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

Green inspection lights are laid out along the track.

One section at a time, the lights illuminated the rusted track surface, reflecting cold white spots. With each illuminated section, the track surface trembled slightly, as if something deep within the track was being activated in sequence.

Wang Hu stood on the edge of the 012 protective case, his flashlight beam sweeping forward.

The heavy-duty warehouse door of the No. 42 military train reorganization and acceptance yard is opening. It doesn't slide open to the left or right, but sinks down into the tracks. The door panel is thick, and it makes a low, grinding sound as it sinks. Light pours out from behind the door, not a cool white, but a warm yellow—the standard lighting color of the old Blue Star factory.

There was no radio broadcast from Curry.

No threat alerts were issued.

There is no countdown.

There were only rows of well-organized outer armor frames, standard connecting beams, military train number plates, and inspection rails. They were arranged neatly, with labels facing outwards, and the materials were stacked meticulously. The inspection weighbridge was embedded in the center of the rail surface, the military train identification light frame was suspended from the ceiling beam, and a set of rail surface reinforcement beams leaned against the walls on both sides.

Good materials. Reputable materials.

Wang Hu's flashlight swept across the entire warehouse before returning to the direction of the Devourer's cockpit. "No scanning pulse. No identification pin. No rail clamp."

Xiao Huo's voice switched to the channel. "Estimated total weight of materials at the acceptance site: 42 tons. Three sets of armored vehicles for the reorganized military train. Twelve sets of heavy-duty coupling cores. Twenty-four numbered isolation plates. One standard acceptance weighbridge. Six sets of military train identification light frames. Twenty-eight rail reinforcement beams."

It paused for a moment.

"All material racks are connected by a numbered main bar. Main bar label: 020 Escort Qualification Line. Main bar status: Locked. Unlock condition: On-site inspection of temporary escort 020."

Inside the shield of the 017 offline cardiac pump, the faint hot spot was still flickering.

It is synchronized with the heart pump.

The cold text on the main screen didn't disappear. "020 has boarded the bus."

Wang Hu removed his palm from the outer wall of the shield. He looked down at his palm and wiped it on his pants. His palm was dry, not sweaty, but he wiped it anyway. "This time it's not about stealing a car," his voice was low and menacing, "it's about stuffing people into the car."

No one answered in the carriage.

Inside the 013 casualty compartment, several wounded soldiers peered through the side windows at the inspection bay ahead. The well-equipped armored vehicles gleamed with a clean metallic sheen under the warm yellow lights; the standard interfaces of the connecting beams were completely different from the makeshift welded supports on their vehicles. The cooling medicine boxes in the new medicine cabinet maintained a stable temperature, and the indicator lights on the cabinet doors were green.

Someone licked their lips.

No one urged them to come to the acceptance site No. 42.

The lights on the inspection track illuminated section by section, reaching the area beneath the front wheel of the Devourer. The light spread across the wheel, illuminating the anti-slip strips on the rim and the heat-resistant hub bushing. Then the lights went out. The entire warehouse fell silent, save for the warm hum of the fluorescent tubes.

Su Yuan sat in the driver's seat. The gears of the mechanical left eye weren't turning. His gaze shifted from the hotspot outline on the main screen to the acceptance warehouse in front, and then to the numbered labels on the side of the material rack.

"Small fire."

"exist."

"Scan the motherboard number. Scan its wiring path. Scan how many things it connects to."

The scan results from the small fire were layered onto the main screen. The numbering busbar extended from the material rack bus interface, branching into three paths. The first path went to the bottom of the acceptance weighbridge, connecting to the power supply box of the identification light holder. The second path went to the control bus of the column numbering printer, connecting to the assembly outer armor lock beam of the ceiling. The third path drilled under the rail surface, followed the old pipeline, and finally connected to the old junction box at the bottom of the 017 offline core pump shield.

"The main line does not have the ability to actively write data." The Little Torch wiring diagram is enlarged. "It is passively transmitted. Station 42 first writes '020 Temporary Escort' into the numbered main line, and then transmits the identity signal through the main line to the old escort hibernation pod inside the 017 core pump casing. After receiving the signal, the hibernation pod begins to respond and generates a hotspot."

Su Yuan stared at the wiring diagram.

