This was the most expensive cigar he'd ever bought in his life, and also the most fragrant one he'd ever smoked.
He had survived.
At the edge of Zombie Basin, an endless, pitch-black Corpse Tide surged toward a small hill ahead, while over a dozen Trains fled frantically before the tide, their Carriages spewing blue flames from Tail Thrusters as if fuel cost nothing.
Amidst this chaos.
One Train moved against the current—not fleeing, but accelerating straight into the Corpse Tide!
This Train was the Stellar.
"..."
Chen Mang sat inside the Train's cabin, gazing calmly at the countless swarming Zombies several hundred meters away as he pressed a button on the control panel.
In the next instant—
Ten-meter-wide Car Blades extended from both sides of the Carriage, spinning rapidly with crackling purple-blue Lightning Arcs dancing across their surfaces. Meanwhile, a threaded Drill Bit emerged from the front of the Train, also whirring at high speed.
The Corpse Tide moved faster than he had anticipated.
In less than two hours.
The Trains at the center of Zombie Basin had already fallen completely, and now the Corpse Tide was attacking the higher terrain—the hills. The horde before him had gathered at the base of the small hill he had marked as a coordinate point.
Their numbers were staggering.
His descent was to clear these Zombies and protect the other Trains on the hillside.
As for the Train he had just rescued in passing, he paid it no mind. He had already saved several Trains incidentally—some had given him Iron Ore and copper, while others had ignored his messages entirely.
He didn't remember who had given.
But he remembered who hadn't.
By now, the Armor on the exterior of Carriage No. 15, the Breeding Carriage, had also been upgraded to Level 9.
To put it plainly—
Every Train in Zombie Basin might perish, except his. At worst, all other Trains would fall, leaving him as the sole survivor in Zombie Basin. The upside? No competition for resources. The downside? He'd become a beacon in the darkness, drawing the attention of every monster.
Mining would be a challenge from then on.
Just then!
The Stellar, charging against the tide, plunged into the Corpse Tide. The frenziedly spinning Car Blades melted lower-level Zombies on contact, reducing them to minced flesh that scattered midair.
Higher-level monsters hadn't even closed in.
Before they could, the Doomsday Cannon picked them off with precision.
He hadn't used the Ground Burst Missiles—they weren't suited for this. Lower-level Zombies could be handled with Car Blades and Drill Bits, while higher-level ones were more cost-effective to eliminate with the Doomsday Cannon. Ground Burst Missiles were too expensive.
The only silver lining was that he hadn't encountered a Level 9 Zombie yet.
Among Level 9 monsters, differences in size determined how many shells were needed to kill them.
At the Train's tremendous speed, the Level 50 Car Blades, carrying immense kinetic energy, sliced through the Corpse Tide like a red-hot steel blade through butter, instantly carving out a path paved with blood and gore.
Then—
The Stellar began weaving through the horde, slaughtering Zombies and higher-level monsters without pause.
Falling flesh and loot were all sucked into the Level 10 Refrigerator by the Powerful Magnet.
Crisis, yet also opportunity.
Normally, there aren't this many monsters to kill. With so many, they'd drop plenty of good loot.
At this moment, on the hillside!
Nearly 20 trains were parked side by side halfway up the mountain, forming a steel fortress.
The Train Conductor sat in the cockpit, watching the Stellar Train charging relentlessly back and forth at the foot of the slope. The despair in his eyes gave way to a glimmer of hope—the Stellar Train was indeed powerful, far more than they had imagined!
The heavy machine guns and Doomsday Cannons mounted on the roofs of these nearly 20 trains were aimed downhill, ready to fire at any moment.
The main force of the Corpse Tide had already been completely wiped out by the Stellar Train's relentless charges.
Only a few stragglers managed to break through.
Thousands of small spiders, each about 30 centimeters in size, were rapidly scaling the hillside. They were so tiny they had been nearly invisible amidst the Corpse Tide.
They were the third line of defense!
It wasn't their turn to fire yet.
The second line of defense was... those mechs.
A dozen or so mechs stood in front of the steel fortress, charging straight at the thousands of small spiders!
