MDT Chapter 249 (Patreon)

Chapter 249: This Thing Is Just Broken

In terms of sheer power, the "Doomsday Autocannon" was no match for the "Comet Main Cannon."

At the same level, the latter could completely crush the former. After all, they were in different leagues—both caliber and grade—but the main issue was cost-effectiveness.

Chen Mang didn't dwell on it.

He immediately slapped the blueprint for the red-grade accessory "Magnetic Levitation" onto the control console.

He spent 50,000 units of Iron Ore to manufacture it.

Then, in one go, he spent another 10,450,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade it to Level 20.

Accessories that increased the train's speed always came with a hefty price tag.

Red-grade accessories maxed out at Level 20, and this upgrade hit that ceiling directly.

The Level 20 Magnetic Levitation accessory alone had a theoretical output of 2000km/h. But factoring in the train's current configuration—the Level 10 "Nitro Booster," the Level 10 "Supercharged Tailpipe," and the base speed of the Level 11 train itself—the system calculated a different number.

At this moment—

The control console screen showed that the train's maximum speed could now reach 1980km/h!

An extremely terrifying number.

Back in the magnetic levitation tunnel of the "Geocentric Nuke," his maximum speed had only been 2120km/h. Now, his train could stably maintain its top speed at this number.

Erdan's "Traveling Frog" train could reach a top speed of 6000km/h.

But that was with its train maneuver activated.

Without the maneuver, its normal top speed was only 3000km/h. Although it was still faster than his, Erdan's train was just a small, compact locomotive, while his was a mechanical dragon.

Completely different leagues.

It was like the former could run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, which was very fast.

The latter could run a 30-kilometer marathon at a pace of 100 meters every 11 seconds.

The former was the limit of human achievement.

The latter would require divine intervention.

The base speed of the Magnetic Levitation accessory was 100km/h, which wasn't high, but each upgrade added 100km/h, and upgrading it to Level 20 in one go also unlocked three Advanced Effects.

[Magnetic Levitation Level 5 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption while driving.]
[Magnetic Levitation Level 10 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption while driving.]
[Magnetic Levitation Level 20 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption while driving.]

At the same time, two more lines of information appeared on the screen.

[Warning: Train's maximum speed is approaching 2000km/h. Please ensure the train has Level 9 Armor or a continuously active Level 9 Energy Shield when traveling at this speed; otherwise, uncontrollable events may occur.]

[Detected: Train is equipped with a Level 100 Magnetic Harvester, which can synergize with the Magnetic Levitation accessory.]

[The 'Magnetic Levitation' accessory allows the train to achieve equilibrium with the planet's magnetic field and levitate in the air, moving forward rapidly with greatly reduced friction. A Level 100 Magnetic Harvester allows for more precise control over magnetic field fluctuations, resulting in smoother travel and more responsive handling.]

[And—]

"So that's how it works."

Chen Mang nodded thoughtfully. The general idea was that with a Level 100 Magnetic Harvester, he could control the Magnetic Levitation accessory more freely, coming and going as he pleased, stopping wherever he wanted. It also required the "Train Auxiliary AI" to be above Level 10 to have enough processing power to calculate this information in real-time while driving.

Normal.

He could completely understand that.

But the most important part was what came next.

[...And, by twisting the magnetic field with the Magnetic Harvester, the train can achieve instant acceleration, going from zero to its top speed of 1980km/h in just 0.6 seconds.]

This was a fucking catapult.

He'd never seen such a fast starting speed, not even on Erdan's train. Without an "Internal Space Stabilizer," in a completely unprotected state, this kind of acceleration would definitely kill some of the train's residents.

Acceleration.

It was actually a weakness for all trains.

A big reason he'd been attacked by that two-headed monster when he first entered this cavern was that the train accelerated too slowly. He'd sensed it, but the train was big and long, and couldn't accelerate instantly.

If he'd had this thing then, he definitely wouldn't have been hit.

It's just that…

Crashing into the cavern wall at this speed would definitely scramble some brains.

Without hesitation, he spent 2,620,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade both the "Permanent Shock Dampener" and the "Internal Space Stabilizer" to Level 100.

He obtained four brand-new Advanced Effects.