"It's not that O020O people voluntarily board the train," he said. "The platform writes down a list first, and then people are stuffed into the train using a main rack."

Base 04 control room.

The technician retrieved the old files from Station 42. The files bore the red seal of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force at the top, with complete signatures and clear process numbers. "The old rules did indeed include this clause. The military train reorganization and acceptance yard had the right to supplement the escort personnel for the formation. If the lead car was not equipped with an escort personnel, the acceptance yard could retrieve a resident escort personnel from the old military train archives and add them to the formation roster."

The veteran engineer leaned closer to the screen. "A not-retired security guard? Fourteen years have passed, where did this 'not-retired' come from?"

The technician flipped through two pages of the file. "Hibernation pods. If the escorts of the Old Blue Star Expeditionary Force were injured or frostbitten, they would be sealed into hibernation pods and hung on the underframe of the carriage to continue their escort missions. As long as the hibernation pod was still there and the life signal was still present, they were considered to be in service. The system at Station 42 retrieved the hibernation pod number 020 from the old files and added it to the crew list of the Devourer."

"It uses living people as registration hooks." The old engineer's voice turned cold.

Someone in the Bonebreaker channel was gasping in shock.

"It's not about stealing the train, the medicine, or the materials," the fire control officer said. "It's about stealing the train's formation status. First, it puts 020 on the list, then forces the Devourer to conduct an on-site inspection. Once the hatch is opened for inspection, 020 will be registered as a member of the formation. At that point, the entire train—012, 013, 014, 017, and 005—will all be tied to the Great Wall main network."

The correspondent added, "Stations 20 to 41 are all fake rules. Station 42 is the real rule. The real rule of the Old Blue Star Expeditionary Force. Complete signatures, formal procedures, and complete files."

There was a moment of silence on the channel.

Under the warm yellow lights of Station 42, the first round of acceptance testing began.

No threatening broadcasts were made.

There is no countdown.

There are no rails or nozzles.

The broadcast came on. The voice was steady, with even spacing between each word—a standard acceptance recording from the old Blue Star. The tape was quite old, with a slight background noise.

"Military train formation inspection. Temporary escort 020, please present your qualifications on site. Lead car 001, please open the shielding cover of the 017 offline life support capsule. After the inspection is completed, all material racks at station 42 will automatically unlock."

Four inspection arms were lowered from the ceiling.

The arm is a standard acceptance instrument, without grippers or registration pins at the end. It only has an acceptance scanning head and a number reader. The scanning head is aimed at the 017 heart pump shield, the 005 protective compartment, the 009 commemorative rack, and the Devourer's main control console. The reader's green light is on, waiting to receive the number signal.

The broadcast played again.

"Please cooperate with the inspection. Refusal to open the hatch will be considered an illegal modification of 001. Once the determination takes effect, all external plug-in materials at Station 42 will be frozen. Any external plug-in materials already received will be retrieved."

Inside carriage 013, the hand of a lightly wounded soldier emerged from under the blanket.

He stared at the well-organized outer armor frames outside the side window. Those outer plates were thick, bearing the stamped serial numbers of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force. The joints of the standard tie beams looked like two different things compared to the makeshift welded supports on their carriages.

"Just one look," he said. "020 was already in our vehicle. Open the hatch and take a look; we can get the outer armor."

Tang Lan didn't speak. She placed the gun on her knees, muzzle pointing downwards. Her hand didn't touch the decoy cover.

Someone in the back channel chimed in, "Number 42 is different from the previous stops. They didn't attack us, they didn't steal from us, they just inspected the security guards. Aren't the security guards supposed to be members of the transport team?"

Some people say, "That's the established law of the old Blue Planet. We don't recognize established laws, but haven't we been using old materials all along?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it reached the cockpit of the Devourer.

Wang Hu turned around. His flashlight beam swept across the rear of the communication device, flickering against the interior wall of the carriage. "Who said there's a 'normal rule'?" His voice wasn't loud, but each word was emphasized. "What 'normal rule'? The first twenty-three stops, weren't they all legitimate signatures?"

No one answered.

Su Yuan didn't turn around. His hand rested on the leather steering wheel cover, his fingertips tracing the texture of the old leather. "Wang Hu."

