Translator: AnubisTL
After the train reached Tier 15, the most significant change was Xiao Lu's awakening.
Chen Mang glanced at Xiao Lu, who was lying on a nearby chair. Apart from that, a new function had appeared on the control panel: "Accelerated Growth."
He studied the function's description panel thoughtfully. The gist was that it could greatly shorten the maturation cycle of various crops within the carriages, making it a practical, life-enhancing feature.
Not bad.
This would allow the crops and fruits in the Breeding Carriage to mature rapidly. However, different crops required different soil environments, and he wasn't sure how Uncle Li was handling that. He hadn't bothered with the details, leaving it to his subordinates to manage.
He couldn't possibly know everything; he wasn't a god.
Secondly—
Upon reaching Tier 15, a new craftable accessory became available.
Spacetime Leap: Red-Tier Accessory. Crafting requires 50,000 units of iron ore.
Only one craftable accessory was available.
However, this accessory's effect was quite impressive, proving particularly useful for escaping.
It could be activated once per day. Upon activation, a portal would materialize before the train, teleporting it to any corner of the current zone.
But...
The limitation of teleporting only to a corner of the current zone was rather restrictive, offering little actual escape distance. Chen Mang had previously encountered two trains equipped with this red-grade accessory, initially assuming it was a special accessory from a fortuitous encounter map. Could it be a craftable accessory available to all trains?
"This is a bit of a headache," Chen Mang muttered. If another train provoked him in the future, he'd have to track them down even after they used Spacetime Leap, a considerable waste of time.
He immediately spent 50,000 units of iron ore to craft the accessory and then consumed 7,750,000 units of iron ore to upgrade it to Tier 20 in one go.
Upgrading the accessory had no effect on its primary function.
It remained limited to one activation per day, but it gained three overpowered effects.
Spacetime Leap Tier 5 Overpowered Effect: Energy consumption halved.
Spacetime Leap Tier 10 Overpowered Effect: By expending a massive amount of energy, forcibly open a random wormhole. The wormhole's destination is unknown, potentially leading to any corner of the vast cosmos.
Spacetime Leap Tier 20 Overpowered Effect: At the initial point of a recently dissipated wormhole, create a new wormhole based on residual traces. This new wormhole will connect to the same destination as the previous one.
"The Mechanical Civilization seems to have a thorough understanding of wormhole technology."
Chen Mang silently gazed at the three effects. Teleportation portals were essentially miniature wormhole entrances. No one knew the true location of the Goblin's Tomb—it might not even exist on this planet. Yet the Mechanical Civilization could casually manipulate wormholes of any size.
Among these three overpowered effects, only the first and third were truly useful. The third effect, in particular, would allow him to instantly follow anyone attempting to escape through Spacetime Leap, giving them a nasty surprise!
As for the Level 10 Overpowered Effect, its description on the panel looked incredibly powerful.
With just a red-grade accessory and a few million units of iron ore, he could teleport to any location in the cosmos, essentially turning it into a cosmic random teleporter.
He glanced at the cost.
One 8th-Tier Energy Stone.
Equivalent to 5 billion units of iron ore.
NMSL! (ni ma si le = your mom is dead!!)
Who the hell could afford this thing?!
"..."
Sitting in the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang shook his head and stopped looking at the accessory's information. The train still had 142.2 million units of iron ore. Once the harvest from Neon City was tallied, he'd upgrade the armor to Tier 18, then head to the Red Zone.
The Red Zone's monster levels ranged up to Tier 18.
Tier 18 armor, while not impervious to all train attacks, would allow unimpeded passage through the Red Zone's monsters.
"Oh, right, Xiao Ai," Chen Mang suddenly remembered something. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Do you recall the temporal rift we discovered in that city within this zone? The one that completely disrupted the train's Radar?"
"Outside, mere seconds would pass, while inside, thirty years would elapse."
"A middle-aged man entered, and when he emerged, he was an old man. Moreover, within that temporal rift, there was no need for sustenance or waste elimination—no bodily maintenance whatsoever."
"I remember, Train Conductor. What about it?" Xiao Ai's voice echoed from the locomotive cabin.
"What do you think would happen if we tossed in a fully automated Cyber Miner?"
"..."
Xiao Ai paused before replying, "I can't simulate the outcome, but that temporal rift is gone now. We'll need to find a new one and conduct the experiment again."
"That old man hasn't died yet, has he?"
"No, Uncle Li is taking good care of him."
"We'll use him for the next experiment."
"Understood."
Just then—
Countless glowing dots materialized before Chen Mang, slowly coalescing into a panel displaying several lines of text.
