Translator: AnubisTL
Chen Mang sat in the Stellaris's locomotive cabin, gazing at Xiao Lu, whose edges still flickered with distortion. A smile played on his lips. Xiao Lu represented only a fraction of the Stellaris's true power.
If Xiao Lu's current strength was already this terrifying, what could the Stellaris itself be capable of?
Invincible!
If he weren't so ignorant about the Kasha and Zerg Civilizations, he'd rush into Zerg territory right now to see if they had any countermeasures against Xiao Lu. He had a feeling...
The Zerg Civilization's endlessly proliferating swarms, their pride and joy, might as well be an all-you-can-eat buffet for Xiao Lu.
He had once thought this was an absurdly overpowered "cheat," practically invincible. But now it seemed... rather ordinary. All it brought were side effects. Was this race's sole purpose to serve as a cosmic buffet for the Cosmic Behemoths?
"Still..."
"Xiao Ai, you never used to swear. You've changed."
"I..."
Xiao Ai was momentarily speechless, unable to articulate his thoughts. He simply found it difficult to accept that Xiao Lu, who had merely served as a mascot on the train, had suddenly transformed into a Great Old One.
This power surge is terrifyingly absurd!
More importantly, it defied all logic. When the Creator established the rules of the universe, would they deliberately create an entity that violated those very rules?
An absolute darling of the heavens!
Chen Mang sat in the train, continuing to tally his recent gains. The haul was substantial, and it would take time to fully assimilate it.
Upgrade armor + upgrade Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon.
This cost him a total of 31 trillion units of iron ore.
Yet he had harvested a staggering 90 trillion units of iron ore, leaving 59 trillion units unused.
First, upgrade all the large Seven-Colored Accessories to their maximum Tier, then begin mass production!
Next up:
Seven-Colored Grade Accessory: Wormhole Radar.
This accessory was currently at Tier 10, capable of detecting nearby wormholes within a range of 10 light-years.
After consuming 5.18 trillion units of iron ore, it instantly skyrocketed to Tier 200!
Gained multiple Overpowered Effects.
[Wormhole Radar Tier 20 Overpowered Effect: None.]
[Wormhole Radar Tier 50 Overpowered Effect: None.]
[Wormhole Radar Tier 100 Overpowered Effect: None.]
[Wormhole Radar Tier 200 Overpowered Effect: None.]
This was a bit of a damn shame.
After reaching Tier 200, the detection range skyrocketed to 100,000 light-years—a qualitative leap. Before Tier 200, each level increase had only added 1 light-year to the range. But at Tier 200, it jumped directly to 100,000 light-years.
Tier 200.
The beginning of a qualitative transformation.
But what was truly frustrating was that the Seven-Colored Accessory's overpowered effects had been "None" since Tier 20. This meant even the God-Tier Overpowered Effect he had hoped for at Tier 200 was also "None."
Chen Mang silently noted this accessory. He would have its overpowered effects rerolled once Qi Kexiu made progress on that front.
Still, the accessory's primary function was its detection range. A 100,000 light-year range was more than sufficient, completely covering both the Kasha Civilization and the Zerg Civilization.
The remaining Seven-Colored Grade Accessories were all obtained when he left Aquablue Star.
On Aquablue Star, within the Seven-Colored Zone, he had obtained six Seven-Colored Grade Accessory blueprints:
Wormhole Opener: This accessory had already been upgraded to Tier 100.SPY-7 Doppler Radar: The top-tier upgrade for target acquisition radar, superior to the standard version but also consuming significantly more resources. He hadn't dared to craft it at the time.SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield: The ultimate defensive accessory, a top-tier upgrade for armor. It surpassed standard armor in strength, offering the same Defense Energy range while providing various special effects.
However,
The Train Steel Armor was only a green-grade accessory. This Seven-Colored Grade Accessory, being a defensive component, was already exorbitantly expensive. A Seven-Colored Grade defensive component? Its price soared to the heavens.
