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

The dim yellow lights in the assembly area shone down from the dome onto the sixteen sets of gears.

The toothed rail surface is coated with anti-rust oil. The oil film is intact, without bubbles or scratches, and the tooth shape shows a standard involute outline under the light. Rows of green indicator lights on the assembly slots are lit, and each slot has a positioning pin embedded at the bottom. The pin surface is coated with the old Blue Star standard anti-rust layer, which gleams coldly under the light.

The gantry crane was parked to the right of the assembly table. The steel wheels of the crane base pressed against the guide rails, which extended to the end of the assembly table, where three rows of complete shelves were stacked. The shelves were filled with spare rack rail parts, each sealed in rustproof paper, the paper bearing the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force's acceptance stamp.

The broadcast voice was steady. Each word was spaced evenly, and there was a slight scraping sound in the background from the tape moving along.

"Vehicle-mounted ordnance assembly depot No. 45. Please connect car 001 to the assembly bus. The railway gun carriage materials are complete. Inventory is in good condition. Assembly time: nine minutes."

The broadcast was repeated.

"The assembly station is in place. Please collect the gears in numerical order. Gears numbered one through sixteen have been placed in their assembly slots. Please connect them to the assembly bus."

The Devourer pressed into the assembly area entrance. The 012 forward-probing hull slid forward half a meter, scraping against the rust on the rails, before stopping. Wang Hu jumped off the edge of the 012 hull, his boot landing on the rails. He clutched the iron plaque he'd brought from Station 44, its surface still bearing scorch marks.

"Sixteen groups." He stared at the gears in the assembly slots. "All green lights."

The small torch projected the old files from Station 45 onto the main screen. The file header bore the red seal of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, with complete signatures and clear process numbers. The inventory list was neatly arranged—eight main beams of the gun carriage, sixteen gun carriage racks, twelve sets of shell fuse assemblies, and four sets of gun carriage coupling cores. Each item was stamped with the "Inventory Complete" seal.

"The list and the number 44 iron plate don't match." Xiao Huo switched to the channel. "The iron plate says 'missing tooth on the gun carriage.' The list says it's complete."

Su Yuan sat in the driver's seat. The gear in the mechanical left eye turned half a circle.

"Wang Hu, sprinkle the powder."

Wang Hu tore open the bag of lime powder. The powder flew into the assembly groove. The white powder landed on the surface of the gear teeth, slid along the anti-rust oil—and was then sucked into the gaps at the root of the teeth.

It doesn't seep in. It absorbs in.

Each tooth root has a micron-sized gap. The gaps are uniform, run in a consistent direction, and form a closed loop along the tooth root profile. Dust falls onto the edges of the gaps and is drawn in by the internal air pressure difference, forming fine gray lines on the tooth root surface. All sixteen sets of tooth rails are identical.

"Hollow structure." The data from the small torch scan was projected onto the screen. "The toothed rail has a filler inside. The filler has a lower density than steel and contains carbon, silicon, sulfur, and trace amounts of metal powder. It's stress-relieving paste."

Wang Hu squatted down. He shone the flashlight along the side of the toothed rail, the beam passing through the gaps at the tooth roots and refracting to reveal the outline of a black liquid filler inside the rail. The filler completely filled the inner cavity of the toothed rail, leaving only a half-millimeter gap at the junction of the tooth tip and the tooth root.

"It's not solid," Wang Hu stood up. "Every single one is an empty shell."

The cross-sectional scan of the toothed rails was magnified by a small flame. Pre-cracks were found at the roots of all sixteen toothed rails. The cracks had the same direction, uniform spacing, and a depth controlled to one-third of the tooth root thickness. The crack initiation point was precisely at the interface between the stress-relieving paste and the inner wall of the tooth root.

"Precision machining marks." Xiao Huo marked the start and end points of the cracks. "They're not forging defects. They were intentionally cut out. The depth error of each crack is no more than 0.03 millimeters."

Qin Yan's tapping sound came from carriage 013. The metal sheet struck the stretcher's handrail with a rapid rhythm.

Xiao Huo translates. A message pops up in the bottom right corner of the main screen: "The real tooth is in the junkyard. The intact shelves are full of stress-induced explosives. The first live round after assembly will detonate at the root of the tooth."

The side of the assembly table. A scrap bin is piled to the lower left of the assembly slot. The edge of the slot is rusted, and inside are piles of old gears—the surface is mottled with rust, the teeth are rough, some tooth tips are chipped, and some tooth roots have old quenching cracks. It looks like scrap.

