MDT Chapter 281 (Patreon)

Chapter 281: Budding Spring

After the train upgraded to Level 15, the biggest change was—

Xiao Lu woke up.

Chen Mang tilted his head and glanced at Xiao Lu, sprawled on a nearby chair. Beyond that, another new function had materialized on the control console: Accelerated Growth.

"..."

He studied the function's introduction panel thoughtfully. The gist was straightforward: it accelerated the growth of all crops in the carriages, drastically reducing their maturation cycle. A lifestyle-type function.

Not bad.

It could force crops and fruits in the Reproduction Carriage to mature quickly. However, different crops demanded different soil environments, and he had no idea how Uncle Li was managing it. He wasn't overseeing that particular matter—his subordinates could handle it.

He couldn't know everything. He wasn't a god.

Secondly—

After reaching Level 15, another craftable accessory was unlocked.

["Spacetime Jump": Red-grade accessory. Crafting cost: 50,000 units of Iron Ore.]

Only one craftable accessory.

But the effect was genuinely impressive. Damn, effective for running away.

It could be activated once per day. On activation, a portal materialized before the train, teleporting it to a random corner of the current region.

The catch?

"Only able to teleport to a random corner of the current region"—that was a severe limitation. You couldn't run far. He'd encountered two trains with this red-grade accessory before. He'd assumed they'd grabbed it from an Encounter Map. So was it a craftable option available to every train?

"This is a headache."

Chen Mang muttered. If a train provoked him and then vanished via Spacetime Jump, he'd waste hours searching for them across the region. Time he couldn't afford to lose.

He immediately spent 50,000 units of Iron Ore to craft it, then dumped another 7.75 million units into upgrading it to Level 20 in one shot.

Upgrading this accessory changed nothing functionally.

It still activated once per day, but it had gained three Advanced Effects.

[Spacetime Jump Level 5 Advanced Effect: Consumption halved.]

[Spacetime Jump Level 10 Advanced Effect: Can consume a large amount of energy to forcibly open a random wormhole. The wormhole's destination is unknown, landing in any random corner of the vast universe.]

[Spacetime Jump Level 20 Advanced Effect: Can create a new wormhole at the initial point of a recently dissipated wormhole based on its traces, and this wormhole will connect to the same point as the previous wormhole.]

"The Mechanical Civilization seems to have studied wormholes quite thoroughly."

Chen Mang stared at these three effects in silence. A portal was essentially a miniature wormhole entrance. No one knew where the "Goblin's Tomb" existed; perhaps it didn't even exist on this planet. The Mechanical Civilization could apparently conjure wormholes of any size at will.

Of these three Advanced Effects—

Only the first and third held real utility. The third, especially. Next time someone escaped via Spacetime Jump, he could follow right on their heels and give them a proper surprise.

As for the Level 10 Advanced Effect? Just reading the description made it sound brutal.

One red-grade accessory and a few million units of Iron Ore, and you could teleport anywhere in the universe. A genuine random universal teleporter.

He glanced at the consumption cost.

One Level 8 Energy Stone.

Equivalent to 5 billion units of Iron Ore.

Fuck your mother.

Who in their right mind could afford this?

"..."

Sitting in the control car, Chen Mang shook his head and stopped reading. The train held 142.2 million units of Iron Ore remaining. Once the Neon City harvest was tallied, he'd upgrade the Armor to Level 18, then push toward the Red Zone.

Monster levels in the Red Zone capped out at 18.

With Level 18 Armor, while it probably couldn't deflect all attacks from hostile trains, it would let him roll through the Red Zone's monsters without a scratch.

"Oh right, Xiao Ai."

Chen Mang remembered something. After thinking it through, he spoke: "That Time Rift we found in the city—the one that jammed the radar? Remember?"

"A few seconds passed outside," Xiao Ai recalled. "But thirty years inside."

"A middle-aged man walked in and came out ancient. And inside that Time Rift, eating, drinking, waste disposal—none of it mattered. No need to supplement energy or metabolic functions."

"I remember. What's on your mind, Train Captain?" Xiao Ai's voice crackled through.

"What happens if we throw an auto-operating Cyber Miner inside?"

"..."

Xiao Ai paused before responding: "I cannot calculate the outcome. However, that Time Rift is gone now. We would need to locate a new one for experimentation."

"Lord Shen's still alive?"

"Uncle Li's taking excellent care of him."

