Mu Bai searched for Su Wan and added her as a friend.
Su Wan: “Ms. Mu, what is it? Do you have any instructions?”
Mu Bai: “How many Train Coins do you have?”
Su Wan: “Ah, well…”
Mu Bai: “Don’t overthink it. At the last Station, I obtained a Golden Desert Eagle with fourteen rounds of ammunition. I’ll sell it to you for 2 Train Coins… I remember your boyfriend’s Talent adds Strength, right? He should definitely be able to handle the recoil. 2 Train Coins is not a bad deal.”
Su Wan: “But we just performed a Train Upgrade; we only have 1 Train Coin left…”
Mu Bai: “It’s fine, 1 is enough. Just promise me one thing.”
Su Wan: “What is it?”
Mu Bai: “I’ll tell you when the time comes. I won’t let you lose out; I won’t force you.”
Su Wan: “Then thank you, Sister Mu~”
Mu Bai: “I’m sending the private trade over.”
Closing the private chat, Mu Bai traded the Desert Eagle along with the spare magazine, letting out a soft sigh of regret.
A few seconds later, the warm Golden Desert Eagle turned into a cold Train Coin.
Now that she had 10 Train Coins and the progress bars for Silver and Iron were full, she called out, ‘System, level me up!’
[Player Mu Bai and Ye Yuan’s Train Level has increased to Level 3]
[Unlocked Kitchen Construction Blueprint. After building the kitchen, the stove will have infinite flame and provide food storage facilities such as freezers, and refrigerators]
[Current Level: 3. Upgrade requirements: 20 kg of Silver, 5 kg of Gold, 50 Train Coins, and a Basic Train Upgrade Module… Prerequisite: Must own a kitchen]
[After the upgrade resources are gathered, the upgrade mission can be opened to enter a Special Station to obtain the Train Upgrade Module. This item is non-tradeable!]
’50 Train Coins, so expensive! And what on earth is a Train Upgrade Module?!’
Still, at least she had reached Level 3 before the Slaughter Station.
This was likely the highest Train Level in the entire Chat Room.
After all, not every team was lucky enough to enter a Trading Station, and even fewer people would have prepared goods in advance like she did, let alone possess 20 Charm Value to easily gain the favor of neutral NPCs.
By upgrading before others, she could learn the upgrade requirements sooner, staying one step ahead at every turn.
Having a kitchen was also a blessing, as it perfectly complemented her Cooking Expert Talent.
Mu Bai had been worried about having no kitchen equipment to work with, but now she could cook proper meals.
Building the kitchen required Iron and wood, which were standard construction resources.
The only unique requirement was stone, but that was also easy enough to collect.
A System prompt — both familiar and foreign — appeared in her mind…
[Awakening Talent… Influenced by the gift of Luck, Talent quality +2]
[You have awakened the Talent — Portable Space (Gold)]
[Talent Effect: For every Train Level increase, storage space increases by 1 cubic meter. Access is controlled by thought. The state of items within the space is frozen, and living things cannot be stored (Current storage space: 3 cubic meters)]
‘Wow, a Gold Legend!’
Mu Bai was immersed in the joy of drawing a gold-tier Talent and didn’t even care that it wasn’t a combat Talent.
Besides, compared to being a Power Bank or a cook, a space-type Talent clearly fit the vibe of a protagonist much better.
Although she still couldn’t carry the team on her own, Mu Bai had grown somewhat accustomed to being carried by Ye Yuan.
It wasn’t just about the sense of security she felt hiding behind Ye Yuan; the main thing was that “lying flat” was truly comfortable.
Cough, cough…
If one could lead a girl, it was certainly more satisfying than being led by one.
Someone else’s strength would never truly be one’s own.
In the end, one had to rely on themselves!
Of course, the Portable Space was indeed very useful.
For example, the next time they entered a Trial Station, she wouldn’t have to carry a heavy backpack.
After telling Ye Yuan about the new Talent, Mu Bai hummed a little tune and continued her work.
They were going to plant cucumbers and tomatoes.
The Cultivation Device was like a hydroponic facility with soil.
Two rows of containers were placed on either side of the third carriage, equipped with grow lights and irrigation systems that could be set for specific lighting times and water amounts.
She had Ye Yuan use the Special Dagger to shave the wood into long poles.
Mu Bai then tied every three wooden poles together at a single point, forming a conical structure in the soil of the Cultivation Device to support the cucumber vines.
Once the cucumber side was set up, she sowed tomato seeds on the other side and covered them with a layer of soil.
Both types of vegetables took 2 to 3 months to mature.
If they ate sparingly, a single harvest would provide enough vitamins.
In the future, if they had more spare materials, they could add two more rows to grow leafy greens.
Once the initial work was done, they basically didn’t need to worry about it anymore.
The Cultivation Device would raise the vegetables to maturity on its own.
After everything was set up, Mu Bai and Ye Yuan took turns bathing.
That night, the Power Bank continued to do its job, providing the final bits of healing for Ye Yuan’s injuries while restoring her strength and energy for the next day.
Having upgraded the train in preparation for the Slaughter Station and finished building the planting carriage, Mu Bai felt she could sleep very soundly.
***
The next day.
Mu Bai woke up early.
She had intended to cook, but she suddenly felt a strange sensation and opened the System Interface.
A new announcement had appeared.
[Detection: Remaining Players in the Chat Room have fallen below 2,000. Next Station anchored as Slaughter Station. Players, please be prepared!]
[Slaughter Station will have a Collective Mission. Rewards will be set based on contribution. If the mission is not completed, you will be unable to return to the Train.]
[Due to the high number of players, Players can return to the Train by thought. Those who do not return within 5 minutes will remain in the Slaughter Station forever.]
Mu Bai immediately fell into deep thought.
The arrival of the Slaughter Station didn’t make her panic or feel uneasy because she was fully prepared.
Having a gun in hand gave her confidence; as long as she wasn’t ambushed by a massive horde of Players, things wouldn’t go south.
What comforted her the most was that there was actually a piece of good news in the announcement — the Collective Mission.
A Collective Mission meant a mandatory goal was established, giving Players a reason to cooperate rather than simply hunting each other.
This also aligned with her previous suspicions.
Mu Bai was glad her planning from the night before hadn’t gone to waste…
As the Survival Game progressed to this point, trust between Players had become extremely scarce.
They needed someone whose Train Level and strength were at the top to integrate this force.
That person couldn’t be a pretty girl.
After the collapse of social order, unless a woman possessed overwhelming strength or extreme prestige, she naturally lacked a certain leadership aura.
These two prerequisites were currently impossible to meet.
A girl could be strong, but if she wasn’t powerful to an absurd degree, she could inspire awe or even fear, but it would be difficult to gain the trust of the majority.
This was why she had chosen to sell the Golden Desert Eagle to Su Wan’s team for a bargain price.
In the eyes of outsiders, Zheng Mingyuan and Su Wan could be seen as a male-led team.
The Golden Desert Eagle gave that team a powerful deterrent, and combined with the goal of the Collective Mission, it would provide enough credibility to briefly unite the Players.
Of course… Mu Bai’s primary goal wasn’t to complete the so-called Collective Mission; that was just a byproduct.
What she truly wanted was an environment where she and Ye Yuan — two beautiful and seemingly fragile girls — could temporarily neutralize the unwanted attention brought by their Charm Value.
An environment called the “Collective.”
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