Chapter 183: Framework Design
“Off the railway track?”
“Hiss…”
The numerous experts looked at each other in dismay; this was even worse than discussing the quantum levitation issue.
Deputy General Manager Deng hesitated for a moment before saying, “If the train doesn’t run on the railway track, then we can only add tracks, but not to mention maintaining a speed of over a hundred kilometers per hour, even exceeding sixty would be difficult.”
“Sixty?” Su Huan was somewhat surprised—not that it was too little, but that it exceeded expectations by too much; he had even prepared for only thirty, “What about the load? Can it maintain the current weight of the armored train?”
If speed is lost, then weight becomes the armored train’s last moat.
With a rush of floodwater, without tens of thousands of tons of weight, everything is in vain.
“Weight is no problem; the current armored train weighs just over ten thousand tons, evenly distributed across fifty-five carriages. As long as we make the track’s ground contact area larger, the load-bearing capacity can even easily double.”
Deputy General Manager Deng adjusted his glasses and said seriously.
Finally hearing some good news, Su Huan also breathed a sigh of relief, then handed over the floor to Director Xu.
He would interface with the manufacturing base on specific goals.
These experts had just breathed a sigh of relief when Director Xu introduced the dense, fanciful modification goals, sucking that breath right back in.
Because they were no longer facing Su Huan, the experts also had the courage to raise questions.
Director Xu and Professor Ma took turns answering.
Xiao Zhao turned on the 300-inch spliced large screen at the back, projecting some detailed pictures of the armored train onto it.
At first, everyone was a bit reserved, but later they gradually became attracted to this wild and imaginative modification.
A group of old men with an average age over fifty began a heated discussion.
“We can add some mechanical arms outside the carriage, like those on the space station, which can serve as cranes and also perform some auxiliary operations.”
“We have to consider mutated beasts and zombies; in the face of that terrifying force, mechanical arms are no different from a branch.”
“Then make them foldable; normally retracted on the body, and when encountering situations, they can be extended to embed into the ground to stabilize the vehicle. I see the train now has two levels, height exceeding six meters, so we need to consider balance issues.”
“Balance is easy to solve; since we’re adding tracks, we can just widen the entire vehicle body to solve the balance problem, and it can also expand the internal space.”
“What about tunnel width limits?”
“After Qingchuan, there are basically no more mountains, so width and height limits don’t need to be considered.”
“Besides, with tracks, we can just drive on the road; what width limits? With such thick armor, just crash through!”
The round-faced Deputy General Manager Deng said excitedly.
Clearly, this old man was bold when he was young.
“Cough cough…”
Director Xu coughed lightly, interrupting the intense atmosphere, and straightened the data in front of him, “The mechanical arm idea is good, but what we need to solve now is the train-to-ship modification problem.”
“Modifying to a ship isn’t difficult. I remember President Wan has a ship parts manufacturing factory in Shun’an, right?”
Deputy General Manager Deng said.
Wan Hao, who had been silent on the side, nodded, “It specializes in making propulsion system parts; if needed, they can be brought over anytime.”
“But it’s not as simple as modifying to a ship; based on the description, it feels more like modifying to a submarine,” an expert suddenly said.
Everyone looked at the data description again.
“It really is; to face floods over ten meters deep, staying in the carriage for over thirty days—my goodness, an underwater train, just like the sci-fi stories I read as a kid.”
The factory director said jokingly.
Seeing Su Huan listening with his legs crossed and a smiling expression, everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot.
Scientific research isn’t something you can force out by pushing; moreover, everyone present is a seasoned veteran who can figure things out without pressure.
A more relaxed atmosphere might spark better ideas.
Anyway, the ultimate beneficiaries are all him, so why not.
Led by Deputy General Manager Deng, they quickly listed the key difficulties in the ship modification.
First is sealing and anti-corrosion.
Second is internal circulation.
Third is propulsion system.
Fourth is positioning.
Fifth is security.
Su Huan listened with great interest on the side; each item had a lot of details when broken down.
For example, internal circulation.
If the flood doesn’t recede for a long time, the train will have to stay submerged underwater.
The most direct problem is oxygen consumption.
But the train doesn’t need to worry about energy issues, so this is easy to solve.
