The gas train shot through the white mist like a silver bolt of silent lightning.

The Internal-Combustion Engine ran so smoothly the passengers barely felt a tremor.

The old steampunk roughness had given way to a sleek fusion of tech and bio-energy; every upgrade marked the leap from “desperate life-raft” to “mobile fortress.”

The new train was blisteringly fast. With Lan Xiaoyu's talent boosting it, the top speed hit 240 km/h—outpacing modern high-speed rail.

Inside, blue light braided with silver. The precision whir of machinery was swallowed by the silencing system, leaving only the hushed murmur of conversation.

Lan Xiaoyu stood in the cockpit, fingertips brushing the holographic console. Pale-blue energy trickled from her palm, coursing along data veins into the train core engine.

At her command the train surged again, the engine growling like a waking beast.

Over the next few days Bai Cheng and the others learned far more about the Cloud Heaven Sea.

The good news: the surface supplies had little to do with the special channel's manhunt—though they weren't entirely unrelated.

Kill the hunters and the fog thinned for a short while, letting leaders spot anomalies below and making landings easier.

But to Bai Cheng none of this was even a problem.

With the absolute supremacy of a King-Tier Bluebird, she could reach the ground unscathed in broad daylight.

As for the Silent Night black clouds, they merely cost a bit more stamina.

Day or night made no difference to the surface; the loot tables were identical.

Hence the plan: travel through Silent Night, then harvest like crazy by day.

Upgrading the train demanded mountains of mechanical parts, and the purge supplied fuel—killing two birds with one stone.

Time flew; five days passed in a blink.

Thanks to the crew's hustle, Bai Cheng had now gathered every last component needed to upgrade the train—and a mountain of fuel to boot.

With the two key resources in hand, she started the upgrade at once.

Bursts of white light rippled along the hull, and the crew's eyes shone brighter with each flash.

Behind them, Liu San and company watched in awe.

“Never thought we'd see Miss Bai Cheng's growth firsthand... it's insane!”

They'd known she developed fast, but only after days of traveling together did Liu San truly grasp the speed.

“Miss Bai Cheng's pace isn't something normal people can match!”

Liu San clenched his fists, vowing to grow stronger and stop being dead weight.

He knew king-tier employees helped, but they weren't the root cause of her meteoric rise.

Watching her train climb levels and turn ever more futuristic, while his own looked like a museum piece, it was hard to believe they belonged to the same era.

Hard to believe they belonged to the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° same era.

After this upgrade the train had become a luxury liner—no, a rolling mansion.

Yet the leap in living standards was secondary; the real prize was the massive jump in combat power.

Tech weapons, barriers—everything a fortress could want.

Days of grinding had paid off; with mechanical parts the only material left, Bai Cheng could push straight to max level.

“Let's see what the next promotion quest is.” She tapped the screen and pulled up the train's status.

Train: gas train

Level: lv.9 (max)

Armored Core: Space Matrix

Max Carriages: 20

Top Speed: 300 km/h

Personnel: Crimson, Guardian Fifth-Rank / Purple Iris, King-Tier / Lvdou, Guardian Fourth-Rank / Bluebird, King-Tier / Huang Yu, Guardian Third-Rank / Lan Xiaoyu, Guardian Third-Rank

Installed Modules: Employee Watchtower, powered railcar

Your gas train has reached the level cap—promotion quest unlocked!

Promotion Requirements: 0/1,000 Electronic Parts, 0/100 train cores, 100 Magic Crystals, 0/1 Electric Engine

“Same old promotion checklist,” Yu Nian muttered, instantly losing interest.

Bai Cheng wasn't surprised. “We've leveled too fast; we'll probably need to cross several Stations before new materials show up.”

“Sounds perfect,” Leng Ningxue laughed. “Means our train's officially maxed for this stage.”

“So can we hit the Station now?” Yu Nian cheered—then paused.

But Bai Cheng shook her head. “We still haven't joined the Ten Thousand Frequency Hegemony Tournament. A few days headcount was full; now it's dropped.”

A guaranteed-reward event? She wouldn't miss it.

“Huh?” Yu Nian frowned. “Did the special channel guys kill them?”

“Very likely.”

“We can't head to the next Station yet, but we can pace our distance.” Bai Cheng shrugged.

With no further upgrades possible, spare mechanical parts were only good for selling—yet fuel remained critical.

They'd keep stopping to scour the surface and top off fuel tanks.

“These ought to be rare by now.” Yu Nian tossed a mechanical part, smirking. “We'll sell high and buy magic crystals to boost our strength.”

Other leaders, even if they spotted the trove ten thousand meters below, couldn't spare the time to harvest while being hunted.

Bai Cheng intended to fleece them while the window lasted.

“Good—stick to the plan.”

The train set off. After a thousand kilometers they'd dive to the surface, scavenge scrap, and—thanks to Lan Xiaoyu's eye and Yu Nian's restoration talent—turn trash into treasure.

Another stream of extra income.

In short, every last scrap beneath the Cloud Heaven Sea was being wrung dry.

Yet this time, just as the crew prepared to drop, Niu Dali sent an urgent plea over the link.

“City Lord, the Outpost City's under attack—we can't hold much longer!”