The Bluebird was so fast that even carrying Bai Cheng it barely slowed.

In the blink of ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ an eye ten thousand metres flashed past.

A gust of wind brushed them and vanished.

The instant Bai Cheng's vision focused she was already on the ground beneath Cloud Heaven Sea.

Moments later a thud cratered the earth—Purple Iris, in free fall.

She sprang up, eyes wary, scanning the surroundings.

The Bluebird took off at once, heading back toward the train.

Curious, Bai Cheng stamped the ground, then looked around; the scene matched exactly what she'd seen on the scanner.

The ground was uneven, littered with the gnawed remains of gears, bearings and hydraulic rods, like mechanical bones spat out by some titanic beast.

It wasn't as flat as she'd expected; piles of scrapped machinery had become little hills.

Among those hills of junk she spotted plenty of grease-blackened gearwheels.

The Bluebird must have picked one up here.

Yet there weren't as many as she'd hoped—mostly just discarded parts.

Still, setting the trash aside, she realised the entire ground was steel, reasonably level except for the rust.

“A steel floor... is there something underneath?” Bai Cheng glanced about for clues.

But the place was desolate, the air reeking of oil and rust; there was nothing.

Finding nothing else, she turned to the hills of mechanical junk.

Even if nothing else existed here, salvaged parts could still be useful.

Soon, escorted by the Bluebird, Yu Nian and Leng Ningxue landed safely.

“Yikes, so it really is just a dump!” The stench made Yu Nian pinch her nose; the sight disgusted her.

Seeing her, Bai Cheng's eyes lit up and she grinned.

“Nian Nian, I just had a great idea.”

“Huh?” Yu Nian blinked. “What?”

Bai Cheng didn't keep her guessing. “All this scrap must be bits left after something huge broke apart, right?”

“Yeah... so?” Yu Nian still didn't follow.

Leng Ningxue added, “So your talent should be able to restore them?”

“Oh!” Yu Nian saw the light. “Maybe it really can!”

Another day of grunt work, but the gacha-like thrill made her almost eager.

“Then let's not waste time—I'll try right now!”

With that she dashed to the nearest junk hill, ready to dig in.

Her restoration gift had a perk: one touch told her which parts could be rebuilt and which were hopeless.

No one expected every scrap here to be restorable.

A few useful buildings or devices would be enough.

They hadn't come all this way for nothing.

While Yu Nian worked, Leng Ningxue and Bai Cheng scavenged for corroded parts themselves.

No mining needed, yet hand-picking was painfully slow.

The Bluebird ferried supplies back and forth while Purple Iris kept watch.

Soon Yu Nian's talent produced its first restoration.

She could sense each part's rebuild time and cost, so she started with the quickest, simplest ones.

“Xiao Cheng, Ningxue!” she called, and both turned.

Before her stood... a double-door fridge?!

“Huh?” Bai Cheng frowned, stunned.

With no screen around they couldn't inspect the item's stats.

Bai Cheng stepped up to check it herself.

And that was that.

The fridge glowed faint white—clearly the lowest-grade facility.

After a second look she had to admit it was just an ordinary refrigerator.

“Why a fridge?”

“How should I know!” Yu Nian threw her hands up, innocent.

Over the next hour her talent spat out one daily appliance after another.

Fridge, stove, washer, AC, range-hood, water dispenser... Soon even Yu Nian was fuming.

Back when life was harsh these might have mattered, but the train already carried better versions traded from other Survivors.

And they outperformed these by far.

These plain furnishings were utterly redundant.

“This place looks like a cyber-tech ruin—why such ordinary junk?” Even the unflappable Leng Ningxue complained.

“Right,” Bai Cheng nodded, then eyed Yu Nian. “Your talent hasn't glitched, has it?”

“Hey, don't blame me!”

Yu Nian kept scanning the hills. “I'll try a long rebuild this time—please not another dud.”

Blind-box mode left them no better option.

“If only we could filter the parts by type and restore with purpose.”

The moment Bai Cheng muttered it all three looked up, meeting each other's eyes.

In unison they said, “Get Xiao Yu down to sort them!”

Let the expert handle the expert's job!

It would save heaps of time and let them spot the useful pieces fast.

Time-heavy parts could be hauled to the train and restored later.

Key components were rare; they wouldn't stay here forever.

At once the Bluebird soared back toward the train.

Minutes later Lan Xiaoyu was set down beside them.