[You and Jade had already upgraded the train to Level 20. The reason why you two never upgraded way past that was due to being unable to.]
[Just like the upgrade panel for train modules, it would display that it could only be upgraded after the first Extreme Event.]
[You guessed that while the upgrade panel for train modules was expected by the World Will, the upgrade panel for trains wanting to upgrade Level 21 wasn’t likely to meet its expectations.]
[After all, normal progress, even if it reached monstrous levels, wouldn’t be as fast as Jade’s and your progress. It took merely two weeks for you and Jade to reach Level 20 Miniature Realm Path Train.]
[The synergy of Jade and your talents made it so that acquiring train upgrade resources became a trivial matter. Both of your progress as Train Conductors was merely hindered by the World Will’s lack of consideration for fast-progressing train conductors like you both.]
[After all, within your region, the highest train level that a Train Conductor had, aside from you and Jade, was at Level 7. The second highest was Level 5. And those two Train Crews were all your debtors as they couldn’t escape the fate of being under debt due to the Daily Impostor Extreme Event.]
[’Even that guy with a Level 7 Train only achieved that due to having an SS-rank innate talent as well as some luck with the stations he encountered.’]
[’The high-ranking innate talent made it easier for him to explore the station worlds, which gave him a snowballing advantage compared to those who have lower-ranking innate talents.’]
[’However, for lucky people like him, there are also those who likely have even better talents than him, yet dying due to encountering stations that are way above his league.’]
[You knew that Jade and your advantage, aside from your simulation talents and her innate talent, was none other than the Train Pathways train ability that allowed you and her to choose the station.]
[It might be a simple train ability, but it never failed you both, always allowing you to choose the station that would allow Zenith the optimal growth that it needed.]
[However, for train conductors who didn’t have such choices, encountering a station that has a certain death difficulty wasn’t out of the question.]
[Because of that, Train Conductors need to be a duo at the start. One of them must have a combat-related talent while the other must have an information-based talent or even a danger-sensing one, allowing them to choose and determine whether to stay in their train or explore the station.]
[The Level 7 Train Conductor that you encountered in a private message has an information-based talent, and his duo has a combat-related one, allowing the two of them to progress well during the first week of the newbie period.]
[’Unfortunately, even if that guy has an SS-rank information-based talent, it is still useless if his duo can’t differentiate the impostor between the one who impersonated him and the impostor.’]
[Due to that flaw, you laid an open scheme, allowing you to put the two of them in debt under the Loan Shark’s Ledger’s witness, putting both of their innate talents as collateral.]
[You truly made the best of that extreme event. The only thing you found to be a shame was that the region merge didn’t occur during the Daily Impostor Extreme Event.]
[Otherwise, your debtors wouldn’t have been just ten thousand train conductors but would have reached a hundred thousand.]
[While you were reminiscing about your successful open scheme and progress during the past week, Jade checked the train upgrade panel and indeed saw the Train Core being added. Not only that, but train coins were also included in the train upgrade requirements.]
[Listening to your instructions, Jade used her Equivalent Exchange innate talent to exchange for a Train Core.]
[However, when she attempted to exchange it for a peak-gold grade item, Jade discovered that she failed!]
["Darling, from the feedback I received from my innate talent, my exchange failed for two reasons."]
["The first one, the item I used to exchange for it, isn’t enough. Its value isn’t sufficient. As for the second reason, my innate talent grade didn’t seem to be high enough."]
["From what you discovered using your Hint Prompt talent before, my innate talent can even allow me to exchange for Crystal-grade items as long as my power rank and the exchange item’s grade are adequate."]
["Is the Train Core perhaps an item that has a grade above Crystal-grade?"]
[Hearing Jade’s hypothesis, you pondered for a while before answering, "Maybe. But one way to find out is to get a Train Core of our own and then use my Hint Prompt talent on it."]
["At worst, we’ll just kill every Train Conductor we encounter in this extreme event, plundering their Train Core. Moreover, I’ll also prioritize getting an innate talent upgrade crystal for you so that you can upgrade your Equivalent Exchange talent to a rank above SSS-rank."]
[Hugging you, Jade thanked you, "Darling, I’ll take your word for it!"]
[Seeing you and Jade publicly displaying affection again, Scarlet sighed and interjected, "Jade, you already attempted to exchange for a Train Core. But what about Train Coins? Can you exchange for them?"]
[Faced with Scarlet’s inquiry, Jade listened to her and attempted to use her Equivalent Exchange talent to exchange for Train Coins.]
[After her attempt, she shook her head, "This time, the feedback I received is that the item’s value is sufficient. However, my talent’s grade isn’t high enough."]
["In other words, train coins aren’t that high in value compared to train cores that are at least above peak gold-grade. But like train cores, I’ll need a higher grade Equivalent Exchange talent if I want to exchange for it."]
[Without a doubt, an innate talent upgrade crystal was of utmost priority in your list of items.]
[Its importance was even higher than the Death Papyrus from the Angels of Death Station. After all, the Death Papyrus was mostly useful for remote killing, but those that can be killed by it were mostly those you could already kill with your own power.]
[While Jade, Scarlet, and you were lamenting the inability to easily get train coins and train cores, the three of you suddenly received a ping from Old MacDonald.]
{Old MacDonald: @Everyone, lads, there is a train that has suddenly appeared in the endless barren wasteland!}