Chapter 6 Arms Trade [Physical Strength: 21] [Spirit: 59]
[Current State: Exhausted]
On the train, Ye Qiyan lay motionless, like a salted fish lost in its dreams.
During this final stretch, he used his remaining strength to make two trips to the armory. Besides the considerable effort involved in carrying the remains, he also kept his promise. He used a shovel to dig a grave for the remains and erected a blank tombstone.
Finally, this was the final harvest of this stop.
As the countdown to departure reached zero,
the previously stationary train slowly began its journey.
As the train approached, spatial fluctuations suddenly reappeared.
The train's speed continued to increase, passing through that space and returning once again to the endless, dark wasteland.
At the same moment, the train announcement blared.
[Ding—All conductors have left the platform. Congratulations to all 9,892 of you for successfully and safely leaving the first novice station.]
[You have officially left the novice safety period.]
[Starting from the second station, the train will no longer be guaranteed to stop in the safe zone.]
The announcement caused a stir.
["What do you mean? Didn't we have to leave the platform an hour ago?"]
["Someone stayed for an extra hour at the first stop? On what basis?"]
["Is the rule fake? Does the train not leave if we don't get on at the end of the countdown? Has anyone tried at the next stop?"]
["That's right, try at the next stop."]
["Damn it! I'm reporting someone for cheating!"]
["What? The first stop is safe?! I should have gotten off the train to check."] [
"Will people die at a safe station?"]
["Of course. My first stop was a desert. If I hadn't been lucky, I would have been swallowed by the quicksand."]
They didn't know that the "big boss" they were talking about was sitting on the ground sorting out all the gains from his final stop.
[Low-level Marksman Rifles]: 49
[Low-level Ammunition]: 1,100 rounds
[Wood]: 150 kilograms
[Metal]: 104 kilograms
[Mechanical Parts]: 162 pieces
. He also found some useful tools in the armory, such as crowbars, shovels, screwdrivers, and other hardware. He discarded the broken ones and threw them into the processing table for recycling, keeping the rest for future use.
The blueprints he currently possessed, the 40 kilograms of metal and 110 mechanical parts required for the [Low-level Water Tank] and [External Garbage Collector], were nothing to him.
He placed the blueprints and deployed the resources.
Both could be loaded onto the train through the train control system.
"The water tank is inside the carriage, and the collector is attached to the left outer side of the carriage."
After loading, Ye Qiyan stood up and walked to the carriage. One piece of the original supplies was noticeably missing, replaced by a metal pool with a pulley fixed in place.
This low-level water tank can hold a thousand kilograms of water and has a non-removable isolation layer that separates the sewage from the clean water.
After the sewage brought from the armory was poured into the sewage compartment, it occupied almost one-tenth of the space, or fifty kilograms.
"Unfortunately, there is no water purification equipment."
Ye Qiyan expressed a slight regret, but he was not too anxious.
["Purchasing water, glass, fiber, blueprints, and other resources and items. Interested parties can privately message with a price. Trade with guns and food."]
This was the first message he sent on the public screen in the chat room, and he ignored it after sending it.
Obviously, the preciousness of guns was just as he had said to Li Xiaosheng before, and there would be people who understood their value.
"Gun? One of those trigger-pull guns?! Oh my god, can you give me one?" " You
're so shameless! You're asking someone to give you something as precious as a gun."
"There was nothing but a mess at my first stop. How come everyone else is able to get a gun?"
"Collecting resources? Boss, are you upgrading the train?"
"Boss, please help me. I'm an innocent college girl. Give me some food. I'll do anything you ask me to do when we meet!"
After checking the water storage system, Ye Qiyan checked the recovery system.
The recovery system, hanging from the roof, was a completely black iron box. If he wanted to see it in action, he would have to reach the second stop.
After finishing all that, Ye Qiyan finally had the time to open the chat interface, and at the same time, he saw a crazy bombardment of private messages.
Zhao Ke: ["Boss, give me a gun. I'll be your little brother. I'll do whatever you tell me to do!"]
Lin Zhaopeng: ["Friend, can you share how you acquired the guns? We should all help each other in these times. If you have a lot of guns, give them to me and I'll distribute them to those in need. This way, more people can survive."]
