Armed Train in the Apocalypse

He still hadn’t decided whether to exchange those merits for a potion or something else.

Finding a comfortable position, he crouched down, taking large bites of the green noodles while observing the situation below.

All the supplies from the armored train were brought out, including water purifiers and other equipment, piled up on one side.

The interior decorations and installations that affected modifications inside the train were dismantled.

Even the birdcage, which had long been criticized by the brothers, was thoroughly removed. It was said that this time, they were going to create a spacious space for them.

But Wang He wasn’t too optimistic.

The train’s space was only so big; how much could it be expanded?

Living on the train certainly wasn’t as comfortable as being on the ground.

He hadn’t dared to think about it before, but he heard that they wanted to transform the manufacturing base into Shun’an Base, as a long-term fortified base for the armored train.

That immediately made him a bit conflicted.

”Non-essential personnel, keep your distance. Get ready, we’re going to dismantle the side!”

Someone shouted from below, catching Wang He’s attention and prompting him to lift his head from the bowl.

He saw Xiaoba, sitting in a wheelchair, wave his hand, and suddenly the twenty-meter-long side of the carriage slid off, the break being clean and neat, more natural than if it had been cut.

The forklift had been ready for a while, moving forward to carry away the entire side armor.

The workers operated the forklift as if they were one person, and the twenty-meter-long armor sat firmly on top.

An old man with a round face and glasses stood next to Xiaoba, continuously marveling, ”This power to manipulate metal is truly amazing, truly amazing...”

Xiaoba pursed his lips; recently, more people praised him, and it always made him feel a bit embarrassed.

”What’s next?”

Vice President Deng approached the carriage, touching the edge. ”First, extend the edges of the carriage, then use your ability to check the carriage’s airtightness, see if there are any leaks...”

Although it had already been checked, Xiaoba patiently checked it again.

After confirming there were no issues, he widened the carriage.

The workers brought over brand new, custom-made tracks, a full two meters wide.

Because the carriage body was so long, each carriage required four pairs of tracks, and each pair was relatively independent; even if one broke, it wouldn’t affect the operation of the others.

The design of the tracks only took a day; as soon as the train here finished moving and disassembling, the blueprints came out over there.

The samples, rushed to completion overnight, were being installed today.

If the modification of this carriage was successful, then the subsequent carriages would be modified following the summarized process.

Vice President Deng stayed by Xiaoba’s side the whole time, supervising while explaining the mechanical principles to Xiaoba.

”The outer wall of the train body should slant outward a bit, not by much; ten degrees is sufficient. It can effectively prevent climbing and deflect bullet shooting angles. At the top, retract it a little, and it will form a shooting aperture, which can be fitted with some structure to mount machine guns.”

”I say the roof shouldn’t have anti-aircraft machine guns; it should have cannons. Even if it’s just close-in weapon systems, it’ll do. What can a small-caliber machine gun hit...”

”Straying too far, this recessed part can store mechanical arms, and I don’t know when Xiaofan will be able to design the mechanical arms. I’ll press him on it tonight...”

Vice President Deng narrated incessantly, while Xiaoba listened attentively.

He wasn’t picky; regardless of whether it was good or bad, whoever taught it, he learned whatever he heard.

Working until noon, the rough modifications of Carriage No. 1 were completed, though many details were unfinished, but the framework was in place.

It looked like a polyhedron, covered with blue-black armor outside, exuding a cold, hard, and heavy aura.

A stark contrast to its previous post-apocalyptic, rusty appearance.

Although the armor wasn’t thickened, the carriage body was more solid and sturdy than before.

After all, it was an integrated modification, all structures were meticulously designed by experts, eliminating the issue of disintegration after a few bumps.

The manufacturing team had recently developed a kind of nano-repair coating, which is simply a special memory metal with insufficient strength but extremely strong self-repair ability, and can make the attached metal slowly heal.

Covering the repair coating on the armor wouldn’t add much weight and could give the armor self-repair capability.

It could also be used as an anti-corrosion coating under normal circumstances.

However, if the damage was too extensive or the armor fragmented, the repair coating couldn’t restore it.