Mechs consumed fewer resources.
Among them, three "Thunder" mechs stood out, towering several meters taller than the others like colossal titans.
Each wielded a massive warhammer.
They didn't even need the hammers—a single stomp could crush multiple spiders.
"One, two, three..."
Zhang Yi piloted his "Thunder" mech in a frenzied sprint, crushing spiders with every step. He could even hear the satisfying pop of spider guts bursting—it was oddly therapeutic.
All the Stellar Train's mechs were here.
The rest belonged to other trains.
"I hate spiders!"
Inside her "Thunder" mech, Zhang Da Mei's face twisted in disgust as she screamed and swung her hammer, smashing spiders left and right. The sight of their splattered remains sent shivers down her spine.
But even a dozen mechs couldn't hold back all the spiders, nor the stragglers reforming into smaller Corpse Tides behind them.
Still, these were all low-level monsters.
The high-level ones had already been cleared out by the Stellar.
"Rat-tat-tat!!"
The steel fortress of nearly 20 trains unleashed a barrage from their heavy machine guns and Doomsday Cannons, though none fired continuously—mostly short bursts. Most resources had been allocated to the Stellar, leaving little to spare.
It wasn't just their hill that had become a temporary refuge.
Along the highest edges of the Zombie Basin, one makeshift stronghold after another had formed. But none had a Stellar Train charging ahead, shattering the Corpse Tide and clearing out high-level monsters.
Most didn't last long before being overrun by swarming creatures.
A few explosions later, silence fell.
It wasn't that no other trains tried to reach the Stellar's position—but the Zombie Basin had descended into utter chaos, with zombies and monsters covering every inch of the terrain. Crossing the Corpse Tide to reach those coordinates was impossible.
"Boom!! Boom!!"
As artillery shells rained down, the Stellar Train rescued yet another train on the verge of being swallowed by the Corpse Tide.
Every life saved counted.
Chen Mang didn't say much, nor did he send any private messages. This was a Flesh Train—it wouldn't have any copper or iron ore anyway.
Just...
This Flesh Train seemed rather bold, not leaving immediately but instead following closely behind his train, rapidly devouring flesh and blood. However, after feasting for a while, it found nothing to consume.
After all, the fallen "Corpse Meat" and all other flesh had already been sucked into the refrigerator by the powerful magnet. There was nothing left for the Flesh Train to devour.
"Where's the Corpse Meat? Did you collect it? You don't even use Corpse Meat—why take it? Give it to me! I need to level up urgently!"
"..."
Chen Mang expressionlessly glanced at the message on the train radio and couldn't be bothered to reply, continuing to charge through the Corpse Tide. But his silence only provoked the Flesh Train to start incessantly blaring its horn—a sound unlike that of a mechanical train, more akin to the shrill screech of a bat, piercingly harsh.
"Tch."
He sighed softly. "Does riding a Flesh Train rot your brain?"
Still, he opened the train radio and replied.
"Here you go."
The next moment—
Several artillery shells rained down, engulfing the Flesh Train in flames. It soared through the air before crashing heavily into the Corpse Tide.
About an hour later.
The Stellar Train gradually came to a stop.
The surrounding soil had been dyed crimson by countless blood and flesh, with not a single monster left standing on the ground. At first, he had collected the flesh—after all, he had encountered situations in the "Ice and Snow World" where it was needed—but eventually, there was simply no more space.
So, he discarded the flesh of low-level zombie monsters, keeping only that of creatures Level 6 and above.
No matter how many refrigerators he had, they couldn't handle this kind of usage.
Then, he steered the Stellar Train slowly up the hillside. By now, the train had turned a deep scarlet, its armor draped with chunks of shredded flesh, looking as though it had crawled straight out of hell.
All the dropped items had been stuffed into the refrigerators.
Just Level 9 monsters alone, he had slain over a dozen.
Consuming 1.1 million units of copper ore.
Chen Mang returned to the hillside, waving out the window to signal all trains to remain stationed and not act rashly. Then, he stepped out alone, walking up the slope.
The monsters in his immediate vicinity had been cleared out.
