"So what do we do now?"
As the words fell.
Everyone exchanged glances in silence until the middle-aged man from earlier broke the tense atmosphere.
"Deal with it coldly—what else can we do?"
"Let's all prepare. We don't know the specifics of this 'Zombie Volcano,' only that there are many zombies. We'll figure it out once it erupts."
On the Zombie Basin.
The Stellar Train raced through the night.
Seated in the train compartment, Chen Mang glanced at the private messages from the Level 9 Train Conductors in the Train Radio and chuckled silently. He wasn't in a hurry—now it was their turn to panic.
After all, none of them could leave the Zombie Basin.
Let's play this slow.
Just then—
A private message from Er Dan came through the Train Radio.
「Lord Mang, is the crisis really this bad? I only have 300,000 units of copper ore—not sure if it's enough. Send me your coordinates, and I'll deliver it to you.」
Chen Mang read Er Dan's message, thought for a moment, then replied.
"No rush. I'll contact you later."
"Alright, just say the word if you need anything. But Lord Mang, if I'm flying in the air, I should be safe, right? Can there really be enough monsters to cover the entire Zombie Basin?"
Chen Mang recalled the exaggeratedly vast cavern and the many monsters he'd never seen before, then replied again.
"Prepare for the worst."
The next moment!
The Targeting Radar detected a train—a Level 6 Train, currently parked at a Level 2 Iron Ore deposit, mining.
His brow furrowed slightly as he immediately pushed the control lever, steering the train toward the Level 6 Train.
As he approached—
"Beep! Beep!!"
A sharp, prolonged horn blared.
He also sent a forced private message.
「Stop mining. Head to the Shahe Plain immediately. A major disaster is about to erupt in the Zombie Basin—you won't survive here.」
Then, he sped past the Level 6 Train.
Unlike the Shahe Plain, any train entering the Zombie Basin could join the Train Radio—even Level 6 Trains. This meant the Level 6 Train had seen the messages in the Train Radio but still chose to mine here, showing remarkable calm.
If there was one tier of trains with the highest survival rate in this crisis—
It would be the Level 6 Trains.
Before upgrading to Level 7, Level 6 Trains could still return to the green zones.
Over the next few hours.
Chen Mang continued piloting the Stellar Train across the wasteland. He didn't encounter any Level 9 Trains but did come across a Level 3 Copper Ore deposit.
Though the train's copper reserves weren't low, the Zombie Basin—while not as vast as the Shahe Plain—was still sizable. The chances of running into other Level 9 Trains were slim, so he parked the train beside the Level 3 Copper Ore deposit.
This was the first Level 3 Copper Ore deposit he'd found in the Zombie Basin.
Copper was far rarer than iron.
After downing a bottle of cola each, all the residents grabbed their pickaxes and jumped off the train to resume mining.
Every bit counted.
Inside the train compartment.
Chen Mang checked the resources on the Train Panel.
「4,341,000 units of Iron Ore. 2,815,000 units of Copper Ore.」
He was just a bit short of iron ore to upgrade to level 9 armor. With a level 10 zombie jammer, he feared no number of zombies unless directly affected. But aside from zombies, that massive cavern housed many creatures he'd never seen before.
And then there was the village. Every night at dusk, it would tremble once—a phenomenon he still hadn't figured out. It wasn't caused by tunnel digging.
Perhaps, as Zhang Yiren had suggested, it was the vibrations from the breath of some terrifying creature.
If so, this monster had remarkable cardiopulmonary function—breathing once a day, sustaining itself for twenty-four hours.
Tonight, many train conductors found sleep impossible.
The main issue was the lack of concrete intelligence about this crisis. All information came from the Stellar, and panic, like a plague, spreads rapidly.
Take a crowded commercial street: if just a few dozen people at the front start screaming and fleeing backward, the entire street will instantly catch the panic, with everyone rushing away—even those at the back who have no idea what's happening.
-
「Level 8 Mechanical Train, Survival Train」: "I don't think we need to panic too much. Most people in this area came from the Shahe Plain and have the 'Drill Bit' component. At worst, we can just hide underground for a while."
