Translator: AnubisTL
After the Stellaris reached Tier 19, in addition to unlocking this new function, it also gained two new craftable accessories.
Wheel Changer: Red-Tier Accessory. Crafting requires 50,000 units of iron ore.
Special Material Research Line: Gray-Grade Component. Crafting requires 100,000 units of iron ore. This accessory is a special accessory and cannot be upgraded.
There were only two accessories.
The first one was already familiar. He had obtained this red-grade accessory through a Rare Train Token. It was incredibly useful, allowing for seamless wheel replacement. But the second accessory...
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly, gazing at the accessory panel.
Its effect read:
Can manufacture "Special" materials, provided a sample of the material is available. Iron ore can be consumed to produce these materials.
For example:
If a material is "Titanium Alloy Steel," current train technology would be unable to produce it. However, if a sample of this material is placed in the "Special Material Research Line," iron ore can be consumed to mass-produce it.
"This..."
He froze in place, his mind instantly racing through the implications of this accessory.
The Cosmic Receiver currently had 10 receiver units, producing 4.8 million units of iron ore daily. The main bottleneck in manufacturing receiver units was the materials. If these special materials could be mass-produced...
That meant receiver units could also be mass-produced.
10 receiver units, 4.8 million units of iron ore mined daily.
But what about 100? 1,000? Or even 10,000 or 100,000?
This accessory might not be particularly useful for other trains, but for him, it was a checkmate!
Moreover, this was the first gray-grade component he had encountered.
Cannot be upgraded?
"..."
Chen Mang, refusing to believe it, activated his Tier 0 Authority and attempted a forced upgrade. The next moment—
"You have consumed 2.7 million units of iron ore to upgrade the Special Material Research Line to Tier 10."
"You have also gained two overpowered effects."
"Special Material Research Line Tier 5 Overpowered Effect: Iron ore consumption for Special Material production is halved."
"Special Material Research Line Tier 10 Overpowered Effect: Iron ore consumption for Special Material production is halved."
Two consecutive overpowered effects that halved resource consumption.
Can't this be upgraded?!
Who said it can't be upgraded?
The resources required for crafting and upgrading are essentially the same as those needed to upgrade a Red-Tier Accessory.
"Xiao Ai."
"Does the database contain information on gray-grade accessories?"
"Yes."
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the locomotive cabin: "Gray-grade accessories are Special Accessories, not part of the White to Seven-colored grade system."
"All accessories were created by Mechanical Civilization scientists who sealed a manufactured weapon within an 'Accessory Blueprint' to enable mass production."
"For example—"
"If you create a Lithography Machine, it consumes a vast amount of resources and is difficult to mass-produce. However, you can seal it within an 'Accessory Blueprint,' allowing others to craft one without needing technical expertise, simply by providing a certain amount of resources."
"Different accessories consume varying resources based on their strength."
"Overpowered effects are derived through deduction and are entirely random."
"Their official name is 'Cosmic Empowerment.'"
"In reality, it's completely random and uncontrollable."
"When an accessory blueprint is created, no one knows what overpowered effect it will have. It's a random manifestation under the influence of core energy. It could be incredibly powerful, incredibly weak, or even nonexistent—it's entirely unpredictable."
"At this stage, the blueprint for the accessory is called the 'Accessory Blueprint.'"
"Repeatedly copying this Accessory Blueprint leads to the Accessory Blueprints we encounter. Initially, only small-scale replication occurs. Scientists from the Mechanical Civilization would use the copied Accessory Blueprint to manufacture an accessory and level it up to Tier 10 and Tier 20 to observe its overpowered effect."
"If the overpowered effect is satisfactory, they would preserve the Accessory Blueprint and release it into the market for widespread use."
"If the overpowered effect is poor, they would destroy the Accessory Blueprint and create a new one, again obtaining a random overpowered effect."
"Generally speaking—"
"Seven-Colored Accessories and White Accessories wouldn't receive this treatment."
