At that moment—
A knock came from outside the Train. Soon, Lao Zhu pushed the door open and reported in a low voice, "Lord Mang, I've already taken Shan Mao Zi to thoroughly interrogate all the Survivors rescued today. His girlfriend wasn't among them."
"Hmm."
Chen Mang hadn't held much hope for this to begin with. Given the death rate, the probability of Shan Mao Zi's girlfriend being alive wasn't high. He simply instructed in a soft voice, "Tonight, give the newly arrived Survivors some basic rations. Also, ask if there are any couples among them."
"If there are, bring them to me."
"If there are troublemakers, kill them."
"Understood."
After a moment of hesitation, Lao Zhu whispered again, "Lord Mang, regarding Ji Chuchu and those minor celebrities you instructed about, I specifically had female Slaves bathe them. They're now clean and waiting in the Thug Car, ready to come at any time."
"Bring Ji Chuchu here."
"Yes."
"Stop looking."
In the Thug Car, Lao Zhu shot Hei Hao an annoyed glance and said irritably, "Stop looking. Lord Mang wants Ji Chuchu to go over. If Ji Chuchu rises in status and remembers this, your life might be in danger."
"But—"
Hei Hao watched Ji Chuchu's curvaceous figure as she walked away, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he whispered, "Didn't Lord Mang say that if we worked hard and finished the Doomsday Abyss, then—"
"Slap!"
Before Lao Zhu could respond, Biao Zi smacked Hei Hao on the head. "Why are you talking so much? Are you so bewitched by a woman?"
"She's not just any woman. She's a celebrity."
"That's exactly why it's dangerous. Since ancient times, beautiful women have been harbingers of trouble. Keep your mouth shut. If you want to die, don't drag me into it."
"I know what you're thinking."
Lao Zhu's expression turned icy as he spoke word by word, "I need to remind you that there's only one voice on this Train, and that's Lord Mang's voice."
"All control over the Train's weapons lies in Lord Mang's hands."
"Not to mention something as small as retracting a promise. Even if Lord Mang has countless issues, anyone who complains will only meet death. Promises from those in power can only be brought up by those in power. When they don't mention it, anyone who brings it up is essentially staging a coup."
"Do you understand this principle?"
"Of course."
Biao Zi replied with a serious expression, "Train Conductor Zhu, you can rest assured. We definitely understand this principle. Hei Hao's just temporarily lost his mind."
Inside the Train room.
Ji Chuchu pushed the door open, wearing a trace of panic and obedience in her strapless dress. She knelt on the carpet, not daring to look up at the mysterious man sitting before her, her head nearly buried in her chest.
But then—
A familiar voice reached her ears.
She couldn't help but glance at the screen in the Train room. On it was a variety show she had recorded in the past. Quickly, she lowered her head again, her eyes filled with unease.
After an unknown amount of time.
"Tsk."
Sitting at the control panel with his feet crossed on the table, puffing on a cigarette, Chen Mang couldn't help but click his tongue as he watched Ji Chuchu on the variety show. "Her acting really is subpar."
He turned his head to look at Ji Chuchu, who was kneeling obediently on the carpet. He used his cane to lift her chin, examining her delicate and tender face. After a few moments, he casually remarked.
"The real person is much better-looking."
Chen Mang nodded in approval, then ignored Ji Chuchu and continued watching the variety show. After a while, he couldn't help but sigh again. "How can someone act so poorly in a variety show?"
"I don't seem like a philanthropist, do I? Everyone on this Train must demonstrate their value to receive its protection. Do you have value?"
"Yes."
Ji Chuchu let out a long sigh of relief, raising her head to look at Chen Mang with a coquettish gaze. The unease in her eyes had lessened, and even a hint of a smile appeared. "My on-stage acting might be mediocre, but my off-stage acting is quite good."
"Such as?"
"Such as—"
Kneeling on the ground, Ji Chuchu smiled. "Such as… this."
"..."
Chen Mang looked at Ji Chuchu, who was now kneeling obediently again, her face no longer filled with as much unease. He slowly lit a cigarette, exhaled a long puff, and chuckled.
