Armed Train in the Apocalypse-Chapter 357 - 243: The Train’s Power Problem

If he were to manage the cultivation cabin, would it mean he’d jump straight to Level 5 Crew?

Skipping four levels?!

Thinking about the benefits associated with Level 5 Crew, Li Han was thrilled to the point of being tense all over.

He was frozen in place as a result.

Huang Sea saw that he was slow to respond and immediately understood what was going on.

The conductor doesn’t like to waste words, important matters might come out during casual conversation, but for those not familiar with his style, it seems sudden and catches people off guard.

Hastily patting him on the shoulder, he laughed, "Don’t just get excited, quickly make a promise!"

"I’m sorry, I was just too happy and didn’t react for a moment, but I promise the conductor, I definitely..."

Li Han said excitedly.

Halfway through, Su Huan interrupted by shaking his head, he wasn’t into pleasantries, "Just start working, do well and the benefits will follow, do poorly and you’ll end up as fertilizer."

The other four people, including Xiaowang, looked enviously at him.

Ever since the train’s reformation, promotions have become stricter and positions scarce.

Like those Tier One Evolvers on Black Kite are all stuck among Level 1 and Level 2 Crew.

Li Han’s luck is remarkable, having just arrived a few days ago and being named by the conductor for promotion, saying that if he performs well, the benefits will follow. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But since he’s already in that position.

Without comparison, as long as he doesn’t make trouble, isn’t he doing well?

Li Han believed Su Huan was encouraging him in this way, nodding repeatedly.

Su Huan slightly frowned, the Crown Pear tree is crucial, it cannot allow for any negligence.

So he pointed his finger on the heads of Li Han and the other four, seriously saying, "Maybe I didn’t make it clear; as long as the tree is there, you guys can be absent; if the tree isn’t, you five turn into fertilizer."

Seeing Su Huan’s black as ink pupils, all five of their faces stiffened, stammering without daring to speak.

Su Huan didn’t care what they thought.

Goofing off is human nature, but so is the fear of death.

Having finally secured a stable life on the train, no one would think their life cheap, risking it due to negligence.

"Alright, take me to see the pears."

Su Huan turned and headed to the higher tree canopies.

The group jogged to keep up.

...

After Su Huan had gone through the details of the cultivation cabin thoroughly, the train had completely docked with the cabin.

A large number of materials and parts were transported from the train to the cultivation cabin.

Outside, the sound of the train’s whistle starting was audible, and by the time Su Huan sauntered to the front of the train, it had already left Guan Chong City.

The surrounding structures above water gradually decreased.

Occasionally, some remnants that looked like they had been bombarded were visible.

These were the hunting results of He Jie during this period of time.

Everything that could potentially threaten the train on this route was dismantled into various materials and thrown into the warehouse.

As Su Huan stepped onto the command platform, Shu Wei said softly behind him, "Crew Chief Hu wants to see you."

"What’s it about?"

"Regarding the train’s energy."

Su Huan thought for a moment, puzzled, "I remember a batch of fuel was just stored in a few days ago, right?"

"About 120 barrels, totaling 24,000 liters of fuel."

Shu Wei accurately reported the numbers.

"That’s not much..." Su Huan tapped his forehead, "Currently, how much fuel do we have on the train?"

"Sixty percent."

The train has a total reserve of a hundred thousand liters of fuel, sixty percent amounts to sixty thousand.

That is, after continuous replenishment along the way.

Unfortunately, most of Guan Chong City’s oil is hidden underwater, which is hard to extract, and He Jie has only managed to gather over twenty thousand liters in recent days.

But that’s just a drop in the bucket.

Now, there’s a cultivation cabin attached at the back, and inside there’s a supercomputer.

Although no specific reports have been seen, Su Huan feels it’s also a terrifying figure.

Soon, Hu hurriedly walked in, scanned around, quickly climbed onto the command platform, handing over a stack of data before he even arrived.

Shu Wei beside them took it, skimming through it quickly, line by line.

Hu ignored her, saying to Su Huan, "Conductor, we’re running out of energy."

Su Huan was momentarily surprised, "Aren’t there still sixty thousand liters?"

