At that moment—
A single comment shattered the discussion atmosphere in the Train Radio.
Broken Defense Train: "Quick, check the leaderboard! The Stellar Train has successfully upgraded to a Level 4 Train and officially entered the green zone. Holy shit, he's topped the chart!!!"
Ten Steps One Kill Train: "What chart? Even if he completed an S-Rank Job Change Quest, that just means he has high potential. How could he directly top the chart?"
Cosmos Train: "That guy's definitely mistaken, but... the Stellar Train is indeed outrageous. A score of 6,524? That's no joke. Normally, a Train just upgraded to Level 4 wouldn't have that kind of score. Even many Level 5 Trains don't have that high a score!"
Only Love One Train: "A score of 6,524 is genuinely insane. He's already ranked 34th on the Shahe Plain Power Value Regional Leaderboard. This guy just upgraded to Level 4. Did he stuff all the Survivors from the white zone into his Train? How can he even sustain that? If he can't find ore in two days, all the Slaves will starve to death."
Broken Defense Train: "You're looking at the wrong leaderboard! I'm not talking about that one. I'm talking about the Supermodel Effect Quantity Leaderboard. He's topped that one! Go check it out!"
Cosmos Train: "Just checked. He's really number one. My only thought is... can I add a question mark?"
Ten Steps One Kill Train: "?"
Only Love One Train: "?"
"Ah..."
Chen Mang helplessly looked at the information flooding the Train Radio. He just wanted to quietly develop his Train. He really didn't need everyone constantly watching him. His original score was 5,412. After upgrading to Level 4, his Train's base score became 1,000.
He also obtained a new red-tier Vehicle Component, the Ground Burst Missile, and upgraded some miscellaneous components in the Geothermal Furnace. He also picked up a new batch of Survivors.
Then, his Train's score jumped to... 6,542.
That does seem a bit high.
He glanced at the Shahe Plain Regional Leaderboard, where the Stellar Train was ranked 34th, sandwiched between a bunch of Level 5 Trains. The highest-ranked Level 4 Train had a score of 4,500, while most other Level 4 Trains were around 3,800.
And—
In the Iron Ridge Wasteland, there was only one leaderboard: the Regional Power Value Leaderboard. But in the Shahe Plain, there were several leaderboards, such as—
Supermodel Effect Quantity Leaderboard
1st Place: Stellar Train, S-Rank Potential Level 4 Mechanical Train, 57 Supermodel Effects.
2nd Place: Wife Hunter Train, S-Rank Potential Level 6 Flesh Train, 28 Supermodel Effects.
3rd Place: Kill a Bloody Path Train, A-Rank Potential Level 6 Flesh Train, 26 Supermodel Effects.
4th Place: World Weary Train, A-Rank Potential Level 5 Mechanical Train, 24 Supermodel Effects.
This was the first time Chen Mang had seen this leaderboard. If it was solely based on the number of Supermodel Effects, then yes, no one could compete with him. After all, he effectively had an infinite supply of Murphy Stones. How could anyone challenge that?
There was no contest.
And the most important thing—
He had discovered a few days ago that Supermodel Effects marked as "None" were still counted in the score and the total number of Supermodel Effects.
At this moment—
A data nerd had already emerged in the Train Radio.
Broken Defense Train: "Let me break it down for you. Yellow-tier Components can be upgraded to Level 5 at most. A Level 3 Train has 7 craftable yellow-tier Components, a Level 4 Train has 3, and Level 5 and 6 Trains each have 2. Only purple-tier Components can be upgraded to Level 10, and even Level 6 Trains don't have craftable purple-tier Components."
"In other words, a normal Level 6 Train, if it crafts all its yellow-tier Components, can obtain a total of 14 Supermodel Effects."
"If you manage to get a few yellow-tier Blueprints or some Murphy Stones, you can have even more Supermodel Effects."
"For example, the previous top-ranked Wife Hunter Train has a whopping 28 Supermodel Effects."
"But—"
"The Stellar Train is only a Level 4 Train, and it just upgraded to Level 4. It hasn't even had time to craft its Level 4 Components, meaning it can only craft 7 yellow-tier Components at most, resulting in a maximum of 7 Supermodel Effects."