"Not bad at all."
"As long as Lord Mang is pleased."
He then used the intercom to summon Lao Zhu.
Soon—
Lao Zhu entered the room, his eyes focused straight ahead, not even glancing at Ji Chuchu. He spoke with a respectful and hoarse voice, "Lord Mang, you called for me."
"Yes."
Chen Mang nodded, thinking for a moment before speaking. "From now on, she will enjoy first-class Slave treatment on the Stellar Train. She'll reside in the Thug Car. You should have statistics on the number of Slaves mining in the Doomsday Abyss these days. Those ranked at the top, along with you and Biao Zi, and the rest of the lower-ranked ones—since we've also brought in some minor celebrities, you can arrange them as you see fit."
"Alright, take her away."
"Understood."
Lao Zhu nodded, while Ji Chuchu, kneeling on the ground, let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed her survival was no longer in question. Being a celebrity in the apocalypse had its advantages. No matter who captured her, her life was essentially guaranteed.
In the Thug Car of the Stellar Train.
Biao Zi looked at Ji Chuchu, who had already eaten sixteen slices of bread and was still eating, and couldn't help but marvel, "She really can eat. She must've been starving before."
Finally.
After the seventeenth slice of bread, Ji Chuchu patted her stomach contentedly, let out a burp, and licked the bread crumbs off her lips as if savoring the taste.
"Really…"
"She eats so much."
Four days later.
They had searched all the suburbs of Taiping City, and nearly all the Survivors who could be brought out had been rescued—a total of 801 people.
The deeper they went, the fewer Survivors remained.
Combined with the existing Slaves on the Train, there were now just over 1,000 Slaves.
As for the urban area of Taiping City, the collapse of the high-rise buildings was too severe, and the terrain was too treacherous for even the Stellar Train to penetrate.
Not to mention—
The Stellar Train had already reached the top of the Regional Leaderboard with a Power Value of nearly 4,000, completely crushing the second place. Moreover, it had achieved this as a Level 2 Train. These past few days, the Train Radio had been in an uproar.
Based on his calculations, Chen Mang had a rough idea of where the Survivors of Taiping City had gone.
Data doesn't lie.
Even if the Power Value of all Trains on the Regional Leaderboard was calculated based on Survivors, the total was only just over 100,000. So, excluding the possibility of an extremely high death rate, it was most likely that—
Most of the Survivors in Taiping City had been randomly teleported after the apocalypse.
They were sent to other regions.
This ensured that even in sparsely populated areas, there would be initial Survivors for Trains to take in, preventing Train Conductors from wandering around for hours without finding a single Survivor.
A Train without Survivors is like a Train without Energy Stones—it will eventually break down.
This explains why there were so few Survivors in Taiping City.
At this moment, dawn had just broken.
Chen Mang was piloting the Stellar Train as it sped across the wasteland. The Resource Detection Radar continuously scanned the nearby resource points. He had newly built eight standard carriages to house these Slaves.
But this was clearly not a long-term solution.
He couldn't install Level 3 Armor on all eight carriages—the cost was too high, and his current resources didn't allow for such extravagance. Moreover, having eight Slave carriages posed too many risks, greatly reducing the Train's flexibility.
He planned to stuff all these newly recruited Slaves into a Refrigerator.
But building a Level 10 Refrigerator with the "Universe Within" effect required 4,500 units of Iron Ore.
With so many Slaves, he would need at least four Refrigerators, totaling 18,000 units of Iron Ore.
And he currently only had—
1,000 units of Iron Ore.
The Slaves were not only consuming more food, but their accommodation was also becoming a problem. He needed to recruit more Thugs because the current ten Thugs were barely maintaining order. Over a thousand people were no small number.
If they were gathered in a square, they could fill it completely.
Finally—
"Beep beep beep—"
As the Resource Detection Radar beeped, he finally found a Level 1 Iron Ore deposit in the wasteland. Although he wasn't too impressed with Level 1 Iron Ore anymore, even a mosquito's meat was still meat. And right now, he needed that tiny bit of meat.
Soon!
