As for the head fixed to the seat inside the Flesh Train, it would roar whenever someone entered.
"Run... run quickly."
It should also be a trigger key for entering the plot, but since he was in a Mechanical Train, he couldn't activate it.
As expected.
If the Flesh Train were to come here, it would likely need to complete five different difficulty levels, similar to the Tower of Heaven. During the fourth level, there would probably be a process called "Recalling the Past," where one watches an animation.
The animation would show how these monsters created the Worm Monsters and then used them to attack the Mechanical City.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Chen Mang turned to look at the hole drilled through by the Drill Bit behind him. He had wondered why such a difficult-to-enter place existed in the green zone, thinking it might be a great opportunity.
Turns out, he had come to the wrong place.
It was like a virgin trying to force his way into the urethra with sheer strength, hoping for a miracle.
And the miracle was, he actually made it in.
He scanned the surroundings of the cave again and, sure enough, saw the words "Level 4" on the wall. Deep inside the cave, there were eight long, dark tunnels. Not only had he entered this Fortuitous Encounter map, but he had also directly reached the fourth level.
It seemed there were no opportunities left to take.
Given the current situation.
Whether the "Flesh Train" was originally part of the monster faction or the Worm Monsters were created from the Flesh Train, one thing was clear: this place had nothing to do with him.
Moreover, this Fortuitous Encounter map probably wasn't supposed to be opened yet, but he had forced his way in.
He glanced at the Mantis-like monster diligently working in the distance, then turned around and retraced his steps through the hole he had created earlier. However... making a hole was easy, but sealing it was hard. He definitely couldn't seal this hole now, so he left it as it was.
After all, the mechanism above the fourth level was already malfunctioning.
This Fortuitous Encounter map was half-ruined, and it felt like it would spawn many bugs in the future.
After all, it was a Fortuitous Encounter map. How could it be so fragile, breaking at the slightest touch?
One hour later.
The Stellar Train had already left the Kunlun Mountains area and was speeding across the Shahe Plain. As for why the monsters in the Kunlun Mountains had disappeared and why the Ziyun Train had been attacked by monsters, he had a rough idea.
Through the roars of the head inside the Flesh Train, at least one thing was clear: this guy hadn't willingly been transformed into a Worm Monster.
In other words.
The Flesh Train and the Mechanical Train were not opposites.
It was more likely that long ago, when the apocalypse came, a new path was forged to fight these monsters—using magic to counter magic, thus giving birth to the Flesh Train. However, it seemed some minor issues arose during this process.
Then, the monsters discovered how useful these Flesh Trains were and absorbed some of their technology, plundering the Flesh Trains to create the "Worm" war machines.
As for why all those monsters were hiding in that valley.
As expected, there were probably several valleys in the Kunlun Mountains area, all of which could serve as entrances to that Fortuitous Encounter map. The monsters had gathered there to prevent other Flesh Trains from entering.
"Hmm..."
Chen Mang pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. Since he had access to more information, he could make more conjectures, but he still knew too little. There was no point in dwelling on these thoughts. It was better to find a place to check out his recent gains.
He glanced at the pile of loot inside the Refrigerator beside him and chuckled.
The harvest this time was quite good.
Before leaving the Kunlun Mountains area, he had spent over half an hour trying to find other valleys to launch another missile, but the Targeting Radar couldn't detect the monsters gathered in the valleys. The Kunlun Mountains area was so vast, it was like trying to feel an elephant in the dark, so he eventually gave up.
Inside the Stellar Train.
The AI was controlling the train as it sped across the Shahe Plain, searching for any possible Level 2 Iron Ore deposits. Meanwhile, Chen Mang began taking stock of his recent gains.
First, there were three Vehicle Component Blueprints.
A blue-grade Vehicle Component, "Swarm Platform."
A yellow-grade Vehicle Component, "Holographic Projection."
A green-grade Vehicle Component, "Propeller."
A Special Item, "White Gloves."
Two Murphy Stones.
And a variety of rare resources, all jumbled together, such as "Snake Fangs."
And the highlight—the Train Stunt "Absolute Defense."
"These are all good stuff."
Chen Mang grinned with satisfaction as he looked over his recent gains. The Swarm Platform was a drone platform—he finally had drones! The Holographic Projection was a support component that could create immersive holographic animations similar to those in the "Mechanical City." The Propeller was a special wheel for traveling underwater.
