Inside the train compartment.
Seeing Biaozi clearing the stage, Chen Mang also let out a long sigh of relief, as he watched it all drenched in sweat. He’ll try to experience it himself later, but right now the most important thing is...
He looked at the balance of Red Heart Rock on the Train Panel.
The construction cost of the yellow-grade mecha "Leech" is 28,000 units of Red Heart Rock.
The construction cost of the green-grade mecha "Executioner" is 18,000 units of Red Heart Rock.
He plans to give Li Shiji’s Leech mecha to the captain of the third team. Li Shiji doesn’t need it, and he needs to craft another "Executioner" mecha for Biaozi, which requires another 18,000 units of Red Heart Rock.
By then, there will only be 80,000 units of Red Heart Rock left in the train.
Chen Mang sighed lightly with some helplessness. In the past, there was simply no place to use Red Heart Rock, but now there is a place to use it, and yet it’s still not enough. However...
He soon smiled again.
The overall strength of the train had significantly increased. With these three mechas, casualty rates and success rates in future field missions will be effectively reduced and enhanced.
The sun hung in mid-air.
Adding a trace of warmth to the already winter weather.
A slave from the Azure Dragon Train looked longingly at the bread in the hands of a Fixed Star Train slave beside him, eyes full of desire and greed: "What’s the flavor of the filling in your bread? Is it tasty?"
"Not tasty." The rıghtful source is 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
The man firmly shook his head: "Sour, smelly, bitter."
This scene was happening throughout the mining field. It wasn’t very noticeable while mining, but at noon when everyone sat down for meals, the disparity was instantly magnified.
Looking at the plain slices of bread in hand and then at the bread with filling in the hands of the people from the Fixed Star Train, the gap became abruptly apparent.
The man, feeling a bit softened, discreetly glanced around and still handed over the bread slice and half-drunk coke, whispered softly: "Drink quickly, don’t let anyone see."
Upon seeing that, the slave from the Azure Dragon Train’s eyes immediately brightened, took the bread and coke, and quickly finished them, then licked his lips with lingering satisfaction.
"Pineapple jam, delicious. I’ve almost forgotten what pineapple tastes like."
"The slaves from your train have really good treatment."
The man chuckled lightly, then cautiously whispered: "Your Train Captain and our Master Mang seem to have a pretty good relationship. Why not just have your train join ours? Then you’d all get this treatment too."
"The treatment on our train is not just limited to this, there’s much more."
"It’s not up to me to decide that."
Chen Mang looked at Er Dan who was bidding farewell to him, raising an eyebrow: "There’s still so much iron ore, not digging anymore?"
Er Dan smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "I’ve already forgotten about this batch. If we keep digging, there might really be a riot. I’ll bid farewell now, hope to see you again someday."
"If I find an adventure map, I’ll contact you first."
"Alright, take care on the road."
Chen Mang didn’t say much, just watched as the Azure Dragon Train flew into the air and departed. As long as it can fly, there’s basically nothing to worry about in the Zombie Basin. Then he sat in the train compartment, looking at the control panel.
His train was already Level 6.
After the train upgraded to Level 6, a "?" button appeared on the control panel. He asked Er Dan what it meant, but Er Dan couldn’t explain it, mentioning that when he reached Level 6, a "Squad Voice" button appeared instead, and wasn’t sure what the "?" button meant, possibly something exclusive to an S-level potential Mechanical Train.
Within the Target Detection Radar range, it allows the Train Captain’s orders to be promptly relayed via Squad Voice into the thugs’ ears.
A pretty handy feature.
But he doesn’t need it.
Cluster Thinking + Iris Chip can completely replace "Squad Voice", performing even better, especially the "Iris Chip" accessory, although it’s just a white grade, its effect on the train can equate to a red grade accessory.
A revolutionary upgrade.
Chen Mang withdrew his gaze from the "?" button. Since it hadn’t revealed itself, there’s no need to overly concern himself, instead focusing on the three accessories that can be crafted after upgrading to Level 6, two yellow, one blue.
"Wealthy Energy Shield": Blue grade accessory, requires 10,000 units of iron ore to craft.
"Giant Wave Gatling Production Line": Yellow grade accessory, requires 1,000 units of iron ore to craft.
"Parachute Production Line": Yellow grade accessory, requires 1,000 units of iron ore to craft.
Only three accessories, two yellow and one blue.
Yellow grade accessories can be upgraded to Level 5 at most, while blue grade accessories can be upgraded to a maximum of Level 8.
After upgrading to Level 4, one of the craftable accessories was the "Energy Shield". However, the "Energy Shield" accessory is yellow, only able to be upgraded to Level 5 at most.
Including the "Doomsday Cannon", which is also blue grade, can be upgraded to Level 8 at most.
For all trains, usually after upgrading to a certain level, the defensive and offensive accessories have to be swapped for a cycle, like changing from "Armor" to "Energy Shield" then to "Wealthy Energy Shield", to achieve higher level defense.
Offense follows the same principle.
Of course, you could also refrain from crafting the "Energy Shield" upon reaching Level 4, and directly hold off until Level 6 to craft the "Wealthy Energy Shield". This indeed saves quite a bit of iron ore.