After thanking the heavens, Chen Mang opened his eyes and glanced at the pitch-black night outside. He couldn't hold back any longer and couldn't help but grin and nod repeatedly.
Finally, he had gathered enough Iron Ore.
The train could finally be upgraded to Level 2.
All his conditions had been met. The only thing left was to build one more carriage. He had already promised the Slaves that if they could maintain a daily mining output of over 12 units for these five days, he would build another Slave carriage, giving them a more spacious living environment.
With a thought, the 100 units of Iron Ore in Carriage No. 2 instantly turned into powder and merged into the carriage. Immediately after, several white dotted lines appeared abruptly at the rear of the "Stellar" train on the wasteland, forming a new carriage.
A few seconds later, as the faintly glowing white dotted lines gradually dimmed, a brand-new carriage appeared at the tail of the "Stellar" train, now connected.
The train now had its fourth carriage, Carriage No. 5, the Slave carriage.
Now, all the conditions for upgrading the train had been met. With another thought, a full 5000 units of Iron Ore turned into powder and merged into the carriage—the essential resources required for the upgrade.
Once all the powder had been absorbed by the train,
A semi-transparent panel instantly popped up in front of Chen Mang.
"Your train has upgraded to Level 2."
"More craftable components will be unlocked, along with more personalized and practical features."
Chen Mang, full of anticipation, skipped over the prompt panel and opened his "Train Panel."
Soon, an extremely detailed panel appeared on the screen inside the train compartment.
"Train Name": Stellar.
"Train Level": Level 2.
"Train Components": Level 2 Geothermal Furnace, Level 1 Wheel Changer, Level 5 Car Blade...
"Number of Carriages": 4.
"Ore Units": 913 units of Iron Ore, 100 units of Wood, 10 units of Copper Ore.
"Upgrade Conditions": Must have 10 carriages, all six essential vehicle components must be crafted, consume 5000 units of Level 2 Iron Ore, and the total level of all components in the train must exceed 40.
"Finally reached Level 2!"
Chen Mang quickly scanned the twelve craftable vehicle components that appeared after the train upgraded to Level 2. Among them, six were mandatory to craft if he wanted the train to reach Level 3, while the remaining six were optional.
His eyes immediately landed on the two he wanted most: the "Train Radio" and the "Fabrication Table."
He then turned his attention to the new button that appeared on the control panel after the upgrade.
"Personalized Customization."
After pressing the button, numerous personalized options appeared on the screen, nearly ten in total.
For example, customizing the internal structure of the carriage to create a hard seat or even a sleeper carriage like Master Kun's, providing the thugs with living quarters.
Or changing the color of the carriage's exterior.
And even spraying the train's name on the carriage's surface.
Chen Mang curled his lips. Every option here consumed resources, and there weren't many useful personalized options. At least, he didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to waste resources on changing the train's exterior color.
Just as he was about to carefully examine the twelve craftable components that appeared after the train's upgrade,
A sharp and muffled train whistle sounded from afar, growing closer. Chen Mang, who was still studying the changes on the control panel after the upgrade, almost instantly jumped up, quickly grabbing the Telescope beside him and looking toward the source of the sound.
He saw a train, covered in dust and entirely black, speeding toward him through the night!
It was a long whistle!
The whistle had been sounding for several seconds and showed no signs of stopping. As the train approached, the whistle grew louder and louder!
Almost instinctively, Chen Mang grabbed the walkie-talkie beside him and spoke quickly in a hoarse voice, "All Slaves, return to the carriages at once! Other thugs, prepare for battle!"
He didn't know what was happening.
But he knew one thing.
In the wasteland, most unexpected situations were rarely good news.
The walkie-talkie crackled with the urgent voices of Biao Zi and others.
"Lord Mang, everyone is in position, ready to fight."
He didn't know the situation with this train, but he wasn't about to easily hand over this Mine. At the very least, he had to test the waters. If they were truly outmatched, then he could consider fleeing. After all, finding another Iron Ore mine wasn't a simple task.
The train in the Telescope was fast, much faster than his own, and showed no signs of slowing down. It roared past him, blaring its long whistle!
Quickly disappearing into the distance.
As it passed by, he noticed that the other train only had three carriages, and the exterior was riddled with dents and dried blood, with bits of flesh and severed limbs hanging from the carriages, fluttering in the wind.
It was clear that these three carriages were armored; otherwise, they would have been more than just dented.
Three more sharp whistles sounded, growing closer!
As the sounds became clearer, Chen Mang could clearly see that from the same direction, three more trains were racing toward him, side by side, blaring their whistles!
One of the trains he even recognized.
It was the Level 2 train that had sped past him a few nights ago when he was attacked by the Zombie Wolf. At the time, he had been incredibly envious. That train had a full 13 carriages, each armored, with two heavy machine guns mounted on the roof of every carriage.
The locomotive even had two large-caliber Automatic Cannons.
That night, under the guidance of its High Beam Headlights, the train had been blasting DJ music at full volume, speeding past him with arrogance and recklessness. As it passed his train, it had even given three short blasts of its whistle.
From that moment, that train had become his goal.
He had silently vowed that one day, he too would have a train with such a configuration, and he too would roar across the wasteland with such arrogance.
This dream train of his was now fleeing toward him from the distance in a rather pitiful state. Its original 13 carriages had been reduced to 8, and the train was noticeably shorter. The exterior of the carriages was riddled with holes, as if corroded by acid, and covered in a green, sticky substance.
The DJ music was gone.
Now, it was blaring a long, continuous whistle.
The hoarse and piercing whistle filled the previously silent wasteland with a sense of desolation and despair.
Seeing this, Chen Mang's expression darkened as he instantly realized what was happening. Whether it was the first train or the three following it, they were clearly in a state of escape. Something terrifying, like a Corpse Tide, must be chasing them from behind.
Although he couldn't see anything—perhaps due to the limited visibility at night—
He still slammed the throttle to the max, driving the train at full speed, aiming in the direction the first train had disappeared, and raced off!
If even that nearly fully equipped Level 2 train was fleeing, what was his newly upgraded Level 2 train waiting for?
Seeing that his train's speed was clearly no match for the others, the other trains quickly overtook him and disappeared from sight, leavi
ng his train as the only one on the wasteland, Chen Mang couldn't help but curse.
"Is the heavens a dog? The moment I praise it, it screws up?"
"Or did it clock out for the night and isn't accepting prayers?"