Chapter 13: Storage Carriage
Several wandering zombies suddenly turned their gazes toward the pitch-black tunnel, confirming that the noise came from there, and swarmed over.
The next moment, a steel behemoth roared out, crushing and scooping several zombies as if they were mere bugs.
Its speed didn’t slow even a bit, the only difference being a few blood spots added to the scoop board.
The train gradually slowed down and stopped on the crisscrossing tracks outside the steel factory.
There were also quite a few trains parked on both sides, with zombies in various uniforms wandering in the gaps.
But the overall number wasn’t large.
The population was mostly concentrated in the city, and places like these factory buildings only had workers who couldn’t get home due to the sudden apocalypse outbreak.
“December 18, early winter, temperature 26°C”
Seven days left until the heat outbreak, and all plans were proceeding smoothly.
As usual, Su Huan took Liang Kuan down to clear out a few zombies.
Then he let the passengers from the back cars out. Today’s special train ticket was steel plate; bringing back one sheet counted as completing the goal, and bringing back an extra one would earn a day of free three meals, hot boxed meals.
After clearing the last passenger off the train, Su Huan gathered everyone in the dining car for a short meeting.
They also had breakfast incidentally.
Breakfast was butter mashed potatoes that Yu Yue had just made in the morning, as well as luncheon meat sandwiches and canned peaches.
After finishing the last sip of canned juice, Su Huan said, “It’ll be a while before they bring back the steel plates. We can’t waste this time. Besides Wan Xing’s extraction task, everyone else come with me to organize the supplies in the train and build some shelves to categorize and store them.”
“We’ll dismantle all the partitions in the sixth carriage and turn it into a storage room, put some easily storable food in there, and then build shelves in every carriage to store enough food for at least one person for three months.”
“Let’s get moving now. Liang Kuan, you first go turn on the air conditioner in carriage 6. Keep this carriage at a constant 22°C from now on, no need to turn it off.”
“Yu Yue, you wash the dishes first, then come over.”
“The rest of you, come with me.”
Everyone quickly got to work according to Su Huan’s orders.
Although the team was small, everyone could play their respective roles. Most importantly, commanding was effortless, with no one paying lip service while acting otherwise.
This was what Su Huan was most satisfied with.
Bringing Yu Jing and Qi Xiao Ba to carriage 6, Yu Jing’s normally indifferent eyes lit up at the sight of those tools.
Without Su Huan saying anything, she tied her long hair into a bun with both hands and started rummaging through the various soft sleeper compartments.
“This air pump is pretty good, nice stuff!”
“Finally, an electric drill, and it’s a professional-grade lithium one with a torque ring.”
“…”
It was Qi Xiao Ba’s first time seeing Yu Jing like this, and a big look of confusion flashed across his small face. Why could one person’s temperament have such a huge gap?
Su Huan quirked the corner of his mouth. “Ignore her. Come take a look—can you dismantle this annoying partition?”
“Mm!”
Su Huan felt a faint general energy fluctuation spreading from Qi Xiao Ba.
The screws on the partition vibrated.
Soon, several “half-melted” metal screws were pulled out and placed aside.
Su Huan raised an eyebrow. “You can try ‘unscrewing’ the screws directly, or use finer control to reduce energy consumption.”
Qi Xiao Ba was stunned for a moment, then focused on a screw again and activated his ability.
Soon, the screw was unscrewed.
“Like this? It does save a lot of energy…”
Xiao Ba gripped the armrest of his wheelchair.
“Right, keep going.”
Su Huan shrugged.
Qi Xiao Ba continued dismantling the internal fixtures in the carriage, while Su Huan dismantled the non-metal boards nearby.
These lightweight materials could be kept for internal partitions, since the external armor was already heavy enough, and lightweight materials could reduce the burden on the train body.
This job would take a lot of time for others, but it was a piece of cake for the two of them.
When encountering integrated materials, Su Huan melted them directly with high temperature.
In no time, the entire sixth carriage was opened up into one space.
“Su, it’s pretty much dismantled.” Qi Xiao Ba called out.
Yu Jing also walked over with an electric drill, sizing up the new space. “The shelves need to consider weight balance to avoid damaging the underframe.”
Su Huan straightened up, carrying a seat, and scanned the open carriage. “First melt the existing metal materials into steel bars. If it’s not enough, we’ll dismantle some more from the back. Yu Jing, you arrange the positions.”
He paused, then suddenly said, “Remember to reserve space for the water tank and fuel tank.”
Yu Jing lifted her chin slightly, thoughtful. “How big should the space be for the water tank?”
“Same as supplies—every carriage needs one. How much can it hold at most?”
Yu Jing lowered her gaze and calculated silently. “Theoretically, one carriage could hold dozens of tons, but considering it doesn’t affect operation, about ten tons. Any more and the burden is too great.”
“Ten tons…” Su Huan pondered for a moment. “No need for that much. Storage is the priority. Reserve space for four tons of water per carriage.”
“What about the fuel tank?”
Yu Jing asked seriously. Every demand from this man seemed like he was replicating some predetermined results.
“Enough to support the flamethrower.”
Yu Jing got a bit excited, revealing her pretty little tiger teeth. “Then just fuel alone won’t be enough. We’ll need to add some more potent fuel additive.”
Then Yu Jing began directing the two to start building the shelves.
With Qi Xiao Ba, they skipped the most troublesome parts—metal cutting and welding.
Even those metal scraps could be pinched and pulled by Xiao Ba into a nice steel bar.
As they just started here, Liang Kuan and Yu Yue, who had finished their tasks, also joined in.
“A bit more to the side, yes, a bit higher. The middle of the shelf should be easy to access. There’ll be more small items, so cut more compartments…”
“Xiao Ba, seal that window in the back first… Not enough?”
“Fifth carriage has a lot of metal. Dismantle some more.”
The few of them were spun around under her directions, but it made things much easier for Su Huan.
Watching the storage carriage gradually take shape, with all windows sealed shut, his sense of security was also being built up bit by bit.
Looking around, rows of metal shelves connected directly to the ceiling, standing firmly in place even if the train body vibrated.
Bright lights replaced sunlight, illuminating the shelves.
The group threw miscellaneous items out of the train. Liang Kuan carried in box after box of shelf-stable canned food, while Yu Yue took paper and pen to record beside them.
The woman recorded very seriously. This was the new job Su Huan had given her.
Warehouse administrator.
Recording inventory quantities and daily supplies consumption.
Su Huan walked behind her, looked at the wild handwriting on the notebook, and frowned slightly. “How much?”
Yu Yue jumped in fright and quickly answered, “The most abundant foods are various canned food and fresh water, like canned meats, fruits, and grains—a total of over three thousand cans.”
