Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 100: Chapter 97: Damage and Repairs

Yu Jing immediately handed over a one-meter square object.

”This is a new material I’ve developed to replace the existing tempered glass. It incorporates gelatin collected from the Butcher, the hammer of the Skullsmasher, and a special fiber that Wan Xing gathered from a plant...”

Su Huan was greatly surprised. In his previous life, he had little contact with Makers and Gatherers, only knowing that these were two miraculous fields.

But he didn’t expect it to be this magical.

”I can somewhat understand incorporating gelatin, but what about the hammer of the Skullsmasher?”

”The structure of the Skullsmasher’s hammer is very special. It’s a hollow, unique shape that looks large but is actually lightweight, becoming hard only during combat due to increased blood flow.”

Su Huan chuckled speechlessly, ”It can actually change weight, I thought it was always like that.”

”Perhaps it’s utilizing this structure. Under the erosion of my capability, the materials fused together, creating this special glass.”

Su Huan took the glass and transmitted a bit of energy to the light above, brightening the corridor.

Then he looked down to examine the ’glass.’

Under the light, he could see a hexagonal shape inside the glass, arranged in an orderly manner, with a beauty of order.

Leaning it slightly, it would disappear from view.

Yu Jing introduced from the side, ”I’ve already tested the glass. Its hardness is comparable to stainless steel, but its toughness far exceeds steel. Even if it suffers an unbearable attack, it would only damage like a plastic film, rather than shattering completely. The most critical thing is, it can withstand 1200 degrees Celsius, unlike the previous one that melted.”

Seeing Su Huan remained silent, thinking he didn’t understand, Yu Jing put it more simply, ”In other words, it’s actually a soft material.”

Su Huan pondered for a moment and then earnestly asked, ”Stainless steel... how hard is it?”

”...It’s considered a common high-hardness metal, usually used in high-end cutlery and bearing balls.”

”Can it stop bullets?”

”If it’s stainless steel, maybe not, because its toughness is poor. The new material has high toughness, so I’m not sure either; testing would require more precise equipment.”

”No need for that hassle, we can test it out in ten minutes.”

Su Huan quickly called on Xiaoba and had Liang Kuan bring some firearms and ammunition to car number 10.

Xiaoba manipulated metal to fix the new glass onto the car.

Su Huan tried various types of firearms on it.

After a refreshing wilderness testing session, Su Huan accurately grasped the limits of this glass.

It could easily deflect regular handgun rounds, barely manage 5.56 rifle rounds, but if multiple shots hit the same spot, it would fail. Regular 7.62 bullets could just penetrate, with damage appearing elastic, stretching out long.

Another good news is when facing this glass, armor-piercing rounds make little difference compared to regular bullets.

Clearly, the material’s properties are very good at countering armor-piercing rounds.

”Is this glass high-yield? How much can be made in a day?”

”I’ve confirmed the material ratio, but replicating it will take some time. With two Makers in the crew, they can produce four pieces a day, assuming ample materials.”

Su Huan squinted, looks like he’ll need to significantly increase the proportion of Evolvers, otherwise by the time his train is armed, the enemy might be at the door.

”Any difficulties with materials? I remember you mentioned a plant?”

”Yes, it’s something brought back by the car body. Wan Xing saw it and tried collecting some, obtaining resilient fibers that outline the multi-faceted crystals inside the glass.”

”Let me see.”

Wan Xing soon came over with the mutated plant.

Su Huan took one look and was reassured.

He casually explained, ”This is ’Iron Wire Grass’, also called ’Trip Grass’. Other than being tough and resilient, it’s not dangerous, because it’s extremely resistant to corrosion. It grows everywhere in the Acid Rain Zone, easy to gather.”

Yu Jing nodded, ”Then I’ll have them focus on production to see if there’s a way to ramp up output.”

”Let’s aim to replace all the car’s glass with this.”

Having finalized details on the new material, Su Huan listened to reports from various sections and checked the train’s damage condition.

The car body had some corrosion, but corroding through a 3mm steel plate would take years, so there’s no immediate concern.

Timely power cutoff meant the car’s circuitry wasn’t problematic, just that several outlets soaked by acid rain needed inspection and repair before use.

Liang Kuan also specifically went out to inspect, finding the front of the train mostly intact, except the welded spear tip and shovel at the rear showing some ugly corrosion.

The braking lever system showed some corrosion, compounded by prior collisions, causing wear and deformation.

There were cracks in the bogie and deformations in the rim, but these metal issues were manageable.

While Su Huan was talking with He Jie, Xiaoba had already resolved them.

Also, in car number 8, many items and electronic devices had been soaked by acid rain.

These needed organizing promptly.

...

At eight in the morning, after a simple breakfast, the train restarted in the acid rain, approaching repair shops, steel mills, furniture retailers, and material factories around Yijin.

During this time, they had been constantly on the move, even running low on metal materials.

With the acid rain washing off the blood and grime, the train, clad in its new wasteland-rusted paint, traversed through the rainy cityscape.

In the carriage, the passengers were of course not idle. During lulls, they began a new round of interior modifications.

Firstly, with steel from previously recycled vehicles, the workers resolved the bedding issue, aiming for beds for everyone. Though a bit cramped with triple-level sleeping arrangements, it was better than the floor.

Next was the interior segmentation of the car.

A gate was set up between car number 1 and the dining car number 2, likewise between numbers 5 and 6, 6 and 7, 10 and 11, and between 11 and 15, dividing different functional areas.

The gate’s material used Tier One Lightweight Steel developed by Yu Jing.

Due to its challenging maneuverability, it consumed a large amount of Xiaoba’s energy.

Additionally, the space of the car’s farm needed redistribution to accommodate more plants.

After finishing these, Xiaoba still had to help Yu Jing create a new workshop.

Arguably the busiest person on the train.

Almost all modifications had to go through him, upgrading his metal control from level 2 to level 3.

Considerably... training for the train conductor.

As for the design of the ammunition depot, Su Huan didn’t plan on storing it in a single carriage like food.

If someone inadvertently blew it up, the whole carriage would explode in sympathy.

Like water tanks and fuel tanks, a distributed design was adopted, with each car having its own ammunition rack, implemented with bulletproof protection.