Green Zone, within the Kunlun Mountains.
"Whoosh"
Inside a Train floating low in the air with wheels made of clouds, a Bald Man looked at the blueprint in his hand, his face filled with emotion.
This blueprint had dropped after defeating the Green Dragon Boss.
The Green Dragon often randomly spawns in various green zones, making it difficult to track. After several days of pursuit, he finally caught it. Only by going all out did he manage to obtain this blue-grade Vehicle Component in his hand.
"Deep Sea Shield."
With this component, the Train could dive underwater.
Of course.
Whether it could move underwater would require some special wheel components, such as the "Bunny Cloud" wheels currently on his Train.
He could finally return to his "Shahe Plain" and explore the "Underwater Labyrinth" to uncover the mystery of that Fortuitous Encounter.
A few days ago.
He encountered an extremely unique Level 2 Train.
That Level 2 Train, equipped with the "Spider Leg" component, effortlessly climbed a nearly 90-degree cliff. That scene had deeply shocked him. He initially thought many big shots had entered this area and would compete with him for the Green Dragon Boss.
But over the past few days, he discovered that this news seemed to be known by very few people.
He thought so.
He had spent a great deal to obtain this information; it shouldn't have become common knowledge like cabbage.
Moreover, he never saw that Level 2 Train again, only encountering a few Flesh Trains—those maniacs.
"Kunlun Mountains."
A green zone with no mineral resources.
Nothing but monsters, high-level monsters everywhere, making it far more dangerous than other zones. No Train liked entering this area, except for Flesh Trains that upgraded components by collecting monster flesh.
The man shook his head, not dwelling on it.
He picked up a razor and carefully shaved the stubble that had just grown on his head—a habit from before the apocalypse. Then, he entered the coordinates for "Shahe Plain" into the control panel. With the roar of the engine, the Train hovering low in the air shot toward the distant clouds!
The Azure Dragon Train, roaming the world!
Several hours later.
The Bald Man had successfully arrived at Shahe Plain and driven the Train to the lakeside. Then, with the sound of gears turning, the cloud wheels of the Train stationed by the lake were slowly retracted into the carriage. Several Mechanical Arms extended from both sides of the carriage, quickly twisting and hammering underneath. Soon, several propellers emerged from the bottom of the carriage.
With a crisp "clang,"
the wheels were successfully replaced.
The entire process took one minute.
"So convenient."
Sitting in the Train's cockpit, the Bald Man looked at the prompt on the control panel indicating the successful replacement and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. This was the charm of the yellow-grade component "Mechanical Arm."
This component, paired with the "Train Auxiliary AI," could perform some highly complex tasks.
Such as—
replacing the wheels.
Before having this component, every time he needed to replace the Train's wheels, he had to park the Train and have the onboard mechanics get out to replace them at various connection points between the carriages and wheels. The more carriages, the longer it took.
Each time, it took over ten minutes.
With this yellow-grade "Mechanical Arm" component, the entire process now took just one minute.
As a Level 5 Train, he had many more rare components than other Trains.
Most Level 5 Train Conductors focused on mining to develop their Trains, spending most of their time mining to quickly upgrade components and Train levels, avoiding boss fights whenever possible.
But he always believed that sharpening the axe doesn't delay the chopping.
He preferred to seek out bosses when the Train was well-armed or actively look for Fortuitous Encounters to obtain more rare Accessory Blueprints, allowing the Train to develop in multiple areas. What's the use of having a high Train level if the foundation is weak? It would still crumble at the slightest touch.
Take the "Underwater Labyrinth" Fortuitous Encounter in the lake before him.
This was a target he had been planning for an entire month, and now everything was finally ready.
"Let's begin,"
the Bald Man sat in the Train's cabin, his eyes full of anticipation as he gazed at the calm lake surface. He slowly pushed the control lever, and the Level 5 "Auxiliary Universal Wheel" beneath the carriage began to roll.
This was an auxiliary wheel, unable to provide much power to the Train.
It mainly assisted in turning; using this wheel as a power source was like a small horse pulling a big cart.
