Kinetic Energy Recovery

The stench of rot that had accumulated in the carriage dissipated along with the smell of blood from overhead.

Su Huan raised his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sunlight. "How does the evolution feel?"

Liang Kuan instinctively touched his left shoulder. "There's something extra in my brain. I'm a 'Defender', and my current skills are Lv1 'Combat Factor' and Lv1 'Shield Mastery'."

Su Huan was just about to nod when he realized what was said and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Two skills? Have you used cold weapons like shields before?"

"My uncle taught me a few techniques when I was a kid, but I've pretty much forgotten them all."

"No wonder..."

Su Huan narrowed his eyes. If that was the case, Liang Kuan's career path would need to be re-planned.

He had originally intended to assign Liang Kuan to a role like "Firepower Specialist" or "Gun Master".

He hadn't expected him to be a niche Shield Warrior.

The growth potential of cold weapons in the later stages was actually quite high.

But that was still a long way off. Su Huan walked toward the front carriage, while Liang Kuan followed behind, carrying his somewhat deformed sword and shield.

"By the way, does the train have anything like a handbrake?" Su Huan asked casually as he melted the lock on the door to the next carriage with high heat and pushed it open.

Liang Kuan paused for a moment. "Of course. A train this big definitely has a braking system. Like our old-fashioned one, it's usually next to the wheels at the bottom of every carriage. You have to operate them one by one. I was afraid of an emergency and not having enough time, so I never locked them."

This carriage was quite clean, but looking at the scattered suitcases, it seemed people had fled when the incident occurred.

Su Huan examined the internal structure of the train. "What about this Hydrogen Train?"

"It should be an air-spring parking brake, or something like that. I don't know the specific mechanics, but most electric trains are like that; they lock up once the pressure is released," Liang Kuan answered uncertainly.

Su Huan tried to channel energy directly into the train's engine beneath his feet, but it didn't work. The train seemed as if it had been firmly nailed to the ground.

This meant that every time he encountered a train blocking the tracks like this, he would have to get out and move it, or force it to derail.

He couldn't drive it directly with energy.

It was very troublesome.

As the two walked forward to inspect the damage to the Hydrogen Train, Liang Kuan explained some basic knowledge about trains to him.

By the time they reached the cockpit, Su Huan had a basic understanding of the train beneath his feet.

The Hydrogen Train carriages were 34.8m long, 2.7m wide, and 4.28m high in total, with an internal height of 2.1m. They were longer and narrower than the green-skinned carriages and shorter than the old-fashioned carriages equipped with air conditioning.

As for the two points he was most concerned about:

First, could it be driven by energy? Yes.

Second, did it have kinetic energy carriages? No.

However—

The power system of this train used a distributed design. Each carriage had fuel cells and lithium batteries on the roof and chassis, with two carriages sharing one power system.

In other words, every two carriages could be treated as an independent train.

There were twelve carriages in total. After removing the four that were too badly damaged, Su Huan could salvage eight.

That was equivalent to four independently operable train heads.

If he dismantled them all and inserted them into his existing Armed Train, the lack of power would be solved.

Although he couldn't get hydrogen, the Hydrogen Train had a kinetic energy recovery function that could convert kinetic energy into electricity to store in the batteries; it would just charge while running attached to the train.

With these eight carriages, the train's electricity and fuel consumption could be further reduced.

Su Huan only intended to act as the core energy source for the train in the later stages.

He didn't want to actually turn himself into a power bank.

If the train lost power the moment he left, that wouldn't do.

As for how to arrange them:

The rear of the train definitely needed a set so that reversing wouldn't be so slow, and they could run faster if they encountered trouble.

One could be added in front of the dining car and the sightseeing carriage, but these carriages had to be added in pairs and couldn't be separated. Since the dining car currently served as the team's conference room and gathered a large number of people, it couldn't be too far back.

If he added them, they would have to go behind the sightseeing carriage.

That meant moving Carriage No. 3—his private space—to the front.

After thinking it through, Su Huan said, "Let's go move the train now. Dismantle both the Hydrogen Train and the Armed Train. Arrange them in the order of the train head, Carriage No. 3, the dining car, the sightseeing carriage, two Hydrogen Train carriages, the food storage carriage, and one luggage carriage. Move all the previous armed carriages to the back."

"As for the remaining six, put four at the very end, and you can decide where to put the other two."

The luggage carriage was about the same size as the passenger carriages, but it had no windows, only a few vents, and featured a double door about 2.5 meters wide and 2.2 meters high.

Placing it behind the food storage carriage served two purposes: to separate it from the passengers, and to create a workshop for Yu Jing.

There would be more and more need for mechanical modifications in the future.

Constantly hammering away in his own room wasn't a sustainable solution.

Liang Kuan rubbed his stubble. "There are plenty of tracks here, so it can be managed, but doing it all by myself will take a lot of time."

"Just get the carriages arranged for me by the end of today!"

"Understood."

After gauging their position, they realized they were about three kilometers from South Station, so the two of them drove the Hydrogen Train back.

Qi Xiaoba forged a massive steel plate about ten meters behind the Armed Train, severing the tracks to prevent any sudden zombie hordes or similar incidents.

Some of the workers from the rear were let down, and Yu Jing was directing them to clean the locomotive and remove that two-meter-sixty Butcher from the cowcatcher.

Watching the train reverse, everyone stopped their work and crouched vigilantly beside the carriage doors.

Su Huan crawled out from the rear carriage and jumped to the ground.

He cast a glance at the Skull Crusher held in the Butcher's hand.

His Pan-Energy Perception fluctuated, sensing only a faint residue of pan-energy within the zombie's body.

It must have been dead for too long; the pan-energy had leaked away significantly, making it impossible to extract a crystal.

Otherwise, he could have earned a little extra.

He looked up as Yu Jing approached, carrying a sniper crossbow, and asked, "How did you design the water tank situation?"

"I plan to use a modular design. Even if we rearrange the carriages, I can ensure the water purifier connects to every tank, and I'll design a high-pressure water gun for each carriage individually."

Su Huan's eyes brightened slightly. "Modular, independent high-pressure water guns—that's a good idea. How long until it can be implemented?"

Yu Jing picked up the notebook in her hand, scribbling as she frowned. "The design isn't complex, but the high-pressure nozzles are a hassle. It takes Xiaoba a long time to forge one."

"Don't worry about the nozzles for now. Liang Kuan will be rescheduling the carriages in a bit; just make sure the water pipes inside the first few carriages are pre-installed," Su Huan said after a moment of thought.

They might not have suitable water guns elsewhere, but fire trucks definitely had them, and they were guaranteed to be powerful.

Yu Jing looked up at the high-tech Hydrogen Train. "Are the carriages being rearranged?"

"Yes, and I've arranged a separate workshop for you. You'll move to..." Su Huan counted on his fingers, "...still Carriage 4. Your original armed carriage will be moved to the back. From now on, the first ten carriages will be our private territory."

"The material of the new carriages doesn't seem very impact-resistant."

Su Huan rubbed his temples and said solemnly, "They're made of lightweight aluminum alloy, so the most important task for you and Xiaoba today is to plate these two carriages with steel."

"And you cannot compromise their airtight and moisture-proof properties."