The Special Item, "White Gloves."
When worn, they slightly enhanced one's Physical Fitness Index. Since he hadn't installed an Iris Chip, he couldn't see the specific numerical value of his Physical Fitness Index.
Of course, what pleased him the most was the Train Stunt "Absolute Defense."
This was the second Train Stunt he had acquired.
He directly upgraded the "Acrobatic Console" component to Level 10 in one go. The Acrobatic Console now had nine triangular slots. Normally, each train could only have up to five Train Stunts, since this component could only be upgraded to Level 5, with one additional slot per level.
But he was clearly abnormal.
He could even have 20 or more slots, as long as... as long as he could acquire that many "Train Stunts."
"Train Stunt": Absolute Defense.
"Stunt Effect": Upon activation, the levels of the "Carriage Steel Armor" and "Energy Shield" defensive components on the train are added together to form a higher-level Energy Shield, lasting for ten seconds. Cooldown: ten days.
He had never upgraded the "Energy Shield" component before, mainly because his Armor level was already high enough.
But now.
It was time to consider upgrading the Energy Shield. If he upgraded it to Level 5, adding the levels together, he could even achieve Level 11 defense. Although it only lasted for ten seconds, that was enough. If he couldn't escape from a monster within ten seconds, even extending it to ten minutes wouldn't save him—he'd still be dead.
He checked his remaining Iron Ore units.
He still had 595,000 units of Iron Ore.
After some thought, he spent 125,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade the white-grade component "Car Blade" directly to Level 50.
A Level 50 Drill Bit and a Level 50 Car Blade.
Bring it on.
With the Train Stunt "Death Spin" activated, he dared to take on even Level 7 monsters.
He also gained four Supermodel Effects.
-
"Drill Bit Level 20 Supermodel Effect": Harder, spins faster.
"Drill Bit Level 50 Supermodel Effect": Harder, spins faster.
-
He wasn't surprised by the Drill Bit's Supermodel Effects; he had expected them, as the Supermodel Effects at Levels 5 and 10 were the same.
This was a purely numerical component.
It only increased values, without adding any new mechanics.
As for how hard and fast it was, it was evident from his forced entry into the Flesh Train's Fortuitous Encounter map. At least, he felt that breaking into the Mechanical Train's Tower of Heaven Fortuitous Encounter map would be extremely difficult...
Well.
If the Tower of Heaven had opened a bit later, he would have already broken in. He wasn't sure what would happen if he entered early, but he guessed nothing significant would occur.
The Car Blade's two Supermodel Effects, however, were different.
-
"Car Blade Level 20 Supermodel Effect": Width fixed at ten meters, sharper.
"Car Blade Level 50 Supermodel Effect": The two Car Blades can swing, allowing for short-distance gliding and leaping on the ground. If in the air, rapid swinging can increase airspeed.
-
Hmm...
The Car Blade's width was fixed at ten meters, and its sharpness was enhanced. This was somewhat different from what he had imagined. He thought the width would keep increasing with each upgrade.
As for the Level 50 Supermodel Effect.
It made sense.
With ten-meter Car Blades, using them as wings shouldn't be a problem, and the increase in airspeed wasn't negligible—it could boost speed by 100 km/h.
But if that was the case...
Chen Mang looked at the three-dimensional train model on the control panel screen. It seemed he could now craft the "Bunny Cloud" wheels, as the speed was sufficient.
He immediately spent 90,000 units of Iron Ore.
He upgraded both the yellow-grade components "Super-Energy Tail Thruster" and "Bunny Cloud" to Level 10 in one go.
For the "Bunny Cloud" to successfully fly in the air, the train's maximum speed had to reach 650 km/h when equipped with this component, meeting the takeoff condition.
The base speed of a Level 4 train was 160 km/h.
The Level 10 green-grade component "Nitrogen Tailjet" increased speed by 120 km/h.
The Level 10 yellow-grade component "Super-Energy Tail Thruster" increased speed by 240 km/h.
The Level 10 yellow-grade component "Bunny Cloud" increased speed by 120 km/h.
Additionally, the Level 50 "Car Blade" increased airspeed by 100 km/h.
