Although An Bai looked rather langbei at this moment, he was still smiling happily.
The feeling of facing utter desperation yet struggling desperately to break free was truly wonderful.
It reminded him of a certain late night during his university days, when he had single-handedly guarded the crystal from beneath his dormitory blanket and ultimately turned the tables at the very last moment.
The wolf pack outside the train had also come to its senses, realizing that it had been tricked.
They all bared their teeth and glared at An Bai. If looks could kill, An Bai would probably have died a hundred times by now.
An Bai did not remain immersed in his excitement for long. With great effort, he opened the tightly bound “clothing bundle.”
He took out the positioning ball, found the switch underneath, and turned it off.
For a moment, the train carriage returned to darkness.
After breathing a slight sigh of relief, An Bai stopped thinking about the wolf pack outside and collapsed onto the bed.
He took the Survival Manual from his pocket, intending to exchange the common-grade iron sword he had obtained today for some iron blocks.
He flipped to the chat channel page and directly swiped to the chat window with the Strange Man.
“Brother Strange Man, do you have any spare iron blocks? I’ll exchange them for a common-grade iron sword.” An Bai sent the message.
Before long, the Strange Man replied, “Is that so? How many iron blocks do you want?”
“Ten iron blocks.”
After An Bai finished speaking, he also felt that he had asked for too much, so he hurriedly added, “A common-grade iron sword plus forty jin of coal.”
One iron block could be used to make a common-grade iron sword. In other words, the value of one common-grade iron sword was equivalent to two or three iron blocks.
Exchanging forty jin of coal for seven or eight iron blocks could also be considered the “market” price.
Strange Man: “Brother Andersen, I’ll be honest with you. At present, I can only take out six iron blocks.”
“Six iron blocks will do. Let’s trade at the market price.”
An Bai felt slightly disappointed. It seemed he would have to find someone else to gather the remaining four iron blocks.
The trade went smoothly. An Bai exchanged one common-grade iron sword and twenty jin of coal for six iron blocks.
“Still, thank you, Brother Strange Man. I’ll give you a salt peach as a bonus.”
As he spoke, An Bai took a salt peach from the carriage and sent it over while the trading platform had not yet disappeared.
It should be known that iron blocks were extremely precious now. Most people used them to upgrade their trains rather than sell them.
Therefore, An Bai was extremely grateful that the Strange Man had taken out six iron blocks to trade with him.
Strange Man: “!!! You actually have Salt Peaches! Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
An Bai: “You didn’t ask!”
Strange Man: “......”
“I lost my composure. What I mean is that Salt Peaches are extremely precious. If you have those things, I can also help you obtain the four iron blocks you’re lacking,” the Strange Man said.
“Then I’m really grateful. How many do you want?” An Bai asked.
“Eight will do. Do you have that many?” the Strange Man replied.
An Bai quickly took out another eight and sent them over.
Strange Man: “All right, I’ll go exchange them for you. I’ll try to get them to you within half an hour.”
Andersen: “OK!”
“I hope it can be a little faster.” An Bai felt faintly uneasy. The howls outside rose and fell, making his heart race.
Looking outside through the glass, An Bai could see only their gleaming eyes because of the night.
The glowing beads circled An Bai’s train incessantly in the pitch-black night. It seemed they had truly set themselves against him.
From time to time, grunting sounds came from outside the train.
Seeing this situation, An Bai immediately opened the Survival Manual to check the train’s condition.
Train No. 1567
Level: 2
Speed: 8 m/s
Protection: 15→14.5
Power: steam engine
Area: 15 square meters（3×5）
Height: 3 meters
Durability: 180 kilometers
The protection had decreased by 0.5, and the durability had fallen from the 1,000 kilometers it had just after being upgraded to the current 180 kilometers.
He had upgraded the train during the daytime of the third day. By today, reaching the Inner Mongolian grassland, it had gone through a total of four polar nights.
In theory, the durability should have fallen to only 78.4 kilometers, but during the Polar Night of the sixth day, the train had entered a platform and stopped.
Therefore, the durability loss was not as great as imagined.
“Are these beasts really that hungry?” An Bai was irritated by the sound of their teeth gnawing on iron.
What he feared most was that this wolf pack would attract something else from the night.
If something truly powerful came, he did not know how many attacks his level-two train could withstand.
He rose from the bed and walked toward the area where the food was stored. No matter what happened outside, he had to maintain his condition first before worrying about anything else.
He cut a small piece from the compressed biscuits he had previously obtained from the gold-grade chest, soaked it in water, and swallowed it. Then he briefly cleaned his filthy body and changed into the clothes he had worn before.
After stretching lazily, he felt the movement of the food being digested in his abdomen, and An Bai’s mood improved slightly.
Suddenly, the train shook slightly, and An Bai nearly fell because he lost his balance.
“What the hell?” An Bai crept to the window and observed the situation outside.
The wolf pack outside had disappeared at some point, replaced by an endless expanse of darkness.
This gave him an ominous feeling. The worst-case scenario had still occurred: the wolf pack had fled, and something powerful had arrived.
The train shook again, and the culprit finally revealed its true form before An Bai.
When An Bai saw the monster in front of him, his eyes froze.
Two goat the size of calves were staring fixedly at him through the glass with their reddened eyes.
Under the moonlight, An Bai could also see bloodstains at the corners of their mouths.
With a hoarse roar, the goat revealed a mouthful of fangs, looking terrifying.
“Damn it. What kind of monster is this?”
As he exclaimed, the goat slowly retreated. During the retreat, it even lowered its head.
After retreating ten meters, the goat let out a roar and charged at the train where An Bai was at high speed.
With a clang, the train shook more violently than before.
【Warning!】
【Train conductor of train No. 1567, your train is sustaining damage】
Protection: 14.5→12
Durability: 180 kilometers→140 kilometers
“This goat is much stronger than the wolves from before!” An Bai was utterly shocked.
There were ten minutes left until the half-hour deadline agreed upon with the Strange Man. An Bai flipped to the chat window with the Strange Man.
He urged him, “Brother Strange Man, have you finished the exchange?”
The Strange Man did not respond.
The goat outside struck An Bai’s train again. Protection fell to 10 points, and durability also dropped to 100 kilometers.
An Bai was frantic. At this rate, the train’s protection would be completely breached after only a few more attacks.
If only he had made preparations on both fronts. Although An Bai trusted the Strange Man, he still regretted it deeply.
If they really could not make it in time, he could only use the train upgrade subsidy box.
Fortunately, the Strange Man ultimately did not disappoint An Bai. After the goat rammed the train once more, he finally sent An Bai a message.
“I’ve finished the exchange. I’ll send them over immediately.”
As a burst of white light flashed, the four iron blocks were sent over by the Strange Man.
Another impact followed. The train’s protection had now fallen to 4 points, and its durability was only 10 kilometers.
【It has been detected that Survivor Andersen possesses sufficient materials. Upgrade the train?】
“Yes!” An Bai answered at top speed, afraid of missing even a fraction of a second.
【The train upgrade has begun. Please wait......】
A burst of yellow light flashed, and the goat that had just been about to ram the train again was sent flying by the light.
After a while, the light faded, and the familiar Mechanical Voice sounded.
【Congratulations, Survivor Andersen. Your train No. 1567 has been successfully upgraded】
✦✦✦