The number of juvenile bats was indeed large, and their speed was undeniably fast.
But they were chasing in a straight line.
Their movement trajectory was relatively easy to predict, and the hit rate was high. Almost after just one round of gunfire, these dozens of level-9 juvenile bats were already dead.
However, in the next moment—
The level-9 Death Bat behind them suddenly let out another piercing screech into the sky. Its wings abruptly began to burn rapidly, and then it shot toward the Stellar Train at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, it had already reached the vicinity of the Stellar.
Its sharp claws were about to touch the armor on the outside of the carriage.
Right at that moment!
The "Car Audio" outside the train suddenly flashed red, and the surface of the sound system vibrated rapidly. Immediately, the Death Bat, which was about to attack the Stellar Train, let out a pained screech and swiftly retreated.
"Whew."
Inside the train, Chen Mang let out a sigh of relief, not daring to waste any more time. He pushed the control lever all the way forward, heading straight for the coordinates he had set.
By now, the monsters erupting from the depths underground had already begun spreading rapidly in all directions.
As for that fleeing level-9 Death Bat...
The level-10 Supermodel Effect of the Car Audio was that it could emit ultrasonic noise. The higher the level of the Energy Stone consumed, the higher the frequency of the ultrasonic noise produced.
He had never used this effect before.
This was the first time.
But it worked surprisingly well.
Bats use ultrasonic waves for navigation and hunting and are extremely sensitive to high-frequency sounds. Before the apocalypse, ultrasonic pest repellers were an effective means of driving bats away.
But that was for pre-apocalypse bats. As for these monstrous post-apocalyptic bats, he wasn't sure whether it would work or not.
This was his first attempt, and it seemed to have a decent effect.
He glanced at the Train Panel—there were still 90,000 units of Iron Ore left.
The armor on the train's head was already at level 9.
He had just spent 7 million units of Iron Ore in one go to upgrade the armor of the first 14 carriages to level 9. Only Carriage 15, the Breeding Carriage where Uncle Li was, still had level-8 armor.
An hour later.
Chen Mang successfully arrived at the coordinates he had set. Fourteen trains were already stationed there. He slowly maneuvered the Stellar Train to land at the front of the group. This was a high vantage point, located at the edge of the Zombie Basin.
For now, it was relatively safe.
No zombies or monsters had attacked yet.
The moment the train landed, a group of Train Conductors anxiously crowded around, their eyes filled with panic.
"Lord Mang, can we really survive this?"
"What should we do now, Lord Mang?"
"..."
Chen Mang didn't answer. He merely waved his hand, signaling for them to disperse first. Then, he stepped out of the train compartment from the other side, with Biao Zi and the others following behind. Standing on the hillside, leaning on his cane, he gazed toward the Zombie Basin.
It was too far away.
The Targeting Radar couldn't detect anything, and the naked eye couldn't make out details either.
But he could see a dark, swarming mass of monsters spreading outward like ink spilled on a napkin. Moreover, the number of monsters was still increasing, far exceeding his initial estimate of hundreds of thousands.
Most of the monsters were zombies.
Apart from that, there were all kinds of other creatures—covering both the sky and the ground.
Oh, no—there were also those from underground.
In the sky, he had seen an earthworm nearly four to five meters wide constantly leaping out of the ground, swiftly tunneling through the depths like a fish breaching the ocean's surface. An 8th-level monster—at that speed, he didn't believe any trains hiding underground could outrun it.
At first, he had said the solution to this crisis was to kill all the monsters.
Now, it seemed.
He was wrong.
There was no way to resolve this crisis. The monsters were still multiplying. All they could do was eliminate the high-level ones and coexist with the rest for a long time to come.
Mining while fending off monster attacks.
This area would become a paradise for monsters, just like the Kunlun Mountains region.
He didn't know how long those Zombies had been digging underground.
Perhaps the Zombie Basin, as it was now, was the true form of this region.
After all, there was only so much copper ore. Even if all the trains pooled their resources, they couldn't wipe out the monsters here. If this region survived the crisis, it would become a hellish difficulty zone, just like the Kunlun Mountains.
