Jiang Ye was a little surprised.
Previously, upgrades were instant, but this one required an hour and a half?
Before he could recover, a buzzing, strange sound emanated from the base's bottom.
Following that, many things began to change!
First, the walls stretched, windows gradually increased, and finally, they became continuous windows like those on a bus.
Then, in front of the base, dividing panels appeared, with a door splitting open in the middle of the panels. Jiang Ye curiously stood up, pushed the door open, and saw a cockpit rapidly forming, a steering wheel popping out, a driver's seat emerging, and various control panels appearing!
Holy crap! Jiang Ye couldn't help but curse.
Judging by this, the base was transforming into a vehicle?!
Just as the base's door finished increasing in height, Jiang Ye pulled it open and jumped out, stunned by the sight before him.
At the base's bottom, four large tires had already extended. The rubber of the tires was very special, covered on the outside with a mesh pattern like a soccer ball. Each large tire reached Jiang Ye's waist, clearly the tires of a heavy-duty vehicle.
The base's top was also changing, with some solar panels and an antenna extending out.
"This is something," Jiang Ye praised inwardly and returned to the base.
The external transformations took about half an hour to completely stop.
From the outside, it looked very much like a bus, except the wheels were thicker, and there were solar panels on top.
From the inside, it resembled a bus with its seats removed. The entire long carriage was empty, with only a small bed. The food, tools, and weapons Jiang Ye had stockpiled were pushed to a corner.
Additionally, there was a separately partitioned cockpit. The cockpit was as complex as an airliner's, with all sorts of messy display screens and buttons and switches, making Jiang Ye's head spin. The only thing he knew how to operate was the steering wheel.
For the next hour, the interior of the vehicle kept making clicking sounds, likely due to internal parts reorganizing.
Jiang Ye sat by the small bed, waiting silently. The upgrade was user-friendly; even the bedsheets and duvet covers were replaced with new, clean ones, looking like a hotel's single bed.
Finally, a new prompt appeared on the base's panel:
[Upgrade Successful! Base has been upgraded to Level Five!]
[Your base is now capable of mobile function, with a maximum speed of 40 mph. Mobile energy consumption is high. Energy can be accumulated through the top solar panels or purchased through top-ups. Driving instructions are located beneath the driver's seat; please study them yourself.]
[Galaxy Mall has unlocked 3 new items]
Jiang Ye quickly opened the Galaxy Mall.
The three new items were quite unexpected.
The first was seeds:
[Item: Can of Magic Seeds]
[Item Description: Magic seeds that grow rapidly. Varieties are shipped randomly, including various crops and flowers. Please note that crops grown from magic seeds do not have the ability to be sown.]
[Price: 2000 Yuan]
Jiang Ye was very satisfied. With this, food would no longer be a worry. As long as there was water, planting them would yield fruit within a few hours.
The second item was ready-to-eat food:
[Item: Grilled Sausage]
[Item Description: Fragrant grilled sausage, plump meat particles, quality guaranteed, makes the neighbor's kids cry with envy!]
[Price: 10 Yuan]
Jiang Ye's eyes widened.
Holy crap, they have delicious food now!
Ten yuan per sausage was a tourist price, but it didn't matter; he had plenty of money!
He decisively ordered one.
After a flash of light from the transaction bay, Jiang Ye was dumbfounded.
A grilled sausage lay quietly in the transaction bay, its surface covered in frost.
Raw!
Not cooked!
Jiang Ye was slightly disappointed and had to set the sausage aside for now, to be grilled later when he could make a fire.
Regardless, being able to eat meat felt like an immediate improvement in his quality of life.
The third new item was even more about improving quality of life, and in fact, it seemed to have no other purpose.
[Item: Subwoofer]
[Item Description: Are you a rock enthusiast? Do you love music? This subwoofer is really powerful, and the sound quality is passable. You can purchase songs from the back of the product. From white noise to epic music, pop songs to death metal, classical music to English listening comprehension, almost all music genres can be bought.]