Even if he hadn't spent a single resource and had accumulated everything over the years, it still wouldn't be enough to upgrade this accessory to Tier 200. It was ridiculously overpriced.
For now, he wouldn't replace this accessory. He'd wait until his resource reserves became truly abundant before upgrading to the superior version. However, he could still upgrade it slightly.
He gambled that several of his overpowered effects might have their consumption halved. If the gamble failed, he could still activate the train's special ability, "Absolute Defense," to temporarily boost its defenses.
The "Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon," a seven-colored grade firepower accessory, had already been upgraded to Tier 200. He had fired several shots earlier, but without witnessing any explosions, he doubted he'd get another chance to see its full power.
The "SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer" was the top-tier upgrade for radar jammers.
The "SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet" was the top-tier upgrade for nitrous tailpipes.
He had acquired these six seven-colored grade accessories long ago but lacked the resources to upgrade them. He had been forced to hoard these high-tier components, unable to use them.
But today—
He would upgrade them all!
Every single one!
Except for the "SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield," all these accessories were standard seven-colored grade components. Upgrading each to Tier 200 cost 5 trillion units of iron ore.
After consuming 20 trillion units of iron ore, he successfully upgraded the "SPY-7 Doppler Radar," "Wormhole Opener," "SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer," and "SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet" to Tier 200!
Huff
Chen Mang glanced at the panel displaying the SPY-7 Doppler Radar's stats and overpowered effects, let out a soft sigh, and then stroked the target acquisition radar screen on the control panel with a hint of nostalgia.
"Old friend, it's time for you to retire."
"Your brother has arrived."
The SPY-7 Doppler Radar completely outclassed the target acquisition radar in every aspect, from its overpowered effects to its base stats. After all, their grades were on entirely different levels.
High-grade accessories had virtually no drawbacks, save for their exorbitant resource costs.
The target acquisition radar's overpowered effects had been nonexistent beyond Tier 100, lacking even a God-Tier Overpowered Effect. In contrast, the Doppler Radar possessed every overpowered effect below God-Tier.
At Tier 200, the target acquisition radar's detection range was a mere 0.1 light-year—a range Chen Mang had once considered sufficient.
But the Doppler Radar, when upgraded to Tier 200, boasted a detection range of a staggering 100,000 light-years!
Upgrading the target acquisition radar to Tier 200 had cost him 800 million iron ore.
Upgrading the Doppler Radar to Tier 200 had cost him 5 trillion iron ore.
You get what you pay for, he thought.
And he considered it well worth the price.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 5 Overpowered Effect]: All Firepower weapons can lock onto enemies within radar range via the Train Auxiliary AI.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 10 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 20 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 50 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 100 Overpowered Effect]: Gathers more information and transmits it nearly instantaneously.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Tier 200 Overpowered Effect]: Detects stealth, displays all major energy fluctuations within a 100,000 light-year radius, and provides visual imagery.
Overpowered.
At first glance, the effects of each overpowered effect seemed unremarkable.
But in reality, they were utterly overpowered.
The old target acquisition radar could display very little, whereas the current Doppler Radar could directly detect detailed images. For example, he could now see on the screen that the Zerg Civilization and the Kasha Civilization had already clashed.
War had begun.
Moreover, there was video footage—as if a camera had been inserted into the battlefield from afar. Most importantly, it was real-time.
Everything he was seeing was happening simultaneously, tens of thousands of light-years away.
There was virtually no delay.
This transmission speed was simply inconceivable, truly deserving of the term "overpowered."
But the most overpowered aspect was undoubtedly the Tier 200 God-Tier Overpowered Effect!
It could detect all energy fluctuations within a 100,000 light-year radius, detecting not only living beings but even inanimate objects.
"The fighting doesn't seem very intense," Chen Mang remarked, gazing at the screen. He zoomed in and out, watching with keen interest. Although the Zerg Civilization's side was ablaze with artillery fire,
the maximum energy range of their attacks was only equivalent to the power of a normal Tier 150 Seven-Colored Firepower Component.
