Translator: AnubisTL
Which of these rewards is more valuable?
It depends on the person.
For Chen Mang, the murphy stone was useless except as a means to trade for resources. For example, he could sell them on the train radio. However, Mundo had told him that the most important part of a "trade" was getting paid—whether the goods were actually delivered didn't matter.
No one cared.
As long as the payment was received, it was a good trade.
Now, the murphy stone had even lost its only trading value.
Half an hour later, Chen Mang emerged from the locomotive cabin. There was no Consolation Prize. Erdan had mentioned earlier that there might be one, but it seemed only Pioneers received them.
However...
Erdan had successfully upgraded to a Tier 4 Train and completed the S-Class Mechanical Train job advancement quest. He was currently choosing one of three special abilities.
In short:
Rare Train Token + S-rank Potential!
This was practically the perfect start for a mechanical train, without exception. This didn't include Chen Mang, of course, since his Tier 0 Authority came pre-installed—that was a cheat, not something everyone had.
The robot lay discarded nearby.
Xiao Ai had already moved the robot back to the Armored Research Center. It seemed she would soon have two bodies.
Good.
At that moment, Erdan jogged over, his voice brimming with excitement. "Lord Mang, didn't you give me a purple-grade train component, the Flowing Light Tail Thruster? I already had plenty of acceleration accessories on my Azure Dragon, so I took them all off. I also chose a train skill that boosts burst speed from the three train stunts."
"With the train skill activated, my train can reach a top speed of 6,000 kilometers per hour."
...
Chen Mang's lips twitched slightly. That speed was already quite absurd, nearly matching the maximum speed of many fighter jets. "What's that red-grade heavy firepower component you got?"
"Uh..." Erdan sighed regretfully. "It's not very useful. It's a production line for Armed Black Hole Robots, red-grade. It can manufacture attack robots, but I don't see how that qualifies as a heavy firepower component. It needs to be installed inside a space gate."
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Build one and put it in a carriage. Then give it to me. I think I can use it."
"Alright!"
Erdan didn't say anything more, just looked at the train behind him. This was likely the only Tier 4 Train in the Zombie Basin.
Low-tier trains weren't allowed in high-level zones, but building a train car within a high-level zone was different. However, low-tier trains built this way could only remain in that zone and couldn't travel to lower-tier zones.
Next—
Erdan upgraded the train all the way to Tier 6, but he couldn't go any further. To upgrade to a Tier 7 Train, he first needed to clear a fortuitous encounter map, which the Travel Frog hadn't done yet.
The process consumed a small amount of Wood, copper ore, and 1.8 million units of iron ore. The bulk of the cost went toward armor.
Yes!
Chen Mang directly used six murphy stones on the Travel Frog, upgrading Erdan's locomotive armor to 9th-tier!
Short and compact!
Don't let its size fool you—it's tough!
In every aspect, at least for now, armor was superior to energy shields. It could directly withstand both energy and physical attacks without consuming additional energy. It also eliminated the risk of the energy shield failing to activate because enemy detection was missed.
A train with seventeen carriages would require a massive amount of murphy stones to upgrade its armor to Tier 9.
However, a train with only one locomotive would need far fewer murphy stones for the same upgrade.
"Go on," Chen Mang said, handing the Travel Frog 200,000 units of iron ore and 1 million units of copper ore. He waved at Erdan, who was sitting in the locomotive cabin, and chuckled. "Clear a fortuitous encounter map early and quickly upgrade to a Tier 9 Train. Don't fall behind me later."
"Bring back some good stuff for me," he added. "After you clear it, make a guide so I can go back and get double rewards."
"No problem!" Erdan replied.
The train before them, with its single locomotive, was bristling with weaponry. Five third-rate heavy machine guns and ten Doomsday Cannons were mounted on its roof, all salvaged and haphazardly attached, giving it the appearance of a steel hedgehog.
Chen Mang had even used two murphy stones to upgrade one of the Doomsday Cannons to Tier 10. This gave it the potential to kill Tier 10 monsters and granted it two overpowered effects: halved energy consumption and halved cooldown.
