Daybreak arrived.

Today was Christmas Eve.

Xiao Ai from Carriage No. 2, the "Armor Research and Development Center," stood frozen in place, the display on his cheeks slowly flashing the characters for "done" and "for." It wasn't someone else who was done—it was him.

He might... really be done for.

"..."

Chen Mang, having already freshened up, lit a cigarette and sat quietly in his chair. Only after finishing it did he speak calmly, "Xiao Ai, you have one minute to get your ass to the train conductor's room."

"Understood."

Soon.

Xiao Ai entered the conductor's room nervously and whispered, "Train Conductor, your orders?"

"Repeat the instructions I gave you last night."

"To use 'Dream Creation' and generate a Level 10 Iron Ore and a Level 10 Pickaxe after you fell asleep."

"Hmm."

Chen Mang nodded, then paused before suddenly slamming the can of Coke on the table and hurling it at Xiao Ai, roaring, "Then tell me, what the hell is this damn Coke supposed to be?!!!"

This morning.

When he saw the Dreamstone by his bedside flickering, he had been ecstatic. After all, retrieving items from dreams was a rare occurrence, and he hadn't held much hope. But to his surprise, he actually succeeded!

A single Level 10 Iron Ore would mean 1 billion units of iron ore—instant wealth!

Even a Level 10 Pickaxe would have been acceptable. Better than nothing.

But when he placed his hand on the Dreamstone and pulled out a can of Coke from the portal that appeared beside it...

His mood shattered.

Only then did he recall that in last night's dream, aside from the mine and the pickaxe, there had also been some Coke and an oxygen generator.

If nothing had been retrieved, fine—it was a rare event anyway. But to finally trigger that rare chance only to get a damn Coke?!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Chen Mang stood up, strode over to Xiao Ai, and kicked him, snarling, "Did I order you to create Coke in the dream? Huh? Tell me, did I?!"

"N-no."

Xiao Ai replied meekly, "I... expanded on the idea a little. I thought since it was your first time mining, you might get tired, so I prepared some Coke and an oxygen generator."

"You goddamn—"

Chen Mang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down before pointing at the door. "Get the hell back to Carriage No. 2. I don't want to see you today. Great job on the 'expansion'—don't do it again."

"Get out!"

"Y-yes, yes!"

Xiao Ai didn't dare delay, scrambling to leave the conductor's room. The moment he saw the Train Conductor pull out a bottle of Coke from the portal, he knew he was done for today.

It wasn't what he had imagined last night.

He hadn't expected two rare events to trigger in a row.

But...

A bottle of Coke was what came out.

"Come back!"

Just as Xiao Ai was about to leave, Chen Mang called out with a grimace. "Take this damn Coke with you and analyze how it differs from the ones we produce on the train."

"Yes."

"Ah, Director Ai."

In Carriage No. 2, Lao Zhu, who was preparing to report to Lord Mang, smiled as he looked at Xiao Ai emerging from the train compartment. "Lord Mang is awake, huh?"

"Mn."

Xiao Ai nodded calmly. "If you have something to report, you can go right in."

"No, no, I'm just taking a stroll, looking around."

Lao Zhu chuckled as he glanced about before nonchalantly turning back the way he came. The faint imprint of a shoe on Director Ai's clothes was still visible—clearly, Lord Mang wasn't in the best mood right now.

This was definitely not the time to go in.

His matter wasn't urgent anyway; he could report later. Why would he willingly walk into trouble?

Director Ai was quite the troublemaker too.

Not saying a word more, obviously hoping to see him make a fool of himself as well.

Soon—

Chen Mang pushed the matter to the back of his mind. A Level 10 Iron Ore was too fantastical, too unrealistic. He hadn't held much hope for it to begin with. The train's main development still relied on existing methods.

The train currently had 1.256 million units of Iron Ore.

With a bit more stockpiled, they could give the train a comprehensive upgrade.

Resources were running somewhat low, with Titanium Crystal Mines nearly depleted. Copper Ore reserves still exceeded a million, but in a tough battle, that amount would barely cover a few rounds of sustained firepower.

Resources were still far too scarce.

At this stage, his greatest hope lay with "Neon City." After a pause, he finally spoke. "Have Uncle Li come report yesterday's earnings."

"Understood."

Xiao Ai's voice came from the train compartment.

Chen Mang let out a long sigh before leaning back in his chair and glancing at Xiao Fang standing nearby. "Massage my shoulders. Use more pressure."

Even though he'd spent the entire night mining in his dreams, waking up left his body sore and drained, filled with a sense of lethargy. He didn't want to do anything—just sleep.

This was something he'd often experienced in his previous world.