Shangguan Yingxue: ["Lake water, 20 kilograms. No container provided."]
Cohen Jones: ["I only have 16 kilograms of glass. Can I trade it for a gun?"]
...
"Foreigner?"
Ye Qiyan was slightly surprised by the unusual names listed.
But on second thought, it made sense. In this world of train survival, there's no rule that only people from the same country exist. No, maybe it's not even clear if they're from the same world.
After blocking those who resorted to moral blackmail and freeloading, Ye Qiyan carefully screened and discovered a few potential trade partners.
"Twenty kilograms of lake water—we could talk about it."
After a moment's thought, Ye Qiyan replied to the woman named Shangguan Yingxue.
["You know, lake water isn't drinkable. Drinking it unfiltered can be fatal. If you want to trade, show some sincerity."]
The train conductor, E-3-3924, Shangguan Yingxue, frowned slightly at the response in the chat interface and hesitated for a moment.
Shangguan Yingxue: ["How much do you want? Name your price."]
Ye Qiyan: ["50 kilograms."]
Compared to metal, water is far more precious, even lake water.
Not only is it essential for sustaining life, but more importantly, at this time, even if the first stop is a lake with clean water, few people have a container to store it.
In reality, Ye Qiyan's lowest price in mind was 30 kilograms for a gun, a price that wouldn't be enough for drinking water.
If it were drinkable mineral water, that would be a no-brainer; any quantity would be tradeable.
Ultimately, he was only one person, and no matter how many guns he had, they wouldn't be as useful as resources.
Shangguan Yingxue: "You, okay, I can trade, but I won't provide water storage containers. You'll have to figure it out yourself."-+ "Did I say too little?"
Ye Qiyan scratched his head at the other party's straightforward response, but he didn't regret it.
["Okay, let's trade then."]
Shangguan Yingxue: ["Wait a minute, I need more ammunition and food."]
This woman? Where did she get all that water?
No, having so much water wasn't surprising. After all, she'd mentioned lake water, so it was likely her first stop would be somewhere like a lake. What really intrigued Ye Qiyan was where she got the water container.
The trading platform and chat room were closed until the first stop, an average of three hours, was over.
Did she find it? Built it from blueprints like him?
He didn't ask. After all, everyone has their secrets.
Ye Qiyan: "Ammunition is cheap. Five low-grade bullets for one kilogram of water. You don't need to provide containers either. As for food, it's these military-grade compressed biscuits. One biscuit for five kilograms of water."
Shangguan Yingxue: "Okay, I need one hundred low-grade bullets and three biscuits, plus the gun and twenty rounds of ammunition from earlier, for a total of 85 kilograms of lake water. Let's trade. Do you have enough containers? If not, I can sell them to you."
Ye Qiyan: "No, just trade directly."
The trading point was set above the reservoir.
At the same moment the gun and ammunition disappeared, 85 kilograms of water suddenly appeared, pouring into the reservoir.
Including the previous water, Ye Qiyan now had 135 kilograms of water.
Looking at the clean, clear water in the reservoir, he resisted the urge to drink.
While the water looked clean, anyone with a modicum of common sense knew that drinking water from the lake, unfiltered and unboiled, was tantamount to seeking death.
"It's been a pleasure working with you. If you have anything else you'd like to trade, please contact me."
Shangguan Yingxue didn't reply, but silently sent Ye Qiyan a friend request.
Seeing the message, Ye Qiyan didn't refuse.
Compared to the pretentious Li Xiaosheng, Ye Qiyan preferred trading with someone like Shangguan Yingxue.
At least
, less talkative and less annoying.
After concluding the transaction with Shangguan Yingxue, he continued to sell a number of low-level marksman rifles and ammunition to other people.
He also secured the fiber and glass needed to reinforce the carriages. After the reinforcement, windows appeared in the window frames, significantly improving the drafty environment inside the carriages.
"What a great harvest!"
After the last transaction, Ye Qiyan only had the last 21 rifles left.
He didn't set a specific price; he would sell to anyone he felt was a good fit.
This wasn't a loss-making deal, but Ye Qiyan knew that everyone except him had a train at level one. Once most people's trains had completed their first upgrade, triggering the upgrade option, who knew if a blueprint for a weapon superior to these low-level rifles would appear?