Chen Mang leaned on his cane at the edge of the hillside, watching messages flash rapidly across the Train Radio—most filled with panic. Some trains had barely sent their messages before their names dimmed from the screen.
He paused.
Then reposted the same statement and pinned it to the public channel:
"Hand over two-thirds of your train's iron ore and copper ore to me. I'll send you private coordinates—I'll protect you."
Only then did he turn to the anxious Train Conductors behind him and speak gravely.
"Return to your trains."
"Stay here, under my protection. As long as you follow orders and don't run around, when the monsters attack, your job is to clean up the stragglers. Leave the rest to me."
His train currently held 6.79 million units of copper ore.
If all of it were used to forge 9th-level artillery shells, it could produce nearly 40,000 rounds.
"Lord Mang."
Er Dan approached, his expression grim, voice hoarse. "A lot of people are going to die this time. The number of monsters is overwhelming—almost more than in the Kunlun Mountains region. In conditions like this, trains won't survive easily."
"The Zombie Basin isn't connected to any yellow zones."
"Ahead is a Blue Zone, behind is a green one."
"Can't advance, can't retreat. Nowhere to hide."
"Even if we make it through this, mining will be a huge problem later. Without enough resources, the trains will die out on their own—no monsters needed."
"Yeah."
Chen Mang nodded softly. "Not a big deal. At the very least, I can guarantee your survival. Don't worry."
"I trust you."
Er Dan's face twisted with unspoken conflict, but he said nothing more. He just turned and walked back to his train. He knew Lord Mang's train could hold the line. The worst-case scenario would be abandoning his own train and joining Lord Mang's.
But.
He didn't really want it to come to that.
Of course, he knew that if he joined Lord Mang's train and secured a management position, his future prospects would far surpass what he could achieve with his own Azure Dragon.
But.
He preferred the thrill of exploring the Serendipity Map.
If he joined Lord Mang's train, he'd never get to explore it again—and that would take away much of the joy he found in this world.
The "Zombie Volcano" erupted from the center of the basin and rapidly spread outward.
Most Trains managed to escape unscathed, fleeing at high speed toward the edges of the Zombie Basin—the higher ground.
Only a few unfortunate ones, either mining near the basin's center or those who wanted to see the truth for themselves, were caught in the disaster.
"Keep going down... keep going down..."
Deep underground, an 8-level Mechanical Train hurtled downward at a near-vertical angle, its operator—a man with pale lips, bloodshot eyes, and a ghastly expression—pushed the control lever to the limit.
On the Targeting Radar, a massive Level 9 earthworm was closing in fast!
His Drill Bit was only Level 5, allowing a speed of 80 km/h underground.
The monster behind him, however, was moving at 300 km/h according to the screen. It would catch up in mere seconds.
But he had no choice!
The moment the crisis erupted, his first instinct was to dive underground. Yet as soon as he burrowed in, the colossal earthworm monster followed, pursuing him relentlessly. He considered surfacing, but the Targeting Radar showed the ground above was already swarming with red dots—no escape.
His only option was to plunge deeper, hoping to shake the creature off.
In desperation, he even smashed two Murphy Stones onto the Drill Bit—something he would never do unless his life depended on it.
But...
It was futile.
As the Level 9 earthworm monster closed in for the kill, a fierce glint flashed in the man's eyes. The Doomsday Cannon on his Carriage began warming up, its barrels slowly rotating. The moment the earthworm burst through the soil, the Level 9 Doomsday Cannon roared to life, unleashing a relentless barrage of high-level shells.
He had used Murphy Stones to upgrade the cannon to Level 9!
Though his Tycoon Energy Shield was only Level 7, his offensive capabilities were formidable. Since escape was impossible, he had no choice but to fight.
Copper ore, usually hoarded with care, was now recklessly expended without a second thought.
Living with no copper left would be painful.
But dying with copper unused would be just as agonizing.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In the depths of the earth, unnoticed by anyone, the Level 8 Mechanical Train engaged in a desperate battle with the Level 9 earthworm monster.
But...
The distance was too close.
