Most importantly—
There was no need to worry about cyber intrusion.
The Stellar Train had no network, neither external nor internal. In fact, other trains didn't have one either. The iris chip came with a built-in information receiver and transmitter. Any command from the Train Auxiliary AI, as long as it was within the range of the Targeting Radar, would be received by the information receiver on the iris chip.
This method of information transmission.
Was extremely difficult to intercept or hack.
Xiao Ai had already gone down to work.
Chen Mang, however, sat alone in the train compartment, holding a mirror and carefully examining his eyeball, trying to find an iris chip on it. He wondered if the reason he could see the panel was also transmitted through the iris chip on his eyeball.
He could see two types of panels.
One was the Train Conductor Panel that came with the "Mang" birthmark on his hand.
The other was the panel that inherently existed in this world.
The former had issued three tasks when he first crossed over. After completing those tasks, he obtained Level 0 permissions for Infinite Upgrade, and then the panel ended his tasks.
The latter was the panel that inherently existed in this world.
Some information.
Such as "Area Broadcast" or "Special Item" information.
Would often be displayed in three places.
One was a semi-transparent panel floating in front of him, another was on the control console screen, and the third was a massive light screen appearing in the air, like at the area junction.
The display method wasn't fixed.
It basically appeared in whatever way was most convenient for him. If he was in the train compartment, the information would appear on the screen. If he wasn't, it would float in front of him as a panel.
"Really nothing?"
Chen Mang rubbed his eye socket so hard that it turned red, but he still couldn't find the iris chip. Perhaps it was a more advanced iris chip, or another high-quality component he couldn't comprehend?
After a while.
He gave up, picked up a towel soaked in hot water, placed it over his eyelids, and lay back in the chair for a short nap.
He was exhausted.
At that moment, the Stellar Train was parked on the Shahe Plain.
All Train Crew members were getting off and lining up to have the "Iris Chip" inserted.
"Uncle Li."
At the back of the line, a young man stood beside Uncle Li and sighed helplessly: "There's really no way around this. The train is advancing too fast. I didn't expect you to lose your job so quickly."
"Lord Mang directly introduced the iris chip."
"Absolute anti-counterfeiting, digital currency, AI statistics, nearly zero deviation."
"And Train Residents can even check how many Stellar Coupons they have in real-time. The amount of over-guaranteed mining from yesterday can also be clearly displayed on the iris chip. There's also a backup in the AI's database. When buying things, you can just pay with your eyes at the store."
"You can even see your Physical Fitness Index data."
"Uncle Li, how can you compete with that? There's no way. You'll just have to retire."
"But—"
Uncle Li's face was ashen, devoid of the spirited demeanor he once had as a Slave. His lips were pale and trembling, his eyes filled with unwillingness and despair: "But I've only just started working! I was the one who assigned those resident numbers!"
"Well, those numbers are now listed in the chip panel, so it wasn't a waste."
The young man clicked his tongue in admiration.
"Your design was good, assigning numbers based on the order they joined the train. Lord Mang is number 1, Train Conductor Zhu is number 2. Lord Mang continued your design."
"How about—"
"Uncle Li, you come up with a new plan?"
"I—" Uncle Li staggered slightly, then took a deep breath, forcing himself to pull himself together. Clenching his teeth, he said word by word: "I've never been afraid of failure in my life!"
"I've failed many times, but every time, I've managed to get back up!"
"Even in the most desperate situations, I've never lacked the courage to start over!"
"What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!"
"Wait for me—"
"I'll come up with a new plan right now!"
"I admire that spirit of yours." The young man's eyes were full of admiration as he gave a thumbs up, his expression serious: "I'm serious. I think you'll definitely succeed, Uncle Li. It's just a matter of time."
It took about two hours.
All Train Crew members, except for Lord Mang, had an iris chip installed in their eyes. There was no pain, as it was placed on the surface of the eyeball, and there was no discomfort.
Even in intense combat, it wouldn't fall off.
Unless the eyeball was gouged out.
