Jiang Chen's gaze burned as he stared at the signal tower icon representing communication on the control panel.
Although the regional chat channel was already open, it was just a large-scale public channel with chaotic information, and it was passively received.
If he could activate and strengthen his train's exclusive communication system, he might be able to obtain more precise and proactive information.
For example, scanning the nearby area? For example, directional communication?
"The Newbie protection period is only 72 hours, and the stopover time is only 30 minutes. Time is life, and information is an advantage."
Jiang Chen took a deep breath and no longer hesitated.
"It's decided! Communication module!"
He placed his hand on the control panel, his thoughts focused on the dim signal tower icon.
"Special Amplification! Designated amplification direction: Function Enhancement, Range Expansion!"
As his thought was conveyed, that one precious opportunity for Special Amplification was consumed.
In an instant, a pale golden energy, several times more powerful than the previous Basic Amplification, surged out from Jiang Chen's palm, like a living entity, instantly enveloping the entire small train control console!
"Buzz—buzz—buzz—"
The control console emitted a slight tremor, and the blue light on the LCD screen flickered violently, as if undergoing some drastic transformation.
When basic items were amplified before, only the item itself was enveloped in light. This time, it was the entire control console, and Jiang Chen could even feel that this energy seemed to spread into some of the wiring of the carriage.
"Special Amplification is indeed different!" Jiang Chen thought to himself, while also feeling a noticeable consumption of his mental energy.
This feeling of consumption was not strong, like staying up late for a few games, slightly fatigued, but completely within an acceptable range.
The light lasted for about five or six seconds before slowly receding.
The control console returned to calm, but the signal tower icon on it was no longer a dim, unactivated state, but glowed with brilliant silver-white light!
The information on the LCD screen also underwent a dramatic change.
"【Communication System: Multifunctional Strategic Enemy-Seeking Communication System (SSS-grade Amplification) - Activated】"
"【Function 1: Wide-Area Scan (Active): Can scan terrain, resource points, life signals, other train units, and available tracks within a 10-kilometer radius around the train. Cooldown: 10 minutes.】"
"【Function 2: Encrypted Communication (Active): Can initiate an encrypted communication channel with a designated target, or establish an encrypted team channel.】"
"【Function 3: Regional Channel Enhancement (Passive): Greatly improves the stability of information reception and transmission on the regional public channel, can filter keywords, and block junk information.】"
"【Function 4: Crisis Warning (Passive): Provides preliminary judgment and alerts for potential threats approaching the train.】"
"【Upgrade Module: Unlocked】"
"Holy crap! Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!"
When Jiang Chen saw the attributes of the communication system after the amplification, even though he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but curse.
This was no longer a surprise; this was an earth-shattering joy!
SSS-grade Amplification!
An originally unactivated ordinary communication module, under his Special Amplification, directly evolved into a Multifunctional Strategic Enemy-Seeking Communication System!
And it even had a dazzling SSS-grade Amplification suffix!
Each of these four functions was a divine skill!
Wide-Area Scan! 10-kilometer range! It could even detect life signals and other train units, and even available tracks! This was like having a full map hack! Although there was a 10-minute cooldown, its value for exploration and avoiding danger was immeasurable!
Encrypted Communication! In the apocalypse, how precious were secrets and trust? The importance of this function was self-evident. If he had reliable teammates in the future, this function would be of great use.
Regional Channel Enhancement! This was also very practical. Previously, information in the regional channel scrolled very fast, much of it useless. Now, he could filter keywords and block junk information, greatly improving information acquisition efficiency.
Crisis Warning! A passive skill that could automatically judge threats was simply a life-saving divine skill!
"Awesome! My Infinite Amplification talent, always divine!" Jiang Chen was so excited he almost took off on the spot.
He felt like he was playing a game where others were still using the basic equipment from the Newbie tutorial, while he directly got a full set of endgame gear in one go!
This feeling was incredibly exhilarating!
"Calm down, calm down, let's try this Wide-Area Scan first!" Jiang Chen forced himself to calm down; now was not the time to be foolishly happy.
There was less than an hour until they reached the abandoned Supply Station, and he needed to make full use of this newly acquired powerful ability.
He reached out and gently tapped the silver-white glowing signal tower icon on the control panel.
"【Do you want to activate Wide-Area Scan? This scan will consume a small amount of energy.】"
"A small amount of energy? That's nothing!" Jiang Chen was rich now and didn't care about such a small consumption.
"Activate!"
As he confirmed, an invisible fluctuation spread out from the train as its center.
The LCD screen's display changed accordingly, no longer showing the previous text information, but a simplified radar scanning interface.
In the center of the screen was a small green dot representing his train, surrounded by concentric circles forming the scanning range.
Soon, various light dots of different colors and shapes began to appear within the scanning range.
Green dots represented a small amount of basic resources.
Yellow dots represented a moderate amount of resources or special items.
Red light dots represented life signals or potential threats.
There were also some gray markers representing topographical features, such as small hills or dilapidated buildings. Specifically, some intermittent gray lines represented the direction of the railway tracks.
At this moment, about seven or eight kilometers in front of his train, a relatively large gray marked area appeared, with some green and yellow light dots scattered around it. Several blurry gray lines (tracks) converged towards that area.
At the edge of that gray marked area, there were also several faint red light dots flickering.
"【Scan Results:】"
"【Ahead 7.8 kilometers, a small abandoned Supply Station area detected. This area contains several abandoned tracks for temporary parking.】"
"【Inside the Supply Station: Basic building materials * multiple locations, damaged toolbox * 3, medical first aid kit (small) * 1, unknown metal box * 2.】"
"【Outside the Supply Station and on its internal edges, low-threat level mutated biological signals * 5 detected.】"
"【Nearby area detected other survivor train signals * 12, all currently moving towards the Supply Station along the tracks.】"
"Hiss—" Jiang Chen gasped.