"exist."

"Sprinkle with powder dust."

Wang Hu tore open the bag of lime powder. He didn't sprinkle it on the inspection arm or the material rack. The powder was scattered onto the floor between the inspection arm and the material rack.

Dust fell onto the rail surface. It wasn't sucked away. There were no airflow channels. There were no negative pressure holes.

However, the powder broke into three pieces above the numbered motherboard label. The gaps between each piece were very narrow, and the powder could not fill them, so it piled up at the edges of the gaps, forming three small clumps of grayish-white powder.

"Enlarge it," Su Yuan said.

The image at the gap was magnified by a small torch. Below the labels on the numbered busbars were not data cables, fiber optic cables, or scan bars. Instead, they were individual, detachable old-style military train numbered busbars—copper cores, lead-clad, with connectors made of old Blue Star standard bolts. At the locations corresponding to the three gaps, the bolts at the busbar connectors showed signs of disassembly and reassembly.

The exposed copper core is oxidized, and the oxide layer has scratches. The scratches are very fresh.

"The busbar number isn't fixed." Xiao Huo's analysis shifted to the entire channel. "It's been dismantled. Recently. The bolt marks on the three interfaces show signs of tightening within the last 48 hours. In other words—station 42 writing 020 into the busbar happened within the last couple of days."

Su Yuansong released the steering wheel.

"It's not an old file from fourteen years ago," he said. "It was just written. Station 42 retrieved the hibernation pod number of 020 from the old file, disassembled the mainframe, inserted 020's name, and then reconnected it to the locking beam of the material rack. All acceptance procedures rely on the mainframe locking the material rack. 020 didn't voluntarily get on the train—it was a 'escort berth name' forcibly written into the 017 core pump casing by the mainframe."

He paused for a moment.

"The list is fake. The documents are real."

Control room of Base 04. Lu Mingyuan stood up from his chair.

He posted the original acceptance rules for Station 42 on the main screen. The third line of the original text read: "The temporary escort qualification line is only valid for networked train formations. Offline military trains are not subject to the crew registration clause."

"You saw it?" Lu Mingyuan pressed the full-channel communication button. "The acceptance rules of Station 42 are only valid for 'networked formations'. The Devourer is currently an offline heavy-load military train and is not connected to the Great Wall main network. In the system, 020 can only be considered as unverified cargo, not as a crew member."

He enlarged the original text.

"On-site inspection of the goods is not required."

The green inspection light at station number 42 is flashing continuously.

The scanning head of the acceptance arm stopped in front of the 017 shield, and the green light on the number reader was still flashing. However, the acceptance signal was reversed by the full group head registration rejection device. The reading pulse emitted by the scanning head hit the shield, was blocked by the lead-boron interlayer, and bounced back with a segment of noise.

The hot topics of 020 are still jumping around within 017.

However, it cannot submit its qualifications to external parties.

The scanning data from the small fire engine refreshed on the main screen. The serial number reader on the acceptance arm sent three consecutive read requests, all of which were canceled out by the rejection device. The acceptance process at station 42 was stuck at the first stage, and subsequent steps could not be triggered.

Su Yuan switched to the communication key.

"Eight-cable cable".

Wang Hu opened the manual interface on the control panel. Eight steel cables detached from the ground anchor holes, and the quick-release couplings were thrown into the air.

"Hang the numbered busbars. First interface, second interface, third interface—hang them on both sides of each interface. Six main cables, two auxiliary cables."

Wang Hu locked each cable one by one. Left and right sides of the first busbar connector. Left and right sides of the second connector. Left and right sides of the third connector. The six main cables were fastened into the copper core sheath bolt holes of the busbar. The two auxiliary cables were hooked onto the grounding ring at the end of the busbar.

"Lifting boom. Weighing scale for acceptance."

The crane boom extended from the right side of the Devourer. The boom was pressed into the load-bearing groove in the center of the weighbridge, and hydraulic pressure was applied. The weighbridge's springs were compressed to the bottom, and the load reading jumped wildly on the main screen.

"Refining furnace. The dark gold conduit only secures the material locking beam. It doesn't touch the 017 core pump."

