Translator: AnubisTL
"Hmm?"
Xiao Ai's voice rang in Chen Mang's ear, causing his eyebrows to twitch in surprise. "You mean the zombie flesh I just collected happens to be the key?"
"What a coincidence!"
"Yes," Xiao Ai continued. "According to the information stored in the chip, the creation process for the Mechanical Zombie King involves first capturing a Tier 6 zombie on the verge of evolving into a Tier 7 zombie."
"Then, following the natural evolution process, when the Tier 6 zombie has consumed enough flesh to evolve into a Tier 7 zombie, its plasticity will greatly increase."
"The flesh brought back by the zombie horde serves not only as nourishment for evolution but also triggers mechanisms. During this period of peak plasticity, firepower weapons like rocket launchers and chainsaws are permanently embedded into the zombie's body, granting it enhanced combat capabilities."
"That massive funnel nearby is where the flesh is stored."
"The flesh poured into the funnel flows into the recessed area on the plaza you pointed out earlier. When the blood completely covers the patterns on the plaza, the Mechanical Zombie King will have reached its complete form."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly, remaining silent. It was truly a stroke of luck that they had stumbled upon this place. Who knew such a relic was hidden within the Ice and Snow Paradise? It seemed each zone contained its own unique relic.
For example, the Sha River Plains had the Sky Piercing Tower and Goblin Ruins, as well as the underwater labyrinth.
Kunlun Mountain featured the Armory, a fortuitous encounter map exclusive to flesh trains.
And the Ice and Snow Paradise housed this Mechanical Zombie King.
These locations all offered opportunities for those who entered and escaped unscathed, the only difference being the scale of the rewards. This meant other zones likely had their own lucky individuals who had seized such opportunities and advanced rapidly.
Even the Iron Ridge Wasteland, a beginner-level White Zone, contained the unique Doomsday Abyss.
Considering all this,
the train's primary upgrades, beyond speed, defense, attack, and living facilities, should also include adaptability to different environments. This would allow exploration of more fortuitous encounter maps. Trains like the Azure Dragon, capable of traversing land, sea, and air, would naturally have an advantage in exploring such maps.
To date, the Stellaris lacked underwater capabilities. Although they had acquired the "propeller" wheel during their expedition to the Kunlun Mountain Region, which allowed the train to travel underwater, they still needed special accessories to make it fully submersible, such as waterproofing.
Chen Mang didn't linger. He immediately piloted the Stellaris into the air, hovering it above the massive funnel on the elevated platform. The door to Carriage No. 3 swung open.
Biaozi and the others hauled a refrigerator to the doorway and tilted it forward at an angle.
In the next moment—
Boom! Boom!
Like a dam releasing its floodgates, a torrent of viscous blood arced through the air and crashed into the funnel below, followed by chunks of zombie flesh that splattered with a wet thud, thud, thud.
Zhang Damei stood nearby, occasionally stabbing her curved blade into the refrigerator to clear any blockages.
Despite the refrigerator being packed with zombie flesh, its weight remained constant.
For over ten minutes, the refrigerator continued to disgorge its contents until it was finally emptied.
The zombie flesh stored in the refrigerator had all been obtained from slaughtering zombie hordes.
As for the flesh of the Tier 6 Zombie King, Chen Mang couldn't bring himself to use it. After all, its Tier was higher, and its flesh was of superior quality. Though he didn't know what practical benefits this superior quality might offer, he figured it could come in handy someday—just like the flesh from these zombie hordes was now being put to use.
This further solidified his belief: as long as storage space wasn't an issue, he should take everything he could get his hands on. Sooner or later, it would prove useful.
It might never be needed.
But he couldn't afford to be without it when the time came.
By now, the funnel was completely filled with zombie flesh, and a torrent of blood flowed down into the depression in the plaza, gradually spreading across the intricate patterns etched into the stone. The moment the blood completely filled the patterns...
Whirrrrrr
A sudden, rapid whirring of gears filled the air.
The incandescent lights embedded in the mountain's interior above began to glow red and flicker rapidly.
A small crack split the plaza down the middle, dividing it into eighteen segments that slowly rotated inward in a clockwise motion.
Soon...
