Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Sublimating a Level 3 Chest

[“So unlucky! My first stop was a dilapidated shack—nothing but garbage. My second stop put me right by a muddy swamp. The smell was absolutely nauseating; I didn’t even get a chance to go outside!”]

[“Don’t even get me started. At least you didn’t run into any monsters. I was chased by a pack of wild boars the entire time. The Train was almost overturned, and now there are several huge holes in it. If the departure time hadn’t arrived, I would’ve been a goner.”]

[“Selling one piece of Scavenger Vulture leg meat, trading for drinking water!”]

[“I didn’t dare get off at the first stop, and even though I knew there was danger, I didn’t dare go down at the second stop either… Hearing you guys talk, I’m not sure I dare get off at the third stop either…”]

[“If you don’t get off, aren’t you just waiting to die? Do you still have food and water?”]

Not everyone started like Ye Qiyan, sublimating and upgrading their Train right off the bat, and then obtaining the “Crossroads of Fate” Module to make choices based on Platform levels and prefixes to avoid dangers.

After lurking silently in the Chat Room for a while, Ye Qiyan’s docking countdown was also nearing its end.

Only then did he remember that he still had a Garbage Recycling Device running in the first carriage.

Four hours had passed, and he didn’t know what kind of harvest he would get.

In Ye Qiyan’s mind, it would be a miracle if that little guy could gather a dozen kilograms of wood in this White Forest, so he didn’t hold much hope.

[Level 3 Chest: Openable]

Wait, what is this?

He rubbed his eyes. Did he wake up too fast? Let’s look again.

“Holy crap!”

Everything else in the Recycling Station was garbage in every sense of the word.

But amidst this garbage, a grayish-white wooden square box completely outshone everything else.

A Chest! And a Level 3 one at that!

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about the existence of Chests in the White Forest before, but this place was too vast. Aside from the path leading to the orchard, Ye Qiyan didn’t dare venture too far into the depths of the forest. If he got lost, he might not even make it back to the Train, so he simply hadn’t expected to find one.

He never would have expected this.

This little garbage-collecting robot that he had looked down upon had actually brought back a Chest from this forest?!

Now, Ye Qiyan’s gaze toward the silly-looking Cube Robot was filled with appreciation. He reached out and patted the Little Robot’s square head.

“As expected of me. Building that Recycling Station with so many resources was indeed the right choice.”

If the Little Robot had facial expressions, its expression right now would definitely be one of contempt.

After all, its master had just been undisguisedly expressing his disdain for it moments ago.

Humans are indeed the most fickle creatures!

Suppressing the urge to open the Chest immediately, Ye Qiyan reached out and pressed his hand against it.

A Level 3 Chest would become Level 4 after Sublimation.

Logically, this meant a guaranteed minimum of eight Train Coins plus other rare Level 4 items.

[Stamina: 45][Mental Power: 92]

“Sublime, sublime.”

Ye Qiyan cheerfully began the Sublimation.

Stamina drained, closely followed by Mental Power.

When the invisible force dissipated, just like the previous document folder, this wooden box still showed no outward changes.

[Level 4 Chest: Openable]

[Stamina: 20][Mental Power: 62]

His body was exhausted, but his mind was extremely excited.

Ye Qiyan rubbed his hands together, his eyes burning with excitement.

“Hehehe, let me see what’s inside.”

Creak—

[Opened Level 4 Chest]

[Obtained Train Coins: 8]

[Obtained: External Warning Device (Level 4)]

[Obtained: White Forest Fruit Tree Seed]

[Obtained: Train Grayish-White Paint Job]

[Obtained: Advanced Ceramic Plate Bulletproof Vest]

“A Level 4 structure? If the people in the Chat Room found out, would they die of envy?”

Ye Qiyan muttered softly to himself, having no intention of showing off.

Showing off would only invite jealousy and even hatred. He just needed to mind his own business; why care about others?

However, this Level 4 structure could not be sublimated for now. It wasn’t due to a lack of potential, but rather because his combined Stamina and Mental Power didn’t seem enough to meet the Sublimation cost.

“It seems Level 4 is a watershed.”

[External Warning Sentry Tower Device]

[Can be installed on top of any carriage, can be equipped with any ranged weapon]

[Once installed, it will enable automatic warning attacks, targeting hostile threats within a 100-meter line of sight, locking onto targets, and dispelling any visual obstructions like camouflage, invisibility, or illusions.]

[Note: If damaged, it can be repaired using mechanical parts]

“What a great item. As expected of a Level 4 Chest, it really is different.”

He placed the warning sentry tower on top of the locomotive.

Looking from the outside, it was just a circular object with a slot added to the top of the locomotive.

When automatic warning was activated, a red orb of light would appear inside the slot, rotating 360 degrees.

Ye Qiyan had six rifles left in his hands. Excluding the one that had already been sublimated, the remaining five were all equipped into the sentry tower.

“Can trees really be planted inside a carriage?”

Looking at the remaining three rewards, Ye Qiyan scratched his head.

[White Forest Fruit Tree Seed] (Level 3 Plant)

[Requires the Grayish-White Soil unique to the White Forest for planting]

[Sprouts in ten days, grows into a tree in ten days, matures in ten days]

[Consumes half a kilogram of fresh water daily]

Half a kilogram of fresh water per seed daily. At this stage, there were probably very few people capable of planting it, but Ye Qiyan just happened to be one of them.

However, a full thirty-day growth period was a bit long.

Regardless of whether he could grow them, these seeds reminded him that the soil of this White Forest could also be counted as a special resource. There was no reason not to take some with him.

Furthermore, he could also wait until his Stamina recovered to sublime this seed.

Docking Countdown [0:03:21]

After filling several wooden boxes with the Grayish-White Soil, in the last few minutes before departure, Ye Qiyan shut down the garbage Recycling Station, patted the Little Robot’s head, and tossed all the garbage it had gathered from the forest into the Workbench for recycling.

Although it wasn’t much, it still provided him with twelve kilograms of wood, along with some leaves and stones.

What Ye Qiyan didn’t expect was that those leaves weren’t entirely garbage either.

[White Leaves] (Level 1)

[Can be used to craft White Pigment]

[White Stone] (Level 1)

[Can be used to craft White Pigment]

“Everything in this forest really is related to the color white.”

“Good job, little guy. Once I’ve rested up, you’ll be the next one to be sublimated.”

He patted the Little Robot’s head.

The countdown ended.

The Train started moving.

A slight sensation of acceleration hit him. Ye Qiyan looked out of the window; the White Forest was receding before his eyes.

After passing through a stretch of void, the grayish-white disappeared, replaced by that Endless Wilderness.

“I’m back.”

Only then did Ye Qiyan stretch. He opened the Chat Room and found his private message interface flashing with a faint light.

Someone had sent him a message.

Private message notifications between Train Captains only appeared after adding each other as friends.

Normal private messages would not trigger a notification.

In other words, there was only one possible sender.

Shangguan Yingxue: [“Do you still need water?”]