Steel steam and flame

"Here, this is the problem that often occurred before." Puno came over at this time and pointed to the items in the manual and said to Cassia, "In the past, just follow the steps step by step, but it won't work this time. Nor. Knowing exactly where the problem was, I simply followed the instructions from the beginning and tried them one by one, but nothing happened."

He walked over and turned on the switch of the communication machine again. Electronic noise immediately came out and filled the whole room: "It's still like this. I think one of the parts is broken. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered for so long and there was no response at all." .”

"Let's take a look first and then talk." Cassia breathed out, and this time it was him who tinkered with the machine. The speed is much faster. Although I have not had much contact with such communication equipment, my familiarity with machinery makes it very fast to operate.

Precision gadgets and communication equipment are, to a certain extent, on the same level as complex machinery such as differential engines and analytical engines. Without strong professional knowledge or some suitable tools, just relying on a palm-sized manual will not be of any real use.

In the end, Cassia came to the same conclusion as Uncle Puno. It should be that the components inside the machine were broken. Things that have been used for more than ten years have long since reached the point of being scrapped.

"The army hasn't been here for more than half a year. Maybe they will suddenly come and rearm in the next few days." Puno comforted him at this time, "The movement is very loud and can be felt from a long distance. Just wait a few days. Why don't you go get the things you need to stay tonight. I don't have any tools, and I don't know how to repair the internal structure, so I can only leave it there."

Cassia nodded, saying that this was all she could do for now. He dragged his luggage and followed Puno towards other rooms on the side.

"There are eight houses in total, but only six are in use now. In two of the houses are a differential engine, the power equipment here, and large steel tanks containing steam. But the thick iron doors are all closed. Lock, without the code card in the hands of those who manage the railway line, there is no way to get in." Puno introduced from the front, and after a few steps, he stopped in front of a door and opened the copper lock with the key hanging on his waist.

It is a small storage room at the station, and the air inside smells like it has been preserved for a long time. Many things can be stored for a long time, including some commonly used utensils in daily life. There are also many parts with dry rust in one corner, which seem to have been disassembled from somewhere and have different shapes. A set of thick quilts tied with strings was on a wooden shelf beside the wall. Puno carried the bed out and took Cassia to an empty house.

Turning on the light, there was only a simple single bed and table inside. There wasn't much dust. Puno still took care to clean these rooms.

The air inside was a bit dull, so Puno turned on the switch of the heating pipe, and then opened the window to speed up the air circulation. Cold light shines through the window into the dim darkness ahead, and a gloomy dark cyan shadow can be seen covering half of the sky in the distance.

Only then did Cassia see that there was a small unused vegetable garden in front of the house, and further away it was completely deserted. There are several black images hanging in the air like stickers. The light couldn't reach there, but with Cassia's eyesight, she could barely see clearly what looked like rusty iron sheets, scattered on the ground.

"It's still winter, and the small vegetable garden I've put together is deserted. The vegetables I usually eat are either brought by the high-speed train that comes every few days and a half, or I go to the mountains ahead with a shotgun to dig them up. Yes. There is still a little bit, but not much."

"I usually have nothing to do." Cassia put aside the salute.

"Yes." Puno agreed. "In the past, I would take a shotgun to hunt in the wilderness. There were many wild rabbits. I would make some small traps. If I was lucky, I could feed myself for a week or two. Sometimes I was unlucky. We will also encounter wild boars, which are very ferocious. Although the shotgun is very powerful, it can still cause injuries if you are not careful. Especially in this weather, the wild boars are hungry and irritable, and their strength is much stronger, so I don’t dare to go out."

While checking what else was needed in the room, Puno continued: "I still remember when I first came here, when I was young, there were no shotguns to go hunting. At that time, there were still wages, so I had to work diligently every day. Here. When I was bored, I would go to an abandoned locomotive not far away and disassemble parts and tinker with them for a while. Being so strong, I had a lot of credit for moving those parts at that time.”

He pointed to a place not far in front of the window. There were a few black stickers in the blurry night. "That's it. They are all scrapped items from the army. When I first came here, the quantity was only less than half. Now it has piled up." There are so many, but every time the army comes over, no one comes to repair them. Military products are all high-quality steel, and they are all money. It would be great to sell them for scrap. I used to think about this, but I dismantled a lot of them. Only to find that there was no way to sell it.”

"The money from the sale can't cover the shipping cost." Cassia answered.

"Indeed, I was still very impulsive when I was young. I didn't think much about it at the time, and I was busy for so long in vain." Puno nodded thoughtfully.

"Are those still available?"

"Use?" Puno didn't understand what Cassia meant. "They are all broken. If you can repair them, they can be used. From the attitude of the officers in the army, they probably treat them as scrap metal. It also takes time to process them. They want to leave it completely like this and slowly turn it into a pile of red rust naturally. But the quality seems to be a bit too good, and after so long, there is no obvious effect. "

Puno shook his head aside. He didn't quite understand what these officers were thinking.

"Remember to close the windows at night. Although there is a wire mesh far away, it is not impossible for the wild boars and brown bears to come in." Puno reminded, "Just call me if you have anything. Our room is just across the room, so if the sound is louder, it can pass through."

"Thank you." Cassia said.

"No need, this is my job as a station employee, even though I haven't been paid for several years." Puno waved his hand, "Don't worry about the communication equipment, it might be ready tomorrow. This happened before. This situation happened." In the end, he comforted him again.