Chapter 470: Chapter 468 Nuclear-Powered Train (End of the Month, Request for Monthly Tickets!)

The wheels rolled forward, colliding with the steel tracks, making a clattering sound.

Sitting by the window, Chen Xin watched the scenery flying past outside, with the document in front of him still feeling like a cruel joke.

But now he had come to believe in the authenticity of the document and that the Suyians, during the Cold War era, indeed had the wild imagination to create such a thing.

However, even though he believed in its existence, Chen Xin still found it somewhat hard to accept, as it was simply too astonishing.

Although Chen Xin had considered creating something similar, he felt his confidence in being able to make it was because he had a system upgrade as a trump card, daring him to claim he could build it.

But back then, the Suyians had nothing like that; they relied entirely on their robust industrial strength and engineers’ wildly imaginative minds to create this, a truly vast difference between the two.

Taking a sip of the now somewhat cold water from the table, Chen Xin decided not to think about it anymore for now and planned to head to the dining car to get something to eat and change his mood.

This train was among the nuclear-powered trains that officially went into service after the nuclear-powered locomotive was deployed.

Different from the experimental nuclear-powered train Chen Xin had seen before, this train, although it also towed 27 carriages, did not have as many flashy functions.

Among the seven carriages, apart from one carriage designated for Chen Xin’s exclusive living use as a short carriage, 20 carriages are long sleeper carriages used to carry disaster victims, and the remaining six carriages are functional.

One purifying carriage is responsible for providing drinking water for the entire train, mainly sourced from the purified snow along the way.

One dining car provides catering services for the entire train, which is no different from the dining car Chen Xin had seen before; it’s the same model product.

Two storage carriages carry food supplies. Due to the mission’s nature, a large amount of food needs to be provided, so the train carries shelter food with no fresh food.

However, the substantial shelter food is already good enough for the disaster victims on the train.

As for the remaining two carriages, one is a freight carriage now hauling Qin Lan’s Titan and some other goods carried with the train, while the last carriage is a laboratory carriage specially prepared for the upcoming northbound mission.

The train’s configuration is quite interesting, with the foremost, naturally, being the most important nuclear-powered locomotive, followed by the carriage Chen Xin is in, then the scientific experiment carriage, freight carriage, purifying carriage, dining car, two storage carriages, and then the 20 long sleeper carriages.

According to the officer who came to pick up Chen Xin, this train temporarily undertakes the transfer of disaster victims. If an emergency occurs, they will abandon the 20 long sleeper carriages carrying the victims and advance lightly.

Upon learning that other locomotives will handle the disaster victims, Chen Xin saw nothing wrong with this arrangement.

Passing through each carriage to the dining car, since it was not mealtime, it seemed a bit deserted here.

This dining car is very different from those on past passenger trains because it’s not a passenger train and has to provide food for the entire train; thus, the carriage lacks tables and seats.

The entire dining car is a large kitchen, with integrated stove equipment made entirely of stainless steel, managed by five chefs who can simultaneously cook or heat large amounts of food to serve the whole train.

"Academician Chen, do you need anything?" Seeing Chen Xin walk into the dining car, the two duty chefs hurriedly greeted him, inquiring if he had any requests.

Being staff members, they didn’t know the train’s subsequent northbound mission, but the food supplies specifically prepared for Chen Xin, different from others, and his dedicated carriage were enough to make the staff aware of Chen Xin’s importance.

"Looking at documents has made me a bit hungry; is there anything to eat right now?" Chen Xin did not stand on ceremony, expressing his need to the two duty chefs.

These duty chefs were originally there in case staff missed mealtime and wanted something to eat, and even more so as Chen Xin enjoyed special treatment on the train.

So after Chen Xin spoke, the two chefs nodded quickly while busily preparing food for him.

Since it was pre-prepared for possible staff needs and Chen Xin also had special provisions, the food he wanted was ready quickly.

Taking the food prepared by the chefs, Chen Xin carried it back toward his carriage.

"Academician!" However, as Chen Xin passed through the laboratory carriage, he encountered an officer delivering orders, seemingly inspecting the equipment inside.

This piqued Chen Xin’s curiosity since the officer was always in uniform and did not seem to be a researcher.

However, Chen Xin did not stop to converse with him, merely nodded, and then continued through the laboratory carriage back to his own carriage.

Though called a short carriage, Chen Xin’s carriage is indeed relative to other standard length carriages and the 20 long carriages behind.

Historically, the Flame Country’s standard sleeper carriage had a hard sleeper capacity of 60 people, soft sleeper 40 people, with 11 compartments per carriage equipped with toilets and showers, running between 24.4 to 26.6 meters in length.

Now, the long carriages have been lengthened, with a hard sleeper carriage accommodating 90 people, the carriage length reaching 35 meters.

While termed a short carriage, Chen Xin’s carriage is actually 18 meters long, containing bathrooms, showers, a separate kitchen, and designed with one large and two small rooms plus a living room that can function as a conference room, with a communications room equipped accordingly.

The two small rooms in the carriage are designed to serve as guest rooms or for the use of security for important passengers, while the large room even has an independent bathroom, which was slightly luxurious in the past, but now, it’s considered quite extravagant.

In case of necessity, the train can discard all the carriages behind, carrying only this carriage forward at maximum speed, ensuring the safety of important passengers aboard.

Returning to his carriage, Chen Xin sat in the living room, ready to enjoy his meal, but as he ate, Qin Lan emerged from her room.

"Why not sleep a bit longer? It’s still early," Chen Xin glanced at his watch and asked Qin Lan.

Qin Lan poured herself a cup of hot water, drank half of it in one go, then said, "I couldn’t sleep, and there’s something I want to discuss with you."