MDT Chapter 146 Part 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 146 Part 1: An Invitation from the World-Weary

Chen Mang looked at the amount of iron ore, took out 3.2 million units, and upgraded the armor of all 15 carriages, including the locomotive, to Level 7.

With Level 7 armor, he wouldn't be too afraid even if he went to a yellow zone.

He still had 1.55 million units of iron ore.

After a moment of thought, he took out 950,000 units of iron ore and built a "Doomsday Autocannon" on each of the first ten carriages, and upgraded them all to Level 10!

He currently had the train maneuver "Death Spiral" and the "Ground-Burst Missile" for dealing with bosses, but the former had a cooldown, and the latter was too expensive.

For weaker monsters, he had heavy machine guns, carriage blades, a drill, and the 18-barrel Sakura-Fall Rocket Launcher. He hadn't had a chance to use the rocket launcher yet.

The firepower accessory for intimidation was the "Rapid-Shot Crossbow."

The effect of this white-grade accessory was too poor. He was even prepared to dismantle those rapid-shot crossbows when he needed a new carriage in the future and free up the space.

He had something for both strong and weak opponents.

He just didn't have anything for the middle-of-the-road ones, and the "Doomsday Autocannon" perfectly filled this gap.

Chen Mang walked off the train and stood on the Sand River Plains, looking at the Stellar parked on the plains.

A total of 15 carriages.

Each carriage was covered with thick, dark armor. If it smashed with a pickaxe, one could hear a dull echo.

And outside the carriages were 4 Tripod-Mounted Heavy Machine Guns, 10 Doomsday Autocannons, and 1 "Hell Cannon."

The Doomsday Autocannon had the largest caliber.

It was more than three times the size of the Hell Cannon and far surpassed the heavy machine gun. It was also an 18-barrel Gatling-style weapon with an extremely fast rate of fire. Any carbon-based lifeform would find it hard to withstand a single volley.

The "Hell Cannon" and "Doomsday Autocannon" were both blue-grade accessories.

The Hell Cannon was from when the train was upgraded to Level 4. He had only built one and hadn't upgraded it, simply to meet the train's upgrade conditions.

It was a transitional firepower accessory, and there was no need to waste resources on it.

But the "Doomsday Autocannon" was different.

As a blue-grade accessory, it had sixteen more barrels than the Hell Cannon. Its power was self-evident.

Most importantly…

The Level 5 advanced effect of this accessory was that consumption was halved. This effect was unremarkable on other accessories, but on a firepower accessory, it was extremely excellent.

The Level 10 advanced effect was that consumption was halved again.

Two consecutive halvings.

"Level 1 Shell": 5 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

"Level 2 Shell": 10 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

"Level 3 Shell": 20 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

"Level 4 Shell": 50 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

"Level 6 Shell": 100 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

"Level 7 Shell": 200 units of copper ore to build 1 shell.

The price of a Level 6 shell was originally 100 units of copper ore. After two halvings, it was 25 units of copper ore.

This price was much cheaper than heavy machine gun bullets.

A Level 6 heavy machine gun bullet cost 100 units of copper ore.

The price was much lower, but the power was greater. The cost-effectiveness was almost maxed out!

"Pretty good."

Chen Mang looked at the 10 "Doomsday Autocannons" on the Stellar with great satisfaction. The Stellar currently had 850,000 units of copper ore, enough to buy nearly 100,000 Level 6 shells.

One hundred thousand shells.

Washing the ground would be no problem.

That was an autocannon, not a machine gun. The shells would explode!

"Whew!"

He let out a long breath, a sense of security welling up in his heart. In the apocalypse, to have a train with such a configuration was pure enjoyment. The bullet problem that had been plaguing him was also solved at this moment.

"Consumption halved."

This effect on a firepower accessory was simply a god-tier ability!

If only he could choose the advanced effects himself.

He would change all the advanced effects of all firepower accessories from Level 1 to 50 to "consumption halved." In the future, he could basically walk sideways, setting off fireworks wherever he went.

Chen Mang checked his iron ore balance.

He only had 600,000 units of iron ore left.

The ore he had worked so hard to dig for two days was all gone in a few minutes.

Just then—

Someone sent him a private message.

"A-Rank Potential Level 5 Train, the World-Weary": "Friend, can we meet and talk? Someone asked me to connect with you, wants to get to know you."

"The World-Weary?"

Chen Mang's brow furrowed slightly. He had an impression of this train. It was the mechanical train with the highest potential in the Sand River Plains besides him.

He didn't think much of it and just sent three dots.

"Don't be so quick to refuse."

"In the apocalypse, everyone has a chance to get an opportunity and soar to the sky, but that is not sustainable."

"All the A-rank and above potential Flesh Trains in the Sand River Plains were supported by them."

"Including in the White Zone, there are quite a few trains they support by supplying slaves, resources, accessory blueprints, and the like."

"You came from the Ironridge Wasteland."

"In your region, there are also several promising trains that have accepted their funding."

"I must make one thing clear to you again."

"They don't have any malicious intent. You absolutely must not think we're trying to harm you. In the apocalypse, our common enemy is the monsters. No one would scheme to send a fast-developing train to its doom—that would be foolish."

"If they held such views, they never would have been able to attract so many people to join them."

"For our first meeting."

"A private one, just the two of us. How about we meet in the 'Combat Training Virtual Space'? I believe that should ease your concerns. I'll open a private arena room, number '28301,' with the password as six 8s."

"If you're willing, we can talk in the arena."

"I'm sure you've upgraded that accessory to Level 5 by now."

"…"

Chen Mang stared at the long string of text in the private chat window of the train radio. After a long moment of frowning contemplation, he strode toward the Combat Training Virtual Space.

An organization?

After the apocalypse began, the entire world had been divided into several regions. High-level trains were absolutely forbidden from entering low-level regions. Under such circumstances, how could an organization be established? He didn't mind meeting with the other party; they clearly knew more than he did.

After the Combat Training Virtual Space was upgraded to Level 5, one could participate in ranked matches and fight against members of other trains of the same level.

Five minutes later.

Chen Mang stood alone on an arena platform within the "Combat Training Virtual Space." Facing him was a rather young man, not very tall, about 1.7 meters.

"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Qi Tian."

The young man smiled and sat on the ground, gesturing for him to sit as well before speaking. "Try to relax. When I was first contacted by this organization, I was just as wary as you are."

"But you have to believe one thing."

"In the apocalypse, even a train captain guilty of the most heinous crimes has merit. He can kill more monsters."

"Chen Mang."

Chen Mang replied, also sitting cross-legged on the ground, though his brow was slightly furrowed. He hadn't shown any wariness or nervousness; with his strength, he had no reason to fear him.

But from the very first private message to this meeting, the other party had been constantly telling him to relax.

This was a common PUA tactic used by those in superior positions.

A few repeated phrases of "relax," and even if you felt fine, you'd start to feel tense. It also allowed them to seize control of the conversation's underlying power dynamic. Most people wouldn't sense the hidden manipulation in these words, but it was a method he had frequently used when managing his company before the apocalypse. He could detect it with sharp sensitivity.

"Alright."

The young man nodded with a serious expression. "Then let's begin our first official contact. The organization's name is 'Tianping.' Before we start our conversation, let me ask you a few questions. A white-grade accessory blueprint is surely useless to you now, right?"

"It's useful."

"Even if it's useful, it can't be that useful, right?"

"It's very useful."

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