"The process of testing for overpowered effects requires murphy stones. White Accessories don't need murphy stones for this; as long as they work, that's enough. Even if they have no overpowered effect, it's fine. For example, even the Mechanical Civilization doesn't know what the Tier 100 overpowered effect of a 'refrigerator' is."
"Because no one in the entire Mechanical Civilization, not even Princess Tuotuo herself, would ever upgrade a refrigerator to Tier 100. No one has that much free time."
"Seven-Colored Accessories also don't use murphy stones for overpowered effect testing. Mechanical Civilization scientists invest significant resources and time to create a weapon or accessory deemed 'Seven-Colored grade.' It's difficult to produce a second one quickly, so even if the first one's overpowered effect is unsatisfactory after being sealed in an Accessory Blueprint, they won't replace it anytime soon."
Perhaps because of the sheer amount of information, Xiao Ai paused before continuing. "It's worth noting that the 'Doomsday Cannon,' considered a beginner's Divine Artifact by all trains, was remade 43 times before finally receiving three 'Cost Halved' overpowered effects."
"This allows a blue-grade accessory to rival or even surpass some yellow- or even red-grade firepower accessories."
"The entire process of resetting the Accessory Blueprint consumed 645 Murphy Stones—a significant expense even for the Mechanical Civilization. The Mechanical Civilization develops many accessory types simultaneously, making it impossible to pour all resources into a single accessory."
"..."
Chen Mang sat in his chair, lost in thought for a long time before speaking softly. "I think I understand the gist of it. The overpowered effects of the Accessory Blueprint are completely random, and if you're dissatisfied with the result, you can reset the blueprint to reroll the overpowered effects."
"And the biggest cost involved?"
"Is it the Murphy Stones spent on detecting the overpowered effects of the Accessory Blueprint?"
"Yes."
"Since I can upgrade infinitely, can I ignore that cost?"
"That's correct."
"In theory, then, I could eventually roll the perfect overpowered effects to meet the Stellaris's needs, as long as I conduct enough scans."
"Precisely."
"Even a firepower weapon with Seven-Colored Accessories—if I scan it enough times—I could guarantee it would gain an overpowered effect from Tier 5 to Tier 500, while also halving its ammunition consumption."
"That's theoretically possible," Xiao Ai continued. "But it requires a research team like the Mechanical Civilization's, a massive number of research chips, immense computing power, rare materials, and—most importantly—a vast amount of experimental data. It's a very complicated process."
"Complicated?" Chen Mang suddenly chuckled. "As for a research team, isn't the leader on the sea island a university professor?"
"Research chips? Isn't your subordinate, Xiao Yi, one?"
"Computing power? Yours should be sufficient. If not, I'll upgrade the accessory to Tier 500 for you."
"Rare materials? Can't we craft those using the Special Material Research Line?"
"Experimental data? We can obtain that from the Mechanical Civilization Ruins."
"While there are challenges, we have solutions for each one."
"Absolutely not," Xiao Ai said softly. "Relying on a university professor from a low-tier civilization for a research team is far too flimsy. What if he teaches philosophy? And I'm talking about a massive number of research chips. Currently, the Stellaris only has one."
"My computing power isn't quite enough to handle all this at Tier 100."
"The Special Material Research Line can create rare materials, but we need material samples first."
"This will be very difficult to achieve."
"But there's always a chance."
After a moment of thought, Chen Mang said, "It's possible in the future. I'll put you in charge of this. Start by screening some researchers and cultivating them based on the basic information in the database."
"Go check how much iron ore it would take to craft 10,000 receiver units."
"At most 100," Xiao Ai explained. "The Cosmic Receiver can only accommodate a maximum of 100 receiver units. Any more would require building an additional conversion device within the Cosmic Receiver."
"Crafting a conversion device is currently beyond our capabilities."
"Then let's start with 90. Also, what were you saying about gray-grade components?"
