In the cavern by the underground river.
The imposing Stellar Train was parked to the side, its several headlights illuminating the entire cavern to the point of being completely visible. The humming oxygen generator was continuously consuming energy to maintain sufficient oxygen levels within the cavern.
"."
Having finished his morning routine and breakfast, Chen Mang lay down in the Train's cabin to begin today's solo mission training in the 「Combat Training Virtual Space」, his new toy which he found quite satisfying.
He had just spent 45,000 units to upgrade his 「Combat Training Virtual Space」 to level 10, thereby gaining two corresponding special supermodel effects.
The level 10 supermodel effect was that his training in the virtual space would directly increase his physical stamina in reality.
Of course.
The potential of human physical stamina is still limited. There's no possibility of training oneself into a superhuman through the 「Combat Training Virtual Space」, but with systematic training, achieving goals like becoming a parkour expert or mastering the dagger isn't too difficult.
Three hours later.
Feeling somewhat bored, Chen Mang exited the 「Combat Training Virtual Space」, stretched, and then headed towards carriage number 2, which was used to store various production lines, including the 「Pickaxe Production Line」.
Before mining the 「Crimson Heartstone」, he had upgraded the Pickaxe Production Line to level 3 to ensure it could produce pickaxes capable of mining level 3 minerals.
The cost to produce a level 1 pickaxe was 1 unit of Iron Ore.
A level 2 pickaxe cost 10 units of Iron Ore.
A level 3 pickaxe cost 100 units of Iron Ore.
Now, he once again spent 4,100 units of Iron Ore to directly upgrade the 「Pickaxe Production Line」 to level 10, enabling it to produce up to level 10 pickaxes.
The price for a level 10 pickaxe was 1 billion units of Iron Ore.
Sigh.
This figure somewhat deflated him. Level 10 pickaxes were meant for mining level 10 mines.
Additionally, there were two supermodel effects.
「Pickaxe Production Line Level 5 Supermodel Effect」: None.
「Pickaxe Production Line Level 10 Supermodel Effect」: None.
He had once tried using a 「Drill Bit」 to mine. With the diamond-tipped drill bit easily reducing Iron Ore to powder, the experiment was indeed successful. The raised Iron Ore on the ground, resembling cauliflower, was indeed ground into powder, but not a single unit of Iron Ore dropped.
He also tried attaching a 「Pickaxe」 to a wheel, attempting to create a rudimentary automatic mining machine.
Ultimately, it still ended in failure.
「Pickaxe」.
Only when held by a Slave does it possess the effect of mining. This is the fundamental rule of this world.
"."
Chen Mang glanced over the various production lines placed in the carriage, beginning to ponder the matter of upgrading the Train to level 4.
Soon—
Ten days later.
By the cavern, the three level 2 Iron Ore mines, including one level 2 Copper Ore mine, were completely depleted.
The Train panel now contained 684,000 units of Iron Ore and 231,000 units of Copper Ore.
Not enough, continue!
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes at the Iron Ore on the panel; he needed more.
Under his control, the Stellar Train immediately left the cavern and headed along the underground river towards the 「Mohe Hills」.
Half an hour later, they arrived successfully.
Looking out from the Train cabin, Chen Mang saw the distant road conditions undulating like waves on the sea, albeit fixed. Without special wheels, the Train would find it almost impossible to traverse such terrain, but it didn't pose much of a problem for him.
Switching to 「Spider Leg」 wheels and spending 4,400 units of Iron Ore to upgrade the 「Axe Production Line」 to level 10, it could now produce up to level 10 axes, though the price was still 1 billion units of Iron Ore.
The two corresponding supermodel effects were also none.
After producing 1,000 axes with 10,000 units of Iron Ore, the Resource Detection Radar successfully found two adjacent lumberyards deep within the 「Mohe Hills」.
"The environment isn't bad."
Chen Mang looked out the window at the lush green trees everywhere, which seemed much more vibrant than the wasteland. The Slaves had already started entering the forest with axes to begin cutting.
Two days later.
These two lumberyards had also been completely cleared, yielding a substantial 230,000 units of timber.
Enough.
There was currently no need for timber within the Train; this amount would last him a long time.
