve tons. It's attached to the bottom of the train. Not with a tail hook, but to the entire train chassis. When was it attached?"

"Combination station No. 37," the fire control officer continued. "When we were dismantling the station, it pushed the escort platform under the rails. At that time, the wheels were running over the wheel pressure simulator, and there was a gap between the chassis and the rail surface."

"It wasn't the simulator that made us run over the car. It deliberately made us run over it."

Base 04 Control Room. The technician retrieved the file for Escort Vehicle 017. There weren't many entries. It was a standard escort vehicle for the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, with a 12-ton payload capacity, a short, thick body, no windows, and equipped with an independent escort floor and heavy-duty chain guards. Its purpose was to transport onboard equipment requiring complete sealing throughout the journey.

"The file doesn't say 'live carriage'," the technician said, his fingers tapping on the keyboard, "but it's engraved on the back of the nameplate."

The veteran engineer stood behind him. "Station 38 only weighs."

"Yes. The sign at weighing gate number 38 only says 'Weighing only, not checking the carriages.' It doesn't care how many carriages you have, only how much they weigh. The floorboards are attached to our carriages, and when the weighing gate weighs them, it adds twelve tons." The technician paused for a moment, "Then it asks us to unload the load."

The veteran engineer's face tightened.

"It doesn't ask for the serial number. It doesn't ask for the number of sections. It only asks for the weight. If you don't report the serial number, it can't change your registration. But if you're overweight, it can put you into the unloading tank."

A cold yellow light appeared ahead.

It wasn't white, it wasn't green, it was a cool yellow. The low color temperature made the light appear dull on the track. Weighing gate number 38 appeared at the end of the track.

The gate is not tall. There are no knife gates, no isolation curtains, and no explosion-proof structures. It's just four rows of heavy-duty weighbridges, with rail beams welded to both sides of the weighbridge, and the load-bearing area covering the entire track. The sign is in the standard format of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, with clear lettering—"Heavy-duty weighing gate No. 38. Weighing only, no inspection of the carriages."

The door to the material storage compartment on the right opened simultaneously. The shelves were stacked with heavy-duty weighing beams, hydraulic load equalizers, wide-width pressure rails, and military-grade load-bearing bearings. All specifications were complete, interfaces were standard, and there was no pre-installed wiring.

"The materials are all genuine," Xiao Huo reported.

The broadcast began. It wasn't Zhen Shan's voice, nor was it a synthesized system voice; it was the original recording from the weighing station of the old Blue Star expeditionary force. The tone was steady, and the pace was even.

"Weighing process initiated. Before entering the weighing area, train 001 must declare its total weight. If an abnormal overweight is found, it must enter the unloading trough to unload the excess load. Train 017, fully loaded escort vehicle, has been registered at station 38 and enjoys priority passage."

There was a pause.

"The actual weight of train group 001 does not match the registered weight. It is abnormally overweight by 12 tons. The unloading chute on the left has been opened. Please unload the excess weight before passing through the gate."

Four unloading troughs are illuminated on the left track. The troughs are wide, and there are pushers and hydraulic unloading arms on the inside. Each unloading trough has an independent marking above it—the first one locks the mobile refining furnace, the second locks the 005 tail anchor, the third locks the 014 spare cooling car, and the fourth locks the external fuel rack.

The beam pusher begins to rise.

The announcement continued, "If unloading is refused, the entire train will be unable to pass through the weighing gate. Escort car 017 will have priority. The countdown is not included in this procedure. Please select car 001."

Carriage 013. A wounded soldier spoke in a low voice from a corner.

"This time it didn't lie about the serial number. The weight is real."

Tang Lan didn't speak. Her fingers pressed against the safety catch on the release cover. The gun was at her waist, not drawn.

The Bonebreaker channel was silent for several seconds. The communicator's voice came back first.

"It's been tested. The data from the wheel compaction module is correct. The twelve tons are real pressure applied under our vehicle, not an electromagnetic simulation."

"It doesn't play tricks. It makes you overweight."