"I haven't finished yet," Xiao Ai continued. "Among all the grade accessories, there's an extremely special type called 'gray-grade components.' In other words, they're essentially half-failed products. They possess some functionality, but an unforeseen accident occurred during the blueprint creation process."
"That's why it can't be upgraded or gain overpowered effects."
"Really?"
"Yes, normally that's how it works. But your case, Train Conductor, is an exception. Gray-grade components, even at First-Tier, often have decent effects, though they're extremely rare. Most gray-grade components are melted down and remade."
"Only a small number of gray-grade components made from truly precious raw materials, and that still have strong effects even at First-Tier, are preserved in their original blueprints and mass-produced for the market."
"Gray-grade components that are strong even at First-Tier aren't inherently that way."
"It's only the gray-grade components that are strong at First-Tier that survive. The rest are all melted down and remade."
"Understood."
Chen Mang let out a long breath, lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the stream of information scrolling across the control panel screen. Perhaps it was fatigue from the past few days, but his eyelids felt increasingly heavy, and a drowsy, sleep-inducing sensation washed over him.
He simply reclined in his chair.
His entire body sank into the backrest.
This wasn't the kind of chair you'd find at a dining table. It was more like a semi-enclosed space chair from a spaceship, designed to effectively protect the Train Conductor even during impacts.
In a daze, he drifted off to sleep. In his dream, he wasn't thinking about the Accessory Blueprint. Instead, a vague memory of his first love at age 16 surfaced.
That...
It felt like an eternity ago.
Back then, he truly knew how to love someone. After college, his relationships had become rather bleak. Two people who met and fell in love in the real world, even if they got along harmoniously, had lost the ability to give their all to love.
Deep down, both carried the memory of someone they had once loved with 100% of their heart.
Just get by.
Good enough is good enough.
Xiao Fang, from the locomotive cabin, approached cautiously and gently draped a blanket over Chen Mang. She then retreated just as quietly as she had come.
"What a schemer," Xiao Ai muttered, sighing softly in Carriage No. 2's Mecha Research Center. He had been monitoring Xiao Fang's interactions with everyone over the past few days, but found no evidence of anyone coaching her.
How did she become so calculating?
A bowl of scallion oil noodles had completely blown the train conductor away, earning him an immediate promotion to Second-Tier Senior Talent Benefits.
Could it be that Xiao Fang's actions weren't calculated, but genuine, driven by a pure heart?
He didn't understand humans.
But from an AI's perspective, he found her words in the train car that day to be somewhat opportunistic. What did she mean by saying she only made the bowl of noodles after borrowing some stellar coupons?
It sounded odd.
He didn't believe the train conductor hadn't noticed. That meant the conductor had heard and simply didn't care.
True enough.
In the locomotive cabin, everyone was currying favor with the train conductor, all for higher status and better treatment.
Thinking this way made him feel quite noble. He, at least, had no such ulterior motives.
Xiao Ai shrugged in the mirror before heading toward the Special Material Research Line in the distance. He was preparing to craft a batch of materials for reconstruction. The train conductor had criticized his previous shrug as poorly designed.
This time, he'd adjusted it.
It looked much better.
Daylight broke.
Chen Mang woke up in his chair, showered, and then sat back down, lighting a cigarette and gazing at the Train Log. He'd fallen asleep in his chair again last night.
The Train Log held nothing of note.
Except for one thing.
The progress of his Civilization Decree had increased significantly.
Human Progress: 62% to 78%
Culture Progress: 77% to 89%
Military Progress: 78% to 84%
Agriculture Progress: 37% to 61%
System Progress: 87% to 92%
Once all five progress bars reached 100%, he could rebuild human civilization. Of course, the civilization he rebuilt wouldn't be a Tier 1 Civilization. Reaching that level would be quite challenging, so he needed to complete this task as soon as possible.
After rebuilding the Aquablue Star civilization, he would become the planet's legitimate Civilization Leader, granting him privileges only Civilization Leaders possessed.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to evacuate everyone from the planet. There were at least hundreds of millions of survivors. Assuming each survivor needed a minimum of one unit of iron ore per day for sustenance, they would consume hundreds of millions of units daily.
