"That kind of scolding doesn't feel satisfying."
A young man, who had also jumped off the train, tightened his belt and carried a pickaxe, leaning to the side to look down at Doba with a grin. "Scolding someone like a woman, what era are we in where people still call humans foolish? It's like you're flirting, not even causing a scratch."
"Come, learn from me."
"A bunch of idiots, get the hell out of my way!"
Doba, his face filled with anger, was about to continue cursing when he heard the man's words. A flash of hesitation appeared in his eyes, and he tentatively muttered, "A bunch... a bunch of idiots, get out?"
"How was that?"
"It seems... it does feel more aggressive."
Then Doba took a deep breath, raised his pickaxe high, and roared with anger, "A bunch of idiots, get the hell out of the way of the great goblins!"
With that, he forcefully pushed through the crowd, leading a group of green goblins, parting the sea of people like Moses, shouting and clearing a path.
Soon—
Everyone was in place, and the clanging sounds of mining once again echoed through the center of the swamp.
Previously, all the Slaves had to hand in their pickaxes daily, partly to prevent them from being used as lethal weapons during riots, and partly because pickaxes could easily cause fatalities during fights among Slaves.
But after transitioning from Slaves to residents, the habit of handing in pickaxes gradually disappeared.
Mainly because everyone's mining time varied, making it difficult to collect the pickaxes uniformly. Additionally, most residents had developed a sense of loyalty to the Stellar Train, reducing the likelihood of riots. Even those who considered rioting would think twice upon seeing the ten machine guns inside the train, aimed inward.
"Keep it up, kids."
Chen Mang sat inside the train, watching the enthusiastic residents outside, feeling a bit tempted to join them with a pickaxe. Then he turned his attention to the components that could be crafted after the train reached level 4.
He had been saving Iron Ore these days, leaving many level 4 train components unbuilt.
There were five craftable components: three yellow, one blue, and one white.
These five components were essential for upgrading the train to level 5. As the train's level increased, the number of craftable components decreased, from seventeen initially to just five now.
Hell Gatling Gun: Blue-grade component, requires 3000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Energy Shield: Yellow-grade component, requires 1000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Train Ticket: White-grade component, requires 100 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Stunt Console: Yellow-grade component, requires 1000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Radar Blocker: Yellow-grade component, requires 1000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Among these five components, the ones that would significantly enhance the train's capabilities were the Energy Shield, Stunt Console, and Radar Blocker.
Especially that... ultimate move.
After upgrading the train to level 4, a new button labeled Train Stunt appeared on the console. The Stunt Console, a yellow-grade component, had already been crafted within the past three days, though it was still at level 1 and hadn't been upgraded further.
A level 1 Stunt Console has one slot for a stunt, and as it levels up, it can hold more slots.
In the top-left corner of the console, there was a triangular slot that looked like a hollowed-out desktop speaker—this was the Stunt Console.
If the train has B-grade potential, after crafting the Stunt Console, you get one random train stunt.
If it's A-grade, you can choose from two.
If it's S-grade, you can choose from three.
His mechanical train had S-grade potential, but he hadn't decided which one to choose yet. Since there was no time limit for this choice, he had put it off, planning to decide later.
Chen Mang swiped lightly on the console screen, quickly bringing up the panel.
The Stellar Train is an S-grade potential mechanical train, so you can choose one of the following three train stunts.
Train Stunts are special skills that only the Train Conductor can use, affecting the entire train. The maximum number of stunts depends on the level of the Stunt Console.
1: Infinite Bullets.
For ten minutes, any bullet-consuming firepower components on your train, such as Heavy Machine Guns and Automatic Cannons, will have Infinite Bullets. However, you must replenish the consumed bullets with the corresponding amount of Copper Ore within thirty days.
2: Doomsday Sprint.
For ten minutes, your train's maximum speed will double, and during this time, any component on your train will continue to function normally even if its durability drops to 0%.
3: Death Spin.
When your train is traveling at high speed and has a Drill Bit component, activating this stunt will cause the train to briefly hover in the air and spin rapidly, colliding with enemies and unleashing deadly force. The higher the Drill Bit's level, the greater the damage. It is recommended to upgrade the Internal Space Stabilizer to at least level 5.
These days.
He would occasionally check the Train Radio, which was always the fastest way to gather information when entering a new area. Through the conversations, he learned about the existence of Train Stunts.
These were only available to level 4 trains.
They could be obtained by clearing Fortuitous Encounter maps or defeating rare bosses, in the form of triangular tokens.
Once inserted into the Stunt Console, the train could use the stunt attached to the token. However, once inserted, it could not be removed; forcing it out would cause it to shatter, rendering it unusable.
The Stunt Console could be upgraded to level 5.
This meant that each Train Conductor could have a maximum of five Train Stunts.
However—
This limitation wasn't very useful, as most Train Conductors on the Shahe Plain didn't even have one Train Stunt. Although it was said that clearing Fortuitous Encounter maps and defeating rare bosses had a chance of dropping them, no one had obtained one this way so far. Many speculated that such items might not exist in this region.
This was normal.
Monsters like the pangolin weren't found in every green zone, and without the monster, you couldn't obtain components like the Drill Bit.
The Shahe Plain was connected to the Kunlun Mountains region, but not every green zone was connected to the Kunlun Mountains.
Train Stunts had no grades and couldn't be upgraded.
They were like Special Items.
"..."
