53: Chapter 53 Weapon Blueprints, Calamity Buster!

When the head of the last Fissioner offspring turned into sludge under the sharp blade of the axe, all zombies from Carriage 2 to Carriage 8 had been completely cleared.

After waiting for about another hour, the cold broadcast voice finally echoed throughout the train carriages:

【The fifth round of zombies has been cleared!】

【Attention passengers, since the first stage of the calamity has been completely cleared, the train will arrive at the next station: Harbor Town, ahead of schedule. Please prepare accordingly!】

【Attention passengers...】

"My god, arriving at the resource point two days early, isn't this just too awesome?"

"Does that mean we can rest for at least four days?"

"It's all because Brother Lin is amazing that we fought so fast. Hurry up and thank Brother Lin!"

The crowd gathered in Carriage 5 erupted in cheers, celebrating their survival.

Only Lin Xiao looked up at the leaderboard that automatically expanded in his field of vision, his expression showing not the slightest bit of relaxation.

【>>> Leaderboard, Stage 1, Round 5 <<<】

【1st Place: 07-01 Lin Xiao, Points 8020】

【2nd Place: 14-04 Liu Bi, Points 5260】

【3rd Place: 15-05 Chang Siyuan, Points 3240】

【4th Place: 08-09 Fan Sinian, Points 3160 (↑)】

【5th Place: 03-03 Xu Shan, Points 3110 (↑)】

【6th Place: 02-04 Zhou Jun, Points 3010 (↑)】

【7th Place: 05-05 Fang Yuan, Points 2810 (↑)】

【8th Place: 07-08 Xiao He, Points 2320 (New)】

【9th Place: 07-01 Jiang Wanwan, Points 1810 (New)】

【10th Place: 07-01 Wen Yiran, Points 1680 (New)】

Scanning the list, Lin Xiao nodded slightly.

Jiang Wanwan and Wen Yiran's names were precariously stuck in ninth and tenth place.

The former killed 181 zombies, while the latter, due to uncomfortable equipment and insufficient ammunition, only killed 168.

But it was enough.

The kill counts of the others were all above 190, giving them a sufficient advantage.

Among them, Xu Shan was the most desperate, grinding out 200 zombies to take fifth place.

Looking over the entire leaderboard, seven of the top ten were passengers from the front carriages, belonging to Lin Xiao's sphere of influence.

Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

"Let's disperse. Return to the territory to prepare, and once we arrive at the station tomorrow, we'll do some proper scavenging at the resource point!"

Lin Xiao looked at everyone in the carriage.

His voice wasn't loud, but it quickly quelled the noise.

... Returning to Room 07-01.

After the iron door closed, Wen Yiran quickly took off her slightly bulky armor, threw herself onto the bed, stuck out her tongue, and let out a vague whimper.

"Brother Lin, wuwuwu..."

"Next time, can you think of an easier way to grind points? My arms feel like they won't lift anymore, I really can't go on..."

Although Jiang Wanwan didn't speak, she looked equally exhausted.

She sat on the edge of the bed, sipping water in small mouthfuls, rubbing her sore wrists.

The golf club had been repaired four or five times during the battle, which showed the intensity of the clearing.

Lin Xiao didn't rest immediately.

He first checked his backpack.

The originally ample slots were now filled with shimmering stardust ore.

Equipment he couldn't use and redundant materials had been traded to Wen Yiran in batches during the intervals of the battle, and she had listed them for sale.

As he was tallying, trade requests from Fang Yuan, Fan Sinian, and others arrived one after another.

The agreed-upon commissions were transferred over in batches.

Because Lin Xiao's damage was too high, he had snatched quite a few kill rewards at the beginning.

Later, he had taken on over a dozen Level 3 Fissioners.

Added to the gains of the two women this time...

【Currency: stardust * 9365 (+ 9200 ↑), pleasure tokens * 16】

The moment the numbers jumped, a hint of satisfaction flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes.

An investment of five thousand stardust had yielded a return of nearly ten thousand stardust.

And that wasn't even counting the various materials, equipment, and skill books.

Especially those unopened stardust ores.

That was the real highlight for what was to come!

"Let's open the ores first!"

The shimmering ore was taken out, refracting different layers of faint light under the soft glow of the ceiling lamp.

【Obtained: stardust ore (Iron) * 6】

【... (Copper) * 17】

【... (Silver) * 33】

【... (Gold) * 51】

【... (Diamond) * 36】

Lin Xiao counted them.

