"Lord Mang, the mission failed."
It wasn't a complete body. Scattered hand bones, leg bones, and skulls were strewn across the area, most of them buried underground, with only sharp corners protruding.
He had originally guessed that the space of the "Goblin Tomb" might be circular.
Unexpectedly, it was square.
He had walked along the edge of the wall and returned to the starting point. The length and width were consistent, the angles were all right angles—a standard square. As for the ground, after drilling down 6,000 meters, he encountered another wall lying horizontally, marking the edge of the map.
The Stellar Train could only fly up to 5,500 meters. Barring any accidents, the height should also be exactly 6,000 meters.
The entire Goblin Tomb was such a place. The area wasn't too large, as if it were a space independent of the planet. There was no sun, no light, no clouds, and no weather changes, but it wasn't lacking in oxygen.
Returning to the coordinates, Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, deep in thought, not speaking.
He hadn't found any Level 4 Iron Ore. The highest was only Level 3. There was no need to change locations; this place was sufficient. All he needed to do now was wait patiently here for over 40 hours.
He glanced at the Train Radio.
No one had been chatting for a long time. Ever since entering this area, he had completely lost contact with the outside world.
After stretching lazily, he once again headed toward the "Combat Training Virtual Space" nearby.
He would train a bit to enhance his Physical Fitness Index.
A man had to be tough, after all.
Soon—
Forty-eight hours passed.
The moment the countdown ended, a massive portal over thirty meters tall appeared in front of the Stellar Train. The center of the portal resembled the Milky Way, appearing both deep and incredibly beautiful.
All the Train Residents had already boarded and were in a state of waiting.
The moment the portal appeared, the Stellar Train drove into it.
After passing through the portal, the Stellar Train reappeared on the Shahe Plain. As the portal closed, the sky was filled with stars, and the surroundings were quite peaceful. The past two days felt like a fleeting dream.
If it weren't for the large amount of Iron Ore loaded onto the Train, they might have thought it was all just a dream.
"It's really good."
Chen Mang looked at the 4.9 million units of Iron Ore on the Train Panel and couldn't help but smile slightly. The Goblin Tomb not only had Iron Ore and Copper Ore but also a lumberyard. He hadn't chosen the Copper Ore, as Iron Ore was still a higher priority.
However, there were only these three types of resources—nothing like the rare "Crimson Heartstone."
It's a pity that one could only enter once a month.
If only he could go in one more time.
Wait—
He looked at the "Token of Civilization" in the control panel drawer. As long as he completed another trip to the Goblin Ruins and finished an S-level mission, wouldn't he be able to obtain another Token of Civilization and enter again?
He naturally couldn't go in himself.
But he could have another Train go in.
Without hesitation, he immediately had Xiao Ai call Biao Zi to the Train room.
At this moment, all the residents had already fallen asleep. Even with unlimited cola provided, working continuously for 48 hours was a significant toll on both the mind and body. At this point, even if the sky were to fall, all they wanted was to sleep.
A person's core desires are essentially three things:
Hunger, sleep, and lust.
Among them, hunger is the most important, while lust is the weakest. Only when one is full can they think of lust.
Only Biao Zi and Lao Zhu, who had taken turns sleeping on schedule, didn't feel too tired at the moment.
Standing in front of the Train room, Biao Zi nervously recalled everything he had done these past days. After confirming that he hadn't made any mistakes, a sudden thought crossed his mind—was it because of the time he risked his life exploring the cave and caverns?
Was Lord Mang going to reward him?
Although he hadn't achieved any major feats that time, his courage was evident, and his loyalty to the Train had been perfectly demonstrated.
Thinking of this, the nervousness on Biao Zi's face instantly dissipated, replaced by excitement and anticipation as he pushed open the door to the Train room and looked at Lord Mang sitting in the chair.
"Lord Mang, you called for me?"
"Yes."
Lord Mang tossed a token-like object into his arms. Biao Zi instinctively caught it and, upon closer inspection, realized it was a "Train Token." A look of confusion and bewilderment flashed in his eyes.
What did this mean?
Immediately after, Lord Mang's voice rang in his ears again.