Tuntun Rat's behavior is unacceptable.
Low-level items like these will only decrease in value over time.
"Finally, everything's fine."
Taking out the bread and mineral water he'd traded for, Ye Qiyan ate his first proper dinner since arriving in this world.
He returned to the front of the train, staggering to a relatively warm spot to curl up.
Survival was irrelevant; he was exhausted, his only thought: sleep.
As the train chugs through the endless wasteland, Ye Qiyan gazed at the bright moon hanging high outside the window and slowly closed his eyes.
Boom—boom—
"Hiss!"
The chill of the night made Ye Qiyan shiver.
He rubbed his eyes, rose from the ground, and shook his slightly stiff neck, subconsciously glancing out the window.
The wasteland remained the same, and beyond the distant horizon lingered an unsettling mystery.
Looking up, the cold light cast by the huge moon seemed to add a touch of loneliness to the entire world.
[Physical Strength: 87] [Spirit: 91]
"How long have I slept?"
Ye Qiyan rubbed his eyes, looking at the timestamp on the train.
[03:37]
At three thirty-seven, Ye Qiyan sighed helplessly and opened the chat room to look at the messages that were still scrolling.
Only a few people could sleep peacefully like him.
"Forget it, I can't sleep anyway."
Ye Qiyan patted the dust off his body and stood up. With
his physical strength and spirit restored, it was time to continue sublimation.
"Let's try this first."
Colt M1911, this all-black pistol that looked like a work of art, if it were sublimated, to what extent would its power be increased?
The next stop was no longer a safe stop. Only a powerful weapon could make Ye Qiyan feel at ease.
"Sublimation."
Physical strength continued to disappear from his body.
The originally pitch-black gun was covered with faint lines, and the entire gun body was wider and longer than before, making it a little difficult to pick up with one hand.
[Blacklight Enchanted Pistol] (Level 3)
[Can consume physical strength to convert internal bullets into armor-piercing bullets]
[Physical Strength: 47] [Spirit: 90]
Ye Qiyan could still handle the forty points of Stamina he'd consumed.
He weighed the Blacklight pistol in his hand and used a few pieces of metal to create a simple target.
He pulled the trigger, expending his Stamina, and an armor-piercing round flew out with a resounding roar and a dazzling glow of heat.
Bang!
Looking at the completely pierced bullet hole, a look of surprise crossed Ye Qiyan's face.
"Wow, powerful! Besides the slightly high recoil, is this really just a pistol?"
[Stamina: 45]
"Two points of Stamina for one armor-piercing round? Sure."
"Hmm? It seems I can upgrade it further?"
Ye Qiyan fiddled with the gun, hesitated for a moment, then abandoned the idea.
He could barely handle the current recoil.
If the power and recoil increased further after the upgrade, he feared he wouldn't be able to control it.
The remaining Stamina and mental strength were more than enough for him to continue upgrading.
Arriving at the first carriage,
Ye Qiyan reached out and touched the wall.
"Sublimation."
What surprised him was that the sublimation of the carriage did not require too much physical strength.
[Physical Strength: 25]
"So little? I thought I would have to use my mind."
[Warm Train Carriage] (Level 2)
[Enchant Warmth: The interior can maintain a constant temperature of 22 degrees Celsius at all times]
"Now I won't be woken by the cold."
Although the train carriages could not be sublimated a second time like the front train, Ye Qiyan was already quite satisfied with it.
"There's still plenty of time, let's sleep a little longer."
He took the thin blanket he bought from the front train and spread it on the ground.
Losing a lot of physical strength is the best way to cure insomnia.
He didn't plan to continue sublimating the remaining things.
The second stop to arrive tomorrow.
The next step is to conserve physical strength.
And then wait.-+ That night, no one slept more soundly than Ye Qiyan.
Countless people were unable to sleep because of the roar of the train and the cold wind of the wilderness. Not only did their physical and mental strength not recover, but it actually became even lower.
[10:27]
Wake up from sleep.
Stretching his stiff body, Ye Qiyan looked at the time and roughly estimated.
"Yesterday's arrival time at the first station was 1 p.m., which means it will be 1 p.m. today as well? But how do I calculate this?"
He will leave the station an hour later than the others, so will his arrival time also be later than the others?