[Price: 180,000 Yuan]
Jiang Ye was greatly shocked.
A subwoofer for 180,000?
Are they crazy?
With 180,000 yuan, instead of buying a subwoofer, he could eat 18,000 grilled sausages! That would last for many years!
Jiang Ye immediately swore that he would never buy this obviously extortionate piece of junk!
It's just listening to music, isn't it? I, Jiang Ye, would rather die of boredom, die outside, or jump off the vehicle than buy one!
After looking at the Galaxy Mall, Jiang Ye went to check the base upgrade requirements again.
To upgrade from a Level 5 base to a Level 6 base, the required condition was:
1,000,000 Yuan!
One million was indeed a considerable sum.
However, Jiang Ye wasn't too discouraged; for him, money was just a matter of time.
He got up and went to the cockpit.
Lifting the seat, he indeed found a driving manual.
The manual was thin, only about ten pages.
Jiang Ye sat in the driver's seat and read the manual, quickly understanding it.
As long as there was sufficient energy, the left foot controlled the brake, the right foot the accelerator, and the steering wheel controlled the direction. It was that simple. There wasn't even a need to shift gears.
As for the various gauges, they were for monitoring the base's status and generally wouldn't cause problems.
Jiang Ye looked at the energy meter; it was only 1% after the upgrade.
He'd buy energy!
Clicking on the energy meter, the top-up interface immediately popped up.
The charging model was simple and direct: 100 yuan bought 1% energy.
Jiang Ye spent 2,900 yuan directly, purchasing energy up to 30%.
Then, he stomped on the accelerator!
The four wheels of the base vehicle suddenly sank, like a beast tensing its claws before pouncing.
A second later, the engine roared, the wheels began to turn, and the base vehicle sped forward!
Acceleration was fast, reaching 40 mph in two seconds, but the speed wouldn't go any higher, so it maintained a constant speed.
Jiang Ye truly felt like a bus driver, and it was quite exhilarating.
As he drove forward, Jiang Ye simultaneously opened the car window, letting the outside air rush in.
He intended to drive the base to find ore, saving him the daily trips back and forth.
The base vehicle was quite stable; after all, the wheels were large, and he barely felt any bumps.
Soon, he had driven two kilometers.
The vehicle's energy had dropped to 28%.
It seemed that at maximum speed on flat ground, 1% of energy was just enough to travel one kilometer.
Finally, the air carried a different scent.
A foul odor!
That's right, a foul odor. It wasn't the smell of stinky tofu or river snails, but a nauseating stench like a sewer's septic tank.
Jiang Ye had previously thought that the ore smelled nice, which was quite user-friendly.
Turns out he was being overly optimistic; the next day, a smelly mine appeared.
Who cares if it stinks? As long as it makes money.
Perhaps smelly ore is more valuable?
Jiang Ye turned the steering wheel, heading towards the direction of the stench.
There was a small dirt slope ahead, and the stench seemed to be emanating from behind it.
The base vehicle hummed and climbed over the slope.
The sight that greeted Jiang Ye made his face turn pale instantly. He immediately yanked the steering wheel, preparing to escape.
About a hundred meters ahead on the barren land, several giant animals lay dead, their flesh torn and mostly gone, leaving only white skeletons.
The foul odor wasn't from ore at all, but from these corpses!
And around the skeletons, several large gray beasts, like Mongolian wolves, were ferociously fighting over the bones.
The moment the base vehicle made a sound, they suddenly stopped their actions, turned their heads in unison, their green eyes staring intently at Jiang Ye.
Their gazes were filled with murderous intent!
"Sorry to disturb you, enjoy your meal, I'll be going now!" Sweat beaded on Jiang Ye's forehead as he desperately stomped on the accelerator, but the vehicle was stuck at 40 mph and couldn't go any faster.
The wolf pack suddenly moved, charging at the base vehicle at high speed!
"Damn it, can't you eat properly!" Jiang Ye glanced and immediately judged that he couldn't outrun them; the wolves were faster than the vehicle. He had to fight!