Wang Hu squatted beside the 012 protective shell. His flashlight beam still shone on the flat surface under the vehicle, which held the lime powder. The reflection from the lead-boron base plate was cold. The rubber tread of the support roller followed the rotation of the main wheel, and with each rotation, the tiny wear marks on the slide rail would move back half a millimeter.

"It's following along. It's not stuck on; it's alive."

Su Yuan stood up from the driver's seat. He placed one hand on the keypad of the old terminal and used the other to switch the frequency of the 20th ring calibration missile to the backup channel.

"Wang Hu. Apply mechanical impact waves to the underside of the car. Don't target the weight, target the slide rail structure."

Wang Hu tucked his flashlight under his arm. He took out a track-beating hammer from his tool bag and squatted down at the front edge of the 012 casing. The hammer struck the side beam of the casing. Short. Hard.

Mechanical vibrations traveled along the chassis of the Devourer to the lead-boron underbody plate. The echoes from the underbody plate were simultaneously collected by the small fire and projected onto the main screen.

The structural diagram is constructed layer by layer. The lead-boron base plate is a sandwich structure. The outer layer is a wear-resistant steel plate, the middle layer is a lead-boron shielding layer, and the inner side is a shock-absorbing rubber pad. The four sets of support rollers correspond to the front axle group, the third rear axle, the 013 middle axle, and the 005 front axle of the Shihuang. The slide rails are connected to the support rollers by adjustable connecting rods, and the connecting rods are equipped with miniature hydraulic compensators, which can automatically adjust the adhesion force according to the vibration of the vehicle body.

"It's not pressed down. It's a soft pad. It vibrates when the car shakes. It won't fall off."

Su Yuan's mechanical left eye locked onto the 017 steel stamp at the end of the base plate.

"What's next to the steel stamp?"

Wang Hu moved the flashlight beam to the edge of the stamped mark. There were two thin grooves there. The grooves were shallow and the cross-sections were neat. They weren't wear marks; they were machined.

"Push-pull groove. Standard quick-release interface. The entire base plate can be pulled back by using a pressure chain from the back."

Su Yuan's fingers typed a line of Morse code on the keyboard. Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap.

"017 first hid the goods under our truck. Then station 38 detected the anomaly. It was registered as an escort vehicle, but we were an 'overweight train.' We unloaded the cargo, and they retracted the undercarriage. If we didn't unload, they used their right-of-way to pass through the gate first, and then waited for us behind the gate."

Control room of Base 04. The technician suddenly looked up.

"The armored truck registration is fake. It wasn't transporting goods at all. It was just waiting for us to unload so it could take back the twelve-ton floorboards."

The old engineer's Adam's apple bobbed.

"They wouldn't let us keep the stuff inside the baseboard. Otherwise, they would have just let us drag it through the doorway."

A new change popped up on the main screen. Station 38 noticed that the bottom panel had been scanned out.

Suddenly, all the rail-pressing beams started moving. The four rows of heavy-duty rail-pressing beams pressed down simultaneously, not the lead car, but the entire weighing area. The beams landed on the rail surface, and the steel wheels were clamped. The beam pusher extended outward from the unloading trough, with its end pointing towards the 005 guard compartment and the 014 cooling interface.

The broadcast remained steady. "Secondary shipment 017 has been temporarily combined with shipment 001. Unloading the heavy-duty attachment 001 will restore the safe weight. Please select the module to unload."

Su Yuan didn't attempt to deactivate the hook. He pressed the communication button.

"Tang Lan. 013 half-lock. Push the brake pressure to 70%. Press down on the third rear axle."

"receive."

"005 sinking silencer. All five tons of counterweight deployed."

The young survivor pushed down the control stick. The tail of 005 rammed into the rails. The outer frame of the hull vibrated.

"The 014 cooling bus has reached a low-temperature steady state. The fast cooling jacket of the power conduction tube is fully open."

The coolant temperature jumped from 0.5 degrees to -5 degrees. The cooling capacity was injected into the grouped cooling bus along the parallel piping.

"012 Forward probe pulley. Top the first rail beam."