But overall, he had only eliminated less than a fraction of the total monsters in the Zombie Basin. Looking down at the basin from above, swarms of zombies surged endlessly, charging toward other hills.
The center of the Zombie Basin, however, was now devoid of monsters.
At the moment, the safest place was right in the middle.
The only problem was—how to get there?
All three paths were completely blocked.
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the scene in the distance. This "Zombie Volcano" event had not only brought zombies but also many other monsters. Strangely, these creatures coexisted harmoniously, not attacking one another.
Logically, different monsters had territorial instincts and would often fight each other.
For example, the Corpse Tide frequently assaulted other monsters to gather enough flesh and blood, providing the Corpse King within the tide with the energy needed to evolve.
But this time, the monsters were unusually peaceful.
And their objective was crystal clear—not a single one strayed aimlessly. They were all focused on attacking every train in the Zombie Basin region!
It was almost like...
Almost like...
He didn't speak, but his mind flashed back to the village that trembled violently every night, the sudden eruption of violent air from the massive cavern that sent zombies bursting out of the ground, Zhang Yiren's speculation, and that—
Perhaps he needed to return to that village once more.
"Biao Zi, get on the train."
Soon, all the Guardians had returned to the Stellar Train.
Chen Mang then called all the Train Conductors off the train, gathering them together to give serious instructions: "The monsters and zombies in this area have been cleared out. For now, this is a safe zone."
"If you want to live, don't wander off."
"Er Dan, send me a message if anything happens. I'll come back as soon as possible."
"Understood?"
The Train Conductors nodded repeatedly. At this point, they had no doubts about the Stellar Train—their survival depended entirely on it.
Without further delay, the Stellar Train switched to its "Bunny Cloud" wheels and soared into the sky, speeding back toward the village!
Just after takeoff.
The Level 9 Death Bat screeched and darted toward them from the distance, transforming into a streak of yellow light that reached the train in the blink of an eye—far too fast to lock onto.
As the train's external loudspeakers flashed red again.
The Death Bat suddenly froze mid-air, immediately attempting to flee. But that momentary hesitation was enough—the Doomsday Cannon locked onto it, and with a deafening roar!
Shredded flesh exploded across the sky before vanishing.
The dropped items and remains were all sucked into the train. The flesh of a Level 9 monster was valuable—it would surely come in handy later.
"How did he reply?"
On a nearby hilltop.
Several Level 9 trains and over a dozen Level 7-8 trains had gathered, struggling against the relentless Corpse Tide surging below.
The biggest issue? They were running out of copper ore!
A middle-aged burly man leaped off his train, striding urgently toward another Level 9 train. He shouted at the middle-aged man seated inside, "We're out of copper ore, and the Corpse Tide just keeps coming!"
"Will the Stellar Train come to support us or not?!"
"Train Radio reports say the Stellar already cleared the monsters from their hill!"
"I tried," the middle-aged man replied grimly, turning to gaze at the endless black tide of zombies crawling up the slope. "I offered 200,000 units of iron ore from each Level 9 train for their help. He refused and just replied with a 'hehe.'"
"Damn it, raise the offer!"
"What good is iron ore now? Tell him there are over a dozen trains here willing to give him ore—just get him to come quick!"
The burly man roared in desperation.
"We're out of time!"
"I only have three Level 10 Doomsday Cannons—those are the only ones I dare use. The rest are below Level 10 and cost too much to fire!"
"Between all your trains, you only have four Level 10 cannons combined. It's not enough!"
Just then—
It was too late. The Corpse Tide had already breached the hilltop.
The burly man's expression darkened as he hurried back to his train. The situation had worsened—the tide had reached the slope. Now, they could only focus on killing high-level monsters and ignore the weaker ones.
His Level 8 energy shield could withstand the lower-tier creatures, but the lower-level trains were doomed.
And with things having escalated this far...
Even if they managed to survive, how to mine in the future would be a major challenge. These monsters seemed to have a level 1000 Targeting Radar installed in their brains, capable of directly locking onto their Train's position and initiating pursuit, with no territorial awareness whatsoever.
Pure slaughter.
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