The dark gold conduits slid along the rail surface. The four conduits bypassed the scanning head of the acceptance arm, the number reader, and the 017 shield. They only penetrated the locking beam interface at the bottom of the material rack. The locking pin of the locking beam began to vibrate the instant the conduits made contact.

Su Yuan stepped on the gas.

The Zhenshan core accelerated from idle to 1000 RPM. A layer of dark gold gleamed along the energy guide tubes. Exhaust fumes billowed from the exhaust pipes, swirling up lime dust from the rails. The dust swirled under the warm yellow light.

"receive."

All eight steel cables were tightened simultaneously.

The numbered busbar was forcibly pulled from the material rack's bus interface. The bolt on the first interface snapped off, and the copper core detached from its lead sheath, hitting the floor and sending sparks flying. The junction box on the second interface was ripped open, and the old solder joints cracked. The grounding ring on the third interface broke, and the end of the busbar flew into the air.

The locking beams of the material rack broke off one after another.

The locking pin popped out of its slot, scattering metal fragments onto the side panel of the material rack. The fixing bolts of the reorganized outer armor frame loosened. The clips of the heavy-duty coupling core popped open. The locking slot of the numbered isolation plate cracked. The load-bearing spring of the standard acceptance weighbridge jumped out of its base. The power supply box of the military train identification light holder automatically shut off. The fixing clamps of the rail surface reinforcement beam loosened.

The background noise on the broadcast tape was still playing, but the acceptance recording had stopped.

All green inspection lights were turned off.

The warehouse was lit only by warm yellow lights.

The dark golden light from the exhaust pipe of the Devourer shone on the empty lock beam interface.

Lu Mingyuan's voice switched to the full channel. "Acceptance rule No. 42 is invalid. 020 will not be verified. Grouping list will not be submitted. All material racks will be unlocked."

The Bonebreaker channel exploded.

"He disconnected the busbar," the communications officer's voice couldn't be suppressed. "It's not that he refused to receive the acceptance signal, it's that he disconnected the signal transmitting busbar."

The fire control officer added, "The system wrote down a list for him. He unplugged the power to the list."

The rear support crew marked the new rules for station 42 on the AM channel: the military train reorganization and acceptance yard only disassembles materials, does not hand them over to the escorts, and does not report the reorganization list.

The message spread outwards along the AM channel.

Under the warm yellow lights of Station 42, the eight steel cables of the Devourer were being used to recover the remaining parts of the busbar. Copper cores, lead sheaths, junction boxes, and grounding rings were all being dragged into the refining furnace opening.

Su Yuan stood up from the driver's seat. He walked to the side door and placed his hand on the door frame.

All the material racks in the acceptance warehouse were unlocked. Three sets of fully equipped military train armor were neatly hung on the racks. Twelve sets of heavy-duty coupling cores were on standard brackets. Numbered isolation plates were stacked in pallets. Rail reinforcement beams were lined up against the wall.

He was about to speak.

The sound of mechanical linkages came from deep within the acceptance warehouse.

It's not a broadcast.

It's not a rail clamp.

It's the sound of gears meshing. Old-fashioned gears, with wide teeth, produce a heavy metallic friction when they mesh.

The floor of station 42 cracked in the middle.

The weighbridge sank half a meter during inspection, exposing the steel rails beneath its base. These rails were not main rails, but siding—sliding diagonally towards the left side of the inspection bay. At the end of the siding, a row of old wagon shells rose up, bearing red markings: Temporary Escort Recycling Container.

The hatch was open.

There were no seats. No registration racks. Only a row of medical fixtures and an array of identification pins. The fixtures were just the right size to hold an adult. The identification pins had barbs at the tips, and the grooves inside the barbs were filled with old-fashioned serial number ink.

The broadcast started again. The voice had changed. It was no longer the official acceptance recording from the old Blue Star; it was the synthesized voice from Station 42 itself. It was steady, at a uniform speed, with consistent spacing between each word.

"020 refuses on-site inspection. According to the old Blue Star escort regulations, temporary escorts who refuse inspection should have their certificates revoked and be replaced. The recovery capsule is ready. Please have 017 offline life capsule carry 020 to the flank."

Four steel cables hang down from the top of the recovery capsule.

The cable end is attached to a hook, with the hook opening aligned with the bolt hole on the base of the 017 shielding cover.

