Chapter 122: Data Collector
Xiao Zhao didn’t drop the ball either. She participated in the project’s production throughout, and was very familiar with every process and detail. No matter what question Su Huan asked, she could handle it.
For such an excellent young man, he was also willing to give a little more opportunity.
Based on Xiao Zhao’s explanation, Su Huan quickly gained a comprehensive understanding of the information hub built by Professor Ma and the others.
They used 5250 25T hard drives to assemble 70 hard drive cabinets, building a 100PB database, but the problem arose.
Excluding monitors, drones, and such, just this one database consumed over 5000 kWh of electricity per day, comparable to a small factory, while the two hydrogen-powered trains under their feet had a total capacity of only 440 kWh.
To run this thing at full power, there was only one way: the Train Conductor does nothing else and stays here all day as a power bank.
But that was impossible.
So Professor Ma and the others studied it and divided the database into sections, then activated them in rotation, with one of the students who had awakened as an energizer responsible for power supply, ensuring the database ran normally.
Moreover, the armored train didn’t need 100PB of storage now; they could figure it out later when needed.
The subsequent information hub construction was all centered around this database, which was Carriage 11 that Su Huan had just seen.
However, the functions the information hub could achieve now were not many; both software and hardware were still being built. They had only rewired circuits for internal communication and added some surveillance cameras inside and outside the carriages.
For example, previously Liang Kuan noticed a strange noise at the front of the train but had no time to check; now he could do a simple check directly through the added cameras.
There was also Wan Xing’s surveillance of gene potion quantities in the refrigerator, checking carriage bridge connection status, the second floor of the storage carriage…
In addition, there were various alert measures, such as monitoring the status of all the train’s glass. If any glass suddenly broke, a warning would be received immediately, and so on.
Watching Xiao Zhao continuously switch cameras, Su Huan felt increasingly satisfied.
Although many of these things were trivial before the apocalypse, for him who started from scratch, it was a major breakthrough.
These things either existed or they didn’t; they couldn’t be rushed.
Without Professor Ma and the others, even if Su Huan was driven to death, he couldn’t build a database, modify drones, or even implement the long-planned full-train surveillance, which only went smoothly after they arrived.
Although the functions were still very basic now, with this foundation, they could be upgraded gradually later.
At least hope was visible.
After checking the progress, Su Huan didn’t stint on his praise. “The current results are acceptable; I’m very satisfied.”
The busy students around all breathed a sigh of relief at that moment, and even their footsteps became lighter.
Professor Ma beside them wasn’t so nervous, but upon hearing this, he also showed a pleased smile.
“Next, I have one more thing to assign to you: make a railway track detector. The drone at the front of the train is very good; discovering problems two or three hundred meters ahead is fine.”
Su Huan continued.
Xiao Zhao’s expression turned serious. She immediately took out her tablet to record the demand, then asked, “Does this detector have any other requirements besides detecting obstacles and broken tracks? Does it need detailed monitoring of buildings, vehicles, and mountainsides along the tracks?”
Su Huan nodded satisfiedly. This ability to think further was very good; no wonder Professor Ma was willing to give this kid an opportunity.
“What you just said can be appropriately included, but my most urgent need right now is only one.” Su Huan held up one finger in front of his eyes, his expression calm. “Mine sweeping.”
……
Old Liu set aside the Qing Steel in his hand; this was the second piece today.
The train was extremely short on manufacturers now; almost all manufacturers were continuously handcrafting new materials, including crew members like him who had regular duties.
But he only needed to produce one standard Tier 1 light armor per day; the rest of the time was spent repairing vehicles.
Although time was a bit tight, there was nothing bad about it. As long as there was work to do, there was food to eat, and continuous work meant the train’s development was normal, so he could keep eating.
Work one day, eat one day.
Steady.
He got up, tidied his crossbody bag, packed a few commonly used tools, then took out his glass cup, poured a bit of boiling water to scald the tea stains at the bottom, dumped it out, added a small bag of black tea, filled it with boiling water, screwed on the lid, and hung it on his waist.
This boiling water was naturally the crew’s welfare; as long as he stayed on the train for a day, food, drink, and lodging were all covered.
They also had salary, but not as much as Old San’s, and it could only be settled in points, issued weekly based on completed work, totaling 5 points.
It could be exchanged for some daily necessities.
He exchanged it all for tea leaves.
Before starting work each day, he brewed a cup, didn’t put it in his bag, just hung it on his waist, and as he walked through the rear carriages, it jingled along.
All eyes in the train would be on him.
Even if those passengers could scavenge plenty of good stuff outside, who wouldn’t envy his cup of tea?
To be honest, although life was a bit tougher now, he truly felt it had more flavor than before the apocalypse.
Fragrant rice, fragrant tea, and even work felt energizing.
After brewing the tea, he looked at the table, where a list had long been placed.
