[Item Name: Carriage Element Core]

[Attribute: Random]

[Description: Craft a custom carriage tailored for breeding, farming, comfort, defense, and more!]

[Price: 1,000 Infinite Coins]

Infinite Coin was likely this world’s currency. Every expense on the station platform required them.

Reading the description, Bai Cheng’s lips twitched. "Why don’t you just rob me instead?!"

Even though Chi Yan had been grinding for her to earn Infinite Coins, Bai Cheng’s total savings barely amounted to 400. Far from the 1,000 needed.

Still, she tried to purchase it.

[Insufficient Infinite Coins!]

[Current Balance: 406]

Fine, guess I’ll have to give up for now.

But the vending machine’s description helped her understand the Carriage Element Core’s purpose.

"I thought it’d be something like a Train Core or Armor Core," Bai Cheng muttered, shifting her attention to other items.

The vending machine offered a dazzling array of goods, from blueprints and tools to food and drinks.

[Item Name: Furnace (Blueprint) / Fire Pit (Blueprint) / Kiln (Blueprint)...]

[Price: 100 / 30 / 80 Infinite Coins...]

Unfortunately, most of the blueprints were ones Bai Cheng had already seen, and their prices were absurdly high. There was zero cost-efficiency.

"Who the hell buys blueprints at a station?!" She scoffed, scrolling further to see if anything useful remained.

Despite the variety, the vending machine itself was compact. All browsing could be done on a small screen.

Flipping past the construction category, the next page displayed food items.

[Item Name: Cheap Canned Meat x2 / Protein Bar x4...]

[Price: 1 / 1 Infinite Coin...]

"What kind of garbage is this?" Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow. "So cheap—are there cockroaches in the ingredients?"

Disgusted, she wrinkled her nose. Who even needs food here? Anyone who made it to Station One and repelled the Infinite Raiders surely had supplies.

The machine’s offerings were all synthetic, low-grade junk. It didn’t even offer prepackaged meals. It was downright atrocious.

With a swipe, the next page showed drinks, and something finally caught her eye.

"They have iced black tea?!"

At 1 Infinite Coin for two bottles, Bai Cheng immediately bought ten.

Gulp, gulp—

She downed half a bottle in one go. "Ahhh, refreshing!"

"Guess there are decent things here, after all."

Reinvigorated, she kept browsing.

The next category was tools, which were pre-made tools that couldn’t be crafted. A few items stood out.

[Item Name: Wall Lamp / Water Generator / Sun Hat / Door Lock / Survival Dagger...]

[Price: 10 / 20 / 1 / 25 / 5 Infinite Coins...]

While not game-changing, they weren’t useless either.

Most importantly, these items could be upgraded through the Book of Cheng.

They’re all free attribute points!

Unlike food, all non-consumables in the machine were one-time purchases.

Without hesitation, Bai Cheng bought everything.

[-101 Infinite Coins]

But seeing her balance drop, she froze. "Wait, none of these are expensive—how did I just spend over a hundred?!"

A gut feeling told her that Infinite Coins would be crucial in the future.

"I’ve got enough supplies to reach the next station. No more spending."

She still didn’t know how to obtain a Train Core or Armor Core. What if they also cost a fortune?

"I need to save up, not splurge."

Bai Cheng forced herself to look away, only to spot another notice on a nearby door.

[Bathing: Hot water available! Affordable Price!]

"You can shower here?!" She blinked.

The door was locked, requiring 5 Infinite Coins to open. Without thinking twice, she paid.

"Five days... Do you know how much I’ve suffered these past five days?!"

The room inside resembled a hotel bathroom. If not for the time limit, she would’ve suspected that lodging was an option too.

Stripping quickly, Bai Cheng stood before the mirror, admiring herself with flushed cheeks.

"Still flawless."

"Come to think of it, this is only my second shower."

Her intentions were pure. She just wanted to shower.

But well, every part needs a proper cleaning.

With all this stress, maybe I can relax a bit...?

No, no—that’d be a waste of time!

Soon, the sound of running water filled the room, drowning out... other noises.

Finally, Bai Cheng sighed in satisfaction.

"Damn, standing to pee is so convenient."

Although some part of it wasn’t done voluntarily.

Freshly dressed, she felt rejuvenated. Unfortunately, the station lacked restaurants. Otherwise, she would order a meal.

As for other services like massages, she had no interest in them. She had just relieved her tension earlier.

Bai Cheng glanced at the time, and there were five hours left.

Grabbing her pickaxe, she headed out.

Even without being ordered, Chi Yan was already mining outside.

Even with limited time, they could easily fill an entire carriage with ore.

"Young Lady, this tunnel leads to a coal mine," Chi Yan explained. "The surface deposits are iron ore."

Bai Cheng nodded. She doubted that the smelting efficiency of iron ore is higher than scrap iron. At most, it’d be a 1:2 ratio.

Station minerals were meant to help survivors transition to the Iron Age, but she wasn’t part of that group.

Her scrap iron reserves were sufficient, and with the next station’s distance unknown, fuel took priority.

"Once survivors get steam engines, coal will become scarce. It will be tough to trade for it later."

She met Chi Yan’s gaze. "Focus on coal. Take as much as we can carry."

"Understood, Young Lady."

Later, Bai Cheng returned to the train, crafting extra iron crates for storage before grabbing a lantern and entering the mine.

The coal veins gleamed darkly. With each swing of her pickaxe, uniform chunks clattered to the ground as its durability dwindled.

Finally, a blue light flashed.

[Silver Pickaxe: 0/100]

Her mining speed skyrocketed.

Four hours later, it was time to leave the station.

Stretching, Bai Cheng called out, "That’s enough. Let’s go, Chi Yan."

Securing her backpack, she headed for the train with Chi Yan.

Passing the lobby screen, it was now updated with another name:

[Station One Regional Channel Leaderboard]

[1st: Bai Cheng – Completion Rate: 100%]

[2nd: Tang Yan – Completion Rate: 62%]

[...]

[Time Remaining Until Reward Calculation: 36h]