[All Train Conductors, leave the Sixth Station platform!]
The booming announcement made the remaining two thousand or so Train Conductors stop what they were doing and look toward the broadcast in astonishment.
[After tonight, Train Conductors whose trains are below level 2 will die during nighttime survival.] [The remaining Train Conductors will enter the Trading Platform at the Seventh Station.] [At the Trading Platform, you may make one purchase of an item matching your current train level. Please keep enough Train Coins in reserve.] [As the number of Train Conductors in E-3 Block is about to fall below 2,000, a block merger will take place after the Seventh Station.] [Friendly reminder: nighttime survival will begin at midnight and last two hours and thirty minutes.] [Special notice: if your train is attacked and damaged, its speed will decrease. Please use materials to repair your train promptly.]
The long string of announcements hammered at the Train Conductors' hearts.
The chat room was filled with cries of despair.
They begged everywhere, hoping only to get some resources to upgrade.
However, no one would lend a hand at a time like this.
The broadcast had said that damage to a train would reduce its speed.
That meant even Train Conductors who had upgraded to level 2 would not be completely safe tonight.
But none of that had much to do with Ye Qiyan.
Back in the Endless Wilderness, aside from the broadcast overhead, a light screen automatically appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations on leaving a level 4 Slaughter Platform despite interference.] [The Train System offers its apologies for the interference you experienced.] [Therefore, you will receive the following reward.] [Ding-dong! Congratulations! You have obtained the Module: Arbitrary Processing.] [Arbitrary Processing] [After equipping this Module, you can summon and use a Processing Table anywhere.]
"...Couldn't you have come a little sooner? Seriously."
He swiped across the light screen with a fingertip and accepted the Module.
If he had possessed this Module at the previous station, he would not have needed to go to so much trouble hauling corpses and timber.
After grumbling a little, Ye Qiyan turned his gaze to the stump in his hands-or, more precisely, the treasure chest.
[Level 4 Treasure Chest] (Can be opened)
"Heh, good thing WALL-E was there. Where else would I have gotten so many treasure chests?"
Nighttime survival and the like had nothing to do with him. Compared with that, he had more important things to do.
"Ascension."
[Stamina: 80 → 50] [Spirit: 115 → 95] [Level 5 Treasure Chest] (Can be opened)
"Only fifty?"
Ye Qiyan marveled inwardly.
"That's so much better than before."
[Open treasure chest] [Obtained: 10 Train Coins] [Train Conductor Module: Lightning Dash] (Level 4) [Weapon Conversion Card] (Level 5) [Blueprint: Lightning Wolfskin Boots] (Level 4)
Aside from the Train Coins, there were three items in total, only one of which was level 5. Ye Qiyan examined them one by one, starting with the first.
[Lightning Dash] [Consume 30 stamina to envelop your entire body in lightning and forcibly accelerate, moving a short distance at extreme speed.] [Weapon Conversion Card] (Level 5) [Use on any weapon to convert it into a level 5 weapon of the same type, using the original weapon as a template.] [Blueprint: Lightning Wolfskin Boots] [Requires: Lightning-Fast White Wolf hide ×1] [After equipping, consume 20 spirit to summon lightning to envelop you, increasing attack/casting/movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds. Can be activated consecutively, with the spirit cost doubling each time.]
Although only one was level 5, the other two rewards were excellent as well.
The first Module could be considered a forced movement ability in a game. Whether for evading attacks or running away, it was a good ability.
The third item, the blueprint, needed no further explanation. That white wolf's abilities were still vivid in his mind.
As for the second...
Ye Qiyan pondered briefly, toying with the card in his hand.
Which one should I use it on?
There was not really much to think about.
He picked up the Blacklight Pistol that had remained holstered at his waist. This gun had accompanied him through several stations, and even at stations above his level, its armor-piercing rounds had still allowed it to prove effective.
Besides, it looked cool.
"Ascension."
[Stamina: 50 → 30] [Spirit: 95 → 45]
Fatigue washed over him. Ascending from level 5 to level 6 had consumed a full seventy points, a truly high cost.
But it was worth it.
[Enchanting · Heavenly Predator · Weapon Conversion Card] [After converting the weapon, additionally enchants it with the "Heavenly Predator" effect.]
Without hesitation, Ye Qiyan pressed the card against the Blacklight Enchanted Pistol.
The weapon card radiated interwoven black and white light.
It was as though an angel from heaven and a demon from hell had appeared at the same time.
The Blacklight Pistol floated into the air, brilliance and dimness playing across one another.
The immense energy fluctuations made even the train tremble.
Humm-!
With a soft hum, light and darkness dispersed together, and a glossy black pistol, its body engraved with angel and demon wings, returned to his hand.
[Unnamed] (Level 6) [Special effect: Heavenly Predator: each kill absorbs a certain amount of life to heal the owner's injuries and restore stamina and spirit.] [Consume 1 spirit to form a black armor-piercing round.] [Consume 1 stamina to form a white explosive round.] [Consume 10 stamina and 10 spirit simultaneously to form a black-and-white armor-piercing explosive round.] [Please name this weapon.]
It was powerful! After enchanting, the Blacklight Pistol, originally only level 3, had jumped straight to level 6.
Not only that, its effects had also been greatly enhanced.
Ye Qiyan eagerly opened the train window and scanned outside against the bone-chilling wind. Spotting a mummy monster not far away, he raised the gun, consumed one stamina, and fired.
A pure white bullet shot from the muzzle. The instant it struck the mummy, an explosion erupted within a one-meter radius around it.
The power of this shot was no less than that of a hand grenade, perhaps even greater.
"A level 6 weapon. What should I call it? Hmm...right!"
Looking at the gun in his hand, Ye Qiyan recalled a name.
"Ebony. That's a good name."
It was one of the guns used by a protagonist in a game he had once played.
Back then, he had thought it looked unbelievably cool, and after enchanting, this gun bore some resemblance to that Ebony.
He would use the name in remembrance of the past.
[Naming successful] [Ebony (Heavenly Predator enchantment (suffix hidden))]
He did not use Ascension on the remaining items, apart from the Module.
If he ascended the blueprint, the required material might no longer be that wolf hide.
After he crafted the boots, quite a bit of the wolf hide remained, just right for use as bedding at night.
With everything done, he lay on his bed, cheerfully humming a tune.
It was already past midnight.
Outside the train, monsters began chasing after it, one after another.
However, while this nighttime survival was a desperate struggle for others,
for him, it was still nothing more than an ordinary night.
"Tomorrow, I'll upgrade to level 4."
Before you continue