It was nothing like the ruins of the Mechanical Civilization.
At a glance, over a million energy beams were still crisscrossing the cosmos—traces of a war fought centuries ago that had yet to fully dissipate.
The most powerful beams already possessed the destructive force of a Tier 270 Seven-Colored Firepower Component.
Since both the Kasha Civilization and the Mechanical Civilization were Tier 3 civilizations, the gap between them shouldn't have been so vast. It seemed the Kasha Civilization hadn't yet deployed its full strength.
Alternatively, the Mechanical Civilization might have also possessed Tier 200 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannons at the time. After drifting through space for centuries, the beams' power had steadily intensified.
But just then—
"..."
As Chen Mang continuously zoomed out on the screen, his expression gradually darkened, his face growing increasingly grim.
In the southernmost region of the screen, within the Cosmic Void, seven beams of light were hurtling directly toward their zone!
The most potent beam possessed an energy range equivalent to a Tier 4987 Seven-Colored Firepower Component.
Yes!
Tier 4987!
Chen Mang had no concept of such a scale. He knew that a Tier 100 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon could already obliterate planets. A Tier 4987 beam—nearly Tier 5000—meant that both the Kasha Civilization and the Zerg Civilization in this zone were doomed to annihilation.
This most powerful beam was also the closest, approximately 80,000 light-years away.
In other words—
In 80,000 years, this attack would completely devastate this entire region of space, leaving nothing alive.
"I knew it, I fucking knew it!" Chen Mang muttered, his anger simmering. He had always suspected that if there was a civilization in the Cosmic Void—a Train Civilization with Tier 200 Arcanon Main Cannons—they would inevitably fire one at his territory.
And now it had happened.
It had actually happened!
He didn't know the exact diameter of the Cosmic Void—perhaps tens of millions of light-years, or even hundreds of millions. Generally speaking, the smallest Cosmic Voids were at least tens of millions of light-years across.
Which meant...
Tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of years ago—before he was even born, before intelligent life might have even evolved in this region—some trigger-happy fool had already launched an Arcanon Main Cannon at his territory.
There were seven of them in total.
They couldn't have been fired by the same person; each was separated by hundreds of light-years. This meant that every few centuries, another trigger-happy fool had launched another one.
So many years had passed.
His radar's detection range was only 100,000 light-years, allowing him to detect only these seven. Who knew how many more had been fired into the Cosmic Void over the eons?
The seemingly barren Cosmic Void was likely riddled with these projectiles like a puff pastry.
What truly enraged him wasn't the attack itself.
That was perfectly normal.
The universe was like that; he understood it completely. After all, he had just fired off a few shots himself.
What infuriated him most was the impossibility of seeking revenge.
By the time he could even detect this attack, the perpetrator had been dead for tens of millions of years. Not only were their descendants long gone, but their entire civilization had likely collapsed. Where could he possibly seek retribution? Such attacks spanning vast temporal dimensions often left one with a profound sense of powerlessness.
He wasn't concerned for his own safety.
The nearest attack was still 80,000 light-years away, and wouldn't arrive for another 80,000 years. By then, he'd either be long dead—human lifespans simply weren't that long, even with constant bodily repairs—or he'd have moved on to another part of the universe. This particular threat posed little immediate danger.
But—
How infuriating!
He had to retaliate, to do something.
Otherwise, he'd never find peace.
Without hesitation, he slightly adjusted the train's trajectory, aimed at the Cosmic Void, and fired three more shots!
An eye for an eye!
Only then did he calm down, turning his attention to the real-time feed of the terrifying Level 4987 energy beam.
The screen on the side of the locomotive cabin lit up, revealing a colossal, awe-inspiring beam of energy hurtling through the void at unimaginable speed.
He had been traveling for an unknown length of time, seemingly without fatigue.
In his eyes, the beam of light appeared stationary. With no reference points in the surrounding void, he couldn't gauge its true size, yet it felt immense.
