Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”With the supercomputer in place, the train’s AI has come online, temporarily called ’Little Ai.’” As she spoke, Shu Wei called out to Little Ai, and a sweet little girl’s voice soon emerged from the speaker.

[Wa la wa la, King Little Ai is here, if you have anything to report, speak up, if not, retreat!]

”Tsk——”

Su Huan almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Looking around, ”Who on earth came up with this gem?”

Yu Jing had anticipated this, ”It’s a sound source from my old phone, I recorded it during a test the other day.”

[If there’s nothing, I’m going down, don’t disturb me]

Little Ai’s voice carried a hint of annoyance.

Su Huan suddenly remembered the last time he was here, Zhou Qing called out ”Little Ai,” and he thought it was an assistant. Turns out, it was the AI.

Yu Jing cheerfully added, ”We found Little Ai ready-made, so many functions aren’t complete. Currently, only the Mechanical Testing Laboratory is linked with Little Ai, and that’s limited to basic functions...”

Su Huan bluntly asked, ”Little Ai, what do you know?”

[That depends on what you need]

Su Huan pondered, ”Retrieve the train’s surveillance?”

[Can’t do that]

”How’s the weather today?”

[Can’t do that either]

Just as Su Huan’s brow furrowed, Little Ai was the first to retort.

[Can you ask about something I can do?]

Everyone wanted to laugh, but held back as the person speaking was the train conductor, each forcing a straight face.

The lab attendants all exchanged puzzled glances.

They created Little Ai, yet they were unsure how advanced its conversational abilities were.

Now it could even use irony, seemed too intelligent already.

Could it be that even AI evolves in the apocalypse?

Su Huan seemed to have uncovered something, softly said, ”Lin Xi?”

[Who’s Lin Xi?]

[This time, Little Ai really needs to sleep]

After throwing out two sentences, Little Ai fell silent.

The room was dead quiet.

Only the train conductor’s cold chuckle was heard.

”Heh, I see it’s artificial, but when will the intelligence be online?”

Professor Ma was slightly embarrassed, ”At least half a month or so, but it will only reach the level of about 20 years ago.”

Su Huan slightly furrowed his brow, ”Don’t tell me your system is just an artificial idiot.”

Shu Wei continued to explain, ”Artificial intelligence is just one core; we have two other systems. The first system is the original three-dimensional defense network, integrating all attack and defense mechanisms, with selective AI integration, controlled through manual operation, remote human control, and intelligent AI. The second module is the ecological cycle system.”

As she said this, Shu Wei looked toward a middle-aged man at the end of the line.

The man’s face was weathered and showed signs of aging, his glasses yellowed, and his balding head. The uniform of the crew hung loosely on his frame, and even the fluctuations of Pan Energy were faint.

Feeling the gazes from Su Huan and the others, the man immediately stood up nervously.

”Train conductor...”

Shu Wei introduced, ”This is Professor Wang Duoyu, formerly an industrial design teacher at Zijin University, proficient in modular design. He boarded three days ago and just became a ’Maker’ yesterday. The idea for the ecological cycle system was his.”

Su Huan nodded, acknowledging the acquaintance.

”Please explain in detail.”

Wang Duoyu was inwardly excited, knowing he was noticed by the train conductor, not having worked tirelessly in vain these past few days.

Clearing his throat, Wang Duoyu began to elaborate, starting with some stumbles but becoming more fluent as he went on.

”...Dividing the ecological cycle into six major systems, the first being the atmospheric cycle system. Currently, the train uses a combination of machine conversion, ecology, and external atmosphere, but relies mainly on the external exchange. According to my calculations, the first two alone are insufficient for the current train population’s survival. This needs to be supplemented by large-scale planting of high-oxygen plants and setting up emergency oxygen supply cabins.”

”The second is the water cycle system. The train’s water supply relies entirely on purifiers and reserved water, which is too weak to sustain the current consumption rate. We should design a water cycle system, setting up clean, gray, and black water tanks according to RV standards, recycling the gray tank and treating the black tank for nourishing plants... Scavengers use dehumidifiers to extract moisture from the air, although it consumes energy, it can provide at least 6 to 10 liters of purified water per hour...”

”The third is the food cycle. The train already has some foundation, not requiring urgent action. It should be layered on top of the first two...”

”The fourth is the energy cycle. The train’s daily energy consumption is terrifying. Despite having many ’Power Suppliers,’ it’s still a drop in the bucket. Much like saving money, it’s about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Revenue can be increased by designing energy collection devices outside the train. Reducing expenditure is more complex; we can utilize the temperature difference of some devices, the train’s kinetic energy, etc., to gather energy. It won’t solve all problems but can cover some consumption, and the energy network should be redesigned, as there’s too much waste currently.”

”The fifth is the waste cycle. The train’s current waste recycling is limited to metals, but other waste can also be refined with our abilities.”

”Finally, the currency cycle. The train is somewhat open, willing to interact with the outside, but relying on virtual points limits flow, so it’s best to have physical currency. Ideally, it should be some generally acceptable commodity that only the train can produce, serving as money, thus truly enabling circular influence.”

Six cycles in total, five concrete, one slightly abstract.

But not entirely abstract, as Su Huan had indeed considered currency before, except back then, the armed train didn’t have the qualifications or capabilities.

With Donghuang’s economic collapse leaving a currency market vacuum, perhaps it’s actually a good opportunity.

Once Wang Duoyu finished speaking, everyone present was lost in thought, the silent atmosphere making him slightly tense.

”Interesting idea, what do you all think?”

These six cycles were considered on the entire train’s ecology, considering both inanimate and living beings. To Su Huan, it was satisfactory, but he intended to seek professional opinion.

Director Xu was the first to speak, ”Some points diverge from actual situations, like the design and personnel distribution for some equipment, but overall, the frame of the six cycles is correct.”

Yu Jing straightforwardly added, ”I also agree with this framework.”

Professor Ma, Vice President Deng, Dean Zhou, and others nodded in agreement.

Seeing everyone in agreement, Su Huan decided, ”We’ll use this to fill the third phase framework, with AI as a core, the three-dimensional defense network and ecological cycles as pillars. If not completed in three phases, then four or five.”

Hu Shuo timely reminded, ”Train conductor, we’re still facing shortages in personnel and materials.”

Su Huan recalled the argument he had before entering, ”It’s evolutionary materials, right?”

Hu Shuo nodded, ”Especially zombie materials, which are primary for synthesizing various metals. All our previous collections were manufactured into standard materials by the production group and stored, which only covers about a tenth of the total modification, leaving a big gap.”

Black Kite’s war reparations naturally couldn’t be offset with zombie materials. Zombies are everywhere, but opportunities to extort Black Kite are rare.

Hence, they asked for rare objects, greatly expanding the gap in fundamental materials needed for modification.

It’s also hard to fill the gap in personnel.

All talented individuals across four teams have been skimmed, the rest are in camps.

He couldn’t just enter someone’s territory and snag their people.

Though not impossible.

But the main force remains in Zhijin, making it risky to eliminate them all at once.

(Achievement unlocked: First book reaching a million words. A brother asked about the duration, the entire book is expected to reach about two million words. The ending was planned before starting, and it’s progressing steadily. Holes like the military’s whereabouts, the protagonist’s background will all be addressed in the main text. The side stories will wrap up some character endings, striving for a complete beginning and end.)