When the slaves finished transporting today’s haul of iron ore and copper ore to Carriage 3, Chen Mang finally looked at the Train Panel.
17,739 units of iron ore and 1,120 units of copper ore.
The previously empty cargo carriage was now slightly richer, and he temporarily held off on using the "Level 2 Copper Refresh Coupon," planning to use it after fully excavating the Level 1 copper mine at the Doomsday Abyss bottom.
This copper mine was a small Level 1 mine; the iron ore was not yet fully mined when the copper had to be excavated first.
With resources in hand,
he immediately consumed 500 units of iron ore to manufacture an open-air carriage, resembling the kind of iron sheet carriages used in coal trains in his previous life, and because it was a personalized custom construction, it was slightly more expensive than a standard carriage.
The open-air carriage could also be equipped with "armor," but only on three sides, with no reduction in resource consumption.
his Fixed Star train now had a ninth carriage, an open-air carriage.
Chen Mang took out the white-grade Vehicle Accessories Blueprint "Continuous Bed Crossbow" from the drawer, placing it near the control panel. As it was absorbed into the panel in white light, the train now had the authority to create this accessory.
The crafting cost was incredibly low.
A single Continuous Bed Crossbow required only 100 units of iron ore.
The white-grade accessories understood what it meant to manage resources frugally; a single open-air carriage could house up to 8 Continuous Bed Crossbows.
He promptly spent 800 units of iron ore to fill the carriage with them.
Then, he consumed 4,400 units of iron ore to upgrade one of the Continuous Bed Crossbows to Level 10 in a single go, and the corresponding two Supermodel Effects quickly appeared.
Standing inside the train carriage, Chen Mang exhaled deeply before lighting a cigarette and looking up at the starry sky, his expression a bit dazed. As expected... white-grade accessories still suited him best.
The basic attribute of the Continuous Bed Crossbow was that it could shoot 1 crossbow arrow per minute.
Each crossbow arrow was roughly as thick as a baby’s arm, a full fifty centimeters long, made entirely of fine steel, with a sharply defined arrowhead exuding a bloodthirsty aura.
You could call it an arrow, or you could call it a siege weapon!
When upgraded to Level 10,
it could fire 10 rounds per minute, and its overall appearance underwent a transformation, becoming more imposing. The crossbow arrows grew wider, evolving from the thickness of a baby’s arm to that of an adult’s arm, with the length extending to eighty centimeters.
If it really targeted a human being, the person likely wouldn’t feel much pain.
Especially with the enhancements brought by the two upgraded Supermodel Effects.
"Continuous Bed Crossbow Level 5 Supermodel Effect": The Continuous Bed Crossbow can be linked to the Train Assistance AI. As long as enemies are within the range of the Target Detection Radar, the Train Assistance AI will automatically lock onto targets, greatly improving accuracy. This requires the Train Assistance AI, a green-grade accessory, to reach full level.
"Continuous Bed Crossbow Level 10 Supermodel Effect": The resource consumption per crossbow arrow is halved.
This was the second time he encountered identical Supermodel Effects. The Level 5 Heavy Machine Gun’s Supermodel Effect also linked to the Train Assistance AI, having an automatic lock-on feature, thus greatly reducing human resource expenditure inside the train.
If not, it would require at least a dozen people just to control the 8 Continuous Bed Crossbows.
And significantly improved aiming precision, as well as his control over the train.
The arrows required for this accessory did not need a corresponding production line; just consume a certain amount of iron ore while operating the "Continuous Bed Crossbow," and corresponding amounts of crossbow arrows would be automatically generated.
No copper ore required, just iron ore consumption.
The cost was also incredibly low.
"Level 1 Crossbow Arrow": 1 unit of iron ore per arrow.
"Level 2 Crossbow Arrow": 5 units of iron ore per arrow.
"Level 3 Crossbow Arrow": 10 units of iron ore per arrow.
With the Supermodel Effect halving consumption, it’s even cheaper.
Chen Mang grinned in satisfaction as he stepped out of the train carriage, gazing toward the last open-air carriage of the train. The bed crossbow, slightly elevated above the carriage, rested silently in the night, patiently awaiting the onset of war.
For the foreseeable future,
this would be his most frequently used long-range attack method.
While it was slower, at ten shots per minute, still far less than a heavy machine gun, the power of a single crossbow arrow far outstripped a single heavy machine gun bullet. Coupled with being cost-effective, it was more suitable for him than a heavy machine gun.
After finishing all this,
Chen Mang constructed another open-air carriage and placed four "40-Barrel Sakura Fall Rocket Cannons" in this carriage.
This was a blue-grade accessory.
A single unit required 1,000 units of iron ore, and four needed 4,000 units.
He glanced at the resources needed to upgrade to Level 2, which required 1,000 units of iron ore just for the upgrade. Its firing speed was quite fast, emptying all 40 rockets in one burst within a second.
No corresponding production line was required for the rockets either; resource consumption was enough.
But this was much more expensive than heavy machine gun bullets.
"Level 1 Rocket": 10 units of copper ore per rocket.
"Level 2 Rocket": 50 units of copper ore per rocket.
"Level 3 Rocket": 100 units of copper ore per rocket.
A full 10 times more costly.
If all four "Sakura Fall Rocket Cannons" were loaded with Level 3 rockets and fired in unison, one round alone would require 16,000 units of copper ore, enough to deplete a Level 1 copper mine in a single burst.
the "Continuous Bed Crossbow" proved superior.
the Level 2 iron mine at the bottom of the Doomsday Abyss was nearly depleted, with barely a week’s worth of mining left, while the Level 1 copper mine had been fully excavated today.
A new area of fresh Level 2 copper ore had emerged nearby, created by Chen Mang using the "Level 2 Copper Refresh Coupon."
During these past days,
nothing unexpected occurred, and everything proceeded smoothly, allowing Chen Mang to accumulate a sufficient amount of resources.
80,000 units of iron ore now, and 6,600 units of copper ore.
At first light, the slaves, under Old Pig’s supervision, skillfully lined up to receive their breakfasts, while Chen Mang sat alone in the train carriage, ready to splurge all the resources he had accumulated over the past few days.
Some accessories had previously only been upgraded to Level 5 due to insufficient resources.
He had a slight touch of OCD; seeing those Level 5 accessories was always somewhat displeasing to his eye.
They all had to be upgraded to Level 10 to look right.
Firstly, the Wind-Fire Wheel.
Upgrading from Level 5 to Level 10 required 35,000 units of iron ore.
Chen Mang nodded, looking at the translucent panel displaying the upgrade cost, and silently decided against it.
35,000 units of iron ore were enough to kill him.
He suddenly realized his OCD seemed cured, with that Level 5 Wind-Fire Wheel now looking quite acceptable.