These survivors were brought onto the train, but there were no mines to exploit, and Neon City lacked enough jobs to accommodate them. It was pure consumption.
This was a problem he had been pondering.
I don't know how to arrange these survivors.
How do other civilizations handle this?
Do they rely solely on Dreamstones?
The Agriculture Progress has surged remarkably, mainly thanks to Uncle Li's orchard in the Breeding Carriage, which has significantly boosted progress.
I stretched languidly.
Chen Mang lazily stepped off the train, gazing at the nearly barren sea island. He walked toward the robots diligently working nearby, intending to upgrade the train again once this batch of ore was mined, then head to the Pink Zone.
He wanted to reach the Seven-Colored Zone as soon as possible.
No hesitation.
Ten days later.
All mines in the Golden Zone's Deep Sea Isolated Island had been successfully exploited.
This included two Tier 6 iron ore mines, one Tier 6 copper ore mine, and over twenty Tier 5 and Tier 4 mines.
The iron ore alone yielded 2.3 billion units.
An almost astronomical figure.
Combined with the profits from Neon City, the Cyber Mine, and the Cosmic Receiver over the past few days, the train's resources had reached an astronomical level!
[2.812 billion units of iron ore, 1.4 billion units of Wood, 2.11 billion units of copper ore, 1.054 billion units of Red Heart Rock, and 1 billion units of Titanium Crystal ore]
The Stellaris had never been so rich in resources.
He had spent over half a month on this isolated island, completely exhausting its mines. The fastest-refreshing mine, a Tier 5 Mine, still had 13 days left, but he wasn't willing to wait.
He accelerated his journey towards the Pink Zone, the final zone before the Seven-Colored Zone.
During this period, he had completed numerous final tasks, such as explaining the situation in the outside world to all the survivors on the sea island and implanting Resident Chips with resident IDs. In total, over 7,000 survivors had joined the Stellaris.
He treated them all equally, starting them off with Third-Tier Resident benefits.
Every Era has its own opportunities.
Now that residents no longer needed to mine, upgrading their Resident Benefits had become a difficult task, a true challenge.
Furthermore, all the large metal containers resembling Amoxicillin on the sea island were loaded onto the train, including the trees from the island's center, which were transplanted into the Tier 100 Space Gate in Carriage 10.
Everything that could be taken was taken.
Even the squirrels, earthworms, and rabbits in the forest were taken—every single one. These creatures would live quite comfortably in the future, not for the purpose of cultivating a "Cosmic Behemoth," but simply to preserve the remaining ecosystem of the Submerged Blue Star, which might never be seen again.
And today!
The day had come to set sail and leave this sea island.
What he needed to do now was upgrade the train's armor again. It was currently Tier 20; he needed to reach Tier 21 first.
The highest monster level in the Golden Zone was Tier 21.
Theoretically, his Tier 20 armor still carried some risk in this zone, but as luck would have it, he hadn't encountered a single monster, so the armor hadn't been tested at all.
The highest monster level in the Pink Zone was already Tier 24.
Monsters of this level posed a significant threat to the train.
Moreover, it wasn't just about level; he also had to consider whether the monster's skills countered the Stellaris.
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes, gazing at the control panel screen.
Upgrading from Tier 17 to Tier 18 cost 30 million units per carriage.
Upgrading from Tier 18 to Tier 19 cost 50 million units per carriage.
Upgrading from Tier 19 to Tier 20 cost 1 billion units of iron ore per carriage.
The jump was enormous!
Especially the leap from Tier 19 to Tier 20, where the price doubled. But upgrading to Tier 21 required far less—only 1.2 billion units of iron ore.
That's a total of 19.2 billion units.
After the upgrade material consumption was halved, it became 9.6 billion units of iron ore.
