System: My Doomsday Train Chapter 990 372: Lighter King

It's worth noting—

The "Civilization Organ" doesn't sit anywhere in his territory; instead, it materialized right inside his train, specifically in carriage number 13. It resembles a... "Triangular Tower".

It bears a striking similarity to the Triangular Tower in Red Alert.

Towering over seven meters high and spanning three meters across.

Quite compact in size.

A virtual blueprint of the "Armor" hovers at its peak, rotating endlessly and glowing with white light, all without needing any energy input.

This Civilization Wonder delivers the following effect...

-

"Special Wonder: The civilization that owns this wonder sees all its accessories automatically upgraded by one level."

-

A fairly ordinary accessory boost.

For example, if a Constant Star Train component sits at level 100, this wonder pushes it to level 101.

Yet if it's at level 199, the single-level bump still falls short of unlocking the 200-level Supermodel Effect.

It's nothing but a one-level increase.

Saves a bit of resources, that's all.

After all, it's just an automatic one-level upgrade.

For any single component, that extra level hardly shifts the balance.

Except...

Except when power hits its zenith—for instance, if Divine-level Civilization components are maxed out, that one additional level catapults it to 10001, seemingly minor but granting overwhelming dominance.

A level 10001 "Train Assistance AI" dominates every AI beneath it; that surplus level ensures total control.

A Civilization Wonder that elevates late-game ceilings.

In the early phases, it's practically worthless and saves negligible resources.

...

"Not bad at all."

Chen Mang eyed the civilization wonder in carriage 13 via the control panel screen, letting out a quiet chuckle without a word.

And right then—

Multiple panels began surfacing on the control panel screen.

-

"Human civilization, civilization empowerment: For every civilization wonder acknowledged by cosmic rules that gets built, gain a box with random mysterious rewards—capped at nine." (Seven-color)

"Human civilization has forged a civilization wonder validated by cosmic rules, dubbed 'Miracle Descent' by the universe."

"Reward box with random mysterious contents acquired successfully."

-

This marks his third such box.

In a way, assembling nine civilization wonders would net him nine boxes.

Regrettably, though.

He lacks knowledge on purposefully building civilization wonders, managing only passive gains so far.

Maybe finishing the Present State of the "Celestial Palace" would qualify it as one, but he slammed the brakes on that; right now, he holds the Future State and Past State of the "Celestial Palace".

Tossing in a Present State...

He knows for sure that Past and Present States colliding spells a massive blast, a truly dazzling detonation.

Whether all three States uniting triggers one remains unclear...

He figures it won't.

Yan Yao and Ji Chuchu haven't blown up, after all.

"Right..."

Chen Mang's musing mind wandered off; he'd dismissed Ji Chuchu's random racial talent as mere fun, a trivial diversion.

Yet now, it appears...

Deeply intertwined with the Celestial Palace.

He mulled it over briefly but drew no conclusions.

Thus, he set it aside for the moment.

Turning instead to the fresh mysterious box, time to crack it open once more.

First box unveiled.

The prize inside:

"High-Dimensional Planet" Seven-color Civilization Empowerment.

It endows the civilization's territory and affiliated planets with high-dimensional layering, immune to forced two-dimensional collapse, and granting precedence in high-dimensional evolutions.

This prompted him to...

"Hold on."

Chen Mang quietly lit a cigarette; per this empowerment, his civilization's domain stays shielded from forced two-dimensional flattening—Two-dimensional Foil proves ineffective against him.

So where vanished his "Nia Star System"?

How did it flatten into two dimensions?

Let him ponder...

Shortly after, he checked the Train Log and uncovered the truth.

As it happens—

As it turns out... back then, to stay under the radar, he undid the civilization territory boundaries, leaving the Nia Star System beyond protection—and that's what doomed it.

"Hmm."

Chen Mang gave a faint nod; after a prolonged silence, he stubbed out his cigarette, dropping the matter entirely.

No matter.

The Nia Star System holds no real value anyway.

Lost is lost.

Hardly a loss.

A true wanderer roams unbound, not chained to some hidden nook.

The second mysterious box yielded a gadget: a pack of 19 white cigarettes that, when ignited, cloaks "Human Civilization" for 24 hours, rendering it undetectable by any method.

He hasn't touched them yet, no suitable moment arisen.

As for the third mysterious box now in hand, it too dispensed a unique item.

A lighter.

Excellent match.

Cigarettes paired with fire—what's missing is booze and pork head.

Its power:

Whenever this lighter ignites, flames erupt from every lighter throughout the universe at once.

...

"Hmm..."

Chen Mang carefully lifted the unassuming lighter, tested a few clicks, and watched untouched lighters in the drawer and on the desk burst into flame alongside it.

Truly bizarre.

But... to what end?

A few minutes passed.

Ai's voice echoed through the train.

"Train Captain, cease the tests—moments ago, accidental fires surged across "Human Civilization" planets; fire services are pulling in staff from Law Enforcement and elsewhere on emergency redeploy.

"The fire origins were a mystery at first, but now they're clear."

"Shall I announce it?"

"No need."

Chen Mang cleared his throat lightly: "Any casualties?"

"None."

"Every 'Human Civilization' citizen bears iris chips; fire detection triggers instant optimal escape paths via the chips, though it stirred major chaos."

"Handling it now."

"Good."

Chen Mang nodded with a touch of awkwardness, toying once more with the lighter—this treasure's a rule-bending artifact, the ultimate "Lighter King," commanding every lighter in existence.

Back in those brief minutes.

Countless civilizations galaxy-wide likely faced fire outbreaks.

Theoretically.

Sustained clicks or sporadic presses from him could cripple any civilization's access to "lighters" forever—its wild potency unmatched.

Then—

"Huh?"

Chen Mang glanced at the Doppler Radar anomaly, taken aback: "How did a third of that Fifth-level Civilization just vanish?"

Across billions of light-years in human territory, no Level 6 yet, but multiple Fifth-level ones exist; now, one such civilization sees a third of its planets erupt in fireworks, nearly half its realm reduced to wreckage.

"One moment—capturing the perishing AI's database, analyzing data..."

"Analysis done."

"That Fifth-level Civilization's leader wielded a special tool—a 'Self-destructive lighter' of immense power; activation unleashes level 2000 Akanon Light Energy Main Cannon force over huge areas, without dimensionality drop."

"And moments ago..."

"This civilization's leader apparently craved a smoke but found no lighter, so triggered the 'Self-destructive lighter' for his last puff—dooming his entire civilization as the price."

"..."

Chen Mang rubbed his nose in silence; Ai's picking up on jokes now, calling it a failed smoke hunt.

Simply, that lighter fell under his "Lighter King"'s sway, forcing self-destruction.

An unforeseen twist.

Never imagined a Fifth-level Civilization hid such a card.

Still...

Though unfamiliar with such tools, they're no rarities—other civilizations must've had them, but now... zilch.

Just now.

All detonated into spectacles of light.