Whenever his dreams the night before felt too real, he'd wake up the next day with aching muscles.

So tired.

Truthfully, he had a grand dream—one so big he'd never voiced it. He hoped that one day, the world could find peace.

Or, even if the world couldn't achieve peace, he at least wished for his Stellar to be safe enough.

To withstand external disasters.

And to never lack resources. He'd give himself a month-long vacation, free from all worries, indulging in a life of decadence aboard the Stellar.

This meant the Armor level had to be high enough to give him that sense of security.

However—

Though last night's dream hadn't yielded what he wanted, only bringing out a bottle of cola, the phenomenon itself was miraculous. Items from dreams could be brought into reality—this opened infinite possibilities.

Just then—

Uncle Li entered the train compartment, standing nervously before Chen Mang as he pulled out a half-folded A4 sheet from his pocket. "Lord Mang, shall I begin the report now?"

"Mn. Go ahead."

With Lord Mang's permission, Uncle Li took a deep breath before continuing. "Last night marked the first opening of 'Neon City,' operating for 24 hours. A total of 208 Train Conductors entered Neon City, with the peak number of Train Conductors present at any one time reaching 101."

"Among them, 76% were from Level 6 or lower trains."

"The remaining 24% share of high-level trains contributed 72% of the total revenue. Low-level trains have extremely weak purchasing power, almost negligible, with most only buying some cheaper daily necessities."

"For example, space pouches. These train conductors showed no demand for lifestyle quality products, even hesitating for several minutes over whether to purchase napkins before ultimately deciding against it."

"Total revenue amounted to 18.49 million Stellar Coupons."

"Among this, several 'pleasure houses' generated 2.385 million Stellar Coupons, accounting for 12.9% of the total."

"The 'Mechanical Train Parts Store' revenue was 10.5577 million Stellar Coupons, making up 57.1% of the total."

"Sun City's revenue was 1.78 million Stellar Coupons, representing 9.62%."

"The revenue from Li Shiji's lottery wheel and some hidden surprises like beggars totaled 2.321 million Stellar Coupons, accounting for 12.54%."

"The remaining 7.84% came from 'convenience stores,' 'Flesh Train Stores,' and others."

Uncle Li paused before continuing, "Almost all the above revenue counts as pure profit. The pleasure house employees require no wages—only the energy stone from Neon City for recharging. Many products in the train stores are provided by the Stellar Train, and Sun City's revenue comes from commissions."

"In one day yesterday,"

"these 208 train conductors exchanged a total of 57.56 million units of iron ore and 1.08 million units of titanium crystal mine for 58.73 million Stellar Coupons."

"Of this, 18.49 million Stellar Coupons were fully spent in Neon City, meaning these coupons have been recovered, and the corresponding units of iron ore represent yesterday's pure profit."

"From the remaining 40.24 million Stellar Coupons, 38.23 million were re-exchanged for iron ore when the train conductors left Neon City, leaving only 2.01 million Stellar Coupons unexchanged. A few conductors chose to keep them for future spending."

"Neon City's current total resources are—"

"19.42 million units of iron ore and 1.08 million units of titanium crystal mine."

"Of this, 18.49 million units of iron ore are pure profit and can be withdrawn at any time without affecting Neon City's normal operations. The remaining 930,000 units of iron ore and 1.08 million units of titanium crystal mine are liabilities, serving as collateral for the 2.01 million Stellar Coupons."

"..."

Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, listening to Uncle Li's report with half-lidded eyes. The flood of numbers was mentally taxing, but the breakdown was clear. He opened his eyes and smiled at Uncle Li.

"So, we only need to reserve 2.01 million units of iron ore to maintain Neon City's normal operations, and the remaining over 10 million units are pure profit, right?"

"Correct."

Uncle Li nodded quickly before glancing back at the A4 paper in his hand. "The 18.49 million units of iron ore are pure profit, though manufacturing train products did consume some resources. The total production cost for all sold goods was 488,000 units of iron ore and 8,900 units of lumber."

"This expense isn't listed in Neon City's ledger—it's from the Stellar Train's records."

"Mhm."

Chen Mang nodded in satisfaction. "I'll take all 1.08 million units of titanium crystal ore. Have the remaining 17.41 million units of iron ore ready for me later—I'll need them."

"Yes, sir!"

Uncle Li acknowledged before hesitantly continuing, "Lord Mang, yesterday was the first day of Neon City's operation. Many food and beverage outlets experience an initial surge in business as people come to try new things."

"Such high profits may be difficult to sustain."

"For instance, pleasure houses—people might visit once out of curiosity, but they won't keep going back when there are free alternatives on the Train. Similarly, items like space pouches, refrigerators, and clothing aren't consumables. When we reopen next week, those who've already purchased won't buy again so soon, leading to a significant drop in revenue."