As the 9.6 billion units of iron ore within the train melted into powder, the "Armor" accessory's Tier slowly reached 21. This would make venturing into the Pink Zone feel a bit safer. Tier 21 armor still provided a considerable sense of security.
For instance, if he encountered the Withered Wood Meets Spring map again, he could simply stop and remain motionless. No monster would be able to break through his defenses, even though the real challenge of that map was killing all the zombies within a short time.
Perhaps the train's iron ore reserves were simply too vast.
Upgrading the "Armor" accessory always consumed the largest portion of the train's resources. Yet even after upgrading the Train Armor again, he still had 18.52 billion units of iron ore remaining.
It was an excessive amount.
More than enough for another upgrade.
"..."
Chen Mang pondered for a moment before deciding to upgrade his armor again. Tier 21 armor might not be enough in the Pink Zone; Tier 22 would be more appropriate. At this level, even a Tier 24 monster wouldn't be able to instantly destroy it.
And that time...
Would be enough for his nine Doomsday Cannons to unleash their fury.
Ever since the Two-Headed Monster in the Train Tunnel had shattered one of his Doomsday Cannons, he hadn't replaced it. He'd been making do with the remaining ones.
For now, he'd conserve resources.
Once the train reached the Seven-Colored Zone and he acquired Seven-colored grade weapons, he'd upgrade again.
Another armor upgrade!
As he made his decision, iron ore from the 3rd Storage Car began to be consumed and integrated into the train's structure. The Train Armor's Tier rose to 22!
This upgrade cost him another 11.2 billion units of iron ore.
His recent savings were nearly depleted, leaving him with only 7.32 billion units of iron ore.
He decided to keep this amount for future train upgrades and emergencies, postponing further armor upgrades for now.
Tier 22 armor would be sufficient for the time being.
"..."
He looked at the upgrade requirements for a Tier 20 Train.
Upgrade Requirements: Consume 11 million units of Tier 3 Iron Ore; all carriage accessories must be Tier 300 or higher; at least one train defense accessory and one train attack accessory must be Tier 18 or higher.
"Damn."
That was his first reaction upon seeing the upgrade requirements. The first few conditions were easily met, but the last one—reaching Tier 18 with any train defense accessory —was a major hurdle.
Based on what he'd seen in the Red Zone, most apocalypse trains struggled to get their defensive components past Tier 15 or 16, let alone Tier 18. This requirement was incredibly demanding.
The higher the grade of an accessory, the more iron ore it consumed to upgrade.
The Steel Car Armor accessory, being a Green Accessory, already consumed very few resources. Coupled with its overpowered effect that halved upgrade costs, even he found it difficult to upgrade his Train Defense Components. Others would struggle even more.
His current armor was only Tier 22.
How high could others possibly get? Could they surpass him? Unless something unexpected happened, there were likely few people left in the Pink Zone.
Soon—
After 11 million units of iron ore powder shattered within the carriage, a familiar line of text appeared on the screen:
[Your train has reached Tier 20.
No new craftable accessories have been unlocked.]
A Tier 20 Train!
Reaching Tier 20 didn't unlock any new features or craftable accessories. Everything remained the same as usual. The only noticeable change was a slight increase in the train's speed.
"Was that too easy?" Chen Mang mused, gazing at the control panel screen. After entering the Golden Zone, "Deep Sea Isolated Island," he had upgraded his Tier 19 Train. Reaching Tier 21 would take him to the Pink Zone, where he would upgrade his train again.
Tier 10 had been a significant hurdle. He had expected Tier 20 to be another major challenge. But to his surprise, it was nothing special.
He checked the upgrade requirements for a Tier 21 Train. They were almost identical to the previous tier, except for an additional 1 million units of iron ore. Otherwise, there were no other conditions.
Since that was the case, Chen Mang didn't hesitate. After consuming another 12 million units of iron ore, the familiar screen reappeared on the train control panel.
"Your train has reached Tier 21."
"No new craftable accessories have been unlocked."
"So it seems..."
