A cigarette burns out.
Chen Mang gently taps his finger on the cane, and the "Earth-Burst Missile" slowly retracts into the open-air carriage under the control of the elevator platform, appearing from the outside as just a regular carriage, without even armor.
He strides back to the interior of the train.
This carriage definitely needs to be armored, as it will become his 14th official carriage. The carriage originally used for the labyrinth will be consumed by the Earth Core Melting Furnace once Li Shiji dismantles the labyrinth completely.
Sitting inside the train room, Chen Mang looks at the data on the screen for the "Earth-Burst Missile."
Currently, it’s Level 1, unable to harm Level 2 monsters.
This is one of the fundamental rules of this doomsday world—being out-leveled means you cannot deal damage. However, if it is upgraded to Level 6, tossing one into the Kunlun Mountain region might yield unknown effects.
The level of all firepower accessories only determines whether they can break the defense of high-level monsters; their actual power is determined by both grade and level.
All firepower accessories generally receive a corresponding power boost with level upgrades.
For example, "Vehicle Blade," "Continuous Bed Crossbow," "Sakura Fall Rocket Cannon" with 40 tubes.
Even the "Three-legged Cat Heavy Machine Gun" is , although it only increases firing rate and range upon upgrade rather than power, its corresponding bullet production line can produce higher-powered bullets after upgrading.
Under the same level.
Higher-grade "firepower accessories" definitely cause greater power.
For instance, if "Vehicle Blade" and "Earth-Burst Missile" are both Level 10, the former’s power is definitely far less than the latter’s.
A Level 10 "Vehicle Blade," according to the fundamental rules of this world, can break defenses and cause damage to a Level 10 boss.
It can only break defenses, and the actual damage it can cause depends on the accessory’s power, and when facing a Level 10 boss, it might barely scratch it.
Chen Mang takes a deep breath. The most crucial aspect is that although the "Earth-Burst Missile" is a ground-to-missile, as long as the enemy’s coordinates are known, it can be launched remotely for precise strikes.
The remote launch strike range is 20 times that of the "Target Detection Radar."
His Target Detection Radar range is currently 10,000 meters, meaning he can send this missile up to 200,000 meters onto the enemy’s head.
The reason he consumed one unit of iron ore to make this missile was primarily due to the benefits from the class change task.
Normally, manufacturing a Level 1 "Earth-Burst Missile" requires 10,000 units of copper ore.
He glanced at the upgrade price.
Upgrading this accessory to Level 2 requires consuming 50,000 units of iron ore, which is the most expensive he has encountered. For accessories of the same red grade, the "Wheel Changer" and "Earth Core Melting Furnace" require much less for early upgrades.
At this time, Li Shiji has cleared the labyrinth completely, and the carriage hasn’t been dismantled—it is temporarily attached to the train.
Upgrading the train to Level 4 requires 18 carriages; he doesn’t have enough carriages. Later, he’ll make some more ordinary carriages to fill the gap. He plans to dismantle them and use the Earth Core Melting Furnace to consume them; otherwise, he’ll have to build more later.
A loss of 50 units of iron ore each time.
Though it’s not much.
But that’s no way to live—save where you can, spend where necessary.
Chen Mang slowly pushes the lever, and with the sudden sound of gears turning and engines roaring, the train steadily accelerates towards the depths of the Shahe Plain!
First, find a few Level 2 iron ores, then successfully upgrade the "Constant Star Train" to Level 4. Only after reaching Level 4 will the class change’s effects begin to manifest, after which he can upgrade this "Earth-Burst Missile" and that open-air carriage.
He currently has slightly over 250,000 units of iron ore.
On the other hand, he has a substantial amount of copper ore, a total of 710,000 units.
Chen Mang’s expression gradually becomes grim. The higher-level mines in the green area are indeed slightly better; along the way, he has encountered three Level 2 iron ores, two of which are located 1000 meters underground.
All three iron ores have owners.
There are already trains beginning to excavate nearby, even the ones deep underground have trains starting to mine them.
In the white area, only his train possesses the "Drill" accessory—all the iron ores in the white area are his, and no one competes. But upon arriving at the green area, many others have gone to the Kunlun Mountain area to hunt Pangolin monsters to obtain the "Drill" accessory.
As a result, even underground activity becomes quite lively.
Finally, after driving for another 20 minutes.
Chen Mang exhales in relief, finally finding two Level 2 iron ores located together at 5000 meters underground ahead with knitted brows relaxing, his luck wasn’t bad.
Upgrading the train to Level 4 requires consuming 100,000 units of iron ore.
His train currently holds that amount, but he dares not use it, needing to store some for contingencies, such as "food" or replacing damaged combat accessories by manufacturing "Mechanical Nanospiders," or creating Energy Stones.
Residents’ consumption ability doesn’t depend on the current amount of savings but rather on expectations of future income.
Only by staying next to these two Level 2 iron ores and beginning excavation can he confidently consume the iron ore stored within the train.