It was too time-consuming for one person to open them all, so he divided the ore into three portions and gave them to Jiang Wanwan and Wen Yiran.

"Get the main business done first!"

Lin Xiao looked at Wen Yiran, who was lying motionless on the bed.

He flicked a slap towards the raised curve of her hip.

He didn't use much force, but a tempting ripple still spread under the fabric.

Wen Yiran let out a muffled groan, climbed up unwillingly, muttering words like "capitalist" and "exploitation," but her hands honestly picked up the ore.

The opening process for the first four qualities all brought unexpected surprises.

Among them, the vast majority of Iron and Copper-grade stardust ores contained a certain amount of basic materials.

After opening them all, he obtained 2 pieces of Level 1 white-board equipment that were of little use.

As for the Silver-grade ore, in addition to a large amount of synthetic materials, it guaranteed one piece of Level 1 white-board equipment.

After opening all 33, he obtained 3 additional pieces of Level 1 equipment with attributes.

Although the added attribute was only 1 point, it could already be sold for a good price!

The Gold-grade ore guaranteed Level 2 white-board equipment.

That's right, every single ore could yield equipment of decent quality.

After opening all 51, he obtained a total of 7 pieces of Level 2 equipment with minor added attributes, as well as 4 Level 1 skill books.

This drop rate was no less than grinding through 200 zombies in the fifth round with the [zombies legacy] buff.

"Little Lin, the materials are almost full!"

Jiang Wanwan looked at the supplies in her backpack that had already reached the stacking limit and softly reminded him, "Wood, scrap iron, and glass all have several stacks of over a thousand. Should we sell them?"

Not only that, looking around, the two empty top bunks in the room were already filled with all kinds of equipment.

The floor was occupied by piles of materials, making the already limited territory space seem exceptionally crowded and cramped.

But, the three of them still had 12 Diamond-grade stardust ores each that hadn't been opened!

"Brother Lin, we're rich!"

Wen Yiran, who had been too tired to move, was now sitting cross-legged among the supplies on the floor, unable to hide her excitement.

"With so many supplies, how much stardust can we sell them for? It's probably enough to support the entire train!"

She stroked a Level 2 arm guard, stars appearing in her eyes: "In the future, I'm going to write an autobiography called 'Train Survival: My Days as a Chaebol in the Apocalypse'!"

"Keep one stack of each material for backup, and sell the rest." Lin Xiao scanned the room and said without hesitation, "Also, sell all equipment below Level 2 with added attributes below 2 points!"

As he spoke, he picked up the Diamond-grade stardust ore.

The surface of the crystal cluster swirled with rainbow-like luster, which was truly mesmerizing.

"Hurry up and open the ores so we can rest early!"

Lin Xiao was the first to smash the shimmering colorful ore cluster.

"Bang!"

With a soft sound, starlight burst forth.

【Obtained: beryllium crystal * 1, Worn Fabric * 3, Adhesive * 5, General Plastic * 3】

beryllium crystal?

Lin Xiao's movements paused.

This was a key alloy material used to manufacture advanced equipment and belonged to a scarce and expensive resource.

But what shocked Lin Xiao even more was the blueprint that appeared next.

It wasn't a common territory facility, but...

【Equipment Blueprint · calamity bane (Heavy battle axe)】

【Level: 3】

【Attack: 87】

【Trait - Synergistic Combat: After active activation, it continuously drains the user's vitality, and while nourishing the battle axe, it shares the damage received by the user】

【Trait - Soul-Sucking Pain (Awaiting Empowerment): When the vitality drained by calamity bane reaches 100%, it will activate the limit output mode, entering an uncontrollable berserk state. During this period, every time the axe blade hits a target, it will cause area explosive damage until the drained vitality is exhausted】

【Durability: 45】

【Manufacturing Cost: Brass * 30, Rusted Parts * 10, General Plastic * 8, Adhesive * 6, beryllium crystal * 6 (Can consume 48 tokens to deduct materials and complete manufacturing directly)】

A Level 3 weapon blueprint!

And it was a violent weapon with dual traits, high attack, and high defense!

Lin Xiao raised his head and looked at Jiang Wanwan and Wen Yiran, who had also opened blueprints.

In their hands were the [Composite Crossbow · cloud piercer], which had high piercing damage, and the [Amplification Codex · Ripple], which could amplify skill range.

Was this the event card worth five thousand stardust?

"Keep opening!"

Lin Xiao's voice maintained its consistent calmness.

But the light in his eyes was already ten thousand times more intense!