Translator: AnubisTL
The rest was up to the train.
With the Stellaris's Tier 9 Armor, it could sit here peacefully all night without any monster being able to breach its defenses.
Three days later.
The Tier 3 Iron Mine had been completely exhausted, yielding 3.2 million units of iron ore. This was a particularly large haul.
The train was also fully repaired.
At this point, the Civilization Token was already back in use. Chen Mang, seated in the locomotive cabin, activated the train token in his hand, and the familiar massive portal immediately materialized before him.
He pushed the control lever forward, slowly piloting the Stellaris into the portal.
Goblin's Tomb!
That magical space brimming with resources was ready for more mining!
This time, his target was a Tier 2 Copper Mine.
While the Zombie Basin had plenty of iron ore, copper ore was scarce. He needed more copper to manufacture more robots and replenish ammunition.
Before entering, he contacted Erdan to ask if they had enough iron ore. Erdan's reply was that they had more than enough, so there was nothing to worry about. After all, he was about to be out of contact for 48 hours.
He didn't want to emerge 48 hours later to find that the "Travel Frog Train," on which he had pinned so much hope, had broken down in some forgotten corner.
As the train completely passed through the portal, the portal itself closed behind it.
Finally—
The Stellaris reappeared in the familiar space. Without hesitation, it sped toward the coordinates recorded during its previous visit, where two Tier 2 Copper Mines lay. Pushing the train to its maximum speed, it reached the coordinates in about fifteen minutes.
The moment the train came to a halt, Doba and the others led all the residents in jumping off.
The train had originally carried over 3,000 residents. Adding the 1,500 rescued from the other two trains and the 700 from the Er Dan Train, the mining workforce alone now numbered 5,000!
There were also nearly four hundred residents in various other roles.
It could be said that the Stellaris had become a colossal behemoth. In any Immortal Hero world that valued merit, saving so many survivors would surely earn him a Heavenly Dao Edict, if not immediate enlightenment.
There were no monsters here.
Biaozi and the forty robots had already gone to excavate the ground, hoping to unearth something valuable like last time.
These robots were armed robots, and he had tried using them for mining, but they were unsuitable.
However, if there were armed robots, then mining robots must exist too! One day, his mining efficiency would skyrocket!
In fact, his current mining efficiency was already quite high. What truly limited his mining progress wasn't efficiency, but the lack of enough mines.
"Hoo..."
Sitting in the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang gazed out at the thriving scene outside. A satisfied nod followed before he began inventorying his spoils from the recent hunt. The refrigerator was packed full, a testament to the many Tier 9 Monsters he had slain.
1: 1.78 million units of corpse meat.
2: 4 Murphy stones.
3: 17 train tokens.
4: 1 Rare Train Token.
5: Various miscellaneous materials like "crocodile meat" and "spider silk," totaling 370,000 units.
6: 1 Tier 3 Iron Ore Refresh Voucher.
7: Special item: Hell Shades.
"Spider silk?"
Chen Mang raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember killing any spider-like monsters. But never mind, he couldn't recall—he'd killed too many. He'd lost count of how many monsters he'd slain.
All he remembered was charging in and out seven times, slaughtering everything in his path. He'd even killed quite a few Tier 9 Monsters. The rest was a blur.
The haul was so massive it nearly filled an entire refrigerator. The corpse meat could be exchanged for Merit Points at the Military Factory, but he'd been saving it up. Combined with his existing stash, he now had over 2 million units of corpse meat.
This material was crucial for upgrading flesh trains, equivalent to iron ore.
In essence—
This crisis had been a feast for flesh trains, like a rain of iron ore from the sky for mechanical trains. Of course, that was only if they survived.
A thought crossed his mind.
Perhaps one day in the future, he could build a flesh train and give it to a train crew member, making it a Subsidiary Train of the Stellaris!
Of course, it was just an idea, and he hadn't decided whether to pursue it. But he'd save it for now.
He had a bit of a collector's habit.
He'd acquired four more murphy stones, bringing the total in the train to eighteen. He'd obtained fifteen of them when he killed the Tier 11 Giant Zombie King.