012. The rail pin is pulled out. The military-grade alloy steel shroud is pushed under the first rail clamping beam. The metallic clanging sound is muffled on the rail surface.

The entire train was weighed down, causing the steel beams to groan softly.

The rail-pressing beam continued to press down. Wang Hu squatted beside the 012 hull, his ears filled with the faint crackling of metal being stretched. He glanced up at the front beam of the Devourer. The welds were not cracked. The newly cast heavy armor of the military train reflected a dark hue under the cold yellow light.

"Number 38 only recognizes weight distribution," Su Yuan's voice came from the driver's cab. "It doesn't recognize the ownership of the truck compartments. It weighs who is on the weighbridge, not who has attached any attachments."

He switched to the eight-cable control interface.

"Don't remove the base plate. Secure the weighing position first. Wang Hu, attach the eight-cable weighbridge to the inspection port."

Wang Hu climbed down from the edge of the 012 protective casing. His boots landed on the remnants of the rail surface fascia. The cold yellow light illuminated the four rows of weighbridges clearly. Each row of weighbridges had an inspection hole on the outside, with the hole cover secured by standard bolts. He sequentially fastened the quick-release couplings of the eight steel cables into the inspection holes.

"All done."

"Refining furnace. Dark gold conduit. Weighing busbar."

The side of the mobile refining furnace cracked open. Four dark gold conduits protruded, slid along the track, passed the tail of 005, and pierced the bus routing pipe beneath the weighbridge. The high temperature melted through the pipe wall. The conduits were embedded.

The data stream on the weighing bus was interrupted. The weighing reading on the main screen began to fluctuate.

Su Yuan picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Number 20 ring-type aiming round. Phase reverse. Fire weighing pulse."

The calibration round slides into the main magazine from the external magazine. Its frequency is 22 Hz, the same as but out of phase with the weighing pulse. Firing.

The reverse oscillation spread outwards. The weighing sensor outputs of all four rows of weighbridges were simultaneously interfered with. On the main screen, the weighing reading of station 38 jumped from "001 Abnormal Overweight" to "017 Escorted Goods Not Independently Loaded", and then to "Weighing Pending".

The unloading trough pusher paused for a moment.

The hydraulic unloading arm was stuck in its extended position. The broadcast audio paused once, repeating half a syllable—"Please unload—"—before stopping.

Base 04 control room. The veteran engineer slapped the edge of the control panel.

"It has taken back the weighing logic. The platform no longer recognizes who is overweight."

The technician stared at the weighing bus readings. "It used to only recognize 001 as overweight. Now the weighing system is being interfered with by reverse phase interference, and the registered weight of 017 conflicts with the actual weight of the base plate. It can't determine which one should be removed."

Wang Hu stood up from beside the weighbridge. He wiped the lime powder off his face. "I was confused by the weighing gate."

Su Yuan didn't stop.

"Lifting boom. Sweep up the weighing beam."

Wang Hu operated the grabber. The lifting arm swung out from the roof of the vehicle, and the claw tip gripped the flange of the first row of weighing beams. With a pull, the flange bolts snapped. The heavy-duty weighing beam was pulled horizontally off the weighbridge base.

Warning lights illuminated simultaneously in the material storage area. The announcement changed to: "Weighing equipment malfunction. Train group 001, please leave the weighbridge area."

No one paid any attention to it.

The crane boom continued its sweeping motion. The weighbridge inspection hole was pulled backward by the eight cables, and the base bolts snapped. The hydraulic load equalizer was pulled out of the base, and hydraulic oil splashed onto the rail surface. The wide rail plate was gripped at the edge by the claw tips and torn apart along with the base frame. The military-grade load-bearing bearing was removed from the rail beam hinge.

The mobile refining furnace roared.

The dark gold conduit completely pulled out the controller section of the weighing bus. The high temperature melted off the cable sheath. The weighing pulse became completely ineffective.

The pusher slowly retracts from the unloading trough. The hydraulic unloading arm loses pressure and droops.

The openings of the four unloading troughs were not closed. However, the beam pusher stopped pushing.

At the same time, a metallic scraping sound came from behind the weighing door.

