After upgrading all the Train Armor to level 12,
there were still 2.021 million units of Iron Ore left.
This amount was almost enough to upgrade to level 13 armor, but Chen Mang didn't proceed further. Level 12 armor was already sufficient for now, and level 13 wasn't necessary yet.
He turned his attention to the other components.
"Hmm."
"First, upgrade all white-tier components to level 100."
"Whether they're useful or not, let's see the effects."
Upgrading a white-tier component from level 10 to 50 generally consumed 125,000 units of Iron Ore, and going from 50 to 100 required another 377,500 units.
In other words—
Upgrading all the level 10 white-tier components in the train to level 100 would cost about 502,500 units of Iron Ore.
The price of a movie screen.
In the Iron Ridge Wasteland, that amount of money could crush him to death—he'd never be able to scrape it together. But for him now, it wasn't a big deal.
Immediately!
The upgrade process began!
Money was meant to be spent!
One day, he would upgrade every single component to level 9999!
He, Chen Mang, wanted to build a fully upgraded Stellar Train!
The five white-tier components—
「Moldy Bread Slice Production Line」, 「Steamed Bun Production Line」, 「Purified Water Filter」, 「Clothing Customization Production Line」, and 「Cola Production Line」—
were currently the most essential white-tier living components in the train. Last time, he had upgraded them to level 20.
This time, he was taking them all to level 100!
Although the 「Purified Water Filter」 had no Supermodel Effect at level 20, and subsequent upgrades wouldn't grant any either, he had a bit of OCD. Having all these components neatly at level 100 just looked more pleasing to the eye.
After consuming 2 million units of Iron Ore, he immediately obtained 10 Supermodel Effects!
-
「Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 50 Supermodel Effect」: Improved taste.
「Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 100 Supermodel Effect」: Long-term consumption effectively enhances physical fitness.
「Steamed Bun Production Line Level 50 Supermodel Effect」: Improved taste.
「Steamed Bun Production Line Level 100 Supermodel Effect」: Long-term consumption effectively enhances physical fitness.
「Purified Water Filter Level 50 Supermodel Effect」: None.
「Purified Water Filter Level 100 Supermodel Effect」: None.
「Clothing Customization Production Line Level 50 Supermodel Effect」: Produced clothing can maintain internal air pressure and resist radiation.
「Clothing Customization Production Line Level 100 Supermodel Effect」: Produced clothing comes with a sealed hood and a built-in small Oxygen Generator, requiring an embedded Energy Stone.
「Cola Production Line Level 50 Supermodel Effect」: Improved taste.
「Cola Production Line Level 100 Supermodel Effect」: Long-term consumption effectively enhances physical fitness.
A full 10 Supermodel Effects!
And the results left Chen Mang quite satisfied.
Especially the Cola, Bread, and Steamed Buns—each now had an additional Supermodel Effect: "Long-term consumption effectively enhances physical fitness." Finally, it wasn't just a minor boost. These two effects didn't conflict, meaning—
His residents and Guardians would experience another significant improvement in overall physical fitness.
"Damn right."
Chen Mang lit a cigarette with anticipation and took a deep drag. The Physical Fitness Index didn't mention any upper limit, which meant if the Stellar could survive this apocalypse and break through into space—
And if his residents lived long enough, he could use the Medical Pod to heal all their hidden injuries.
At that point, wouldn't they be more than just residents?
They'd practically be superhumans!
He'd been waiting for something like a "mechanical component" to speed up mining, but now it seemed the development path was leaning toward turning Survivors into superhumans and having them mine instead.
Or maybe it was to withstand the load of mechs.
Either way, he was thrilled. These Supermodel Effects were incredibly useful, especially that "Custom Clothing Line." If it kept upgrading like this, it'd practically become a spacesuit!
Maintaining internal pressure, resisting radiation, supplying oxygen, Temperature Lock—
Wasn't this just a damn spacesuit?
And not just any spacesuit—one with a Doraemon pocket, capable of pulling out a Tidal Gatling Gun at a moment's notice.
Perfect!
Best of all, the price hadn't changed. Without factoring in oxygen production, a full set of this gear cost just 1 unit of wood.
He was starting to think this Train had a weird sense of priorities.
A spacesuit for 1 unit of wood?
