Chapter 191: Maglev Train in Operation! (2)
Chapter 191 – Maglev Train in Operation! (2)
Shanghai, Qingpu District, Qingpu Pa.s.senger Transport Terminal’s North Park:
Over a thousand police officers armed with live ammunition were currently sealing off the park, preventing unauthorized people from entering it.
Meanwhile, hundreds of engineers and government staff were busily running about doing their respective work inside the park.
“It should be here.”
On a basketball court inside the park, a middle-aged man wearing a safety helmet repeatedly drew on a cardboard piece. Occasionally, he would also reference the data provided by his colleagues. After finalizing his calculations, he said, “Yes, this is the place. There’s more than a 100-meter deviation from the original plan. Start drawing. Use red for the inner ring and white for the outer ring.”
Several young students nearby immediately picked up a paint bucket at their teacher’s instructions and started drawing two circles around the basketball court.
“How long more do you need? Isn’t it time to vacate the area? Make sure no accidents happen,” an old man standing beside the middle-aged man said solemnly.
Grabbing his tablet, the middle-aged man looked at the image displayed in the livestream room. “We’re almost done. We’ll vacate the area once we’re done drawing.”
Four minutes later, the students finished drawing the warning circles. They then retreated from the park together with everyone else.
At the same time, the police officers outside the park also started dispersing the gathered crowd.
The virtual road map Chen Yu provided showed that the maglev train would indeed arrive inside the park. However, to be on the safe side, the government team managing the operation still decided to vacate all pedestrians within a one-kilometer radius of the destination.
The surrounding roads were also blocked off completely, and all nearby buildings were told to shut their doors and windows. The area’s electricity, water, and gas supplies were also cut off temporarily.
Despite the huge commotion, though, most of the gathered crowd were unaware of what was going on. They merely whispered and gossip among themselves as they looked at the government’s blockade.
As for the few knowledgeable people, they continued watching Transdimensional Review’s livestream while eagerly awaiting the upcoming spectacular scene.
“Why is it taking so long? I can’t wait any longer.”
“It should only take a few more minutes. Otherwise, the police wouldn’t drive us away.”
“Hey, I borrowed a colleague’s Canon! I’m going to take a good shot and keep it as a family heirloom.”
On a certain elevated platform that provided an excellent view of the North Park, several office workers belonging to the same company had gathered to spectate the maglev train’s arrival. They whispered with each other as they gazed at the distant park.
At this time, a young man from the same company hurriedly squeezed through the crowd and asked his colleagues, “Do you guys have any money? Lend me some.”
“Money? What for?”
“I don’t have any! Stop blocking my camera!”
With sweat covering his forehead, the youth said, “I’m really in need of money right now. Lend me whatever you can now, and I’ll return you twice the amount 10 days later!”
“I’ll lend it to you once the show’s over,” a fat, middle-aged man said as he adjusted the binoculars in his hands. “I might get to see the female a.s.sistant with my very own eyes.”
“It’ll be too late after the show’s over!”
“Why are you in such a hurry? Is your girlfriend pregnant? Even if that’s the case, you don’t need to be in such a rush,” the middle-aged man leisurely said. “The maglev train is going to arrive soon. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“I don’t have time to watch. I’m leaving first.”
Seeing that none of his colleagues were paying him any attention, the young man promptly turned around and left.
“Huh?” The middle-aged man grew perplexed at the young man’s behavior. Putting down his binoculars, he fell into deep thought as he stared at the youth’s departing back. After a moment, the middle-aged man’s complexion abruptly changed as realization dawned on him. “c.r.a.p! The housing prices!”
After letting out a curse, the middle-aged man threw his binoculars away and hurriedly squeezed through the spectating crowd as well. Once out of the crowd, he spread his legs as he sprinted for the nearest real estate agency.
However, by the time the middle-aged man arrived at the nearest agency, a crowd had long since formed around the shop.
“d.a.m.n it! You bunch of sly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!” The middle-aged man cursed as he slapped his thigh. Pulling out his bank card, he rushed forward while shouting, “Get lost! I came here first! Leave one for me!”
…
Boom… Boom… Boom…
Three minutes later, the ground close to the park started trembling, causing the spectating crowd to stir.
Ten seconds later, the trembling intensified. Misunderstanding this situation to be an earthquake, those ignorant of the situation started scattering in a panic.
One second later…
Boom! Boom!!
Accompanied by a thundering boom, the ground in the park abruptly shattered. Immediately afterward, a dark shadow shot out of the earth and blotted out the sky!
