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

The entrance to the No. 48 scope calibration station was lit up with green light.

It wasn't the dark green of a warning light, but the cold light of the precision calibration stand, shining upwards from the shock mount base and illuminating the coating of the twelve sets of scopes. The scopes were neatly arranged on the shock mount, each set spaced thirty centimeters apart. The scope barrels were coated with the standard anti-rust paint of the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, and the serial number plates were embedded in the side of the scope barrels, the lettering clearly visible. Each plate was stamped with a quality inspection seal, the edges of which were smooth and free of burrs.

The broadcast voice was steady. It was a female voice, with a slight scraping sound of a tape being moved in the background.

"Fire sight calibration station No. 48. Please collect the fire sights according to their numbers, lead car 001. Scopes 1 through 12 have been placed in their shock mounts. Please connect to the train gun fire control bus. Zeroing time: nine minutes."

Wang Hu jumped down from the edge of the 012 protective shell, his boots landing on the rails. He clutched an iron plate he had salvaged from the scrap yard at Station 47, its surface still reeking of gunpowder from the brake test. He tucked the plate into a side pocket and tore open a bag of lime powder.

The dust was thrown towards the shock-absorbing frame.

White powder settled on the surface of the first sight. The lenses didn't attract dust—the powder slid down the coating and accumulated at the edge of the scope barrel. However, the powder was absorbed into the seams of the scope barrel. Not seeped in, but absorbed.

A micrometer-sized gap surrounds the seam. The gap is uniform and runs in a consistent direction, forming a closed loop along the mounting surfaces of the scope barrel and mount. Dust falls onto the edges of the gap and is drawn in by the internal air pressure difference, forming fine gray lines at the seam. All twelve sets of scopes are identical.

"The lens barrel interlayer." The scan data from the small torch was projected onto the main screen. "There is negative pressure at the seam. The internal filling material has a lower density than steel and contains carbon, silicon, sulfur, and trace amounts of metal powder."

The cross-sectional scan images are laid out layer by layer. The scope tube has a double-layer structure—an outer steel tube with a thickness of eight millimeters and an inner layer of four millimeters, with the cavity filled with black paste. The density of the paste is consistent with the stress paste used in the dummy toothed rail at station 45 and the dummy gun barrel at station 46. Each scope tube has pre-cracks in its inner layer, with the cracks starting from the inner wall and extending towards the outer wall, the depth controlled to two-thirds of the inner layer thickness.

"It's not just stress cream." Xiao Huo switched channels to magnify the back of the lens coating. "The back of the coating has light path deflection grooves engraved on it."

A microscopic image of the back of the coating is projected onto the main screen. Micrometer-level trenches are arranged in a circular array, with a trench depth of 0.03 millimeters and uniform spacing. After passing through the coating, the light is deflected by 0.2 milliradians by the trenches—just enough to cause the projectile's impact point to deviate from the aiming point.

"After connecting to the fire control bus, the sight will send error correction data to the breech linkage calibration ring." The small torch's optical path deflection simulation diagram is spread out. "When the first shell is loaded, the barrel elevation angle will be locked in the wrong position. As the chamber pressure rises, the barrel explodes from the pre-cracked area."

Qin Yan's tapping sound came from carriage 013. The metal sheet struck the stretcher armrests in a rapid rhythm. A translation popped up in the lower right corner of the main screen: "The item on the shelf is a lock-and-traps trap. The genuine one is in the repair/scrap drawer."

Su Yuan stood up from the driver's seat.

"Wang Hu, knock on the crossbeam of the earthquake-resistant frame."

Wang Hu tapped the crossbeam of the shock absorber frame with a wrench. The echo traveled down the crossbeam, spreading out at the bottom of the shock absorber frame—then some of the echo bounced back from under the base plate, at a lower frequency. The area under the crossbeam was hollow.

"Hidden compartment." Wang Hu crouched down, shining his flashlight along the bottom plate of the shockproof frame. There was a sealing strip around the edge of the bottom plate, the strip being a newer color than the plate itself. He pried open the strip with a wrench, lifting the bottom plate up.