But in this situation, it was a decent auxiliary power source for entering the lake, as he couldn't rely on the "Propeller" wheels to get the Train into the water.
The next moment—
"Boom!"
The Train slowly plunged into the lake, and upon contact with the water, a light blue barrier enveloped the entire Train.
This was the effect of the "Deep Sea Shield," protecting the Train from water pressure and preventing water from entering.
Simultaneously.
The several propellers beneath the carriage began to spin wildly, and the dazzling Headlights formed two long beams illuminating the path ahead. The Train began its descent, heading straight for the coordinates marked with a "?" on the control panel.
Twenty minutes later.
The Train finally reached the lakebed and saw a magnificent golden palace situated at the center. At the palace entrance was a long road, with a round archway at the end.
On the road, there were guiding markers.
Above the palace entrance floated several large white characters.
"Underwater Labyrinth."
The Train slowly landed on the road and drove along it into the palace. Surprisingly, although the palace was built underwater, there wasn't a drop of water inside, and there was plenty of oxygen.
Then—
On the Train's control panel, a line of text appeared.
"Please disembark, Train Conductor, and choose your maze difficulty."
"How amazing."
The Bald Man's eyes flashed with astonishment. This was his first time encountering such a Fortuitous Encounter located underwater. He didn't dare delay, stepping out of the Train's cabin and standing in the palace, which had a ceiling over ten meters high.
The vast and empty palace.
Even his originally massive Train seemed insignificant in comparison.
The next moment!
In the palace's air, five large screens appeared, with one more screen above them.
"Welcome, Train Conductor of the 'Azure Dragon Train,' as the first explorer of the Underwater Labyrinth Fortuitous Encounter."
"Perhaps one day, humanity will scatter like stars, taking root in the corners of the galaxy. But no matter how far we go, the spirit of those adventurers who possess the spirit of exploration will forever be engraved on the monument of civilization."
"To venture into the unknown, not because it is easy, but because it is hard."
"True belief is not in the certainty of success, but in the willingness to risk everything for the one in a million chance of a miracle, even in the face of possible failure."
"As the first explorer."
"Whether you successfully navigate the maze or not, you will receive a consolation prize. If you succeed, there will be a regional broadcast for prestige points, and you will receive additional rewards."
"Please choose your maze difficulty."
"Once chosen, it cannot be changed."
"Hmm."
The Bald Man felt a bit embarrassed looking at the lines of text on the large screen. Was he really that great? He felt a bit shy from the praise. Then, he turned his attention to the maze difficulties displayed on the five screens.
S-Rank Difficulty Maze: Your consciousness will descend into a robot body, appearing on a random Train. The Train Conductor of that Train will carefully arrange a static maze for you. If you reach the end within half an hour, you will successfully pass.
PS: The components and armed personnel on that Train cannot attack you, and you cannot attack any components or personnel on that armed Train. The "Train Auxiliary AI" on your Train will possess the robot, giving you extraordinary thinking abilities. The robot has the running speed of an adult male, and the Train's carriages are limited to a maximum of 18.
Reward: 30 Murphy Stones.
A-Rank Difficulty Maze: You will fall asleep and enter 99 layers of dreams. If you wake up within 24 hours, you will successfully pass.
PS: If you do not wake up within the time limit, you will be forcibly awakened.
Reward: 20 Murphy Stones.
B-Rank Difficulty Maze: You will enter the Underwater Labyrinth behind the palace with 999 nodes after losing four senses. If you reach the end within 6 hours, you will successfully pass.
PS: The four senses lost are shape, sound, smell, and taste, retaining only one sense, touch.
Reward: 10 Murphy Stones.
C-Rank Difficulty Maze: Your consciousness will possess a Goblin monster, entering an extremely dark place. You need to find a pickaxe and a Mine in the darkness and mine 12 units of Iron Ore within 24 hours.
PS: Beep... beep... Search failed. This task difficulty cannot be selected at this time.
Reward: 5 Murphy Stones.
D-Rank Difficulty Maze: You will enter the Underwater Labyrinth behind the palace with 999 nodes while retaining all five senses. If you reach the end within 24 hours, you will successfully pass.