It's not the sound of wheelsets pressing against the rails. It's the sound of a slide rail. The sound of a thin slide rail sliding on the rail surface. Light. Fine. With the stickiness of lubricating grease.

The 017 escort vehicle reversed out from behind the weighing gate.

The vehicle is short and thick. The outer shell has no windows. Four sliding rails extend from the bottom, originating from the same type of rails found on the lead-boron base plate attached to the bottom of the Devourer. The side of the vehicle is marked with the inscription "017 Fully Loaded Escort Vehicle," in the standard font of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force.

It didn't crash. After reversing into position, the rear of the vehicle opened. There was no cargo inside. Only four sets of heavy-duty load chains. The chains extended from the rear of the vehicle like four flattened crane arms, extending towards the bottom of the Devourer. At the end of the load chains were quick-release calipers, with the jaws aligned with the two push-pull grooves on the bottom plate.

The broadcast has returned to normal. "Escort vehicle 017 will be retrieving the transported items. Group 001, please remain stationary. The overweight issue will be automatically cleared upon completion of the retrieval."

The chain clamp engaged the push-pull groove on the base plate.

At the same second, the two auxiliary pressure chains on the right side swung towards the 005 compartment and the 014 cooling interface. The jaws opened, aligning with the edge of the protective frame of the externally mounted, individually numbered lock.

"The claim of recovering the escorted items is fake," Xiao Huo's analytical voice boomed. "They're trying to take away both 014 and 005 at the same time."

Carriage 013. Tang Lan saw the auxiliary pressure chain extending from the side of the track outside the window. The hydraulic hoses of the clamps gleamed under the cold yellow light. Without waiting for orders, she slapped her left hand on the brake valve. "013, brake pressure 70%. Stabilize the rear axle."

Carriage 005. The young survivor pushed the locking pin of the secondary anti-push frame into place. The frame flipped out from the bottom of the protective compartment, pressing down on the rail surface. "The chain is coming. The jaws are aligned with the protective frame."

Su Yuan glanced at the force distribution of the 017 pressure chain on the main screen.

"012 Press the front rail. Block the slide rail direction."

The 012 heavy armor forward-probing trolley cuts out the guide pin. The leading edge of the protective shell presses into the weighing gate's front rail, and the alloy steel is secured to the rail surface. The extension path of the slide rail is cut off.

"009 Commemorative Hanging Frame. Left Slot".

Wang Hu lowered the old thrust hook at the front end of the 009 mounting bracket. The fractured surface of the cast iron got stuck in the guide wheel groove of the left groove of the unloading chute. The lateral displacement of the slide rail was stopped.

"005 Level 2 anti-push frame tail pressure. Eight cables simultaneously bite 017 chain pressure."

He pressed the eight-cable control button. The eight steel cables detached from the weighbridge inspection port and were thrown out again. The quick-release coupling of each cable hooked onto a pressure chain. All four main pressure chains and two auxiliary pressure chains were locked in place.

"Reel in the cable."

All eight cables tighten simultaneously. The output of the mobile refining furnace is pushed up. The pressure chain is pulled by the steel cable, and the quick-release clamp disengages from the bottom plate's push-pull groove. The jaws of the auxiliary pressure chain slip off the edge of the 005 protective frame, and the teeth scratch two shallow marks on the outer shell of the protective frame.

The 017 armored vehicle began to slide forward. It wasn't moving backward; the steel cables were pulling it forward. The wheels reversed on the rails, and white smoke billowed from the rubber tires.

017 suddenly braked. The pressure chain completely disengaged. It no longer retracted the bottom plate.

The rear of the vehicle closed again. The heavy-duty pressure chain retracted into the vehicle body. After a few seconds, the roof opened. A row of lead-boron partitions slid out from the roof, with sealing rings around their edges. With the partitions open, the interior of the vehicle was exposed.

It's not a cargo hold. It's not an ammunition rack. It's not a materials storage area. It's a "living embryo" of a train carriage.