[Permanent Shock Dampener Level 20 Advanced Effect: None.]
[Permanent Shock Dampener Level 50 Advanced Effect: None.]
[Permanent Shock Dampener Level 100 Advanced Effect: None.]

[Internal Space Stabilizer Level 20 Advanced Effect: Makes spatial accessories such as the 'Spatial Door' inside the carriages more stable.]
[Internal Space Stabilizer Level 50 Advanced Effect: When the train enters a time rift, the crew members will not be affected by the negative effects of the passage of time.]
[Internal Space Stabilizer Level 100 Advanced Effect: When the train begins a wormhole jump, the interior of the train will not be affected.]

The Permanent Shock Dampener accessory didn't even have a Level 5 Advanced Effect.

From beginning to end, not a single Advanced Effect.

Pure stat boosts.

A Level 100 Permanent Shock Dampener looked much more reassuring. Even if the train crashed into the cavern wall at nearly 2000km/h, it wouldn't send the crew's heads spinning.

It's just that…

"…"

Chen Mang looked at the Internal Space Stabilizer's Advanced Effects with a strange expression. This thing could maintain spatial stability in "time rifts" and "wormhole jumps"?

Was this really just a yellow-grade accessory?

It looked like it should be at least red-grade.

But for now, they were useless.

He couldn't access such things yet. Might be able to use them in the future, but definitely not anytime soon. The Advanced Effect that made accessories like the "Spatial Door" more stable was quite practical, though.

Not bad.

Over ten million units of Iron Ore, just like that, gone.

"Hmm…"

After a moment's contemplation, Chen Mang decided to make today a speed-focused session. Since the "Magnetic Levitation" was already built, he might as well upgrade those boosters too.

The Stellar currently had 2 boosters.

The green-grade accessory "Nitro Booster."

The yellow-grade accessory "Supercharged Tailpipe."

He spent 1,980,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade both accessories to Level 100.

The speed increase from the "Nitro Booster" reached 1020km per hour.

The speed increase from the "Supercharged Tailpipe" reached 2040km/h.

"This thing is just broken."

Chen Mang sighed with a hint of resignation. The red-grade accessory "Magnetic Levitation" had a base speed of 100km/h and added 100km/h with each level.

The green-grade accessory "Nitro Booster" had a base speed of 30km/h and added 10km/h with each level.

The yellow-grade accessory "Supercharged Tailpipe" had a base speed of 60km/h and added 20km/h with each level.

On paper, the former completely crushed the others.

At least on paper.

But he couldn't help it…

He had a cheat.

With a single "Infinite Upgrade," he'd spent 1,980,000 units of Iron Ore to increase his speed by 3060km/h.

The train's current maximum speed had reached 5040km/h.

This was the top speed in a completely normal state, without activating any train maneuvers or Advanced Effects.

Pure stats.

This speed alone was already catching up to Erdan's train with its maneuver activated.

But it wasn't over. These two boosters also gained corresponding Advanced Effects.

[Supercharged Tailpipe Level 20 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]
[Supercharged Tailpipe Level 50 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]
[Supercharged Tailpipe Level 100 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]

[Nitro Booster Level 20 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]
[Nitro Booster Level 50 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]
[Nitro Booster Level 100 Advanced Effect: Halves energy consumption.]

All of them were consumption reduction.

The Level 5 Advanced Effects of these two accessories were also consumption reduction, which meant each accessory had 4 energy consumption reduction effects. As their levels increased, the consumption of these accessories also became extremely large.

Energy is conserved.

No matter how high the accessory level, to achieve such speed, the energy consumption would definitely be substantial. With these consumption reduction effects, the drain during high-speed travel would be much lower.

But it wasn't over.

This quest for ultimate speed had not yet ended.

Chen Mang looked at the "Windfire Wheels" component on the train's 3D model. With a hint of reluctance, he chose to have the "Wheel Swapper" devour the "Windfire Wheels" and inherit their speed to the "Magnetic Levitation."

The next moment—

Several lines of information appeared on the control console screen.

[The green-grade accessory has been successfully devoured. The 'Magnetic Levitation' accessory's speed has increased by 120km/h, and there is a small chance of obtaining the Windfire Wheels' Level 10 Advanced Effect.]

[When speeding with a tailwind in gale-force weather, the Windfire Wheels will ignite, granting a massive boost to speed.]