In short, though small, this train was practically invincible in the Zombie Basin. No other train dared to challenge it. The only downside was that cramming so many accessories onto the locomotive made it look a bit crowded.
Especially the sides of the locomotive.
There were seven different types of tail thrusters, and no one knew where this guy had collected so many.
At this moment, the "Bunny Cloud" wheels had already been switched out.
With the fourteen tail thrusters spewing flames of different colors, the train vanished into the sky at incredible speed in an instant. Only seconds later did the piercing sonic boom arrive, leaving a white trail in the air—a straight, clear line like the smoke from a ship crossing the Equator.
"This guy..." Old Pig gazed at the train that had disappeared over the horizon, sighing with emotion. "Would you call this a temporary worker getting promoted? He went straight from being a lone cultivator to an Outer Affairs Elder of a Sect. Look at the instant upgrade in treatment—he even got Tier 9 Armor right away."
"Lord Mang, they're both Travel Frogs, but this guy's costs are far higher than Mundo's," Old Pig said with a chuckle.
"That's true," Chen Mang agreed. Erdan had just loaded the Travel Frog with a large supply of bread, Cola, cigarettes, clothes, and other daily necessities.
The Stellaris itself was running low on iron ore, with only 20,000 units remaining.
Fortunately, with the Solar Energy Panel Blueprint, he wasn't too worried about the train's daily energy consumption.
Next, he controlled the Stellaris train. The locomotive opened its jaws and swallowed the Azure Dragon train and the remaining carriages whole. This netted him another 370,000 units of iron ore, which at least partially recouped his losses.
Now he had a total of 390,000 units of iron ore.
The Travel Frog's Rare Train Token had yielded two Red Accessories.
One was a Wheel Changer, identical to the one on the Stellaris.
This Red Accessory allowed for seamless, instantaneous wheel replacement—an incredibly overpowered feature. It could instantly transition from high-speed ground travel to a vertical leap, completely eliminating the need for wheel changes. This saved a tremendous amount of time and provided a significant advantage in crisis situations.
The other Red-grade accessory was the Stellaris Tail Thruster.
Also an acceleration-based component, this Red-grade accessory was quite expensive to upgrade. Even at its default Tier 1, upgrading it to Tier 2 would require 100,000 units of iron ore. He wouldn't upgrade it for now, but even at Tier 1, the acceleration boost was substantial!
"6,000 kilometers per hour... that's just ridiculous," Chen Mang sighed, then leaned on his cane and walked toward the locomotive cabin.
I'm so tired, so tired, so tired!
I need to sleep!
I haven't slept in ages!
This maximum speed was far faster than the Stellaris's. With Tier 9 Armor, he suspected that if he equipped a Tier 10 ram at the front, he could probably ram a Tier 10 monster to death at maximum speed without a problem.
All you need is enough speed.
If your Tier can break through their defenses, let speed handle the rest.
Soon, Chen Mang returned to the locomotive cabin. He stopped worrying about those things and didn't bother inventorying his gains. After a quick wash, he climbed into bed, ready to sleep. He also set Xiao Ai to control the train and search for iron ore.
Sleep first.
If the sky falls, I'll deal with it when I wake up.
"Awesome!"
Erdan, soaring through the air, felt a speed he'd never experienced before. He couldn't help but grin like an idiot, his mouth stretching to his ears. But he quickly switched to his "Windfire Wheel" on the ground.
Both the tail thrusters and the Bunny Cloud consumed a significant amount of energy.
The train only had 200,000 units of iron ore left.
That was only enough to craft six Tier 3 energy stones.
Be frugal, Chen Mang thought.
Even if they ran out, he could replenish the iron ore through remote trading. However, he hadn't brought back anything worthwhile yet. Lord Mang had already consumed so many resources, he couldn't bring himself to ask for more. He needed to show some results first.
"Mom," Erdan said, setting the train down on the ground. He grinned at the zombies charging toward the locomotive, their attacks utterly ineffective. "I suddenly feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders."