The original plaza had transformed into a pitch-black hole.
Below the hole lay a workshop filled with various instruments.
Countless mechanical arms began to swing rapidly, grabbing weapons from nearby racks and stabbing into the void as if executing a pre-programmed routine. Without exception, all the firepower weapons clattered down into the workshop beneath the plaza.
"Let's go take a look," Chen Mang said, maneuvering the Stellaris train into the workshop. Inside, indicator lights on countless instruments flashed red, green, and other colors. He didn't understand any of it, but...
He spotted a blueprint on a table.
That, he understood.
Soon, Biaozi and the others retrieved the blueprint and handed it to him.
"Not bad," Chen Mang said, grinning as he examined the blueprint. It was a new Mecha Blueprint—a yellow-grade design called "Leech." This blueprint was of a higher grade than Zhang Damei's "Executioner" mech and focused on different strengths.
The Leech mech had virtually no close-combat weapons, relying entirely on long-range firepower.
Beyond that, there was something even more precious: the chip currently plugged into the train's Auxiliary AI.
"Train Conductor," Xiao Ai's cold, mechanical voice echoed through the locomotive cabin. "This chip contains extensive data on mech modification and manufacturing. With the tools and materials here, I can upgrade and modify the train's mechs in the future."
"Some of these instruments are for testing and grading armor, determining whether it's Tier 4 or Tier 3 defense."
"Others are mech compression devices, capable of shrinking a mech down to roughly the size of a suitcase."
"All these instruments can be connected to the generator. There should also be an energy stone here, and a high-Tier one at that, otherwise this Laboratory couldn't have remained operational for so long."
They had just discovered the chip in this very Laboratory.
The grin on Chen Mang's face nearly overflowed with delight. With a sweeping gesture of his hand, he declared, "Pack it all up and take it with us!"
"Leave not a single brick, not a single thread behind!"
In theory, mechs are not upgradable. For example, the armor and Giant Axe of the Executioner, created using the Green Mech Blueprint, are both Tier 4 and cannot be upgraded. As the train grows stronger, mechs of this grade must eventually be abandoned.
But with these new resources,
they could replace the Tier 4 armor on the Executioner mechs with Tier 5 armor materials, allowing for mech modification and upgrades.
The laboratory contained abundant raw materials and equipment.
The raw materials were easy to move, mostly entrusted to Zhang Damei for transport. Given their weight, using mechs for the task was ideal. Disassembling the equipment required more care, but with the AI's remote guidance via the Iris Chips, no major errors occurred.
After emptying the entire laboratory,
they also packed all the elevated platforms, firepower weapons, and other structures from the plaza into the space gate embedded in Carriage No. 2.
In addition,
they found a Tier 10 generator and a Tier 5 Energy Stone, which were also packed up and taken.
An hour later,
Chen Mang piloted the Stellaris train out of the mountain.
They returned fully loaded and in high spirits, leaving the Mysterious Base behind in complete disarray, stripped of everything valuable.
Chen Mang even considered taking the gears from the plaza and the mountain's interior.
During the violent dismantling process, something triggered a mechanism, causing the entire mountain to begin collapsing rapidly. They had no choice but to abandon the effort and retreat.
"A Tier 5 Energy Stone."
In the control room, Chen Mang gazed at the pigeon-egg-sized energy stone in his hand, his eyes brimming with delight. This was his first Tier 5 Energy Stone. His Crafting Table could theoretically produce such stones, but he had never actually crafted one before.
Firstly, he hadn't needed one.
His locomotive and generator each housed a Tier 3 Energy Stone, which had proven entirely sufficient for his needs.
A single Tier 3 Energy Stone required 50,000 units of iron ore—a considerable expense.
To craft a Tier 5 Energy Stone, he would need a staggering 5 million units of iron ore, a quantity he simply didn't possess. Although this particular Tier 5 Energy Stone was only 19% charged due to prolonged storage, it was still more than enough.
It was like finding nearly a million units of iron ore for free.
By now, everything from the Mysterious Base had been emptied and stored within the space gate in Carriage No. 2.