Boom!!!
Under the pull of gravity, the dark shadow hit the ground heavily. The resulting shockwaves caused the entire park to be enveloped in a cloud of dust.
A moment later, the world fell silent.
At this moment, whether it was those in the know or the ignorant people, everyone had their mouths hanging wide open. Even the police officers, engineers, and government officials working at the scene were no exception. As they stared at the distant dust cloud, none of them was able to make any sound.
Only after the smoke had dissipated did the spectating crowd start making noise.
“What happened in the park?”
“I think I saw something come out of the ground?”
“It’s too far. I can’t get a clear look because of the trees.”
“Is it aliens?”
“The park exploded?”
Meanwhile, the livestream viewers spectating the scene from a high vantage point cheered at this sight.
“He’s here!”
“UP, you’re awesome!”
“c.r.a.p! It’s huge!”
“So scary…”
“The drill bit is red hot.”
“I’m at the scene! I’m at the scene, ahhhh!!!”
After the dust settled, police officers and staff members hurriedly surrounded the basketball court. Shock filled their eyes as they marveled at the 22nd-century engineering vehicle before them.
Inside the cab, Chen Yu tossed away the road map and stood up. He then walked up to the windshield and broadcasted his voice out of the train, “Stop wasting time. Have you brought the supplies?”
Outside the train, four engineers lifted a white cloth with words written using conspicuous red font. The cloth listed the amount of metals and rare earth metals they had prepared.
“I’ll open the cab’s material compartment now. All you need to do is insert the materials I need using the garbage cla.s.sification method you guys are best at.”
Pshh— Boom!
Accompanied by the sound of high-pressured gas being released, the metal plate located in the mid-section of the cab slid upward, exposing the material compartment inside.
Meanwhile, inside the material compartment, there were cylinders neatly arranged in a row. Each cylinder had an element symbol marked above it. The cylinders were also organized based on the amount they needed, from more to less, and from left to right: Fe, Cu, Zn, Ti, Au, Ag, Ta, W…until Ra.
Seeing this, the person in charge of the materials stepped forward and recorded the required metals. Afterward, he picked up his communicator and contacted the convoy stationed outside the park.
Rumble… Rumble…
Immediately afterward, fully-enclosed transport trucks started making their way into the park, crushing the vegetation in their way. Of the trucks entering the park, some of them were even marked with radiation symbols.
As soon as the convoy arrived, several staff members at the scene promptly gave instructions to the drivers and workers to start unloading their cargo.
“We’ll offload the iron first! Seal the other openings!”
The workers present quickly blocked off the other cylinders’ openings with wooden boards, leaving only the cylinder marked with Fe open. Simultaneously, over a hundred workers jumped aboard five of the trucks present and transported chunks of pure iron onto smaller trailers. The trailers would then dump the iron into the material compartment.
There were a total of three worker groups and 12 trailers. Everyone worked in turns, and their work efficiency was excellent.
Twenty minutes later, the iron cylinder was filled.
Another four minutes later, the copper cylinder was filled.
Another minute later, the gold, silver, t.i.tanium, and zinc cylinders were filled.
Another minute later, the manganese, ruthenium, and radium cylinders were filled.
Another minute later, the lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, and erbium cylinders were filled.
The entire loading process took half an hour. Once completed, the truck convoy promptly retreated.
Apparently, the government had overestimated the engineering vehicle’s carrying capacity, as over half of the gathered metals still remain unused…
“Thank you very much. Everyone, please step back. The farther, the better.”
After receiving a prompt indicating that the material compartment was full, Chen Yu called for everyone to step away and make room.
Immediately, the personnel around the train dispersed. The police officers also put up a security net to prevent staff members or bystanders from sneaking up to the train.
Psh— Boom!
The material compartment’s lid closed, and the engineering vehicle’s engine restarted.
In the next moment, the front of the train became the rear, while the train’s rear became the front. The spiral drill bit was also retracted back into the train. Simultaneously, the bezels at the new front expanded to form an “umbrella” structure.
Rumble… Rumble…
The train began “retreating” back into the tunnel. Simultaneously, pipes at the front of the train smeared the tunnel walls with a liquid made up of various metals. This liquid would then be compressed and cooled into a special alloy by the umbrella-shaped bezels.
Meanwhile, as the engineering vehicle advanced through the tunnel, it also left behind two infinitely extending electromagnetic tracks in its wake.
The vacuum maglev pipeline was soon to be completed…