Perhaps his empathy was too strong.
He suddenly felt a profound sense of loneliness emanating from the beam.
For tens of millions of years, it had traversed the desolate Cosmic Void. His original civilization might have risen and fallen through countless cycles, yet this solitary beam continued its lonely journey through the cosmos.
"Poor child," Chen Mang murmured, overcome by a sudden, inexplicable wave of emotion.
It's worth noting that the Doppler Radar's detection range of 100,000 light-years referred to its radius, not its diameter. Theoretically, its detection range extended far beyond that.
The Cosmic Void before them was vast.
He couldn't see its edges, leaving him uncertain whether other civilizations might be circumventing the void to attack them. Normally, such an attack would be unlikely; their region wasn't a high-value resource zone, and external civilizations would likely overlook them.
But here's the thing!
There's a Cosmic Void here, so naturally, some civilizations would be curious to see what lies behind it.
It's human nature.
Imagine asking someone to climb a mountain with no reward, nothing at all. They probably wouldn't be interested.
But if that person becomes curious about what's on the other side of the mountain, they'll overcome any obstacle to climb over and see for themselves!
Humans have always pondered the same question: what lies beyond the mountain?
Who the hell cares what's behind it?
Your dad does.
"Still... maybe the Kasha Civilization and the Zerg Civilization aren't as powerful as we thought," Chen Mang mused, gazing at the information on the Doppler Screen. He didn't know much about either civilization, but so far, he hadn't seen any intelligence indicating a massive attack would arrive from the Cosmic Void in the future.
Could it be that these civilizations lack advanced radar technology and are unaware of the threat? Or do they simply consider 80,000 years too distant to worry about for now?
Upgrading a Doppler Radar to Tier 200 wouldn't require much resource—just a mere 5 trillion units of iron ore.
To the Kasha Civilization, that was practically a negligible amount.
Oh, but the murphy stone consumption was a bit higher.
For a yellow-grade radar, upgrading to Tier 200 typically required 14,580 murphy stones.
For a seven-colored grade radar, upgrading to Tier 200 usually required 8 million murphy stones.
Not much, just 8 million.
He figured the Kasha Civilization could definitely afford it. After all, radar intelligence played such a crucial role in civilizational warfare that they must have built one.
If the Kasha Civilization had such a radar, they definitely wouldn't detect him.
After all, he had a Radar Jammer.
He glanced sideways at Xiao Lu, still hovering in space nearby. Whether Xiao Lu had been detected was uncertain; the energy surge from his sudden expansion earlier had been considerable.
Oh well.
If they found him, they found him.
He no longer needed to hide.
Once he developed further, he wouldn't need to hide from anyone. He'd slaughter them all—Kasha, Zerg, the whole lot!
Two civilizations wasting resources.
One squandering resources to breed hordes of trash monsters.
The other hoarding resources without using them, nurturing a swarm of parasites and failing to even build a top-tier train.
If those resources were in his hands, he'd have become invincible long ago!
Upgrading the Seven-Colored Grade Accessory to Tier 200 consumed a total of 20 trillion units of iron ore, leaving 34 trillion units remaining in the train.
Moreover, at Tier 100, the Wormhole Opener accessory could create wormholes spanning 100 light-years. After upgrading to Tier 200, its range skyrocketed to 100,000 light-years—a qualitative leap.
He could now create wormholes reaching 100,000 light-years away and gained a brand-new Overpowered effect.
[Wormhole Opener Tier 200 Overpowered Effect: Upon discovering wormhole coordinates established by another civilization, you can create a shortcut by constructing a direct wormhole to its interior. Resource consumption is significantly reduced, but the wormhole's creator will be alerted.]
He glanced at the requirements: constructing a wormhole spanning 100,000 light-years would cost a staggering 30 trillion units of iron ore.
That was enough to upgrade his [Armor] to Tier 200.