This Wide-Area Scan function was too detailed!
It not only marked out the main supplies in the Supply Station but also provided hints about the number and approximate location of low-threat level mutated creatures! It even scanned that the Supply Station had abandoned tracks for parking!
"12 other trains... It seems this trip to the Supply Station won't be too quiet." Jiang Chen stroked his chin, his eyes deepening.
With this intelligence, he held an absolute advantage!
He could plan his route of action in advance after entering the Supply Station, prioritize obtaining the most valuable supplies, and avoid mutated creatures and other potential dangers.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated!
"What is this unknown metal box? It sounds like it could be something big." Jiang Chen's gaze fell on the two yellow light dots representing the unknown metal box.
He opened the regional chat channel, and sure enough, it was still bustling.
"How much longer until we arrive? I can't wait to go down and scavenge!"
"Big shots ahead, wait for me! My train is slow!"
"Does anyone know what's in the Supply Station? Will there be monsters?"
"Newbie trembling, begging for protection from big shots!"
"By the way, how do our trains stop? Do we just drive onto the ground?" A new player asked.
Someone immediately replied: "You're overthinking it, the system will guide you to a place with tracks to stop."
Jiang Chen smiled slightly as he watched these messages.
While you are still fumbling around blindly, relying on luck, I have already mapped out the entire area.
This sense of superiority brought by the information gap made him feel happy.
He did not show off his discoveries in the channel; it's best to keep wealth hidden and make a fortune quietly.
He silently memorized the scanned map of the Supply Station and the distribution of supplies, especially the locations of the two unknown metal boxes and the medical first aid kit.
Medical supplies were hard currency in any apocalyptic environment.
Time passed by second by second.
The train continued to chug along, and the dark red wasteland outside the window rapidly receded.
Jiang Chen occasionally glanced at the scanned map on the control console, confirming the positions of the Supply Station and other trains, as well as the available track conditions.
Approximately 20 minutes later.
"Whoosh—"
The train's speed began to slowly decrease, and the vibration of the carriage also weakened. Outside the window, some rust-stained track marks, half-buried in sand, could already be seen, seemingly guiding the train's direction.
Jiang Chen's spirits lifted, knowing that the destination was approaching.
He stood up and went to the glass window, looking out.
He saw a low, dilapidated silhouette of buildings on the distant horizon, with several intermittent tracks like gray ribbons merging into the buildings.
That should be the so-called small abandoned Supply Station.
The overall scale of the Supply Station was indeed not large. It looked like a long-abandoned small railway marshalling yard or an on-line supply point, with a few half-collapsed houses, some rusty metal frames and abandoned train cars, and various discarded items scattered along the tracks.
A desolate and bleak atmosphere rushed over him.
Around the Supply Station, several trains similar to his carriage had already stopped along several barely discernible tracks. Some were parked on a siding next to the main track, while others occupied the side of a relatively flat platform remnant. The trains were mostly similar in appearance, all gray-black metal carriages.
Some survivors, dressed in various ways, were cautiously disembarking from their respective trains, moving in twos and threes towards the Supply Station, either through the gaps between the tracks or on the dilapidated platform.
Most of their faces showed tension, vigilance, and a hint of longing for unknown supplies.
Jiang Chen's train, under the system's automatic guidance, slowly entered along a dusty siding track with decaying sleepers, emitting a "creak, creak" metallic friction sound. It finally came to a steady stop in an empty track section close to the Supply Station's entrance buildings but maintaining a certain distance from other trains, after a harsh braking sound.
"【Train has arrived at the small abandoned Supply Station. Please note, the train will automatically depart in 30 minutes.】"
The cold system prompt sounded in his mind.
Jiang Chen took a deep breath and glanced at the multifunctional tactical entrenching shovel in his backpack.
"Let's do this!"
He walked to the carriage door and gripped the doorknob.
Just as he was about to open the door and go down to explore, to make good use of his information advantage and scavenge a wave of supplies.
Suddenly!
"Oww—!"
A shrill and bizarre roar came from deep within the Supply Station without any warning!
Immediately following were several human cries of alarm and screams!
The chat channel instantly exploded!
"Holy crap! What was that sound! There's a monster!"
"Ah! Help! What is that thing pouncing over!!!"
"Damn it! Who was careless enough to provoke a monster!"
"Run! Those things are so fast! So disgusting!"
Jiang Chen's pupils contracted sharply as he looked through the train window.
He saw that at the entrance of the Supply Station, several survivors who had just cautiously walked along the tracks into the buildings were suddenly pounced on by several dark red creatures with sharp claws and fangs, like skinned wild dogs, that darted out from the shadows!
The creatures moved swiftly and were extremely aggressive, their sharp claws easily tearing through the survivors' thin clothing.
Blood instantly stained the sandy tracks and ground!
A survivor who reacted a bit slower couldn't even let out a complete scream before being bitten on the neck by one of the creatures, his body convulsing violently a few times before falling still.
And that first roar seemed to be a signal! From the shadows of those dilapidated buildings, seven or eight more identical creatures emerged, letting out bone-chilling growls, their crimson eyes locked onto other survivors attempting to enter or approach the Supply Station, and they charged madly!
The scene became utterly chaotic! Screams, monster roars, and the sound of objects being knocked over intertwined, instantly turning this previously calm stopover point into a living hell.