But Wang Hu noticed a new scratch on the edge of the scrap tank. The scratch was shallow, and the force and spacing of the blade were consistent with that of the 009 steel sheet. The scratch pointed to the bottom of the scrap tank.

"There's something in the waste pile." Wang Hu sprinkled lime powder into the waste trough. The powder landed on the rusted toothed rail surface without any abnormalities. However, when it fell to the bottom of the trough, the powder was attracted by the three sets of toothed rails—not strongly, only forming a thin layer of ash rings at the root of the teeth.

The small fire swept out the three sets of toothed rails at the bottom of the waste trough separately. The teeth were rough, with traces of hand-quenching on the surface, no pre-cracks at the tooth roots, and the inner cavity was solid. The side of the toothed rails bore the early acceptance stamp of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force. The font of the stamp was the same as that on the inventory list of Station 45, but the year was fourteen years earlier.

"Genuine." Xiao Huo confirmed. "Three sets. Hidden at the very bottom of the scrap heap."

The broadcast started again.

"Assembly progress monitoring initiated. Please connect the 001 head crane to the assembly bus. The gantry crane is beginning to attach the first rack rail."

The gantry crane started moving. The steel wheels on the crane base slid along the guide rails, the hook descended, and the hook opening aligned with the lifting lug of the first set of dummy toothed rails in the assembly slot. The hook surface was coated with the old Blue Star standard anti-rust layer, and the hook closing mechanism emitted a muffled sound of hydraulic pressure.

Hydraulic clamps rise simultaneously from both sides of the assembly table. There are four sets of clamps, each with two pairs of jaws. The first pair locks to the 012 forward protective shell, the second pair locks to the 009 commemorative hanging bracket, the third pair locks to the 014 cooling interface, and the fourth pair locks to the 005 outer side of the anti-push frame.

The broadcast tone remains unchanged. "Auxiliary positioning. Please maintain group stability."

The clamps began to close.

Tang Lan pressed the communication button in carriage 013. "013 received. Don't let them touch 009."

She pressed down on the brake lever. The 013 rear axle locked up, the tracks gripped the rails, and the entire train was pulled back half an inch. The young survivor in 005 loosened the reinforcing bolts, the silencing sledgehammer continued to sink, and a layer of dry sand was pressed into the rails. The stress on the tail beam jumped from twenty-one to twenty-four.

The hydraulic clamps continued to close. The fourth pair of jaws first engaged the outer side of the 005 anti-push frame, and the anti-slip teeth on the inner wall of the jaws pressed against the steel plate of the anti-push frame. A metallic squeezing sound came from the contact surface, and shallow marks were bitten into the outer wall of the anti-push frame. The stress on the tail beam jumped to twenty-seven.

"Assembly obstructed." The broadcast voice changed tone, and the background sound of rubbing tape increased. "Forced assembly protocol activated. Gantry crane to be prioritized for loading."

The gantry crane hook descended rapidly. The dummy gear was lifted from the assembly slot, its surface coated with anti-rust oil reflecting the light. The hook moved towards the right-side attachment point of the "Devouring Wasteland" crane, with only two meters remaining between the dummy gear and the mounting slot.

Base 04 control room.

The technician pulled up the hydraulic circuit diagram of the assembly table. The diagram unfolded layer by layer on the screen—the main hydraulic pipeline branched out from the pressure station at the bottom of the assembly table, branching into sixteen sub-circuits, each corresponding to a set of dummy toothed rail assembly slots. Each sub-circuit had an independent throttle valve, and the valve control signals were connected to the assembly bus.

"The hydraulic circuit simultaneously supplies pressure to all sixteen sets of dummy toothed rails." The technician switched the data to the channel. "The opening sequence of the throttle valves is linked. After the first toothed rail is loaded, the first throttle valve opens, and the stress paste is hydraulically pushed into the pre-crack. After the second is loaded, the second valve opens. After all the loading is completed, the stress paste in all sixteen sets of toothed rails is activated simultaneously, the pre-cracks expand, and the tooth roots fracture."

The veteran engineer stood up. "It doesn't just let the lead car explode on its own. It counts the explosion as the first shot. By then, the train gun mount is already installed, the barrel is connected, and the shell is loaded—the shrapnel from the explosion will shear the entire train apart."