They were all uniformly placed on the left eye. Most people were right-handed, preferring to observe situations with their right eye during combat. The panel displayed on the left iris chip wouldn't obstruct their vision.
And—
When aiming a gun, most people habitually closed their left eye and used their right eye.
The panel on the iris chip was directly displayed on the surface of the eyeball, so even if the eye was closed, the panel could still be seen, although the background would be pitch black.
"Hey, this is pretty cool."
The train was in a resting state. Biao Zi, sitting on the edge of the carriage with his legs dangling in the air, kept summoning and dismissing his panel, his face brimming with excitement. He reached out into the air, touching the intangible panel like a child who had found a new toy.
The panel could be summoned or dismissed with a thought. When dismissed, it looked completely normal. When summoned, it was semi-transparent and didn't obstruct vision too much.
If it really did obstruct vision.
The transparency could be adjusted freely, from 1% to 100%, though it was unlikely anyone would set it to 100%.
When the panel was summoned, a faint white semi-transparent panel floated in front of him, appearing to be about half a meter away, with several lines of black text.
「Name」: Biao Zi.
「Train」: Stellar.
「Position」: Guardian Team One Captain.
「Balance」: 63 Stellar Coupons.
「Treatment」: Level 1 High Talent Treatment.
「Physical Fitness Index」: 12.1.
"Lord Mang is really something."
Biao Zi looked at the semi-transparent panel in front of him and couldn't help but marvel: "With this thing, for some reason, I feel closer to the Stellar Train, like... it's more intimate."
"This panel was set up by Lord Mang. The AI says the normal Physical Fitness Index for an adult male is 10. Mine's 12.1. What's yours, Lao Zhu?"
"Why do you care about mine?"
Lao Zhu rolled his eyes in annoyance: "You've been training in that Level 10 Combat Training Virtual Space all this time. Your Physical Fitness Index is definitely higher than mine. But—"
He paused, glancing toward the woman chatting with Xiao Ai on the plain not far away: "I suggest you ask her what her number is."
"I bet it's higher than yours."
"It's definitely higher than mine..."
Biao Zi said somewhat awkwardly: "I fought her in the Combat Training Virtual Space. She's clearly never killed anyone or seen blood before. At first, she was a bit scared, and I killed her every time. But after she got used to it, I never beat her again."
"How do I put it—"
"Can you imagine standing there with a dagger, and then a mountain comes charging at you?"
"Helpless, weak, pitiful, scared."
"After losing many times, I finally decided to go all out, and that's when I won. After that, I never fought her again."
"Huh?" Lao Zhu looked at Biao Zi in surprise: "You're saying she got used to killing and seeing blood, and then you still couldn't beat her the last time?"
"Yeah."
Biao Zi nodded: "That time, I didn't use a dagger. I used a handheld Gatling Gun. It worked pretty well. The mountain turned into a rain of blood."
"That woman's name is Zhang San."
"Her physical fitness is stronger than 99% of adult males. Lord Mang hasn't created the 'Individual Exoskeleton Armor' yet, but if he makes one for her in the future, I think she could take on three or five Level 2 Zombie Wolves in close combat with just a Train Blade Fragment."
"That doesn't sound too impressive. Didn't you take out several Level 2 Zombie Wolves on your first mission?"
"It's different. This is pure close combat. I can't do that in close combat."
"If you say so, she's really that strong?" Lao Zhu curiously looked toward Zhang San, who seemed to be arguing with Xiao Ai in the distance.
"Of course."
Biao Zi sighed lightly: "That's why she's managed to hold her position as the Captain of Guardian Team Two. Lord Mang approves of her, and none of the members of Guardian Team Two have any objections."
"True strength breaks the chains of humble origins."
"She's really something."
At that moment—
Xiao Ai, who had been arguing with Zhang San in the distance, walked toward the train with a camera on his head.
"Director Ai."
Lao Zhu looked at Xiao Ai and curiously got up to greet him: "Were you two arguing just now?"
"No argument."
