When the Slaves had transported all the Iron Ore and copper ore mined today to Carriage No. 3, Chen Mang finally turned his gaze to the Train Panel.
17,739 units of Iron Ore and 1,120 units of copper ore.
The once-empty cargo carriage had finally become slightly more abundant. He hadn't yet used the "Level 2 Copper Mine Refresh Voucher," planning to finish mining the Level 1 copper ore at the bottom of the Doomsday Abyss first before using it.
This copper ore was a small Level 1 mine, and it would be depleted before the Iron Ore was fully mined.
With resources in hand,
he immediately spent 500 units of Iron Ore to manufacture an Open-Air Carriage. It looked somewhat like the iron carriages of coal trains from his previous life. Since it was a personalized custom build, it was slightly more expensive than a standard carriage.
The Open-Air Carriage could also be equipped with "Armor," though only on three sides, and the resource consumption wouldn't decrease.
Thus—
his "Stellar" Train now had its ninth carriage: an Open-Air Carriage.
Next,
Chen Mang took out the white-grade Vehicle Components Blueprint, "Repeating Ballista," from the drawer and placed it near the control panel. As it transformed into white light and merged into the panel, the Train gained the authority to manufacture this component.
The manufacturing cost was incredibly low.
A single Repeating Ballista required only 100 units of Iron Ore.
It must be said,
white-grade components truly understood the meaning of frugality. A single Open-Air Carriage could hold up to eight Repeating Ballistas.
He immediately spent 800 units of Iron Ore to fill the carriage with them.
Then, he spent another 4,400 units of Iron Ore to upgrade one of the Repeating Ballistas to Level 10 in one go. The corresponding two Supermodel Effects soon appeared.
"Phew."
Standing inside the Train cabin, Chen Mang let out a long exhale before lighting a cigarette. He looked up at the starry sky, his expression slightly dazed. Indeed, white-grade components were still the most suitable for him.
The base attribute of the Repeating Ballista was that it could fire one bolt per minute.
Each bolt was about as thick as a baby's arm and fifty centimeters long, entirely made of fine steel, with a sharp, bloodthirsty arrowhead.
You could call it an arrow, or you could call it a siege weapon!
After reaching Level 10,
it could fire ten bolts per minute, and its overall appearance had undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming even more awe-inspiring. The bolts had widened, from the thickness of a baby's arm to that of an adult's arm, and their length had increased to eighty centimeters.
If this thing
were to be aimed at a human, the target probably wouldn't feel much pain.
Especially with the two Supermodel Effects that came with the upgrade.
"Repeating Ballista Level 5 Supermodel Effect": The Repeating Ballista can be linked to the 'Train Auxiliary AI.' As long as enemies are within the range of the Targeting Radar, the Train Auxiliary AI will automatically lock onto them, greatly improving accuracy. Requires the green-grade "Train Auxiliary AI" component to be fully upgraded.
"Repeating Ballista Level 10 Supermodel Effect": The resource cost per bolt is halved.
This was the second time he had encountered identical Supermodel Effects. The Level 5 Heavy Machine Gun's Supermodel Effect also allowed it to link to the "Train Auxiliary AI," providing an automatic targeting function. This would greatly reduce the Train's manpower consumption.
Otherwise, controlling these eight Repeating Ballistas alone would require at least a dozen people.
It also significantly improved aiming accuracy and his control over the Train.
Most importantly—
the "bolts" required for this component didn't need a corresponding production line. They would automatically be generated in the required quantity when operating the "Repeating Ballista," consuming a certain amount of Iron Ore.
Yes, Iron Ore.
No copper ore was needed; it consumed Iron Ore.
And the price was incredibly low.
"Level 1 Bolt": 1 unit of Iron Ore to manufacture one.
"Level 2 Bolt": 5 units of Iron Ore to manufacture one.
"Level 3 Bolt": 10 units of Iron Ore to manufacture one.
With the Supermodel Effect halving the cost, it became even more affordable.
"Not bad."
Chen Mang smiled contentedly as he walked out of the Train cabin. Standing on the wasteland, he looked at the last Open-Air Carriage of the Train. The slightly raised Ballistas rested quietly in the night, patiently awaiting the arrival of battle.
For a long time to come,
this would be his most commonly used long-range attack method.
Admittedly,
the firing rate was a bit slow—ten bolts per minute—far inferior to the Heavy Machine Gun. But the sheer power of a single bolt far exceeded that of a single Heavy Machine Gun bullet. Combined with its affordability, it was more suitable for him now than the Heavy Machine Gun.
After finishing all this,
Chen Mang manufactured another Open-Air Carriage and placed four "40-Tube Cherry Blossom Rocket Launchers" in it.
These were blue-grade components.
Each required 1,000 units of Iron Ore, so four cost 4,000 units.
He glanced at the resources required to upgrade to Level 2—just reaching Level 2 required 1,000 units of Iron Ore. The firing rate was quite fast; a single volley was 40 rockets, and all 40 rockets could be fired in a single second.
There was no need for a corresponding production line for the rockets; they could be directly generated by consuming resources.
But the price was much higher than Heavy Machine Gun bullets.
"Level 1 Rocket": 10 units of copper ore to manufacture one.
"Level 2 Rocket": 50 units of copper ore to manufacture one.
"Level 3 Rocket": 100 units of copper ore to manufacture one.
A full ten times more expensive.
If all four "Cherry Blossom Rocket Launchers" were equipped with Level 3 rockets and fired a single volley, it would consume 16,000 units of copper ore—enough to deplete a Level 1 copper mine in one go.
In comparison,
the "Repeating Ballista" was still better.
Five days later,
at the break of dawn.
The Level 2 Iron Ore mine at the bottom of the Doomsday Abyss was nearly depleted, with at most a week of mining left. Today, the Level 1 copper ore mine had been completely mined out.
But right beside it, a brand-new Level 2 copper ore mine had appeared, created by Chen Mang using the "Level 2 Copper Mine Refresh Voucher."
During these days,
nothing unexpected had happened, and everything had proceeded smoothly. Chen Mang had also accumulated a sufficient amount of resources.
He now had 80,000 units of Iron Ore and 6,600 units of copper ore.
As dawn broke, the Slaves, under the direction of Lao Zhu and others, were already lining up to receive their breakfast. Chen Mang, however, sat alone in the Train cabin, ready to spend all the resources he had accumulated over the past few days in one go.
Some of the components had only been upgraded to Level 5 in the past due to insufficient resources.
And he had a slight bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder; those Level 5 components always looked a bit unsightly to him.
They had to be upgraded to Level 10 to look good.
First, the Wind-Fire Wheel.
Upgrading from Level 5 to Level 10 required 35,000 units of Iron Ore.
"Hmm."
Chen Mang nodded, looking at the semi-transparent panel displaying the resources required for the upgrade, and silently decided to give up.
Screw that!
35,000 units of Iron Ore was enough to buy his life.
He suddenly realized that his obsessive-compulsive disorder seemed to have been cured. That Level 5 Wind-Fire Wheel looked just fine to him now.
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