"As everyone knows, Murphy Stones can break level restrictions, and the most cost-effective way to use Murphy Stones for Supermodel Effects is to apply them to green-tier Components. Two Murphy Stones can give you one Supermodel Effect."
"And the Stellar Train has a staggering 57 Supermodel Effects, which is 50 above the normal value."
"That means—"
"He either has an extra 50 yellow-tier Component Blueprints or has consumed 100 Murphy Stones."
"You decide which one sounds more realistic."
Cosmos Train: "? Can I say both conclusions sound equally unrealistic? Are yellow-tier Component Blueprints and Murphy Stones as common as cabbages? Since when did the numbers get so high?"
Broken Defense Train: "Maybe he went through a lot of Fortuitous Encounter maps and cleared them all."
Azure Dragon Train: "Let me chime in. There are no Fortuitous Encounter maps in the white zone."
"They're really sensitive to data..."
Chen Mang let out a long, helpless sigh. These people were incredibly serious about digging up information about others' Trains. Unfortunately, their logical deductions were correct, but... the answers were all wrong.
100 Murphy Stones?
That was just insulting.
If resources weren't a limitation, he could give you 9,999 Supermodel Effects in minutes.
However—
His gaze fell on the World Weary Train, ranked 4th on the Supermodel Effect Quantity Leaderboard. It was an A-Rank Potential Level 5 Mechanical Train. Among the top ten on this leaderboard, only two were Mechanical Trains.
One was him, and the other was the World Weary Train.
The other eight were all Flesh Trains.
After all, Flesh Trains, which constantly hunt monsters, have a higher chance of dropping Murphy Stones compared to others. It's not like you can mine ore and suddenly find a Murphy Stone. What really interested him about the World Weary Train wasn't just that it was one of the two Mechanical Trains in the top ten.
It was because it was... an A-Rank Potential.
He remembered the A-Rank difficulty Job Change Quest for Mechanical Trains very clearly. It required training the AI to develop human emotions and then falling in love with it. This guy was a true hardcore player.
He had to admire someone willing to put their life in someone else's hands.
What if they break up one day?
If the AI presses the Immediate Self-Destruct button, it'll be hilarious. After completing this Job Change Quest, the AI gains full control over the Train, equivalent to the Train Conductor's authority.
But—
The effort wasn't without reward. Being able to rank above a bunch of Level 6 Trains as a Level 5 Train showed that the rewards were quite substantial.
Mechanical Trains and Flesh Trains were just different types of Trains. The only difference was that Mechanical Trains were more sci-fi, while Flesh Trains looked more terrifying, even more monstrous than some monsters.
Flesh Trains don't need to mine ore or rely on Slaves.
Upgrading the Train and its Components requires monster flesh. As long as you keep killing monsters, you can keep upgrading. The Train can function normally with just one person, as long as you don't mind the loneliness.
Mechanical Trains can't do that. A single Train Conductor can't operate it alone; you need a whole team.
In terms of mortality rates—
Mechanical Trains are far lower than Flesh Trains. Mechanical Trains can avoid danger; just stay away from the scary monsters. But Flesh Trains can't avoid it. If you avoid it this time, will you avoid it next time? If you keep avoiding it, how will your Train ever upgrade?
Because of this—
All Flesh Trains in the Shahe Plain only stop there during rest periods. The rest of the time, they're charging through the monster-infested regions of the Kunlun Mountains.
The more bosses you kill—
The more Murphy Stones and yellow-tier Component Blueprints you'll drop, naturally ranking higher on the Supermodel Effect Leaderboard.
Mechanical Trains and Flesh Trains actually get along quite well.
After all, Flesh Trains don't need ore or Slaves, so there's basically no conflict of interest with Mechanical Trains, except for the occasional muttered insults about Flesh Trains being a bunch of lunatics.
After watching the Train Radio for a while, Chen Mang turned his attention away. He didn't pay too much attention and had no intention of joining the conversation. His current goal was to quietly develop.
To survive.
And to live a little better.
And at that moment—
Someone privately messaged him.