Six drawers containing scrapped repair parts are stacked side-by-side in the base compartment. Each drawer is sealed with a red sticker that reads "Scrapped Parts - Do Not Use." New, shallow engravings are visible along the edge of the seal, the force and spacing of which match those of a 009 steel plate. The engravings point towards the third drawer.

Wang Hu opened the third drawer.

Six scopes were stacked on the foam lining of the drawer. The scopes lacked rust-proof paint, and the bare steel casings bore traces of hand-grinding. The lens coating was slightly yellow, not the cool blue of the ones on the stand. The scope barrels had no serial numbers or nameplates, only an early acceptance stamp from the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force engraved at the joint. The font of the stamp matched the lettering on the genuine toothed rail at Station 45, but the year was fourteen years earlier.

The small torch scanner cuts in. The scope barrel is solid, without any interlayer or pre-cracks. There are no optical path deflection grooves on the back of the lens coating. The interface is perfectly matched with the train gun fire control bus, with pin alignment accuracy of 0.01 millimeters.

"Genuine." Xiao Huo confirmed. "Six sets. Solid lens barrel. No light path deflection."

Qin Yan's inscription reads: "The genuine article is in the scrap drawer. Hand-polished. Slightly yellowed coating."

The broadcast changed its audio tone.

"The sight in the scrap parts drawer has expired its calibration validity period. Please have car 001 collect the finished product rack sight according to the number."

Hydraulic push rods rise from both sides of the shock absorber. There are four sets of push rods, each with two pairs of clamps. The push rod bases are locked onto the shock absorber guide rails, and the piston rods push the dummy sight on the finished frame toward the fire control interface of the train gun. Black stress paste begins to seep out from the joint of the dummy sight's barrel, and the paste reflects light under the lamp.

Simultaneously, magnetic locking devices rose from the bottom of the calibration platform. Three sets of locking devices—the first locking to the train gun base, the second to the gun barrel quick-connect interface, and the third to the breechblock linkage calibration ring. The locking coils were energized, the electromagnets engaged, and the locking tongue popped out from the base and locked into the interface slot. The train gun base trembled slightly. The green standby light on the gun barrel quick-connect interface turned yellow.

"Forced assembly." The broadcast voice remained unchanged. "Please maintain formation stability."

Tang Lan pressed the communication button in carriage 013. She didn't speak, only pressed the brake lever. The rear axle of 013 locked up. The young survivor in carriage 005 loosened the reinforcing bolts, and the muffler continued to sink. The stress on the tail beam jumped from twenty-four to twenty-seven.

"The power supply bus for the magnetic locks is located at the bottom of the shockproof frame." The power supply circuit diagram of the small torch was projected onto the main screen. "The three sets of locks share one bus. The bus voltage is 48 volts and the current is 12 amps."

"Refining furnace." Su Yuan pressed the communication button. "Tie the power supply busbar with the dark gold conduit. Reverse-pour the conductive slurry from the waste salt solution at Station 45."

The dark gold conduit of the mobile refining furnace slid out along the rail surface. The conduit bypassed the anti-vibration frame base, the fixing bolts of the magnetic lock, and the guide rail of the hydraulic push rod. The conduit end plunged into the maintenance port of the power supply busbar.

Waste salt solution conductive slurry is pumped out from the inner wall of the conduit. The slurry advances along the copper core laid inside the busbar, filling the gaps in the conductor's insulation layer. The resistivity of the conductive slurry is ten times higher than that of copper. The busbar voltage drops sharply from 48 volts to 11 volts, and the current jumps from 12 amps to 37 amps. The magnetic lock coil short-circuits, the latch springs back, and it jams inside the lock housing.

The green light for the train gun emplacement readied again.

The hydraulic push rod was still pushing. The dummy sight was only half a meter away from the train gun's fire control interface. The chrome plating on the piston rod reflected the light, and the friction noise between the push rod base and the guide rail grew louder and louder.

Wang Hu stood up from beside the base plate of the shock absorber. The hoisting arm extended, and the hook at the end of the arm crossed the shock absorber and locked into the maintenance lug of the dummy sight frame beam.

"Lightly lift." Wang Hu pressed the hydraulic pressure button, "Lift it only half an inch."