"Take this and build a Train. You'll be the Train Conductor."
As soon as the words fell, Biao Zi instantly snapped awake. His legs went weak, and he immediately knelt on the ground, his eyes red and his voice choked with tears as he shouted, "Lord Mang, I've never had any disloyal thoughts toward you or the Train! I've never thought of going independent!"
"There must be some villain spreading rumors about me behind my back!"
"Lord Mang, you can have someone interrogate me—I'm truly loyal!"
"..."
Chen Mang gave Biao Zi a look of exasperation and said impatiently, "Get up. What's with a grown man crying like a woman?"
"I'm not asking you to go independent."
"This is a green zone. Trying to go independent with just a Train Token—you'd die without even knowing how."
"Also, take this card. I have a mission for you. Later, I'll take you to the 'Goblin Ruins' Fortuitous Encounter map. Insert this card into the control panel, and you'll gain access to this Fortuitous Encounter map."
"Once inside, you'll encounter five tasks of different difficulty levels."
"The hardest task is the S-level mission. The reward is a Token of Civilization. The requirement is to have the Train shelter 50 Goblins. Later, go find Doba and have him bring 60 Goblins to squeeze into your Train."
"After completing that S-level mission, return to the Stellar Train."
"You're the only one among all the Train Residents who's been a Train Conductor before. You're definitely the most suitable candidate. Understand? Any questions?"
"Well, uh..."
Only now did Biao Zi fully understand. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve and cautiously asked in a low voice, "Lord Mang, when I come back, can I still be the captain of the Guardian team?"
"Of course. As long as you don't die in there, it's still yours."
"No problem! I'll complete the mission!"
"Go."
After leaving the Goblin Ruins map, Chen Mang activated the Token of Civilization. Exiting the Goblin Tomb, they were still in the same location. The entrance to the "Goblin Ruins" Fortuitous Encounter map was the low hill behind them.
Soon, a brand-new Level 1 Train was built. It was extremely simple, consisting of only one locomotive and two carriages. Each carriage was packed with 30 Goblins, all sound asleep, including Doba, who was in a daze.
Goblins weren't machines. Digging continuously for 48 hours—even an iron man would collapse.
"Whew..."
Biao Zi sat in the control panel chair, using his mind to control this Level 1 Train. For some reason, he felt restless, especially with the Stellar Train still behind him. The discomfort was overwhelming.
Without further delay, he inserted the card into the control panel. Soon, the small hill in front of him split open, revealing a passage wide enough for the Train to enter. He pushed the control lever hard, driving the Train into the passage.
"Let's hope this works."
Chen Mang looked at the "Goblin Ruins" map that had opened again and turned his gaze to the stack of Train Tokens in the nearby drawer. Over the past 48 hours, besides mining Iron Ore, they had also dug up a lot from the ground.
But the only intact blueprint they found was that "Mecha Blueprint."
They had also dug up quite a few blueprints, but they were all in a scrapped state, along with some other miscellaneous junk. He hadn't thrown any of it away, instead collecting it all. Who knows, maybe one day they'd find parts that could repair the blueprints.
After all, they had plenty of Refrigerators.
As long as it wasn't absolute garbage, he kept it all. It might come in handy someday.
However, they had dug up quite a few Train Tokens. Combined with the ones he already had, there were now 14 Train Tokens on the Train.
Not bad.
If only these things could be combined into one, he would probably have an Exquisite Train Token by now.
If Biao Zi returned successfully, these 14 Train Tokens could be exchanged for 14 Tokens of Civilization. That way, he could basically guarantee that he could stay in the "Goblin Tomb" all day, mining to his heart's content!
Thirty minutes later.
The "Goblin Ruins" Fortuitous Encounter map slowly opened again. The Train built by Biao Zi slowly emerged and parked beside him. Soon, Biao Zi jumped off the Train and knelt on the ground, his face filled with guilt.
"Lord Mang, the mission failed."
"Failed?"
Chen Mang frowned and stepped down, looking at Biao Zi in confusion. "Didn't I give you 60 Goblins? How could you fail?"
"The S-level mission reward was already completed and couldn't be chosen again."