"Next time we find one, we'll use him for this test."

"Understood."

Right then—

Countless points of light materialized before Chen Mang. They coalesced slowly, forming a panel that displayed several lines of text.

[My apologies for the wait. This is the "Budding Spring" Encounter Map. Do you remember the test in the classroom during the first level? You successfully passed the first level, and 19 pioneers have also succeeded.]

[In 48 hours, the 20 pioneers, including you, must proceed to the second level to filter out the winners, who will then compete in the third level for the final victory.]

[The winner will receive a gift that is enough to make countless Train Captains' hearts beat faster.]

[It is a grand gift bestowed by the mechanical princess Tuo Tuo upon the wisest on this planet!]

[A small preview.]

[One of the gifts is called the "Star Map." It marks a large number of legal wormholes and coordinates, which can help you better find a suitable planet to settle and survive on. Illegal wormholes are not stabilized, carry a risk of collapse, and may lead to you being wanted if you land in the wrong location.]

[Second Level—]

[All Train Captains will no longer enter alone, but must pilot their own trains.]

"..."

Chen Mang's eyes narrowed as he stared at the panel, then at the red-glowing token resting in the drawer.

Remember? How could he forget?

This Encounter Map was the strangest he'd ever encountered. Failure within it could destabilize an entire region. It also offered the most generous rewards—a full 50 Level 4 mines. He'd originally spotted it in the Red Zone, specifically the "Twilight Coast," positioned at the junction between two regions. Autocannon fire could trigger it, giving Purple Zone trains like his a shot at entry.

The second level changed everything.

No longer solo entry for the Train Captain.

That meant fewer puzzle elements, more train-versus-train combat. The other pilots were probably all Red Zone trains. As a Level 15 train operating from the Purple Zone, the odds felt skewed.

He wanted that "Star Map" from the final reward, though.

"Prepare yourselves. In 48 hours, we enter. We're going in to win."

"Li Shiji will need to pull his weight. Tell him to rest, stay sharp, peak condition."

"Yes!"

"..."

Chen Mang fell silent. He watched the control console screen, keenly aware that the Red Zone loomed ahead. Above it lay only the Gold, Pink, and Rainbow zones—meaning he was just a handful of steps from the planet's most lethal region, the Rainbow Zone.

Just a handful of steps.

The finish line seemed within arm's reach now.

He simply had no idea what waited there.

Or whether reaching it brought reward or catastrophe.

…

Neon City.

Business hours had ended. Residents reveled in the plaza while, nearby, a large crowd lay scattered across the ground—completely spent. These were all residents with IDs in the top 1,000.

Initially, they'd been ecstatic. Arriving a full day early meant attending the train crew's wedding.

That granted them superiority—a privilege of low registration numbers.

In the apocalypse, celebrating with a crowded wedding reception? Genuinely thrilling. But things soured fast. One wedding banquet became two. Two became three.

Then there was another. And another.

They'd attended twenty banquets straight.

After that, the top 1,000 residents descended into something resembling delirium—shambling like the recently dead. If you photographed the eighteenth banquet and showed it to someone from before the collapse, they'd swear they were looking at a street full of drug addicts riding an absolute high.

Like some old Mexican border town.

The air reeked of something burnt and acrid.

Many things always found a way to spiral in spectacularly unexpected directions.

"Boss Mang."

Uncle Li observed his commander's back as he stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, then glanced down at the tablet and reported: "The Wedding Hall netted 11.6 million units of Iron Ore today. Production cost was essentially zero."

"We completed 20 Golden Weddings successfully."

"Not a single train chose Silver."

"Figures." Chen Mang stood leaning on his cane before the window. "Why pick Silver when Gold's available? How many Mining Robots moved yesterday? What's the profit?"

"Yesterday we sold 110 Mining Robots for 825,000 units of Iron Ore profit."

"Total for the day—"

"67.79 million units."

"Solid." Chen Mang nodded. The sharp revenue drop in Mining Robots was completely expected. Neon City had only so many residents, and those who needed them had already bought them last time. The newcomers this round didn't want robots.

"How many total arrivals yesterday?"

"2,312 people."

"Once numbers hit 5,000, switch to daily operations."

"Yes."

Chen Mang was about to issue more construction directives when Xiao Fang's voice cut through from behind.

"Boss Mang."

"Hmm?"

