Tier 1 Light Armor

At seven o'clock, Xiao Ba arrived at the dining car right on time.

He had excellent habits; regardless of whether he had night watch duties, he would show up at the dining car at seven every morning to wait for Su Huan to assign tasks.

By seven-thirty, everyone had arrived one after another.

When Su Huan saw Yu Jing, his gaze brightened slightly—not because she had changed into new clothes, but because of the Pan-Energy fluctuations radiating from her.

Perhaps because she had just evolved, the unconscious rhythm of the Pan-Energy pushed into his sensory range.

"You evolved?"

"lv1 'Pan-Energy Erosion'," she replied, placing a palm-sized piece of metal on the table.

Su Huan picked up the metal and weighed it in his hand. It was unexpectedly light, only about half the weight of normal steel. The feel was similar to the war-chassis materials used by certain large corporations in his past life, though there were subtle differences. His eyes held a hint of novelty. "You altered its weight?"

Yu Jing pinched her earlobe, her demeanor carrying the clear, rational air unique to a researcher. "I fused the claws of a Night Demon into this steel. Now, this plate is not only 52% lighter, but its strength and toughness have also been significantly improved. However, without measuring instruments, I can't give you precise data."

High heat surged in Su Huan's hand, and the steel plate quickly turned red like a soldering iron.

"Don't worry, I've already done high-temperature tests. It's slightly higher than the melting point of steel, and it didn't calcify," Yu Jing said calmly.

"Besides, I feel this isn't its limit. I just didn't have much time, so I brought it to you for verification ahead of schedule."

Su Huan didn't speak, continuing to tinker with the steel plate in his hands. The temperature of the red-hot iron dropped rapidly, emitting a hissing sound. Before long, it returned to its original appearance, looking only slightly greyer than ordinary steel; otherwise, there was no difference.

His eyes held a trace of joy.

Although the color and feel were slightly different, the data for this steel plate Yu Jing had developed was already approaching the level of Tier 1 "Light Armor."

In his past life, Su Huan had been a lone wolf and had no use for such things, but those large corporations invested massive resources into these new materials.

By utilizing the characteristics of a Crafter and combining them with doomsday materials, they had researched quite a few new things.

"Light Armor" was one of them.

Its strength was comparable to high-quality carbon steel, but its toughness far exceeded it; it was resistant to fatigue and weighed only 40% of steel.

If the steel plates of the Armed Train were replaced with this Light Armor material, even without increasing the power, one could easily stack the armor to a thickness of 30mm+.

It was of great significance.

"How long does it take you to synthesize a piece of metal like this?" Su Huan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yu Jing pinched her smooth chin and pondered. "Currently, this material hasn't reached its optimal effect. If I determine its limit, the speed could be a bit faster. Considering my energy limitations, a 1㎡ sheet should take about half a day."

Su Huan furrowed his brows.

This speed was still slow—too slow.

No wonder only large factions could afford to play this game; individuals or small teams didn't have the time to waste on such basic materials.

If Yu Jing didn't evolve, she could work without eating or sleeping for a year and still wouldn't finish plating the entire train.

It seemed he still needed to find a way to mobilize the subjective initiative of the passengers.

The current method of driving them like ducks definitely wouldn't work.

He needed to be like a construction crew, separating a group of people to form a dedicated research or production team, providing enough carrots, and having them work twenty-four hours a day.

If one Crafter could produce two pieces a day, and they slept a little less, three pieces a day wasn't impossible.

They were all Evolutionists; their physiques were good, so pulling all-nighters was no problem.

Wouldn't ten Crafters produce thirty pieces a day?

Looking at it that way, there was great hope.

Thinking of this, Su Huan's furrowed brows slowly smoothed out. He suddenly remembered something and quickly looked at Liang Kuan. "Turn on the air conditioning in the rear carriages, too. The weather will only get hotter from now on, so there's no need to turn it off."

He had almost forgotten about this. It had been raining for the past two days, and the weather was humid, hot, and high-temperature.

It was easy for people to die in this.

If he really worked everyone to death, there would be no one left to work for him later.

Liang Kuan agreed and got up to get busy, though his footsteps were a bit heavier today.

Su Huan watched his broad back, lost in thought. Currently, Liang Kuan was the only one in the small train team who hadn't evolved.

Perhaps the method is wrong.

Take Gao Zhe, for example; he hadn't been exposed to Pan-Energy Crystals, nor had he been in long-term contact with zombies or Evolutionary Beasts, yet he still evolved.

It must be due to the Defender trait.

lv1 "Combat Factor"

He hadn't really paid attention to the cause of a Defender's evolution before, only knowing that such Evolutionists were more likely to break through during combat.

Unlike the other four types, which required holding Pan-Energy Crystals and accumulating slowly, only evolving under specific circumstances.

Su Huan guessed that his own combat style was too safe.

It wasn't conducive to Old Liang's evolution.

But there was no need to worry. They were entering the city today, and there would be plenty of moments where they had to risk their lives. When that time came, he would arrange a few more "scenes" for Old Liang.

Su Huan thought this over, and with his train of thought cleared, he continued.

"There is no need for mass production for now. You only need to create one prototype, then continue researching other things. I want you to explore two specific directions next."

Yu Jing looked up with interest, her phoenix eyes slightly upturned, carrying a spirited energy.

"Which two directions?"

Su Huan pointed toward the train windows. "Although we have steel plates blocking the way, many of the train's windows are shattered, and the airtightness is poor. I want you to continue putting effort into materials and come up with a high-strength transparent substance to replace the standard tempered glass."

"Second, I need you to find a way to solve our transport issues."

"In the future, we will frequently need to venture deep into special terrains to transport supplies and equipment. With our current capabilities, we simply cannot lift those heavy items."

Just bringing back a single water purifier had already been a massive ordeal.

If the terrain was narrow and a forklift couldn't enter, we would be forced to rely on carrying things by hand or shoulder.

But this is an apocalypse riddled with danger; while working on one side, we have to guard against sneak attacks from zombies on the other. It would be a miracle to succeed two or three times out of ten.

Although Su Huan didn't know if this fell under Yu Jing's expertise, she was the closest match on the entire train, so he had no choice but to entrust it to her.

Yu Jing frowned slightly. "If you want to improve individual carrying capacity, the best method is a simple exoskeleton. But that requires a massive amount of calculation and practical testing. We only have a few laptops on the train, and they are all disconnected from the internet. We can't even download the relevant software..."

Su Huan tapped his fingers rhythmically, subconsciously scanning the room, but on matters like these, Wan Xing and the others always just listened in silence.

Only Yu Jing was capable of discussing these things with him.

He sighed inwardly; there was simply a lack of talent.

"Don't worry about the computers. We are entering the city today, so we will find a way to get more electronic equipment. I happen to be planning to install full-train surveillance, so we can handle it all at once."