81: Golden Racing City

Golden Racing City is different from the Clamshell Cottage area; it’s a purely man-made tourist attraction.

It’s like a giant arena.

Around it are various small betting stalls, guessing games, and arcade machines.

The terrain is designed to descend from high to low, from the outside in.

Standing on the periphery, one can get an unobstructed view of the man-made racing track at the very center.

Inside, there are tracks for shrunken vehicles to race, with terrain including swamps, hillsides, cliffs, lakes, rolling hills, and highlands.

The registration point for the racing competition is very conspicuous, located under a giant golden fist emblem.

Lu Yang walked over, and many tourists were already queuing.

Because participating in the competition is free, tourists who feel confident in their abilities all want to try it.

When it was Lu Yang's turn, the recorder routinely registered the tourist's information.

The female recorder, wearing a tall hat, was very enthusiastic: “Hello, Tier 1 tourist Lu Yang, your vehicle level is detected as Tier 3, so you can only participate in the Tier 3 group competition. Everyone only has one chance to participate. Do you confirm your registration?”

Lu Yang handed over his shrunken train and nodded, saying, “Confirmed!”

The female recorder: “Alright. This tourist racing competition adopts a time-trial mode. As long as you register before the registration deadline, you can participate.”

“Please take your entry number plate and wait in the rest area.”

“When it’s almost your turn, a staff member will notify you.”

The rest area is actually the grandstand area, filled with stalls for betting and gambling, as well as arcade machines to pass the time.

Tourists can play arcade games when bored, and if they see a train they are interested in, they can track it in real-time through observation glasses.

Of course, the most exciting part is guessing the rankings of the participating vehicles, which is the most eye-catching.

Currently, hanging on the betting board, the most heavily wagered vehicle is a Tier 5 vehicle—the Sea Serpent Clan’s Great Sea Serpent.

His time for clearing the Tier 5 map was 33 minutes and 14 seconds, a full 7 minutes and 42 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Therefore, everyone bet on him to win first place in the Tier 5 group, resulting in his current odds being 40:1.

That means if you bet 40 coastal coins, you only get 1 coastal coin when you win.

But people still flocked to bet.

Winning a little is better than losing!

The second most wagered is the current first place in the Tier 4 group, the Terrestrial Centipede Boat.

This vehicle is very peculiar; it is actually powered by human strength, carried by Terrestrial Clan members with astonishing jumping ability.

The Terrestrial Clan members are all tall and strong, with legs as thick as pillars, and a single collective jump can carry the Terrestrial Centipede Boat several miles.

Although its sustained endurance is average, its short-term burst speed is astonishing.

It all depends on the stamina of the Terrestrial Clan members carrying it.

Its clearance time is 49 minutes and 29 seconds, 4 minutes and 49 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

The third most wagered position, however, kept changing.

One moment it was the Tier 3 group’s thousand feather sail gliding cabin, the next it was the Tier 6 group’s Bogu Colossus; both were nearly three minutes faster than the second-place finisher.

Lu Yang glanced a few times, then withdrew his gaze.

Then he focused his attention on the pachinko machine in front of him.

He hadn't expected that a random game machine he picked to pass the time would actually offer copper matrix ore as a reward.

That’s right, it was the copper matrix ore needed to upgrade the miracle building, Miniature Mine.

Although Lu Yang had acquired several tens of units of Tier 1 copper matrix ore through trades with other trains, he was still short 37 units of copper matrix ore for the upgrade.

He had originally been wondering how to obtain it.

He hadn't expected to find it available on the pachinko machine right in front of him.

The pachinko machine costs five coastal coins per play, giving five balls to shoot into the holes with a plunger.

The pachinko machine is tilted upwards at a forty-five-degree angle, with some obstacles in the middle resembling seaweed and tree branches.

There are eight holes symbolizing small shrimp, six crab holes, six sea fish holes, four giant whale holes, and four holes marked with the four large characters: ‘Gold’, ‘en’, ‘Sea’, ‘Coast’.

