Chapter 192: Country Seething with Excitement (1)
Chapter 192 – Country Seething with Excitement (1)
When the engineering vehicle had traveled more than one thousand meters, the first carriage suddenly disconnected one of the ring-shaped objects around its body. The ring then embedded itself with the hot alloy.
Immediately afterward, under the gaze of nearly five million viewers, the ring-shaped device automatically unfolded to form a strong seal. The seal prevented air from the outside world from entering the pipeline.
After the engineering vehicle advanced another three kilometers, another ring-shaped device disconnected from the second carriage and formed another seal.
At this point, the inside and outside of the pipeline had been thoroughly isolated from each other.
[Lololol!]
[I’m just a machine that can type ‘lololol’.]
[I’ve been wondering how the train was going to seal the pipeline.
[Brothers in Beijing, are you guys ready to board the train?]
[I didn’t queue up. There were too many people. Moreover, the government officials were even asking for a boarding ticket! Screw them!]
[A boarding ticket?!]
[Genius.]
[Hahaha…]
[I wonder how the travel fare will be afterward. Hopefully, they make it cheap.]
[Once the maglev train is opened to the public, won’t UP’s popularity skyrocket?]
The pipeline connecting Shanghai and Beijing measured over a thousand kilometers.
However, unlike the trip to Shanghai, the return trip to Beijing was much slower. Every 200 kilometers the engineering vehicle traveled, it would have to stop to install a high-pressure air pump. It would then slowly accelerate, travel to the next 200-kilometer milestone, stop again, and install another air pump.
Hence, the return trip from Shanghai to Beijing took a full three hours.
Whoosh— Boom!
The maglev train shot out of the pipeline and landed heavily onto the ground, ruining the ground the workers had tidied up recently.
“It’s back! It’s back!”
“c.r.a.p!”
“It’s so big!”
“Ahhh!”
“He’s coming out!”
“A boy! It’s a boy!!”
Outside the construction site, thousands of onlookers cheered at the maglev train’s return, their actions making it seem as if they were welcoming the appearance of a G.o.d.
“Everyone, thank you very much for the attention and support you’ve shown for the vacuum pipeline’s construction,” Chen Yu’s voice came from the engineering vehicle’s loudspeaker. “However, please don’t get too excited, don’t panic, and don’t add on more trouble for the police officers maintaining order.”
“Awooo!”
The crowd cheered even louder in response.
“I will now re-enter the pipeline to seal the entrance. Once the pipeline cools down, everyone can enter the train to feel the extreme speed of the 22nd century. For those selected to board the train, please follow the government officials’ instructions and enter in an orderly manner.”
“Roar!!”
“UP! I love you!”
“I love you!”
“My lord daddy! You’re amazing!”
“Awesome, awesome…”
Seemingly everyone was yelling meaninglessly to vent the excitement in their chests.
“Also.” After waiting for the crowd’s shouting to fade slightly, Chen Yu continued, “I don’t know which department will handle the maglev train’s operation in the future, but if it’s the railway department, then please have the railway department’s management team, engineers, and conductors get ready to enter the cab to get authorized for the train’s AI.
“The number of engineers and conducts cannot exceed 20. Conductors must also possess rich driving experience and acc.u.mulated knowledge of physics, mathematics, and magnetic levitation.
“Ordinary pa.s.sengers will enter the pa.s.senger cabins. Currently, the pipeline’s surface temperature is still over 500 degrees Celsius, so please be mindful of that. Enter only after the train has cooled down.”
After Chen Yu finished his announcements, the train started moving again. Amidst the roar of the train’s engine, the train disappeared back into the pipeline.
After crossing 1,000 meters, a ring-shaped device disconnected from the first carriage and unfolded.
After crossing another 3,000 meters, another ring-shaped device disconnected from the second carriage and unfolded.
Immediately afterward, the maglev train returned to the s.p.a.ce between the two seals and stopped there. It then exited the construction mode and started unfolding the pa.s.senger carriages!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack…
The crisp sound of metal unfolding rang rhythmically as the maglev train rapidly expanded its length from the middle.
Clack! Clack! Clack…
Three minutes later, the pa.s.senger carriages were fully unfolded.
When Chen Yu had the camera take a shot of the train, the audience in front of the screen actually couldn’t see the end of the train…
Psh… Psh…
The door of the first carriage opened. The floating camera quickly flew through the door and returned to the cab.
Facing the camera, Chen Yu spread out his arms and loudly said, “I now declare humanity’s first vacuum pipeline for maglev trains to be…
“Officially opened!”