The hoisting arm lifts the crossbeam upwards. The dummy sight mount deflects, shifting the thrust axis of the push rod piston. The dummy sight slides away from the fire control interface, the scope barrel grazing the interface housing.

012 The forward-protruding protective shell simultaneously presses into the pressure relief valve of the shock absorber's hydraulic push rod. The protective shell's steel plate presses against the top of the valve stem, causing the valve stem to sink downwards and opening the pressure relief valve. Hydraulic oil sprays out from the valve port and onto the shock absorber's base plate. The push rod loses pressure, and the piston rod gets stuck in the middle of the guide rail. The dummy sight stops at half distance.

The small missile uses a No. 20 ring-shaped aiming round to launch a counter-pulse in the opposite direction. The pulse frequency is synchronized with the aiming station bus clock, with a phase difference of 180 degrees. The aiming station bus data link breaks, and the serial number reading chip of the fake sight turns completely red.

Wang Hu dragged six sets of true sights from the third-tier scrap drawer. The maintenance team connected them—aligning the pins of the true sights with the train gun's fire control interface and pushing them in. The latches locked. All the green lights on the interface illuminated.

The small torch calibration test is projected onto the main screen. The synchronization error between the gun barrel elevation axis and the sight optical path is 0.02 milliradians. Crosswind compensation, bore temperature correction, and ballistic settlement parameters are all in the green zone.

Base 04 Control Room. Lu Mingyuan pressed the full-channel communication button.

"All scopes on the finished rack at Station 48 are labeled as 'lock traps.' Authentic identification criteria: hand-grinding marks, slightly yellowed coating, and no optical deflection grooves. Repeat—authentic items are in the scrap drawer, not on the rack."

The technician synchronized the genuine product identification standards. A green box popped up on the screen: "Genuine product collection rate at Station 48: 100%. Six sets of discarded parts drawers. Zero omissions."

The frame of the fake sight suddenly vibrated.

The low-heat scan alarm sounds. The internal stress adhesive of the twelve sets of dummy sights heats up simultaneously—jumping from room temperature to 67 degrees Celsius. The heating rate is seven degrees Celsius per second. The black paste inside the scope barrel clamp begins to expand, squeezing out the pre-cracks on the inner wall of the scope barrel, and the crack depth expands from two-thirds of the inner layer thickness to four-fifths.

"Self-destruct program." Xiao Huo switched channels. "Stress adhesive thermal expansion countdown. Expected to reach fracture threshold in three seconds." Three. The first crack appeared at the edge of the lens coating. Black stress adhesive sprayed from the lens barrel seam, splattering onto the shock absorber beam.

2. The lenses of twelve sets of dummy sights simultaneously shattered from the coating tank. Fragments were ejected—targeting the train gun barrel and the side armor of the 013 casualty compartment. The fragments traveled at a speed of forty-seven meters per second. The sharp edges of the lens fragments spun as they swept past the shock absorber.

Su Yuan pressed the communication button.

"014. Reverse cooling. Spraying fake eyeglass frames."

The spray arms of the 014 cooling compartment unfold. Low-temperature coolant is ejected from the nozzles. The coolant temperature is -40 degrees Celsius. The coolant is poured onto the surface of the dummy sight, causing the scope barrel temperature to drop sharply. The stress-relief adhesive temperature drops from 69 degrees Celsius to 11 degrees Celsius.

Thermal expansion reverses.

The stress-relief adhesive became brittle at low temperatures. The paste inside the lens barrel cavities shrank and peeled off from the pre-cracks. The lens fragments lost their expansion thrust—the fragments fell from the air, striking the blast-resistant armor plate of the railway gun, the crossbeam of the shock absorber, and the cartridge case buffer armor attached to the side armor of the 013. The fragments fell like snowflakes, but their kinetic energy was only four meters per second.

The outer wall of the railway gun's explosion-proof protective plate was scratched. Three thin silver-white lines appeared on the outer wall of the gun barrel cooling jacket, with a depth of no more than 0.1 millimeters.