The broadcast added a sentence.

"The 005 escort compartment and the 009 commemorative hangar have been identified as evidence of the 020 escort mission. They will be recovered together."

The linkage was simultaneously released.

The first hook engages with the left side of the 017 shield base. The second hook engages with the right side of the base. The third hook moves laterally and engages with the anti-push frame of the 005 naval compartment. The fourth hook slides towards the side beam of the 009 commemorative rack.

The medical fixation frame in the recovery capsule began to preheat. The identification needle array charged, and the ink reservoir at the needle tips emitted the smell of old ink.

The steel cable is tightened.

The 017 shield was pulled off course by half an inch. A squeaking sound came from the gasket between the outer shell of the shield and the core pump base.

Wang Hu rushed past the 012 protective shell. His hand pressed against the outer wall of the 017 shield, his palm against the cool metal shell. Inside the shield, the hot spot was still pulsating—at the same frequency as the heart pump. But the amplitude of the pulsation was slightly larger. The outline of the hot spot changed slightly on the thermal image; it was no longer in a completely curled-up position.

Su Yuan stared at the main screen.

The cold chain counting reverse lookup module popped up a new set of data. The data came from an old printer buried underground at Station 42. The printer was buried under the weighbridge base; the outer casing was rusted, but the print head was still working. The ink ribbon was old, and the edges of the paper rolls were yellowed.

The reverse lookup module read the printer's recent print records.

First line: 020 Temporary Escort - assigned to the Devourer 001 group.

Second line: Receive the newly formed group list for acceptance yard No. 42.

Third line: Escort qualification line has been generated.

Fourth line: Acceptance conditions: 020 On-site presentation of qualifications.

The fifth line was printed six hours later than the first four lines.

Line 5: 020 No response. Preparing for certificate revocation and replacement process.

Wang Hu stared at the printouts on the screen. One hand was still pressed against the 017 shield, the other clenched into a fist. "It wrote the list first," he said, his voice low in his throat. "It waited six hours. 020 didn't respond. So it pushed the recovery capsule out."

Su Yuan's voice came from the driver's seat.

"It's not six hours."

He enlarged the timestamps on the printouts. The timestamps were accurate to the second. The first line was printed forty-six hours ago, not six hours ago.

"Two days ago," Su Yuan said, "Station 42 added 020 to its list two days ago. It's been waiting for the Devourer to arrive."

The steel cables of the recovery capsule continued to tighten.

The 017 shielding cover was dragged towards the side track. The base scraped against the rail surface with a harsh metallic scraping sound.

Su Yuan pressed the communication button.

"012. Top recovery compartment gate."

The 012 forward-propelled trolley was ejected. The heavy armor's forward-propelled hull slammed into the recovery capsule's gate track, and the anti-collision teeth on the hull edge got stuck in the gate's groove. The gate was jammed and could not be closed.

"009. Card number slot."

The side beams of the 009 commemorative bracket unfold. The road sign commemorative bracket moves laterally and gets into the numbering slot on the side line of the recovery capsule. The reader in the numbering slot scans the old road sign markings on the 009 steel plate, and the reader flashes continuously, unable to determine the number.

"Eight cables. Remaining parts of the busbar."

Eight steel cables were thrown back from the furnace opening. The remaining components of the busbar—copper cores, lead sheaths, and junction boxes—dragging along the cables were then hooked onto the recovery pod. The copper cores were twisted into the gaps in the steel cables, and the lead sheaths secured the clips on the coupling hooks.

Su Yuan stepped on the gas.

镇山核心输出推到一百一。导能管的暗金纹路全亮。排气管喷出的暗金色火舌卷过轨面，把回收舱侧线的鏽蚀轨道烧成黑色。满载压轨通行模块同时启动，整列车的轮压钉死在主轨上。012、013、014、017、005——每节车厢的制动阵列都咬死轨面。

"receive."

Eight-cable reverse drag.

The motherboard debris got tangled in the recovery capsule's steel cable, pulling the four hooks in the opposite direction. The first hook slipped off the 017 base, its tip leaving a shallow mark on the sealing gasket. The second hook snapped open, its body flying against the roof beam and extinguishing a row of lights. The third hook was deflected by the 005 anti-push frame. The fourth hook was deflected by the side beam of the 009 mounting bracket, its tip embedding into the side wall of the numbered slot.