He leaned back in his chair and stretched languidly. The next major challenge would be at Tier 22. The mission to upgrade to a Tier 22 Train was clearly far more difficult, even the Stellaris currently couldn't meet the requirements. This was likely the hurdle he would face when upgrading his train in the Pink Zone.
One more special item was added:
"Use the 'Doomsday Death Certificate' to hold a memorial service."
He had already sent people to Neon City to purchase these.
He had never seen one himself.
He didn't even know if they could be found in Neon City.
If they couldn't be obtained, it would be difficult to upgrade to a Tier 22 train anytime soon.
But that could be handled slowly. There was no rush. For now, he needed to head to the Pink Zone, specifically the "Tropical Jungle." The Golden Zone was only connected to one Pink Zone, a sea island near the Equator.
"Woo!!!"
As the Stellaris, docked at the shore, sounded its horn, a large number of residents entered the train in an orderly fashion. The survivors from the sea island were temporarily housed in several Residential Districts, though their living conditions were more crowded than those of regular residents.
It was time to depart.
Target: the Tropical Jungle in the Pink Zone!
"Thank goodness we're in a normal situation," Chen Mang murmured, gazing at the horizon from his chair. High-tier trains couldn't travel to low-level regions. If a high-level zone lacked a path to a higher-level zone, he would be trapped there indefinitely.
Such a scenario was theoretically unlikely.
Since he had this path, it wouldn't be blocked.
But as the saying goes, even the most improbable events can happen. There was even a White Zone surrounded entirely by high-level zones, with no way out.
He glanced at the train panel, which displayed over 13,000 train residents.
He picked up the walkie-talkie.
"Old Pig, how are the new residents behaving?"
"They're being quite docile."
"Hmm? They used to live in houses with several people per household. Now they're crammed into refrigerators, and they're not complaining?"
"There was some initial grumbling, but we resolved it with the Catfish Effect."
"What's the Catfish Effect?"
"Uncle Li released some zombies to wander around the residential district. Suddenly, the new residents realized the dormitories were much safer."
"...Right."
Never mind. As long as it's resolved, Chen Mang hung up the walkie-talkie.
He'd visited the Tier 100 Space Gate over the past two days. He'd almost perfectly transplanted the forest from the sea island into it. Inside, one would never realize they were on a train—it felt just like being in a wild forest.
Not bad.
The cosmic journey was ultimately long. It would be nice to stroll through here when bored.
It was worth noting that the survivors on the sea island, while not facing major external threats, lived a relatively relaxed life. However, they weren't entirely without danger, so they hadn't resorted to infighting or cannibalism. Instead, they had formed family units and coexisted peacefully.
Many couples had formed.
I wonder what methods these people use for contraception. In the past two years, I haven't seen a single woman with a swollen belly.
After all the residents had boarded the Stellaris, it began to slowly levitate into the air and shoot off into the distance!
Destination: The Pink Zone, the Tropical Jungle!
"Resident ID 11111"
A young man sat in the Residential District, gazing at his resident ID on his Iris Chip with excitement. This resident panel felt like a player panel from a game he used to play, making it all the more novel.
If only this had existed before the apocalypse.
He knew many residents were somewhat dissatisfied with the Stellaris' restrictions on their freedom, but he felt no such discontent. Here, he had new clothes to wear and food to eat. What was there to complain about?
The sea salt tasted strongly of rust and bitterness. He was sick of eating fish seasoned with it every day. Not only was it unappetizing, but it also made him thirstier the more he ate. He had to go to the sea island to collect dew or ration the rainwater they had stored. Initially, there had been over twenty thousand survivors.
Two years passed.
People froze to death, died of illness, drowned, fell to their deaths, or were mauled by tigers.
Though there were no monsters, many still perished.
Winter was especially harsh. Survival depended on wrapping oneself in animal furs and huddling inside wooden huts.
Life was incredibly difficult.
