118: Train promotion mission

After this batch of new passengers joined the Xinhuo Train, the number of passengers on the Xinhuo Train finally exceeded 2,000.

Lu Yang was very sensitive to the number 2,000.

Because once the number of passengers reached 2,000, it not only met the completion standard for Train Captain Level 3 Task 3, but also satisfied the conditions for a Level 3 Mechanical Train to advance to a Level 4 Mechanical Train and unlock its advancement quest.

There are three conditions for a Level 3 Mechanical Train to advance to a Level 4 Mechanical Train and unlock its advancement quest.

The first condition is that the total number of all vehicle components on the train must not be less than 55, and the number of weapon components must not be less than 6.

This is not difficult for most Mechanical Trains; if it's just about finding filler vehicle components, it's not hard to gather 100 in the novice area. As for weapon components, there are 5 unlocked by the train itself, so only one more needs to be found. (The five are: Flintlock Rifle Production Line, Repeating Ballista, Train Blade, Sanjiaomao Heavy Machine Gun, and Fragmentation Grenade Production Line; pickaxes and axes are production tools and not considered weapons.)

The key is the quality of the vehicle components.

With vehicle component levels locked at Level 3, naturally, components of higher quality have stronger effects.

This is especially evident in weapon components.

For example, the difference between a purple quality Iron Curtain Machine Cannon and a white quality Flintlock Rifle, or a blue quality Sanjiaomao Heavy Machine Gun, is like heaven and earth.

If one only finds low-quality weapon component blueprints just to meet the conditions for unlocking the advancement quest, most Level 3 Train Captains would not dare to easily activate it.

Instead, they would try their best to find more high-quality weapon component blueprints.

If they truly cannot find any within half a year, then they can only grit their teeth and complete the advancement quest.

The outcome is usually not good.

The second condition is that the total level of vehicle components must reach Level 130 or above. This considers the train's overall survivability, preventing some Train Captains from only upgrading the vehicle components they deem most useful and neglecting some auxiliary components, leading to difficulties in handling special situations.

The third condition is that the number of passengers on the train must reach 2,000. For a Level 3 Mechanical Train to advance to a Level 4 Mechanical Train, there are no requirements for carriages; after all, with a base number of 2,000 passengers, usually, even with 200 people per carriage, at least ten carriages are needed, so one cannot avoid building more carriages.

As for why the number of passengers is required to reach 2,000, Lu Yang felt that it might be the last kindness of this world to ordinary people.

After all, neither the Biological Train nor the Ghost Train routes particularly need passengers. If trains on the Mechanical Train route also don't carry many passengers, then ordinary people would only have a dead end.

Lu Yang clicked on the Train Captain operation interface, wanting to see what changes would occur after meeting the advancement conditions.

Unexpectedly, what popped up directly was—

[Congratulations, Xinhuo Train has met the conditions for Level 4 Mechanical Train advancement. The advancement quest has been unlocked. Because the Xinhuo Train's overall Civilization Power exceeds 100, an additional branch has appeared in the advancement quest.]

[Route One: Normal Mechanical Train Advancement Route. Selecting this will unlock the Normal Mechanical Train Advancement Quest. Maximum quest rewards: orange quality blueprint, 0-1 orange and below quality component advancement stones, 0-3 orange and below quality component upgrade stones.]

[Route Two: 'civilization guardian' Mechanical Train Advancement Route. Selecting this will unlock the 'civilization guardian' Mechanical Train Advancement Quest. Maximum quest rewards: 'civilization guardian' title × 1, random red quality blueprint × 1, 0-1 orange and below quality component advancement stones, 0-3 orange and below quality component upgrade stones.]

[Route Three: 'Civilization Pioneer' Mechanical Train Advancement Route. Selecting this will unlock the 'Civilization Pioneer' Mechanical Train Advancement Quest. Maximum quest rewards: 'Civilization Pioneer' title × 1, Bronze Civilization Fire inheritance qualification (requires completion of additional trial quest), 1 random red quality blueprint, 1-2 orange and below quality component advancement stones, 1-5 orange and below quality component upgrade stones, permanent small Civilization Pioneer territory × 1.]

[The difficulty levels for the three quest selection routes are 1-5, 3-10, and 5-50 respectively. Train Captain, please choose carefully according to your strength. The current recommended choice is Route Three, difficulty coefficient: 50 (Despair). (The strong should bear heavy burdens in times of civilizational crisis and turn the tide.)] (Quest difficulty levels: Easy, Simple, Normal, Difficult, Nightmare, Hell, Despair.)