Chapter 235 Vehicle Star Upgrade

◎Day 13 of the Highway Survival Game!◎

Is this telling the survivors that with the Yellowstone volcano erupting in the real world, they'll really need a car that can withstand acid and filter toxic gases when they return to reality to rest? After all, scientists have already simulated this with models.

If the Yellowstone volcano were to erupt, extremely low temperatures and acid rain would be a global trend. The question remains: what about this toxic gas? Will toxic gas appear after acid rain actually occurs?

Or perhaps the game's organizers will add a poison gas element to the next season, building on the real-life disaster? Matsuda couldn't shake off these thoughts; he felt even heavier.

If his childhood friend could think of it, Hagiwara naturally thought of it too, but he didn't want the person he liked to have just shifted their attention from the bad signs and then think of something even worse.

He pretended to be expectant as he opened the car door, saying as he did so, "By the way, Feng-chan, put the reward away first. We haven't checked the interior of the upgraded vehicle yet! The exterior doesn't look much different; it's back to the look of a Mazda model."

The anti-slip wheels and body look very harmonious now; everything else seems unchanged. However, the interior height was already 6 meters before; if it's doubled, wouldn't it be 12 meters? That's almost the height of a small building!

Following his words, the group subconsciously walked into the car. As soon as they entered, all four of them were taken aback, because the change in the interior space was different from what they had imagined. The roof had not increased in height; it was still six meters high.

However, the mini living room, mini dining room, mini kitchen, mini bedroom and other areas have all doubled in size, and now they are really more spacious than Feng Xingshou's house. Of course, this change was within their expectations.

To their surprise, what truly stunned them was the presence of a one-meter-wide metal staircase behind the driver's seat inside the car. It appeared to be made of pure stainless steel with openwork handrails. The staircase even made a turn halfway up before leading directly to the roof.

Seeing this, all four of them made a guess: "Could it be that when a vehicle is upgraded to level 2, an extra layer will appear on top of the roof?"

"If there really is an extra layer, I wonder what the layout of the roof layer is?"

"It won't be exactly the same as this floor, with a kitchen and living room too, right? That would be a bit of a waste."

“We’ll know once we go up and take a look,” Matsuda said as he walked up the stairs.

Seeing this, Feng Xingshou and the other two quickly followed.

The four of them quickly went up to the second floor of the vehicle to take a look. The interior furnishings were the same as the first floor, but the layout was different. This floor was like a hotel room.

Apart from a straight, two-meter-wide corridor leading to the stairwell, there is only one row of guest rooms, a total of 5 rooms. Each room has an interior space of about 20 square meters, of which about 5 square meters is a separate toilet and shower room.

The entire room was empty except for the bathroom, which was automatically connected to the vehicle's water supply and offered the option to choose between hot and cold water for the toilet. There was no furniture or anything else inside.

After inspecting it once, Morobushi Kagemitsu smiled and said, "It seems that this entire second floor is like a dedicated lounge for passengers in a vehicle. If it were furnished with suitable furniture, it could probably be used as a hotel room."

"Don't worry about the furniture, I'll get some made in a bit." Feng Xingshou felt an urge to tidy up the empty room with furniture when he saw it.

Matsuda was quite pleased, since nobody likes sleeping on the living room sofa every day: "Looks like we can all have our own rooms tonight."

"No rush, we haven't checked the upgraded features and performance of this car yet!" Hagiwara, the small owner of the auto repair shop, was naturally more interested in this aspect.

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So the group quickly returned to the first floor to check the performance changes of the upgraded vehicle. Feng Xingshou didn't understand these things, but he knew that after checking and experimenting in various aspects, they confirmed that the Level 2 vehicle had actually been upgraded into an intelligent hybrid vehicle.

Furthermore, this intelligent hybrid vehicle differs from those in reality. In addition to improvements in vehicle protection, insulation, and speed, it also features a doubled driving space with the addition of a driver and passenger seat, as well as another passenger seat.

The driver's seat is connected to a full gasoline driving system, while the driver and passenger seats are connected to an electric driving system. In other words, the vehicle can be driven from either of these two driving positions.

If one type of energy source is insufficient, another type can be used to take over. If one type of energy source shuts down due to some kind of malfunction, the other system can start up instantly to take over.

More importantly, the car's complete intelligent system not only has high-performance, high-precision cameras installed all over the exterior of the vehicle, but also on the chassis. The car's internal intelligent system will also provide corresponding prompts based on the images captured by these cameras.

Unlike some artificial intelligence devices, there's no need to worry. The difference between the interior space and the external perspective causes driving inconvenience because there are so many screen angles that one person definitely can't see them all while driving.

