"Ah..."
Xiao Fang's lips parted slightly, releasing a sound even the wind couldn't catch, before her eyes quickly reddened as she bit down and lowered her head, her voice barely louder than a mosquito's hum.
"Understood, Lord Mang."
"..."
Chen Mang said nothing more, expressionlessly leaning on his cane as he walked along the carriage toward Living Carriage No. 4. But after only a few steps, he turned back again, frowning at Xiao Fang, who still stood at the Train's entrance.
"Forget it. You'll still bring the meals tomorrow."
"You don't need to stand guard here tonight. Go to sleep. Wash up properly before bed—make sure you're clean."
Xiao Fang, whose eyes had been reddening, suddenly flickered with a glimmer of hope at these words. She bit her lip lightly and whispered, "Got it."
He shook his head and sighed softly before continuing toward Carriage No. 4.
Why had he even bothered asking such a pointless question?
He had originally intended to replace her, but...
The others on the Train were probably no better. At least Xiao Fang still had access to water—unlike the residents, whose daily water supply wasn't unlimited. Who knew how they managed?
Whatever.
He didn't actually want to know. At least there'd be toilet paper from now on.
Something as seemingly insignificant as toilet paper could genuinely boost happiness—even elevate civilization itself by a fair margin.
Carrying a bag of tissues, Chen Mang walked from Living Carriage No. 4 back toward the Train's control room, only to find Xiao Fang still standing there. He frowned slightly. "Why are you still here?"
"I was waiting for Lord Mang to return to the control room before going to sleep."
"Why?"
"Otherwise, we might run into each other in the carriage."
"And then?"
"I... I have social anxiety. I wouldn't know what to say..."
"..."
Chen Mang sighed again. "Cut the crap with your 'social anxiety.' Society collapsed ages ago, and you're still hung up on that? Go to sleep already. Don't wear yourself out."
With that, he pushed open the control room door and settled back into his chair.
He tossed the newly made tissues onto the table beside him.
Leaning comfortably against the backrest, he gazed upward.
Night had fallen, and the sky was awash with stars. Since the apocalypse, visibility had improved, and the stars seemed more numerous than before. A nightscape filled with stars was the only one that truly deserved the name.
The kind of nightscape made up of neon lights—
Sure, it was dazzling. Beautiful, even.
But it always carried a sense of pressure.
The starry sky, though, held no such burden. There was no pressure at all—just pure, unfiltered relaxation.
"..."
Chen Mang lay back in his chair, the skylight open, soaking in the familiar surroundings of the control room. He propped his feet up on the table and stared at the stars overhead, so close they seemed within reach. His thoughts drifted, his expression growing distant.
He cherished this feeling.
The growls of monsters outside the Train, punctuated by the occasional burst of Automatic Cannon fire, added a touch of... liveliness to the otherwise deathly silent night.
Like the hum of cicadas in summer.
A chilly night breeze slipped into the carriage, and Chen Mang instinctively pulled his blanket tighter around himself. Curled up in his chair like a baby in its mother's arms, he stared blankly at the sky.
He hadn't actually planned to put Xiao Fang out of a job. It wasn't just that there was no better replacement—Xiao Ai, for instance, could have taken over—but more that he'd grown accustomed to her.
He preferred being around familiar faces.
Staying together in a familiar place.
This made him feel like he was returning home when he stepped back into the train compartment.
He had never seen his mother since childhood and didn't quite understand what familial affection felt like, nor did he grasp the concept of a fallback plan. All he knew was that if he couldn't earn money, he would starve to death on the streets.
He had earned a lot of money.
But didn't know who to spend it on.
Night after night, he drowned himself in alcohol.
Yet not a shred of peace could be bought.
In a daze, Chen Mang fell asleep, curled up in the chair. Only after he drifted off did the skylight slowly close, leaving just a crack open. Meanwhile, the control panel screen displayed a slight increase in the central air conditioning temperature inside the train compartment.
"..."
Cross-legged in the Armor Research and Development Center, Xiao Ai held various tools as he disassembled the robot in front of him. After a while, he set down the tools and looked up at the array of experimental instruments and the military factory's large-scale components in the distance, murmuring to himself.