Just bring enough oxygen generators.
Then add something like “LiOH filters,” which, according to Su Huan’s understanding, are for purifying carbon dioxide.
“Anaerobic digestion tanks” for processing kitchen waste, which can turn it into methane.
Non-degradable garbage is compressed and packaged with a compressor, first stored in the isolation compartment, and discarded after surfacing.
There are also air circulation systems and temperature control systems.
Even the toilet issue is considered, proposing a solution of vacuum toilets + incineration processors.
Among them, positioning is the scouting and positioning method in the water.
After all, floodwaters are turbulent and murky; relying on visual observation is unreliable.
Traditional detection methods are disrupted by general energy.
Fortunately, evolution solves many problems; what machinery and science can’t resolve, evolvers and general energy can handle. Like the mutated plants in carriages 7 and 8, which can provide quite a bit of oxygen, serving as an extra layer of insurance beyond the oxygen generators.
Time unknowingly reached evening; outside the window, it was still pouring rain, dark clouds pressing the night even deeper, and looking out, only the faint lights of the sentries were visible.
The excited crowd in the meeting room noticed nothing.
“Knock knock knock”
A knock suddenly sounded at the meeting room door.
Everyone was stunned and instinctively looked toward Su Huan at the head seat.
“Come in.”
Hu Shuo, wearing an administrative jacket, pushed the door open and walked in, bowing beside Su Huan and saying, “Train Conductor, personnel have been settled, the train has been given a simple cleanup, and I’ve had the logistics group prepare some meals. Should I bring them in?”
Su Huan glanced at the room full of old men, then remembered they hadn’t eaten yet.
He was an evolver and could go three or four days without issue, but if these old men starved, it would be over—the train modification plan would fall apart!
He gave Old Hu an approving look, “Bring them in.”
With Su Huan’s affirmation, Hu Shuo straightened up with a smile, “I imagine all the experts are hungry after discussing all day; we’ve prepared some simple meals, so everyone can eat while chatting.”
After speaking, several logistics group members behind him immediately pushed in a few small carts, serving plates of meals onto the table, instantly making the experts’ eyes light up.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t eaten good food; with their status, what delicacies hadn’t they tasted?
But this is the apocalypse.
The table in front of them had over twenty dishes in total.
Except for a lack of fresh vegetables, the abundance was no less than before the apocalypse.
All things not available in the manufacturing base.
Everyone gained a deeper understanding of the armored train’s strength.
At a time like this, whoever can fill bellies holds power!
If the food is good, that’s like being the king!
While others were serving, Hu Shuo placed the metal lunchbox he had been carrying on the table in front of Su Huan.
Opening it revealed spicy oil-braised chicken rice; seeing the black sesame on the rice in the middle, Su Huan knew who made it without him saying.
In the entire carriage, only Yu Yue had this thoughtfulness.
They discussed late into the night and finally settled on the modification sequence for the armored train’s third phase.
First, perform frame modifications, widening the train overall, then installing tracks without removing the wheels, allowing the train to switch freely between railway tracks and other terrains.
Next, split the train into two sections, adding some carriages to form two trains of fifty carriages each.
On tracks, they would run normally front and back, each with two fronts of the train and two power carriages.
When encountering floods, detach from the railway track, bring the two trains side by side, connect in the middle with high-strength materials, expanding to about six meters wide and fifty carriages long.
With this design, the armored train’s space instantly more than triples.
And when facing floods, the middle layer can serve as deck and pontoon effects, improving stability and laying the groundwork for subsequent train-to-ship modifications.
It can be said to kill three birds with one stone.
This was Su Huan’s favorite idea tonight; though he hadn’t slept for two nights, he was still too excited to sleep and eager to see it implemented.
(This damn AI doesn’t understand such a great idea, so I can only let you see the style; don’t scrutinize the schematic details)
Normally, just this frame would take months to build, but with Xiao Ba, time can be shortened tenfold.
All projects involving cutting and fusion can be completed in extremely short times; places needing large equipment can even have evolvers carry them by hand.
So the biggest challenge in modification is first designing these concepts on paper.
Fortunately, the top-tier train manufacturing experts in the country are sitting here, each with their specialties; after receiving tasks, they excitedly went back.