The medical fixation frame of the recovery capsule is spinning idly.

The identification needle array couldn't find the target, and the needle tips darted aimlessly through the air. Ink was flung from the needle tips, splattering onto the side panel of the recovery compartment.

The broadcast is choppy.

The synthesized sound repeated half of "recycle—" and then stopped.

Su Yuan's voice switched to the full channel. "The list is fake. The recall process is fake. Station 42 wrote the list first, then forced the car to admit it."

He released the accelerator, and the engine speed dropped back to idle.

"Dismantle the station."

All eight steel cables were redirected. The cables detached from the remaining parts of the mainframe and were thrown towards the remaining structure of the acceptance warehouse—the acceptance gate frame, the weighbridge base, the identification light frame, the military train number printer, and the reorganized outer armor lock beam. The lifting arm was withdrawn from the weighbridge, moved laterally, and pressed under the crossbeam of the acceptance gate frame. The dark gold conduit of the mobile refining furnace was fully deployed, embedding itself into the main control box, power supply bus, and the load-bearing spring base of the acceptance weighbridge under the floor.

The core output of Zhenshan has been pushed up to 120.

The energy conduction tubes emitted a deep hum. The dark gold patterns were blindingly bright. Flames from the exhaust pipes shot out from under the car, burning two black scorch marks onto the rails.

The inspection gate frame was pulled up first. Bolts on the gate frame base popped out of the floor, and concrete debris splattered onto the ceiling. The weighbridge base was overturned by the crane arm, and the load-bearing springs popped out and smashed into the wall, leaving a row of dents. The identification light bracket was torn off the crossbeam, the power supply box cracked, and electrolyte spilled onto the rails. The military train numbering printer was dragged out by eight cables, the print head still printing in the air, the ink ribbon torn in two. Rows of lock beams on the armored vehicles broke off, and lock pin fragments were scattered all over the ground.

The broadcasting has completely stopped.

The warm yellow lights went out one by one.

The warehouse was plunged into darkness.

Then, a dark golden light illuminated the entire inspection warehouse.

The furnace opening was open, and the inner walls of the furnace chamber were burned to a dark red. The inspection gate, weighbridge, identification light holder, printer, and locking beam were all dragged into the furnace opening. The temperature inside the furnace jumped to the highest level, and the light of the molten metal reflected on Wang Hu's goggles.

Lu Mingyuan's voice switched to the full channel. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was delivered with emphasis.

"Acceptance process No. 42 is invalid. 020 will not be registered. The group roster will not be submitted. All external plug-in materials belong to Devourer.

He paused for a moment.

"Stations 19 through 42, a total of 24 stations, are all based on false rules. Route 009 has a 100% accuracy rate."

The Bonebreaker channel went silent for a second.

Then it exploded.

"He dismantled the platform where the list was being distributed," the communications officer's voice boomed in the channel. "The system wanted to distribute the list to the Devourer. He uprooted the entire inspection site."

The fire control officer's voice broke through the noisy background. "It's not resisting inspection. It's eliminating inspection. He doesn't argue with the rules; he directly dismantles the source of the rules into the materials."

The rear support crews are updating simultaneously on the AM channel. The new rules are marked in red: Military train reorganization and acceptance yard—only materials are accepted, not handed over to the escorts, the reorganization list is not reported, and no registration documents are signed.

The refining furnace has started producing parts.

The first item: Reassembly and acceptance of the heavy armor. This involves recasting three sets of reassembled military train armor, acceptance gate frame steel plates, and weighbridge base load-bearing beams. The deck is 40% thicker than the original armor, with an inner lead-boron anti-scanning layer. The deck edges have quick-mount slots to accommodate the side beams of the Shihuang, 012, 013, and 014.

The second component: the military train number isolation bus. This was recast using copper cores for the number busbar, junction box, and power supply box for the identification light holder. The bus is connected to the entire formation of the "Devouring Wasteland" train. When any external signal requests the formation list, the bus will automatically return "Offline military train, number unreadable."