The Bonebreaker channel connected. The communicator's voice was low. "Su Yuan. The hydraulic circuit of the assembly table—"

"I saw it."

Su Yuan stared at the main screen. The control signals for the throttle valves on the sixteen branch circuits of the small torch were highlighted in red, and the signal sources were all connected to the main control box of the assembly bus. The main control box was located at the bottom of the assembly table, its outer shell wrapped in explosion-proof steel plate, and there were old Blue Star standard bolts on the side of the box.

He pressed the communication button.

"Wang Hu. The lifting arm is loosely attached to the gantry crane counterweight beam. 012 is pressed into the track above the waste chute. 009 is stuck in the assembly table number slot."

Wang Hu climbed onto the roof of the "Devouring Wasteland" vehicle from beside the 005 anti-push frame. The crane arm extended, the arm moved laterally, and the hook at the end of the arm pressed into the maintenance lug of the gantry crane's counterweight beam.

Hydraulic pressure was applied. The lifting arm raised the counterweight beam by half an inch.

The gantry crane's balance was disrupted. The steel wheels on the crane base slipped on the guide rails, the hook wobbled, and the dummy gear rail swayed on the hook. The hook was still 1.5 meters away from the external attachment point of the Devourer, but the swing made the distance an uncertain value between zero and two meters.

Station 45 broadcast switch: "Lifting compensation mode. Increase crane hydraulic output."

The gantry crane's hydraulic pumps increased their speed. The hook stabilized and continued moving towards the Devourer.

At that very moment, Su Yuan pressed the second command.

"Refining furnace. Dark gold conduit. Hydraulic main pipeline pressure relief valve interface on the assembly table."

The dark gold conduit of the mobile refining furnace slid out along the rail surface. The conduit bypassed the base of the hydraulic clamp, the locating pin of the assembly slot, and the reflection of the dummy gear rail under the light. It only pierced the pressure relief valve interface of the main hydraulic pipeline at the bottom of the assembly table.

The conduit punctured the valve body casing. The sealing ring broke off.

High-pressure hydraulic oil sprayed out from the main pipeline. The oil jet hit the assembly platform base plate, flowed down the slope of the base plate into the waste chute, and then into the external bucket of the refining furnace. The inner wall of the bucket reflected the dark red light of the hydraulic oil.

The throttle valves on all sixteen branches simultaneously lost pressure. The springs inside the valve bodies snapped open, and the valve cores returned to their original positions. The dummy gear rails in the assembly slots emitted a hissing sound.

It's not a metallic sound. It's the sound of airflow.

Black stress-relief compound, used to fill the tooth roots, was squeezed out from the pre-cracks. The compound seeped along the gaps in the tooth roots, dripped down the surface of the tooth rail, and onto the bottom of the assembly slot. Simultaneously, the pressure of the sixteen sets of dummy tooth rails was released, and the stress-relief compound accumulated into puddles of black sludge at the bottom of the slot. Fine bubbles rose to the surface of the sludge, releasing a sulfurous odor when they burst.

The countdown on the radio stopped at seven minutes and thirteen seconds.

All the hydraulic gauges on the assembly table were reset to zero. The dial pointers were hanging vertically on the zero mark, and a layer of oil mist had condensed on the inside of the dial glass.

The control room at Base 04 fell silent for a second.

The veteran engineer stood up. His chair slid back, bumping against the control panel. "He drained the oil from the assembly table."

The fire control officer on the Bonebreaker synchronized the pre-crack data of the dummy gear rack to all surviving crews. A warning red box popped up on the screen: "All gear rack inventory at Station 45 is marked as detonator. The real ones are at the bottom of the scrap bin. Repeat—the real ones are at the bottom of the scrap bin."

The gantry crane went out of control after losing hydraulic compensation.

The counterweight beam was being lifted by the hoisting arm, and the crane base bolts could not withstand the eccentric load. Four anchor bolts snapped one after another, the bolt shanks pulled out of the concrete base, along with debris. The entire gantry crane tilted towards the waste chute.

The fake toothed rail on the hook crashed into the waste pile.

The rusted old gear rack was smashed apart. The surface scrap rolled to both sides, revealing three sets of genuine parts underneath—the teeth were rough, with traces of hand-quenching on the surface, no pre-cracks at the tooth roots, and the inner cavity was solid. The side of the gear rack bore the early acceptance stamp of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, the stamp number and the inventory list differing by fourteen years.