The total speed directly reached 740 km/h.
This fully met the takeoff condition.
The next moment—
The Car Blades on both sides of the Stellar Train suddenly extended and began flapping rapidly. At the same time, the original "Wind-Fire Wheels" were instantly replaced by the "Bunny Cloud," with the clouds appearing beneath the train in place of the wheels.
Then.
As the train began to tilt upward.
The entire train soared freely into the air, with the massive Car Blades on both sides continuously swinging, resembling giant wings.
"Finally, I can truly fly."
Inside the train, Chen Mang looked out the window at the gradually shrinking ground scenery and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It hadn't been easy. This was a proper flight in the air, not like a rocket taking off from the ground.
His flight altitude was much higher.
At 5,500 meters.
The maximum flight altitude for a Level 1 Bunny Cloud was 1,000 meters. Er Dan had upgraded this component to Level 5, reaching 3,000 meters. After upgrading it to Level 10, the flight altitude directly reached 5,500 meters.
He checked the energy consumption.
The energy consumption was indeed high, much more than the "Wind-Fire Wheels." Flying continuously for 24 hours would consume 10% of a Level 3 Energy Stone, equivalent to burning 5,000 units of Iron Ore to stay airborne for 24 hours.
It was expensive.
But compared to the ability to fly in the air, the cost was quite low, as there was no need to fly every day.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but admire Er Dan.
He had upgraded so many components to Level 10 just to meet the takeoff condition for the Bunny Cloud. Unlike him, Er Dan couldn't upgrade components infinitely, meaning he must have had many components dedicated to increasing train speed to meet that condition.
In all these days.
Apart from the Azure Dragon Train, he hadn't seen any other train capable of flying in the air.
After upgrading both the "Super-Energy Tail Thruster" and "Bunny Cloud" to Level 10, they also gained their respective Supermodel Effects.
-
"Super-Energy Tail Thruster Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Energy consumption halved.
"Super-Energy Tail Thruster Level 10 Supermodel Effect": Merge into one, speed drastically increases!
-
"Bunny Cloud Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Energy consumption halved.
"Bunny Cloud Level 10 Supermodel Effect": During thunderstorms, the clouds turn into storm clouds, drastically increasing speed.
-
Not bad.
Chen Mang glanced at these four Supermodel Effects, then stretched and, quite satisfied, took off his clothes and got into bed to sleep.
He was tired.
He left the rest to Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai would call him if a Level 2 Iron Ore deposit was detected.
The train would automatically speed across the wasteland.
He was quite satisfied with this harvest, mainly because the monsters had all gathered in the valley, and with the Level 5 Supermodel Effect of the "Ground Burst Missile" at Level 6, it was a clean sweep.
He hoped such good opportunities would come more often in the future.
-
"Ground Burst Missile Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Explosive power enhanced.
-
Like the Drill Bit, it only increased values, without adding new mechanics.
He also had to thank the Ziyun Train. Although they had some past conflicts, it had apologized promptly, and even in its final moments, it had sent him such a great opportunity.
It was a good person.
If the Ziyun Train hadn't contacted him, he wouldn't have been able to seize this opportunity.
As a token of gratitude.
He would offer incense to it tomorrow.
And Master Kun, Master Kun was also a good person.
Soon—
Daybreak came.
By the time Chen Mang finished washing up and stood by the window, the Train Residents were already working at the Level 2 Iron Ore deposit outside. This wasn't an open-pit mine but a mine with a cave entrance on the surface, with the ore buried dozens of meters underground.
The structure was similar to the first Iron Ore deposit he had encountered in the Iron Ridge Wasteland.
Early that morning, when the train discovered this mine, Xiao Ai had sent the message to all the Train Residents. By the time he woke up, everyone had already started working.
He had given Xiao Ai this instruction before going to bed last night. He might wake up late, so if an Iron Ore deposit was found and there was no immediate danger, there was no need to call him—they could start working right away.
Another new day.
After finishing the Roujiamo breakfast brought by Xiao Fang, Chen Mang sat back at the control panel and looked at the three-dimensional train model on the screen.
The Level 10 Supermodel Effect of the "Steamed Bun Production Line" was that the steamed buns produced could have meat or chili sauce fillings.
You could call them buns or Roujiamo.
But he preferred to call them Roujiamo.
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