If you don't fully trust the in-car smart system, you need someone to sit in the passenger seat and help check the vehicle's status on the in-car screen to eliminate any worries and allow you to concentrate on driving.

In addition, the car's own functions have been doubled, such as the fuel tank capacity, the power storage capacity of the onboard battery, the water tank capacity, and the waste decomposition function, etc.

Another thing that surprised Hagiwara and the others was that the upgraded Level 2 vehicle was not only very quiet after the electric driving system started, almost like silent driving, but the fuel system was also very quiet after starting. They wondered what kind of black technology the engine used.

After checking everything and listening to the three people's explanations, Feng Xingshou had only one feeling: "Even without considering the folding interior space, each of these features is much better than the performance of a 25-year-old vehicle. It's truly cutting-edge technology!"

"The game itself is cutting-edge technology, and their products are cutting-edge technology. There's nothing surprising about it!" After the initial excitement of upgrading his vehicle, Hagiwara, a car enthusiast, couldn't wait to say, "More than that, I'm more interested in seeing what changes will occur after a Tier 2 vehicle is upgraded."

"Then let's take a look!" Matsuda looked at his childhood friend speechlessly. This guy's standards have risen so high now; can't even such a surprising car satisfy his appetite? o(￣ヘ￣o＃)

Having personally witnessed the miraculous process and result, Morofushi Kagemitsu's gentle blue eyes were filled with anticipation: "I also want to know what it will look like when a vehicle is upgraded."

"Then let's start upgrading the vehicle's star rating." Feng Xingshou originally wanted to check the situation in the large regional channel first, but after hearing what they said, he also thought about upgrading the vehicle's star rating first. Once the vehicle's star rating is increased, the changes inside the vehicle will definitely be more amazing.

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So the group got out of the car again. Hagiwara and Matsuda, who had experience watching vehicles upgrade, immediately hooked the nearest one onto the vehicle's trailer hitch. As they did so, a familiar game notification appeared before the Wind Star Guardian's eyes:

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer engine has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The Survivor's trailer's center console has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer chassis has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer has a low-end transmission!!!!]

…………

[Game Hint: Do the survivors want to upgrade their trailer to a Tier 1 vehicle by consuming 100 Black Iron, 100 Plastic, 100 Glass, and 10 Electronic Components? Yes? No?]

Although Morofushi Kagemitsu had heard his friends describe the process of upgrading vehicles, this was the first time he had seen it, and he was already quite surprised. Now, seeing the game panel in front of Kazesei no Shou constantly popping up with prompts, he was even more astonished.

Recalling the star-up process described by his friends, he couldn't help but say in surprise, "Huh! This is just a sightseeing vehicle. Its engine and other configurations are far inferior to the previous sports car. How come it requires the same materials to upgrade to a level 1 car as the sports car you were talking about?"

"They actually managed to get a trailer upgrade notification just by attaching it like that? I thought Hagiwara and I would have to modify these sightseeing vehicles to look like cars!" At the same time, Matsuda said this as if he and Morofushi Kagemitsu were speaking in unison.

Hagiwara glanced at the two of them speechlessly, then said with a grin, "I guess to the game developers' technology, our high-end sports cars and sightseeing buses are no different to them!"

"Hmph! It feels like our Earth's technology has been mocked by them." Hearing this, Feng Xingshou huffed as she selected to upgrade the trailer. Unexpectedly, after she made her selection, the sightseeing vehicle, shrouded in thick fog, underwent the upgrade, and just as it reappeared, the game panel displayed a similar notification:

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer engine has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The Survivor's trailer's center console has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer chassis has a low configuration!!!]

[Game Hint: The survivor's trailer has a low-end transmission!!!!]

…………

[Game Hint: Do the survivors want to upgrade their trailer to Tier 2 by consuming 100 Silver, 200 Iron, 200 Plastic, 200 Glass, and 20 Electronic Components? Yes? No?]

Since he had already decided to upgrade all these 'vehicles' to the point where they could be used for vehicle star upgrades today, Feng Xingshou accepted the new prompt without hesitation. However, he also realized from this change that the material consumption would definitely be huge.

They quickly took out all the materials from their backpacks and even started using a crowbar to disassemble the metal, glass, plastic, and electronic materials from the Ferris wheel they had brought back from reality.

The other three helped organize the materials while discussing, "It seems that after the vehicle is upgraded, the trailer will also need to be upgraded to the same level."

"Since the question was asked whether it was yes or no, it's not mandatory."

"It's good as long as it's not mandatory."

While the group was talking and working, they used up almost 90% of their current reserves of materials and resources to upgrade all the 'vehicles' they had collected today to the level 2 trailer.