Looking at the second line of text, Chen Mang smiled. When he got back to Crisis Valley, he'd offer a few sticks of incense to the heavens. His luck had always been good.

With this Advanced Effect, combined with the "Weather Controller," the train's speed could be greatly increased again.

And both the "Supercharged Tailpipe" and the "Nitro Booster" had a common Advanced Effect, which was that the boosters could be combined into one, greatly increasing speed.

"Xiao Ai."

"Help me calculate, if I activate all the Advanced Effects, what's the fastest speed the train can reach with its current load."

"8900km/h." Xiao Ai's voice soon sounded in the locomotive: "To travel at this extreme speed, you would need to consume one Level 4 Energy Stone per hour."

"I have many consumption reduction Advanced Effects."

"Yes, without these consumption reduction Advanced Effects, you'd need at least a Level 5 Energy Stone."

"…"

Chen Mang pursed his lips and didn't say anything more. Alright. One Level 4 Energy Stone was 500,000 units of Iron Ore, which was equivalent to consuming 5 million bread slices per hour.

8900km/h was equal to Mach 7.26.

What did that mean?

In his previous world, the cruising speed of a commercial airliner was about 900 kilometers per hour. The Stellar's extreme speed was 10 times that.

A certain fighter jet's maximum speed was 2750 kilometers per hour. The Stellar was 3.2 times that.

Some extremely famous missiles had a maximum speed of Mach 10. The Stellar was 0.7 times that.

At this speed, it would only take a little over 4 hours to circle his previous planet.

This speed was basically the peak that could be reached on a planet.

Of course…

If he wanted to break out into space, this speed was far from enough. Forget about traveling in space—out in the void, this would barely qualify as drifting.

And the screen also displayed a corresponding prompt.

[Speed over 3000km/h requires at least Level 10 Armor.]
[Speed over 4000km/h requires at least Level 11 Armor.]
[Speed over 5000km/h requires at least Level 12 Armor.]
[Speed over 6000km/h requires at least Level 13 Armor.]
[Speed over 7000km/h requires at least Level 14 Armor.]
[...]

With the train's current armor, it could reach a top speed of nearly 6000km/h. Any higher and there would be a risk of disintegration.

With that—

The train's speed was instantly raised a notch.

Without any train maneuvers, its top speed crushed the "Traveling Frog."

"This isn't right."

Chen Mang sighed with a hint of resignation. The Traveling Frog was originally the Stellar's scout, specializing in speed. Now, this speed-focused scout couldn't even run as fast as him. How could that be?

That wasn't right.

Then he couldn't help but smile.

Very good.

He liked it. This harvest was solid. The total cost of this speed upgrade was 15.1 million units of Iron Ore.

Basically, he didn't have to worry about speed for a while.

The following days became a long period of mining.

Day after day.

Even the Level 2 iron mines were all dug up. Normally, he wouldn't even stop for them, since a Level 2 iron mine was basically only two or three hundred thousand units of Iron Ore, which wasn't worth much.

But since they were all gathered together, and there were quite a few.

He certainly couldn't miss them.

A Level 2 iron mine had a pitiful yield—barely two or three hundred thousand units each. But there were 14 of them scattered across this sector. Every little bit counted. In the apocalypse, scraps today kept you alive tomorrow.

He'd also obtained a special item in the Zombie Basin, a "Level 3 Iron Mine Refresh Scroll."

He'd never used it.

He'd originally planned to save it for a rainy day, when he couldn't find any more mines. But now, he didn't plan to save it anymore. He just activated it and dug it up along with the others.

There weren't just iron mines here, but also copper mines and Titanium Crystal Ore.

It took nearly a month of digging.

All the mines here were finally completely excavated, mainly because the low-level mines took a little time. This month, almost no residents had a single day off.

"BOOM—"

When the long-awaited whistle sounded again, the Stellar finally set off on its return journey, heading toward Crisis Valley along the train tunnel.

Time to go home.

He hadn't seen the sun in a month and was really starting to miss it.

He felt like he'd been in seclusion for a month, in complete darkness.

Today, he was out.

The Stellar floated in the low air of the train tunnel, shooting forward at high speed. A huge roar followed, and he could even see the airflow fluctuations in the air with his naked eye.

Speed maxed out.

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