Chugga chugga chugga… The train traveled along its predetermined tracks, advancing steadily.
Now pay attention!
This man named Xiao Shuai decided to treat himself a little better today.
Pshh!
The metal pull-tab of a Pepsi can was yanked open, and snowy white foam instantly surged out.
Lu Xingyuan tilted his head back and polished off half the can in one go, then let out a satisfied belch.
Only after his tense nerves had calmed somewhat did he get up and start working, moving the electric scooters piled up in the initial carriage over to the second carriage.
Yes, that’s right—he was now a proud Tier 2 Train Master and had obtained a brand-new carriage.
It was precisely because of this that he had been able to smoothly transfer the supplies from Bald Man and Big Waves’ trains without any waste.
After all, Lu Xingyuan knew all too well how difficult upgrade materials were to come by.
The two trains had also been successfully dismantled into a pile of materials, placed at the far end of the second carriage.
Even a Tier 1 train, once dismantled, provided far more materials than one might imagine.
“Isn’t this just encouraging Train Masters to fight each other?” Exploring down on the platform meant facing unknown, ferocious monsters, but harming fellow humans was much simpler and more convenient—not to mention more profitable.
Shivering, a frightened Lu Xingyuan hurriedly did two more push-ups.
The kind-hearted become someone’s wife!
If you don’t work hard to improve your own strength, sooner or later you’ll be polishing someone else’s shoes.
“Okay, that’s about everything tidied up.” The newly added second carriage was much larger than the initial one, which allowed Lu Xingyuan to neatly transfer all the collected supplies over.
“This game is way too stingy—it doesn’t even give you a basic backpack.” After silently cursing the game designers, Lu Xingyuan finally turned his attention to the upgrade prompt that had popped up.
[Train Upgrade & Modification!] This was one of the game’s basic mechanics.
[Each time the train levels up, three optional enhancement modifications will be unlocked.
Implement them by spending Train Coins.] The three options currently before him were: [Delayed Departure · Green (2 Train Coins): After modification, the train’s maximum stop time at platforms increases by 1 hour.
You may still choose to depart at the original time (11:00).] [Comfortable Sleep · White (1 Train Coin): Obtain a comfortable two-meter-wide bed.] [External Armor Plating · Green (2 Train Coins): Install light armor on key parts of the entire train.
Permanently increases the train’s durability by 10 points and provides a slowly regenerating “Temporary Shield” each time the train arrives at a station.] Like platforms, train modification levels were also divided into five tiers: White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Gold.
The higher the tier, the more Train Coins naturally required.
The Tier 1 Treasure Chest at Jinshui Street Station had long since been opened by him, containing only 2 Train Coins.
So, in total, he now had 5 coins on hand—just enough to complete all three modifications.
Delayed Departure goes without saying.
The initial Train Coins should be invested in “time” itself.
An extra hour for looting was enough to get the resource snowball rolling early.
Next up was the external armor plating, another crucial modification.
After all, the novice period was now over.
The train no longer enjoyed any protection.
Whether it was monsters on the platform or other trains of the same kind, all could cause damage to the train.
The moment it departed, the game had already issued a prompt: [Novice Protection Terminated!] Immediately following was an explanation regarding the train’s durability: A Level 1 train had 100 durability points.
Level 2 had 200.
Level 3 had 300.
…
And so on.
Each time the train leveled up, it gained an additional 100 durability points.
Once durability dropped completely to 0, it meant the Train Master was eliminated.
Although the 10-point durability wasn’t much, don’t forget it also had a slowly regenerating Temporary Shield, which refreshed for free at every station, providing the train with a shield equivalent to 20 durability points.
Lu Xingyuan waved his hand decisively.
He secured these two modifications first.
The Train Coins in his possession were instantly deducted by four.
Wait!
That’s not right!
The metals stored in the second carriage were also deducted.
So, modifying this external armor plating consumed my own materials?
Are you even human?
You take my coins and my materials—why not just take my life while you’re at it?
This round of modifications was truly expensive, costing him 200 units of metal.
Fortunately, he had collected enough materials.
Otherwise, even if he paid for the modifications, they wouldn’t take effect immediately.
The effects of the external armor plating modification could be felt directly from inside the carriage.
The most noticeable was the tactile sensation—the train now had a solid, weighty feel as it moved.
Visually, the interior walls were also covered with a rough metal layer, appearing extremely reliable.
Seeing this, Lu Xingyuan finally felt a bit better.
He casually went ahead and upgraded the comfortable sleeping arrangement as well.
Sleeping on this cold floor was truly unbearable—aching back and sore muscles, leaving him feeling unrefreshed every morning.
With this comfortable bed, things should improve a lot.
Carefully pouring a bit of water from the mineral water bottle, he washed his face before turning his attention to a new line of prompts.
[Would you like to draw a new Chromatic Hex?] The achievements he had today were undoubtedly the result of his hard work, but it couldn’t be denied that talent had also provided a tiny bit of help.
Unable to perform a ritual bath or burn incense, washing his face might still bring some good luck.
Lu Xingyuan pressed the draw button!
[Ding!
Congratulations on obtaining the Chromatic Hex: Prismatic Conduit!] [Hex Description: Every time you arrive at a new station, you will receive a Prismatic Orb filled with generous loot.
The loot inside the orb improves as your train level increases.] “…” Lu Xingyuan fell silent.
Wasn’t this a bit too overpowered?
With this Hex, even if he never stepped off the train, he could live quite comfortably!
Lu Xingyuan was already looking forward to the Prismatic Orb that would drop when he arrived at the station tomorrow.
Tomorrow was definitely going to be a good day!
Approaching the control panel, Lu Xingyuan noticed that his friend request list had somehow ballooned to 99+.
[Train Master ‘Zhang Tao’ has requested to add you as a friend, with an attached message: Big bro, please carry your little brother!] [Train Master ‘Wang Lili’ has requested to add you as a friend, with a message: Are you there?
Interested in a young woman with E-cup breasts?] [Train Master ‘Zhao Qing’ has requested to add you as a friend, with a message: Hey handsome, if you accept my friend request, I can give you my worn items for free~] [Train Master ‘Ouman’ has requested to add you as a friend, with a message: Damn, bro, how did you do it?
It’s only the third station, and you’ve already leveled up to two?
That’s insane!
Give me a friend slot, please!]