Doomsday Mechanic: My Train Can Be Modified Infinitely

Seventeenth day after rebirth - Morning

The marshalling yard outside Berlin was shrouded in a milky white mist. Wang Zhengyang stood on the roof of the Longyuan train, the morning breeze ruffling his hair. The eleven steel carriages appeared and disappeared in the mist, like a giant beast awakening.

The track system was mostly installed, with thick metal track plates hugging the wheels, looking ready to traverse any rough terrain. Instead of solar panels, the roof was covered with newly installed special armor alloy plates, their matte dark gray gleaming in the morning light. The welded weapon mounts on the sides were still empty, waiting to be fitted with their "teeth."

But the most important weapon is not yet in place.

"Dr. Wang, the sensors for the fifth set of tracks have arrived," Li Ruijun called out from under the vehicle.

Wang Zhengyang descended the escalator and took the metal box. He opened it; inside were six delicate small devices, carefully wrapped in anti-static bags. He picked one up and examined it—this thing could monitor the pressure on each plate of the track, predicting potential problems in advance. In his previous life, such sophisticated gadgets were quickly discontinued, and one could be exchanged for a considerable amount of grain.

"Hurry up and pack," Wang Zhengyang handed the box back, "We don't have much time."

Li Ruijun nodded, but there was still undisguised worry in his eyes. Wang Zhengyang knew what he was thinking—that Indian thug Rajish.

"Focus on getting the tracks fixed," Wang Zhengyang patted him on the shoulder. "That's fundamental to our safety. I'll handle the rest."

These words were spoken calmly, but Li Ruijun still felt a chill. Over the past twenty days, he had increasingly felt that this young engineer was no ordinary person—not only was he technically skilled, but he also seemed to have a certain premonition that something big was about to happen.

Wang Zhengyang turned and walked towards the temporary command center at the front of the vehicle.

As he passed the planting pod, he saw Lin Luo'er and Li Xiaowei busy inside through the glass. LED lights cast a soft purple glow, and the lush green seedlings on the shelves had already sprouted. Lin Luo'er was checking the water pump circuit, while Li Xiaowei was carefully sowing seeds. The girl's eyes were still a little swollen, but her expression was focused.

He didn't go in; he just glanced at it and kept walking.

As we approached the front of the car, we heard the sound of another car outside.

Two used cars and the small truck passed through the marshalling yard gate and stopped not far from the Longyuan. Zhang Hao was the first to jump off, still carrying that bulging tool bag. Lao Li, Zhou Ming, Zhao Dayong, Sun Hai, Chen Qi, and Wu Fan also got off. All seven of them were there.

Zhang Hao led his men over and stopped a few steps away: "Mr. Wang, we've arrived. Shall we continue the installation today?"

"Okay, we'll install it in the truck today." Wang Zhengyang gestured for them to follow. "The display and control system in the driver's cab."

The group got into the vehicle. The driver's cab had been completely changed; the old-fashioned instrument panel was gone, replaced by a large, unlit, long, black screen base in front, and various interfaces and brackets behind it.

Wang Zhengyang took out the blueprints and handed them out: "Today we'll install the heatsink and wiring behind the screen, as well as the three control panels on the side. Follow the blueprints; it's all clearly marked how tight to tighten and how to connect the wires."

Zhang Hao took the blueprints and quickly flipped through them, while Lao Li and Zhou Ming also came over. The three of them whispered a few words and quickly figured out what they needed to do.

"Understood," Zhang Hao said, looking up. "We'll split into three groups: Engineer Li will lead Xiao Chen to install the heatsink and main line, Engineer Zhou will lead Xiao Wu to install the wiring, and I will lead Master Zhao and Xiao Sun to install the panel. Finally, we'll connect and test together."

Wang Zhengyang nodded: "Let's begin."

Zhang Hao turned and gave instructions, and the seven men immediately sprang into action. They took out their tools, unpacked and checked the parts, and each found a spot to begin their work. No one chatted much, except for a few occasional words of confirmation.

This hastily assembled small team is already doing a decent job.

Wang Zhengyang opened his eyes, his gaze passing through the busy figures to look out the window. The fog was dissipating, and the sunlight was brightening.

