In the No. 5 Guard Carriage of the Stellar.

Biaozi was eating dinner and chatting with Lao Zhu, casually watching the slaves outside. Suddenly, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and his body stiffened.

Seeing his strange reaction, Lao Zhu followed his gaze. When he saw the nine new heavy machine guns on the ceiling of the guard carriage, the corner of his mouth twitched. He quickly looked down and continued chewing his steamed bun.

Delicious. I love these. Hope I'm still around to eat one tomorrow.

"Thank goodness," Biaozi suddenly sighed in relief. He glanced toward the end of the carriage where Ji Chuchu was eating. "Boss Mang... touched her last time," he whispered. "That should mean everything's fine.”

"Indeed."

Lao Zhu nodded in agreement. At the very least, this indicated that Boss Mang had typical sexual preferences, even if he was somewhat selective. Otherwise, a man with no interest in women or any other vices raised concerns about potential serious psychological issues. For someone with such issues, it was not out of the question to imagine that a bad day could lead to a violent outburst, like choosing to harm everyone on his train.

—-

Time for bed.

In the Stellar's control car, Chen Mang looked at the remaining 20,000 units of iron ore on his panel. It wasn't quite enough. He decided to sleep and wait until tomorrow's mining was done before upgrading the remaining accessories. After that, he could probably upgrade to a Level 3 train.

That night, he slept soundly and had many dreams.

But for the guards and slaves of the Stellar, sleep was fitful and uneasy. The nine new heavy machine guns hanging over their heads were one reason. The other was that they had no idea what Boss Mang was thinking.

A sense of dread filled the air.

Lao Zhu and Biaozi, in particular, barely slept a wink.

Soon, the evening of the next day arrived.

"Hm?"

Chen Mang looked at the 140,000 units of iron ore on his panel with a flash of surprise. The slaves had mined a total of 120,000 units today—a full 10,000 more than yesterday.

It had only been one day. Had the new slaves' efficiency improved that much?

It couldn't be...

A strange expression crossed his face as he looked at the 3D model of the train on the console, with its hundred-plus internal machine guns. It couldn't be because of them, could it?

It seemed the iron ore he'd spent on upgrading the "Internal Fire-Control System" yesterday hadn't been wasted after all.

Does this count as a hidden Advanced Effect?

He then turned his attention to the few remaining accessories, like the [Crafting Station]. He had previously upgraded it to Level 2, allowing it to produce Level 2 Energy Stones for 5,000 iron ore per stone. He hadn't upgraded it further at the time, since Level 2 stones were more than enough for his current needs.

But now that he had the iron, he might as well take it to Level 10 and see its effects.

After spending 6,000 units of iron ore, the "Crafting Station" was upgraded to Level 5.

The Advanced Effect was "None."

Chen Mang looked at the result thoughtfully. He had started upgrading accessories to Level 5 first, precisely to avoid situations like this. If the Level 5 effect was "None," then the Level 10 effect would certainly be "None" as well.

This did, however, answer a question that had been lingering in his mind.

He possessed the "Infinite Upgrade" ability, which allowed him to continuously upgrade accessories like the "Armor" and "Pickaxe Production Line" to Level 5, or even 10. But other Train Captains didn't have this advantage. So, how did they manage? How could they face Level 4 monsters without Level 4 armor, or mine high-level resources without Level 4 pickaxes, after their trains reached Level 4?

Now, he thought he had the answer.

When a train reaches a higher Level, it must unlock higher-grade accessories to replace the lower-grade ones. Therefore, it made sense that the "Crafting Station" had no Advanced Effect at Level 5. Its only purpose was to produce higher-level Energy Stones.

Chen Mang turned his attention from the crafting station to the two ammunition production lines: the [5.6mm Rifle Ammunition Production Line] and the [7mm Heavy Machine Gun Ammunition Production Line].

He spent nearly 20,000 units of copper ore to upgrade both accessories to Level 10.

They gained four Advanced Effects in total.

[5.6mm Rifle Ammunition Production Line Level 5 Advanced Effect]: When producing bullets, it can imbue them with fire, making them highly effective against wood-attribute monsters. (Cost remains unchanged).

[5.6mm Rifle Ammunition Production Line Level 10 Advanced Effect]: When producing bullets, it can imbue them with ice, making them highly effective against fire-attribute monsters. (Cost remains unchanged).

[7mm Heavy Machine Gun Ammunition Production Line Level 5 Advanced Effect]: Can produce splitting rounds. Each bullet splits into three in mid-air, with each projectile retaining its full power. (Cost remains unchanged).

[7mm Heavy Machine Gun Ammunition Production Line Level 10 Advanced Effect]: Can produce armor-piercing rounds, highly effective against heavily armored monsters. (Cost remains unchanged).

"Phew."

Sitting at the console, Chen Mang took a deep breath. These effects were undeniably powerful, allowing his weapons to deal far more devastating damage at no extra cost.

And with that!

Almost every accessory on the "Stellar" had been upgraded. All of them now possessed their Advanced Effects. The time had finally come to upgrade the train itself!

He looked at the requirements for a Level 3 train.

[Upgrade Conditions]: Must possess 10 carriages, have crafted all six mandatory vehicle accessories, consume 5,000 units of Level 2 iron ore, and the combined level of all accessories on the train must exceed 40.

All conditions were met and exceeded. He saw no reason to delay.

The next moment—

50,000 units of iron ore vanished from his reserves. A flash of white light erupted from the control console, and a translucent panel appeared before him.

[Your train has been upgraded to Level3.]

[More craftable accessories and more personalized and practical functions will be unlocked.]

Chen Mang looked at the new train panel with keen anticipation.

[Train Accessories]: Level 10 Carriage Blades, Level 13 Spider Legs, Level 10 Vehicle Sound System, Level 10...

[Number of Carriages]: 10

[Ore Units]: 80,000 Iron, 0 Wood, 20,000 Copper

[Legacy Value]: 0

[Upgrade Conditions]: Must possess 18 carriages, have crafted all four mandatory vehicle accessories, consume 10,000 units of Level 2 iron ore, and the combined level of all accessories on the train must exceed 80.

[P.S.]: Before upgrading to Level 4, you must complete a specialization. Available paths are Mechanical Train and Flesh Train. Both paths have their corresponding missions, which must be completed to successfully specialize.