137: Faction Panel

Train Captain Lu Yang was still very trustworthy. After receiving Liu Lei's payment, he quickly delivered 30 Level 6 rapid-fire mortars, 20 Level 6 Death multi-barreled rotary heavy machine guns, 10 Level 6 Iron Curtain Machine Cannons, 4 Level 6 PLZ Vehicle-Mounted Self-Propelled Howitzers, and the agreed-upon quantity of ammunition to the Three Mountains.

Then, from not far away, the sounds of rumbling, rat-a-tat-tat, and thud-thud-thud kept echoing.

On the surveillance footage returned by the orbital early warning sphere, the gun and artillery fire launched from the Three Mountains was even more lively than setting off fireworks during the New Year.

About half a day later.

Liu Lei, his face flushed and looking overly excited, boarded the Xinhuo Train again.

As soon as he saw Train Captain Lu Yang, he eagerly spoke, "Uh, Big Brother, how much does the ammunition cost? Do you have a list?"

"Playing with cannons is so exhilarating!!! Even better than playing with women!!!"

"Indeed, a true man should wield a machine cannon with one hand!!!"

Hearing this, Train Captain Lu Yang laughed heartily and lightly patted his shoulder, "You can't play favorites, or those concubines on your train will come looking for trouble."

"Here's the ammunition list. See what you need, and after you've made your selections, I'll give you a small gift that's guaranteed to satisfy both your 'big head' and 'little head.'"

Train Captain Lu Yang priced the ammunition at a profit margin of around 15 times.

A magazine for the Jiaolong Assault Rifle cost 5 units of Level 4 copper, a magazine for the Harvester Individual Grenade Launcher cost 10 units of Level 4 copper, a basic load of 5 rounds for the rapid-fire mortar cost 15 units of Level 4 copper, an ammunition box for the Death multi-barreled rotary heavy machine gun cost 50 units of Level 4 copper, an ammunition box for the Iron Curtain Machine Cannon cost 50 units of Level 4 copper, and a single shell for the PLZ Vehicle-Mounted Self-Propelled Howitzer ranged from 20 units of Level 4 copper to 50 units of Level 4 copper, depending on the shell type.

Liu Lei read through it carefully and breathed a sigh of relief.

The prices were within his psychological expectations.

So, he waved his hand grandly and immediately placed an order for 20,000 units of Level 4 copper, using up most of the copper inventory on the Three Mountains.

But he didn't feel the slightest bit of heartache.

He hadn't fired cannons before, so he didn't know the thrill of it.

Especially the large-caliber 155mm PLZ Vehicle-Mounted Self-Propelled Howitzer.

With one shot, Liu Lei felt his soul tremble.

Then, watching the gray cloud curtain explode in the long-range scope, he instantly felt completely enlightened.

After placing the order, Liu Lei looked at Train Captain Lu Yang with anticipation again.

The Xinhuo Train was now synonymous with awesomeness in Liu Lei's eyes.

A small gift that Train Captain Lu Yang would offer must be extraordinary.

Then he saw Train Captain Lu Yang take out a beautifully packaged small gift box and hand it to him.

The gift box was open; it hadn't been closed.

Inside were two transparent glass tubes containing a shimmering, dreamlike blue liquid.

"This is a specialty of the Xinhuo Train, a Physique Enhancement Potion, which can strengthen your physique, especially your 'little brother.'"

"It's for you!!!"

"However, I recommend you use it on the Xinhuo Train. The Xinhuo Train's exclusive medical pod can greatly enhance the absorption effect of the potion. If you take it orally back home, the effect might only be 70 to 80 percent of its maximum potency."

Liu Lei unhesitatingly chose to accept Train Captain Lu Yang's advice.

Are you kidding? When it comes to something as important as his 'little brother,' not a single bit can be reduced, right?

Moreover, if Train Captain Lu Yang wanted to harm him, there would be no need to resort to such underhanded petty tricks.

With the power of the PLZ Vehicle-Mounted Self-Propelled Howitzer, two shots would be enough to finish off the Three Mountains.

That would be much simpler than the current method.

About an hour later, Liu Lei emerged from the Xinhuo Train's exclusive medical pod, looking at his 'little brother,' which had been specially enhanced and was now noticeably larger.

He almost wanted to kowtow to Train Captain Lu Yang.

And his potbelly was gone, replaced by eight distinct abdominal muscles.

Lightly clenching his fist, a surge of immense power instantly spread throughout his body.

He casually picked up a 25kg dumbbell in the nearby training room and easily lifted it over his head with one hand.

He did it for a full minute without any muscle soreness.

This made him incredibly excited.

"Now let's see if San Niang and the others still dare to call me weak. Last time I wanted to use 'Old Tree Roots' standing up, but San Niang was too plump and I couldn't lift her. Tonight, when I go back, I will definitely avenge myself and make her beg for mercy on her knees and sing 'Conquer.'"

