Chapter 21: The First "Supermodel Effect."

"Huff..."

Biao Ge took a deep breath, his expression serious, before speaking gravely, "Since everyone is in agreement, we won't run away. Let's settle down and follow Lord Mang."

"With Lord Mang's methods and opportunities, who knows? Maybe we'll even become a Level 3 Train."

"Moreover, we have nearly 100 Slaves here. You all know how fast we can gather resources with 100 Slaves at the start. We can get nearly 1,000 units of Iron Ore every day. We'll have more resources than we can use."

"But from now on, listen to me. Try to avoid saying things like that. No one likes it when their subordinates form cliques."

"I'll definitely have your backs, but you two need to think before you speak. Don't get too close to me in public, or people might think you only listen to me and no one else."

"Especially—"

"When Lord Mang gives you tasks, don't look back at me, understand?"

Biao Ge was a bit annoyed bringing this up. The reason he was so ostracized on the previous Train was because of something that happened when the three of them first joined. The Deputy Train Conductor had assigned a task to Hei Wa.

Hei Wa was the skinny, dark-skinned boy.

At the time, Hei Wa just stood there, unmoving, and looked back at Biao Ge as if waiting for his approval.

Biao Ge's heart sank instantly. He knew it was over. Sure enough, although the Deputy Train Conductor didn't say anything, the most dangerous tasks from then on were all assigned to him.

If he hadn't been good at saving his own skin, he'd be six feet under by now.

If he didn't know that Hei Wa didn't mean any harm, he'd have killed him on the spot. Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

"Got it, got it."

Hei Wa hung his head in shame and mumbled, "I didn't think much of it at the time. I was just in an unfamiliar environment and didn't dare act recklessly. I thought I'd let you, Biao Ge, make the call."

"It won't happen again."

Now that the decision was made.

Biao Ge patrolled even more diligently. After all, he wasn't just working for Lord Mang; he was also working for himself. If he were to slack off and only realize the Zombies had surrounded them when it was too late, it wouldn't just be Lord Mang who died—he'd be dead too.

On the wasteland, the entire Train was a community of shared interests.

Anyone's negligence could put the entire Train in danger.

At the same time, he was also pondering another issue. He had just been promoted and hadn't reported this to Lord Mang yet. Since he had decided to follow Lord Mang seriously, how to earn Lord Mang's trust was something he had to think about.

If...

He tilted his head thoughtfully, looking at a thug not far away who was glaring at him with obvious resentment. This thug had lost to him in the competition for leadership earlier and now looked quite discontent.

If he could incite this guy to start a rebellion and then kill him in the first moment of chaos, could he use this guy's downfall to rise even higher?

But he quickly shook his head and dismissed the thought. It was too risky. If anything went wrong, he'd be dead too.

"Sigh..."

He let out a light sigh and turned to look at the Train behind him. He hoped Lord Mang could quickly upgrade to a Level 2 Train. After all, a Level 1 Train didn't have many offensive Vehicle Components, and it didn't feel safe enough. Even though he had decided to follow Lord Mang, the Level 1 Train still left him feeling uneasy.

The only offensive Vehicle Components they had were a heavy machine gun and the "Car Blade."

He knew about the "Car Blade." He had obtained this white Component before and even upgraded it to Level 2, but it wasn't very useful. It could only deal with small Corpse Tides.

"Huh?"

At this thought, Biao Ge suddenly paused. Was it his imagination, or did the "Car Blade" on this Train seem thinner and wider than the one on his previous Train?

He shook his head and didn't dwell on it.

He must be remembering wrong. After all, it had been the early days of the apocalypse when he last crafted the white "Car Blade," and his memory of it was already fuzzy.

Meanwhile, inside the Train—

Chen Mang looked out the window at the sky, then glanced at the clock inside the Train. It was already 10 PM. It was time to bring the Slaves up and let them rest.

They'd rest for the night and continue mining tomorrow morning.

At this moment.

He learned from the information on the "Newbie Guide" that the resources in each "Mine" were limited. Once these resources were depleted, it would take several days for the resources in the Mine to regenerate.

He had been down to the Mine and estimated that it would take about ten to fifteen days to fully extract the resources from this Mine.

Of course, that was under optimal conditions.

It would require ten to fifteen days without anyone disturbing him, but that was obviously unrealistic. There might be a Corpse Tide or another Train coming to compete for this "Mine" as early as tomorrow.

If his Train's firepower were strong enough, he wouldn't need to worry about this, but...

"..."

Chen Mang fell into deep thought as he stared at the control panel.

Just like that.

About half an hour later, the Slaves returned from the Mine. They each received a portion of food and water before orderly returning to the Slave carriage to prepare for sleep.

At the same time, they handed over all the Iron Ore they had mined.

Combined with his existing 250 units of Iron Ore, he now had a total of 700 units. The Slaves had worked hard for most of the day, and this was a decent haul. It seemed like they were putting in extra effort, perhaps trying to make a good impression on their first day.

After all the Iron Ore was stacked in the No. 2 cargo carriage, Chen Mang looked at the Train Panel, which displayed 800 units of Iron Ore. He nodded in satisfaction. He decided not to touch this Iron Ore anymore and would use it all to upgrade to a Level 2 Train.

But just then—

He suddenly saw a line of information on the "Newbie Guide." The "Newbie Guide" was a red button on the control panel. Pressing it would bring up a series of instructions on the screen inside the control room, teaching a new Train Conductor how to be competent and avoid being lost.

Of course, this information was quite basic.

The message was...

"All Vehicle Components will unlock their first 'Supermodel Effect' upon reaching Level 5."

"Wait..."

Chen Mang was momentarily stunned as he read this message. Higher-grade Vehicle Components had higher upgrade limits, but many white and green Components didn't even have a Level 5. This information wouldn't be useful for a long time. It was irrelevant.

But... he had the "Infinite Upgrade" plugin!

If he upgraded a white Vehicle Component to Level 5, would it still have this Supermodel Effect?

This was uncertain.

He did the math. His white Vehicle Component, the "Car Blade," was currently at Level 3. It cost 100 units of Iron Ore to upgrade from Level 1 to Level 2 and 200 units from Level 2 to Level 3.

Assuming each level required an additional 100 units of Iron Ore, upgrading to Level 5 would cost 700 units.

And he just happened to have 700 units of Iron Ore.

If he tried this, he might delay upgrading the Train to Level 2 by a day. But if he didn't try... he might not be able to sleep tonight.

Chen Mang stared expressionlessly at the message on the "Newbie Guide." He knew that on the path forward, there would always be temptations. He had just made up his mind to save all the Iron Ore for upgrading the Train.

And now this temptation had appeared.

But...

Who could resist this? While upgrading the Train to Level 2 was important, if upgrading the "Car Blade" to Level 5 could grant it a Supermodel Effect, then the "Car Blade" would become even more powerful. Having a strong offensive Component would be a huge help!

Moreover, this experiment would also affect his future resource allocation priorities.

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Mang quickly made his decision. On this dangerous wasteland where threats could appear at any moment, having a powerful offensive Component was more important. Besides, even if the white Vehicle Component didn't have a Supermodel Effect, a Level 5 "Car Blade" would still be a decent offensive Component.

Upgrade!

Upgrade the white Vehicle Component, the "Car Blade," to Level 5!