「Level 7 Mechanical Train, Unity Train」: "Are you only calculating oxygen generator consumption and ignoring food and other daily component costs? My train consumes 3,800 units of iron ore daily. The Zombie Basin's underground has almost no ore. How long do you think your iron reserves will last down there?"
「Level 8 Mechanical Train, Survival Train」: "A month or two shouldn't be a problem."
「Level 7 Mechanical Train, Unity Train」: "And after two months?"
「Level 8 Mechanical Train, Survival Train」: "We wait to die."
「Level 7 Mechanical Train, Unity Train」: "LOL."
-
"Drill Bit?"
Chen Mang silently prayed for those planning to hide underground. His underground speed was exceptionally fast—but only because his Drill Bit component was level 50. Even he wouldn't dare hide underground.
The only way to survive this was to kill all those monsters.
Hide for a while—but can you hide forever?
Stop mining entirely?
Just hide?
Most others' Drill Bits capped at level 3, giving them speeds of just a few dozen kilometers per hour underground. At that pace, he doubted the zombies couldn't dig their way down—especially since these zombies were originally unearthed from below.
They clearly seemed smarter than the average zombie.
They'd even used radar-shielding steel plates to cover tunnel walls and move covertly.
Still, he pinned a message in the train radio:
「Level 7 Mechanical Train, Stellar」: "Those willing to follow me, DM now. Hand over two-thirds of your iron and copper ore, and I'll send you coordinates privately. There's a high chance I can protect you through this crisis—at least ensuring the survival of you and your inner circle. If things turn dire, you can join my train."
Perhaps the departure of the two level 9 trains from the Zombie Basin had heightened the panic.
Or maybe it was because he was the first to discover this Zombie Volcano, had a reputation for fair trading, and ranked first on the Supermodel Effect Quantity Ranking.
Either way, his inbox was soon flooded.
The first one was Er Dan.
"Just say so, bro. Give me a bottle of cola, and I'll remotely trade you the iron ore and copper ore. My life is in your hands, man."
A dozen minutes later.
A total of 14 trains had completed trades with him.
In all, he obtained 2.8 million units of iron ore and 2.1 million units of copper ore.
The "Zombie Basin" was surrounded by high ground, with the terrain sloping lower toward the center.
He set the coordinates at an elevated spot.
"Reputation and fame are potential wealth."
Chen Mang grinned as he looked at the resource count on the Train Panel.
With the 2.8 million units of iron ore now in his possession, the train had amassed a total of 7.14 million units. The remaining iron ore needed could easily be gathered—it was practically a done deal.
Ten hours later.
The morning sun rose, painting the horizon red.
All residents were recalled to the train, and the Stellar Train set off toward the deepest part of the Zombie Basin. He needed to check on the progress of those zombies.
During these 10 hours, they had mined another 2.2 million units of copper ore.
With a full 3,000 residents working together, and given that this was a rather rare Level 3 copper mine, the result was a direct deposit of 2.2 million units of copper ore. Having a large number of residents had its perks—production efficiency skyrocketed.
And this was without the 1,500 survivors they had just rounded up, who were still locked in the refrigerator and hadn't come out to work yet.
There was still a small portion of this Level 3 copper mine left unmined.
But there was no time to worry about that now.
His sense of unease grew stronger. He had to check on the zombies first.
The distance wasn't short, but his train was fast enough.
In less than an hour.
The train successfully reached the deepest part. The Targeting Radar screen clearly showed over a dozen trains gathered here, obviously here to scout for intel. Unfortunately, these people's Targeting Radars weren't quite up to the task.
Moreover,
Seven or eight trains were tunneling underground, their high-speed drill bits constantly carving out one tunnel after another.
"No!"
Chen Mang's expression suddenly changed. One of the trains was about to break through into the tunnel dug by the zombies. That train's Targeting Radar couldn't detect the zombies right ahead—it was still digging away, oblivious.
He immediately opened the Train Radio and sent a forced private message.
"Stop! There are zombies ahead of you—run!"
But it was already too late.
Both sides had broken through the last bit of obstruction and finally met. The train was almost instantly dragged into the tunnel, swallowed by an endless horde of zombies.
