The handling of the nuclear reactor was far more troublesome than Chen Xin had imagined.

The nano armor smoothly entered the interiors of the two land cruisers and inspected the condition of the nuclear reactors. These two small nuclear reactors were models used in nuclear submarines from the Suyia era; their inherent quality wasn’t bad, and even after being left for so many years, they only had minor leaks.

But even minor leaks in nuclear reactors are very serious incidents, especially when such leaks could have persisted for quite a long time, causing the entire base to become flooded with radiation, making the need for handling increasingly urgent, yet increasingly difficult.

The reactor casing had already been corroded by radiation, causing the entire reactor to deform. Trying to remove it was no longer possible using the original normal installation method.

Furthermore, Suyia’s design for the land cruisers did not account for replacing reactors every so often, meaning that to remove the reactor now, a big hole must be cut in the entire land cruiser.

Just like replacing the reactor on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier requires cutting open the entire deck, replacing the reactor on a land cruiser requires cutting open its casing.

After all, typically only changing the nuclear fuel is necessary; once a reactor is installed, it could potentially be used until the equipment is decommissioned, lasting decades without needing replacement. Who would think to dismantle a reactor for no reason?

But now, this issue becomes one that Chen Xin must face: how to dismantle this reactor with a corroded casing from within the thick armor of the land cruiser.

"We can cut from underneath the chassis. The chassis of this land cruiser is a )( type structure mounted on four track bases, so there is enough space underneath." A technician who came along pointed at the structural cross-section diagram of the land cruiser and said, "We can cut open a gap here and then build a concrete sarcophagus here. After dismantling the reactor core, we can place it directly into the sarcophagus through the gap, then seal the sarcophagus as quickly as possible!"

Chen Xin glanced at the diagram, used the nano molecules to simulate the structure of the land cruiser, demonstrated it once, then nodded and said, "This plan indeed works and could minimize harm and impact, I think it’s viable."

Having found all the design plans for the land cruiser, Chen Xin and the others gained a comprehensive understanding of the large beast before them.

According to Suyia’s design, there were three paths available for removing the reactor installed inside the land cruiser.

First, naturally, was the earlier mentioned method of cutting open a gap from underneath the land cruiser to dismantle the reactor core.

Besides this, a door at the rear of this behemoth could be opened, designed for the loading of ammunition and personnel escape. After opening, it was very close to the reactor and could serve as a path for transporting the reactor out.

However, compared to cutting from underneath, using this path requires more work; not only does it require a crane, but also cutting open some internal structures of the land cruiser to clear the path to the reactor, demanding substantial construction work.

As for the other path, it’s not as troublesome as it doesn’t require cutting; it was the original method Suyia used to install the reactor, which simply involves using a crane to lift the double-barreled 305mm turret on top of the land cruiser, allowing the complete dismantling of the reactor.

This method is indeed simple, but it requires a large gantry crane capable of lifting the twin 305mm turret.

Though this military base is well-equipped with various facilities, it lacks such a large gantry crane, only having a small crane used for lifting shells.

So after some discussion, the choice was made to cut from underneath to open a path accessible from outside to the reactor.

Since the plan was settled, everyone didn’t waste time. Several soldiers began preparing the sarcophagus needed for sealing the reactor, while Chen Xin controlled the nano armor once again to enter the land cruiser, starting preparation for cutting its interior and also preparing to dismantle the reactor.

However, the extreme cold made preparing the sarcophagus for sealing the reactor not a simple task, so this could not be rushed and preparations had to be done slowly.

While controlling the nano armor to cut within one of the land cruiser’s interiors to prepare the passage for taking out the reactor, Chen Xin finally entered the interior of the prototype machine, seeing the vital target of his journey— the Energy Crystal.

To be honest, Chen Xin had high expectations for this thing before arriving; he thought it should be similar to the Cosmic Rubik’s Cube, something high-energy, or look extremely cool or have a sci-fi feel.

But when he finally saw the Energy Crystal, the expression on Chen Xin’s face could be summarized in two words: "Just this?"

The Energy Crystal embedded by the Suyians within this prototype machine as an energy source looked dim and very badly damaged, entirely resembling a scorched crystal stone left from an explosion site.

If not for the few faint traces of orange light inside it, Chen Xin would have truly thought the original Energy Crystal was swapped.

With final curiosity, Chen Xin cautiously dismantled this thing from the frame fixing it, then packed it in the container he brought, and took it outside intending to analyze it with instruments.

There was actually a more efficient way, which was checking through the system’s upgrade interface. Up to this point, Chen Xin hadn’t found anything that the system upgrade interface couldn’t identify.

And indeed, after taking out the Energy Crystal from the prototype machine, he did just that.

"Damaged Lithium Crystal"

"Upgrade Plan One: Repair crystal structure, points needed for upgrade: 120000"

"Upgrade Plan Two: Fill internal energy, points needed for upgrade: 1100"

Chen Xin was somewhat surprised looking at the so-called Lithium Crystal under the size of a fist, not expecting such an inconspicuous piece of junk to require so many survival points to upgrade.

This was still the first time he saw something so small requiring six-digit survival points; this greatly exceeded Chen Xin’s expectations.

And even with the help of the system, Chen Xin still couldn’t understand what this was, or what function it had.

However, based on the upgrade plans the system displayed, this Lithium Crystal seemed broken, and unlike the so-called Energy Crystal, because the survival points required for filling internal energy were too few compared to repairing the whole crystal structure, it was indeed vastly different.