Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

Chapter 272 Discovering clues

Sun Keke said softly, "Could it be that they can't defeat the monsters outside?"

Silver-level monsters are still quite powerful.

“It’s normal to lose a single one, but you can still overwhelm a Silver-level monster with sheer numbers. Setting up a few settlements isn’t a problem. There’s no need to run underground just to avoid Silver-level monsters. The cost of living outside is much lower than living underground,” Su Li retorted. “Unless they are originally underground creatures, or have a compelling reason to go underground.”

Su Li considered many possibilities, but there were too few clues at the moment, and wild speculation would only waste her brainpower.

Su Li shook her head. "Let's not think about it anymore. Let's be careful. Just remember there are indigenous people here. Their mechanical skills are quite good, that's enough."

Sun Lili pressed further, "Should we try to make contact with the indigenous people?"

"No," Su Li refused again.

"What happens to the indigenous people is none of our business; we're just here to collect data. Our main task right now is to upgrade the train."

“We don’t know whether the indigenous people are friendly or hostile. If they have bad intentions towards us, it will be difficult for us to collect materials.”

Sofia suggested, "We don't know why the indigenous people went underground. If something forced them to go underground, then this event will most likely happen during our exploration."

This is advice from experienced players.

Su Li continued, "So the route we choose next needs to make sure there are caves or similar places along the way for us to hide in."

Ivan guessed, "Could it be a volcanic eruption? Not one of those slow eruptions outside, but a really big one!"

"Also a possibility."

Su Li stopped everyone from speculating further, saying, "Let's collect the ores around here first. My blessing senses that there's a mine inside this cave."

The group continued into the cave and soon came across a red underground lava river.

The temperature here had reached over 70 degrees Celsius, making the place both stuffy and dry. But when Zuli saw what was beside the lava river, the heat in his heart vanished instantly, leaving only joy.

"Plants?!" Su Li exclaimed in surprise. "We're really lucky this time."

Zurich wants to upgrade the train, and he needs wood and stone with the five elements.

The most difficult materials to collect are metallic stones, as well as fire- and metallic woods. This isn't a matter of the Five Elements; it's simply a matter of the living environment.

In flammable environments, plants are highly flammable. This world is full of volcanoes, making plant survival conditions extremely harsh. In worlds with strong metallic elements, the soil easily becomes metallic, preventing plants from absorbing nutrients.

Metallic stones are those that, due to their high metallic content, are more likely to become minerals.

The group checked their surroundings and found a small group of rat-like monsters, totaling more than 30 rats.

These rats naturally became the subject of Zu Li and his team's research.

Having defeated the monsters, Suli began logging.

But upon closer inspection, Zuli noticed that these trees grew in a very regular pattern. The oldest trees were all spaced about the same distance apart.

“These are trees that were planted by people,” Su Li judged. “It seems they were planted by the indigenous people, but there are no traces of them collecting the trees. It seems that the indigenous people have abandoned this place.”

I casually cast an appraisal spell to examine these trees.

【Molten oil wood】

[Iron Grade]

[A magical plant that can only grow near high-temperature areas.]

"Oil?" Su Li was taken aback, then looked the tree up and down.

This tree looks a bit like a vase.

Su Li took out the Twin Lotus, poked it into the bark, and then pulled it out.

Then, a little bit of oily liquid flowed out from beneath the bark. Su Li pinched it, somewhat surprised.

"It's really oily." Su Li sniffed it closer. "It doesn't smell very good... Is it edible?"

Chef Sofia came over, dipped her index finger in a little oil, and then tasted it.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" Sofia spat several times. "I can't eat it, the taste is too weird."

Ivan also came over, dipped his finger in the oil, enhanced it with magic, and rubbed it together. "It feels pretty good. I wonder if it can be used for oil quenching or as a mechanical lubricant."

"I'm not sure, you can try it later."

Su Li took out an axe. "I see there are quite a few trees in this forest. Let's hurry up and cut them down. The sooner we finish, the better we can go find more resources!"

The remaining people also started working.

These large trees, once cut down, will yield 5 portions of ordinary wood, 1 portion of fire-attribute wood, 2 portions of molten wood oil, and 1 portion of molten wood seeds.

Zurich can no longer provide a suitable growing environment for this seed. We'll see how good the oil from this tree is before deciding whether to sell it to the Blue Star government.

Four people chopped down trees, while two kept watch. These trees were highly resistant and much harder to cut down than ordinary trees. It took Su Li and his team half a day to collect all the trees.

Then they re-erected the crane and drove their transport truck out.

Thanks to Sun Lili's anti-gravity magic, the transport vehicle was easily sent down the cliff and into the cave, where all the materials were collected.

Then, the group continued driving into the cave, where, according to Su Li's senses, there were still quite a few ores.

Deep inside the cave, Zuli discovered a collapsed area that blocked the path. Perhaps it was this collapse that led to the abandonment of this place.

It took Su Li and her team three days to dig up all the materials. And they were lucky enough to collect all the fire-attribute wood they needed.

On the fourth day, the train restarted. They had enough fire-attribute ore, but there was still a significant shortage of titanium and platinum ore.

The train continued its journey toward the heart of the mountains.

As Su Li looked at the map that was being continuously updated, a bad feeling suddenly arose in her mind.

He quickly called everyone over.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked.

“Take a look at the map first.” Su Li showed them the map recorded by the radar.

As the group looked at the map, their expressions turned somewhat strange.

"What are your thoughts?" Su Li asked.

"Are these cracks getting bigger?" Sun Keke asked worriedly.

Ivan's expression was serious. He switched the map from a top-down view to a 3D view, checked it one last time, and said in a heavy tone, "We are heading towards the center of these fissures."

Ivan pointed on the map, “Look at this part, these waves. These marks show what happened in the center of the crack, and the shock wave spread very far.”

“What do you think it could be?” Su Li asked. Ivan was more knowledgeable about land matters than he was.

"...Some kind of explosion. Ahead, some kind of explosion occurred, the explosion site was underground, the aftershocks of the explosion tore the earth apart, leaving radial 'scars' on the earth."

Su Li tapped the table, thought for a moment, and then said, "Just to be on the safe side, let's not go any further. Didn't we just pass a cave? Let's retreat to the side of the cave, and then we'll gather supplies around there. Let's get through this exploration."