Chapter 107: Chapter 94: "Choose the lesser of two evils.
"Has she acted in variety shows?"
"She has."
"Hmm."
Chen Mang nodded, leaned back into his chair, and waved his hand wearily: "You can leave for now. If we get a chance to go to Shahe Plain in the future, I’ll consider taking a trip to Shahe City."
...
Inside the number 5 thug compartment.
Old Pig, who was whispering with Biaozi, immediately cleared his throat and looked out the window pretending to discuss business when he saw Ji Chuchu return.
After Ji Chuchu moved to the hard sleeper at the rear of the compartment.
Only then did the two glance at each other again, eyes full of worry.
"What do we do about this."
Biaozi looked at Old Pig with a complicated expression: "Master Mang called Ji Chuchu over again. This is already the second time. What should we do about Ji Chuchu?"
"Aren’t you the one claiming to be best at handling these kinds of problems?"
"You come up with a solution."
Last time, he was ready to make a move.
But at that time, Ji Chuchu was too full, so he didn’t make a move. Until now, no one on the Constant Star Train had done anything with Ji Chuchu.
"Sigh..."
Old Pig took a deep breath, frowning tightly, and spoke hoarsely: "Let’s sort this out. Master Mang has already let Ji Chuchu in twice. Clearly, Ji Chuchu’s service is very satisfactory to Master Mang."
"At this point, the two of us certainly can’t touch Ji Chuchu."
"Being seen as the same kind as those in power, even if just on the fringe, is taboo. If Master Mang was done with her, it would be one thing, but since he called on her again, it’s not appropriate."
"But Master Mang promised the slaves."
"There’s a high possibility that Master Mang is currently stuck in a situation. He likes Ji Chuchu’s service but also promised everyone that publicly breaking a promise would make him lose face."
"But since Master Mang likes her, he definitely won’t let the slaves below touch Ji Chuchu."
"So..."
"So what are you saying now?" Biaozi asked anxiously: "What’s the solution?"
"I don’t know either."
Old Pig scratched his head anxiously: "The main issue is that I can’t figure out Master Mang’s true intentions. Maybe Master Mang doesn’t even care about this, and it’s just the two of us getting tangled up over here."
"Should we ask him?"
"Are you crazy? If you ask Master Mang, even if he is cornered, would he admit that he’s cornered?"
"Here’s what we should do."
After taking a deep breath, Old Pig finally thought of a solution and said seriously: "If we send Ji Chuchu down without understanding Master Mang’s intentions, he might get angry."
"But if Master Mang had no such intentions and we act on our own, he would also be angry upon finding out."
"Between two evils, choose the lesser."
"It’s obvious that the blame for the latter would be lighter, so we should proceed according to the second assumption. Ji Chuchu definitely cannot be sent down, and actually, she simply can’t be."
"Master Mang means that the one who mines the most can have Ji Chuchu."
"But the top hundred miners are all those goblins, who don’t even play with women. They only care about mining and don’t even look at Ji Chuchu, which, luckily, solves the problem perfectly."
"This is the best solution I can come up with."
"What do you think?"
Biaozi spread his hands, looking helpless: "Pig Train Captain, I’m just a thug, you are the Deputy Train Captain, so naturally, you should take the lead in such matters."
"Alright."
Old Pig steeled his heart and gritted his teeth slightly: "I’ll take responsibility for this. If Master Mang questions us, I’ll handle it. Let’s proceed this way.
Then Old Pig looked at Biaozi’s departing back, let out a long sigh, wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and slumped into the seat, letting out a long breath.
Being the Deputy Train Captain isn’t easy.
Especially...
He really can’t figure out Master Mang’s thoughts. While he doesn’t speculate on the intentions of those in power, generally speaking, he can figure things out to some extent, except for Master Mang. He’s truly inscrutable.
He genuinely doesn’t know what Master Mang is thinking.
As a second-in-command, many times the primary task is reading people and going along with what those in power want done but can’t say.
Sitting in the second-in-command position for a long time is not an easy task since, when a crisis hits, it’s often the second-in-command’s head that takes the blow.
...
Soon——
It was time for the slaves to finish work and rest for the night.
The "Fixed Star" train was extremely lively as a crowd of slaves handed in their pickaxes and lined up to collect their dinners.
Meanwhile, Chen Mang sat inside the train compartment, looking at the "Train Panel."
Before the train can upgrade to Level 4, it has to complete a job transition task, and only after determining the transition path can it be upgraded to Level 4, which can only be completed in the green zone.
Once the job transition task is completed and the upgrade is done, it won’t be possible to return to lower-level areas.
Without excavating all the resource mines beneath "Tieling Wasteland," he definitely won’t proceed to high-level areas.
However...
That doesn’t hinder him from checking out the transition tasks in advance.
The transition direction of "Flesh and Blood Train" has five available transition tasks, completing any of them allows for a successful transition.
-
"Flesh and Blood Train Transition Tasks."
"S-level Difficulty": Kill three Level 6 monsters.
"A-level Difficulty": Kill three Level 5 monsters.
"B-level Difficulty": Kill one Level 5 monster.
"C-level Difficulty": Kill one Level 4 monster.
"D-level Difficulty": Kill one Level 3 monster.
-
That S-level transition task is simply outrageous; killing three Level 6 monsters with a Level 3 train is challenging, to be honest, he doesn’t know who could manage it, maybe only he could.
As long as the resource mines in Tieling Wasteland are enough to upgrade his armor to Level 6.
And increase the level of the firepower accessories, he can do it.
As for other trains...
He can’t imagine how they can complete this task without the "Unlimited Upgrade" of 0-level permission since green-grade vehicle accessories can only reach Level 3, and yellow-grade vehicle accessories can only reach Level 5.
Without blue-grade firepower accessories, under level restrictions, it would be challenging to break through defenses.
Even with blue-grade firepower accessories, without sufficient level armor, it would be easy for Level 6 monsters to take the train apart under gunfire.
This S-level transition task is almost impossible to complete.
However, the D-level transition task is relatively simple; basically, a normally developed, not extremely upgraded Level 3 train can kill a Level 3 monster fairly easily.
But transition tasks can only be completed in the green zone, and killing a Level 3 monster in the green zone is not easy as you avoid provoking high-level monsters, but they might chase you.
Depending on the difficulty grade of the completed transition task.
After completing the transition.
The grade of the "Unknown Large Firepower Accessories" obtained varies as well.
D-level difficulty is green, C-level is yellow, B-level is blue, A-level is purple, and S-level is red.
Moreover, based on different grades of transition task completion, different potential levels will be displayed on the train panel.
Higher potential can lead to many fortuitous encounters in the future.
And on the high-level area leaderboard, the transition direction and potential level of the train will be displayed before the train name.
...
This also explains why those more than ten Level 3 trains in Tieling Wasteland are reluctant to leave for the green zone.
Firstly, because Tieling Wasteland is relatively safe, going to the green zone is much riskier, so they prefer to gather enough foundation before heading there.
Secondly, they aim to complete higher difficulty transition tasks to obtain higher-grade "Unknown Large Firepower Accessories."
After upgrading to a Level 3 train.
Among the nine buildable accessories, none is a firepower external accessory.
From Level 1 train to Level 3 train, essentially only one firepower accessory is buildable, and that is the "Three-legged Cat Heavy Machine Gun."
Even for a Level 3 train, the "Three-legged Cat Heavy Machine Gun" remains the primary attack method.
This means——
This "Unknown Large Firepower Accessories" is the only firepower accessory for a Level 3 train, and as a heavy firepower, it is likely the biggest support for a Level 3 train heading to the green zone.
Its grade must be as high as possible.