Currently, the repair coating was freshly made and was being experimentally applied to this carriage.

The modified carriage wasn’t going to be decorated internally next; instead, it was thrown into a gigantic tank outside the train manufacturing center for soaking. It was filled with highly corrosive acid rain, and those old men thought it wasn’t extreme enough, so they added something more potent.

To simulate flood conditions, pressure testing was required as well.

After fishing it out, there would be shooting, explosion, burning, collision, and other various experiments.

According to the plan, these tests would be conducted synchronously during the modifications.

In other words, if there were issues at any stage, the other modified carriages would have to be dismantled and redone.

This method was labor-intensive, but there was no choice.

Su Huan didn’t have the luxury of waiting for them to conduct tests that could span several weeks.

So, time was tight.

At one in the afternoon, Xiaoba hurriedly had lunch and then headed towards the central building in the residential area.

The crew was busy upgrading and modifying the train, while the Armed Corps, led by He Jie, began screening and training the five thousand people inside the base.

The recruitment criteria remained the same, and all those selected would become Evolvers.

Before Xiaoba reached there, he heard a cacophony of footsteps, chaotic and irregular, with a heavy feel unique to being in water.

He Jie never cared about the weather when training soldiers. To be precise, the heavier the rain, the more it fueled his enthusiasm for training.

Looking up, he saw a large group of people swarming past. Some ran, some jumped, and some glided through the water, each showcasing their special abilities.

”Xiaoba!”

”Master Eight is here!”

”Great, it’s Master Eight. We’re doomed now.”

Upon seeing Xiaoba, everyone greeted him with a mix of excitement and wailing.

Although there was a bit of flattery in their words, the recognition was palpable, and Xiaoba quite enjoyed the feeling.

A woman with cat-like eyes appeared near the end, bounding past the wheelchair with limbs in the air, nodding at Xiaoba mid-twirl.

Landing on all fours like a beast, she sprang out in one fluid motion.

”Why are you wailing during warm-up?! Today’s training volume will double!”

He Jie’s burly silhouette emerged in the rain, his army-green vest turned dark green by the acid rain. Clad in tactical boots, he walked at a slow pace, yet exuded an intense pressure like being chased by a ferocious bear.

Twirling the electric baton, He Jie smiled at Xiaoba, ”Lin Jin and the others have finished their warm-up inside.”

”Alright, but I won’t attend tonight’s class; I need to coordinate with the crew on the train modifications.”

Xiaoba lifted the metal canopy he used to shield from rain a bit so he could see He Jie’s face better.

A rare gentle smile appeared on He Jie’s face, ”The train conductor mentioned to me in advance, if you’re too busy, you don’t need to come here.”

Xiaoba was really endearing, diligent yet not rigid, intelligent and eager to learn, far better than his own brash kid. He sighed inwardly, turned away from Xiaoba, and continued supervising the soldiers.

Watching He Jie’s angry holler as he left, Xiaoba entered the central stepped building.

From the previous chaotic warm-up, it was clear that He Jie didn’t pursue rigorous training styles but instead allowed the soldiers of the Armed Corps to leverage their Evolver advantages.

As long as they completed the training tasks under his watch, the method didn’t matter.

But don’t expect He Jie to list out the rules one by one.

His one method of training was to beat them if they didn’t measure up.

The clever ones would learn after a few hits which things they could and couldn’t do.

If they couldn’t figure it out, they’d keep getting hit.

To date, no one had been beaten to death by He Jie.

The twenty-plus casualties during the initial screening were because they were killed by Evolution Beasts and zombies during cleanup missions.

”The final assessment is always the battlefield, so I have to give them a sense of facing war.”

This was He Jie’s training goal as explained to the train conductor.

The wheelchair lifted off the ground, soared over the steps, and drove into the building.

The first floor of the stepped building was quite spacious, appropriated by He Jie for indoor training.

Lin Jin, Liang Kuan, Mountain Goat, Qu Hang, and others were present.

The base’s security task had been handed over to the combat group of the crew, so the corps members engaged in regular training whenever they had no other tasks.

Although conventional training provided little benefit to them, it allowed them to maintain their physical abilities at peak condition.