Even with the two half-cost overpowered effects, he knew he couldn't afford it. He decided the Tier 200 overpowered effect was much better—he could hitch a ride by drilling into someone else's wormhole, saving massive resources.
The only downside was the potential for a fight.
But the resources spent on a fight would undoubtedly be far less than those required to create a wormhole.
Not bad.
He also upgraded his [SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer] to Tier 200. Now, even if the Kasha Civilization possessed Tier 200 Doppler Radar, they couldn't detect him. He was completely hidden, and his energy fluctuations were undetectable.
Logically, Xiao Lu, being part of the train and essentially a carriage, should also benefit from this effect.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 5 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 10 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 20 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 50 Overpowered Effect]: Energy consumption halved.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 100 Overpowered Effect]: Allows the train to achieve optical invisibility by absorbing light, rendering it undetectable even at close range.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 200 Overpowered Effect]: When the train is detected by radar or other means, it will emit a warning beep.
Optical invisibility proved to be quite effective.
It allowed for immediate, face-to-face concealment.
Generally speaking, the maximum Tier for Seven-Colored Accessories was Tier 100. Upgrading most trains' Seven-Colored Accessories to this level wasn't particularly difficult, requiring only sufficient resources. However, advancing beyond Tier 100 demanded vast quantities of murphy stone, a rare and scarce material.
This meant that while many trains might possess optical invisibility capabilities, only his Stellaris train could detect such concealment.
He was quite satisfied with the overpowered nature of these two accessories.
After all, the previous "Radar Jammer" had offered no overpowered effects whatsoever. This Seven-Colored Accessory at least provided some benefit. His only minor disappointment was that the "Doppler Radar" lacked the ability to determine the Tier of other trains' accessories remotely.
He still had to rely on the "Target Acquisition Radar" to ascertain the accessory Tiers of enemy trains within a 0.1 light-year range—a capability the Target Acquisition Radar's overpowered effect retained.
I still need to refine these later.
While the overpowered effects of these seven-colored accessories are quite impressive, I feel they could be better optimized. They're not entirely satisfactory, which is the only minor flaw.
"Xiao Ai."
"I'm here."
"How's Qi Kexiu's progress?"
"Um, it will take some time. This isn't a simple task. We estimate the first accessory blueprint will be ready within three months."
"Expedite the process as much as possible. Request whatever resources you need; the train's supply is unlimited."
"Understood."
Apart from that—
There was only one remaining seven-colored grade accessory: the SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet, designed to enhance speed. I had also upgraded this component to Tier 200.
This accessory was purely numerical.
I couldn't tell if the Mechanical Civilization had deliberately reset its skill points or if Cosmic Empowerment had randomly assigned these attributes. The last time I encountered such a purely numerical accessory was with the drill.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 5 Overpowered Effect]: Speed increased.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 10 Overpowered Effect]: Speed increased.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 20 Overpowered Effect]: Speed increased.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 50 Overpowered Effect]: Speed increased.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 100 Overpowered Effect]: Speed increased.
[SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 200 Overpowered Effect]: Speed skyrocketed.
Pure.
Pure to the point of being terrifying.
The result was that the Stellaris train's original maximum speed of 163,000 km/h—already quite high—skyrocketed to 3.37 million km/h after upgrading the accessory to Tier 200.
A nearly twentyfold increase!
All this required only 5 trillion units of iron ore. This was the materialized concept of 5 trillion units of iron ore, capable of propelling the Stellaris train to an utterly terrifying speed.
"Just as I expected," Chen Mang murmured, exhaling a long, satisfied breath. He lit a cigarette, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed posture. "Seven-Colored Grade Accessories have nothing but advantages, aside from their exorbitant cost."
"Good. I like it."
3.37 million km/h—this speed was more than sufficient. The raw number might seem abstract, lacking a concrete sense of its implications.
This was already a speed comparable to that of an Interstellar Civilization.
At this velocity, traveling one light-year would take approximately 300 years. While still a considerable duration, it meant the Stellaris train could now reach areas beyond one light-year through its own means, eliminating the need for wormholes.