He immediately set off again, steering the Stellar Train along the underground river across the wasteland.
「Drip, detected a level 2 resource mine 2,000 meters deep.」
Start mining.
「Drip, detected two level 3 resource mines 1,000 meters deep.」
Start mining!
"Has time flown by so quickly?"
Inside the Stellar Train.
Chen Mang sat on a chair, shaving his stubble with a manual razor. After finishing, he placed the razor aside, and a girl carrying a basin of water promptly approached.
Using the water to wipe away the remaining beard.
He let out a long sigh of relief, quite satisfied with the refreshed face he saw in the mirror. It had been a full thirty-seven days since leaving the 「Mohe Wasteland」.
During these 37 days, he had done only one thing.
Following the underground river's veins, he had traversed the entire 「Iron Ridge Wasteland」, mining every day without the Slaves resting even a single day. It was no exaggeration to say he had almost mined every mine beneath the Iron Ridge Wasteland.
Perhaps, besides the veins of the underground river, there were mines elsewhere deep underground, or even deeper than 10,000 meters.
But he had no intention of searching further.
The cost-effectiveness was already not favorable.
He couldn't possibly navigate the Train through the underground, which would allow the Resource Detection Radar to cover a larger area and detect deeper mines, but at a much slower speed than on the surface.
Including the Iron Ore accumulated in previous days, the Train's resources had reached an almost astronomical figure!-
3.654 million units of Iron Ore.
710,000 units of Copper Ore.
230,000 units of Timber.
"Do you have a name?"
Chen Mang casually asked the girl quietly standing behind him in the mirror. This woman was selected by Lao Zhu from among the Slaves to be specifically responsible for the hygiene and daily needs of his Train cabin. She had performed quite well these days.
She spoke little, had no extraneous thoughts, and worked efficiently.
"Xiao Fang."
"What did you do before the apocalypse?"
"Elementary school teacher."
"."
He turned to glance at the girl behind him, nodding casually: "Good, I like educated people. You can go now, I don't need you anymore."
"Yes, Lord Mang."
After the woman left.
Chen Mang quite satisfied with himself, adjusted his new clothes, looked at himself in the mirror, and smiled contentedly, leaning on a cane. After spending 4,400 units of Timber to upgrade the 「Clothing Customization Production Line」 to level 10, he gained two supermodel effects.
「Clothing Customization Production Line Level 5 Supermodel Effect」: The clothes produced have a good temperature lock effect.
「Clothing Customization Production Line Level 10 Supermodel Effect」: Can produce high-precision clothes, which strongly enhance the wearer's aura, requiring 500 times the production materials.
The cost to produce a set of clothes was 1 unit of Timber.
Extremely cheap.
Moreover, it was customized. Compared to the price of 40,000 units for a set of 「Individual Exoskeleton Armor」, this was almost like giving charity.
Even high-precision clothes, requiring 500 times the production materials, only cost 500 units of Timber.
The 「Clothing Customization Production Line」 upgrade didn't have special effects, only gaining two special supermodel effects upon reaching the corresponding levels.
Tomorrow was an important day.
Tomorrow would mark the day the Train officially sets on its proper course, with various processes being formalized, and the title of 「Slave」 would also be officially changed. He had specially made a set of high-precision clothes for his formal appearance at the opening ceremony tomorrow.
As the Train Conductor, his attire also influenced those below him.
If the Train Conductor was dressed splendidly, those below would feel reassured.
If the Train Conductor himself looked shabby, those below would work in fear, worrying that the Train might be breached by monsters any day.
The Train had no mines to dig today, so it rested on the wasteland.
All Slaves were given a holiday today and could rest freely in the carriages or near the Train.
"Not bad at all."
Chen Mang looked at himself in the full-length mirror beside him and smiled with satisfaction.
He had crafted a black suit for himself. Once a suit is privately tailored to fit perfectly, it looks very dignified when worn. A slightly cheaper suit makes one look like a real estate agent.
Paired with the white waistcoat inside and a black shirt, the layering was impeccable.
Especially the 「Hell Staff」, which was the perfect finishing touch.
At that moment—
There was a knock on the door of the Train cabin.
"Come in."