The self-destruct countdown reached zero. All twelve telescope tubes on the dummy sight frame shattered. Stress mortar leaked from the clamping chamber, accumulating into puddles of black residue on the shock mount's base. The broadcast system froze halfway through. "Calibration complete—Calibration failed—Calibration—Calibration—"

"Eight cables." Su Yuan pressed the communication button, "Hang the shockproof bracket base, the calibration platform crossbeam, the magnetic lock remnants, and the hydraulic push rod assembly."

Eight steel cables were launched from various mounting points on the Devourer. The first cable was attached to the anchor bolts of the shock absorber base, the second to the crossbeam of the calibration platform, the third to the fixing bolts of the magnetic lock, and the fourth to the guide rail of the hydraulic push rod.

"Refining furnace. Full power. Swallow."

The furnace opening is open. The inner wall of the furnace chamber is burned to a dark red color. Dark gold guide tubes pop out from the side of the furnace body and embed themselves in the shock-absorbing frame base, the fire control main board of the calibration table, the optical path calibration laser source, and the hydraulic push rod assembly.

The shock mount was dragged into the furnace opening. The wreckage of the dummy scope followed closely behind—a shattered scope barrel, peeling coating fragments, and splattered stress paste residue. Then came the fire control mainboard of the calibration table, the optical path calibration laser source, the magnetic lock coil, and the hydraulic push rod piston.

Dark red liquid churned inside the furnace. The light from the molten metal reflected on the dome of Station 48.

The refining furnace has started producing parts.

The first component: a quick-release aiming frame for the fire control scope. It is recast using a shock-resistant base, an aiming platform crossbeam, and a hydraulic push rod guide rail. The aiming frame is connected to the right side of the train gun base. The frame has six slots, and it automatically locks in after the true aiming scope is pushed in, with an optical path alignment error of 0.01 milliradians.

The second component: the gun barrel optical path anti-deviation lock. It was recast using the remains of a magnetic lock, the steel sleeve of the dummy sight interface, and the positioning pin of the optical path calibration laser source. The lock body is installed into the outer wall of the breech linkage calibration ring. Once the optical path deflection is detected to exceed 0.05 milliradians, the fire control bus is automatically cut off.

The third item: a rapid inspection kit for scrap parts drawers. It's made by recasting inert fillers purified from fragments of a fake scope's coating and stress-relief paste residue, along with sealing strips for a shock-absorbing frame. The inspection kit is hung next to the 009 commemorative hanger and contains a built-in module for comparing scrap coating samples. A faint yellow tint to the coating indicates a green light; a cool blue reflective tint indicates a red light.

The fourth component: Laser ranging auxiliary module. This module is recast using fragments of the optical path calibration laser source, calibration platform bus chip, and hydraulic push rod pressure relief valve body. Connected to the small fire main control console, the target ranging range is extended to twelve kilometers, with a ranging accuracy of 0.1 meters.

The calibration lights at Station 48 went out one by one. The earthquake-resistant frame stood suspended in mid-air, its crossbeams covered in remnants of stress-relief compound. The calibration platform base had been removed, exposing the broken power busbar beneath. The hydraulic push rod guide rails had been dragged into the refining furnace, leaving only the anchor bolt bases. The broadcast went completely silent.

Wang Hu squatted down next to the bottom shelf of the shockproof frame. The scrap drawer had been emptied, and the outlines of six true sights were pressed into the foam lining inside. He lifted the bottom of the drawer—at the very bottom was a metal plate. The metal plate was held in place by foam, with remnants of anti-rust oil on its edges.

The front is printed with: "Station No. 49 - Special Alloy Warehouse".

He flipped the metal plate over. The back was engraved with words, the engravings originating from the same source as the 009 steel plate, with consistent force and spacing. "The alloy template is in the third crucible of the smelting furnace. Don't take the one from the finished product shelf."

铁牌边缘有新磨痕。磨痕还带着金属摩擦的余温——和45、46、47、48号站的铁牌一样。49号站在噬荒号拆48号站时就已启动模板销毁预热。

A low-frequency humming sound came from the dark track ahead.