As long as four out of five balls hit the same type of hole, a reward is obtained, starting with five units of Tier 3 energy ore, ten units for hitting crabs, twenty units for sea fish, and one unit of Tier 1 special ore for giant whales.

Tourists can choose their reward after hitting, and copper matrix ore is among them.

If they hit the Golden Coast, they can obtain ten units of special ore at once.

However, the difficulty is higher; one must coincidentally pass through the winding seaweed and tree branches to have a chance.

Lu Yang tried it out, and on his first attempt, he succeeded in hitting four crabs, extracting ten units of tier 3 iron ore.

Then he started playing.

After the Blessing of the Sea, Lu Yang, whose physical fitness had fully reached the level of a Tier 1 professional, found playing such small games incredibly easy.

He hardly ever missed, and in a short while, he had acquired over a hundred units of tier 3 iron ore.

However, he had only obtained one unit of his target, copper matrix ore.

Once, he almost hit the Golden Coast, but unfortunately, he missed by a tiny bit; the last ball grazed the edge of ‘Sea’ and rolled into a nearby giant whale hole.

He was filled with regret.

He didn't even notice a beautiful girl in a light green seaweed skirt standing beside him, who had appeared at some unknown time.

It wasn't until Wa Qi, unable to bear it any longer, croaked once that he reacted and glanced to the side.

Then he immediately exclaimed in surprise: “Luo Luo?!”

Luo Luo smiled sweetly: “My Lord, I’m back~”

“I saw My Lord playing here for a long time; are you short on energy ore?”

Lu Yang shook his head: “I want the special ore, copper matrix ore. An item on the train needs it for an upgrade.”

Upon hearing this, Wa Qi couldn't help but glance at Lu Yang.

Nothing that requires special ore for an upgrade is simple; as expected of the inheritor of the Golden Civilization Fire, he already possesses such an item at such a low vehicle level.

Luo Luo didn't overthink it like Wa Qi, she just shook Lu Yang’s arm and asked: “Then how many units of copper matrix ore does My Lord need? I might be able to help you.”

Lu Yang: “You help me?”

“How would you help?”

“If it’s asking for help from your clan, then forget it; I don’t want to embarrass you.”

Luo Luo was both touched and amused: “My Lord, do I only ask for help from my clan?”

“Step aside, I’ll play once to show you, guaranteed to achieve your goal. But let’s agree beforehand, just once, okay? More than that wouldn’t be worth it.”

Lu Yang was somewhat puzzled.

Why was Luo Luo so certain?

Could she be a pachinko master?

However, out of trust, he still gave his spot to Luo Luo and set the bet to five times as she requested.

A minute later, watching one ball enter the small shrimp, one enter the crab, one enter the sea fish, one enter the giant whale, and one enter ‘Sea’.

Five balls, five different types.

And a big red ‘X’ on the winning display.

Lu Yang felt that he had been a bit too hard on Luo Luo.

But seeing Luo Luo stick out her tongue and say ‘uh oh’ in a playful manner, Lu Yang smiled.

He set the bet to five times again.

“Keep playing. I still have plenty of coastal coins.”

Luo Luo leaned close to Lu Yang’s ear, “My Lord, you’re so kind, but I did that on purpose just now to avoid attracting too much attention. Now watch closely, I guarantee I’ll achieve the goal.”

After saying that, she gave Lu Yang’s cheek a light peck, like a little bird, then sat back in front of the pachinko machine.

Then she clicked four times, patting her hands confidently, “Alright!!”

To Lu Yang’s disbelief, the four balls that were shot out bounced around, and after about ten seconds, they all, without exception, bounced into the ‘Golden Coast’ holes.

A green checkmark lit up.

Luo Luo quickly clicked a few times, selecting copper matrix ore.

“Clatter, clatter, clatter,”

Dozens of bronze-green ores fell from the prize redemption area and were quickly scooped by Luo Luo into a small bag she pulled out from who knows where.

Then she pulled Lu Yang away from the pachinko machine like a thief in a hurry.