Wang Hu jumped from the roof of the Devourer into the scrap hopper. His boots landed on the rusted toothed rails, and rust chips peeled off the tooth surfaces. He squatted down and used a wrench to knock off the grease from the surface of the real toothed rails.

Inscriptions are visible beneath the clay.

"Genuine product."

Two words. The force of the engraving is exactly the same as that of the No. 44 iron plate and the No. 009 steel sheet. The pauses at the ends of the strokes are the same, and the spacing of the blade is the same.

"Three sets of real teeth." Wang Hu dragged the real tooth rail out of the scrap heap. "The teeth are rough, but solid. There are no pre-cracks."

The sound of Qin Yan striking the metal plate came over. The striking was slow, with each beat dragging out by half a beat.

Xiao Huo translates: "The real teeth are from an older batch, hand-hardened parts. The root strength is 30% higher than that of machined parts. The standards were higher fourteen years ago than they are now."

Su Yuan stood up from the driver's seat. He walked to the side door, his red hand light sweeping across the assembly table. Hydraulic oil was still dripping from the broken main pipe, onto the stress paste residue at the bottom of the assembly slot. The dummy toothed rails lay haphazardly in the slot, all the pre-cracks at the tooth roots exposed, the inner walls of the cracks covered with black paste.

"Eight cables." Su Yuan pressed the communication button. "Hang the gantry crane frame, assembly slot frame, and hydraulic clamp base."

Eight steel cables were launched from various mounting points of the Devourer. The first cable was attached to the steel wheel guide rail of the gantry crane base, the second to the positioning pin base of the assembly slot, the third to the fixing bolts of the hydraulic clamp, and the fourth to the outer shell of the main control box of the assembly table.

"Refining furnace. Full power. Swallow."

The refining furnace opening is open. The inner wall of the furnace chamber is burned to a dark red. Dark gold guide tubes pop out from the side of the furnace body and embed themselves in the dummy toothed rail stack, the bottom of the assembly slot, the inner wall of the hydraulic clamp's jaws, and the main control box of the assembly bus.

The dummy gear rack was dragged into the furnace opening. The stress grease inside the gear rack vaporized at high temperature, and black smoke billowed out of the furnace opening. The assembly slot frame followed closely behind. Then came the gantry crane remnant, the hydraulic clamp base, the pressure relief valve assembly, and the assembly bus main control box.

Dark red gasps billowed inside the furnace. The light from the molten metal reflected on the dome of the assembly area.

The broadcast from station 45 was intermittent.

Assembly progress—

"Inventory complete—"

"Please connect—"

Each word was only partially spoken. Rows of dim yellow assembly lights went out, replaced by cold white fault lights.

The refining furnace has started producing parts.

The first component: the train gun base. It was recast using the steel wheel guide rails of the gantry crane base, the assembly slot frame beam, and the hydraulic clamp fixing bolts. The base is 4.2 meters long and 1.6 meters wide, with an interface adapted to the right-side heavy-duty external mounting position of the "Devouring Wasteland" train. The top surface of the base has toothed rail meshing grooves, with the groove spacing perfectly matching the tooth pitch of the actual toothed rail.

The second component: the gun mount gear rail engagement sleeve. It is recast using a dummy gear rail housing, assembly slot positioning pins, and fragments of the pressure relief valve body. The sleeve is fitted into the engagement slot of the base, with an inner wall featuring an automatic alignment latch. As the gear rail is pushed in, the latch automatically locks.

The third component: a hydraulic recoil buffer. This was recast using remnants of the gantry crane's hydraulic pump, the main hydraulic piping of the assembly platform, and the throttle valve spring. The buffer is mounted at the rear of the base, with a piston stroke of 400 mm, and can absorb the recoil force during the firing of the railway gun.

The fourth component: the breechblock linkage calibration ring. This is recast using the assembly bus main control box chip, hydraulic fixture control module, and remnant of the broadcast synthesized sound component. The calibration ring is connected to the small fire control unit and can automatically calculate the assembly errors of the barrel and base, outputting correction data.

The three sets of truly damaged teeth were pulled out separately.

Wang Hu led the maintenance team to lift the actual gear rack onto the base. The gear rack was pushed into the engagement groove, and the latches on the inner wall of the engagement sleeve automatically locked. The side of the gear rack and the top surface of the base fit together perfectly. Xiao Huo scanned the entire rack with a calibration ring, and the stress test showed all areas were in the green zone.