Leaving the first car and returning to the front of the train, the temperature dropped a lot.
His control backstage was already filled with private messages.
There was not much time left until the second station, and the train broadcast had said that the second station was not guaranteed to be safe. The closer it got to that time, the higher the value of the guns would be.
"Huh?"
Lu Zhou: ["Can I use the blueprint for trading?"]
The importance of blueprints is unquestionable. Owning a blueprint is like owning a lathe that can produce unlimited quantities by simply feeding in materials.
No one was stupid. So far, even if the guns were attractive enough, no one was willing to trade blueprints with Ye Qiyan.
This one from Luzhou was the first.
"What blueprint could it be?"
Curious, Ye Qiyan replied.
["Hello, what blueprint are you looking for?"]
Number: E-3-9802.
Luzhou sat on the ground, stunned. When he heard the notification from the control system, he immediately stood up and ran over.
After seeing the message, he quickly replied,
"I'll send you a screenshot!"
Soon, a blueprint message appeared in front of Ye Qiyan.
[Level 1 Train Seat Blueprint]
[Required: 5 kg of metal, 3 kg of wood, 3 kg of plastic, 1 kg of fiber]
Chair?
Ye Qiyan was a little surprised.
It wasn't exactly rare, but at least no one would be willing to spend their resource zone on it right now.
But at least, it was a blueprint, something that could be repeatedly manufactured.
If anything, in his former world, guns and bullets were undoubtedly more valuable. But for him, the difference in value between a low-level firearm whose value could depreciate at any moment and a blueprint that could be continuously manufactured would only shrink.
At least that was how Ye Qiyan saw it.
He set the price for the guns and bullets.
To Li Xiaosheng, it could be 150 kilograms of metal; to Lu Zhou, it could be a chair blueprint.
Ultimately, the price of a transaction was never fixed.
It depended on whether he needed what the other person offered.
Ye Qiyan was tempted. With a chair, at least he wouldn't have to sit on the ground and could rest better.
"Yes, but I can only provide 10 rounds of ammunition. After all, this blueprint isn't very good. If you need more bullets, you can buy them with other resources."
The moment he saw the response, Lu Zhou's sweaty face instantly lit up.
"Ten rounds is fine! Thank you! Thank you! I'll send it to you right away!"
"You have no idea how important this gun is to me! Without it, I'll definitely die at the next stop! Definitely, definitely!"
Hmm?
Watching Lu Zhou's conversation, Ye Qiyan sensed something strange.
Definitely die?
Although the second stop was no longer safe,
it wasn't a sure thing, was it?
Why would this Lu Zhou make such a judgment?
Talent?
Looking at the transaction notification, Ye Qiyan didn't refuse.
As before, he didn't care what others were hiding.
Everyone has secrets.
The transaction was complete, and looking at the blueprint in his hand, Ye Qiyan went straight to the processing table to create it.
A black chair appeared before him, and the feeling of sitting on it made Ye Qiyan feel like he was back in civilized society.
"I never realized how important a chair was before."
He shook his head and continued his arms business.
By the final hour before the train entered its second stop, Ye Qiyan had successfully sold another fifteen rifles and 300 rounds of ammunition.
He didn't plan to sell the rest, after all, the second stop wasn't safe.
[Stamina: 98] [Spirit: 100]
Seeing his stamina and spirit restored to nearly full value, Ye Qiyan picked up a low-level marksman rifle and held it in his hands.
"Sublime."
The familiar feeling of loss of strength, but compared to the previous Colt pistol, the stamina loss of this rifle was not much.
[Stamina: 85]
"Thirteen points consumed? And the potential has been exhausted, and it can't be sublimated further."
Ye Qiyan was not disappointed. Looking at the rifle in his hand with a layer of gilded color, he opened the introduction of the train system.
[Exquisite Marksman Rifle] (Level 2)
Low-level became exquisite.
But the power of the bullets fired was more than doubled.
Of course, it was still far inferior to the upgraded Blacklight Enchanted Pistol.
"This is about right."
The countdown to the second station continued to decrease.
The atmosphere in the chat room became increasingly subdued.
There were far fewer people talking than before.
Ye Qiyan sorted his equipment and waited quietly.
In the last thirty minutes before entering the station.
A familiar light screen appeared before his eyes.