"At this moment, I really shouldn't speak. But shouldn't I at least remind him that leaving the window open at night might make him catch a cold?"
"Although this dialogue is embedded in the base code."
"But if I follow human logic, choosing to stay silent now would probably be the right move?"
"Ah."
"Human thinking is so hard to understand!"
Xiao Ai shook his head and resumed dismantling the robot they had obtained from completing the S-rank Mechanical Class Change mission. This was his second body, but it needed some minor modifications.
He had been learning how humans spoke, but he suddenly had a vague realization—in human culture, what you say might not matter as much as when you choose not to speak.
Whatever!
Let Lord Mang rest. A Level 20 AI isn't equipped to ponder such complex matters.
In the dead of night.
Most residents on the train were asleep, except for a squad of guardians patrolling back and forth through the rear resident carriages.
He didn't need sleep.
Suddenly, being an AI didn't seem so bad. He found it hard to comprehend the concept of sleep. If sleep was meant to restore energy, then embedding an Energy Stone in one's back should eliminate the need for it, right?
Oh, that's how robots work.
Not exactly a groundbreaking discovery.
Inside a refrigerator in Resident Carriage No. 9.
A man tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He had just worked 48 consecutive hours in the Goblin Tomb, yet now he felt almost no drowsiness—his mind was alarmingly active.
Originally a slave on the Azure Dragon Train, he had been assimilated into the Stellar Train when the Azure Dragon was absorbed, now enjoying third-class resident privileges.
During those 48 hours in the Goblin Tomb.
The Stellar Train provided unlimited cola.
Ice-cold and sugary!
When had he ever enjoyed such luxury? Though he felt a little embarrassed admitting it, he couldn't resist taking advantage—downing can after can until he'd gone 48 hours without sleep. Now, he was wide awake.
Tossing and turning.
"Could you stop flipping around like that? Got fleas or hemorrhoids or what?"
A middle-aged man lying on the floor with his arms crossed spoke without even opening his eyes, irritation clear in his voice. "We've got work tomorrow. Can't you just sleep quietly?"
"I—"
The man was slightly taken aback but quickly realized when he noticed the numbers on the middle-aged man's collar. With a hint of anticipation, he asked, "Bro, are you a first-class resident? When did you join the Stellar?"
The middle-aged man snorted, opening his eyes and giving up on sleep. He cleared his throat with a touch of pride.
"Resident number 789."
"Your number must be in the four or five thousands, right? So, when do you think I joined the Stellar?"
"Bro, how many Stellar Coupons have you saved up?"
"Over ninety."
"That many? I heard those minor celebrities only get 7 Stellar Coupons a night."
"..."
The middle-aged man lifted his eyelids and gave the man a meaningful look. "Since you asked, I'll give you a few pointers. There's been some murmurs from above—soon, all residents will be moving into the Space Gate. It's an incredibly vast and fertile territory."
"The environment there is way more comfortable than here."
"But all residents will still have to live in dorms—unless you save up enough Stellar Coupons to buy your own house, which is basically a villa in the apocalypse."
"On the Stellar, Stellar Coupons are the only and most important currency. Try not to spend what you earn daily—save up to buy your own place. A level-10 refrigerator costs 1,000 Stellar Coupons."
"But just 200 Stellar Coupons will get you 'Level-3 High-Talent Benefits,' which means 2 free Stellar Coupons daily. Add that to working hard, and you can earn 0.7 to 1 coupon a day. Before long, you'll have enough to buy your own place on the Stellar."
"How about that?"
"Doesn't that sound way more promising than your old Train?"
"..."
The man's mouth fell open slightly as he lost himself in thought. After a moment, he nodded earnestly. "It does sound promising. But bro, don't you smoke?"
"I do."
"Don't you need Stellar Coupons to buy cigarettes?"
"Oh, just make more friends. There are so many people on the Train—ask different people for a few cigarettes every day. Grow a thick skin."
"Will they refuse?"