"Xiao Ai," Chen Mang called out, turning to look at her and tossing her a brand-new Tier 3 Energy Stone. "Designate this space gate as the 'Mecha Research Center.' From now on, you'll be in charge of managing this facility."
"We can't build mechs as massive as the ones we saw in Mechanical City yet."
"This Tier 3 energy stone should be sufficient for now."
"You've absorbed the databases from both chips this time. Make sure you come up with something good. No problem, right?"
"No problem."
"Then let's head back and prepare for a rest!"
Chen Mang smiled as he toyed with the Tier 5 Energy Stone in his hand before tucking it into a drawer. Using such a high-grade stone for the train's current accessories would be a waste. They weren't equipped to handle that level of energy. It was better to stockpile it for future Energy Cannons, treating it as a strategic reserve.
As dusk approached, the Stellaris train returned to the Sha River Plains. Finding a flat patch of land, they immediately set up camp for the night, without rushing to find iron ore. After 48 hours of non-stop work, even a steel-willed person needed a day to rest.
Tomorrow would be soon enough.
There was no need to rush.
Many preparations were needed first, such as examining the yellow-grade Mecha Blueprint for the "Leech" mech.
Standing 3 meters tall, the Leech boasted Tier 6 Armor and all the standard mech essentials, but lacked any melee weapons.
The Leech mech was equipped with a twin-barreled, large-caliber cannon on its back, serving as its main weapon.
Each shoulder mounted a square rocket pod containing nine missiles.
In its hands, it wielded two arm-mounted rotary cannons.
Propulsion thrusters were located on the soles of its feet, lower back, and forearms.
This was pure firepower suppression!
Its only defense against close-range enemies was to shove the rotary cannons into their mouths. All weapons were Tier 6, using energy stones as ammunition, with selectable bullet tiers ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 6.
With Tier 1 ammunition, a single Tier 3 energy stone could power 600 minutes of full-throttle combat.
Using Tier 6 ammunition, the same stone would last only 30 seconds at full power.
The cost-effectiveness remained high.
A Tier 3 energy stone cost just 50,000 units of iron ore—a negligible amount on the train. The most energy-intensive component was the twin-barreled cannon on its back; disabling it would extend combat time to 60 seconds.
Crafting the Leech required 28,000 units of Red Heart Rock.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang immediately began crafting the Leech mech.
The piloting requirements for comprehensive physical fitness were extremely low, only 10.5.
Virtually everyone on the train met this requirement, even the train residents. After all, they worked daily and consumed bread that enhanced their physical fitness, their comprehensive physical fitness had long surpassed that of normal adult males.
However, the Mental Power requirement was quite high.
The operator must have a comprehensive physical fitness score above 10.5 and a Mental Power score above 14.0. Full power can be unleashed at a Mental Power score above 14.5.
"Xiao Ai."
"The resident data panel on the Iris Chip doesn't have a Mental Power option, does it?"
"Add a Mental Power data option and see who has a Mental Power score above 14.0."
"Understood."
This mech consumed significantly more energy than the Executioner, which was to be expected given the difference in tiers (Tier 4 vs. Tier 6) and combat roles (melee vs. ranged).
In the event that the train ran out of copper ore, this Leech mech could provide final fire support, as energy stones were crafted from iron ore.
For zones inaccessible to the train, the Mecha Force could extend the train's influence and attack range like the train's tentacles. Guided by data from the Iris Chip AI, they could deliver devastating blows to enemies.
Yet in all his time, he had only encountered one mine of Red Heart Rock.
To forge a Mecha Squad, they needed sufficient Red Heart Rock and guard squad members with exceptional physical fitness.
"Oh, Xiao Ai," he said. "Take that 'Resident Evil' Virtual Map Chip and plug it into the Combat Training Virtual Space. Tell them about it."
"Understood."
"Biaozi."
As dusk fell, Old Pig walked over to Biaozi, who stood blankly in the twilight. He sighed softly before patting Biaozi's shoulder. "Don't be so down. It's just one mech. Besides, you prefer Zhang Damei's close-combat mechs, right? Li Shiji's fire support mech never really suited your style anyway."
Indeed.
The Stellaris' second mech was the yellow-grade "Leech," with Li Shiji as its master.
(End of the Chapter)
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