He turned instinctively. Upon seeing Xiao Fang, he smiled. "What brings you? Planning to kick back in Neon City with everyone else?"

"No. Chief Ai sent me. She says the Cyber Miner just produced something."

Chen Mang turned to Uncle Li: "Pull yesterday's profits out of Neon City."

Without hesitation, his body vanished from the spot.

…

Chen Mang returned to the control car. Xiao Ai was already waiting and spoke immediately: "Train Captain, the Cyber Mine has a delivery ready, but we haven't confirmed the contents yet."

"Either a pickaxe head or Level 9 ore."

Chen Mang walked into the washroom and scrubbed his hands methodically, as if washing away curse marks. Only then did he light a cigarette, his face tinged with quiet anticipation, and stride from the control car toward Carriage #2.

"Fifty-fifty shot. Let's see which one."

Several days had crawled past.

The Cyber Mine had finally produced again. Nearly all train residents had headed to Neon City for relaxation—except the fifty miners working their overnight shift in the Cyber Mine. Post-midnight was their grinding time.

Chen Mang stood on the "Horizontal Elevator" in Carriage #2, the transport system he'd personally constructed using the Heart of the Machine. It ran from Carriage #2 all the way to Carriage #15, cutting travel time drastically.

Standing normally on the elevator matched an adult's brisk walk speed.

When Chen Mang strode aggressively across it, his pace equaled a full sprint. The scenery whipped past, disorienting him—his body and eyes fell out of sync.

His body felt slow, but his eyes screamed he was moving fast.

The elevator drew power directly from the Generator via the electrical system.

This was what the "Heart of the Machine" offered. Mechanical products it created are linked directly to the "Generator" with zero power concerns.

He traveled to Carriage #10.

Chen Mang pushed open the Spatial Door to the "Cyber Mine" and spotted a resident perched on a bed's edge, staring at him with desperate eagerness. He pressed his left hand down sharply—no talking.

He walked to the bed's head, placed his hand on the Dreamstone, and examined the small portal that materialized beside it.

He reached in.

When his hand emerged, it held a piece of Level 9 Iron Ore—translucent and brilliant under the light. The Dreamstone's capacity at the bed's head plummeted to 5%.

"Hoo..."

Chen Mang drew a deep breath, gripping the Level 9 Iron Ore tightly. He left the area for Chief Ai to handle and strode back to the control car.

…

Inside the control car.

Chen Mang sank into his chair, studying the Level 9 Iron Ore in his palm. He began to laugh.

His laughter grew louder.

He wasn't celebrating the 100 million units of Iron Ore. He was celebrating having discovered a stable, efficient Iron Ore acquisition method. While he couldn't speak for other regions, he was almost certainly the only one with a functioning "Cyber Miner."

For others to build one, they'd need 98 Mofei Stones to upgrade the "Single Bed."

The cost was brutal, and Mofei Stones weren't easy to source. Even with Iron Ore, gathering 98 Mofei Stones quickly was nearly impossible.

The frustration?

Too few Dreamstones remained.

He had two Dreamstones now, semi-scrapped with just 5% capacity, unusable for new miners. Each of the fifty miners required one Dreamstone, and he had 66 in reserve.

He wanted to expand the "Cyber Mine" again—to 100 units, even 200.

But he lacked Dreamstones. Yesterday in Neon City he'd only acquired 4 total.

He needed to acquire more Dreamstones.

Acquiring Dreamstones meant Neon City needed veteran trains above Level 11. A train with roughly 1,000 residents took at least 6 months to generate one Dreamstone.

The apocalypse had lasted barely two years.

They were exceedingly rare—nearly impossible to source in bulk.

"..."

Chen Mang's brow creased as he pondered rapid Dreamstone acquisition. This mattered enormously; it determined whether the train could experience explosive growth. His target was veteran trains above Level 11. He couldn't rely on Mundo for this—his teleports were wholly random, uncontrollable.

Perhaps the second level of the "Budding Spring" Encounter Map, opening in 47 hours, would yield Dreamstones from the other 19 trains.

But that was small-scale, unstable.

He needed a reliable source.

"Xiao Ai."

"I'm listening."

"Identify a stable source for acquiring large quantities of Dreamstones."

"...Understood."

Only then did Chen Mang check the train's total resource panel. This month's development brought explosive gains. The train's resources had ballooned—

[310 million units of Iron Ore, 102.5 million units of Wood, 112 million units of Copper Ore, 123 million units of Crimson Heart Ore, 1.07 million units of Titanium Crystal Ore.]