"Cough, cough—"

At this moment, Train Captain Lu Yang, who was standing by, couldn't bear it anymore and spoke up to remind him.

"Brother, can you put your clothes on first?"

"This medical room is full of mirrors, it's not very decent—"

"If you have any plans, take your time when you go back. With it dangling around like that, it's really—"

Hearing this, Liu Lei chuckled.

"Big Brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just too excited!!!"

"The surprise you gave me was simply too great!!!"

"Uh, Big Brother, can I be your little brother from now on?!"

"From now on, any dirty or tiring work, you can assign it to me, I don't need any compensation. My only small request is, if you ever have any extra Physique Enhancement Potions next time, just give me another one, okay?!"

Hearing this, Train Captain Lu Yang was about to refuse, just as he had refused Zhao Silver Snake last time.

Unexpectedly, a prompt that only he could see suddenly popped up in the Strongest Train Captain System interface.

"[Train Captain Liu Lei of the Three Mountains requests to become your faction's vassal. Do you agree (Yes/No)?]"

"[Upon agreement, the Train Faction Panel will be unlocked, and you will receive a reward—Civilization Points x10. When the Three Mountains generates influence in a region, the affiliated faction's reputation will increase accordingly, and depending on the magnitude of the influence generated, the faction leader will be rewarded with a certain number of Civilization Points.]"

Faction Panel?

This was something Train Captain Lu Yang had never heard of before.

Even more remarkably, it came from the Strongest Train Captain System.

This system, which had rarely spoken proactively since he became Train Captain Lu Yang, had now displayed a message prompt.

Fortunately, Train Captain Lu Yang could view the contents of the Strongest Train Captain System panel through his thoughts.

He quickly understood what this Faction Panel was all about.

The Faction Panel, as the name suggests, allowed him to recruit subordinates and form a train faction.

Its special feature was that the subordinate recruited had to be willing, like Liu Lei.

They couldn't be coerced.

As the faction leader, Train Captain Lu Yang, after acquiring a subordinate, would receive a 1% appreciation of any resources obtained by his faction members, regardless of the method, which would be deposited into the faction warehouse.

This was for the faction leader's use.

At the same time, the faction leader could also conduct remote transactions with faction members through the faction's exclusive store, charging a small remote transaction fee depending on the distance.

As long as the affiliated faction did not abandon its members, faction members generally could not betray the affiliated faction, otherwise, they would incur severe penalties such as train demotion and resource forfeiture.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the affiliated faction could provide necessary protection and assistance to its members.

If it was merely exploitation, then as the faction members' sense of belonging to the affiliated faction continuously decreased, even if the faction leader disagreed, the faction members would naturally withdraw.

It was considered a mutually beneficial process.

Then came the most important part: Civilization Points.

As Train Captain Lu Yang's faction gained increasing influence in a particular region, he would correspondingly receive Civilization Points.

Train Captain Lu Yang had obtained 110 of these when he killed Wu Mazi and Zhuang Zao.

He didn't know what they were for before.

But after unlocking the Faction Panel, the Civilization Store would also unlock, revealing how to use Civilization Points.

In addition to being able to purchase many rare high-level red and gold blueprints in the Civilization Store, Civilization Points could also be used for Civilization Enhancement.

For example, an ordinary item, after being combined and consuming a certain amount of Civilization Points, could be enhanced into a special Civilization Item.

The golden pickaxe and golden scales of the Golden Kobold tribe were forged by concentrating the Civilization Power of the entire civilization and consuming a large number of Civilization Points.

After thoroughly understanding the function of the Faction Panel, Train Captain Lu Yang naturally chose 'Yes' without hesitation when faced with Liu Lei's request.

Thus, in the Faction Panel, the first member, 'Three Mountains,' appeared within the faction representing the Xinhuo Train, and its current sense of belonging was displayed as 85.

This sense of belonging value had no upper limit.

It could continue to increase.

When it rose above 200 points, a special effect, 'Life and Death Together,' would appear, indicating that this member was willing to die for the faction.

If it fell below 30, it meant that the member could leave the faction at any time.

Below 0, there was a possibility of betrayal.

In the Faction Panel, a sense of belonging of 85 was considered a relatively upper-middle value, allowing the member to be categorized as a core member.

And in the Faction Panel, the most important reason for Train Captain Liu Lei of the Three Mountains' increased sense of belonging could also be seen—

That is, the two bottles of blue Physique Enhancement Potion.

After using them, his sense of belonging increased by a full 60 points, almost as he said, his willingness to be a subordinate was entirely due to the potion's effect.

Indeed, what men valued most was the 'sexual happiness' of their 'little brother's' life.