Though the first day's results were impressive, many factors contributed to them.

He had to make this clear to Lord Mang.

Because next Monday's reopening definitely wouldn't achieve such high turnover—forget 18.49 million Stellar Coupons, they might not even reach 8.49 million. He needed Lord Mang to understand this to avoid unrealistic expectations and subsequent disappointment.

"..."

Chen Mang waved his hand with a smile. "You may leave now. I understand."

He watched Uncle Li's retreating figure, narrowing his eyes slightly without speaking.

Theoretically, that was true.

But—

Next Monday, when Neon City reopened, it would welcome more Train Conductors. After all, he'd given Mundo many "Neon City Free Entry Tickets" to distribute. Mundo was perhaps one of the few creatures on the entire planet capable of traveling between different regions.

Even if he could only teleport randomly ten times a day.

That was more than enough for Mundo to bring in many more users.

Moreover, during the coming week, his initial 208 users could also recruit newcomers, sharply concentrating the traffic for Monday.

This time in Neon City, there hadn't been a single instance of free trade between Train Conductors.

Neon City's rules mandated that while Train Conductors could trade freely, all transactions had to be settled in Stellar Coupons.

When Neon City reopened, as the number of participants gradually increased, this ecosystem could be established.

Still, high-level Trains were essential—their spending power was formidable.

But low-level Trains were also important.

For example—

Boosting attendance. Though low-level Trains were poor, their sheer numbers made up for it.

And low-level Trains would grow over time. As long as a Train wasn't destroyed, it would inevitably become a high-level Train—the environment forced rapid growth.

Before long.

Chen Mang glanced at the resources on the Train Panel and smiled.

-

"29.97 million units of iron ore, 2.56 million units of timber, 16.74 million units of copper ore, 2.32 million units of Crimson Heartstone, 3.67 million units of titanium crystal ore."

-

Things were looking up again.

He felt like his resource quantities were on a rollercoaster—sometimes soaring, sometimes plummeting, with dramatic fluctuations.

He checked.

Upgrading from Level 14 to 15 cost 5 million per carriage.

From Level 15 to 16, the price rose to 10 million units of iron ore per carriage.

A total of 16 carriages required 160 million units of iron ore. With halved consumption, it came down to 80 million.

80 million!

This wasn't a small amount, but he could slowly accumulate it. Between this week's mining and the opening of Neon City next Monday, he'd basically have enough to cover the 80 million.

The two strongest points of Neon City were:

1.

Profit.

2.

Loans.

Taking this instance as an example, the profit was the 1,849 Stellar Coupons in revenue, while the loan was the 2.01 million Stellar Coupons the Train Conductor chose to retain instead of redeeming.

Both were equally important.

The 2.01 million Stellar Coupons were essentially an interest-free loan from other trains to the Stellar Train. In case of any emergencies, he could directly use this loan to address urgent needs.

As the number of Neon City trains increased and its credibility strengthened, the amount of Stellar Coupons people chose to retain would also grow.

This meant—

Through Neon City, the Stellar Train could borrow billions, even tens of billions, in interest-free loans from countless other trains!

Harnessing the power of the entire world to sustain the Stellar Train!

This was the allure of Neon City.

As it gradually developed, the resources available to the Stellar Train would become terrifyingly vast. By then, the resources from mining might become negligible—most would come from Neon City.

Moreover, this was a completely incremental and monopolized market!

Either "incremental" or "monopoly" alone was an absolute trump card. Combining both? That was an unbeatable royal flush.

Unstoppable.

As long as no one else possessed something like Neon City—a cross-regional, free-trading entity—his Neon City would occupy the sole, irreplaceable niche. A position as crucial as Eden in the apocalypse!

"Not bad."

Chen Mang couldn't help but lean back in his chair and laugh, resting his arm on the armrest and gesturing for Xiao Fang to massage his shoulders.

The most insane part?

Neon City didn't require paying any employee wages, rent, property management fees, utilities—hell, even the goods were practically zero-cost. The only expense was Neon City's built-in "Level 8 Energy Stone," which still had 37% capacity left.

No need to worry about depletion.

Under unlimited use, it could last over 200 years. More than enough.

Very few industries in this world had revenue almost equivalent to net profit.

Even in so-called high-margin businesses—like eyeglasses, where lenses costing a few bucks could sell for hundreds—there were still massive costs upstream, downstream, store locations, and customer acquisition, driving up the product's cost and diluting the margins. Most profits came from other aspects, not just selling lenses.

Uncle Li's good news had diluted some of his anger from this morning.

Now, he was in a pretty good mood.

