Chapter 19 – Opening the Bronze Treasure Chest

Looking at the chat messages in the group, a notification from the Trading House suddenly popped up.

【Your axe transaction was successful. Obtained Train Upgrade Shard*1, which has been placed in the trading space.】

“So fast?”

And it was the Train Upgrade Shard that got traded first!

This genuinely gave Xiao Wuwang a small thrill of delight!

He immediately changed the trading rules for the other axe to Train Upgrade Shard.

Rare Metals might hold greater value in the future, but for now, it was more beneficial to prioritize gathering enough resources for the train upgrade and upgrade the train as soon as possible.

“Oh right, I still have a Bronze Treasure Chest I haven’t opened yet!”

Thinking of this, Xiao Wuwang sat up from the bed and took out the Bronze Treasure Chest.

He didn’t rush to open it but carefully examined the chest.

At that moment, the corner of his mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.

Because there was a faint bull-head pattern in one corner of the chest!

This meant there was a bull-type monster inside the chest!

Having an extra monster was somewhat more dangerous, but it also meant that by killing it, he could harvest materials or meat from the monster!

This would allow his nearly depleted food supply to be replenished.

Of course, he didn’t let his guard down.

Monsters in Wooden Treasure Chests were generally weaklings; as long as you dared to pick up a weapon and attack, you could defeat them—they were essentially there to deliver meat.

Monsters in Black Iron Treasure Chests were stronger, equivalent to wild boars of the same level, and could potentially cause injuries.

Monsters in Bronze Treasure Chests were even stronger, posing a life-threatening danger to ordinary people.

As for monsters in Silver Treasure Chests, even the current Xiao Wuwang wasn’t too keen on provoking them.

Right now, Xiao Wuwang’s Fatigue Points were too low to fully utilize his combat abilities, so opening the chest wasn’t urgent.

Xiao Wuwang lay back down on the bed, his attention still focused on the Chat Room.

Just then, a private message suddenly popped up on the panel.

Only messages from added friends triggered such a special notification.

Xiao Wuwang immediately opened the private message to take a look.

Si Shui Liu Nian: 【Big Brother Wuwang, I saw earlier that you were buying gunpowder. I just opened a chest and got 10 units of gunpowder, along with a Train Upgrade Shard. You must be close to upgrading, right? I’ll send these to you first.】

Xiao Wuwang was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t expected Si Shui Liu Nian to trust him so much, sending such precious resources to him “for free” without any collateral or promises!

Sure enough, he received an email from Si Shui Liu Nian, with attachments containing exactly 10 units of gunpowder and 1 Train Upgrade Shard.

Gunpowder was a key raw material for producing bullets, and the Train Upgrade Shard went without saying. With this shard, he now had 7 in total. If luck was on his side, he might have a chance to upgrade his train again before the next Platform!

After accepting the attachments, Xiao Wuwang replied to Si Shui Liu Nian: 【These two materials are indeed very important to me. Thank you for your trust and support. Please check your email tomorrow morning—I’ll send you a practical Item as a gift.】

Having accepted her two materials, Xiao Wuwang naturally wouldn’t remain indifferent. He decided to upgrade a Level 2 axe for her tonight as a thank-you gift.

Si Shui Liu Nian: 【Big Brother Wuwang, there’s no need! You saved my life before, and I haven’t even mentioned that debt of gratitude. Later, thanks to your reminder, I managed to get the third-place reward for the Server Zone Level 1 upgrade, which has already benefited me greatly. This is my way of thanking you, so you don’t need to compensate me further!】

Wuwang Kuangzun: “One thing at a time. We’ve already settled our previous accounts, so I can’t just take the materials you sent later for free. Please don’t refuse.”

Wuwang Kuangzun: “Almost forgot, one more reminder: try to keep the train running at full speed as much as possible to cover more distance. The farther you travel, the better the resources like treasure chests and mineral deposits you’ll encounter later.”

Si Shui Liu Nian: “Thank you, Big Brother Wuwang.”

Meng Ruoyun hadn’t expected that an unintentional act would yield such an unexpected reward.

Every piece of advice from Wuwang Kuangzun was important, which further solidified Meng Ruoyun’s determination to cling tightly to Wuwang Kuangzun’s coattails.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wuwang browsed through the Chat Channel but found no particularly valuable messages. He simply closed the System Panel and lay down on the bed, feigning sleep.

In the blink of an eye, over an hour passed.

Xiao Wuwang’s Fatigue Points were finally about to fully recover, reaching 98 points.

He took out several Excellent-grade Iron Axes and triggered his Talent to upgrade them one by one.

After consuming a total of 78 Fatigue Points, Xiao Wuwang successfully upgraded six Level 0 Iron Axes to Level 1 Black Iron Axes.

Among these six Black Iron Axes, only one gained the Sturdy Trait. The Sturdy Trait slows down the Durability consumption rate of the axe, making it a practical trait overall.

Xiao Wuwang planned to list the five Black Iron Axes without traits in the Trading House.

When he opened the Trading House, there was more good news: the Level 1 Iron Axe he had listed earlier was gone.

Naturally, another Train Upgrade Shard appeared in his trading space, bringing him one step closer to upgrading his train.

After a brief consideration, Xiao Wuwang set two of the Black Iron Axes to be exchanged for Train Upgrade Shards, two for Rare Metals, and the last one for Iron.

Exchanging one Level 1 axe for 40 units of Iron might only be feasible for someone who had encountered an iron mine along the way.

After setting up the trades, Xiao Wuwang lay back on the bed and entered a resting state.

As time passed, the Fatigue recovery effects of dinner and the Crimson Flame Bear’s blood were also diminishing.

This time, Xiao Wuwang waited nearly two hours for his Fatigue Points to fully recover.

Instead of rushing to upgrade items, he took advantage of his good condition, stopped the train, jumped off, and took out the Bronze Treasure Chest.

He was ready to open the treasure chest!

“Clack!”

The moment the Bronze Treasure Chest opened, a sudden “moo” echoed, followed by a massive figure leaping out of the chest.

This was the monster contained within the Bronze Treasure Chest—a Level 1 Wild Bull!

“Bang, bang…”

Xiao Wuwang, who was well-prepared, fired four shots in quick succession. At such close range, with his Firearms Mastery Skill, there was no chance of missing. Every shot struck the Wild Bull’s head, with two hitting its eyes and penetrating its skull.

Thus, this Level 1 Wild Bull met its end under Xiao Wuwang’s gunfire before it could even unleash its power!

Xiao Wuwang stored the Wild Bull’s corpse in his Portable Space.

—Break Down!

[Wild Bull corpse broken down. Obtained: Wild Bull Hide1, Wild Bull Horns2, Wild Bull Meat*400 kg]

Level 1 monsters had begun to yield Materials.

Wild Bull Hide could be used to craft leather armor, and Wild Bull Horns could be forged into bone blades, though this would require finding the corresponding Blueprints later.

After slaying the Wild Bull, Xiao Wuwang faced no further obstacles and directly opened the Bronze Treasure Chest.

The chest contained five items in total: Train Upgrade Shard ×1, Iron ×20, Glass ×10, Mechanical Parts ×10, and Basic Acceleration Card ×1.

Basic Acceleration Card: When activated, it increases train speed by 20% for a duration of 6 hours.

Not bad!

With this Train Upgrade Shard, he had now collected 9 Train Upgrade Shards in total!

Iron, glass, and mechanical parts were all relatively important resources.

Lastly, the Basic Acceleration Card was a powerful tool for climbing the travel distance leaderboard!

Overall, this Bronze Treasure Chest did not disappoint him.