But a single pound of sunflower seeds cost him 100 units of Iron Ore.
Could it be that in the Mechanical Civilization, sunflower seeds were a luxury item, reserved for the nobility?
But he quickly realized—the pricing wasn't set by the Mechanical Civilization. It was simply that generating 1 pound of sunflower seeds required "100 units of Iron Ore" worth of Core Energy. Why that was the case, he had no idea.
Maybe "Aqua Blue Star" really hated sunflower seeds.
Then, he turned his attention to the "Autocannon Structure Armament Module" displayed on the control screen. This little thing had been brought back from the Serendipity Map in Neon City. It could only be used after the Train reached Level 8.
Back when his Train was Level 7, he couldn't use it.
Later, after upgrading to Level 8, he still couldn't afford it due to the Iron Ore shortage.
Now, he finally had enough.
Currently, the Train had ten Level 10 Doomsday Cannons. His first move was to upgrade all of them uniformly to Level 20!
Upgrading one Level 10 Doomsday Cannon to Level 20 required 165,000 units.
After spending 1.65 million, all ten Doomsday Cannons reached Level 20.
And with that came their corresponding Supermodel Effect.
"Doomsday Cannon Level 20": Halved Consumption for ammunition production.
"Whew—"
Chen Mang took a deep breath, paused for a moment, then stepped out of the Train compartment. He planted six cigars into the ground before kneeling and gazing reverently at the starry sky above.
"Old Man Heaven, you've worked hard. This time, I've offered you six sticks of incense."
"You're making me feel a little guilty."
"I'm stuffed. Really stuffed."
"I hope this is your blessing, Old Man Heaven, and not me trading away all my luck for the rest of my life."
Then he stood up, dusted himself off, and couldn't help but grin at the vast expanse of stars in the distance.
Too many good things happened today.
He just couldn't contain his joy.
The Level 20 Supermodel Effect halved consumption again. From now on, he could practically fire off Doomsday Cannons like fireworks—three consecutive Supermodel Effects all reducing bullet consumption by half.
No wonder he saw so many trains in the "Zombie Basin" - they were all there to collect Murphy Stones to upgrade their Doomsday Cannons.
Although this information wasn't publicly known.
People still exchanged it privately among themselves.
All firepower modules were extremely expensive to maintain. The main theme of this world was trains avoiding monsters to mine resources, not going on killing sprees or chasing monsters while firing wildly. Every battle was essentially a loss if you didn't count additional benefits.
Except for the "Doomsday Cannon."
And now—
Chen Mang stood still, turning to look at his train behind him. With the armor upgraded to level 12, the sense of thickness was even more pronounced, covering almost every corner of the train.
An extreme blackness.
Parked there, it looked like a mechanical dragon.
Especially the 10 level-20 "Doomsday Cannons" on top of the train, each muzzle fitted with a crimson silencer-like attachment.
This was the "Autocannon Structure Armament Module."
Its effect was brutally simple.
It increased the power of shells fired from the cannons.
At this point!
Both the defensive and offensive capabilities of the Stellar Train had reached a new level!
Next would be upgrading the "Ground Burst Missile." Although this module packed enough firepower, it was also expensive. He rarely used it unless necessary - the cost was just too high. But it still needed upgrading. Not wanting to use it was one thing; not having it when needed was another.
Then he'd remove all the "Makeshift Heavy Machine Guns" outside the train and replace them with something else. These firepower modules had become completely useless.
They used to deal with weaker enemies.
But now.
Even weaker enemies could be handled directly with the Doomsday Cannons, since the cannon shells were actually cheaper than heavy machine gun bullets.
The "Repeating Ballista" in carriage 12 would be removed too.
Absolutely useless.
It had only been used once or twice since being built, with mediocre results. He'd originally crafted it as the only long-range attack module among white-tier accessories, but the outcome was disappointing.
When it came to firepower modules, white-tier ones just weren't worth using.
The truly impressive white-tier modules for him.
Were those with powerful mechanics but low stats - ones he could continuously upgrade to make both mechanics and stats soar, like the "Drill Bit."
This example might not be perfect.
The drill bit had no special mechanics, only stat boosts. But with enough upgrades, it became a stat-monster that broke conventional balance.
Once carriage 12 was cleared out, he'd install something else there.