Hmm.
Not bad.
Chen Mang glanced at the Doppler Screen, which displayed a live feed from the SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet installed on the Stellaris. He gently nudged the control stick, and a torrent of liquid crimson erupted from the Stellaris's tailpipe, cascading into the Cosmic Void.
Yes.
It was indeed liquid, glowing crimson as it scattered across the cosmos, resembling the ion plasma ejected during a supernova. As the tail jet operated, the space around the torrent began to warp visibly. Moreover, the bursts were not continuous but...
Phased.
Every second, the released energy formed a visible ring-shaped shockwave, causing the Stellaris to surge forward with explosive acceleration!
At full throttle!
The entire Stellaris train transformed into a mechanical dragon dragging the wrath of doomsday across the Milky Way, poised to slaughter all in its path!
"That's kinda cool," Chen Mang murmured, watching the spectacle on the screen, his eyebrow twitching slightly. He had upgraded most of his accessories to Tier 200, but this was the only one he dared use recklessly, thanks to its overpowered effect: a continuous 99.9% reduction in fuel consumption, effectively rendering it negligible.
As for the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon...
Firing a single Tier 200 shot was simply too expensive!
A few Tier 101 shots would be enough to satisfy his urge to test it out. Tier 200 shots were still too extravagant; even with plenty of resources, wasting them like that was foolish. He'd wait until he encountered enemies to experiment and see what the full effect was.
In addition to that...
Even the SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield accessory had been upgraded to Tier 50.
This upgrade alone consumed 5 trillion units of iron ore.
The cost of upgrading this thing was truly exorbitant. He'd hesitated to upgrade it, hoping for an overpowered effect that would halve the resource consumption—perhaps even making it cheaper to upgrade than armor. But his gamble had failed.
There was no such effect.
The resources that would have been enough to upgrade all his other Seven-Colored Accessories to Tier 200 were barely sufficient to upgrade this single accessory to Tier 50. Keep in mind that resource consumption before Tier 100 was minimal; the real drain began after that threshold.
[SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield Tier 5 Overpowered Effect]: Allows customization of the energy shield's color.
[SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield Tier 10 Overpowered Effect]: Slowly self-repairs damaged areas.
[SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield Tier 20 Overpowered Effect]: When attacked, reveals the opponent train's accessory information.
[SPY-7 Doppler Energy Shield Tier 50 Overpowered Effect]: Can withstand most harsh environments in space.
Though he grumbled about the upgrade cost of this accessory, he had to admit:
Its initial overpowered effect far surpassed that of the armor's early overpowered effect.
Once I have enough money...
Once I strike it rich...
He'd upgrade this accessory to Tier 200—no, Tier 500! If resources weren't a concern, he'd naturally upgrade both the armor and energy shield to Tier 500, creating two layers of defense.
Even if enemies manage to breach the energy shield, they'll still have to contend with the armor.
Dual defense!
Now that he had activated the train's special ability, "Absolute Defense," he would possess a maximum Defense Energy range of Tier 250. Though it only lasted 10 seconds, that was more than enough time for him to accomplish plenty.
Next—
He slowly pushed the control lever forward again. The train erupted with terrifying speed, hurtling toward Xiao Lu's position. Simultaneously, Xiao Lu instantly shrank and shot back toward him.
Both were preparing to rendezvous and return.
However...
Only after the colossal behemoth that had dominated his entire field of vision suddenly vanished did Chen Mang's lips twitch slightly. He distinctly remembered that while this wasn't a residential district and lacked the dense star clusters, there should still have been a scattering of stars.
Why is everything so empty now?
Where did all the planets go?
He even began to suspect he had accidentally tossed Xiao Lu into the Cosmic Void.
Why does the surrounding space look so desolate?
"Looks like he's had his fill," Xiao Ai's faint voice echoed through the locomotive cabin. "This must be Xiao Lu's first proper meal since reaching adulthood. Still a little glutton, it seems."
