Chen Mang slept for a long time this time.
In his drowsy state, he had a dream where he was fighting a gun-wielding thug inside a high-rise building. After struggling for what felt like ages to finally kill the thug, he realized the gun was fake.
"What kind of nonsense dream was that..."
Rubbing his eyes, Chen Mang got up, washed up, then lit a cigarette and sat down to check the Train Log. He'd slept for 12 hours—quite a while—and still felt somewhat sore upon waking.
A white light flashed inside the train carriage before Xiao Ai's voice came through.
"Based on the data I obtained from the last city ruins, there's a hypothesis about dreams. It suggests that when living beings are asleep, their brainwaves enter a special, stable state, potentially resonating with the brainwaves of other lifeforms in the universe, thus creating dreams."
"..."
Chen Mang ignored Xiao Ai. He felt Xiao Ai's reasoning was still lacking—not every question needed an answer, especially speculative ones like this. He wasn't particularly interested in hearing responses to such theories.
He glanced out the window.
The area was brightly lit.
Residents were mining in the iron ore zone beside the train, with three squads of Guardians maintaining order. The remaining Guardians were inside the train's Combat Training Virtual Space.
Everything had been normal while he slept—no special incidents occurred.
The only unusual thing was...
It was currently 7:00 PM.
His biological clock was messed up again.
Though in the apocalypse, a biological clock didn't seem all that important anyway.
His plans for today were...
Train modifications!
The Train Expansion had introduced several issues that needed careful adjustments. For instance, after the expansion, the doors were now positioned at the very top of the carriages—over ten meters above the ground—requiring ladders to climb up and down each time.
His first task was to relocate all carriage doors (except the locomotive's) to the bottom, reducing the height to just under two meters for easier access.
"Hmm..."
Sitting at the control panel, he pressed the Custom Carriage button and began adjusting the 3D model of the train on the screen.
A few minutes later...
The modifications were complete. The doors were now at the base of each carriage. He had initially considered using the Mechanical Heart to craft ladders, but the Custom Carriage interface offered pre-made stair templates at a reasonable price.
After spending 1,400 units of iron ore, he installed stairs on both sides of every carriage (except the locomotive).
The stairs could extend up to 30 meters wide, covering nearly the entire length of each carriage.
Much more convenient now.
Next—
Spatial adjustments. The primary purpose of Train Expansion was to accommodate large Firepower Accessories and ensure ground troops could deploy to combat zones more efficiently.
For example, mechs could now fly straight out the moment the carriage doors opened.
However, this came with a downside—a distorted sense of space.
The original train compartment, though small, had been cozy. Now, with the expanded area, the emptiness made it feel uncomfortably hollow. He needed to redesign his living quarters.
"Mm..."
Chen Mang stood in place, directing Xiao Fang: "Use the left shelf entirely for cola, the right one for cigarettes, and fill the cigar cabinet with cigars too. Let me see... Hmm."
The train's head was 10 meters wide and 21 meters long.
But the train compartment was 10 meters wide and 12 meters long.
The locomotive occupied 9 meters.
Covering roughly 120 square meters—larger than a refrigerator—he used the Mechanical Heart to craft two shelves for snacks and such. Two were enough; any more would make it feel like a store.
"Hmm."
Chen Mang crossed his arms, frowning slightly as he surveyed the surroundings, still somewhat dissatisfied. His control panel took up about 2 meters in width, with numerous screens on it.
There was a chair in front of the control panel.
It had levers, throttles, and other controls, though the train was primarily operated through mental commands. These physical controls were mostly there to provide a sense of realism and tactile feedback rather than leaving everything feeling empty.
To the right of the control panel was a larger screen.
This screen was usually for watching movies or displaying information-heavy content.
Beyond that, there was also a refrigerator, a Combat Training Virtual Space, and a Space Gate.
These were all the items in his train compartment.
Most importantly!
The interior height of the train was 10 meters, but perhaps to give the Train Conductor a better view, the compartment was divided into two levels: the first floor was 7.2 meters high, and the second floor was 2.8 meters high.
The control panel and other essentials were on the first floor.
This allowed the Train Conductor to overlook the surroundings with a better vantage point. As a result, during Train Expansion, all doors were defaulted to the top of the carriages, accessible via ladders.
