It was about time to leave.
Chen Mang had cleared out roughly some of the level 9 monsters in the Zombie Basin, giving the remaining trains still stranded there a glimmer of hope. His efforts also ensured that trains arriving later from the Shahe Plain wouldn't immediately face a dead end upon entering the Zombie Basin.
However, he had only cleared about two-thirds of them.
He didn't finish the job.
After all, to leave this area, one had to kill three level 9 monsters. If all the level 9 monsters were wiped out, the trains would essentially be trapped here until new level 9 monsters spawned.
Though he believed that B-rank difficulty mission was nearly impossible to complete—enough to stump most people.
"Phew."
Night had just fallen. Chen Mang stretched his limbs, picked up the walkie-talkie, and summoned Er Dan. He planned to upgrade his train to level 10 and then head together to the Blue Zone.
Worth mentioning—
After the movie screening seven days ago, the residents had indeed become more diligent in their work.
But he wasn't sure if the development path had taken a slight detour.
The female protagonist of that film turned out to be an assistant from the director's team. After filming wrapped, she went into the business—charging five Stellar Coupons per session. Customers flocked to her in unprecedented numbers, forming long queues outside her door.
Business boomed even more when she started wearing the same outfit from the movie, lying motionless on the bed as if anesthetized.
Then she swapped the bed in her Red House for white sheets, adding a hospital-like vibe.
She completely overshadowed the other minor celebrities.
When he learned about this, he was speechless. He only found out through Xiao Fang. That day, on a whim, he decided to inspect his train. In Carriage No. 5, he overheard Xiao Fang gossiping with Ji Chuchu.
That's how he discovered this bizarre yet somehow logical turn of events.
His movie night had practically turned into a promotional campaign for that woman.
Soon—
Er Dan arrived, standing below the train's control room and looking up. "Lord Mang, you called for me."
"Yeah."
Chen Mang stepped down from the train and waved his hand. Xiao Ai jumped down from the train carrying a refrigerator. "Your train is currently level 6. Upgrading to level 7 requires 500,000 units of iron ore, level 8 needs 1 million, and level 9 requires 1.5 million."
"That's 3 million in total."
"Here's 4 million. Use 3 million for your train upgrades, and keep the remaining 1 million for crafting energy stones. You should still have enough copper ore, right?"
"Plenty."
Er Dan looked slightly embarrassed and lowered his voice. "Lord Mang, after you gave me so many resources last time, all I brought back was one purple-grade accessory. I feel—"
"Don't stress over it."
Chen Mang shook his head, placing both hands on Er Dan's shoulders with a serious expression. "This isn't a one-time deal. I'm investing in you long-term. The Stellar is destined to go much farther in the future. I need a train that can explore the Serendipity Map or carry out special missions when the Stellar is tied up."
"Besides, the Traveling Frog Train belongs to me."
"But technically, I'm still the Train Conductor of the Traveling Frog. Aren't you worried I might just run off with it one day?"
"Not worried."
Chen Mang smiled and said, "The life you have now is what you've always dreamed of. If you run away, you won't find another fool like me to provide you with Iron Ore. Besides, people should still value feelings—I trust you."
"Even if you do run, it must be because I did something wrong. We can part ways peacefully."
"Really?"
"Of course not."
With a sigh, Chen Mang pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, tucked it into Er Dan's mouth, and lit it for him before chuckling softly. "If you really run, you'll get to experience firsthand the overwhelming pressure from the Stellar Train. After all, enemies often feel it more keenly than allies."
"I was just joking..."
Er Dan scratched his nose awkwardly, then took a deep breath and said firmly, "Since Lord Mang trusts me so much, I won't let you down. Next time, I'll bring back something even better."
"I believe in you. Go on, little frog."
"Little frog? My name's Er Dan, Lord Mang."
"Right, Er Dan. Go on."
Soon—
Er Dan's Train soared straight to level 9 and then broke through to level 10. The Traveling Frog perfectly met both requirements for the breakthrough, and so did the Stellar!
Almost simultaneously.
The Stellar Train also reached level 10!
