CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: BATCH UPGRADE

"..."

Chen Mang looked at the bread slice produced again, examined it closely in his hand, then casually put it in his mouth before turning his gaze to other accessories.

After the "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line" was upgraded to Level 10.

Not only did the texture and taste change, but two special supermodel effects were added. With long-term consumption, it could ensure his slaves basically did not get sick, and could slightly enhance their physical quality. Although it was unclear how much it specifically enhanced, just looking at the word ’slightly’, it probably wouldn’t be very high.

Most importantly.

The price did not change.

It’s still 1 unit of iron ore for 10 slices of bread.

More for the same price, pretty good.

He currently has 3,927 units of iron ore left, and wants to upgrade all the accessories to Level 10, such as the "Telescope", and those he hasn’t yet crafted like the "Refrigerator" and "Coca-Cola Production Line".

The latter two accessories were not necessary for crafting at the Level 1 train stage.

At that time, he didn’t have many resources, and these accessories were not necessities, so they were temporarily put aside. Now that he has a foundation, he naturally intends to add all these accessories.

By this point.

All the train’s craftable accessories were crafted by him.

3,829 units of iron ore were not enough to upgrade a white grade vehicle accessory to Level 10, so Chen Mang simply stopped today’s train crafting, waiting until tomorrow to gather enough iron ore.

...

The next day, at dawn.

As usual, the slaves disembarked from the carriage, ready to line up for today’s food and water, but today, for some unknown reason, things were different. The Deputy Train Captain just stood there without any intention of distributing food.

Just as the slaves were scratching their heads in confusion, exchanging puzzled glances.

The door of train car No. 3 suddenly opened, revealing baskets filled with soft bread slices containing fruit jam. Chen Mang also emerged at this timely moment, leaning on his cane at the train door, looking at the slaves in front with excitement in their eyes and those in the back eagerly standing on tiptoe to see what was happening, and he raised his hand with a gentle smile.

The scene instantly fell silent.

"From now on."

"This will be your daily food, delicious bread with jam."

"This is my sincerity."

"If you wish to always receive the best treatment, I hope to see your sincerity, and repay me with resources. I won’t treat anyone unfairly."

"Now, dinner is served."

He waved his hand, and Old Pig and others stepped forward to carry the bread-filled baskets to begin distribution. Meanwhile, he walked alone to the train’s front, considering whether to add another compartment.

There was a bit too much stuff in the train.

Always having Old Pig and the other thugs stay in one carriage with the bread production line was a bit inconvenient, especially since there was also copper ore here. He would definitely need to craft enough bullets for reserve later.

So car No. 2 couldn’t house both production lines and mineral resources together.

The "Pickaxe Production Line" and such should have their separate carriage, while bullets and mineral resources should also have their respective carriages. The group of thugs should have a carriage — this should be sorted out in a few days.

...

Three days passed like this.

Every night during these three days, for his fixed activity, Chen Mang would gaze up at the starry sky, where the stars forming that string of words barely altered in position or arrangement. Every night, those stars would reappear.

During these three days.

He accumulated quite a lot of iron ore, almost not spending any, saving them all up, adding to his original store. Now, he had.

"43,091 units of iron ore."

This could be termed an astronomical figure; this was the first time he’d saved up such a quantity of iron ore. It was almost enough to buy a Ji Chuchu.

And his target was sighted—

"Wagon Steel Armor" and "Wind-Fire Wheel".

These two green-grade accessories were his top priority in crafting, the former determining the train’s defense, the latter its speed.

As of now.

The "Fixed Star" train, including the train head, had five carriages, with each carriage covered in a robust Level 1 Wagon Steel Armor coat. Upgrading one carriage’s armor to Level 2 required 5,000 units of iron ore.

This cost a total of 25,000 units of iron ore.

All "Wagon Steel Armor" were upgraded to Level 2 armor.

...

In the night.

Chen Mang stepped off the train, gently touching the armor that had visibly become darker, feeling the strong sense of security it brought. With this, the damage from a Level 2 monster could be almost entirely immune; ordinary Corpse Tide could no longer threaten him.

As for Level 3 armor,

This could be dealt with in a few days; upgrading a Level 2 Wagon Steel Armor to Level 3 requires 10,000 units of iron ore, totaling 50,000 units — precisely a Ji Chuchu.

Upgrading the train’s defense comes at the highest price.

This was also the most expensive upgrade among all the green-grade accessories.

After completing the armor upgrade,

he set his sights on the "Wind-Fire Wheel." Upgrading this wasn’t cheap either; going from Level 1 to Level 2 required 1,000 units of iron ore.

He spent 10,000 units of iron ore, upgrading this accessory to Level 5 in one go; he couldn’t afford Level 10, as the resources weren’t enough.

The Wind-Fire Wheel’s form itself didn’t change particularly.

The base speed increased.

...

"Wind-Fire Wheel", the advantage of this wheel is maintaining the fastest speed of the same level in the wasteland, with a basic effect adding 30 km/h to the maximum speed.

Each upgrade adds 20 km/h to the top speed.

After upgrading to Level 5, the top speed increased by 100 km/h right away, and with the train upgraded to Level 2, the base top speed was 130 km/h.

Adding the Wind-Fire Wheel and taking into account the train’s weight and other factors.

The information provided by the "Train Assistance AI" on the console was, the current top speed of the Fixed Star train was—

km/h.

Before the upgrade, it was 156 km/h, nearly twice as fast. He certainly wouldn’t be the last one running in any impending crisis.

Especially since, at Level 5, the first supermodel effect was unlocked.

-

"Wind-Fire Wheel Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Can trigger Potential State to double the train’s top speed, which rapidly consumes Energy Stones and causes some damage to the Wind-Fire Wheel.

-

This supermodel effect, in critical moments, could play a significant life-saving role.

"..."

Chen Mang looked at the train data displayed on the console, silently without speaking, looking at the "Train Assistance AI" accessory. He could guess the supermodel effects of some accessories.

For instance, the supermodel effect of the Wind-Fire Wheel was surely related to speed.

The supermodel effect of the car blade would certainly relate to attack.

But with accessories like the "Refrigerator" and "Train Assistance AI", he had no clue what their supermodel effects could be, like the refrigerator...

What kind of supermodel effect could this thing have?

He suddenly really wanted to try it, after all, upgrading white-grade vehicle accessories consumes far fewer resources compared to the green-grade ones.