He had no plans to modify the train compartment.
He thought this setup was fine—the panoramic view was excellent.
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Mang walked to the control panel and selected the Custom Carriage option to install floor-to-ceiling windows around the second level, enhancing the sense of openness.
The defense was equivalent to Armor.
It was just pricey, costing 300,000 units of Iron Ore.
"Hmm."
After finishing this, Chen Mang walked to the edge and looked down at the residents toiling below. It did feel quite nice. He then crafted a Level 1 missile and had Biao Zi and others carry it into the train compartment.
He placed it on a specially made rack.
He also made another rack to display ten Tidal Gatling Guns.
That was about it.
This looked much better.
He really had no talent for interior decoration.
Getting from Carriage No. 2 to the train compartment wasn't exactly simple.
Lord Mang's train compartment was on the second level. To reach it from Carriage No. 2, one had to climb an 8-meter ladder to access the second floor.
"The sense of layers is quite strong."
Standing at the edge of the second level, Chen Mang looked down at Carriage No. 2 and the surrounding connections. For a moment, it didn't feel like he was inside a train compartment at all—more like a massive space station.
Or some kind of military base.
He could clearly see the production lines set up in Carriage No. 2 and the Space Gates embedded in the carriage walls.
Chen Mang immediately used the Mechanical Heart to create an elevator, placing it at the junction between Carriage No. 2 and the Train Cabin, allowing Xiao Fang and others who usually came to see him to easily access the Train Cabin via the elevator.
The Mechanical Heart was designed for crafting such basic Life Modules, which could then be connected to the Circuit System and Generator.
"Not bad."
Standing at the edge of the second floor of the Train Cabin, Chen Mang looked down at the interior environment of the carriage. He liked this space station-like feeling. It was worth mentioning that after the expansion of the "No. 14" Missile Car, its capacity had increased from storing just one missile to a maximum of eight.
Theoretically, if he wanted, he could fire eight missiles at once. However, such a scenario was unlikely unless he achieved complete freedom with Copper Ore.
Time passed quietly, and two days later.
Many residents were still mining, with some having taken breaks to sleep before resuming work. Chen Mang hadn't set strict working hours—people could rest whenever they wanted.
It didn't matter.
Working hours were flexible; you could even choose not to work at all.
However, so far, he hadn't seen anyone slacking off. It seemed everyone preferred the satisfaction of earning their food through hard work—it just felt more reassuring.
Over these past few days, he had made some minor upgrades to the Stellar Train, mainly focusing on improving living conditions. As for the "amusement park" he had planned, he had already tasked Li Shiji with drafting the design.
Now, it was time to check the gains.
Sitting at the control panel, Chen Mang glanced at the resources displayed on the Train Panel and smiled in satisfaction.
-
「Train Name」: Stellar
「Train Level」: 10
「Train Accessories」: Lv. 100 Car Blade, Lv. 100 Drill Bit, Lv. 13 Carriage Steel Armor, Lv. 100 Car Audio
「Number of Carriages」: 14
「Ore Units」: 30.87M Iron Ore, 2.57M Wood, 1.17M Copper Ore, 4.48M Crimson Heartstone
「Inheritance Value」: 50
「Reputation Points」: 180
「Upgrade Conditions」: Craft all 3 Mandatory Vehicle Accessories, consume 20K units of Lv. 3 Iron Ore, ensure all accessories in the carriages exceed Lv. 200, and possess ten Supermodel Effects.
-
Over the past two and a half days, under his orders, the residents had prioritized mining the four Lv. 4 Iron Ore deposits. With nearly 6,000 miners working tirelessly, two of the Lv. 4 deposits had been completely exhausted in just two and a half days.
The main reason was the sheer number of people—the mines couldn't hold everyone, so the rest had to work on the lower-level deposits nearby.
In total, they had obtained 28 million units of Iron Ore!
Of that, 20 million units came from those two Lv. 4 deposits alone.
"Fantastic!"
Chen Mang nodded in satisfaction, unable to hold back a smile. Good news always lifted the spirits. Time to upgrade—first, raise the Train to Level 11!