[Thank you for your patience. This is the Withered Wood Meets Springs Adventure Map. Do you remember the trial in the classroom during the First Stage? You successfully cleared it, and 19 other pioneers have also completed the stage.
In 48 hours, the 20 pioneers, including yourself, must proceed to the Second Stage together to determine the victors. The survivors will then compete in the Third Stage for the final victory.
The victor will receive a gift that would make the hearts of countless train conductors race.
It is a grand prize bestowed by the Mechanical Little Princess 'Tuotuo' upon the wisest individual on this planet!
Here's a sneak peek.
One of the gifts is the 'Galaxy Map,' which marks numerous legitimate wormholes and coordinates. This will greatly assist you in finding suitable planets for settlement and survival. Unstable, illegal wormholes pose collapse risks, and using them could lead to being wanted for unauthorized travel.
Second Stage—
Train conductors will no longer enter individually. Instead, they must command their own trains.]
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes, gazing at the panel that had materialized before him and the red-glowing token in the drawer.
How could I forget?
This fortuitous encounter map was the most unique he had ever encountered—a map where failure could jeopardize the safety of an entire zone, yet offered the most substantial rewards, granting him a staggering fifty Tier 4 resources deposits.
Originally, this map belonged to the Red Zone.
Before entering the Red Zone, they shouldn't have had any contact with it. However, the map's location on the Twilight Coast, at the intersection of the Red and Purple Zones, made it vulnerable to cannon fire. This allowed Purple Zone trains to access it as well.
The second stage would no longer be a solo venture for the train conductor.
This meant fewer puzzle-solving elements and more emphasis on train-to-train combat. Since the other trains were likely from the Red Zone, Chen Mang, commanding a Tier 15 Purple Zone train, felt a slight unease.
Still, he desperately wanted the final reward: the Galaxy Map.
"Prepare yourselves. We'll enter the area in 48 hours to assess the situation and secure it."
"Li Shiji will likely need to exert considerable effort. Make sure he rests well to maintain peak physical and mental condition."
"Understood!"
"..."
Chen Mang fell silent, his gaze fixed on the control panel screen. They were about to enter the Red Zone, beyond which lay only the Gold, Pink, and Seven-Colored Zones. In other words, they were just a few steps away from the planet's most dangerous and powerful region: the Seven-Colored Zone.
The destination seemed within reach.
But he didn't know what awaited them there.
Nor did he know whether reaching the end would bring reward or even greater peril.
Neon City.
The day's business had concluded, and residents were reveling in Neon City Plaza. Nearby, a large group of residents lay sprawled on the ground, all with resident IDs in the top 1,000.
Initially, these residents had been thrilled. They had arrived a day early to attend the train crew's wedding, giving them a sense of superiority.
This was the privilege of having a low resident ID.
Especially during the apocalypse, being able to joyfully participate in a grand wedding banquet with everyone was a rare and precious experience. However, things soon took a strange turn. After the first wedding banquet, there was a second, and after the second, a third.
And so it went.
Twenty consecutive wedding banquets.
Afterward, the first thousand residents, identified by their low resident IDs, became dazed and listless, like living corpses. If footage from the eighteenth wedding banquet were shown to someone from the pre-apocalypse era, it would resemble a gathering of strung-out addicts.
Like a scene from Old Mo's streets.
The air hung thick with the acrid stench of burnt flesh.
Many things ultimately unfolded in utterly unexpected ways.
"Lord Mang," Uncle Li said, glancing at the back of Lord Mang, who stood before the floor-to-ceiling window. Looking down at the tablet in his hand, he reported, "The 'Wedding Hall' project's net profit for today is 11.6 million units of iron ore. There are virtually no costs involved."
"We assisted twenty trains in successfully completing their Golden Wedding ceremonies."
"Not a single train chose the silver wedding option."
"That's obvious."
Chen Mang leaned on his cane, standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, and murmured, "After a golden wedding, who in their right mind would choose a silver one? How many Mining Robots did we sell yesterday, and what was the total profit?"
"Yesterday, we sold 110 Mining Robots, generating a profit of 825,000 units of iron ore."
"The total profit is—"
"67.79 million units of iron ore."
"Not bad," Chen Mang nodded slightly. The sharp drop in revenue from the Mining Robots was entirely expected. After all, Neon City's population was limited, and those who needed them had already purchased them last time. This indicated that the new arrivals had no need for Mining Robots.
"How many people arrived yesterday?"
"A total of 2,312."
"Once the population exceeds 5,000, we'll start daily operations."
"Understood."
Chen Mang was about to give further instructions regarding Neon City's development when Xiao Fang's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Lord Mang."
"Hmm?"
He instinctively turned around and smiled when he saw Xiao Fang. "What brings you here? Are you planning to relax with everyone in Neon City?"
