Chapter 40: "Train Radio"

The autumn night wind still carried a bone-chilling cold.

After sitting in the wilderness for a while, Chen Mang got up and walked back into the train. As he removed his clothes and was about to get into bed, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a flicker of numbers on the control panel.

"Huh?"

He immediately walked over for a closer look. After inspecting it, he found that the remaining capacity of the "Energy Stone" embedded in the train's head had dropped to 61%.

"..."

Chen Mang stared at the number expressionlessly, remaining silent for a long time.

Just this morning, it was still at 62%. The train hadn't moved all day, and the "Car Blade" hadn't been in operation. How could the energy capacity have inexplicably dropped by 1%?

Thinking carefully, it seemed there was a significant issue with the Energy Stone, but he hadn't had the time to pay attention to it these past few days.

With the current load of his train, one Energy Stone could sustain the train at full speed for about 100 hours.

When he was heading to "Taiping City," the Energy Stone had 72% left. The round trip consumed about 10 hours, dropping from 72% to 62%, which was normal.

At full speed, 1 hour roughly consumed 1% of the Energy Stone.

But...

Before heading to Taiping City, he hadn't taken the train too far. After the battle with the Man-Eating Spider, nearly 30% of the capacity had been consumed?

He had always thought that the "Car Blade" might be an energy black hole, as the energy required to keep the Car Blade spinning at high speed came from the "Energy Stone" in the train's head.

So he hadn't delved deeper into it.

But today, when he hadn't done anything, the Energy Stone had inexplicably dropped by 1%. This was a big problem.

Could the Energy Stone have been affected during the battle?

"..."

Chen Mang walked over and carefully inspected the "Energy Stone" embedded in the train's head. There were no cracks. So how could the energy have disappeared so mysteriously? After hesitating for a while, he didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, he opened the newly crafted component, the "Train Radio," to see if he could gather some information.

He quickly put his clothes back on and sat at the control panel, looking at a green button beside it.

After pressing it, a chat room-style interface appeared on the screen.

The top-right corner showed that there were 397 people in the chat room.

Messages were popping up on the screen from time to time.

"Bloodthirsty Mad Cow Train": "Has that Level 3 Man-Eating Spider in Taiping City left? I haven't seen much activity there recently, and Zombie Wolves have started appearing."

"Infinite Train": "It probably left. I haven't been to the desolate wilderness lately. I've been staying around the Mohe Hills these days."

"Hell Train": "The Mohe Hills are a good place for logging, but the terrain is terrible. My train can't run there at all."

"Infinite Train": "I can't run there either. I'm parked at the edge, sending Slaves deep into the hills to cut trees and then haul them back. It's inefficient, but there's no choice. The trees in the desolate wilderness are too scarce, and while there are some in the city ruins, I'm not planning to go near Taiping City until I get confirmation that the Man-Eating Spider has left."

"Hell Train": "I thought you had a Level 3 Automatic Cannon. Why are you afraid of it?"

"Infinite Train": "Hey, do you know how expensive Level 3 cannon shells are? Why would I waste so many resources just to kill a boss? The Man-Eating Spider is a fire-attribute boss. It only drops fire-attribute rare resources and Fine Spider Silk, neither of which I need right now. Wouldn't it be better to save resources for other things?"

"Bloodthirsty Mad Cow Train": "Then what's the point of upgrading that cannon if you're not going to use it? You're just wasting resources. I never bother upgrading mine."

"Infinite Train": "You don't get it. Having it and not using it is completely different from not having it when you need it. If I'm ever chased, I can fight back. You guys would just be waiting to die."

There were no chat records from too long ago, only those since the "Train Radio" was crafted.

Everyone's alias was their train's name.

This was a chat room only accessible to Train Conductors.

The people in this chat room were likely all from this wilderness, meaning there were at least 397 Level 2 trains in this area. This number was higher than he had expected, as he hadn't seen many trains since he had arrived here.

After weighing his words, Chen Mang typed a line into the chat box.

"Stellar Train": "Excuse me, is it possible for the Energy Stone in the train's head to drop by 1% in capacity even when the train hasn't been moving?"

He had been worried that no one would reply, but to his surprise, the people in the chat room were quite enthusiastic and responded quickly.

"Infinite Train": "Hmm... generally not. The Energy Stone in the train's head is mainly responsible for the train's propulsion. Any other vehicle components that require energy support are usually powered by the Generator. If you're having this issue, it's probably because your Circuit System wasn't set up properly, and some components that constantly consume energy are linked to the Energy Stone in the train's head."

"Hell Train": "+1. You must have just upgraded to a Level 2 train, right? Check if your Targeting Radar or Internal Fire Control System—components that constantly consume energy—are connected to the Energy Stone in the train's head. Change the circuit and connect the plug to the Generator instead."

"Bloodthirsty Mad Cow Train": "The Circuit System is something you have to build when you're at Level 1. After upgrading to Level 2, it's best to rewire the circuits so that the Energy Stone in the train's head only handles the train's propulsion. Connect all other vehicle components to the Generator. It's better that way."

"..."

Chen Mang stood expressionlessly behind the control panel, looking at the Circuit System that connected the "Targeting Radar" to the "Energy Stone in the train's head." He couldn't help but sigh.

It really was like that.

Lao Zhu must not have been favored in the past, as he didn't seem to know about this.

He immediately adjusted the Circuit System for the "Car Blade," "Targeting Radar," and other energy-consuming components, ensuring that all the train's energy-consuming parts were connected to the Generator.

This should solve the problem.

The Energy Stone shouldn't suddenly drop in capacity anymore.

The Train Radio was truly useful. If no one had told him these things, who knows how long it would have taken for him to figure it out on his own.

"Stellar Train": "Thanks, guys. The issue is resolved. It was indeed because the Targeting Radar was connected to the Energy Stone in the train's head. Another question: I was in a battle yesterday that lasted less than two hours, and the Energy Stone dropped by nearly 30%. Is that normal?"

It seemed that only these few people were currently online in the chat room, and he quickly received another reply.

(End of Chapter)