Among the Level 2 train components, "armor" and "Wind-Fire Wheel" are arguably the most expensive. The Wind-Fire Wheel is relatively okay; upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 requires consuming 1000 units of iron ore, and each subsequent upgrade consumes 1000 more units of iron ore.
As for "armor," he couldn’t be bothered to mention it.
Upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 requires 5,000 units of iron ore; from Level 2 to Level 3, it requires 10,000 units of iron ore.
Without finding Level 4 iron ore, he hadn’t even considered Level 10 armor.
A Level 5 Wind-Fire Wheel is sufficient.
His speed is already quite fast, so there’s no need to go faster.
After glancing past the "Wind-Fire Wheel" component, Chen Mang looked at other components.
Many components actually don’t need upgrading for now, such as the "single bed" and the "Pure Water Filter." It’s better to focus on improving defense and attack first.
After pondering for a while.
He consumed 4,400 units of copper ore to upgrade the "Generator" to Level 10.
He consumed another 540 units of copper ore to upgrade the "Circuit System" to Level 10.
Both of these components are made of copper ore, so naturally they need copper ore to be upgraded. The Train Assistance AI had long been alerting him that with the increase in energy-consuming components on the train, the Circuit System was already overloaded. These two components are crucial for maintaining the operation of the train and should have been upgraded earlier.
By upgrading to Level 10 in one go, he won’t have to worry about these two components for a long time.
At the same time, he gained four more Supermodel Effects.
"Circuit System Level 5 Supermodel Effect": No need for manual adjustments, the Circuit System will be fully integrated into the carriage and can be freely adjusted on the control panel screen.
"Circuit System Level 10 Supermodel Effect": Can carry a certain degree of overload.
"Generator Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Silent power generation, no noise.
"Generator Level 10 Supermodel Effect": After the Energy Stone is exhausted, it will continue to operate for twenty-four hours. This feature significantly reduces the component’s integrity after use.
Chen Mang glanced at these four Supermodel Effects and muttered without much comment, they were mostly useless. The only possibly useful one is the Circuit System Level 5 Supermodel Effect, which saves him from manually adjusting the Circuit System each time he adds a new component.
But it doesn’t matter much to him.
What he needed were just the original effects of these two components after upgrading, and he had no particular expectations for the Supermodel Effects. These types of components rarely have any highly useful Supermodel Effects.
Then he consumed 30,800 units of iron ore to upgrade the remaining 7 "Continuous Bed Crossbows" to Level 10.
He consumed another 44,000 units of iron ore to upgrade the "Target Detection Radar" to Level 10, extending its detection range to a radius of 10,000 meters.
It’s no exaggeration to say that it’s very difficult for any monster to reach him without his knowledge. The incident where the goblin-operated train controlled by Doba appeared in front of him after avoiding his radar can’t happen again.
His Target Detection Radar is Level 10.
Even if there’s a component that can evade radar, if its level isn’t as high as his, it won’t matter. He doesn’t believe any train in this low-level area can have a component of such a high level.
He also gained two more Supermodel Effects.
"Target Detection Radar Level 5 Supermodel Effect": If a boss appears within range, the skills that boss possesses will be clearly displayed on the control panel screen.
"Target Detection Radar Level 10 Supermodel Effect": If a train appears within range, the components and their levels of that train will be clearly displayed on the control panel screen.
"Hmm." Chen Mang lightly raised an eyebrow; these two Supermodel Effects are quite good. The more than forty thousand units of iron ore were well spent, and he got his money’s worth.
He glanced again at the remaining components.
Almost all the important components are at Level 10 now. Once the mines in the Doomsday Abyss are fully extracted, he will start preparing for upgrading to a Level 3 train.
He paused slightly, a hint of shock flashed in his eyes. What was going on? He originally thought that the Doomsday Abyss should be the safest area in the Tieling Wasteland, with hardly any monsters capable of setting foot here.
In fact, he had been at the bottom of the Doomsday Abyss for so long, and besides the appearance of a dazed Doba, he hadn’t encountered any danger.
If he didn’t need to head to higher-level areas.
He considered settling down here.
But when the "Target Detection Radar" was upgraded to Level 10, and its detection range reached 10,000 meters, why were there so many dense red dots on the control panel screen, with the beeping alarm almost never stopping? The hundreds of red dots were triggering his trypophobia.
An underground river?
In a depth 6,000 meters below the Doomsday Abyss, hundreds of red dots were moving slowly underground, corresponding to a cluster of fish monsters in the underground river, including five Level 3 monsters.
Known as the "Man-eating Fish."
With the radar upgrade, more information was obtained.
Chen Mang looked at the scene with a slightly odd expression, but he didn’t take it to heart. He was just a bit astonished to find monsters in the underground river. He didn’t have any other thoughts because these man-eating fish were not a threat to him.
The iron ore he accumulated over several days was almost used up in one go.
He truly realized how costly it is to run a household when he became head of one.
His daily slave food rations are almost unattainable by other trains, mainly because... the resources consumed just for food aren’t even enough to casually upgrade a component.
Those slices of bread and buns can improve physical fitness if consumed long-term. But even after all these days, he hasn’t noticed any changes in his body.
Decided to go to the "Market" again. He should have bought those fitness equipment at that time; although the slaves couldn’t use them, he could.
He usually doesn’t have much to do.
Placing fitness equipment inside the train, it’s good for him to exercise daily when he’s free during the day.
Oh right, there’s also Ji Chuchu.
The Market needs another visit.
Chen Mang looked at the Train Radio; the next "Market" is in seven days. One was just held yesterday, so it’ll be in seven days. By then, the iron mine in the Doomsday Abyss should be almost completely extracted.
Next, he needs to think about where to find high-level resource mines.
Having grown accustomed to mining Level 2 iron ore, he really doesn’t want to look at Level 1 iron ore anymore.
The iron ore extracted in the coming days can just be used to upgrade the "Resource Detection Radar" to Level 10, so it has a larger detection range, making it easier for him to find high-level resource mines.
Chen Mang squinted slightly, planning his future itinerary. He needs to make another trip to Taiping City. A few days ago, he asked Old Pig to see if there were any matches among the slaves to pair up for the Doomsday Marriage Certificate.
Old Pig gave him a candidate, Mountain Cat, one of the thugs.
Her girlfriend might be hiding in the outskirts of Taiping City. If he can find this woman, it should meet the condition for using the "Doomsday Marriage Certificate," but he doesn’t know if she’s still alive.
Upgrading the Target Detection Radar allows him to see detailed information for each red dot, including gender, appearance, etc. If he’s willing, finding someone isn’t a big deal.
While there, recruit...
And take in some more survivors.