At this moment, he finally understood why Zhang Yiren had designed the script to keep the male and female leads from meeting. Sometimes, meeting wasn't a good thing.
Like right now.
The tunnel dug by the zombies was much larger than the one dug by the train.
But the next moment—
"Boom!"
A deafening rumble erupted from underground, followed by countless violent air currents surging out from the subterranean cavern. They rushed straight along the tunnel dug by the zombies, gushing into the tunnel dug by the train!
The ground instantly cracked with countless fissures.
Then, a pit about two meters in diameter appeared on the surface, spewing out torrents of fierce, turbulent air. Hundreds of zombies were blasted hundreds of meters into the sky.
And this was only the beginning.
Under the violent turbulence, the pit grew larger and larger, its diameter reaching dozens of meters in the blink of an eye and continuing to expand. More and more high-level Zombies were swept hundreds of meters into the air.
In an instant!
A foul stench assaulted the senses as pale yellow dust instantly enveloped the entire sky. An endless stream of Zombies erupted from the ground, along with all sorts of monsters he had never seen before.
The numbers far exceeded his estimates!
In just these few seconds, nearly ten thousand monsters had already surged forth.
As for the dozen or so Trains that had been scanning the surface moments ago, four of them were swallowed by the pit before they could react, then ejected into the sky where other monsters climbed onto their Carriages and launched fierce attacks. The remaining Trains fled in panic in all directions, gripped by terror.
The moment the ground cracked, Chen Mang had already activated the "Bunny Cloud" wheels to distance himself from the area, flying toward the coordinates he had predetermined. Er Dan and the dozen or so Trains under his protection were waiting for him there.
"It's already begun."
Chen Mang, slightly dazed, leaned out of the sunroof, using his naked eyes to observe the endless stream of Zombies being ejected into the sky behind him. In just these few dozen seconds, the ground was already densely covered with Zombies.
Among them was even a bat with a two-meter-long body—not particularly large, but with wings fully extended, spanning six to seven meters.
The Targeting Radar displayed this bat's level as 9.
Level 9 "Death Bat."
Perhaps because he was airborne, the Death Bat, suspended in the sky after being ejected from the ground, let out a piercing screech before darting toward the Stellar Train at an even faster speed!
It ignored the many fleeing Trains on the ground below.
It was coming straight for him.
"Prepare the Automatic Cannons."
Chen Mang withdrew back into his seat, his voice grave.
The ten Doomsday Cannons on the roof of the Carriage began to rotate slowly, ready to lock onto and fire at the Level 9 Death Bat once it entered the Targeting Radar's range.
The Level 9 Death Bat was incredibly fast, even outpacing the Stellar Train equipped with Bunny Cloud wheels, closing the distance rapidly.
Lines of information flashed across the screen.
"Not within range. Unable to lock on. 9,000 meters remaining."
"Not within range. Unable to lock on. 5,000 meters remaining."
"Not within range—"
Just then—
The Death Bat chasing closely behind suddenly let out another ear-splitting screech, its wings flapping violently as three to four dozen baby bats flew out from under its wings, hurtling toward the Stellar Train at an even greater speed!
And every single one of those baby bats was... Level 9.
In an instant.
Nearly forty Level 9 monsters locked onto the Stellar Train.
"..."
Chen Mang's expression darkened slightly as he stared at the control panel screen. The Targeting Radar could clearly detect the monsters' levels and their abilities—these baby bats were one of the Level 9 Death Bat's tactics.
These offspring had a lifespan of only five minutes.
After five minutes, they would die.
But during those five minutes, they were genuine Level 9 monsters.
"Fire!"
At this moment, the bats had entered the range of the Targeting Radar. Under AI control, the ten Doomsday Cannons swiftly predicted the flight trajectories of those juvenile bats and
began roaring violently!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
One after another, Grade-9 shells formed a continuous chain in the air, enveloping the ju
venile bats. Although these young bats were extremely fast, their defenses were clearly among the weakest for Grade-9 creatures.
A single direct hit from a shell was almost always instantly fatal.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of Grade-9 shells streaked across the sky with trailing flames.
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