The coils of the induction melting furnaces were energized. The temperatures of the three furnaces rapidly climbed from room temperature. A small thermal imaging camera showed the first furnace reaching 400 degrees Celsius, the second 620 degrees Celsius, and the third 870 degrees Celsius—the metal template inside the third crucible began to glow red. Dark red dust billowed from the furnace chimneys, drifting along the dark tracks.

"Full formation." Su Yuan sat back in the driver's seat. "Increase speed."

镇山核心输出推到一百二十。噬荒号车轮碾过48号站废墟，012前探护壳撞开防震架残架，009纪念挂架上的路标钢片在提速中震动。014冷却车厢的低温接口和冷却总线锁在一起。005消音坠拖过防震架底板。020隔离匣绿灯常亮。

Six green lights illuminated on the quick-release calibration bracket on the right side of the train gun base. The anti-deviation lock for the gun barrel's optical path was engaged with the breechblock linkage calibration ring. The laser ranging auxiliary module completed its self-test, and the target data stream was simultaneously displayed on the main screen.

The firelight from Station 49 illuminated the end of the dark track.

The Devourer pressed into the entrance of Special Alloy Warehouse No. 49. The flames of the smelting furnace shone through the observation windows of the three furnace bodies, turning the inner walls of the furnace a vibrant orange-red. Three rows of finished product racks stood in front of the smelting furnaces, piled high with alloy plates wrapped in rust-proof packaging. Each alloy plate was wrapped in standard rust-proof paper from the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force, the paper bearing a quality inspection stamp with neatly arranged serial numbers. The hydraulic push rods beside the finished product racks were already preheating, their guide rails extending directly in front of the Devourer's external attachment points.

The broadcast is playing on a loop. It's a female voice, and in the background there's the sound of a tape being moved, from the same tape used by stations 47 and 48.

"Special Alloy Warehouse No. 49. Alloy finished product racks are in full stock. Please have car 001 collect the alloy plates for the finished product racks. Alloy plates numbered one through thirty have been placed on the finished product racks."

The scanned data of the finished alloy plates from the small torch was projected onto the main screen. Beneath the rust-proof paper were standard alloy plates—12 millimeters thick, with a smooth surface and uniformly chamfered edges. However, thermal imaging revealed a temperature difference zone in the center layer of the alloy plates. The temperature difference was only 0.3 degrees Celsius, but it was evenly distributed in the center of each alloy plate.

"High-temperature phase change interlayer." Xiao Huo switched channels. "The interlayer material expands when heated during vehicle installation. The 0.3-degree temperature difference is caused by the contact thermal resistance between the interlayer and the substrate. Once installed, the armor heats up to 140 degrees Celsius, and the interlayer expands, tearing the outer armor."

Qin Yan's tapping became more rapid. The iron sheet was struck heavily, each beat half a beat shorter. A translator popped up: "The true alloy template is in the third crucible. The furnace self-destruct program has been activated. The complete formula is on the template surface."

The small flame projected the temperature curve of the smelting furnace onto the main screen. All three furnaces were heating up, with the third furnace reaching the highest temperature—910 degrees Celsius. The furnace temperature increased by one degree Celsius every twelve seconds. The outline of the metal template attached to the inner wall of the third crucible was clearly visible, and the surface of the template was beginning to glow red, but had not yet reached the melting point. The surface of the template was engraved with dense laser etchings—the tungsten-chromium-cobalt alloy ratio, multi-layer composite rolling parameters, and gradient heat treatment curves.

The broadcast started again.

"Overweight trainset warning. Please unload the tail anchor car (005), the spare cooling car (014), and the mobile refining furnace from the lead car (001). The overweight trainset cannot pass through the No. 50 Zhenshan scrap line behind the alloy warehouse."

The hydraulic push rod of the finished product rack is activated. The piston rod of the push rod pushes the first alloy plate toward the external attachment point of the Devourer. The anti-rust paper on the surface of the alloy plate begins to peel off.

At direction 005, the "Tail Anchor Unloading Temporary Storage Line" indicator light illuminates on the right track. At direction 014, the cooling car recovery arm extends from the left track. Directly above the mobile refining furnace, the ceiling dismantling claw begins to descend.