"About 70% will refuse and even curse at you. But since fights aren't allowed on the Train, who cares if they curse?"
"What if you can't get any one day?"
"Then pick up cigarette butts. If you're particular, scrape out the tobacco and roll your own."
"But I've seen a lot of people treat themselves to good food after work—like rice noodle rolls or braised pork rice."
"Oh, just go up to them and ask for a bite."
"Will they agree?"
"80% won't, but if they do, it's a win."
"What about… physical needs? Do you take care of it yourself?"
"There's a trick for that too. After work, hide behind the Red House and listen to the sounds inside while you handle it."
"Just the sounds?"
"Isn't that enough? Or you could try approaching some female residents. Many of them have needs too but don't want to sell themselves. If you hit it off, it's a win-win."
"Any other tricks?"
"That's too much. Brother, I've been on the Stellar Train for so long—there's no trick I don't know. For example, if you happen to dig up something good while mining, you can get Stellar Coupons as a reward. Like last time, someone found a Train Token in the Goblin Tomb and got rewarded after turning it in."
"But how can you guarantee always finding good stuff while mining?"
"There are always newcomers on the train. If you see one dig up something valuable, put on a serious face and tell them to hand it over. Newcomers are usually timid in a new environment. Then you take it and 'help' them turn it in. The big reward still goes to them, but you get a cut for 'advising' them to hand it over."
"Uh, don't the Train Rules say you can't steal from other residents?"
"This isn't stealing—it's just persuading them to turn it in."
"But brother, I'm a newcomer too."
"Don't worry, we've talked so much—I won't take yours."
"Then, brother, is there a faster way to earn Stellar Coupons?"
"Ah."
The middle-aged man suddenly let out a long sigh and stayed silent for a while before speaking hoarsely: "There is, of course. But I can't bring myself to do something so unscrupulous. On the Stellar, those female residents who sell their bodies earn Stellar Coupons very quickly—at least two or three a day, and the pretty ones can make seven or eight."
"Especially those minor celebrities—they earn even faster."
"There was this idiot who tricked one of those girls into giving him all her daily earnings, promising they'd buy a house together someday."
"Those girls don't even realize they're prime targets on the Stellar Train—everyone wants a piece of them. I can't say much about it."
"Then there are groups of three or five pooling money to buy a house together, or husband-and-wife teams, and so on."
"You'll understand once you've been here longer."
"With so many people, you get all kinds."
"Demons and monsters."
"Each has their own way."
"I want peace of mind. I don't want to do those things. Even if it's slower than them, I'll save up bit by bit. Living alone will be comfortable, and later I'll pick a woman I like among the female residents, marry her, and cook in my own private kitchen every day."
"That'd be the perfect life."
"In the apocalypse, a life like that would be heavenly. I bet even Lord Mang doesn't have it much better."
"Oh."
The man nodded, gradually feeling drowsy. The train, once so unfamiliar, now felt more familiar after the middle-aged man's explanations. He murmured softly, "I think the Stellar's conditions are already pretty good. I just want to live longer—I hope the Stellar Train doesn't get destroyed."
"I heard that in the disaster a few days ago, a lot of trains were wiped out."
"If the Stellar hadn't protected the Azure Dragon, it might've been gone too."
"No need to worry about that."
The middle-aged man shook his head with a smile. "You don't have to doubt the Stellar's strength. Maybe one day it'll fall too—after all, in the apocalypse, a single train can't do much."
"But I'm sure it'll outlast the others."
"These past few days we've been mining nonstop. You newcomers haven't heard Train Conductor Zhu tell you about 'Mang Ye's Origin Story' yet. After listening to the illustrated version, you'll have a concrete understanding of the Stellar's capabilities."
"Oh, right." The man nodded, his eyelids already drooping sleepily as he mumbled, "Bro, I've seen kids on the train these past few days?"
"Yeah, those kids don't have to work. They just study every day. Rumor has it they're being groomed for management positions in the future—they're basically reserve cadres."
"Lord Mang thinks so far ahead."
"After experiencing the apocalypse, those kids have become quite mature. They study diligently and are said to be making rapid progress."
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