"Begin the upgrade!"
As Lin Hui spoke, the [Vehicle Upgrade Blueprint (Lv3→Lv4)] in his hand instantly sank into the RV.
This upgrade didn't bring the violent shaking he had imagined.
It was more like a reconstruction that began on a microscopic level.
A deep, obsidian glow flowed over the entire RV like water.
Inside, Liu Xi and Su Qingqian felt the space before their eyes twisting and stretching.
The already spacious living room was now expanding outward at a visible pace.
The roof rose, the body thickened, and the floor extended.
It felt as though they were inside the belly of a growing steel life-form.
Liu Xi gripped the sofa's armrest, watching the view outside the windows grow higher and broader.
Su Qingqian, with her mechanical specialization, was even more dumbstruck. She could feel every component, every screw in the vehicle undergoing a qualitative leap.
Ten minutes later.
The light faded.
[Ding! RV upgrade successful!] [Vehicle: RV (Lv.4)] [Physical defense: 400 (200→400)] (Reinforced with high-strength titanium alloy! Even armor-piercing rounds cannot penetrate it!) [Magic resistance: 0] [Weight: 40 tons (20→40)] [Space: 40 cubic meters (20→40)] (Note: actual interior living space expanded into a split-level layout!) [Durability: 100%] [Fuel: ∞ (unlimited)] [External weapon upgrade: M330 "Big Wasp" Chain Autocannon (25 mm caliber) → M430 "Big Wasp" Chain Autocannon (30 mm caliber)] [Weapon features: rate of fire: 300 rounds/minute; maximum range: 4,000 meters; equipped with intelligent fire-control targeting. Ammunition type: high-explosive armor-piercing rounds! Ammunition capacity: 1,200 rounds, fully loaded!]
Lv.4.
As Lin Hui looked at the brand-new stats panel, the smile in his eyes deepened.
A weight of 40 tons. A defense of 400.
This was no longer an RV. It was a heavy tank wearing an RV's shell!
Especially that 30 mm Chain Autocannon.
With that caliber, a few shots could punch straight through not just White Thorn, but even a tank-the king of land warfare!
"Boss... look!"
Su Qingqian pointed at the roof and cried out.
Lin Hui turned to look.
The cabin, which had originally accommodated only one floor, now had a small second-story loft! It housed a dedicated "operations room" and "observation post."
At the front, the already menacing ram had evolved into an even more terrifying [V-Shaped Titanium Alloy Barrier-Breaking Shovel]. A chilling gleam flowed across it, as though it could slice through any obstacle.
Liu Xi stood before the newly appeared floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the ruins outside, and marveled:
"So this is a top-tier vehicle at Lv.4..."
Most players used nothing but ordinary steel to upgrade their vehicles to Lv4 or even Lv5. A few lucky players or high-ranking guild members could get their hands on expert-grade ballistic steel.
But high-strength titanium alloy was available only to a handful of core members, such as guild leaders.
Judging by the upgrade process just now, however, the materials used to upgrade Lin Hui's vehicle were undoubtedly the best.
It had even required high-strength titanium alloy just to reach Lv4!
Lin Hui had no idea what Liu Xi was thinking. His attention was elsewhere.
His gaze was fixed on the golden roulette wheel spinning wildly across his vision.
Upgrading to Lv.4 meant...
He would gain a new golden trait!
"Come on. Let's see what I get this time."
Lin Hui held his breath.
His previous traits, [Infinite], [Never Wears Out], and [Space Folding], had all been god-tier abilities.
What about this time?
Ding!
The wheel stopped.
A card radiating brilliant golden light, with a faint rainbow halo, appeared in midair.
[Congratulations! Golden trait acquired: Infinite Synthesis] [Quality: Golden Legend] [Type: rule-type] [Trait attributes: allows lossless synthesis, purification, and tier advancement of materials of the same type.] [Effects:] [1. Synthesis: combine raw materials of the same type (such as scrap iron) into higher-grade materials (such as steel). Number of syntheses: unlimited!! Ratio: 10:1.] [2. Critical success: during synthesis, there is a 20% chance of producing "perfect-grade" materials (double attributes).]
"Holy shit..."