He turned his gaze to the control panel screen and immediately spent 2.5 million units of titanium crystal ore to manufacture a "Level 20 Viper Drone Fighter"—just to test it out and see how it performed.

Then, he spent another 100,000 units of iron ore to build another "Space Gate" in Carriage No. 10.

"Xiao Ai."

"Here."

"Evacuate all active residents from Carriage No. 10 onward."

"Understood!"

Carriage 10 had two Space Gates: the "Film and Television Base" and the "Entertainment Space." Now, a new Space Gate had appeared—the "Fighter Hangar."

A low hum filled the air as a massive Viper unmanned fighter jet slowly emerged from the newly formed Space Gate, coming to a steady halt inside Carriage 10, its nose pointed directly at Carriage 11.

This was a small-to-medium-sized fighter.

But that was only in comparison to other fighters. With a length of 11.2 meters and a wingspan of 6.5 meters, it occupied nearly a third of the carriage, looming like a behemoth.

Utterly intimidating.

"Perfect aerodynamics."

Standing nearby, Chen Mang gazed at the Level 20 unmanned fighter before him, his eyes burning with excitement. No man could resist the allure of excavators and fighter jets.

The jet was entirely black.

Its sleek, shark-like contours and matte black coating exuded an overwhelming sense of menace.

Beneath its twin vertical stabilizers was a massive single exhaust nozzle.

The nearly invisible Solar Energy Panel coating on its fuselage ensured unparalleled endurance without compromising aesthetics—theoretically, this Viper unmanned fighter could stay airborne indefinitely, provided it remained undamaged.

And then there were the four large-caliber Automatic Cannons mounted beneath its wings.

Two words:

Perfection!

"Hah..."

Chen Mang exhaled softly, satisfaction swelling in his chest as he admired the fighter. The drone's greatest strength wasn't its formidable Level 20 attack power—it was its infinite endurance.

Once airborne, it would never need to land.

If something like this had existed in his previous world—and if it had been cheaper to produce—he couldn't even imagine how much more intense the battles would have been.

Then—

"Warning, warning!"

A shrill alarm blared through the entire Stellar Train. Starting from Carriage 10, the Incandescent Lamps along the walls and ceilings of the subsequent carriages flashed red in rapid warning.

This was a Life Module he had just crafted using the "Mechanical Heart."

Now, whenever a fighter took off, the residents would know to evacuate the carriages quickly.

The next few carriages had already been cleared for takeoff.

The two "Cosmic Receivers" in Carriage 12 were placed on either side, and the "40-Tube Cherry Blossom Rocket Launcher" in Carriage 13 was similarly positioned. As for the "Ground Burst Missile" in Carriage 14... there was only a launch rack.

No missiles.

Missiles could be crafted on the spot when needed—no need to stockpile them, since they were instantaneously produced.

Even Carriage 15, the "Breeding Carriage," had been cleared, with refrigerators and other items moved to the sides and the rear door opened.

"Boom!"

With a faint burst of ghostly blue exhaust flames, the air distorted in the heat, as if mocking like Satan himself.

The Level 20 Viper unmanned fighter began accelerating rapidly, its speed building as it raced through Carriage 11, Carriage 12, Carriage 13...

By the time it reached Carriage 15, its nose tilted upward.

At maximum velocity, the roar of wind tearing through the air echoed through the Stellar Train.

With a piercing Sonic Boom, the fighter shot out of the Stellar Train, climbing almost vertically at a 90-degree angle the moment it cleared the train.

The advantage of not having a pilot is that many high-difficulty maneuvers can be performed without considering the pilot's physical endurance.

The downside is that it's rather rigid, only capable of following programmed instructions and unable to respond adequately in real-time.

On the wasteland.

Chen Mang stood on the side of the Stellar Train, looking up at the Viper Unmanned Fighter circling incessantly in the sky above. As long as it wasn't destroyed, this unmanned fighter would continue to hover in the air indefinitely.

Of course, that was assuming it didn't encounter Polar Night or Eternal Night.

With a Level 20 Attack, it could pose a threat to many high-level Trains and monsters.

If hundreds of such fighters were suspended in the air, there would be nothing more to say—it would be the epitome of security. Especially since this thing shared the Train's speed, with a maximum velocity of 5,040 km/h and unlimited endurance. Calling it the undisputed ruler of the skies wouldn't be an exaggeration.

He had just embedded two Level 4 Energy Stones, crafted from 1 million units of Iron Ore.

To maintain the Level 20 Attack strength, the four automatic cannons could sustain fire for 30 seconds using the Level 4 Energy Stones. Thanks to the Supermodel Effect of Halved Consumption, it was relatively energy-efficient to operate.

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