"I don't need to worry about anything anymore. I can just focus on exploring fortuitous encounter maps, which is what I love most."
"What do you think?"
The next moment, a familiar voice echoed from the locomotive cabin: "I have no objections to this, but I'm very happy you remembered to bring me along when you switched trains, instead of letting my database and the train perish together."
"Of course," Erdan replied. "So now..."
"Let the Travel Frog bring back our first fortune!"
"Where do you think we can find another fortuitous encounter map in the Zombie Basin?"
"I suggest we go back to the village. There might be some clues there."
"Good idea!"
Inside the locomotive cabin, a space gate was embedded in the carriage wall. Five refrigerators, along with supplies for his thugs and their future living quarters, were already stored within.
Zombie Basin.
The Stellaris train roared across the wasteland, searching for potential Tier 3 Iron Mines. Any zombies that dared to block its path were crushed into pulp.
The journey was smooth and unimpeded.
It was mid-afternoon, and the sun had yet to set. However, the air above the Zombie Basin carried a distinct, blood-tinged scent. Through the windows, the sudden surge in monster numbers was clearly visible.
"Sister Chuchu," Yan Yao said, still shaken from their near-death experience. She sat curled up on a window chair, her feet resting on the seat and her legs drawn up to her chest. "I thought we were going to die this time."
"I've never seen so many monsters before."
"Even the most terrifying nightmares I've had since childhood weren't as frightening as what just happened."
"That's a bit much," Ji Chuchu said lazily, leaning against the window in her silk slip dress, her chin propped up in boredom. "But I'm not too scared. If even the Stellaris is destroyed, then no matter which train we're on, we're doomed anyway."
"I watched the Stellaris grow from the ground up, so I have absolute faith in its strength."
"And—"
"Have you noticed how Lord Mang is really good at getting everyone to do what they're best at?"
"Like Erdan, who loves exploring fortuitous encounter maps; Old Pig, who's skilled at internal affairs management; Biaozi, who prefers solving problems with brute force and Li Shiji, who's like he unlocked his genetic lock; and... us, who are good-looking."
"Lord Mang always manages to have everyone doing exactly what they're good at and passionate about."
"Is that really so difficult?" Yan Yao tilted her head in confusion.
"It's incredibly difficult," Ji Chuchu said seriously, nodding. "First, discovering what someone is good at is no easy task. Many people don't even know what they're good at, or they refuse to admit it."
"It's even harder to identify each person's post-apocalypse skills and then manifest them into specific job roles."
"I think I understand, Sister Chuchu, but it's still afternoon and hours until bedtime. Why are you already wearing your nightgown?"
"Oh." Ji Chuchu, her head resting on her arm, gazed out the window with unfocused eyes and said casually, "I was thinking about how Lord Mang seemed quite impressed when he saw me in this silk nightgown last time. After just surviving a battle, he might need to relax."
"So I put it on early, just in case he passes by and sees it..."
"What if he doesn't come?"
"If he doesn't, he doesn't. Opportunities come to everyone, but only if you're prepared when they arrive."
"Not all effort yields rewards. In life, at least ninety percent of your efforts will go unrewarded. But you can't let that discourage you from pursuing the remaining ten percent."
"Work hard, and life will get better!"
Inside the Armored Research Center, Xiao Ai stood still, gazing at the array of experimental equipment, gantries, and the adjacent Armory and Armed Black Hole Robot production line. The once vast space gate area now seemed cramped at a glance.
"Why does it feel like my workload keeps increasing?" Xiao Ai muttered before striding towards the Armed Black Hole Robot production line, dragging a robot behind her—the one dropped by the S-Class Mechanical Train's job advancement quest.
Armed Black Hole Robot Production Line
Red-Tier Accessory
If it's called a Heavy firepower component, it certainly lives up to the name.
Night fell.
Chen Mang rubbed his eyes, quickly washed up, and climbed out of bed.
The train had stopped beside a Tier 3 Iron Mine, where 3,000 residents were working tirelessly at mining.
"It's almost midnight already," he glanced at the time on the train panel.
(End of the Chapter)
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