Seeing these attributes, even the usually composed Lin Hui couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.
In this apocalypse where vehicles reigned supreme, what was the scarcest resource?
Not food or water, but top-tier materials!
Those abandoned cars and rusty rebars outside were scrap iron in everyone else's eyes, but in his...
They were all treasure!
With this trait, he wouldn't need to seek out rare materials to buy.
He could simply turn scrap iron into ordinary steel, then use ordinary steel to synthesize armored ballistic steel... high-strength titanium alloy...
Eventually, as long as he had enough raw materials, he could synthesize god-tier metals that even nuclear bombs couldn't blast through!
"Guilds can pool their resources?"
"Heh."
Lin Hui sneered.
"I've got cheats."
"Apply to target-the RV's storage cabinet!"
A golden light sank into the unremarkable-looking storage cabinet beside the RV's large bed.
An item inside the RV could receive multiple traits. The storage cabinet already had [Space Folding], and now it had received [Infinite Synthesis] as well.
That meant he could use [Infinite Synthesis] inside the spatial dimension!
"Let's try it in the spatial dimension."
Lin Hui couldn't wait to test his new ability.
With a thought, his consciousness plunged straight into the spatial warehouse, which held a hundred thousand cubic meters.
In one corner of the warehouse lay the 8,000 units of scrap steel they had just dismantled from the auto parts factory.
"Synthesize!"
Lin Hui used the ability on a pile of rusty rebar.
Hum!
A strange fluctuation rippled through it.
The mountain-like pile of scrap steel instantly shrank by 90%.
In its place were metal ingots one-tenth the original volume, silvery-white all over and gleaming like mirrors.
[Acquired: armored ballistic steel (quality: fine)]
"Keep going! Synthesize again!"
The pile of armored ballistic steel shrank by another 90%.
[Acquired: high-strength titanium alloy (quality: fine)]
"Keep synthesizing!"
Hum!
The light flashed again.
This time, a piece of metal glowing a deep blue appeared in his hand.
[Acquired: blue titanium alloy (quality: perfect-grade!)] (Attributes: ordinary blue titanium alloy has three times the hardness and tensile strength of high-strength titanium alloy, at only half its weight.) [Perfect-grade blue titanium alloy! Attributes doubled!! Hardness and tensile strength are six times those of high-strength titanium alloy!]
"It worked!!"
Lin Hui clenched his fists in excitement.
Even the leaders of top-tier guilds probably couldn't produce much material of this caliber, could they?
This was an incredibly scarce core resource!
And he had made it with nothing but a pile of scrap steel!
Dismantling the abandoned Aerospace Auto Parts Factory had yielded 8,000 units of rusty steel, which he had synthesized into 8 units of perfect-grade blue titanium alloy.
A synthesis ratio of 10:1...
It consumed quite a lot of material, but this ability was undeniably game-breaking!!
Lin Hui withdrew from the spatial dimension, taking a small piece of perfect-grade blue titanium alloy with him to study.
At that moment, Su Qingqian and Liu Xi approached curiously.
"Boss, what are you doing?"
Su Qingqian's eyes lit up as she looked at the beautiful deep-blue metal in Lin Hui's hand. "What a gorgeous color... what is it?"
As a mechanic, she could tell at a glance that this metal was extraordinary.
"This is blue titanium alloy."
Lin Hui casually tossed the priceless metal piece to her. "Perfect timing. Take it and see what you can find out..."
"Okay!"
Su Qingqian scrambled to catch it.
Lin Hui clapped his hands, his eyes blazing with fervor.
"Next, we're going into full-on stockpiling mode."
"Qingqian, dismantle! Strip down every piece of scrap iron we see on the road and bring it back!"
"Liu Xi, kill! Turn every monster that dares block our path into experience points!"
"Before we reach Cauldron City..."
Lin Hui looked at the freshly synthesized [Perfect-grade · Blue Titanium Alloy] in Qingqian's hands, shimmering with deep-blue light, and smiled.
"I'm going to arm this vehicle to the teeth."
"Zhao Tianba, huh? An attack helicopter, huh?"
"When we reach Cauldron City, I'll show you what it means to... crush someone from a higher dimension."
Before you continue