The original 200 old Slaves on the Train began to disembark one by one, carrying pickaxes into the mine to start a new day of mining. These past few days without mining had been a long break for the Slaves, and they were now full of energy.
As for why he didn't have the new Slaves work—
The Train currently didn't have enough Iron Ore to forge new Level 2 pickaxes. Crafting one Level 2 pickaxe required 10 units of Iron Ore. Equipping all 800 new Slaves with pickaxes would require 8,000 units of Iron Ore.
After nightfall.
When the old Slaves emerged from the mine carrying their pickaxes, they brought back 2,400 units of Iron Ore.
This amount of Iron Ore wasn't even enough to equip the new Slaves with pickaxes. It wasn't that the Slaves were slacking off—it was just that this Level 1 Iron Ore deposit was like this. Unlike Level 2 Iron Ore, where one unit of Level 2 Iron Ore equaled ten units of Level 1 Iron Ore.
The efficiency remained the same, but the output increased tenfold.
The next day, at dawn.
Chen Mang used the 2,400 units of Iron Ore from the previous day to forge 240 pickaxes, distributing them to 240 new Slaves. These new Slaves, along with the old ones, went into the mine to work. That day, they brought out 4,000 units of Iron Ore.
The new Slaves' efficiency was clearly much lower due to various factors—attitude, physical condition, and so on. But this wasn't a problem. They would be trained in time.
The third day.
The 4,000 units of Iron Ore from the previous day were transformed into 400 pickaxes, distributed to 400 new Slaves.
That day.
They brought out 7,000 units of Iron Ore.
Although it was a Level 1 Iron Ore deposit, the output was now almost comparable to the daily output of the Level 2 Iron Ore deposit he had mined beneath the Doomsday Abyss in the past. Before the Goblins arrived, that Level 2 deposit had yielded just over 10,000 units of Iron Ore daily.
The fourth day.
Chen Mang used over 1,000 units of Iron Ore to forge another hundred or so pickaxes and distributed them. Now, all the Slaves had their own pickaxes, and the mining progress accelerated.
That day, they brought out 8,000 units of Iron Ore.
The fifth day—
There was no fifth day. By the end of the fourth day, the mine was exhausted.
The output of a Level 1 Iron Ore deposit wasn't fixed, but it generally fell within the range of around 20,000 units of Iron Ore.
After accounting for the consumption of food and water over these past few days.
The Train currently had 9,000 units of Iron Ore—still not enough to build four Level 10 Refrigerators. He needed to continue searching for Level 1 Iron Ore deposits.
On the wasteland.
The Stellar Train raced toward an unknown destination as the Resource Detection Radar continuously operated.
Meanwhile, Lao Zhu entered the carriage to report the daily consumption details to Chen Mang.
"Lord Mang."
"All our Level 1 and Level 2 Slaves currently have two meals a day. Each person consumes twenty slices of bread and four bottles of mineral water daily. Hard labor makes them sweat more, so they need more hydration."
"Ten slices of bread equal one unit of Iron Ore, and producing ten bottles of mineral water requires ten slices of bread, which is also one unit of Iron Ore."
"Thus, each Slave consumes 2.4 units of Iron Ore daily."
"With over 200 Slaves, including the Thugs, the daily consumption is 500 units of Iron Ore."
"Now, with the new batch of Slaves, who are treated as Level 3 Slaves, they consume ten slices of bread and two bottles of mineral water daily, totaling 1.2 units of Iron Ore per person. With 800 people, the daily consumption is 960 units of Iron Ore."
"Lord Mang, your initial directive was that regardless of whether there's mining to be done that day, the rations remain fixed. Even if there's no mining on a particular day, the rations won't be reduced."
"In other words—"
"Essentially, every day, even if the Stellar Train does nothing, waking up means a fixed consumption of 1,460 units of Iron Ore."
"If there's no mining to be done that day, it's pure consumption."
"Back when
there were fewer Slaves, it was manageable. But now, with so many Slaves, if the Train doesn't store at least 10,000 units of Iron Ore, and if we go several days without finding an Iron Ore deposit, these Slaves will starve to death."
(End of Chapter)