Xiao Ai shook his head: "She wanted to change her name. She said she didn't like the name Zhang San and wanted to change it to Zhang Da Mei. I changed it for her, but she was really loud about it, insisting on telling me that someone on the train was spreading rumors about her and someone named Li Yi."
"I don't care about those reasons. If she wants to change it, she can."
"Besides—"
"From what I know, she's the only one spreading this rumor. It seems like she's in love."
With that.
Xiao Ai shook his head and strode toward the train compartment. He needed to hurry back and make some adjustments to himself. Going out with a camera on his head was too embarrassing.
"In... in love?"
Biao Zi was dumbfounded as he looked at Zhang San—no, Zhang Da Mei—who was happily skipping with her hands behind her back. After a long while, he murmured: "Lord Mang doesn't really mind Train Crew members falling in love. In fact, he seems to support it."
"Lord Mang doesn't mind, but I think Li Yi might."
"Didn't he get laid off?"
"Yeah, but he's still enjoying Level 3 High Talent Treatment. Lord Mang hasn't mentioned it to me yet."
"But—"
Biao Zi frowned: "Even if she's in love, why would she fall for Li Yi? He's older than me, almost your age. A middle-aged man. And I saw them having a conflict last time."
"Zhang Da Mei grabbed Li Yi by the collar and lifted him into the air."
"How could she fall for him?"
"Actually, that makes sense. Conflicts lead to interactions, and interactions can slowly lead to feelings. Naturally, she fell in love."
"So that's why she wanted to change her name to Zhang Da Mei? She thought Zhang San wasn't feminine enough, and it didn't suit her in front of the person she likes?"
"Most likely."
"Then I think she should've forced Li Yi to change his name to Li Si. That way, it'd be Zhang San and Li Si—sounds more fitting."
"Yeah, but don't say that in front of her."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid she'll really drag Li Yi to Director Ai to change his name."
"True." Biao Zi sighed as he looked at Xiao Ai's retreating figure: "But you have to admit, Director Ai's intelligence seems to be improving. He can now have normal conversations with me and handle these small matters independently."
Xiao Ai was the AI's name.
It was a name given by Lord Mang, so they couldn't call him Xiao Ai to his face. After all, it was a rather intimate name. If they called him Xiao Ai too, it would be like putting themselves on the same level as Lord Mang.
So they came up with the respectful title "Director Ai."
From now on, the train's ecosystem would be entirely managed by Director Ai. Like a general manager, calling him Director Ai wasn't inappropriate.
"By the way, Train Conductor Zhu, is your Physical Fitness Index over 10?"
"..."
Lao Zhu jumped off the carriage and gave Biao Zi a disdainful look: "Do you really think I'm so relaxed that I'll answer whatever you ask?"
"Idiot."
"I'm off to work."
With that, he strode off into the crowd.
"Buy a pack of cigarettes."
A resident in an orange jacket walked around the store in Carriage 11 before approaching the woman at the counter by the entrance.
"2 Stellar Coupons." The woman took out a pack of cigarettes from the counter and handed it over, pointing to a camera-like device resembling a large coin nearby.
The man looked at the camera, and soon a line of text appeared in front of him.
「Train Resident Number 182, purchased one pack of cigarettes, spent 2 Stellar Coupons, balance 3 Stellar Coupons.」
The man then excitedly picked up the pack of cigarettes and walked out of the store. The iris chip was really convenient and fun.
As the train developed, more life-related positions appeared inside.
Such as cleaning and store clerks.
These positions, which didn't require much physical labor, were mostly filled by women. Although the rate of earning Stellar Coupons was much slower than mining or selling meat, these jobs were easy. Lao Zhu generally didn't assign men to such positions.
It was a waste.
So he assigned women to these roles.
However, Lao Zhu made it very clear to all women in service positions, including those selling meat, that they must not show any dissatisfaction toward customers. They had to serve with a smile.
But—
This was clearly unnecessary.
Being able to work as a store clerk in the apocalypse was a blessing from their ancestors.
The smile on the store clerk's face at the counter never stopped, perfectly adhering to the principle of serving with a smile.
Now that was professionalism!
(End of Chapter)