Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Metal sparks violently tore through the rain curtain, shooting onto the train’s deck.

On the other side, Lao San simultaneously operated a heavy machine gun to shoot at the train.

But whether it was 12.7 or 14.5 bullets, they showed no signs of ricocheting off the train’s body.

Su Huan squeezed the handrail at the edge of the watchtower, and suddenly Vice President Deng’s excited voice came through the communications device made by Professor Ma beside him.

”Report to the train captain, not a single bullet penetrated the train’s armor. I request to proceed to the next test.”

Su Huan’s mouth curved upward, ”Go ahead.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a red light appeared on his pale palm, and flames spontaneously emerged, gathering into a small fireball that, over time, transformed into a fiery spear.

This fire spear was infused with half of his body’s energy.

With Su Huan’s current Level 6 ”Pan-energy Transformation,” it’s sixty percent, equivalent to the complete energy of a Tier Two Ability User, and its power even surpasses some small-caliber shells!

He pushed open the window, facing the pouring rain flooding into the watchtower, and threw it at the train below.

”Boom——”

The moment the fire spear made contact with the train’s head, it exploded into a huge firework.

The train’s head remained unmoved.

The instant high temperatures met the acid rain, turning into thick white vapor that rose, with countless raindrops blasting outwards from the explosion’s force.

His flames didn’t have as many additional effects as Lin Jin’s.

Only the most extreme high temperatures.

After three to five breaths, the acid rain regained control, suppressing the flames and white vapor on the car body.

The upgraded armored train still steadily anchored in the puddle!

A lightning spear followed closely, illuminating the world brightly.

Although Su Huan felt weak from depleted energy, his eyes were fixed on the train in the puddle.

Vice President Deng’s excited voice came from beside him, ”Report to the train captain, the train car armor is normal, the equipment and instruments are in working order, the sealed-state is normal, the circulation system is operational! Our modification plan succeeded!”

Vice President Deng’s voice had already been drowned out by the cheers of workers and experts.

Su Huan, with a Pan-energy Crystal between his fingers, walked down from the watchtower and headed straight for the armored train.

The underwater propeller of the armored train turned, pushing the massive car body across the water surface until the train’s head touched the shore, and the tracks slightly higher than the rails beneath the train quickly dropped, with the propeller and tracks pushing simultaneously.

The train seamlessly switched from water to land mode, climbing out of the puddle onto solid ground.

Looking down from the watchtower, the train’s head appeared tall, and when standing before the upgraded armored train, it felt like he was an ant crawling at the feet of a steel dragon.

The head of the [玄甲] series train was never designed to carry passengers but was a new type created in response to the growing demand for industrial transport.

One was 7.6 meters high, equivalent to two previous train cars.

The width reached 4.8 meters, comparable to the living room of some small apartments.

Besides the high-strength car body framework, the exterior was clad in whole pieces of Tier One Armor, made of blue steel clad with glass. No corner was cut, with even the tracks below protected by armor.

To increase the car body’s overall buoyancy, an expert suggested pasting wood from the Iron-Eating Tree inside the armor.

The Iron-Eating Tree’s material wasn’t as hard as ironwood and was less fire-resistant, but its advantages were being lightweight, having good buoyancy, high resistance, and insulation, and the materials could be easily sourced.

Apart from its factories, Shun’an was rich in Iron-Eating Trees.

With ease, hundreds could be cut down, and after some processing by the Makers, it became excellent board material.

That’s why it could stop 14.5mm bullets in the initial test.

A bullet needed to penetrate the meticulously developed 50mm thick Tier One Armor outside, two sheets of 20mm blue steel sandwiching 10mm soft glass.

Then it must penetrate a 30mm thick Iron-Eating Tree board and finally a 10mm composite steel plate forming the train car body itself.

A full 80mm of composite armor!

Su Huan would have replaced the entire train body with this material if the blue steel production wasn’t limited.

In fact, the [玄甲] had the traction and load capacity to further increase the armor’s thickness.

But the cost-effectiveness was already too low.

Better to reserve carrying capacity to store more supplies; when the ”Makers” can be mass-produced to Tier One, Tier Two materials can be created.

Achieving a lighter, harder material with a thinner thickness!

The width of two train heads reached ten meters, plus the ironwood planks connecting the two in the middle, making the current armored train a full sixteen meters wide!

Resembling a moving land fortress.

The large protruding mechanical structure at the train’s head front slowly descended, known as the [Alps Hammer], a tungsten alloy obstacle-breaking cone. Theoretically, even if the train were blown up, it would remain intact.

Used to replace the previous steel plate-welded obstacle-breaking cone.

The hammer descended, forming a stepway to the ground, and the train’s head opened directly.

Liang Kuan’s strong figure stood at the doorway, exclaiming, ”Now this is a true armored train, though the space is too small to showcase its effect.”

Su Huan gave a light smile, stepping into the interior.

”Then let’s go for a spin!”

...

Ten kilometers outside the base, in a small square formed by residential space.

A row of simple shops stood in formation, with plaster figure painting, flower art, and various unique snacks appearing in a dazzling variety.

The five-member investigation team of Deep Blue Data hid inside a wedding design shop, silently eating compressed biscuits while observing the outside situation.

The team leader operated a tactical pad briefly, then lightly coughed, causing the remaining four members to quickly gather around.

”According to intelligence, the Black Kite squad appeared at the border of the Acid Rain Zone in Hongyi City fourteen days ago, moving steadily northward. They are expected to pass by Shun’an within three days, though they may not enter, and our task is to figure out what Black Kite intends to do without alarming the armored train.”

”Concerning local forces in Shun’an, the armored train is something to be mindful of. The relevant information was given to you before departure.”

A team member softly remarked, ”This armored train is quite interesting, a survivor force that rose after the apocalypse, possessing much information.”

The team leader maintained a calm gaze, ”It should be a pawn cultivated by some force, meant to muddy the waters. Watching them plays right into the opponent’s goal, so just ignore it. The armored train will likely develop into a force like the Steel Council, crumbling with setbacks.”

”Oh?”

The investigation team member who was quietly reviewing data suddenly made a surprised sound.

All four, including the team leader, immediately fell silent.

The opponent’s perceptive abilities were the core of their investigation team, enabling them to safely retreat after investigating many dangerous areas post-apocalypse.

The exploration team member said, ”I just extended a sensory tendril towards Shun’an’s direction and found they have come out.”

”They’ve come out?” the team leader was puzzled, ”According to intelligence, the armored train shouldn’t have any actions recently.”

”Could it be related to Black Kite? Are the two...doing some transaction?”

A team member suddenly suggested.

The team leader frowned, ”We can’t rule out this possibility. Ah Shan, lock onto it, and let’s follow them.”

...

North of Shun’an, three all-terrain combat vehicles sped across the ground.

As if they had confirmed a particular target.

A faint oil smell pervaded the car, with all the back seats removed, leaving Zhao Kuo ”virtually sitting” there, his exo-skeleton joints locked, making him seem embedded in the vehicle.

His eyes opened and closed, smiling lightly, ”The Deep Blue Data people are like a type of deer-like animal, always eager to watch, regardless of what happens. I wonder if they have the strength to spectate this time.”

HT-426 calmly stated, ”Based on our misdirection, they will only deploy an investigation team to try identifying our target, before sending in the real combat team.”

(End of month summary, wrote 134,000 words this month, much less than before. Although there were indeed objective issues, subjective laziness played a role. Next month is the last month of the new book period, Ah Qian will definitely double the effort!)

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