The underframe is intact. The life support tank is suspended below the underframe, and the tank casing emits a low rumble of a circulation pump. A row of seat locks is mounted on the underframe. These are not standard passenger car seats, but locking clamps for fixed transfer seats; each clamp is open, revealing only mounting slots without seat cushions.

The clamps are heating up. It's not an electrical heating element; it's an individual chemically heated plate attached to the bottom of each clamp. The temperature is stable, maintaining the optimal temperature range for comfortable human touch on the seat cushion.

No survivors. No wounded. No crew members.

There was only one row of empty seat locks, which were emitting low heat at a constant temperature from the self-heating fins. The locking clamps opened and closed, as if an unseen person was sitting on the seat and then standing up again.

The entire channel went silent for a second.

The Bonebreaker channel was the first to explode.

"Empty? Is it heating up?"

"The seat lock is on its own."

Control room of Base 04. The technician stood up. His chair slid back half a meter. He stared at the thermal image of the interior of 017 on the main screen. The temperature distribution of the self-heating fins was regular, with each seat corresponding to a constant temperature zone. The service life of the chemical self-heating fins was clearly marked: at least four hundred hours remaining.

"It wasn't carrying cargo. It was an empty, live vehicle. No seats. Only locking clamps and a life support tank."

The veteran engineer's fist pressed against the control panel. His knuckles turned white.

"It wants to parasitize. 017 sends this live carriage embryo into our formation, and once the empty seat lock is connected to 013 or 003, it has a carriage body. Then it can register."

Lu Mingyuan pressed the full-channel broadcast button. "017 is not an escort vehicle. It's a parasitic carriage delivery vehicle."

Wang Hu flipped himself up from the edge of the 012 protective shell. He looked at the row of empty seat locks in 017 that were open. The clamps were still moving. The rhythm of opening and closing was in sync with a person's breathing.

"What is it waiting for?"

Su Yuan's voice came down.

"Wait for us to unload. We'll remove 005 and 014, and the weight will be back to normal. Station 38 will release the cargo. 017 will pull the base plate back in and simultaneously attach this embryo to our vacated coupling position. It won't try to take over. It will wait for you to make room."

He released the eight-cable control key.

"We're not unloading the cargo. We're using these twelve tons as ballast."

He pressed the communication button.

"Wang Hu. Fully loaded rail-mounted passage module. Open."

Wang Hu patted the control panel. The full-load rail-pressing passage module was activated. The module signal was connected to the segmented braking array of the Shihuang chassis. The weight of the entire vehicle was redistributed. The overweight status was locked from "abnormal" to "temporary passage status".

"Let the Devourer carry the escort plate directly onto the main beam of the weighing gate."

Su Yuan pushed the throttle halfway. The Devourer, carrying the entire train, pressed forward. The wheel pressure measurement module reported real-time data. The twelve-ton floor plate, plus the Devourer's own weight, plus the weight of the third section, 013, 005, and 014, resulted in a total pressure exceeding the rated load capacity of the weighing gate's main beam.

The main beam was pinned down. The rail-clamping beam could not spring back. All the beam pushers in the unloading chute were locked in the recovery position. All unloading mechanisms at Station 38 failed simultaneously.

"Refining furnace. Back-extraction of weighbridge main shaft, hydraulic load equalizer, weighing beam remnants and 017 pressure chain."

The dark gold conduit plunged into the weighbridge again. This time, it wasn't cutting off the signal; it was dismantling it completely. The main shaft bearing was jammed due to the high temperature melting off the grease. The cylinder of the hydraulic load equalizer was cut open by the conduit, and the piston rod was pulled out. The remaining bolts on the weighing beam were melted. The 017 pressure chain was ripped off the sprocket, and the chain links were dragged into the refining furnace.

The crane arm swept across the 017 car body.

The claw tip gripped the side beam of the outer casing. With a pull, the outer skin was torn open, exposing the lead-boron separators. Between the separators were sealing strips; the claw tip of the lifting arm cut into the gaps in the sealing strips and peeled off the separators piece by piece.

The entire structure of the living carriage embryo was exposed to the cold yellow light.

