28: Secondary iron ore

Evening.

Inside the Xinhuo Train passenger car.

Passengers who had rested all day were idly looking out the window.

Suddenly, everyone's personal terminal wristband vibrated with a hum.

"Look, everyone, look, Master Yang has issued a new notice."

"For every 20 work points earned, you get a meal ticket, and for an additional 5 work points, you can enjoy a bun feast?"

"Look at the accompanying picture, the meat buns are glistening with oil, it's too appetizing."

"I don't know how long it's been since I smelled buns."

"With 500 work points, you can even be promoted from a Level 4 passenger to a Level 3 passenger, and sleep in a berth like the Train Police, oh my god, Master Yang is too benevolent, we can also enjoy Train Police treatment?"

"The daily basic food ration has also changed; as long as you complete the basic work tasks, you can eat coarse wheat bread, which is much tastier than coarse bran bread slices, it doesn't get stuck in your throat and is easy to swallow."

"Work, I want to work!!!"

After issuing the new notice, the Xinhuo Train, which had stopped for most of the day to avoid the acid rain disaster, finally restarted.

The outer Green Mist Forest is mainly mountainous and hilly, with varying elevations and towering trees everywhere, so trains usually don't like to go this way.

Only the Train Captain, who had obtained the Centipede Wheels blueprint, would come here to try his luck.

Before the acid rain disaster, there were two Train Captains of Level 2 Trains active here.

Unfortunately, the outer Green Mist Forest experienced a sudden Level 2 acid rain disaster superimposed with a Level 1 White-Winged Insect disaster, and with the slow speed of the Level 1 Centipede Wheels at 60 kilometers per hour, they were surrounded by the White-Winged Insect disaster before they could get far.

Lu Yang drove the Xinhuo Train specifically to the place where their signals disappeared, and apart from two vehicle frames, the two Level 2 Trains were almost completely corroded away.

Even the Mechanical Heart didn't respond.

Indicating they were completely worthless.

On the resource detection radar, the marked Level 2 Iron Mine point was located in a deeper part of the outer Green Mist Forest, and even with the Xinhuo Train's Level 5 Centipede Wheels' speed of 100 kilometers per hour, it took more than half an hour to reach.

This was also thanks to the characteristic [Hard Drilling] obtained after the Centipede Wheels reached Level 5.

After the Centipede Wheels were upgraded to Level 5, each Centipede Wheel became like a drill, capable of drilling into hard rock and adhering to it.

This meant that even on some cliffs, the Xinhuo Train could climb using its Centipede Wheels.

However, the speed was very slow, not much faster than a normal person walking, and when encountering difficult rocks, the noise was very loud.

The front of the Xinhuo Train, after the last major upgrade, also gained a unique vehicle component—

Three layers, upper, middle, and lower, with two parallel circular blades, each over a meter in diameter.

This was the characteristic [Saw Chain Blade] obtained after the Vehicle Blade component was upgraded to Level 5.

The original Vehicle Blade was just a large triangular iron plate with a sharp edge attached to the front of the train, using the train's speed and inertia to cut through enemies in front.

It was not only inefficient but also prone to getting stuck and damaged.

Now, these circular, serrated Vehicle Blades can not only rotate and cut, easily slicing trees, zombies, and other obstacles into pieces.

After spending additional resources, 60cm long, small Saw Chain Blades, like chainsaws, can also be installed on the bodies of other carriages, providing all-round protection for the train.

However, the energy consumption is very high; according to Xiao Xin's calculations, at full operation, with the current energy consumption of eight carriages, a Level 1 high-energy battery can only last for a maximum of one hour.

Under normal circumstances, a high-energy battery is enough to support the train running at full speed for 50 hours, or provide daily electricity for all carriages for 10 days.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

"Crack—"

The Saw Chain Blade cut through the last small patch of obstructing trees, and the Xinhuo Train finally reached the designated Level 2 Iron Mine collection point.

This place was located deep within the outer Green Mist Forest, not far from the Inner Green Mist Forest of the Intermediate Zone, with faint mist rising everywhere.

The collection point was surrounded by a large patch of woods, with only a dark cave entrance, taller than a person, partially obscured by large vines.

If it weren't for the resource detection radar's marking, an ordinary person would find it difficult to discover even standing three meters away.

By this time, dusk was falling.

Using the Xinhuo Train's Saw Chain Blade, Lu Yang cleared the surroundings before allowing the passengers to disembark.

Because of the newly announced promotion mechanism for benefits, even though the environment outside the train seemed relatively harsh, the passengers had no complaints; instead, they obediently followed the arrangements of the Train Police and entered the mine shaft one by one.

Inside the cave were light strips installed by the Train Police in advance, identical to those in the train carriages, using Level 1 high-energy batteries as an external power source, which could last for more than half a month even if left on 24 hours a day.

The passengers, who had rested all day and just had a hearty meal, were full of energy; holding Level 2 pickaxes, they entered the cave, found a collection point, and began to dig with a 'ping-pong-pang' sound.

Before long, this sound was everywhere in the mine shaft, audible from hundreds of meters outside the cave.

At this time, outside the mine shaft, at Lu Yang's arrangement, large bonfires, two to three meters high, were lit along the edge where the mine shaft and forest met.

The raw material came from scattered pieces of wood that were everywhere in the surroundings.

Under the cutting of the Saw Chain Blade, these towering ancient trees, thick enough for one or two people to embrace, were basically cut into lengths of about one meter.

After setting up a few, and adding one unit of wood to ignite them, they could burn for at least a day and a night.

Illuminating the Xinhuo Train and the area around the mine shaft brightly.

In reality, these bonfires had little effect on defending against small mutated beasts that might appear in the forest.

Even Level 1 mutated beasts would not be afraid of ordinary bonfires.

However, they could provide visual assistance to the Train Police on the Xinhuo Train.

This way, when the enemy detection radar found enemy signals and transmitted them to Yang Kui and his team via their personal terminals, they could locate the target immediately and then quickly shoot them down with Level 5 flintlock rifles with a range of up to 300 meters.

If more than five mutated beasts came at the same time, the Kuangfeng I Light Machine Gun would briefly fire under Xiao Xin's control.

Occasionally, one or two medium-sized mutated beasts, over five meters in size, would rush over, to be met with a burst of explosive light.

Under the dual characteristics of the Level 5 Repeating Ballista combined with 'Explosive Arrows,' these medium-sized mutated beasts would be blown to smithereens with just one arrow, their flesh and bones scattered everywhere.

Thus, amidst the occasional 'thwack,' 'da-da,' and 'bang' background sounds, passengers who had been busy all night gradually emerged from the mine shaft.

This was a rest notification sent by Xiao Xin based on everyone's physical exertion; tired passengers could return to the train to eat and drink some water, then rest to replenish their energy.

Those who felt they could continue could keep working.

In any case, Lu Yang treated all passengers equally; one work point would be earned for every unit of Iron Mine dug, recorded in real-time by their personal terminals, so no one else could steal it.

The more work points earned, the better the benefits that could be enjoyed.

It was all up to individual choice.