Tang Lan pressed the communication button in carriage 013. She didn't speak, only pressed the brake lever. The rear axle of carriage 013 locked up. The muffler sank in carriage 005. The coolant in carriage 014 cooled in reverse, and a thin layer of ice formed on the inside of the interface pipe.

Su Yuan stared at the observation window of the third smelting furnace.

"Eight cables." He pressed the communication button. "Hang the furnace body anchor bolts. 012 Press the finished product rack hydraulic push rod rail. 009 Lock the furnace self-destruct control cabinet door."

Eight steel cables were thrown out from the Devourer. The first was attached to the anchor bolts of Furnace No. 1, the second to Furnace No. 2, and the third to Furnace No. 3. The cables taut in the furnace light. The 012 forward-probing shell rolled over the hydraulic push rod rail of the finished product rack, and the shell's steel plate wedged into the rail gap. The road sign steel plate on the 009 commemorative hanging frame wedged into the inspection seam of the self-destruct control cabinet door.

"Refining furnace. Dark gold conduit ties the cooling water jacket of the smelting furnace. Reverse pouring of waste brine from Station 46."

The dark gold conduit of the mobile refining furnace slid out along the track. The conduit bypassed the finished product rack base, the hydraulic pusher assembly, and reached the back of the smelting furnace. The conduit end embedded itself in the cooling water jacket inspection port. Waste salt solution—recovered from the quenching pool at Station No. 46, with a pH of 4.3—was pumped out from the inner wall of the conduit.

Waste brine filled the water jacket. The residual temperature of the inner wall of the water jacket was 300 degrees Celsius. The brine vaporized upon heating, and the steam pressure forced it from the water jacket jacket to the outer wall of the furnace. The outer walls of the three smelting furnaces were simultaneously subjected to external steam pressure. The furnace temperature rise rate decreased from 12 degrees per second to 3 degrees per second. The temperature of the third crucible stopped at 931 degrees Celsius.

Wang Hu climbed onto the maintenance platform of the No. 3 smelting furnace. The furnace door was scorching hot, and the platform's steel plate had softened from the furnace's heat radiation. The lifting arm extended, and the hook at the end of the arm engaged the maintenance lifting lug on the No. 3 furnace door. Hydraulic pressure was applied. The furnace door opened.

Radiant heat from the furnace emanated from the door frame. Wang Hu's goggles fogged up, and smoke began to rise from the outer layer of his gloves. The lifting arm's clamps reached into the furnace and gripped the edge of the third crucible. The inner wall of the crucible was glowing red, and the metal template at the bottom was a dark red. The edges of the template were beginning to soften, but the laser etching on the surface had not yet deformed.

"drag."

The hydraulic pressure on the lifting arm was increased to the maximum. The crucible was clamped out of the furnace. Sparks flew as the steel plate at the bottom of the crucible scraped against the furnace door frame. The crucible turned an angle in the air, and the red-hot metal template slid out from the bottom of the crucible.

Wang Hu deflected the lever. The clamps loosened their grip on the crucible, catching the falling metal template. The template left an imprint in the clamp's jaws—the surface had softened, but the etched lines were still clear. The clamps quickly retracted, inserting the template into the external cooling bucket of the Devouring Wasteland refining furnace.

The inner wall temperature of the bucket is minus twenty degrees Celsius. The metal template is quenched in coolant, and its surface changes from dark red to grayish-black. The laser etching becomes clearer after rapid cooling.

The etched content was scanned using a small torch. The basic proportions of the tungsten-chromium-cobalt alloy are: tungsten 42 degrees Celsius, chromium 23 degrees Celsius, and cobalt 18 degrees Celsius. Multi-layer composite rolling parameters are shown: three substrate layers, two intermediate layers, with a rolling temperature difference of 120 degrees Celsius between each layer. The gradient heat treatment curve is shown: heating rate of 8 degrees Celsius per minute, holding temperature of 1050 degrees Celsius, and oil quenching. All parameters are displayed in the right-hand window of the main screen.

Base 04 Control Room. Lu Mingyuan pressed the full-channel communication button.

"The genuine template for Station 49 has been recovered. The special alloy formula is intact. All alloy plates on the finished product rack are marked as high-temperature phase transformation traps. Genuine product identification criteria: laser-etched formula, taken from a crucible, and surface softening marks."