Li Shiji walked in holding a stack of blueprints: "Lord Mang, you asked me a few days ago to prepare armband logos for the Stellar Train. I've drafted a few; please take a look."
"Alright."
Chen Mang sat on the chair and took the blueprints handed over by Li Shiji, reviewing them one by one.
Finally, he placed one blueprint on the table and tapped it.
"This one it is."
"I'll create a regular carriage and prepare 100 refrigerators for you later. Go find Lao Zhu and get some manpower to assist you in building this maze."
"Try to finish before dawn tomorrow."
"No problem." Li Shiji responded seriously, then hesitated: "Lord Mang, could you also make some ordinary refrigerators?"
"My idea is this: after the robot explores the maze for a few minutes, it will surely discover the uniqueness of these refrigerators."
"At that point, if we place an ordinary refrigerator at the deepest part of a high-end refrigerator, it would waste a lot of time going back and forth. Once it understands this setup, we could place five ordinary refrigerators and one high-end refrigerator..."
"Enough, no need to say more."
Chen Mang squinted slightly and smiled at Li Shiji, waving his hand: "I'll make another 200 ordinary refrigerators for you to use."
He had already understood the situation.
False false, true true.
Quite tormenting.
An ordinary refrigerator wasn't expensive, costing only 100 units of Iron Ore. Even 200 ordinary refrigerators would only cost 20,000 units of Iron Ore.
The matters of the 「Clothing Armband」 and the 「S-Rank Job Change Quest」 were essentially settled.
Today the Train rested, and the Slaves were on holiday.
His task today was to consume the entire 「3.654 million units of Iron Ore」, which he had mined over more than thirty days in the Iron Ridge Wasteland.
First, he spent 480,000 units of Iron Ore.
To create a regular carriage and 300 refrigerators, upgrading 100 of them to level 10.
It's worth mentioning.
Whether it's 「Refrigerators」, 「Single Beds」, 「Telescopes」, or 「Makeshift Heavy Machine Guns」, when calculating scores on the 「Iron Ridge Wasteland Regional Leaderboard」, it's based on the highest single item.
Having 100 level 10 refrigerators doesn't mean they all contribute to the score.
The Stellar Train currently has 11 carriages, not including the temporary one created for storing the maze.
According to his plan, several more carriages needed to be created.
Li Shiji's appearance had shown him that among these Slaves, there might be individuals who were not unknown before the apocalypse, excelling in certain industries. Such talents could assist him unexpectedly at any time.
Therefore, he specially created two hard sleeper carriages for advanced personnel.
One carriage for men, one for women.
Talents enjoying advanced treatment would usually reside in these two carriages.
Each 「Hard Sleeper Carriage」 had bunk beds, totaling 18 beds.
He placed these two carriages between carriage number 4 and carriage number 5.
The current layout of the Train was.
The Train head, for him alone.
Carriage number 2, stored all his industrial production lines, such as the 「Pickaxe Production Line」, 「Heavy Machine Gun Bullet Production Line」, and 「Off-road Motorcycle Production Line」, etc.
Carriage number 3, all stored bullets, Copper Ore, Timber, and other resources were also placed in this carriage, which now housed several level 10 refrigerators for bulk storage of minerals.
Carriage number 4, was used for placing 「Moldy Bread Slice Production Line」, 「Cola Production Line」, 「Steamed Bun Production Line」, and other daily life production lines. Lao Zhu and others would come to this carriage when making food for the Slaves.
Carriage number 5, hard sleeper carriage for advanced female personnel.
Carriage number 6, hard sleeper carriage for advanced male personnel.
Carriage number 7, hard sleeper carriage for thugs, with two level 10 refrigerators in the corner. One refrigerator contained 10 units of the 「Combat Training Virtual Space」 for training, and the other refrigerator contained several single beds for newly recruited thugs.
Carriages number 8 and 9, were
used to house the 101 human Slaves, with carpets already laid on the ground.
Carriages number 10 and 11, housed the 121 Goblin Slaves, with four level 10 refrigerators housing the over 800 new Slaves who had joined the Train.
Carriages number 12 and 13, were the firepower carriages, providing long-range firepower support, equipped with the 「40-Tube Cherry Blossom Rocket Launcher」 and the 「Repeating Ballista」.
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