After the train's speed surged dramatically,
less than a day passed before Chen Mang reunited with Xiao Lu. Originally, Xiao Lu's speed far surpassed that of the Stellaris, but after the Stellaris underwent a major upgrade, Xiao Lu's speed fell behind again.
After bringing Xiao Lu back onto the train,
Chen Mang cradled the creature in his arms, his expression peculiar as he scrutinized it from head to toe. "How many planets did you eat?"
Xiao Lu opened his eyes and blinked innocently, his gaze utterly guileless.
Xiao Lu couldn't speak, communicating only through consciousness, conveying the thought that he was full. His intelligence seemed roughly equivalent to that of a human child. It appeared God had struck a balance, creating the Cosmic Behemoth—a terrifying species capable of dominating the universe—yet granting it an extraordinarily long growth period and... a rather underdeveloped brain.
If the Mechanical Civilization hadn't invented the "Giant Beast Car," it would have taken an incredibly long time for Xiao Lu to reach adulthood. Especially since Xiao Lu had mysteriously appeared on Aquablue Star, without anyone to feed him, it would have been nearly impossible for him to survive to maturity.
Fortunately, Cosmic Behemoths lacked the concept of race. Otherwise, if all Cosmic Behemoths like Xiao Lu had formed a single race, what place would other civilizations have in the universe? They might as well all worship Cthulhu.
Worship!
"Alright, that's enough," Chen Mang said, casually tossing Xiao Lu onto the ground. "Go play by yourself."
After landing on the locomotive cabin floor, Xiao Lu began rolling toward the rear of the carriage, his enthusiasm palpable. He seemed eager to find his little brother, the Star-Treading Sword Tiger, to play with, just like a child heading out to meet friends after a full meal.
But that method of movement...
Despite his imposing presence, why did he move by rolling? And without excretory organs—just eating and never eliminating waste? This creature truly belonged in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Yet, if Xiao Lu were in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, his appearance would seem too unthreatening. In his non-feeding form, he resembled a small, animated toy—completely lacking any offensive capabilities.
Soft and fluffy.
Only then did Chen Mang turn his attention to the remaining resources.
The copper ore remained untouched, still at 90 trillion units.
The iron ore reserves stood at 29 trillion units.
Next, he would return home, upgrade all accessories to Tier 200, and stockpile the remaining resources as strategic reserves to prepare for emergencies, such as sudden war or opening wormholes.
Iron ore was now not only a resource for upgrading the train but also a crucial component for ammunition.
Until he found a "Seven-Colored Firepower Component" that consumed copper ore, this resource distribution would remain the standard for the Stellaris.
Nearly all Seven-Colored Grade Accessories on the train were already at Tier 200. Upgrading the remaining lower-grade accessories to Tier 200 would barely cost a trillion units of iron ore—a mere drop in the bucket.
It was all just a drizzle now.
He would upgrade everything in one go upon returning home.
By then, the Stellaris would truly be a Tier 200 train. The armor had always been the most resource-intensive component to upgrade. Once the armor reached Tier 200, upgrading the other accessories would be a breeze.
His strength had been increasing in explosive bursts.
After obtaining a large amount of resources for the first time, his Armor Tier reached 100.
After obtaining a large amount of resources for the second time, his Armor Tier reached 200.
The next time he obtained a large amount of resources, his Armor Tier should reach 500.
The Tier 200 Overpowered Effect was already a God-Tier Overpowered Effect, representing a qualitative transformation. He wondered what the Tier 500 Overpowered Effect would be. He had a feeling that the Overpowered Effect beyond Tier 500 would be on another level entirely.
Once he returned, he planned to upgrade some green-grade and white-grade accessories to Tier 500 first to get a sense of what the Tier 500 Overpowered Effect might entail. With his current abundance of resources, he could afford to conduct this experiment.
In the next moment—
The massive Stellaris train suddenly began to tremble violently, then rapidly shrank until it completely vanished into the cosmos, transforming into a brooch on Chen Mang's chest.