[The crossroads of fate has been triggered. Please choose one of the following two stations to stop at]
[Platform 1: Goblin Camp (Level 2 Hunting Station)]
[Platform 2: White Forest (Level 3 Collection Station)]
"Different?"
Compared to the first appearance, his exclusive module had more information.
The station level and a special suffix.
"Hunting and gathering? Level two and three? Because I upgraded the train, the higher-level platforms appeared. Also, it seems the platforms the train arrives at have a level difference in height. Was the armory there also level two?" "
No, it should still be level one. After all, the items inside are all level one."
Ye Qiyan shook his head, thought for a moment, and chose [White Forest] as his next platform.
"Collecting platform, judging by the name, it shouldn't be too dangerous."
[Platform selection completed]
[Please sit tight and hold on. The next stop on the train is...]
[White Forest]
Five minutes passed in a flash.
The same spatial fluctuations as before engulfed the train.
A grayish-white light enveloped the world.
Looking out the window, a grayish-white forest came into view.
[Current Platform: White Forest]
[Countdown to Available Stops: 3:59:59]
[Good Luck]
[Current Station: Low Risk]
"The entry time remains the same, low risk..."
Taking a deep breath, Ye Qiyan placed his pistol on his waist, his rifle slung across his back, and, carrying a backpack filled with food and mineral water, stood in front of the train door and pressed the open button.
The moment he stepped off the train, the entire world seemed to fall into a deathly silence.
Ye Qiyan surveyed his surroundings. Every tree in this world had grayish-white trunks and leaves.
A less timid person would have lost the courage to continue inside.
It was simply too quiet. So
quiet you could hear your heartbeat.
The final word "low risk" clearly indicated that this place wasn't like an armory where he could just take whatever he wanted.
But Ye Qiyan didn't regret his choice. In fact, he had already prepared himself mentally when he chose this platform.
Then again, it seems not everyone can see this danger warning. He'd been snooping in the chat room all day, and hadn't seen anyone mention it.
Those guys, who had run out of things to talk about, couldn't possibly have forgotten about it.
So, is this also the ability of the Crossroads of Fate?
Ye Qiyan put his thoughts aside and looked up at the deep white forest ahead.
"It was said to be a collection station, but I can't see what can be collected here. Is it just simple wood? It doesn't seem any different from an ordinary forest."
"Is there a road?"-+ He walked along the road deeper into the forest.
He remained vigilant for any danger
, but thankfully, nothing happened.
At the end of the road, deep within the grayish-white forest, fruit trees bearing white fruits appeared before his eyes.
Could these fruits be the items collected at the collection station? He
approached the tree, severed the stem with a dagger, plucked a fruit, and held it to his nose to smell it.
Remember the domain name of the first website: 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞. A
sweet, slightly bitter aroma filled his face. This kind of fruit was unlike anything he had ever seen in his previous world.
Gulp.
Looking at the fruit before him, Ye Qiyan swallowed.
"How fragrant!"
For some reason, Ye Qiyan felt a urge to devour the fruit.
Just as he was about to take a bite, a strong sense of danger suddenly sobered him up, and he quickly tossed the fruit away.
"!!"
"Huh, huh... What the hell?"
[Physical Strength: 93] [Spirit: 72]
Ye Qiyan was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat.
His spirit was full just now, but it had weakened so much in just a few seconds after he picked up the fruit.
He had plenty of food and water, so why was he so eager to eat a fruit whose poison he still wasn't sure if it was poisonous?
Moreover, the speed at which his spirit was weakening was terrifying; even if he was sublimating, it wouldn't be this fast.
There was something wrong with this fruit!
Ye Qiyan took a few steps back, frowning at the grayish-white fruit before him.
It was inconvenient that the train system's identification function had to be used back on the train.
But these fruits were clearly part of this station's collection. Ye Qiyan even felt that the danger of this station lay in the fruits themselves.
"Was it because I smelled this fruit just now that I had that hallucination? If I don't smell it..."
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to take the fruits back, at least to use the train's identification function to see what they were before making a decision.
Tear—
using a dagger, he cut a piece of cloth from his clothes and tied it around his face. While he wasn't sure if it would work, it was a form of protection.
Opening his backpack, he found plenty of room besides water and food.