Inside the Train carriage.
Chen Mang looked at the information displayed on the control panel.
-
"Your Train has reached level 10."
"More craftable components will now be unlocked."
-
Finally, level 10!
The most noticeable change was two new buttons on the control panel—new functionalities for the Train!
"Mechanical Fortress," "Train Expansion."
The first function: Mechanical Fortress.
Upon pressing this button.
The Train would form a circular fortress, anchoring itself to the ground for 24 hours. During this time, all "defensive components" would automatically upgrade by one level, and all "firepower components" would have Halved Consumption.
The trade-off? The Train couldn't move for those 24 hours, remaining rooted in place.
How to put it?
In moments of extreme crisis, this effect could potentially save the Train—provided the crisis was something the "Mechanical Fortress" could handle. Otherwise, it'd just become a mechanical grave.
The second function: "Train Expansion."
The Stellar currently had 15 carriages, each 3 meters wide and 10 meters long.
This function allowed the Train to grow larger—for example, expanding carriages to 10 meters wide and 30 meters long, with increased height, turning it into a colossal mega-Train!
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly, especially at the second function. He felt it was essential. As the Train leveled up, future components would grow larger, and a smaller Train frame wouldn't accommodate some of the bigger firepower attachments.
But a bigger Train had its downsides too.
It wouldn't be able to enter areas with restrictive terrain.
The Iron Ore cost for expansion wasn't excessive, but he'd need to consider it. First, he'd visit the Blue Zone to see how others handled it and gather intel from the Train Radio.
Moreover, reaching level 10 didn't just bring these changes—more would reveal themselves in the Blue Zone.
So now—
Time to set off!
"Woo!!"
With the sound of the horn, the Stellar Train gradually picked up speed, accelerating toward the northernmost part of the Zombie Basin, its destination being the Blue Zone "Crisis Valley," which bordered the Zombie Basin.
The Traveling Frog followed closely behind.
One after the other.
They raced swiftly across the wasteland, any zombies blocking their path instantly dissolving into blood and merging with the earth.
Over an hour later.
The Stellar Train arrived beside an abandoned village.
This was the same village where Zhang Yiren had been found.
Inside one of the village houses was an extremely small Level 3 mine. Once this mine was fully excavated, it would trigger the Serendipity Map "Eternal Confinement Cell." Last time, Er Dan had entered this Serendipity Map but failed and withdrew, suffering a curse as a result.
He glanced at a special item in the drawer.
-
Special Item: Dungeon Access Card.
Effect: When inside the "Eternal Confinement Cell" Serendipity Map, this card can be used to open a certain dungeon door within the map.
-
This item could only be used within this Serendipity Map.
Other regions likely didn't have this Serendipity Map.
He wasn't sure if the mine had respawned. This mine was special—it couldn't be detected by the Resource Detection Radar, and its respawn time was unknown. He had come to try his luck. If it had respawned, he could venture into this Serendipity Map.
If not, then so be it.
Who knew when it would respawn? He couldn't afford to wait here indefinitely—it would waste his progress.
Just then—
Biao Zi's voice came through the train's sound system: "Lord Mang, there's a mine here!"
"..."
Chen Mang suddenly laughed. He realized things had been going smoothly for him these past few days, which made him uneasy. Could he be exhausting his future luck? Maybe a major disaster awaited him once he entered the Blue Zone.
He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie: "Get to work!"
Since this Level 3 iron ore mine had respawned,
all that was left was to excavate it fully and then enter this Serendipity Map.
Although his train housed many residents, the mine was small and couldn't accommodate too many people. It would take at least an hour to finish mining, so he'd have to wait patiently.
Er Dan had already been to this Serendipity Map once and couldn't enter again.
He picked up the train radio's walkie-talkie.
"Er Dan, explain in detail what's inside this Serendipity Map."
"Got it."
Meanwhile—
Over the Shahe Plain, an invisible pressure and panic loomed over all trains, casting a shadow over many Train Conductors.
This was a long story.