"The meshing surfaces of the true toothed guide are perfectly matched." The test data was projected onto the main screen by the small torch. "Backlash error is 0.02 millimeters. Stress distribution is uniform. There are no stress concentration points."

The assembly station inventory list was rewritten by Xiao Huo. New data popped up on the terminal screen: "Inventory at Station 45: Zero." Every item on the inventory list was marked with the same red text—"Sold Out."

Base 04 control room.

Lu Mingyuan pressed the full-channel communication button. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was emphasized on the microphone. "The armory inventory for Station 45 is invalid. The genuine gear rail has been connected to the Devourer train gun mount. All fake gear rails have been destroyed. All surviving units have had their gun carriage assembly procedures updated—complete racks are unreliable, the real ones are in the scrap heap."

The technician distributed the new procedures. A red warning popped up on the screen: "Only the bottom of the scrap bin must be used for the gun carriage gear rail. Hand-hardened parts. Old batch stamp. All are mandatory."

The heavy-duty external gun mount on the right side of the train gun base was attached.

The base interface aligns with the external ammunition magazine of the mobile refining furnace, and the ammunition feed port of the automatic ammunition replenishment track engages with the rear ammunition inlet of the base. The small torch base control bus connects to the main control console, and a new window pops up on the main screen—"Train gun base. Connected. Awaiting barrel installation."

Xiao Huo calculated the compatible parts for the base. "Station 46: Heavy gun barrel. Station 47: Muzzle brake. Station 48: Sight. The materials from these three stations can be used to assemble a complete train gun."

Wang Hu climbed out of the waste hopper. His hands were covered in grease and mud, and his goggles were splattered with hydraulic fluid. He walked to the 009 rack and photographed the engravings on the three sets of real gear rails for archiving.

Then he squatted down again.

At the very bottom of the waste bin, where it was pressed down by the gear train, the edge of a metal plate was exposed. The plate was soaked in oil, and its surface was covered with stress-relief paste residue and rust. Wang Hu pulled the plate out and wiped away the grease with his gloves.

The front is printed with the standard inscription of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force: "Station 46 - Heavy Artillery Barrel Heat Treatment Workshop".

He turned the metal plate over.

There are engravings on the back. The engravings are from the same source as those on the 009 steel sheet, with consistent force and spacing. The first few characters are covered by oil stains, leaving only their outlines. Wang Hu wiped away the oil with his fingers, revealing the first line:

"The cannon barrel is real, in the quenching tank. Don't take the one on the stand."

The second line was covered by an even thicker layer of grease. Wang Hu rubbed it vigorously a few times, and the grease peeled off, revealing the last four characters:

"Turn off the furnace first."

A buzzing sound came from the depths of the dark track ahead.

The coils of the high-frequency induction heating furnace were energized. The electromagnetic field aroused slight vibrations on the track, causing the steel plates on the side walls of the Devourer's Carriage to tremble. The humming frequency steadily increased, shifting from low to medium frequency, and finally settling at the standard frequency for induction hardening.

In the direction of Station 46. A layer of dark silver oil film floats on the surface of the quenching pool. The oil film gathers on its own amidst the hum of the induction heating furnace, forming an arrow shape that points towards the bottom of the pool.

A small thermal imaging scan revealed three gun barrels arranged side-by-side at the bottom of the pool. The barrel temperature was 15 degrees Celsius lower than the quenching liquid. The barrel outlines were intact, with no cracks, rust pits, or stress concentration points. It was genuine.

But the automatic boom by the pool started to rotate.

The boom base slides along the guide rails at the edge of the quenching tank. The hopper at the boom end tilts, pouring black quenching salt into the tank. The salt particles dissolve instantly in the water, and the color of the liquid changes from transparent to dark green. The pH value drops sharply.

Corrosion bubbles began to appear on the surface of the three real cannon barrels.

Wang Hu held the iron plaque above his head. The light from the red lantern shone on the engraving.

"It knew we were coming," he said. "Number 46 was standing on the decoy cannon barrel."

Su Yuan sat back in the driver's seat. The gear in the mechanical left eye turned once. The output of the Zhenshan core was pushed from idle speed to ninety. Dark golden flames spewed from the exhaust pipe.

"Full formation." His voice switched to the channel. "Move into cell 46. Shut down the furnace first."