"Little Cheng, why did you buy my socks? Did you miss Mommy’s scent?"

Bai Cheng rolled her eyes, speechless. She couldn’t very well explain that she had been too embarrassed to speak first.

At this point, it seemed that her best friend Yu Nian was just as carefree as ever. Even after being stranded in the wilderness of the Infinite Train world, her attitude hadn’t wavered in the slightest.

Bai Cheng chose to ignore the remark and instead continued asking:

Bai Cheng: "Do you have an odometer? How far are you from Station Two?"

Yu Nian: "1,870 kilometers left."

Bai Cheng was taken aback. She glanced at her own odometer.

[Distance to Next Station: 1,809 km]

She had set off half a day earlier, but Yu Nian’s remaining distance was nearly the same as hers. Which meant that Yu Nian must have left the station around noon on the fourth day as well.

And she must’ve managed to kill the Infinite Raiders, gather resources, and upgrade her steam train before leaving.

Since both of them were at lv.1, their trains’ speeds should be identical. Judging by the distance, their departure times couldn’t have been more than an hour apart.

Bai Cheng suddenly realized that Yu Nian’s Talent might be as terrifying as hers.

From this perspective, it was no surprise that she had claimed the Pioneer title.

"I didn’t expect Yu Nian’s pace to be this fast." Bai Cheng rested her chin on her hand. If they both continued at this rate, they’d likely arrive at the next station around the same time unless one deliberately stalled.

Still, she couldn’t resist asking: 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"How did you get the Pioneer title?"

Yu Nian: "Call me ’Mommy’ and I’ll tell you. (wink)"

Bai Cheng: "Forget it, then."

Yu Nian: "Wait, wait! Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s a reward for being the first to reach the station. Other than looking cool, it’s useless. Didn’t you get one too, Little Cheng?"

Bai Cheng suddenly remembered that she had indeed obtained the Pioneer title as the first to person board the station. But she had obtained it earlier, so the reward had been replaced.

"So Yu Nian was also first... which means she doesn’t know either." What Bai Cheng really wondered was how people like Tang Yan and Lin Qiuyue had obtained theirs.

In the past, she would’ve just asked Lin Qiuyue directly.

But ever since her profiteering had been exposed, the other girl hadn’t reached out, and Bai Cheng was too embarrassed to initiate the conversation.

"Whatever, it’s not important anyway."

She checked her station ranking rewards instead.

[Congratulations on securing first place! Reward: Detection Desk (Blueprint).]

[Name: Detection Desk (Blueprint)]

[Description: Detects the trains of Survivors or Infinite Raiders within a 10 km radius.]

[Construction Requirements: Odometer ×1, Infinite Coin ×100]

"A radar?" Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow. This would definitely be useful to her.

Luckily, she already had all the required materials. Without hesitation, she activated the blueprint.

The odometer, which resembled a pocket watch, and the hundred Infinite Coins scattered on the ground vanished.

They were replaced by a black, cube-shaped device about forty centimeters in length, width, and height that resembled a nightstand.

At its top was a large square screen, even bigger than her system interface.

Curious, she leaned in and saw a 10 km radius map displayed on the screen. Most of the area was shrouded in fog, with only a small illuminated zone around her train.

A green dot pulsed at the center, emitting rhythmic waves outward. Text in the top-left corner provided additional info:

[Current Area: Muddy Swamp (Silent Night)]

[Status: No anomalies detected]

[Distance to Next Station: 1,809 km]

She left the device beside the control panel without moving it.

Meanwhile, Yu Nian kept chattering away.

Bai Cheng was gradually getting used to her bestie’s talkative nature, although the occasional outrageous comments still caught her off guard.

Still, having someone to talk to was better than scrolling through the public channels full of nonsense.

As she chatted, Bai Cheng inspected the Survival Dagger that had finished upgrading half an hour ago.

The once-simple blade had transformed entirely—longer, sharper, and more refined. It looked less like a dagger now and more like a short sword.

[Top-Grade! Blade of Severance!]

[You have gained +1 distributable attribute point!]

[Name: Blade of Severance]

[Quality: Legendary (Bound)]

[Description: A weapon capable of severing any weapon of Legendary quality or below.]

[Evaluation: Cutting iron like mud, severing without fail. A new divine weapon is born!]

Bai Cheng’s eyes lit up. "Another conceptual weapon!"

Even without testing it, she knew the description wasn’t an exaggeration. ’Cutting iron like mud, severing without fail’ was a literal statement.

"All those hairs I plucked to upgrade you weren’t in vain!"

She was starting to notice a pattern. When fully upgraded, weapons were on a completely different level compared to tools. Both Fatal Edge and now Blade of Severance were proof of that.

Still, she couldn’t help but worry that if she kept upgrading daggers, the time required would skyrocket.

Then again, weapons weren’t an absolute necessity. With Chi Yan handling combat, she was already well-covered in that regard. Plus, she was about to recruit her second employee, making weapons even less important.

"Mm, when I have time, I can upgrade some of the other weapons I’ve crafted." Weapons like swords, spears would probably gain equally absurd traits.

With her Spirit attribute now at 9, she allocated the extra point, bringing it up to 10.

Now, her three core attributes had all crossed the double-digit threshold, putting her physical abilities far beyond an ordinary person’s.

Bai Cheng felt invincible, as if she could punch a bull to death.

She flexed her arms, although there wasn’t a hint of muscle to be seen...

After setting the Blade of Severance aside, she picked up the stack of white employee cards.

"Who’d have thought that something so valuable during the novice period would become so common now?"

She flipped through them casually. Many were beast-type employee cards, but even those were being sold cheaply.

"If I remember right, the recommended second employee should be green quality, right?"

But since almost no one had train carriages yet, recruiting a second employee wasn’t possible for most.

Bai Cheng eyed the cards in her hand, uncertain. "Hopefully, these forty-plus cards can be synthesized into a gold one."

Just as she selected the employee cards as her next upgrade target—

"Young Lady, be careful! A magical beast is coming!"

Chi Yan’s warning rang out from outside the carriage.