The technician entered the alloy formula into the archive. The screen displayed estimated data for the alloy armor sample: the tungsten-chromium-cobalt alloy armor plate was expected to withstand a single armor-piercing projectile, with a temperature resistance limit increased to 1200 degrees Celsius.

The announcement at station 49 changed its voice. It was no longer a female voice, but a mechanical prompt.

"The self-destruct process has entered an irreversible phase. The hydraulic push rods of the finished product rack are forcibly assembled. The furnace pressure in the smelting furnace is out of control. Estimated time of secondary explosion: 45 seconds."

The hydraulic pump of the finished product rack's hydraulic push rod was turned up to its maximum speed. Thirty unopened fake alloy plates were simultaneously pushed towards the external attachment points of the Devourer. The chrome plating on the push rod piston rod began to smoke. The furnace pressure jumped from +0.3 MPa to +0.7 MPa. The furnace door seal burst open, and the inner wall of the furnace began to deform.

Su Yuan pressed the communication button.

"Small fire. Expansion timing code of the high-temperature phase transformation interlayer inside the fake alloy plate. Inverted transmission to the furnace self-destruct program bus."

Decoding the temperature difference curve of the fake alloy plate with a small torch. The timing of the thermal expansion of the sandwich material is in sync with the pressure rise curve of the smelting furnace—both have a 45-second countdown and increase by 0.01 MPa per second. However, they are 180 degrees out of phase.

The No. 20 ring calibration missile fires an inverted pulse. The pulse frequency is synchronized with the clock of the furnace self-destruct program bus, but the phase is inverted. The bus receives the inverted signal—the self-destruct program master control chip misreads the false alloy plate interlayer expansion signal as the furnace pressure reaching the critical point for sympathetic detonation.

The program was triggered prematurely.

It wasn't a furnace explosion. It was the overload protection mechanism of the hydraulic push rod on the finished product rack.

The hydraulic pump speed of the push rod dropped sharply. The piston rod switched from the push stroke to the return stroke. Thirty fake alloy plates stopped half a meter away from the external attachment point of the Devourer, and then slid back in the opposite direction. The alloy plates slammed back onto the finished product rack. The rust-proof paper tore, the metal plates collided with each other, and the high-temperature phase change material inside the interlayer was pressed back to its original shape before it even had a chance to expand.

The furnace detonation countdown stalled. The furnace pressure dropped from 0.7 MPa to 0.3 MPa. The self-destruct program bus received its own generated inverse signal, determining that the detonation conditions were not met. The program deadlocked. The furnace door closed again.

"Refining furnace." Su Yuan pressed the communication button, "Contain the finished product rack crossbeam, hydraulic push rod assembly, and smelting furnace self-destruct control cabinet."

The dark gold conduit of the refining furnace plunged into the base of the finished product rack. The rack beam was dragged into the furnace opening, and the fake alloy plate slid from the rack into the furnace chamber. The hydraulic push rod piston rod followed closely—then the push rod guide, the hydraulic pump assembly, and the self-destruct control cabinet. The furnace lining bricks of the smelting furnace were also dragged away.

Inside the furnace, a dark red churn was observed. The high-temperature phase transformation interlayer of the pseudo-alloy plate exploded within the furnace—but the explosion was contained by the outer wall of the refining furnace, and the shock wave expanded only within the furnace chamber, failing to propagate outside. The steel of the finished product frame beams and the substrate of the pseudo-alloy plate melted into molten alloy.

The refining furnace has started producing parts.

First item: Special armor rolling module. Recast using a dummy alloy plate base and finished product frame crossbeams. The module is hung on the right side of the mobile refining furnace, which has a built-in multi-layer composite rolling function, capable of producing tungsten-chromium-cobalt alloy armor plates according to template parameters. The first test piece was produced after thirty minutes.

The second item: an alloy template safety storage box. It is recast using inert filler purified from smelting furnace crucible remnants, the explosion-proof outer shell of a self-destruct control cabinet, and the rust-proof paper of the finished product rack. The internal temperature of the box is maintained at a constant -15 degrees Celsius, and it is installed outside the 005 protective compartment. The metal template automatically locks after being stored inside and can only be removed after a small-scale fire verification is passed.