How could it compare to the comfort of the Stellaris? And besides, the world outside was already in an apocalypse. Even if they didn't join the Stellaris, how long could they survive on the sea island? A simple cold could easily develop into a viral flu, which was nearly impossible to cure.
What was losing a little freedom compared to that?
In this world, nothing came without a price. He was immensely excited about his future life on the Stellaris, especially since his resident ID, five ones in a row, felt like an auspicious beginning.
Most importantly—
The young man's expression gradually drifted into a daze, a smile tugging at his lips.
He thought of the cashier girl he'd met at the resident store a few days ago. He felt like he might be in love. It had been a long time since he'd seen a girl wearing clean clothes and looking so well-groomed. Compared to the women on the island, she was simply in a different league.
He'd heard that the train encouraged romance, and he decided he might as well embrace the policy.
"Exploded?"
"Yeah, exploded?"
The Stellaris was on a directed patrol.
Chen Mang frowned, gazing at the galaxy map on the screen beside him. After the Zerg Civilization had destroyed the Heaven-Slaying Civilization, the home planet of a minor civilization had begun its escape.
They'd installed numerous thrusters on the planet's far side.
Their plan was to flee the Zerg Civilization.
It was a good idea in theory.
But without using wormholes, the planet's escape speed meant it would never outdistance the Zerg Civilization within several centuries. For days, he'd had Xiao Ai monitor the planet's progress, curious to see when they would give up.
And now.
Just moments ago, Xiao Ai had informed him that the planet had exploded, and the civilization had naturally been destroyed.
"How did it explode? Was it destroyed by the Zerg Civilization?"
"Probably not."
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the locomotive cabin. "After all, it was only a Tier 0 civilization. Logically, the Zerg Civilization shouldn't have been able to detect it, let alone have any reason to attack. The exact cause remains unknown, but the planet has vanished from the Galaxy Map."
"The Galaxy Map doesn't show such detailed information."
...
After a moment of thought, Chen Mang decided not to dwell on the matter. He'd set it aside for now. He hadn't been optimistic about the plan anyway; its slow progress had been a major concern.
At full speed, the Stellaris reached the edge of the Pink Zone, the Tropical Jungle, several hours later.
What lay ahead wasn't so much a sea island as a vast continent surrounded by ocean on all sides. It dwarfed the Deep Sea Isolated Island in size, covered in dense tropical vegetation that gave the impression of teeming with snakes at first glance.
The words "Tropical Jungle" appeared in large characters on the giant holographic screen in the air.
At the same time, a line of text slowly materialized on the control panel screen:
[The zone ahead is the Pink Zone, Tropical Jungle.
The highest-level monsters here can reach Tier 24. Our current train level is Tier 21. This zone is highly dangerous. Exercise caution.]
Chen Mang's train was now Tier 21, with Tier 22 armor.
As the Stellaris slowly passed through the light curtain and landed on the coastal clearing of the Pink Zone, Tropical Jungle, he murmured, gazing at the information displayed on the target acquisition radar screen.
"This is what a normal zone should look like."
High-tier mines were abundant. Tier 5 mines were everywhere, and the resource detection radar alone showed three Tier 6 mines. He hadn't yet found any Tier 7 mines.
Just after setting foot on this continent, he had already spotted mines of worth over three billion iron ore.
High-level monsters were also numerous. The strongest monster detected by the target acquisition radar was a Tier 23 creature.
Just as he had suspected, the target acquisition radar hadn't detected any other trains. Unless something unexpected happened, there shouldn't be any trains in the areas he hadn't scanned yet. He was likely the first person from Aquablue Star to enter the Pink Zone.
Or at least the first to enter the Tropical Jungle section of the Pink Zone.
There was both good news and bad news.
The good news: This zone was rich in high-tier mines that had never been exploited, resulting in both high concentrations and vast quantities of ore. Moreover, he had no competition.
Bad news: The monsters in this zone are numerous, possibly because there are no trains to keep their numbers in check.
And there are plenty of high-Tier monsters.