This list was usually handwritten by translator Old Hu, assigning the next day’s tasks after dinner in the evening.
His thick fingers ran over the list.
“Lu Xiao’s team vehicle repair ×1, fire truck routine maintenance ×3…”
‘This Lu Xiao has such a high task execution frequency; who knows how many points he’s earned.’
Although he thought so, Old Liu wasn’t too envious; people were different.
Some people had ambition and were willing to climb up, but there were plenty like him who preferred stability.
He casually stuffed the list into his bag, and Old Liu hummed a tune as he headed to the rear.
Passing through Carriage 16, he greeted a few familiar workers, then walked further back amid envious and jealous gazes.
The passengers in the rear carriages had just returned, shaking off their raincoats one by one, checking supplies. Their drenched, bedraggled dampness hadn’t been wiped dry yet before they started lining up at the front to hand over train tickets. By the time they finished, their clothes were soaked through.
“Excuse me, excuse me.”
Old Liu shouted while squeezing through the crowd.
He didn’t mind the acid rain splashing on him; after all, he was an evolver now. As long as he wasn’t soaked in acid rain for long periods, this erosion was nothing to him.
These passengers didn’t have the composure of the workers up front; either they stared at him coldly or came up fawningly asking this and that.
Just like refugees looking at the landlord’s long-term farmhand: envy, jealousy, with a hint of irrepressible resentment.
But Old Liu cared even less; as long as he was on this train, no one dared lay a finger on him.
Positions on the train were already tight now; no one wanted to be driven off unless desperate.
Moreover, with the Train Conductor’s personality, if you caused trouble, it wasn’t certain whether your legs or your head would leave the train first.
After passing more than a dozen carriages, Old Liu saw two familiar faces—not entirely familiar, just boarded in the last couple of days.
One was in his twenties, always carrying a backpack, not even setting it down on the train; the other was around thirty, unkempt beard, wearing a gold ring on his left hand, always covered in a raincoat—Old Liu had never seen him take it off.
However, their behavior wasn’t strange in a carriage of over a thousand people.
The reason Old Liu remembered these two was that they paid for three days at once.
And unlike other passengers, they didn’t desperately squeeze toward the front of the carriage.
The two of them just quietly squatted in the rear carriage.
After exchanging a couple words, their mental state seemed fine, but he’d never seen them socialize with those around.
They didn’t even inquire about the train’s situation.
That was pretty strange.
Once he left, the two exchanged a glance. The young man, more seasoned, comforted the one wearing the ring. “Don’t be nervous; just collect data normally.”
The man twisted the ring on his hand and smiled bitterly. “It’s just that it’s my first time entering another force to carry out a task, so I’m a bit nervous.”
“You’ve seen it these past two days: the armored train has basically no control over the passengers in the back. Main members and activities are concentrated in the front carriages. As long as we don’t show our faces, even evolvers won’t discover us.”
……
“What’s the deal with those two? Won’t the Train Conductor do anything about it?”
Jiang Rong leaned against a fire truck, folding her raincoat while asking puzzledly.
Although she could dry the moisture directly, she had a charging task later and couldn’t waste energy casually.
Lu Xiao rubbed his stubble-covered chin thoughtfully. “I mentioned it to the Train Conductor last time, but he told us to ignore those two. Probably holding back something big again.”
The sound of a door opening behind interrupted their conversation.
Looking back, it was Old Liu, so they relaxed.
Since the other was an auto mechanic and they’d interacted a lot, they had some rapport.
“Old Liu’s here.”
Lu Xiao greeted with a smile.
“Heard you’re repairing vehicles; which one broke down today?”
Old Liu circled his pickup truck once, frowning.
Lu Xiao crossed his arms and smacked his lips. “What else? The front of the vehicle, of course. It got smashed again. Fix it properly for me this time; we’re old friends, after all.”
“Nonsense! I don’t make money fixing for you. You think I want to keep repairing it over and over!”
Seeing Old Liu a bit anxious, Lu Xiao laughed it off.
Old Liu pulled out his tools and muttered, “If it weren’t for the front modifications lacking Qing Steel everywhere, I’d use that material for you too—absolutely tough. Now I can only patch it with ordinary materials…”
“See if you can add a ramming horn and explosion-proof net or something, so zombies don’t keep climbing on my glass; it’s disgusting.”
“Alright, alright…”
Old Liu started repairing the vehicle.
Interrupted like this, the two had no intention of continuing the earlier topic.
Soon, Xiao Ma came over with his brothers.
After this period of training, the student restlessness on Xiao Ma had lessened a lot, and he had gained a steady demeanor.
As long as Miao Qi wasn’t there, he was the second-in-command of the team.
“Brother Xiao, this time we got a full three Tier 1 mutated beasts. Time to exchange a sniper rifle for sis-in-law.”