The third component: a counter-encoder for the finished product rack trap. This is achieved by recasting a self-destructing program bus chip, a fake alloy plate interlayer expansion timing encoder, and a hydraulic push rod overload protection relay. The encoder is connected to the small-scale main control unit and can identify the expansion timing of the high-temperature phase change trap, transmitting interference pulses in reverse.

The fourth component: a high-temperature smelting and rapid-cooling auxiliary furnace. This is constructed using recast furnace lining bricks, cooling water jackets, and furnace foundation bolts. The auxiliary furnace is integrated into the left side of the mobile refining furnace, increasing the maximum smelting temperature to 1850 degrees Celsius and the rapid-cooling rate to 20 degrees Celsius per second.

The temperature of the No. 49 smelting furnace dropped below the safety line. The finished products were left hanging, with rust-proof paper fragments scattered on the base. The hydraulic push rod guide rails had been removed, exposing concrete debris at the anchor bolt bases. The self-destruct control cabinet had been emptied, its door open, revealing only charred busbars inside.

Wang Hu retrieved an iron plate from the bottom of the No. 3 smelting furnace. The plate had been heated by the furnace temperature, and its surface coating was completely charred, with the edges deformed. He placed the plate on the maintenance platform and wiped off the charred crust with his gloves.

The front is printed with: "Station No. 50 - Zhenshan Abandoned Line".

He turned the iron plate over. The inscription on the back had been baked by the high temperature, leaving only the last line clear: "Number 50 will not be dismantled. Number 50 is the graveyard of scrapped Zhenshan vehicles. Don't let it recognize that you have the Zhenshan core on you."

The sound of a diesel engine idling came from deep within the dark tracks ahead.

Low-frequency vibrations crept up the tracks and onto the wheels. The steel plates on the side walls of carriage 013 began to tremble. The stress in the tail beam of carriage 005 jumped from 26 to 28—not because the rail surface was uneven, but because the frequency of the core energy-conducting tube was being excited by the idling sound from ahead, causing it to resonate.

The core energy-conducting tube of Zhenshan heats up on its own.

The parallel stability jumped from 73% to 81%. This wasn't due to Su Yuantui's output, but rather the increased flow rate of the coolant inside the energy transfer tube. The stability paused at 81% for a second before dropping back to 73%.

The small fire captured the moment the heat pipe heated up, and the boiler of a scrapped locomotive from Zhenshan automatically ignited in the direction of Station 50. Sparks shot out of the boiler chimney, drifting along the dark rail. The inner wall of the furnace turned from cold ash to dark red—not a smelting furnace, but the old boiler of the Zhenshan locomotive.

In direction 005, the old transport hibernation pod inside the 020 isolation box actively struck a beat for the first time. The metal sheet struck the inner wall of the lead seal with a dull thud, but the beat matched the markings on the 009 steel sheet. Xiao Huo translates: "The scrapped locomotives in Cemetery 50, each one remembers the frequency of the Zhenshan core. Don't let them ignite simultaneously."

Dark tracks ahead.

The chimney of the second scrapped locomotive in Zhenshan also lit up. The idling sound of the diesel engines changed from one to two combined. The dark red reflection of the boiler furnace shone on the rails at the entrance of Station 50, and the outlines of the two locomotives were reflected on the rail surface—the rusted boiler shell, the broken traction beam, and the empty driver's seat.

The boiler preheating plug on the third locomotive started igniting.

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

"Three units," he said. "Two have already been lit."

Su Yuan sat back in the driver's seat. The gear in the mechanical left eye turned half a circle. The output of the Zhenshan core dropped from 120 to idle speed. The temperature of the energy conduction tube dropped, and the parallel stability stopped at 73%. The main screen popped up the old Blue Star Expeditionary Force nameplate of Station 50 - "Zhenshan Scrap Line · Storage Area · Non-Dismantling".

The boiler of the third locomotive ahead was lit. Three flames shone deep in the dark tracks, and sparks from the chimneys fell onto the rusted exterior of the wrecked locomotive.