Steel steam and flame

The cigarette butt was thrown down, carrying sparks, splashing a circle of red light when it hit the ground, and finally extinguished in the cold winter wind. Soon after, when the hour hand on the huge bronze bell not far away pointed to four-ten, the vibrations on the ground were visible. The large iron sheds around also made a "squeaking" friction sound, and the wind seemed to be stronger.

"Hurry up. Contact the station manager personally and tell us to hurry up and get ready!" A manager at the station wore a yellow safety hat with a miner's lamp on it, looking like a contractor. Because he hadn't exercised for a long time, his stomach was about to burst through his thick cotton-padded jacket. After saying just a few words, he began to pant. He just got up from the bed, with dark circles in his eyes, and he came as soon as he was notified.

"New Year's Day is coming soon, and the webmaster said that we should treat it as the end-of-year assessment." The voice sounded loud, but in fact it was very weak. "It's related to the final salary and bonus, so you have to work hard later. You are all from here. Excellent staff!"

After a few more words, the roaring lectures stopped until the sound of the whistle that they had been immune to broke through the wind from afar.

A beam of light shines directly into the station, with a heavy weight, illuminating most of the buildings in the station.

The people around me now realized that the train entering the station was a rearrange train and couldn't help but sigh. It is the most difficult mechanical combination to maintain. Not only is it huge in size, it is troublesome to climb up and down. It is also because of its high technological content, which is no lower than those of high-speed trains. Because it requires extremely strong adaptability and stability. The minimum standard for every reclassified vehicle after it is built is that it can travel at moderate speeds in all weathers. Compared with other trains, in severe thunderstorm or blizzard weather, there is no other way except to stop and wait for the weather to improve or for rescue.

The rearrange is a monster called a Land Cruiser.

Only then did the dark car body appear in Solda's eyes. Because of the night and the lights, this heavy train gave Sodar a different aura. It was thicker than other vehicles, more like a black-scaled python that might wake up at any time.

The sharp friction sound continued. Sodar looked at the more than 30 familiar faces around him and thought to himself, these managers are really good at tormenting people. There were many people inside who were working the day shift, but they were also called over now. Not only them, but also people from other departments seemed to be here, but they were not people who climbed up the rear line for maintenance. They were probably people who helped carry maintenance equipment. They used to do this all by themselves.

A strange look, this was Sodar's first impression when he climbed onto the heavy train. There are quite a few of those square cone-shaped fortress-style things, which not only block the wind, but also look at the welds, and the workmanship is extremely poor. No matter how pressed for time, this method is too unskilled. In his eyes, this kind of craftsmanship can only be regarded as the level of a temporary apprentice. And looking inside from the upper opening, there is a very thick gun barrel. He recognized this thing. It was a gun, and it must be very powerful.

"Anyone else dares to attack Zhongli?" This was something he couldn't imagine, but he was also very curious. Take a few more glances.

"This is work, please pay attention to the time!" Someone suddenly spoke behind him, his voice was cold, as if it was played by a recorder. Sodar was frightened and his body shook. Turning around and looking at the side of the train, I don't know when a soldier stood there with a face as cold as his voice. The face was very white, perhaps frozen, Sodar guessed.

"Good evening!" Sodar said hello with a smile, but the other party looked at him coldly and did not reply.

What a weirdo, Thordar thought. But he was still muttering in his heart, so he picked up the tool and started cutting these things. The speed is very fast. In order not to damage the steel plate layer of the roof, the requirements this time are very strict. After cutting, the welding marks left on the body must be cleaned one by one by hand sanding so that they are basically invisible.

"We're leaving at five o'clock! Hurry up!" The manager used a loudspeaker and shouted as he walked, and the sound once drowned out the noise of cutting.

Sodar is a veteran, and ranks first in the entire maintenance department in terms of length of service and craftsmanship. He quickly cut the first piece, called a few people, and together they threw all the heavy things down the queue. Inside the fortress, four heavy machine guns were completely exposed to the white light of high-pressure mercury lamps. The bullet chains involved gave off a cold light, and the falling shells also made a crisp collision sound.