Then upgrade all other Life Modules, and it would be perfect. The Stellar Train would officially enter its proper development track, taking its first major leap forward!
Returning inside the train.
Chen Mang continued his upgrading journey.
After consuming 377,500 units of Iron Ore, the "Car Blade" reached level 100. The level 100 supermodel effect was... nothing, but that didn't matter. The main reason for upgrading this module was its self-enhancement effect - each upgrade made the blade stronger and more powerful.
Perfect.
Chen Mang checked his remaining Iron Ore. He really wanted to craft that red-tier module "Comet Main Cannon," but it was quite expensive and required Train Expansion before it could be built.
He hadn't yet found a perfect solution to balance everything.
His gaze fell on the "Generator" component, which he had previously upgraded to level 20.
After consuming another 520,000 units of iron ore, he crafted two level 20 generators.
One was placed in the "Armor Research and Development Center," dedicated solely for Xiao Ai's use.
The other was installed in the "Resident Carriage," specifically for the residents.
As for the original generator in the carriage, it would now be solely responsible for powering the various components of the train. In truth, the previous arrangement had worked fine, but this new framework would make future expansions easier.
As for the remaining tasks...
After a moment of thought, Chen Mang spoke up: "Contact Lao Zhu. We can start work tonight. Clear out Resident Carriages 8 and 9. I'll craft eight Space Gates later and install them in these two carriages. Arrange the dormitories accordingly—tonight, we begin reorganizing the residential area."
"Understood."
Soon—
Under a sky full of stars, all the residents disembarked from the train in an orderly fashion. They turned to look at the train behind them, which had clearly undergone another dramatic transformation, their eyes filled with awe and a deep sense of security.
The train was packed.
It now housed a full 5,000 people.
To put it in perspective, that was like ten grade levels gathering for an assembly on a school field.
Unlike the small, elite team of the past, just the act of disembarking now took seven or eight minutes. With so many people, management could easily descend into chaos. The fact that the train had avoided major administrative issues for so long was due to many factors.
For one, the conditions were excellent. Everyone had experience living on other trains, and the comparison made the superiority of this one obvious.
Another reason was the train's overwhelming firepower—internal firepower, to be precise. With so many machine guns stationed throughout, no one dared cause trouble.
There was also a sense of belonging to the Stellar Train.
And, of course, Lao Zhu's meticulous management played a huge role.
He was so thorough that residents showing signs of emotional distress were immediately called in for a talk to prevent suicide or potential riots.
Not that suicide would matter much in the grand scheme.
With so many people on the train, losing one person wouldn't make a difference. Even if Biao Zi died, the train would keep running smoothly. At this stage of development, anyone could die, and the train would carry on without them.
Except for Lord Mang.
If Lord Mang died, the train would be finished instantly.
The real issue with suicide was the negative impact it had on morale. The residents had been living in harmony, and a sudden death would make people wonder—had the train's leadership bullied or oppressed this person? Were there hidden injustices? Rumors would spread like wildfire.
So Lao Zhu always started with a talk.
If the talk went well, all was good.
If it didn't, execution by firing squad followed.
Murder was acceptable—suicide was not.
Once all the residents had left the train, dozens of maintenance workers, under Lao Zhu's direction, began a sweeping overhaul of the two residential carriages.
First, they cleared out all the clutter.
In Resident Carriages 8 and 9, two level 10 Space Gates were installed on each side.
Each Space Gate measured 1,000 meters in length and width.
The level 5 Supermodel Effect of the Space Gates allowed changes to the internal space—such as adding grass or flowers—after consuming iron ore.
After consuming several hundred thousand units of Iron Ore,
He added grassy fields, cobblestone paths, rockeries, ponds, trees, and flowers inside each Space Gate.
Then, he newly crafted 100 level-10 Refrigerators!
Each Refrigerator served as a dormitory.
Each dormitory could accommodate 30 people.
Over 30 Refrigerators were placed in each Space Gate, allowing each one to house 1,000 residents. With a total of 8 Space Gates, they could comfortably accommodate 8,000 residents—more than enough even if new residents arrived in the future.
The entire renovation process took a long time.
Especially mentally exhausting.
Exhausting for Chen Mang's brain.
(End of Chapter)