People die for money, birds die for food. Even facing a potentially life-threatening hallucinogenic fruit, Ye Qiyan couldn't bear to give it up.
The forest remained as quiet as ever, except now there was a diligent fruit farmer harvesting his fruit.
After filling his backpack, Ye Qiyan wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Thank goodness I have this dagger, otherwise it would have been a real struggle."
He returned to the train with his backpack and eagerly took out a fruit to examine at the control system.
[White Forest Fruit] (Level 3)
[A fruit unique to the White Forest. Unprocessed, it releases a hallucinogenic aroma that lowers mental alertness. Consuming it permanently reduces mental alertness.]
[Processed consumption quickly restores mental alertness and slightly increases resistance to hallucinations.]
[Processing method: Soak in cold water for five minutes]
"I see. No wonder I was craving it just now. It was really the smell that made me want to eat it. Fortunately, I reacted quickly."
Ye Qiyan patted his chest, sighing with relief, as if he had just survived a disaster.
Alarm bells rang in his heart. He thought he'd been cautious enough, but it wasn't.
He impatiently dumped all the fruit he'd brought back into the water. After patiently waiting for five minutes, watching it transform from off-white to pure white, he eagerly picked up a white sen fruit and took a bite. The extremely sweet juice exploded in his mouth.
"Delicious! I've never tasted fruit this delicious!"
Ye Qiyan's eyes were filled with joy. Compared to the white sen fruit, the taste of bread and biscuits was simply unpalatable.
It was hard to imagine the gloomy environment in which such fruit grows.
Emptying the remaining contents of his backpack, Ye Qiyan grabbed his two guns and dagger and set off again.
A round trip took about twenty minutes, but filling the backpack would take another half an hour.
With a four-hour stop, he could only make four round trips. There was no time to waste.
Stepping off the train, Ye Qiyan suddenly had a thought and looked towards the carriage.
The garbage recycling device he had installed there was working.
"So this is what garbage recycling means."
A small, cube-shaped robot, only half the height of a calf, was shuttling back and forth between the white forest and the train.
From time to time, it would bring back some leaves and other things and put them in the recycling station.
"It always feels useless?"
Ye Qiyan sighed. After all, it was already built, so whatever.
In the Baisen Orchard, Ye Qiyan waved the dagger in his hand non-stop, collecting the fruits from the trees one by one.
After several turns, the train's stop time finally came to an end.
[0:32:16]
"What a pity! I don't know if I can find such delicious fruits in the future."
In nearly three and a half hours, he picked more than 100 kilograms of Baisen fruits.
If he ignored the rotten ones, it would be enough for him to eat for several days.
He did not move on, after all, the departure time was not far away, and he did not want to miss the train because of greed.
Ye Qiyan sorted out the supplies he had on hand.
In addition to the Baisen fruit, there were seventy-nine compressed biscuits and twenty-one bottles of purified water.
These foods were enough for him to not worry about survival for a while.
Leaning back in the chair, Ye Qiyan ate the fruit and opened the chat room.
At this time, everyone except him should have left the second platform.
The moment he opened the chat room, his eyes were instantly attracted by a line of numbers.
[8721/10000]
More than a thousand people disappeared forever.
This is only the second stop.
And the number is still decreasing.
Why?
"Who has medicine? I just drank some lake water, why does my stomach hurt so badly?!" "
Serves you right! You dared to drink unboiled water? Do you really think you're a superhero?"
"Damn it! Those buffalo punctured my lung! Guys, I don't think I'll be alive much longer. If anyone sees my wife, please tell her her husband killed a cow."
"Go upstairs, your wife, I'll take care of her." "
Ouch... The bleeding hurts... Does anyone have medicine? I remember someone prescribing a golden wound remedy before. Please help me."
"I'm so hungry! The bread and water in the newbie pack isn't enough."
In modern society, injuries are treated very well. As long as they're not left untreated, even the most serious injuries can be recovered.
But things are different now.
Even if you muster the courage to get out of your car and explore, the slightest mistake can lead to danger. Even
if you manage to escape, you're still likely to be injured. If the injuries are more serious and you can't get treatment, you're just waiting to die.
Not to mention that many people still have no access to food and water, and the pressure of survival is suffocating them.