Yesterday's Neon City Iron Ore earnings had been transferred to Carriage #3. This 310 million figure included the 1 Level 9 Iron Ore just extracted from the Cyber Mine.

Wood and Crimson Heart Ore were massively surplus—would take months to deplete. 100 million units of Copper Ore was sufficient to fuel several brutal confrontations.

Iron Ore remained most abundant.

Yet paradoxically, it felt scarce.

Spending it was easy—gone in minutes flat.

For example—

He was upgrading the Armor now to Level 18.

Jumping from Level 16 to 17 cost 20 million units per carriage.

Level 17 to 18 cost 30 million per carriage.

Sixteen carriages total. With manufacturing costs halved, that meant 240 million units of Iron Ore.

As 240 million units of Iron Ore transformed into dust and fused with the hull—

The train's Armor reached Level 18.

Just two more levels before that accessory's Level 20 Advanced Effect is unlocked. The price? The train's once-enormous Iron Ore reserves had plummeted to 69.99 million units.

"Back to being broke."

Chen Mang massaged his temples, frustrated. Iron Ore earnings simply couldn't keep pace with consumption. He needed to reach the Red Zone soon and hunt for Level 5 Iron Ore.. Level 4 mining was no longer sustainable.

Now he didn't even bother stopping for Level 3 iron mines. A million or two units was pocket change—barely worth the residents' fatigue. Better to let them rest so they'd have energy for the real deposits.

"240 million units of Iron Ore..."

"If that bought bread, it could feed 2.4 billion slices. How many people would that sustain..."

Time slipped past quickly.

Forty-eight hours evaporated. During this stretch, the Search Radar had pinged a nearby Level 3 iron mine, unmined. He'd ignored it. Despite what he said about being selective, if options truly dried up, he'd still dig it. The residents, however, had mined continuously for a month straight and genuinely needed rest. A few days' downtime seemed fair.

"..."

Night fell heavy with stars. All residents had retreated to their quarters. Chen Mang, however, sat in the control car studying the constantly flashing red token in the drawer.

Time for the "Budding Spring" Encounter Map.

Honestly? It had been a while. Since meeting Erdan, he hadn't explored an Encounter Map personally. He'd delegated external development completely. Encounter Map expeditions fell to Erdan's oversight.

His think tank now filled the control car, faces sharp with tension as they waited for the Encounter Map to unlock.

Li Shiji, Lao Zhu, Uncle Li, Biaozi, Xiao Ai, and the rest.

Biaozi, of course, wasn't really think tank material—just here for appearances.

"Boss Mang."

Li Shiji spoke first: "Since you briefed me before about 'Budding Spring,' I've been thinking about this 'Budding Spring' Encounter Map. First, the train level range in the Red Zone is basically between Level 15 and Level 18."

"Trains of this level, according to my speculation, even if they aren't in the first tier of doomsday trains, they are definitely close to the first tier."

"In other words—"

"This group of trains is definitely a minority. But as long as one train fails the first level in this Encounter Map, a crisis event will descend upon this region. This is extremely unreasonable."

"The difficulty of that first level was not low."

"According to this gameplay, for 20 people to pass, there must be at least 100 who failed. The Red Zones corresponding to these 100 people should have long since been destroyed in various crisis events."

"This is unreasonable, both logically and from a data perspective."

"Therefore, I believe those three 'crisis events' are very likely the clues to the second level..."

"That's a bit of a stretch." Lao Zhu frowned slightly. "Not just a bit, it's extremely far-fetched. It would be strange if those three crisis events were connected to the second level. The way I see it, this is just some cruel selection process cooked up by that 'Tuo Tuo' mechanical princess."

"Using this method to filter out the wisest person."

"But if she wants to select the wisest person, why mess with the regions? According to her method, if a train fails just a few more times, all the trains in the corresponding Red Zone will have to go meet their great-grandmothers."

"Perhaps... those three crisis events were just for show and not that powerful? Maybe they were just used to increase the psychological pressure on the participants? To make the participants feel the pressure that if they fail, everyone else will die because of them?"

"Hey, Vice-Captain Zhu, that's an interesting way to put it." Biaozi looked at Lao Zhu with some surprise. He had never thought of that. Hearing Lao Zhu say it, he suddenly felt enlightened.

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