"No, President Ai sent me to find you. He said the Cyber Miners have been shipped."
Chen Mang turned to Uncle Li and said, "Bring yesterday's profits from Neon City."
Without another word, he vanished from the spot.
Back in the locomotive cabin, Xiao Ai was already waiting. "Train Conductor," he said immediately, "the Cyber Mine has reported a shipment, but we don't know what it is yet."
"Either pickaxes or 9th-grade ore," Chen Mang replied.
He went to the restroom to wash his hands thoroughly, as if cleansing away bad luck. After lighting a cigarette, he strode out of the locomotive cabin toward Carriage No. 2, his face betraying a hint of anticipation.
"Fifty-fifty chance. Let's see which one it is."
Several days had passed since the last production.
The Cyber Mine was finally producing again. Nearly all the train residents had gone to Neon City to relax, except for the fifty miners working in the Cyber Mine. It was just past dawn, their working hours.
Chen Mang stood on the "flat-ground elevator" he had built himself using the Mechanical Heart. This contraption ran from Carriage No. 2 all the way to Carriage No. 15, allowing him to quickly traverse the length of the train.
The elevator moved at roughly the speed of an adult man walking briskly.
As Chen Mang strode quickly across the flat-ground elevator, his pace matched that of an adult man sprinting at full speed. The rapidly shifting scenery created a disorienting sensation, as if his body and eyes were out of sync.
His body felt like he wasn't moving that fast, yet his eyes relayed to his brain that he was indeed traveling at such a speed.
This elevator was directly connected to the generator via a circuit system.
This was one of the advantages of the Mechanical Heart: mechanical products created using it could be directly connected to the generator, eliminating concerns about energy supply.
He arrived at Carriage 10.
Chen Mang pushed open the space gate to the Cyber Mine and saw a resident sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing at him expectantly. He raised his left hand slightly, signaling the resident to remain silent.
Approaching the bed, he placed his hand on the Dreamstone and glanced at the small teleportation portal that materialized beside it.
He reached into the portal.
When he withdrew his hand, he held a dazzling 9th-Tier Iron Ore, its crystalline structure shimmering brilliantly under the light. Meanwhile, the Dreamstone's capacity rapidly dwindled to 5%.
"Hah..."
Chen Mang took a deep breath, clutched the 9th-Tier Iron Ore tightly, and left the area for President Ai to manage. He strode back to the locomotive cabin.
Inside the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang sat down and gazed at the 9th-Tier Iron Ore in his hand, a smile spreading across his face.
His laughter grew louder.
He wasn't laughing because he had obtained 100 million units of iron ore, but because he had invented a stable and highly efficient method for extracting it. Though he didn't know what the trains in other zones were like, he suspected the "Cyber Miner" was unique to his zone.
For others to build a Cyber Miner, they would need a staggering 98 murphy stones to upgrade their "Single Bed."
This cost was exorbitant, and murphy stones weren't easy to acquire. Even with abundant iron ore, it would be nearly impossible to gather 98 murphy stones in a short period.
His only regret was the scarcity of Dreamstones.
He currently had two Dreamstones that were half-damaged, each with only 5% capacity. These were unusable for the mining machines. The fifty mining machines each contained a Dreamstone, and the train had a reserve of 66 Dreamstones.
He desperately wanted to expand the "Cyber Mine" again, to 100 machines, then 200.
But
Dreamstones were running out. Yesterday, only four Dreamstones had been acquired from Neon City.
He needed to acquire more Dreamstones!
To do that, Neon City needed more Tier 11 or higher trains, and they had to be established ones. If a train had only around 1,000 residents, it would take at least six months to produce a single Dreamstone.
The apocalypse had only been raging for nearly two years.
Dreamstones were exceedingly rare, making bulk acquisition nearly impossible.
"..."
Chen Mang frowned, pondering how to quickly acquire a large quantity of Dreamstones. This was crucial for the train's explosive growth. His target group was established Tier 11 and higher trains. He couldn't rely on Mundo, whose teleportation was entirely random and uncontrollable.
Perhaps...
In the second stage of the "Withered Wood Meets Springs" fortuitous encounter map, which would open in 47 hours, he could acquire some Dreamstones from the other 19 trains.
But that would only be a small-scale operation, insufficient for his needs.
He needed a stable, reliable source.
"Xiao Ai."
"I'm here."
"Devise a method to secure a stable and abundant supply of Dreamstones."
"...Understood."
Only then did Chen Mang turn his attention to the train's Total Resource Panel. After a month of development, the train's resources had experienced explosive growth:
[310 million units of iron ore, 102.5 million units of wood, 112 million units of copper ore, 123 million units of Red Heart Rock, and 1.07 million units of Titanium Crystal ore.]