The chassis is the standard transport vehicle chassis of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force. The life support tank is connected to the circulation pump, oxygen concentrator, and intravenous nutrient solution heating mantle. A level sensor on the inner wall of the tank indicates a normal water level. The nutrient solution heating mantle is set to 36 degrees Celsius.

The empty seat lock is still moving. Twenty-three sets of clamps. The opening and closing frequency is perfectly synchronized with a person's resting breathing.

"It's not random movement." Xiao Huo compared the rhythm of the seat lock's movement with an old medical record. "This frequency is set according to the average breathing rate of wounded soldiers transported by the Blue Star Expeditionary Force. It's simulating the wounded."

Control room at Base 04. A technician's fingers tap on a keyboard.

"The seat lock's heating temperature, opening and closing frequency, and water tank circulation fluid are all matched. It simulates a transport carriage full of wounded soldiers. The weight of the weighing door, the body temperature in thermal imaging, and even the breathing rhythm are all simulated."

The veteran engineer's face turned pale.

"The moment it's ready to be added to the formation, this data will be synchronized to the Great Wall authentication system. We can't remove it. Because the system will recognize it as alive."

"And now?" The technician's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Now it has been dismantled by Su Yuan."

The 017 wrecked car attempted to re-close the lead-boron sprocket. However, the crane arm had already ripped the sprocket off completely. The outer skin was peeled off, exposing the side beams of the underframe. The heavy-duty chain-recovery mechanism was exposed. Wang Hu fastened the quick-release coupling to the chain-recovery sprocket and dragged it towards the refining furnace.

Su Yuan switched to the eight-cable control interface.

"Hydraulic load equalizer. Reverse-connected segmented braking array. Distributes the weight of the entire train evenly across the four rails."

The newly removed hydraulic load equalizer was connected to the segmented brake array via a dark gold conduit. The hydraulic circuit was redistributed. The weight of sections 3, 013, 005, 014, and 012 no longer rested on their respective wheelsets, but was instead evenly distributed across the four rail surfaces via the load equalizer. The twelve tons of the escorting undercarriage were also flattened by the load equalizer.

The weight distribution of the entire train has changed from "group load-bearing" to "rail surface load-bearing".

The main shaft of the weighing gate cannot withstand the total pressure after the load is evenly distributed. The main shaft makes a cracking sound.

Wang Hu used the crane arm to cut all the seat locks on the 017 live carriage embryo. The hydraulic pipes of the twenty-three clamps were cut. The self-heating fins were detached from the bottom of the clamps and piled into the external bucket of the refining furnace. The life support water tank remained intact, with the pipelines not cut, and continued to circulate.

"Refining furnace. Includes outer shell, pressure chain, slide rails, and weighing equipment. Avoid water tanks and circulation pumps."

The mobile refining furnace chamber receives 017 outer shell skin, pressure chain links, slide rail connecting rods, and weighbridge remnants. The side chute begins to discharge the components.

The first component: a heavy-duty equalization weighing bridge. It is a recast version of the weighbridge's main shaft, weighing beam, and load-bearing bearings. The bridge is attached to the rear of the front beam of the Devourer, and is not for weighing, but for equalization. Any external weighing system scan will only display a fixed equalization value actively emitted by the bridge, not the actual weight.

The second component: a full-group load distribution module. This module is recast using hydraulic load equalizers, remnants of the weighing bus, and 017 chain sprockets. It is attached above the segmented braking array. The distribution module actively adjusts the wheel pressure of each car, intentionally distributing weight to designated wheelsets. Any weighing equipment can only read the distributed data.

The third component: scrapers to be attached to the underside of the car. These were recast using fragments from the 016 wheel pressure simulator, remnants of the electromagnetic coil from Station 37, and fragments of the weighing gate's rail beam. The scrapers are installed in the front, middle, and rear sections of the underside of the Devourer car. Any object attempting to attach to the underside plate from under the rails will be physically blocked by the scrapers.

Fourth item: Escort chain counter-hook. All chain clamps and sprockets of the 017 are recast. The hook body is mounted on the rear side of the 005 compartment and the outside of the 014 cooling interface. Any escort chain extending from the rear will be automatically caught by the counter-hook.