Many of these monsters can pierce Train Armor, but fortunately, the Stellaris has a wide array of countermeasures and is fast enough to evade most attacks. Still, it won't be able to act as brazenly as in other zones at first. It'll have to take things slowly.
Once the armor reaches Tier 24, it can start acting truly brazen.
The 81 Viper Drone Fighters were just recycled, completely converted back into Titanium Crystal Mine, with no loss. This process was far more conscientious than the Geothermal Core Furnace, yielding a full 200 million Titanium Crystal Ore.
Tier 20 isn't enough.
He needs Tier 30.
The Viper Drone Fighter Production Line, a Red-Tier Accessory, had previously been upgraded to Tier 20. Now, it needed to be upgraded even further to produce higher-Tier fighter jets.
Upgrading and crafting with this accessory required only Titanium Crystal Ore.
He had plenty of that.
A full 1.2 billion units of Titanium Crystal Ore.
After consuming 181 million units of Titanium Crystal Ore, he directly upgraded the Red-Tier Accessory from Tier 20 to Tier 100!
This marked the first Red-Tier Accessory within the train to reach Tier 100.
Other accessories couldn't be upgraded for now, but this one gained two overpowered effects!
Tier 50 Overpowered Effect for Viper Drone Fighter Production Line: Halves ammunition consumption.
Tier 100 Overpowered Effect for Viper Drone Fighter Production Line: Subtle modifications to the fuselage, allowing adaptation to a wider range of combat environments and increased firepower diversity.
These overpowered effects seemed unremarkable at first glance.
Nothing particularly eye-catching.
The accessory's Tier 5 overpowered effect halved ammunition consumption. Reaching Tier 50 granted another halving effect, doubling the combat duration even with Tier 4 Energy Stones.
But soon after...
"You call this a subtle modification?!"
Chen Mang, having arrived at the Fighter Hangar in Carriage 10, stared at the newly constructed Tier 30 Viper Drone Fighter. His voice rose in disbelief.
"Is this even still a drone?!"
"If you took this thing for a paternity test with a fighter jet, the similarity wouldn't even reach 10%!"
The original Viper Fighter was 11.2 meters long, had a wingspan of 6.5 meters, and required multiple carriages for takeoff.
But now...
The entire fighter jet boasted sleek, futuristic lines, resembling a silver spear. Its smooth metal hull gleamed with a cold, sharp light under the lamps, while the rear thruster exuded an air of imposing authority.
This wasn't a fighter jet anymore.
It was clearly a space shuttle.
It no longer needed an assisted takeoff; it could launch directly from the ground.
Its compact, razor-sharp form featured folding wings that hugged the fuselage, like a space falcon poised to strike.
The craft was significantly smaller than before.
At 4 meters long and 1 meter wide, with a single rear thruster, it resembled a hummingbird.
Moreover, it gained several new features, such as the ability to share the Stellaris train's wormholes. Any wormhole coordinates possessed by the Stellaris could now be freely used for instantaneous jumps.
Equipped with an Invisibility Coating that could evade radar detection from targets below its Tier, the shuttlecraft could slip into enemy blind spots like ghosts. By the time the enemy spotted them with the naked eye, thousands of Hummingbird-like shuttlecraft had already arrived and launched a fierce attack.
This was nothing like the original.
The only similarity might be its weak defense. Though its functions and offensive capabilities were nearly maxed out, its poor defense still relegated it to disposable status.
However...
With its reduced size and extreme speed, its agility alone allowed it to dodge most energy attacks. From this perspective, its defense wasn't actually that low.
Like the tentacles of the train, carrying the Stellaris's mission to zones the Stellaris itself couldn't reach.
Yet it could be piloted unmanned.
Or a pilot could sit inside and drive it.
"..."
Chen Mang admired the shuttlecraft before him, unable to help but grin. "It's awesome. I love it."
He suddenly realized something.
That...
With enough resources, the Mechanical Civilization could apparently mass-produce troops just like any other civilization.
(End of the Chapter)
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