Azure Dragon Train: "Hello, I'm the one who yelled 'Mom, I can't tell!' in your Train today. I went to an Underwater Labyrinth Fortuitous Encounter and chose an S-Rank difficulty maze task. Fortunately, I ended up in your Train. Of course, the task failed."
"But that's not important. I found a new Fortuitous Encounter. Would you be interested in exploring it with me?"
"..."
Chen Mang's expression turned slightly strange as he looked at the private message. He now realized that the consciousness in that robot was actually a real person's consciousness. This guy had taken on an S-Rank difficulty maze task from somewhere and ended up in his Train?
What's a Fortuitous Encounter?
Hmm... how to explain it? They're hidden maps that often have tasks. Clearing them gives you a lot of rewards. I've actually known about this Fortuitous Encounter for over a month, but I never found the right person to team up with. You're the best candidate.
How so?
That day, was it you driving the Train on the nearly 90-degree cliff face in the Kunlun Mountains?
Was that you flying in the air?
Yes, it was me. That Fortuitous Encounter map is called the Tower of Heaven. Only your Train can go up there. No one else can.
But you can fly, can't you?
...I can only fly up to 3,000 meters. That map is at 5,000 meters. You can tow my Train up there. I'll provide the coordinates, and you provide the means. If it's a cooperative task inside, we'll split the rewards 50-50. If it's individual tasks, we'll each rely on our own skills.
On the Shahe Plain—
The Bald Man sitting in the Azure Dragon Train's control room sighed with emotion. He really hadn't expected it to be that guy. When he heard that the Stellar Train had completed an S-Rank Job Change Quest and entered the Shahe Plain, he knew it was the same Train.
If it were in different regions, it might not be the same person.
But in these neighboring regions, how could it not be the same guy?
That guy...
He had secretly calculated that the Spider Leg Component needed to be upgraded to at least Level 13 to traverse cliff faces like that. Where on earth did he get so many Murphy Stones?
And he knew more than those people in the Train Radio.
This guy had upgraded at least a hundred Refrigerators to Level 5 or 10. The number of Murphy Stones he'd consumed far exceeded what that data nerd had guessed.
Right!
He suddenly slapped his forehead. The other guy must be on high alert right now, especially since his S-Rank task failed because of the Stellar Train. With so many Murphy Stones in hand, he must suspect that he's planning something.
But he really didn't have any such intentions.
His only joy was exploring Fortuitous Encounters and unlocking hidden maps.
The rewards were one thing, but more importantly, it gave him a rare sense of happiness in this godforsaken world. He'd found the Tower of Heaven Fortuitous Encounter Map a long time ago but had never been able to reach it. Now that he'd finally caught the Stellar Train, he didn't want to miss the chance to see what was up there.
Just as he was about to say something more to dispel the other guy's suspicions—
He quickly received a reply.
Stellar Train: "Sure, but it'll have to be in half a month."
"Huh..."
Now it was his turn to be stunned. He agreed just like that? He was a Level 5 Train. Wasn't this guy afraid? Either he was incredibly bold or just plain stupid...
Then—
He remembered the half-hour of torment in the other guy's Train and the first impression he'd formed of this Train Conductor he'd never met.
The guy really wasn't afraid of him.
He was just... tough.
Now, it seemed like he was the one who should be worried about being double-crossed.
After replying and settling on a time, Chen Mang stopped paying attention to the Train Radio.
He was indeed curious about this Fortuitous Encounter Map. He'd never seen one in the white zone. He was also curious about the special places in the Iron Ridge Wasteland, like the Doomsday Abyss, but that seemed more like a unique location rather than a Fortuitous Encounter Map.
But he wasn't going now.
His Train had just upgraded to Level 4, and there were many things he hadn't crafted yet. His Armor was already Level 6. By the time he got the Ground Burst Missile to Level 6, he wanted to see...
Who would dare mess with him!
He was even eager to test the power of the Ground Burst Missile.
Of course, before that, he needed to upgrade the few craftable Components from Level 3 to Level 10. Half a month shoul
d be enough to build a half-maxed Level 4 Train. Then he could go out and explore.
With so much copper ore piled up in the Stellar Train, he needed to find an opportunity to test its firepower and see how it performed.
(End of Chapter)