[Host, you’re awesome!]
[Host, you’re awesome!]
[My train will soon arrive in Beijing! Host, wait for me!]
[I’m so excited!]
[I really want to experience it…]
[The pipeline is just 1,000 meters underground. I’m currently digging my way to it. I’ll reach it soon.]
The flood of bullet comments continued for over a dozen minutes.
At this time, the pipeline had also cooled down to a suitable temperature.
Sitting back onto the conductor’s seat, Chen Yu swiped his finger across the crystal ball and said, “Dimwit, start drawing out the air.”
“Extracting the air from the pipeline. Confirm?”
“Yes.”
“Please check the pipeline’s low-voltage power flow. If even a gap appears in the pipeline, the air extraction process will devastate the pipeline. Please confirm again.”
Hearing this, Chen Yu couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive. Immediately, he started carefully inspecting the electric circuit inside the pipeline. Only after verifying that there were no red “warning” indicators along the entire pipeline did he click on the confirmation option.
“Extracting air.”
Om… Om… Om…
Beyond the circular seal, the resonance generated by the airflow was clear and audible. However, after a while, the sound grew increasingly weaker until it eventually disappeared.
“Extraction complete. The pipeline has reached 98.4% vacuum, of which 0.1% consists of inert gases.”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Facing the camera, Chen Yu said, “Pa.s.sengers outside may start boarding the train.”
As soon as Chen Yu said so, the crowd standing a thousand meters away from the train boiled with excitement.
A deafening cheer also exploded from the crowd.
Simultaneously, the dozen or so police vehicles parked near the crowd also started playing the following announcement in a loop: “Selected pa.s.sengers, please show your boarding tickets to the staff members and board the train in an orderly manner.”
“Leader, let’s go.”
In the meantime, the special situation team’s team leader and the railway department’s management team moved toward the train through a temporarily-established VIP pa.s.sage. And following after them were numerous special agents, engineers, conductors, and over a dozen elderly professors supported by their students.
“Unthinkable! Unthinkable!”
Meanwhile, the several elderly men walking at the rear of the group shivered in excitement as they gazed at the s.p.a.cious vacuum pipeline. “A miracle. This is truly a miracle…”
…
“The angle of descent is too steep. We’ll need to install escalators here,” the chief engineer, who walked in the middle of the group, said as he entered the sealed section of the pipeline. While making records on his tablet, he said to his colleagues, “We’ll install lights on the left and right sides of the entrance instead of the ceiling.
“Looking down to a depth of 1,000 meters will also cause pa.s.sengers to feel uneasy, so we’ll need to pull some tricks on the wallpaper. It’s also best if we set up a hall before the valve…”
…
“Aside from transporting pa.s.sengers, this route will be mainly used for transporting supplies. The ability to transport goods between the north and the south in just 10 minutes or so is truly terrifying,” the soldier walking at the front said in a low voice to the middle-aged team leader. “We can just limit pa.s.senger transport to two times per day. The remaining trips will be reserved for transporting supplies.
“During emergencies, based on our calculations, if we ignore the pa.s.senger experience, we should have no problems transporting 50,000 soldiers per trip. The question now is whether the pa.s.senger compartments’ doors will be large enough to fit a tank.”
Frowning, the middle-aged team leader said, “We can also set up a censorship system to block news. We should also limit pa.s.senger tickets to pa.s.sengers that are in the know and have pa.s.sed the screening. They’ll also have to sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent information on the maglev train from spreading further. If we do that, we might be able to limit pa.s.senger trips to just once per day.”
“Mhm. Medicines, goods, equipment, and other materials will be set as the main target of transportation. They’ll generate greater economic value.”
Nodding in agreement, the team leader said, “The higher-ups will arrange for these matters. The most important thing we need to do now is to make official contact with Transdimensional Review’s UP and figure out the balancing point of our relationship.”
After remaining silent for a moment, the soldier took a step back from the team leader and said, “It’s not us; it’s you. This is your task; it has nothing to do with me. I definitely won’t be saying a single word.”
The team leader: “…”
Five minutes later, the group arrived before the pipeline’s first seal.
The seal was black in color, and it had an 18-meter radius. The spiral seal prevented air from flowing into the pipeline.
Meanwhile, on the bottom-right side of the seal, there was a small metal door. The door was five meters tall and three meters wide. It was obviously meant for the importation and exportation of humans and small goods.
Pshhh!
When the middle-aged team leader stepped within five meters of the seal, the small door detected his presence. A cooling white mist immediately escaped from the gaps of the door, the mist slowly pushing the metal door open.