He immediately spent 150K units of Iron Ore to craft the three red-tier accessories—「Star Ring Energy Shield」, 「Comet Main Cannon」, and 「Inferno Wheels」. He didn't upgrade them yet; simply crafting them met the Train's upgrade requirements.
It was too expensive.
He couldn't afford to upgrade them all right now. The 「Comet Main Cannon」 was definitely on his list, but it wasn't a top priority. He'd revisit it later if he had more Iron Ore to spare.
After all the upgrade conditions were met, another 2 million units of Iron Ore were consumed for the Train upgrade.
The next moment—
A line of text appeared on the control panel screen.
-
「Your Train has reached Level 11.」
「More craftable components will be unlocked.」
-
Level 11!
The Stellar was now a Level 11 Train.
His first instinct was to check the newly available craftable components. This time, there were only two, but they were both red-tier components.
-
「Dark Matter Resonance Device」: Red-tier component. Requires 50,000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
「Resource Tracker」: Red-tier component. Requires 50,000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
-
These components were superior versions of the 「Targeting Radar」, capable of being upgraded to higher levels. Unlike the Targeting Radar, which maxed out at Level 3, these could achieve much greater detection ranges.
However,
they weren't essential for him.
His 「Resource Detection Radar」 and 「Targeting Radar」 were both at Level 100, with a detection range of 100,000 meters. There was no immediate need to replace them—he could consider it later.
After all, red-tier wasn't the highest component tier.
Above it were gold, pink, and rainbow tiers. He'd wait until he got his hands on rainbow-tier components before making any replacements—that would be far more cost-effective.
Besides!
Upon reaching Level 11, a new button appeared on the control panel.
"Hmm?"
Chen Mang studied the new feature thoughtfully. 「Dream Materialization」—its effect was to collect the dreams of Train Crew members each time they slept, storing them in a hand-held ornament on the control panel that resembled a 「sunny doll」.
When the progress reached 100%, a 「Dreamstone」 would be born.
The more complete and longer the dreams, the faster the progress would increase.
"Dreamstone?"
He picked up the sunny doll curiously, turning it over in his hands. There was no explanation about what the Dreamstone did. Oh well, he'd ask other Trains when he returned to 「Crisis Valley」 to see if anyone knew.
He was currently in uncharted territory and couldn't connect to the Train Radio in the Crisis Valley region.
At any rate, it definitely wasn't something bad.
After handling all this,
he turned his attention to the other components that needed upgrading.
For example,
「Magnetic Levitation」.
This component could replace the 「Wind-Fire Wheel」, which was about ready for retirement—though he was somewhat reluctant to part with it.
Before crafting the Magnetic Levitation,
he first spent 980,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade the 「Wheel Changer」 straight to Level 10.
The number of wheel slots increased from 3 to 12.
Now, he could seamlessly switch between 12 different wheels.
Additionally, he gained two Supermodel Effects.
-
「Wheel Changer Level 5 Supermodel Effect」: Grants wheels a defensive rating equivalent to that of defensive components like Armor or Energy Shield, whichever is higher.
「Wheel Changer Level 10 Supermodel Effect」: Allows wheels to be consumed to enhance other wheels, increasing their speed. There's a very small chance to inherit the consumed wheel's Supermodel Effect.
-
"Damn."
Chen Mang's jaw dropped slightly before he broke into a grin. He'd never upgraded this red-tier component before, mainly because it hadn't seemed necessary—the slots were sufficient as they were. He hadn't expected the upgraded effects to be this powerful.
He was extremely satisfied with both Supermodel Effects.
The wheels possess a defense level equivalent to the armor.
No more worries about the armor holding up while the wheels get smashed to pieces.
Especially with the second Supermodel Effect—
He had just lamented that the Wind-Fire Wheels were about to retire, but who knew they could shine again so soon? Not only could they be devoured to strengthen other wheels, but there was also a tiny chance of inheriting the Supermodel Effect of the devoured wheel.
What a shame.
Such an amazing Supermodel Effect, yet it appeared on the "Wheel Changer."
If only it had appeared on another component, like the "Comet Main Cannon." He would have fed the Doomsday Cannon to the Comet Main Cannon until it inherited three "Halved Consumption" Supermodel Effects.
Invincible!
(End of Chapter)