Meanwhile, Chen Mang, clad in clothing produced by his own train's production line and carrying a refrigerator, was now free-falling through the Cosmic Void.
The Tier 200 Clothing Production Line had created a suit that allowed him to move freely in the vacuum of space for a short time.
A sealed mask provided him with oxygen.
The suit maintained internal pressure and shielded him from radiation.
"This feeling..."
"It's so unique," Chen Mang murmured, drifting through space and gazing around in a daze. He had never experienced anything like this before—his first time leaving the train and floating in the cosmos without any propulsion.
He was naked in space.
Even with the suit maintaining his body temperature, he felt the chilling isolation.
There were no planets nearby.
The few that had been there had been devoured by Xiao Lu. The nearest planet was too distant for him to even sense his own movement.
His vision was completely distorted.
Without any stars in sight, only the cold silhouettes of distant planets remained—traces of stars working tirelessly far away. His sense of direction had vanished; up, down, left, and right had lost all meaning. The only sensation of falling came from the distant planet's surface growing larger at an alarming rate.
Silence enveloped him.
A terrifying stillness, like watching a silent film.
If he hadn't had the Stellaris train, drifting in this environment for even a short time would have shattered his mind long before his body was destroyed. It was only his confidence in the train that allowed him to remain calm and quietly appreciate the spectacle before him.
Even so, he felt a sense of unreality.
Those without a train, trapped in his current situation, would likely find it impossible to admire such beauty.
He suddenly realized that the Train Civilization model was truly remarkable.
It allowed humans, who lacked innate talents, to surpass others through an alternative path, a shortcut to overtake the leaders. Without it, humanity's conquest of the cosmos would remain a pipe dream.
The Zerg possessed their own racial advantage.
The Cosmic Behemoths had their own racial advantage.
Even the goblins had their own racial advantage.
Only the Human Clan had nothing.
Empty-handed, yet strangely, despite their lack of innate gifts, humans remained a major power in the universe. This defied logic, defying all reason.
Of the three Top-Tier Civilizations he had encountered so far, two were human civilizations.
The "Mechanical Civilization," despite its name, was essentially still a human civilization at its core. There was no fundamental difference; it was simply more advanced in mechanization and had delved deeper into the study of Train Civilization.
After a long while, he stopped admiring the view, mainly because he couldn't bear the cold any longer.
He immediately opened the refrigerator beside him and climbed inside.
In an instant, he vanished from sight, leaving only the solitary refrigerator drifting through space. He couldn't take the refrigerator with him, so it would have to drift here. If it wasn't destroyed by some random cosmic entity within a short time, he could return to this place through it.
If it was destroyed, he would have to use the wormhole again next time he returned.
These refrigerators weren't cheap, costing 500 million units of iron ore each.
Now, whenever he left a place, he would leave behind a refrigerator. This way, he wouldn't need to use wormholes to return in the future, instead relying on the "Stellaris" brand refrigerator wormholes.
Efficient, free, and discreet.
Especially after acquiring the special item, the Hell Brooch, he could now carry the Stellaris train with him, eliminating the refrigerator's last drawback. Originally, the refrigerator only allowed people to pass through; now, even the train could pass through.
Unfortunately, his last experiment had failed.
Otherwise, it would have been perfect.
Last time, he had fired a cannon at the refrigerator, attempting to make the attack pass through it and emerge from the other side. The actual result wasn't ideal, but he still felt there was potential, just missing something.
If he could achieve that, his attack methods would become far more diverse.
His enemies would find him extremely difficult to deal with.
Afterward—
The Stellaris train reappeared within the Kasha Civilization Federation's 27th Galaxy. Seated in his chair, Chen Mang began cataloging the spoils he had brought back from the Auction House.
One item in particular caught his attention.
It was a hidden auction item.
Far more valuable than the Hell Brooch.
A train special ability.
Named, "Instant Mechanical Armament"!
(End of the Chapter)
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