The Rare Train Token had already been used by Erdan.
As for the seventeen train tokens, he'd tossed them into the refrigerator.
Those things were hard to sell.
Hardly anyone bought them.
He'd save the Tier 3 Iron Ore Refresh Voucher for when he couldn't find any ore. There was no rush to use it now, and he definitely wouldn't use it in the Goblin's Tomb. As for the Hell Shades, they were a special item.
They had a stylish design, quite aesthetically pleasing.
The effect was a slight increase in the wearer's comprehensive physical fitness.
A nice little trinket.
He'd give it to Biaozi later so he could control the Thunder mecha sooner.
It was worth noting that despite the numerous drops from the monsters this time, not a single accessory blueprint had dropped. He couldn't figure out why.
Chen Mang didn't think much of it.
The loot from the Zombie Volcano had been fully inventoried. Now it was time to enter the digestion phase. Once he had digested enough, he could upgrade to a Tier 8 Train and venture into higher zones!
If a train had been developing smoothly since the start of the apocalypse, reaching its current state after a year and a half, it would likely be around Tier 17 or 18. This meant he could soon catch up to the First Tier. Once he reached the Purple Zone or even the Red Zone, he might find himself the only train in that area.
All the mines and fortuitous encounter maps would be his.
Time to dig slowly!
But he doubted that was likely. Many locomotive operators were stubborn, focusing solely on upgrading their train's Tier and ignoring accessory levels or combat power. Those things didn't matter to them!
Moreover, a short, compact train like Erdan's required fewer resources to upgrade. However, it meant sacrificing many accessories, reducing combat power and requiring external support. Without support, such a train wouldn't last long before collapsing.
Outside the locomotive cabin, everyone was busy.
Chen Mang turned his attention to the upgrade requirements for a Tier 8 Train.
Upgrade Requirements: All train components must be fully crafted, 100,000 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore must be consumed, all accessories in the carriage must be above Tier 160, and the train must possess five overpowered effects.
He met all the requirements.
The train currently held 3.55 million units of iron ore.
More than enough.
After consuming 1 million units of iron ore, the train successfully upgraded to Tier 8!
Lines of text slowly appeared on the control panel screen:
[Your train has reached Tier 8.
More craftable accessories are now unlocked.]
A Tier 8 Train!
This time, there's still only one craftable accessory. The most obvious improvement from Tier 7 to Tier 8 is the train's base speed increase, which boosts its base score in the Train Power Ranking. Aside from that, and the addition of a purple-grade craftable accessory, there's nothing else.
Selling these upgrades for 1 million units of iron ore is clearly a massive loss.
A train's combat strength doesn't depend on its Tier but on the effects and Tier of its accessories. Train Tier only determines which higher-level zones the train can access, granting access to more resources and opportunities to acquire higher-grade blueprints.
And, of course, the new function added with each Train Upgrade.
Beyond that, Train Upgrades offer no other benefits.
However, no new functions are added when a train reaches Tiers 7, 8, or 9. A new function is only added again at Tier 10.
Tier 10 is a major milestone.
Stamina Fragrance: Purple-grade Special Accessory. Requires 10,000 units of Wood to craft.
"..."
Chen Mang stared at the accessory, slightly stunned. Was this the reason the Tier 9 Train had collected so much wood?
But purple-grade accessories could only be upgraded to Tier 10 at most.
Even reaching Tier 10 would only require around 550,000 wood. Why collect so much?
But—
Without hesitation, he immediately spent 550,000 units of wood to craft it, upgraded it to Tier 10, and installed it in Carriage 11.
The Zombie Basin had no Lumber Mills.
There were scattered trees that could be felled, but no large-scale Lumber Mills—at least, he hadn't seen any. Perhaps they were hidden in some obscure corner.
This accessory's effect was to release a wave of fatigue within a certain radius, while simultaneously continuously restoring stamina.
As a faint fragrance drifted towards the nearby group of residents, many of their eyes lit up. They felt as if they had inhaled mint, a cool sensation washing over them. Their slightly aching arms regained their strength, and they began mining with renewed vigor.