Soon, only Su Huan and a few others remained in the entire meeting room.
Su Huan stretched lazily and asked indifferently, “Figured it out?”
Hu Shuo said respectfully, “Total of five thousand two hundred thirty people, no discrepancies; the management is still the original leadership team of the factory. After the apocalypse, the factory director and several managers used their remaining authority to quickly control the warehouse, then led security to gradually clear zombies inside the base…”
“There were a few mutated beast attacks during that time, but they all survived, so the base as a whole hasn’t changed much.”
Su Huan looked at the night outside the window and said calmly, “As long as these old men don’t die, it’s not easy to stir chaos. Did you find what I asked you to check?”
Hu Shuo shook his head, “We turned the entire base upside down; only some security personnel are retired, not a single active-duty one.”
“No enforcers either?”
“None, but many employees in the base have some organization backgrounds, including active-duty relatives, but they don’t know where those people went.”
Su Huan slightly lowered his head, messy long hair covering his narrow eyes.
The entire Dong Huang military and enforcers, millions of armed forces, vanished without a word.
Thinking about it is chilling.
“Do you think it’s because their level wasn’t high enough, or…”
Hu Shuo decisively denied, “This old factory director of the high-speed rail manufacturing base is absolutely high-level enough, including those deputy general managers; they are all veterans, otherwise they wouldn’t be in such key positions.”
Pausing for a moment, Hu Shuo continued, “I looked at some internal data from the manufacturing base; high-speed train production has been increasing year by year in recent years, but I asked some personnel separately, and they said it’s normal—2030-2035 was itself a period of rapid development.”
Su Huan’s gaze suddenly turned to Wan Hao’s face beside him, “What does President Wan think?”
Wan Hao speculated, “Could it be that the apocalypse news wasn’t transmitted by level, but by relevance?”
“Relevance?” Su Huan savored those words.
What relevance does the Steel Council have to the apocalypse?
Why did they get the news, but a factory like the manufacturing base didn’t?
And those major forces from his previous life didn’t seem more relevant either.
“Yes, for example, my company involves ocean shipping, which is irrelevant, so naturally not on the notification list,” Wan Hao said.
Hu Shuo sighed, “Such a big event, and there wasn’t even a whisper in the private sector.”
“The private sector always knows last; by then it’s all after-the-fact summaries,” Wan Hao sighed, “Mobilizing millions of people with this level of secrecy—only Dong Huang could do it.”
“Those in the know were probably all taken away.” Su Huan stood up, “No point talking more; President Wan, have you figured out how to take over the manufacturing base?”
Wan Hao stood up and bowed slightly, “The manufacturing base matter still depends on you, Train Conductor.”
“I’ll stay here at most a month; when I leave, I’ll take a batch of experts, leaving six or seven thousand people—this is no small scale. Don’t say I didn’t give you time to build your own team.”
Su Huan waved his hand.
……
Acid Rain Area, Dongping City Logistics Center.
The car wreckage originally piled messily in front of the logistics center had been cleared clean, with rows of trucks neatly arranged in the open space.
The original metal fence had become a six-meter-high wall, with tactical compact electromagnetic cannons mounted on sentries, effective range up to ten kilometers, and teams of armed personnel patrolling inside with guns.
The logistics center hall, originally piled with corpses, had been cleared empty; the spacious interior was repartitioned into a three-layer armed base.
In a certain office on the third floor, Haywood stood in front of a special communication device, nodding and bowing as he spoke.
“It’s like this: the Steel Council is gone; now Li Wangchuan hopes to reach a deal with us in his personal capacity. He has gathered the Steel Council survivors who scattered, plus recent intakes, restoring numbers to five thousand.”
“For the company, numbers mean nothing unless he has something more compelling,” a deep male voice from the other side of the communication device said. “Right now, his value is less than that armored train that luckily wiped them out.”
Haywood showed emotion on his face, “I didn’t expect the selected company to be taken down by a force of survivors; good thing I sent two collectors in advance. Headquarters will receive the complete battlefield report in a few days.”
“One fluke doesn’t mean always; a small force that can’t even touch the truth can only huddle in the safe zone, clinging to survival.”