All the iron ore earned in Neon City last night had been transferred to Carriage No. 3. Within the 310 million units of iron ore was the 9th-Tier Iron Ore he had just obtained from the Cyber Mine.
His reserves of Wood and Red Heart Rock were now overflowing, far exceeding his immediate needs. The 100 million units of copper ore would easily sustain him through several major battles.
Iron ore was his most abundant resource, yet paradoxically, it was also the most scarce. If he wanted to use it, it would vanish in an instant.
For example—
He was about to upgrade his armor again, bringing it to Tier 18.
Upgrading from Tier 16 to Tier 17 cost 20 million units of iron ore per carriage.
Upgrading from Tier 17 to Tier 18 cost 30 million units of iron ore per carriage.
With 16 carriages in total and a 50% manufacturing cost reduction, the total cost came to 240 million units of iron ore.
As the 240 million units of iron ore within the train transformed into dust and fused into the carriages,
the Train Armor reached Tier 18!
Tier 18 Train Armor!
Just two more tiers, and he could unlock the accessory's Tier 20 Overpowered Effect. The price, however, was steep: his once massive iron ore reserves had dwindled to a mere 69.99 million units.
"Back to being poor again."
Chen Mang rubbed his temples, a headache throbbing behind his eyes. The rate at which he was acquiring iron ore was painfully slow. He needed to venture into the Red Zone soon to find Tier 5 Iron Ore; mining Tier 4 Iron Ore couldn't keep up with his consumption.
He now ignored even Tier 3 Iron Mines. Those one or two million units of iron ore were mere drops in the bucket, better to let the residents rest and conserve their energy for higher-grade mines.
"240 million units of iron ore..."
"If we used it to buy bread, we could get 2.4 billion slices. Enough to feed how many people?"
Time passed quickly.
Forty-eight hours later, the target acquisition radar detected an unmined Tier 3 Iron Mine nearby, but Chen Mang didn't bother exploiting it. Though he claimed to disdain such low-grade ore, he would still mine it if no better options were available.
However, after a month of continuous mining, the residents were exhausted and needed a few days of rest.
"..."
It was late at night, the sky ablaze with stars. All the residents had retreated to their Residential District, while Chen Mang sat alone in the locomotive cabin, gazing at the constantly flashing red token in the drawer.
He was about to embark on the "Withered Wood Meets Springs" fortuitous encounter map.
To be honest...
It had been a while. Since meeting Erdan, he hadn't visited the fortuitous encounter map. He focused on developing his train externally, leaving exploration of the maps to Erdan.
His think tank, including Li Shiji, Old Pig, Uncle Li, Biaozi, and Xiao Ai, stood in the locomotive cabin, their faces tense as they awaited the map's activation.
Of course, Biaozi wasn't really part of the think tank; he was just there for moral support.
"Lord Mang," Li Shiji began, "since you mentioned this 'Withered Wood Meets Springs' Adventure Map two days ago, I've been analyzing it. First, the Red Zone's train Tier range is typically between Tier 15 and Tier 18."
"Trains at this Tier, based on my calculations, are either in the Doomsday Train's First Tier or very close to it."
"In other words—"
"These trains are rare, yet a single failure in the map's First Stage triggers an Event Crisis across the entire zone. This is highly illogical."
"The First Stage isn't easy either."
"Given this setup, if twenty people succeed, at least a hundred must fail. The Red Zones corresponding to those hundred failures should have been annihilated by the crises caused by event failures long ago."
"This is illogical, both statistically and logically," Old Pig said, frowning slightly. "That's why I believe the three 'event crises' are likely clues to the second trial."
"That's a bit of a stretch," Biaozi said, looking at Old Pig with surprise. "No, not just a bit—it's a huge stretch. There's no way those three crises could be connected to the second trial. If you ask me, this is just some cruel selection process devised by that Mechanical Little Princess 'Tuotuo'."
"By doing this, she's selecting the wisest person."
"But if she wants to find the wisest person, why is she destroying the zones? With her methods, if a train fails a few times, all the trains in the corresponding Red Zone would be meeting their Great-Grandmother."
"Perhaps... the three Event Crises are just for show, not as dangerous as they seem. Maybe they're just meant to increase the participants' psychological pressure? To make them feel that if they fail, everyone else will die because of them?"
"Hey, Deputy Train Conductor Zhu, that's an interesting idea," Biaozi said, looking at Old Pig with genuine surprise. He'd never considered that before, and Old Pig's explanation suddenly made perfect sense.
He wasn't a strategist, just a martial artist.
(End of the Chapter)
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