The third item: a legitimate external camouflage shell. It is recast using numbered isolation plates, printer casings, and old acceptance recording tapes. The shell is attached to the outside of 012, 009, 014, 017, and 005, and the inner layer plays the background noise of old Blue Star regular army trains. When any scanning device gets close, it will read the pre-recorded audio "Standard group parts, no acceptance required".

The fourth component: Heavy-load acceptance rail pressure module. This module uses the acceptance weighbridge's load-bearing springs, rail surface reinforcement beams, and weighbridge base rails to be recast. Connected to the Shihuanghao full-load rail pressure passage system, it can press all the weighing rails, acceptance weighbridges, and scanning gates at the preceding platform into ground anchors, forcibly determining them as "accepted and allowed to pass."

Fifth item: Escort Qualification Denial Lock. Recast using a recovery pod identification pin array, medical fixation frame, and broadcast synthesized audio chip. The lock body is attached to the outside of the 017 shield. When any external signal requests "show escort qualification," the lock body will automatically return "Unregistered cargo, not crew."

Item 6: 017 External Hibernation Isolation Box.

As the refining furnace dispensed the last item, the furnace temperature dropped. A dark gold conduit pushed a small isolation box out of the furnace opening. The outer shell of the box was made of lead-boron alloy, and the inner layer contained an independent life support circuit—a small cooling pipe, a pressure stabilizing pump, and an oxygenation filter. A status light was located on the front of the box, with a constantly lit green light.

Su Yuan stood up from the driver's seat. He walked to the 017 shield and squatted down.

Wang Hu aimed his flashlight at the base of the shielding enclosure. The sealing gasket of the base had a shallow scratch from the hook of the recovery compartment, but the gasket itself was intact. The bolts of the enclosure's outer shell were screwed onto the base, and the nuts had a lead seal layer on their surface.

"Small fire. Location of the hibernation pod."

The thermal image from the small torch was superimposed onto the structural diagram of the shielding cover. The faint hot spot was inside the cover on the right side, close to the outer shell of the heart pump. The shape of the hot spot was no longer curled up—its outline had unfolded slightly when the recovery capsule's steel cable tugged at the shielding cover. Now it looked like a person lying on their side, knees slightly bent, one hand resting on the heart pump's pressure regulating pipe.

"Hibernation pod dimensions: 1.8 meters long, 0.6 meters wide, and 0.5 meters high. The outer shell is made of old Blue Star titanium alloy, with an independent insulation layer in between. The life support circuit is still operating. The cooling pipe temperature is stable within a constant range. The oxygenation filter emits a faint sound of oxygen exchange."

Su Yuan placed his hand on the outer wall of the shield.

The heartbeat inside traveled through the metal casing to his palm. The rhythm was steady, synchronized with the heart pump, but slightly off-beat. It wasn't the heart pump driving the heartbeat—it was the heartbeat driving the heart pump.

"Don't open it," he said.

Wang Hu was stunned for a moment.

"Pull out the entire hibernation chamber." Su Yuan stood up. "Don't remove the shielding. Keep the 017 heart pump running. Just pull the hibernation chamber out of the outer shell and seal it in a new isolation chamber."

He looked at Wang Hu.

"020 is not a member of the formation. It is unverified cargo. The cargo does not require on-site inspection or opening. It is externally isolated and attached to the outside of compartment 005."

Wang Hu nodded.

He opened his toolbox and pulled out a fine-toothed saw and a pry bar. The saw blade engaged the sealing gasket in the base of the 017 shield and cut along the groove on the outer shell of the hibernation chamber. The saw blade made a soft, grinding sound as it touched the titanium alloy casing. Wang Hu carefully controlled the force, sawing four inches deep before changing the pry bar.

The pry bar is inserted into the saw kerf gap, and the retaining clips of the slide are pried open little by little.

The first latch popped open. The second. The third.

The hibernation box casing slides out from the groove.

Small. 1.8 meters long and 0.6 meters wide. The titanium alloy shell has the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force's stamped serial number on its surface. The serial number ends in: 020. The life support circuit interface on the side of the shell is also connected to the pressure stabilizing pipe and oxygenation filter of the 017 heart pump. Wang Hu carefully unscrewed the interface—the pressure stabilizing pipe first, then the oxygenation filter. After disconnecting each interface, he pressed his hand against the pipe opening to confirm there were no leaks.

