Chapter 25: Steam Age

Chapter 25: The Steam Age

After a night passed, the two squads of eight people, having ensured the residents could no longer resist, packed up and left Xiama Town.

In the armory, including all equipment confiscated from the residents, everything had been tallied; Chen Jian took what the squad needed, while the remaining miscellany—including unusable homemade firearms—was handed over to Xu Lie's Holy Blood squad, who would sell it for profit, with the proceeds split evenly.

It must be said that, although the gear these miners of Xiama Town held was of poor quality, its sheer quantity was impressive; after sorting through it, Chen Jian still managed to find quite a few good items.

Several sets of gun accessories, four oddly shaped modified single‑fire 5.8 mm rifled rifles, four Level 5 ballistic plates, a Q3 entrenching tool, six DSY151‑type 48 mm thermobaric grenades manufactured in 2020, over a hundred still‑serviceable 5.8 mm rounds, and a vehicle‑mounted 220‑1 model 125 W shortwave radio.

Chen Jian knew this radio inside out—back in his own world, his Mengzhi vehicle had been equipped with exactly this model.

Its capabilities were originally formidable: paired with a tuner, it could communicate nearly two thousand kilometers, featuring automatic networking, frequency‑hopping encryption, digital encryption, and more.

Unfortunately, the unit had become so antiquated that its electronic components were all damaged, rendering it completely nonfunctional.

Thus, Chen Jian simply dismantled it, salvaging any usable parts and discarding the rest on the spot.

The radio’s built‑in battery was still usable; Chen Jian tried charging the battery for his gun’s sight with it, and it took a charge.

Still, he dared not use it to charge other electronic gear, for the voltage stability was unguaranteed—if he fried something, it would be sheer stupidity.

——

Besides solving the squad’s urgent need for over a hundred rounds of ammunition, their most important discovery this time was, of course, that set of mechanical exoskeleton now scattered apart.

Judging by its model, this exoskeleton should be an improved version of the L90 produced by Factory 202 in Chen Jian’s era; compared to the L90 he himself had tested, one glance told him its functionality was far superior.

It featured a more compact hydraulic system and motor, a smaller power module, a frame made entirely of titanium alloy, so many weapon mounting points that Chen Jian felt his scalp tingle, and a multi‑joint design obviously intended to give the wearer greater agility.

Most importantly, the exoskeleton came with a PDA of an unknown model to Chen Jian, clearly intended for real‑time force‑feedback calculations.

Although Chen Jian had never tried it and doubted he could use it soon, he could easily imagine how a soldier whose individual combat skill was already strong would have his battlefield effectiveness multiplied by donning this exoskeleton.

So he unhesitatingly packed it up and took it with him.

What if it could be repaired?

After all, as the squad’s specialist maintenance officer, Lei Jie was quite confident he could get it working again.

While marching westward with the squad along the vegetation‑covered highway, Lei Jie spoke up:

"This thing is easier to fix than the sleeve‑arrow we found earlier; the sleeve‑arrow’s infrared module was a nightmare, whereas this is just force‑feedback logic, with relatively simple sensors."

"Whether this PDA can power on is actually irrelevant; if it does, it merely runs some AI calculations to make the feedback more predictive."

"Even if we remove the PDA and rely solely on the force‑feedback sensors, functionality can still be assured."

"It has to be Factory 202—look at how pressure‑resistant this design is; whatever Factory 206 churned out is just junk."

"Enough."

Chen Jian cut off Lei Jie and said:

"You dare badmouth Factory 206 now that it’s gone? When they came to test at our place back then, who was having the most fun if not you?"

"Having fun is one thing; being good is another."

Lei Jie gave an embarrassed smile and continued:

"I really don’t know what these people are thinking—clearly this is the most valuable thing around, yet they just leave it lying about."

"This exoskeleton’s preservation was actually quite good; it might even be usable as‑is."

"But they went and tore it apart—how abstract."

"There’s nothing abstract about it."

Chen Jian chuckled and said:

"Don’t you get it? Their technological level is like a puzzle—some pieces are broken, some remain."

"Everything related to electricity is extremely backward for them; being able to use batteries and radios is already the limit—do you really expect them to grasp exoskeletons?"

"To them, this might just be a piece of handicraft."

"Yes."

As soon as Chen Jian finished speaking, Xu Lie, who had been walking ahead, turned his head and replied:

"There’s a similar sculpture in Jinling City, even larger than the one you found." "Everyone just regards it as an old‑era artwork, but now it looks like it might actually be able to move."

"A larger exoskeleton? What’s different about it?"

Chen Jian asked sharply.

"That exoskeleton—is that what you mean? That exoskeleton has armor on it."

"Hiss"

The four squad members sucked in a cold breath.

"An armored exoskeleton, and even bigger."

"Is that still called an exoskeleton?"

"That’s a battle mech!"

"What’s going on? From the time I crossed over to the so‑called ‘Great Catastrophe’—just twenty or thirty years—has this nation’s military technology really advanced to this level?"

"Wait a moment, think about it."

"Back in 2000 there were only a few small boats in the South China Sea; by 2020 the 055 destroyer with electromagnetic guns had secretly gone to sea for trials."

"So twenty years to evolve from exoskeletons to combat mechs actually makes sense."

Chen Jian was already impatient.

He couldn’t wait to get to Jinling—not just to claim the bounty, not merely to see the biggest human settlement on this wasteland, but most of all to see, after their crossing, how far his compatriots had pushed technology.

——

"And what have the survivors done with that technology?"

Chen Jian was genuinely curious.

The squad pressed westward; after three days and two nights of travel they reached the riverbank of the Yangtze.

Chen Jian instantly recognized the battered but still standing Dongting Lake Bridge over the river; he had assumed the squad would cross it and continue west, but Xu Lie instead led them north to a dock.

"This is the Dongting Lake dock."

"According to the schedule, a Divine Machine Sect transport ship should pass by today; we can hitch a ride and go north to the Han River to rest."

"You’d better hide all that gear, or we’ll invite unnecessary trouble."

"A transport ship?"

Chen Jian frowned.

"A vessel that can navigate the Yangtze?"

"That’s definitely something these wasteland natives couldn’t operate—the ship’s electronic control alone would keep them puzzled for a lifetime."

"Or maybe it’s just a fluke that there happens to be a perfectly preserved, ready‑to‑launch ship here?"

Chen Jian’s mind filled with questions.

He ordered the squad’s four members to camouflage all their equipment, then stood silently with the four Holy Blood members on the shore, waiting for Xu Lie’s "transport ship" to arrive.

And after nearly an hour, the ship finally arrived.

On the distant horizon where water met sky, a plume of black smoke first appeared.

Soon after, a wooden vessel, bearing sails and emitting the characteristic "puff-puff" of a steam engine, glided slowly forward.

"Holy shit."

Chen Jian let out a long breath.

"Damn it… we've just been flung back into the steam age?!"

(End of chapter)