Had this been on the surface, the Train could have kited the monster, and with enough resources, victory wouldn't have been unlikely—assuming the earthworm stayed aboveground for a fair fight.
But here, deep underground, the moment the Train could attack, the earthworm monster had already opened its gaping maw and swallowed several rear Carriages whole.
The monster's head was torn apart by the barrage, flesh and blood scattering everywhere.
Yet, fueled by sheer speed, it devoured the entire Mechanical Train from tail to head.
"Clang."
The sound of the Energy Shield shattering. Then the Armor breaking apart. Followed by the terrified screams of countless Survivors. And then...
"Boom"!!!
A massive explosion erupted from the belly of the worm-like monster. The creature, which had been writhing in place digesting its meal, suddenly burst into dozens of segments. Blood and fragments sprayed wildly through the cramped tunnel.
This was the destructive power of a Train's self-destruct.
This Level 8 Mechanical Train was officially erased from existence in the Zombie Basin from this moment onward.
And this Level 9 worm monster also met its end here.
Several minutes later.
The tunnel gradually collapsed, completely burying all traces of the battle. For a long time, no one would know what had happened here, nor would anyone come to investigate. Perhaps many years later, a Train traveling underground might stumble upon this place by chance.
So-called Trains—
They were essentially mobile shelters. The person with the highest authority in each Train was the Train Conductor, who also served as the Train's representative.
But a Train wasn't just about the Conductor.
There were also numerous Survivors aboard.
The destruction of each Train often meant the deaths of nearly a thousand or more Survivors, lost to this apocalypse.
"Don't fly, don't go underground!"
"Don't fly, don't go underground!"
Messages rapidly spread through the Train Radio network. Soon, many Trains discovered that airborne monsters would prioritize attacking airborne Trains, while subterranean creatures would target underground Trains first.
As long as they stayed on the surface, they'd only have to face Zombies and land-based monsters.
In an instant—
Across the entire Zombie Basin, all Trains fled across the surface in every direction.
However,
People quickly realized that when there were no targets underground or in the air, those monsters would then prioritize attacking surface-level Trains.
"Which bastard said not to fly or go underground?!"
"Damn it!!"
Inside the control room of a Level 7 Mechanical Train, a young man stared with ashen face and despair-filled eyes at the scene before him. Behind him stretched an endless, sky-blotting tide of sprinting corpses. Ahead, two worm monsters emerged from the ground, charging toward his Train. Above, a Level 9 Carrion Hawk shrieked as it extended its talons, diving straight at them!
Not a sliver of hope.
He didn't know how to survive this.
Originally, he only had to deal with the Corpse Tide behind him. But now that all Trains had surfaced, he faced monsters attacking from land, air, and underground simultaneously. Not even divine intervention could save them now.
"To hell with this!"
With utter despair in his eyes, the young man flipped open the protective cover over the "Immediate Self-Destruct" button and pressed it. Just as he was about to tap the confirmation on the screen—
"Boom boom!!"
Countless artillery shells came streaking from the distance, striking precisely the diving Level 9 Carrion Hawk and the two worm monsters emerging from below. Almost instantly, as the explosions rang out, all three Level 9 monsters fell heavily to the ground, grievously wounded.
The young man's hand froze mid-action as his Train surged forward.
Another volley of shells followed, reducing the wounded monsters to fragments. Then he saw an airborne Train descend heavily beside him, while a forced private message came through the Train Radio.
「Stellar」: "Escape toward these coordinates—the mountain ahead. Give me two-thirds of your Train's copper and Iron Ore."
It was him!
The young man was momentarily stunned, then without hesitation, he ordered his subordinates to bring the storage box directly over and place it on the gradually materializing Balance before
him. He then took a cigar from The Balance.
"Stellar": "Have a cigar to calm your nerves."
Looking at the cigar, the man suddenly
burst into laughter. Leaning out the window, he gazed at the Stellar Train, which had already landed and was now speeding away from the Corpse Tide behind them. His eyes were filled with the relief of having survived a close call, and he shouted excitedly:
"Bro, thanks a lot!"