This accessory significantly boosted the residents' mining efficiency.
Stamina Fragrance (Tier 5 Overpowered Effect): Relaxes the mind, allowing individuals to remain calm under pressure.
Stamina Fragrance (Tier 10 Overpowered Effect): None.
A rather nice purple accessory.
These two Tier 2 Copper Mines were nearly exhausted in less than 24 hours. They could move on to other mines.
The population had reached 5,000, and mining efficiency had greatly improved.
They could only stay here for 48 hours.
Clearly, there would be no rest.
However, with the Stamina Fragrance and special foods like Cola and tea that replenished stamina and kept the mind sharp, even going 48 hours without sleep wouldn't leave them feeling overly exhausted.
"Huuu..."
Chen Mang stretched languidly, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed air. His work here was done.
He casually remarked, "How's Zhang Yiren's movie coming along? Tell him to bring his film crew over to see me."
"Understood."
During the three days before entering the Goblin's Tomb, while the residents were mining the Tier 3 Iron Mine, Zhang Yiren had been filming with his crew. He'd even recruited several extras from among the residents.
Filmed with the Mechanical Eye.
It should look pretty good.
Mining the Tier 3 Iron Mine took about two days. On the third day, everyone was resting—partly to prepare for the next 48 hours of work, and partly to wait for the cooldown period of the Civilization Token.
Soon—
Zhang Yiren led his film crew, cautiously and nervously pushing open the locomotive cabin door. He glanced at Lord Mang, who was reclining in a chair, and whispered, "Lord Mang... you wanted to see me?"
"Mm."
Chen Mang waved his hand dismissively toward the movie screen beside him. "How's the film coming along? Let's take a look."
His anger toward Zhang Yiren had largely subsided.
While the initial low-quality film had annoyed him, it was thanks to Zhang Yiren that he had detected the impending crisis early, which was a significant contribution.
If the disaster had erupted without his knowledge, he wouldn't have had enough time to mobilize the iron ore. Without Tier 9 Armor, the Stellaris would inevitably have suffered casualties.
This counts as a meritorious deed.
However, this merit offsets the previous demerits.
It's a perfect balance.
"No problem," Zhang Yiren whispered into his walkie-talkie, aiming it at President Ai. "President Ai, project the movie I filmed these past few days onto the largest screen in the locomotive cabin."
The next moment, the screen lit up.
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, lit a cigar, and settled in to enjoy the new film.
The movie began with the familiar plot: a young couple. The female lead was blind, and the male lead donated his corneas before preparing to leave quietly. While the actors had changed, the story remained largely the same.
Just as the male lead was about to slip away, a tear rolled down the female lead's cheek. She opened her eyes, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry. Actually, I'm a transmigrator. I have a system. The system's mission is that if you agree to fulfill ninety-nine requests, I can return to my original world and revive my lover."
"The last thing the system mission asked of you was to donate your corneas."
"I didn't expect you to agree."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright." The male lead shook his head. "Actually, I'm also a transmigrator. I have a system too. My system mission is that if I do 99 things for you, I can return to my original world and become a saint."
At this point, the scene shifted—
The male lead returned to his original world, becoming a blind saint who wreaked havoc. Yet, in the quiet of night, he would occasionally remember the girl.
The film ended abruptly, lasting only five minutes.
After the screening, the locomotive cabin fell into an eerie silence.
After a long pause, Zhang Yiren cautiously spoke, his voice trembling slightly. "Lord Mang, what do you think? This micro-film incorporates popular elements like demons, systems, transmigration, pure love, violence, and gore."
"..."
Chen Mang remained expressionless, turning his head to look at Zhang Yiren in silence. After a long moment, he finally spoke calmly.
"Have you ever seen a blind saint?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, there's another version."
Zhang Yiren quickly spoke into the walkie-talkie again, "Play the second version I filmed for Lord Mang to see."
Soon—
The control panel screen lit up once more, displaying the familiar opening.
The familiar hospital, the familiar bed, the familiar actors, the familiar plot.
(End of the Chapter)
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