Several people were a little frightened. They had seen firearms before, but this was the first time for the big guy who was half a man tall to see them.

They wanted to demolish it, but a few soldiers had already come up to rearrange it and came to their side, saying that they would take over the work later and that Sodar and the others would just cut and polish it.

The division of labor was clear, and Sodar and his colleagues carried out their work very quickly. Looking at the time from time to time, Sodar estimated the things on the roof of the car. It didn't seem to be a problem to finish it half an hour early, if it was just cutting. Of course, the next step is to overhaul the re-listing, which is the most troublesome thing. A complete inspection is impossible, and usually takes several days.

Only the more important parts should be checked, Thordar knew very well.

"Here, here!" While Sodar was still working, he heard the voice of the manager holding the loudspeaker. Then there was a flattering shout, which of course was not directed at Sodar. Thordar knew this.

"Thordar!" the man shouted.

"It must be up to no good." Sodar just wanted to take out a cigarette and smoke it.

The administrator was followed by a soldier, who didn't have a military rank or anything like that. He walked steadily. This was Sodar's entire impression of the soldier.

"That's it. Our best maintenance veteran here is as good as a mechanic!" The administrator praised with a smile on his face, but the soldier didn't notice it at all.

"Hello!" He said with some warmth, "There is a hole in the side panel at the end of the rearrangement, where the refrigerator is. Although it has been patched, the air conditioner is still leaking. Please go over and have a look. The materials are all ready. It should be re-welded." The soldier expressed his judgment and indicated that the film-like thing he was carrying was an alloy sheet temporarily used to encapsulate things. Thordar recognized that it was a consumable used by the empire to deal with damaged parts of trains in an emergency. Moreover, in this station, there are only such standard things.

Sodar nodded and stopped what he was doing without saying anything. When he was about to pick up his tools and go there, the soldier came over and lifted them all with one hand. Thordar felt grateful and surprised at the same time. He usually carried these things on his own, so they were still a bit heavy.

While being surprised, Sodar followed the soldier from the roof of the car to the end of the car. We had already left the station and were exposed to the cold wind without any protection. His heated body suddenly became cold. Sodar shook his body and, guided by the soldier's bright flashlight and the miner's lamp on his hat, came to the end of the vehicle.

There is no noise here, only the sound of the cold wind blowing in my ears. Thordar took a deep breath, and his chest felt a little colder. The surroundings were dark and lonely. It was the first time I walked outside the station on a winter night. The distance was already a few hundred meters away. The stations in the distance had become much smaller. He was slightly scared, but there was no need to worry since the manager and the soldier were with him.

Sodar looked at the manager, his face looked the same as his, as ugly as if he had eaten rat carrion. The re-arrangement was also several meters high. When he was about to go down by the rope, the soldier on the side took out the portable communicator from his coat pocket.

When the soldier turned on the communicator to answer the call, there was no change in his face. He just said "ok" a few times and then hung up.

Then the soldier raised his head and looked at Sodar: "It's the side of this carriage. You still have half an hour, please hurry up."

After saying that, it seemed like something happened over there, and he hurried back. The pipeline leader followed as a matter of course, leaving Sodar alone to stand there and watch the two leave. He blew the cold wind and said nothing for a long time.

After getting out of the car, he first moved his body. Then he took out the cigarette from his pocket, adjusted the brightness of the light to the maximum, and observed the situation on the side panel of the carriage.

It has been blocked, and the material is obviously the steel plates on the fortress that he was cutting just now. It was not welded on, but thin iron pillars were used directly as steel nails, and a steel plate was nailed to it. White mist is continuously extruding from the unsealed gaps.

How much force does this require? Sodar looked at the traces. These thin iron pillars were clearly knocked in manually.

He couldn't figure out what kind of person could have such strange power. After taking a few puffs of the cigarette, he turned on the machine and began to carefully cut the steel plate out from the side of the column.

It took some time. In order not to damage the black iron steel plate on the side of the rearrangement, Sodar moved very carefully. Soon after, there was a "clang" sound, and the nailed steel plate fell down and hit the concrete beside the railway track. A nearly circular hole that could fit an entire strong adult man appeared under the light of the lamp above his head.