He recalled the message Li Ming had sent yesterday: Zhang Yiqiang seemed to have noticed the marshalling yard and might have sent people to investigate. Although they hadn't gone deep inside yet, it was a signal—the eyes beneath Berlin were beginning to turn in this direction.

That's fine too. The show at the docks starts tomorrow, and the chaos there will keep Zhang Yiqiang and the Iron Hand Gang busy for a while. By the time they come to their senses, the Dragon Abyss should be ready.

"Mr. Wang," Zhang Hao approached, holding a blueprint, "the model of the sealing ring for the radiator pipe and the vehicle body interface doesn't match the one on the blueprint. Which one would you like to use?"

Wang Zhengyang glanced at it: "Use the model number from the actual packaging. The drawing is the initial version; it was revised later."

"Okay." Zhang Hao noted it down, turned around and went back to continue working.

Wang Zhengyang watched the young man's efficient retreating figure. Solid technical skills, a clear mind, and the ability to manage people—such a person is rare anywhere. If he could weather the initial chaos…

A soft laugh came from the planting pod. Wang Zhengyang turned his head and, through the double-layered glass, saw Li Xiaowei pointing something at Lin Luo'er; the two girls had slight smiles on their faces. In this steel fortress, that touch of green and laughter seemed especially precious.

At 3:10 PM, the temperature inside the sixth maintenance compartment was at least five degrees Celsius higher than the outside temperature. The heat generated by the continuously operating laser cooling system and several pieces of equipment made this semi-enclosed steel space as stuffy as a steamer. Sweat slid down Wang Zhengyang's temples, dripping onto the metal floor at his feet, instantly evaporating into tiny white vapors.

He was standing in front of the last armor plate of the day. This plate was slightly larger than the others and 3 millimeters thicker. It was a crucial piece planned to be installed directly in front of the Longyuan train's engine, below the driver's cab. This area would be one of the most vulnerable and dangerous zones on the entire train, bearing the highest probability of a frontal impact.

"Thunder Matrix Type 1 - Front Main Armor Plate, No. A-01." Chen Yishang's voice came from the control panel, much more composed than before. "Dimensions: 1.5 meters x 0.9 meters, thickness: 25 millimeters, alloy grade consistent with before. The preset total length of the circuit has been increased to 152 meters, and 12 more nodes have been added."

Wang Zhengyang closed his eyes and nodded slightly. In his perception, the "texture" of this armor plate was more uniform and denser than the previous one, and the internal grain structure was more regularly arranged. This was a good material, worthy of more effort.

Thunder Matrix, a name that sounds quite futuristic, is backed by an extremely sophisticated and demanding technological solution. It's not about attaching an additional defensive system to the armor plates, but rather "weaving" defensive capabilities into the material structure of the armor itself. Its core principle is not complicated: a dense conductive network is etched inside the armor plates, with miniature piezoelectric sensors arranged at the network nodes, connected to a large-capacity supercapacitor array. When a projectile impacts the armor, the sensors detect the stress wave, instantly triggering a capacitor discharge in the corresponding area, generating a localized electromagnetic field with an extremely short duration but extremely high intensity through the conductive network.

The purpose of this electromagnetic field is not to directly stop the projectile—that would require astronomical amounts of energy. Its purpose is to "disrupt." Within the microsecond-level time window of the projectile penetrating armor, the strong electromagnetic field produces complex electromagnetic effects on metallic projectiles (especially common steel-core or copper-jacketed projectiles): inducing eddy currents to heat up and soften the projectile material, generating Lorentz forces to slightly deflect the trajectory, and potentially even interfering with the fuse. The individual effects of these effects may be limited, but combined, at critical moments, they are enough to turn what would have been a fatal hit into a graze, and penetrating damage into a blunt force injury.

The real challenge lies in implementation.

To etch lines only 0.5 mm deep and 0.15 mm wide onto military-grade alloy armor plates 22-25 mm thick, while ensuring the lines' conductivity, insulation, fatigue resistance, and bonding strength with the substrate, places extremely demanding requirements on processing precision. Ordinary laser etching produces severe heat-affected zones, altering the metal's properties and creating microcracks and stress concentration points. These defects can rapidly propagate under repeated impacts, becoming weaknesses in the armor.