Over ten days ago,
three Level 6 Train Conductors had agreed to travel together to the Yellow Zone "Zombie Basin," pledging mutual support and assistance. Such alliances were common—after all, there was strength in numbers, provided trustworthy allies could be found.
But then—
When these three Train Conductors confidently crossed the Kunlun Mountains region, preparing to enter the Zombie Basin, they witnessed something unbelievable.
In the Zombie Basin zone,
an endless tide of blackened corpses launched a fierce assault on the trains stationed at the edge of the basin's mountainous terrain. They even spotted a village with Level 9 Zombies!
Countless monsters filled the sky.
Even the ground occasionally split open as high-level Worm Monsters emerged.
At a glance—
The vast expanse was teeming with all kinds of zombies and monsters. The thick stench of decay and blood permeated the entire border area between the Kunlun Mountains and the Zombie Basin. The air was filled with the roar of gunfire, the shrieks of monsters, and the desperate screams of those facing death.
Explosions of flames erupted intermittently.
Those were the self-destruction of trains!
The sight terrified them. The three trains remained frozen in the control room for a long moment before hastily retreating the way they came, returning once more to the Shahe Plain. At that moment, they couldn't help but feel grateful they hadn't ventured into the Zombie Basin earlier.
Otherwise, they would have surely met a gruesome end.
When this news was brought back to the Shahe Plain,
many Train Conductors fell into silence. The current state of the Zombie Basin made it clearly impassable, yet it was the only yellow zone they could access. This meant they were effectively trapped on the Shahe Plain.
Some trains eventually accepted this reality—after all, ruling over the Shahe Plain wasn't so bad.
But most Train Conductors were unwilling to resign themselves to it.
No one knew how the apocalypse would unfold in the future. The stronger their trains became, the greater their chances of survival!
Yet no matter how much the Train Conductors racked their brains, there was simply no solution.
And more importantly—
If trains only entered a region but never left, it would soon become overcrowded. The bloodshed over iron ore would grow even more frequent, replacing the unspoken rule of moving on to another deposit if one was already claimed.
"Lord Mang should be fine, right?"
Inside the King of Electronic Music, the Dwarf Man gazed blankly at the horizon. Over the past few days, he had heard about the upheaval in the Zombie Basin. The Stellar was in that very region. The last time they met in Neon City, he'd heard the Stellar was already a Level 7 train.
He wondered if a Level 7 train could survive this crisis.
With so many Level 9 monsters around,
it seemed unlikely. But since Lord Mang had claimed he could destroy a Level 8 train even at Level 7, perhaps his chances weren't so slim—as long as he didn't run into any Level 9 monsters.
Would there even be another chance to see Lord Mang again?
Meanwhile, in a village within the Zombie Basin,
the small Level 3 iron ore deposit had been fully mined. It was a modest operation.
Soon after, a portal materialized before the train. A powerful suction force emanated from it, and the Stellar promptly surged forward into the portal.
As the scenery shifted rapidly around them,
new surroundings came into focus.
When everything finally settled,
the Stellar found itself inside an enormous prison cell—one large enough to hold an entire train. The walls were made of packed earth, and the lighting was dim, with only oil lamps hanging along the corridor outside the cell bars.
Ahead stood massive iron bars.
This was the Serendipity Map, and the scene matched exactly what Er Dan had described.
"..."
Chen Mang remained calm as he swiftly surveyed the surroundings. All Serendipity Maps were real locations, not illusions, and most had once belonged to the "Mechanical Civilization." In other words, the Mechanical Civilization had truly built a prison capable of confining trains.
Judging by the size of the cell,
it could easily accommodate a train with 30 carriages—or even larger.
On the light screen ahead of the Train, information about this Serendipity Map appeared.
-
"Long, long ago, certain Trains that had committed mistakes would be imprisoned here to reflect on their crimes."
"But"
"One day, a newly incarcerated Train discovered a way to escape from the Train dungeon, successfully breaking free and causing great calamity."
"The mechanical civilization never learned how that Train managed to escape."
"Perhaps you will know."
"Escape within 24 hours to pass."
"Failure to meet the deadline will result in a random curse."