Chen Mang frowned as he looked at the three options on the screen. He was quite interested in all three Train Stunts, but... the one that suited him best was definitely the third one, Death Spin. The higher the Drill Bit's level, the greater the damage it could unleash.
He had been waiting these days...
Hoping to find a way to select all three.
But he hadn't come up with a good solution, so now, there was only one last resort.
"Huh."
Chen Mang took a deep breath, then reached out and tapped the third option on the screen. At the same time, he quickly tried to tap the other two options as well, but... it seemed he failed.
He looked at the triangular token that slowly appeared on the console, engraved with the words Death Spin.
At the same time.
"Pfft..."
A faint chuckle came from the corner of the train room.
"..."
Chen Mang turned his head expressionlessly to look at the robot standing nearby. "Did you just laugh?"
"No." The train room soon echoed with the cold, emotionless mechanical voice of the AI.
"If you laugh again, I'll smash this robot, understand?"
As soon as he finished speaking.
The robot immediately clasped its hands behind its back, anxiously murmuring, "I-I'm sorry, Train Conductor."
Chen Mang turned his gaze away from the robot. Ever since they got this robot, the AI seemed to have found a new toy, often controlling the robot to wander around, even attempting to mine—though it ended in failure.
Like a child who had found a beloved toy.
However—
Although the AI usually pretended to be emotionless, Chen Mang knew better than anyone how intelligent it could be. The higher the Train Auxiliary AI was upgraded, the smarter it became.
While it usually acted convincingly, it would occasionally slip up when teased.
Like now.
The AI really cherished its robot. He had even seen it standing by the Clothing Customization Production Line for a long time, perhaps wanting to create a set of clothes for itself.
It was quite amusing.
In the train, Lao Zhu and Biao Zi were too reserved around him, while Ji Chuchu just wanted to pull his pants off. He didn't have anyone to talk to normally, so Xiao Ai filled that gap. Teasing Xiao Ai a bit when he had nothing to do was quite enjoyable.
People always need someone to talk to.
"Go make yourself a set of clothes."
Chen Mang said casually as he inserted the triangular token into the Acrobatic Console, not even glancing up.
"Really?!"
The train soon echoed with the robot's excited voice, which, though heavily mechanized through the robot's external sound system, still carried a strong human emotion.
"Really, Train Conductor?"
"Yes, go ahead."
Chen Mang waved his hand impatiently. "You've been hanging around there these past few days, practically screaming that you want clothes. Just go already."
"Train Conductor, you're so kind. I won't make high-precision clothes, just a regular set will do."
"Wait!"
Chen Mang called out to the robot, which was already about to run out of the train room, frowning. "What's your gender? You're not female, are you?"
"Gender?"
The robot shook its head. "Xiao Ai has no gender, but if I had one, it would be male."
"Why?"
"Because I'd also like to put that thing in Ji Chuchu's mouth, if I had one."
"Huh..."
Chen Mang took a deep breath, then walked over to the robot, angrily slapping its head repeatedly while shouting, "From now on, when I'm with women, you better keep your eyes shut, understand?!"
"Now, get the hell out to Carriage 2!"
"And..."
"Stop thinking about that thing, you'll never have it in this lifetime. Can't you, as an AI, think about something more productive?"
"...Oh, okay, Train Conductor."
After shooing Xiao Ai away, Chen Mang sighed heavily and plopped back into his chair, resting his legs on the console, not bothering with Xiao Ai anymore.
Just then—
Beep beep beep!
The Targeting Radar began to alert again, showing that a drone from another train was rapidly approaching the Stellar Train.
A line of text quickly appeared on the console screen.
Enemy locked, ready to fire.
This was information processed by the AI. With a level 10 AI's computing power, it could handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
"No need."
Chen Mang suddenly narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He had just obtained the Death Spin train stunt and hadn't tested it yet, so this was a good opportunity. When the drone was a few hundred meters away.
He suddenly pushed the control lever, and the train accelerated rapidly into the swamp!
The speed kept increasing.
Just before impact, he quickly pressed the triangular button for Death Spin on the Acrobatic Console.
In the next moment—
All the Spider Leg components suddenly bent and then extended like springs, launching the train into the air where it began to spin rapidly. The Drill Bit at the front of the train also started spinning at high speed.
"Boom!"
The entire Stellar Train, accompanied by a deafening sonic boom, spun rapidly and crashed straight into the low-flying drone.
"Crack"
The sound of the drone shattering was barely audible outside the train.
When the Stellar Train landed heavily in the swamp, Chen Mang shook his slightly dazed head and pushed the control lever, continuing toward the center of the swamp.
He didn't care who had sent the drone.
It didn't matter.
He was right here, and if anyone had any ideas, they could come find him.
He had just acquired a new method, and there was no reason not to try it out. Even with a level 10 Internal Space Stabilizer, his head still felt a bit dizzy. The experience just now was...
The train was spinning rapidly, but the interior of the train room remained relatively stable.
It was like sitting on a rapidly swinging seesaw.
His head wasn't upside down, and the maximum tilt was only about thirty degrees, but the rapid shaking left him feeling a bit dizzy.
Not bad.
Chen Mang sat in the train room, pursing his lips. It was a decent train stunt, especially useful against larger monsters.
Against larger monsters, bullets from a Heavy Machine Gun or a Repeating Ballista wouldn't be very effective, so you'd need to rely on larger firepower components. But now, with this Train Stunt, he could try it out when facing larger monsters.
Without a doubt.
It would be more effective than Heavy Machine Gun bullets.
(End of Chapter)