"Only the A-level to D-level missions were available."
"I see."
Chen Mang paused for a moment but didn't seem too disappointed. He helped Biao Zi up and patted his shoulder casually. "It's fine. This was just an attempt. If it failed, it failed."
"Take these Goblins back."
"Uh..."
Seeing that Lord Mang wasn't blaming him too much, Biao Zi carefully handed over an Accessory Blueprint. "The C-level mission couldn't be chosen either, so only the A, B, and D-level missions were available."
"I thought that even if the S-level reward couldn't be chosen, since we were already here, we shouldn't return empty-handed."
"The A and B-level missions were too difficult—I wasn't confident. So I chose the D-level mission."
"Although the reward is the lowest."
"I figured something is better than nothing. At least we could minimize the loss."
"..."
Chen Mang looked down at the white-grade Accessory Blueprint in his hand, silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up at Biao Zi, patted his shoulder again, and said softly, "Biao Zi..."
"You've done so much for the Stellar Train. You really don't have to go this far..."
"It's what I should do."
"You've worked hard. Go rest."
"Yes!"
After Biao Zi left, Chen Mang looked at the white-grade Accessory Blueprint in his hand and sighed helplessly. Biao Zi's logic wasn't wrong. Since the mission failed, why return empty-handed?
Might as well salvage something.
But...
Was Biao Zi being too harsh on himself?
If it were him, he definitely wouldn't go to such lengths for a white-grade Accessory Blueprint. At the very least, it would have to be another Token of Civilization or something similar to make him consider it.
Accessory Name: Redheart Nut Production Line
All the accessories obtained in this map were exclusive to Goblin Trains. The "Redheart Nut" was a snack that Goblins loved. He hadn't seen it before, but after producing it, he could give some to Doba and the others as snacks. He wasn't sure if the Supermodel Effect would enhance physical fitness.
However, Biao Zi's actions reminded him of something.
He called for Li Shiji and handed him another Train Token.
"You, go in and complete the B-level mission reward."
Ten minutes later.
He looked at the Train with only a locomotive and nodded in satisfaction. If he remembered correctly, the B-level mission reward involved watching a cutscene of the Goblins' demise, memorizing some information from it, and answering four out of five questions correctly to pass.
This kind of task was right up Li Shiji's alley—professional expertise at its finest.
Exchanging a Train Token for a "yellow-grade" Vehicle Component was worth it.
As for the A-level mission reward, he decided to skip it. The difficulty aside, it required 30 days to complete, and he didn't have that much time to spare here.
Thirty minutes later.
Li Shiji successfully emerged from the Goblin Ruins and handed him a yellow-grade Accessory Blueprint.
Everything went smoothly.
According to Li Shiji, the S-level and D-level missions had already been completed and couldn't be chosen again.
"Good."
Chen Mang looked at the yellow-grade Accessory Blueprint in his hand and smiled. He then controlled the Stellar Train to absorb the two nearby Trains.
Although both were Fortuitous Encounter maps, the "Tower of Heaven" and the "Goblin Ruins" were different.
The Tower of Heaven was a challenge-based map. After exiting, the map became a restricted area. On the other hand, the "Goblin Ruins" could be entered repeatedly as long as you had the coordinates and the key.
However, once a mission of any difficulty was completed, subsequent Trains couldn't choose that mission again. For example, his S-level mission, Biao Zi's D-level mission, and Li Shiji's B-level mission.
As for the original owner of this key card, that person was likely the first to enter this Fortuitous Encounter map. Er Dan had told him that the first person to enter a Fortuitous Encounter map received special treatment. Even if that person completed one of the five missions, that mission wouldn't disappear.
The yellow-grade Accessory Blueprint in his hand was also an exclusive accessory for Goblin Trains. It could only be obtained in places like the Goblin Ruins, making it quite rare.
Goblin Ticket
The effect is equivalent to a Train Ticket.
The difference is that a Train Ticket has a range limit—it can only be used to teleport back to the Train if you're within 10,000 meters of it. However, the Goblin Ticket is different—no matter where you are, you can teleport back to the Train.
But it's only for Goblins.
Humans can't use it.
(End of Chapter)