When the voltage regulator tube is disconnected, a drop of condensate drips from the tube opening.

When the oxygenation filter element detaches, a slight pressure relief sound is heard from inside the filter element.

The hibernation box was completely detached.

Su Yuan pushed the new external isolation box over. Wang Hu carried the hibernation box and placed it into the inner slot of the new box. The lead-boron alloy shell closed, and the latches automatically locked. The independent life support circuit started—the small cooling pipe began circulating, the pressure stabilizing pump jumped three times, and then stabilized in the green zone. The exchange frequency of the oxygenation filter and the control chip of the new box automatically matched.

The status light is on.

The green light is always on.

Wang Hu hung the new isolator on the outside of the 005 naval compartment. He screwed the fixing bolts into the anti-thrust frame mounting slots of the compartment and secured it. The lead-boron outer shell of the isolator and the condensation isolation layer of the 005 were attached together, sandwiched between the two layers, making them impenetrable to any external scan.

The word "cold" appeared on the home screen.

"020 is on board."

Jump into—

"020 has been quarantined. Not registered."

Wang Hu straightened up. He looked down at his hands. Two red marks were left on his palms from the edge of the pry bar, and his fingertips were damp with condensation and felt cold.

The 020 isolation box hangs quietly on the outside of the 005 protective compartment.

There was no sound coming from inside.

Su Yuan returned to the driver's seat. He sat down and placed his hands on the leather steering wheel cover. The gears of the mechanical left eye turned once, emitting a slight metallic clicking sound.

The track ahead.

The ruins of Station 42 were illuminated by a dark, golden firelight. The floor of the acceptance warehouse was mostly torn up, revealing old pipes underneath. All the material racks were emptied, leaving only bare shelves. The side chute of the refining furnace was crammed with unprocessed spare parts, and the capacity bar of the heavy-duty cargo hold jumped to 87%.

Wang Hu led the maintenance team to clean the dust. He pried out an iron plaque from under the scraps of the material rack—an old nameplate from the reorganization and acceptance yard of the No. 42 military train. The front of the plaque was stamped with the red seal of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force. The back had a line of handwritten text engraved on it, the edges of the engraving oxidized.

"Don't register it. If you register it, it can't be removed."

The signature is two English letters: JY.

Wang Hu turned the nameplate over and showed it to Su Yuan.

Su Yuan glanced at the signature. "Ji Yun. Ji Yun came to Station 42. He disassembled the mother row."

The engravings on the nameplate are from the same source as the 009 steel plate—the force is even, and the strokes are crisp. Ji Yun had been here before and disassembled the numbered motherboard. Now, station 42 has put the motherboard back in and inserted the name 020.

A notification suddenly popped up on the isolation bus for the new military train number.

A signal interception notification popped up in the bottom right corner of the main screen. The signal originated from the track ahead—direction 43. The signal was brief and formatted using standard military train communication codes.

「43号高速军列试车场。已接收42号验收失败记录。準备启动拦截。拦截理由:未登记押运员禁止高速通行。请001头车在43号站前停车，进行020押运资质高速核验。」

Mark the location of Station 43 on the track map. Distance: 3 kilometers. Test track structure: circular high-speed track with extremely narrow curve radii and extremely high centrifugal force.

At the same moment.

A knock was heard from inside the 020 isolation box.

Very light. It struck the inside of the lead-boron casing.

Wang Hu immediately swept his flashlight beam over.

It's not a distress code. It's not three short and three long taps. It's not any standard distress signal. The tapping rhythm is very steady—half a beat, two taps, one beat, one tap, half a beat, three taps.

The beat and the rhythm of the engravings on the 009 road sign steel plate were perfectly synchronized.

The rhythm struck by the small torch is converted into text. A translation pops up on the main screen.

"Don't open the box. Number 43, use speed to kill."

The tapping stopped.

The isolation chamber is now quiet. The status light is green. The pressure stabilizing pump is running very quietly, almost inaudibly.

Su Yuan stared at the translation on the main screen.

His hand moved off the steering wheel cover and hovered above the communication keys. The gear in his mechanical left eye turned another full circle.

"Full formation".

All channels on the vehicle lit up.

"Accelerate preparations."