Armed Train in the Apocalypse

”Conductor, the carriages have been adjusted according to Professor Wang Duoyu’s new plan. Would you like to inspect them?”

Hu Shuo handed over a stack of blueprints.

Su Huan took them and flipped through two pages. Besides the neatly printed blueprints, there were also densely marked notes in different handwriting, apparently showing that everyone had put a lot of thought into this adjustment.

”Everything’s adjusted; let’s check it out as we go.”

Looking up at the train in the sky, Su Huan felt a long-lost anticipation rising in his heart.

As he walked under the train and was about to jump on, a hard ladder extended down from the bottom, landing right at his feet.

The two of them followed the ladder into the train’s head.

Because there were four carriages lined up, two additional ones were added to the train’s head. To align with the original [Xuanjia] series of train heads, Vice President Deng and others made some modifications to the new heads, increasing the armor thickness to 200mm, comparable to that of a tank.

Among them, 150mm was the Tier Two composite armor developed early by Yu Jing, featuring impact dispersion, self-repair, waterproofing, and corrosion resistance. Then came 10mm of Tier Three tungsten steel, where the majority of the Three-headed Evolution Beast’s bones were consumed. This 10mm thick Tier Three tungsten steel alone had the capability to withstand heavy sniper fire.

In addition, there’s a fixed 30mm layer of ironwood and a 10mm energy defense layer, making the current Armed Train capable of easily resisting large-caliber grenades.

Due to the parallel arrangement of the trains, the space inside the train head was noticeably wider.

A small hall was added below the command platform, and the original screen at the top of the train head was upgraded to a [Panoramic Situation Awareness Dome], integrating Pan Energy monitoring, terrain scanning, climate monitoring, [Hive] reconnaissance, and other detection methods. All were calculated and integrated by AI on the dome, supported by the supercomputer from the rear Cultivation Pod, making all data dynamically change.

Any information the train could ”sense” would be reflected here.

The dome was almost transparent, allowing the outside scene to be visible, although the images were actually synthesized by AI through multiple camera feeds, with a rotating 3D map in the upper right corner.

When used, it would project a lifelike 3D map into the train head hall, which He Jie used during the Four Nations battle.

The function itself hadn’t changed much; it was an upgrade on the existing foundation, with a brighter and clearer picture, increased zoom capabilities, more responsive feedback, and the data feedback changed from delayed to instant.

Beneath the dome was Liang Kuan’s cockpit. The Armed Train had long since rid itself of manual driving, but the group of scholars had tacitly retained a manual intervention option. Liang Kuan’s cockpit had the highest intervention authority over the train, allowing him to take over immediately if something seemed awry.

Moreover, his cockpit was mostly purely mechanical, with only a few electronic controls.

”Conductor...”

Seeing everyone enter, the busy staff all stood up to greet.

Su Huan casually raised his hand and walked behind Liang Kuan, whose build had become even broader after advancing to Tier Two. The chair was also upgraded, not only fitting the curve of the back but also stretching slightly like a spine to support the driver’s entire body when reclining.

At this moment, Liang Kuan was diligently operating the cockpit buttons, comparing them with a small booklet.

He didn’t turn around even when he heard Su Huan’s voice, only pausing when he felt the familiar force on his trapezius, and then he marveled, ”This new cockpit is really nice.”

From behind came Su Huan’s voice, ”How so?”

The control panel in front of Liang Kuan was divided into three sections: the left side had a red theme, the middle was black, and the right was blue, with both physical buttons and electronic screens. The array of small screens gave off a strong technological vibe.

”The left is the weapon operating system. I can conduct terminal control of all large weapons on the entire train here. The middle is the train’s propulsion system, for land, sea, and air, which are three different propulsion systems using technologies like ’ground pressure dispersion,’ ’forward-looking roadbed reinforcement,’ and ’cushioning aid.’ Together, these form the [Universal Traffic Intelligent Control Propulsion System]...”

Liang Kuan recited the names from the operation manual as if he were a student memorizing a textbook.

”How’s the aerial driving done? Is it like an airplane?”

Su Huan looked at the strange steering wheel in front of Liang Kuan and asked.

”Not exactly; an airplane controls the three axes, but the train is too big and long. Vice President Deng designed a system called the [Anti-gravity Array], utilizing 132 gravity interference units distributed on the train’s chassis to fine-tune the train’s posture. Most of the time, AI intervention is needed for intelligent control, but I have to know how to operate it manually. The main propulsion comes from 4 sets of 360° rotating [Magnetic Fluid Propulsion Devices], with a speed that can reach 220 km/h.”

”But this isn’t the propulsion device’s limit. According to Vice President Deng and the others, the resistance in the sky is much lower, allowing the train to accelerate indefinitely until disintegration. The current speed is a limit they’ve voluntarily imposed.”

”They even kept the steam whistle for me.”

Liang Kuan initially needed to stop and think about terminology and data, but became increasingly fluent, eventually beginning his hands-on demonstration for Su Huan.

Hu Shuo watched silently from the side.

In fact, the fourth-phase upgrades were far more comprehensive, and these features weren’t added immediately on the day of the decision to upgrade the fourth phase, but accumulated over the train’s everyday improvements.

The Armed Corps would bring back any unfamiliar or high-tech items they encountered during missions for Vice President Deng and others to handle.