[Stamina: 21][Spirit: 59] [Current Status: Fatigued]
On the train, Ethan Ye lay motionless like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
During those final moments, he had used his last dregs of strength to make two more round trips to the armory. Aside from the grueling labor of hauling crates, he hadn't forgotten his promise; he used a shovel to dig a grave for the skeleton and erected a nameless headstone.
Finally, he had secured the last of the harvest from this station.
As the departure countdown hit zero, the previously stationary train began to pull away.
At the front of the engine, the spatial fluctuations abruptly reappeared. The train's speed increased steadily, piercing through that warped space and returning once more to the boundless, dusky wasteland.
At that exact moment, the train's broadcast crackled to life.
[Ding— All Conductors have departed the platforms. Congratulations to the 9,892 individuals who successfully and safely left the first newbie station.]
[You have officially exited the Newbie Safety Period.]
[Starting from the second station, docking in a "Safe Zone" is no longer guaranteed.]
The broadcast triggered a massive uproar in the chat.
["What does that mean? Weren't we supposed to leave an hour ago?"]
["Someone stayed at the first station for an extra hour? Based on what?!"]
["Wait, are the regulations fake? If we don't get on when the timer ends, the train won't leave? Someone try it at the next stop."]
["Good idea. You try it."]
["Dammit, I'm reporting someone for cheating!"]
["The first station was actually safe?! If I'd known, I would've gotten off to look around."]
["Can you even die at a safe station?"]
["Of course you can. My first stop was a desert; if I hadn't been lucky, I would've been swallowed by quicksand."]
They had no idea that the "Big Shot" they were discussing was currently leaning against the floor, organizing the final spoils of his haul.
[Low-Level Marksman Rifles]: 49 units [Low-Level Ammunition]: 1,100 rounds [Wood]: 150kg [Metal]: 104kg [Machine Parts]: 162 units
Additionally, he had scavenged usable tools from the armory—crowbars, shovels, screwdrivers, and other hardware. Anything broken was tossed into the Processing Table for recycling, while the rest was kept as backup.
As for his current blueprints—the [Low-Level Water Reservoir] and the [External Waste Collector]—the 40kg of Metal and 110 Machine Parts required were nothing to him now.
He placed the blueprints and submitted the resources. Through the control system, he mounted both modules onto the train.
"Put the reservoir inside the carriage. Hang the collector on the front-left exterior of the carriage."
Once the installation was complete, Ethan walked into the rear car. The pile of supplies had visibly shrunk, replaced by a metal basin fitted with rollers and bolted into place.
This low-level reservoir could hold one thousand kilograms of water and featured a non-removable partition to keep greywater and fresh water separate. He poured the non-potable water he had brought from the armory into the greywater section; it filled about one-tenth of the compartment—roughly fifty kilograms.
"A shame there's no purification system," Ethan noted with a trace of regret, though he wasn't in a major rush.
["Buying water, glass, fiber, blueprints, and various resources. If interested, DM me with your price. Trading weapons and food."]
This was the first message he sent to the public chat. After hitting send, he ignored the immediate fallout.
Predictably, the value of a firearm was exactly what he had told Li Xiaosheng: people recognized its worth.
["Guns? Like, 'pull the trigger' guns?! Holy crap, can you just give me one?"]
["You've got some nerve. Asking for a rare item like a gun for free?"]
["I found nothing but a pile of feathers at my first stop. How the hell did someone get guns already?"]
["Collecting resources? Is the Big Shot upgrading his train?"]
["Big Shot, please carry me! I'm a cute college girl; send me some food and I'll do whatever you want when we meet!"]
After checking the water storage, Ethan inspected the recovery device. The collector hanging from the roof was a black iron box; he wouldn't see it in action until they reached the second station.
Only after settling these tasks did he finally have the peace of mind to open his private messages, which were currently being bombarded.
Zhao Ke: ["Big Shot, give me a gun and I'll be your lackey! I'll do anything you say!"]
Lin Zhaopeng: ["Friend, could you share how you obtained firearms? We should be helping each other right now. If you have many, you should hand them over to me to distribute to those in need. That way, more people can survive."]
Shangguan Yingxue: ["Lake water, 20kg. Container not provided."]
Cohen Jones: ["I only have 16kg of glass. Can I trade that for a gun?"]
...
"A foreigner?"
Ethan was slightly surprised by some of the names. But on second thought, it made sense. This survival world had never stated that only people from one country existed—hell, they might not even be from the same world.
After a "blacklist and block" marathon for the moral kidnappers and freeloaders, Ethan carefully filtered for viable trade partners.
"20 kilos of lake water is too little."
After a moment's thought, he replied to the woman named Shangguan Yingxue.
["You know lake water isn't necessarily potable. If you want a trade, show more sincerity."]
Conductor E-3-3924, Shangguan Yingxue, frowned as she stared at the response. She hesitated.
Shangguan Yingxue: ["How much do you want? Name your price."]
Ethan Ye: ["100 kilograms."]
Right now, water was more precious than metal. It was a matter of life and death. Not just because it sustained life, but because even if someone had found a freshwater lake at the first station, very few would possess containers large enough to store it.
If it were purified water, he'd be willing to lower the price. But this was lake water; it would take effort to make it drinkable.
Shangguan Yingxue: ["...?"] ["You're asking for too much. Let me think about it..."]