PS: It is recommended to wear a 'smartwatch,' as this maze will significantly increase your daily step count.
Reward: 2 Murphy Stones.
"Whew."
Standing beside the Azure Dragon Train, the Bald Man looked up at the five screens displaying different maze difficulties with their respective rewards. His attention was immediately drawn to the generous rewards. His chest heaved, his breathing unconsciously quickened, and his eyes filled with greed.
This was a huge windfall!
He had been to so many "Train Fortuitous Encounters" and had always heard that "personal Fortuitous Encounters" had many special items as rewards, but he had never encountered one. He never thought he would stumble upon one today—a personal Fortuitous Encounter.
And the reward was precious Murphy Stones!
If he could complete the S-Rank maze difficulty, he would gain a whopping 30 Murphy Stones. He could hardly imagine how many top-tier components with Supermodel Effects the Azure Dragon Train could upgrade with 30 Murphy Stones!
Even the lowest difficulty level offered 2 Murphy Stones!
Moreover, he was the first Train Conductor to explore this area, meaning if he could successfully complete the task, he would gain prestige points and additional rewards through regional broadcast.
This was truly a huge win!
The Bald Man carefully examined the five difficulties. The first S-Rank difficulty was familiar to him. The S-Rank task for the "Mechanical Train" job change was to arrange a maze. So, was the consciousness inside that robot a real person?
When other Trains were doing this S-Rank job change task, were there real consciousnesses inside the robots? Were there other dungeons with the same S-Rank maze task?
This one
was labeled S-Rank but seemed the easiest!!!
Regarding the "Mechanical Train" S-Rank job change task, he knew several Trains had attempted it, but none succeeded. He had never seen a "Mechanical Train" with "S-Rank Potential" on the leaderboard.
He loved exploring and had been to many green zones. He had seen a few "Flesh Trains" with "S-Rank Potential" on the leaderboard, but he had never seen a "Mechanical Train" with "S-Rank Potential."
In other words!
The failure of these Train Conductors meant his success!
"Damn it."
The Bald Man's eyes were bloodshot, filled with intense greed. He had wondered why that Train on the "Supermodel Effect Count Leaderboard," which had always been below him, suddenly gained four or five Supermodel Effects in an instant.
Could it be that they had the luck to stumble upon a Fortuitous Encounter like the "Underwater Labyrinth" and completed this S-Rank difficulty maze task, taking away 30 Murphy Stones?
The more he thought about it, the more he believed it!
He didn't even want to pay much attention to the other difficulty tasks, as they were truly difficult.
Unlike this S-Rank difficulty task, which was simple and had generous rewards.
Without hesitation.
He resolutely and firmly chose the S-Rank difficulty maze task.
Then, he couldn't help but let his thoughts drift, his eyes unfocused as he chuckled foolishly.
30 Murphy Stones, regional broadcast, prestige points, additional rewards...
This Fortuitous Encounter was worth it!
All the planning he had done for the "Underwater Labyrinth" Fortuitous Encounter for an entire month was worth it!
It was all worth it!
After he made his choice, the several screens in the palace's air slowly dissipated and merged into one screen.
"Train Conductor of the Azure Dragon Train has successfully chosen the S-Rank Difficulty Maze."
"Searching for a corresponding Train... Search failed. No available Train for descent."
"Issuing one-time special item 'Consciousness Transmitter.'"
"When a suitable Train for descent is found, the 'Consciousness Transmitter' will emit a piercing alarm and flash red. Press the button on the Consciousness Transmitter within one hour, and regardless of your location, your consciousness will be transmitted into the robot body, officially starting the S-Rank Difficulty Maze."
Then, several rays of light appeared in the air, slowly solidifying into a device resembling a walkie-talkie, which fell to the ground.
"Hey
!"
Seeing this.
The Bald Man rushed forward, quickly picking up the "Consciousness Transmitter" from the ground. He anxiously checked it several times, ensuring it wasn't damaged, then muttered.
"Be gentle, don't break it."
"This is my great opportunity!"