Chapter 37: First-Tier Light Armor
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At seven o’clock, Little Eight arrived at the dining car right on time.
He kept excellent hours. Whether or not he was assigned a night watch, he came to the dining car at seven every morning to await Su Huan’s orders.
By half past seven, everyone had arrived one after another.
When Su Huan saw Yu Jing, his eyes brightened slightly—not because she had changed into a new outfit, but because of the pan-energy fluctuations emanating from her.
Perhaps because she had only just evolved, the unconscious rhythm of her pan-energy had entered the range of his perception.
“You evolved?”
“Level 1: Pan-Energy Corrosion.”
As she spoke, she placed a piece of metal about the size of her palm on the table.
Su Huan picked it up and weighed it in his hand. It was unexpectedly light, perhaps only half the weight of ordinary steel. The sensation reminded him of the armored vehicles built by certain major corporations in his previous life, though there was a subtle difference in the feel. A trace of curiosity appeared in his eyes.
“You changed its weight?”
Yu Jing pinched her earlobe, her manner carrying the lucid rationality characteristic of a researcher.
“I fused the Night Demon’s claws into this steel. The resulting plate is fifty-two percent lighter, while its strength and toughness have both increased considerably. Unfortunately, without measuring equipment, I can’t give you precise figures.”
A high temperature surged from Su Huan’s hand, and the steel plate quickly reddened like a heated iron.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already tested its resistance to high temperatures. It can withstand temperatures slightly above steel’s melting point without calcifying,” Yu Jing said calmly.
“Besides, I don’t think this is its limit. I simply didn’t have enough time, so I brought it to you early for verification.”
Su Huan said nothing and continued examining the steel plate in his hand. The glowing metal rapidly cooled, giving off a sizzling sound. Before long, it had returned to its original appearance. It was somewhat grayer than ordinary steel, but otherwise there was little difference.
A note of delight entered his eyes.
Although its color and texture were slightly different, the steel plate Yu Jing had developed was already approaching the standard of first-order light armor in terms of its basic properties.
In his previous life, Su Huan had been a lone wolf and had never needed such equipment. The major corporations, however, had invested enormous resources in these new materials.
With the special abilities of manufacturers and the use of apocalyptic materials, they had developed many remarkable products.
Light armor was one of them.
Its strength was comparable to that of high-grade carbon steel, yet its toughness far surpassed ordinary steel. It resisted fatigue, and its weight was only forty percent that of steel.
If the steel plates of an armored train were replaced with this light armor, its armor could easily be layered to a thickness of more than thirty millimeters without any increase in power.
Its significance was immense.
“How long would it take you to synthesize a piece of metal like this?” Su Huan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Yu Jing rubbed her smooth chin and pondered.
“This material hasn’t yet reached its optimal performance. Once its upper limit is confirmed, I should be able to work somewhat faster. Taking my energy limitations into account, a one-square-meter plate would probably take most of a day.”
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Su Huan’s brows drew together.
That speed was still too slow—far too slow.
No wonder only major powers could afford to work with such things. How could an individual or a small group spare so much time for the production of basic materials?
If Yu Jing hadn’t evolved, she could work day and night for an entire year and still fail to finish plating the whole train.
It seemed he still had to find a way to mobilize the passengers’ initiative.
The current method of driving everyone forward like ducks clearly wouldn’t work.
They needed to operate more like a construction crew: set aside a group of people and form a dedicated research or production team, provide them with sufficient incentives, and have them work around the clock.
A single manufacturer could produce two pieces a day. With less sleep, three pieces a day might not be impossible.
Now that they were all evolved, their physiques were strong enough to endure a few sleepless nights.
Ten manufacturers could produce thirty pieces a day.
Viewed that way, there was still considerable hope.
As he thought this, the furrow in Su Huan’s brow gradually relaxed. Then he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly turned toward Liang Kuan.
“Turn on the air-conditioning in the rear carriages as well. The weather will only grow hotter from now on, so leave it running.”
He had almost forgotten. It had been raining for the past two days, making the weather both hot and humid.
That sort of climate could easily kill people.
If he worked everyone to death, there would be no one left to labor for him in the future.
Liang Kuan agreed and rose to take care of it, though his steps seemed heavier than usual today.
Su Huan watched his broad back, his gaze thoughtful. At present, Liang Kuan was the only member of the train’s small group who had not evolved.
Perhaps the method was wrong.
Gao Zhe had never come into contact with pan-energy crystals, nor had he spent long periods around zombies or evolved beasts, yet he had still evolved.
It should be because of the Defender trait.
Level 1: Combat Factor.
Su Huan had never paid much attention to the reasons behind the evolution of Defenders. He only knew that this type of evolved human was more likely to break through during battle.
They were unlike the other four types, which needed to accumulate pan-energy crystals gradually and could evolve only under specific circumstances and conditions.
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Su Huan guessed that his own fighting style was too cautious.
It was not conducive to Old Liang’s evolution.
Still, there was no need to rush. They would be entering the city today, and there would be no shortage of moments when they had to risk their lives. When that time came, he would arrange plenty of battles for Old Liang.
With that thought, Su Huan sorted out his ideas and continued.
“For now, there’s no need to produce these in large quantities. Just make one sample, then continue researching other things. I want you to explore two directions next.”
Yu Jing lifted her head with obvious interest. Her almond-shaped eyes tilted slightly upward, and her expression was suddenly full of vigor.
“What two directions?”
Su Huan raised a hand and pointed toward the windows.
“Although the steel plates provide some protection, many of the train’s windows are broken, so the carriages are poorly sealed. I want you to continue working on the materials and develop some high-strength transparent substance to replace ordinary tempered glass.”
“Second, I need you to find a way to solve the problem of transporting heavy objects.”
“In the future, we’ll often have to go deep into unusual terrain to retrieve supplies and equipment. With our current capabilities, we simply can’t move some of those massive objects.”
They had gone to great lengths just to bring back a single water purifier.
If the terrain was narrow and a forklift couldn’t get through, they would have no choice but to carry everything by hand.
But this was the apocalypse, where danger lurked everywhere. While some people worked, others had to guard against surprise attacks by zombies. Even a success rate of two or three attempts out of ten would count as fortunate.
Su Huan had no idea whether this fell within Yu Jing’s field of expertise, but she was the closest match on the entire train. He could only entrust it to her.
Yu Jing frowned slightly.
“If you want to increase an individual’s carrying capacity, the best solution would be a simple exoskeleton. But that requires extensive calculations and practical testing. There are only a few laptops on the train, and none of them have internet access. We can’t even download the necessary software…”
Su Huan’s fingers moved rhythmically. He instinctively glanced around, but when it came to matters like this, Wan Xing and the others usually remained silent and listened.
Only Yu Jing could discuss such things with him.
He sighed inwardly.
There were still too few talented people.
“We don’t need to worry about the computers for now. We’re entering the city today, so we’ll find a way to acquire more electronic equipment. I was already planning to set up surveillance throughout the train, so we can handle everything at once.”
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