Hu shook his head, "I established an energy squad within the logistics team, charging the train’s various equipment regularly to decrease some fuel consumption, since fuel power generation loses nearly 50% of its energy, I’ve been using almost all the Power Suppliers on rotations each day, combined with Captain He’s continuous fuel acquisition, barely maintaining consumption."

"After the latest expert calculation, the train’s auxiliary electricity consumption per month is close to a million kilowatt-hours."

Su Huan was startled, "A million kilowatt-hours? A million units of electricity? Not counting the energy used during train operation?"

Hu said with a wry smile, "Exactly."

"Where does it all go?"

Just finished reviewing the data, Shu Wei immediately explained, "The majority goes to various labs; they require stable voltage to maintain equipment operation, hence some wastage, followed by storage room freezers, air conditioning, car compartment farms, onboard systems, and the crew’s living electricity use, which also includes the supercomputer’s electricity consumption."

Why is it so damn much?

Su Huan frowned.

He finally got away from the dependency on power banks, must he now recharge the train?

What if he needs to leave the train on business in the future?

Stopping production and operations, settling in place?

"By the way, among the five thousand survivors, how many ’Power Suppliers’ are there?"

"A total of eight hundred people."

Hu replied immediately.

Su Huan was surprised, "You’ve been eyeing them for a while, haven’t you? Use them."

"But they are all newly evolved, with very little power generation..."

"All combined still isn’t enough?"

Hu gave a strange look, "All together, they might not even match half of yours."

Just from that day’s armor catastrophe, the conductor sitting there, thunder rolling down by the thousands, accumulating tens of thousands of degrees of electricity per minute!

Su Huan froze.

Still can’t escape the fate of being a charger?

No!

He’s going to fight back!

"A million kilowatt-hours a month, right?"

"For the time being, yes, but we don’t have the equipment to store a million units of electricity at once, so..."

Su Huan sighed, "Let those eight hundred charge the small devices slowly, get a couple of larger storage units, I’ll spare ten minutes after finishing daily tasks."

"Starting today?"

"No, tomorrow!"

Su Huan firmly replied.

"Alright, I’ll remind you tomorrow."

Hu politely and respectfully withdrew.

Leaving the conductor standing gloomily on the spot.

Shu Wei watched from the side, noticing the man’s drooping brows and eyes, inexplicably sensing a kind of humbleness for his career from him.

A bit... cute, oh, it should be a bit amusing.

Does the fearless conductor also have times when he’s forced to do things?

Interesting.

Shu Wei’s eyes shone.

"Where are we?"

Su Huan suddenly asked.

Shu Wei glanced at the shared map on the tablet, "Just reached the outskirts of Guan Chong City, the train’s speed on the water isn’t fast."

"Speed up."

"I want to check out Jingchao Lake."

...

The clouds seemed like another sea, pressed exceedingly low.

As if a colossal, dark hide covered the water surface, folds storing enormous energy, ready at any moment to tear it apart, flipping everything.

Rain poured down onto the ironwood deck with such force it didn’t seem like rain, more like it wanted to leave something behind.

Mongoose, wearing a green raincoat, stood atop the train, a small face hidden in the hood.

Her eyes reflected the restless sea.

The searchlight cast a small patch of light across the sea; although frequently shattered, it still appeared consistently.

With a loud rumble, a massive wave rolled over, yet was mercilessly crushed by the armored train.

Mongoose keenly sensed a hint of danger.

But seeing the scales and claws made her retract her gaze.

This Tier Two crocodile had already become an old friend of the train, having been severely electrocuted by the conductor once, seemingly holding a grudge, it’s been following the armored train since the mountain collapse.

Sly and slippery.

Also a cowardly one.

He Jie had plotted against it several times, but it always managed to escape.

Its skin and armor were thick, once it delved deeper into the water, cannons couldn’t kill it.

They could only let it follow.

When storms appeared, it appeared; when they vanished, it would hunt for food.

Mongoose’s ears twitched, turning her head.

Seeing a figure emerge from the train car, stand on the deck for a moment, then braving the wind and rain, walk towards her.