Fifth item: 017 Isolation Escort Frame. Recast using remnants of the 017 underframe, the empty seat lock bracket, and part of the material storage compartment's outer frame. The escort frame is attached to the rear of the 012 heavy armor's forward-probing pulley, and is not linked to the Devourer. The escort frame has a built-in independent life support interface, water tank connection, and a continuously running circulation pump. The empty seat lock has been modified into a fixed support, does not generate heat, and does not simulate breathing.

Wang Hu led the maintenance team to install parts.

The heavy-duty equalization weighing bridge is attached to the front beam. The full-group load distribution module is connected to the main control room. The scraper is welded into the chassis longitudinal beams. The escort chain counter-hook is locked into the 005 protective compartment. The 017 isolation escort frame is attached to the rear of the 012, the water tank connection is completed, and the circulation pump is restarted.

The wheel pressure measurement module re-scans the entire train.

The 12-ton anomaly changed from "unknown attachments under the vehicle" to "externally isolated escorted cargo." No registration. No reporting of quantities. No acceptance of agreements.

The main shaft of weighing gate No. 38 finally broke. The cracking sound was dull and heavy. The weighbridge base cracked, and the load-bearing bearings rolled off the sides of the track and hit the wall.

The weighing gates are completely malfunctioning. The cold yellow light flashed once and then went out.

Lu Mingyuan pressed the full channel broadcast button.

"Rule No. 38 is invalid. All system broadcasts from the 19th to the 38th consecutive stations have been confirmed as inducements or mortgage traps. Route 009's accuracy rate remains 100%."

He paused for a moment.

"The operating principles have been updated. Weighing stations will only accept materials, not load them into the unloading trough. They will not report the weight. They will not accept weighing agreements. They will only recognize the actual measurement list of the lead vehicle."

The Bonebreaker channel is overwhelmed.

"He dismantled the weighing station. He also stole the live carriage 017."

The empty shell of car 017 lay behind the weighing gate. The underframe had been removed. All the heavy-duty chain tensioners had been towed away. The lead-boron separators were piled up beside the rails.

Wang Hu chiseled the 017 stamp off the base plate. The stamp was made of standard stainless steel. He flipped it over. There were no markings on the back. The front only had the three characters "017".

However, after the steel plate detached from the base plate, a small interlayer was exposed underneath.

Tucked inside the compartment was an old Blue Star escort token. It was about the size of a palm. Made of bronze. The edges were rounded. A line of text was engraved on the token.

"Assembly line 018 is missing a heart. Don't let it see you carrying empty seats."

At the same second, the locks on the empty seats in the external isolation escort rack snapped shut simultaneously.

It wasn't the breathing rate. It was rhythmic. Twenty-three sets of clamps closed simultaneously. Then they released simultaneously. It was as if unseen people had all sat down at the same time.

Su Yuan's mechanical left eye turned towards the transport frame. Xiao Huo had already laid out the thermal imaging. No heat source. No heartbeat. No breathing.

The sound wasn't coming from the clamps. It was from the water tank.

The cycle time of the circulation pump in the life support tank changed once. The pump speed was increased by one level.

Wang Hu stood beside the transport rack. His flashlight beam swept across the water tank's exterior. The indicator light on the liquid level sensor switched from green to yellow.

"It's raising the water level. Someone told it to."

A red light appeared at the end of the track ahead.

It wasn't a cool white light, a cool yellow light, or a green light. It was a red work light from the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force assembly line. Under the light was an assembly rail that was being preheated.

The data from the material scanning radar is updated synchronously.

Temporary assembly station number 39. There were no announcements or signs inside. There were only a large number of car heart pumps, heavy-duty wheel axles, empty seat assemblies, and an automated assembly arm being picked up.

A nameplate hangs at the end of the assembly arm. The printer has just printed something; the ink isn't completely dry yet.

"018 Carriage Forming Machine. Standby."

The oil inlet of the heart pump in the carriage is beginning to preheat. The empty seat assemblies on both sides of the assembly rail are neatly arranged.