"These carriages serve more as transitional spaces."
"Carriages 8 and 9 are both resident cars, containing a total of 8 residential zones. They can accommodate up to ten thousand people while maintaining living standards. In emergencies, they could house over a hundred thousand residents without issue."
"Carriage 10 is the entertainment space and Film and Television Base."
"That movie you watched last time was produced by our train's own director—probably the first original film after the apocalypse. Up ahead, Carriage 11 is the Goblin Car, where both the Red House and Resident Store are located."
Er Dan stood puzzled in Carriage 10, staring at the Space Gates on either side. "Isn't this layout a bit inefficient? The resident cars are in 8 and 9, so why's the Resident Store in 11?"
"Oh, that's a historical legacy issue," Lao Zhu explained. "The Goblin Car's population is much smaller than other resident cars, leaving more activity space. Placing the Red House and Resident Store in Carriages 8 or 9 would cause congestion with all the foot traffic."
"I see. But couldn't you swap Carriages 11 and 10? That would solve both problems."
"Theoretically yes, but Lord Mang said everyone's used to it this way, so we haven't changed it yet. It's just a few extra steps anyway—hardly impacts anything."
"Here's Carriage 11. The Red House is just ahead. Those minor celebrities are already waiting inside for you all to enjoy."
"Uh..." Er Dan whispered awkwardly, "Actually, I'd like to check out the Film and Television Base and entertainment space too. We don't have to head straight to the Red House—makes us seem like some kind of libertines."
"Should we cancel then?"
"Well... since we're already here, might as well take a look inside first."
"...Enjoy yourselves."
"Oh!" Er Dan suddenly turned back to Lao Zhu. "When we passed Carriage 3 earlier, I saw an enormous Spiked Club stuffed inside—it practically filled the whole carriage. What's that about?"
"That's a long story. Let's talk after you're done playing."
"Alright."
The Stellar Train raced across the Land of Extreme Cold.
Meanwhile, Biao Zi and the other Guardians were all gathered in the Combat Training Virtual Space. After leaving Neon City, they'd brought back many valuable items—though most remained there to stock the shops.
Still, they'd kept some particularly rare finds.
The best resources always went to the Stellar first.
Even if auctioned, no other train could afford them.
For example—
「Extreme Challenge」: Special Item, rare edition Map Chip.
Unlike standard Map Chips that grant +0.2 to overall physical stats for clearing normal difficulty, or +0.5 for extreme difficulty...
The rare version offered far greater rewards.
Completing the normal difficulty increases stats by 0.5, while the extreme difficulty grants 1.0, though the challenge naturally becomes harder.
At the time, the store had two of this item in stock. Lord Mang took one, leaving the other displayed as a high-end product. Even if some premium items might not sell, it was necessary to showcase a few.
There was one more item.
"Zombie Nation": A special item, the Supreme Map Chip.
This map chip was extraordinary, priced at a staggering 20 million points—40 times the cost of the rare version—with only one in stock.
Completing it on normal difficulty increased overall physical attributes by 2.0, while the extreme difficulty granted 4.0.
The limit was three times!
In other words, successfully clearing this Supreme Map Chip could directly award 18 points in overall physical attributes, equivalent to an initial-state Zhang Da Mei.
Of course, the difficulty was also significantly higher.
At this moment.
Inside the Combat Training Virtual Space, Biao Zi, who had died countless times, stood dazed in the white space receiving mental therapy. Having perished too often, he was beginning to hallucinate, struggling to distinguish reality from the virtual world.
He was attempting the Supreme Map "Zombie Nation."
The map was deceptively simple.
The spawn point was at the center of a square, surrounded by Level 1 Zombies—extremely weak but overwhelmingly numerous, totaling 5,000. Clearing all of them meant victory.
Straightforward and brutal.
Except...
"This is literally impossible for a human to accomplish."
Biao Zi numbly stared at his right hand, phantom pain searing through him. His pain receptors were on the verge of malfunctioning. Without immediate mental therapy, he'd be effectively crippled.
The worst part? No weapons—just a single machete.
What did that mean?
It was like being stranded in the Iron Ridge Wasteland, the Train surrounded by a Corpse Tide, and him leaping off alone in cloth robes, trying to slaughter the horde single-handedly with a blade.
Absolutely absurd.
His best record was killing 37 zombies before being swarmed by the endless tide. There was no room to swing, leaving him to be devoured alive.
Even Zhang Yi and Zhang Er, after multiple attempts, only managed around 40 kills.
Raw strength meant nothing. The Corpse Tide fearlessly surged forward, leaving no space to fight back. No traps, no exploits—just an open square with nowhere to hide.
Forget 5,000 zombies.
Even 5,000 chickens, if they attacked fearlessly, would peck him to death!
"No."
After a long silence, Biao Zi took a deep breath and abandoned the map. This wasn't something brute force could overcome. Better to stay grounded and try the rare version, "Extreme Challenge," instead.
The scene shifted.
Biao Zi now stood on the edge of a skyscraper's rooftop, the once-hazy surroundings solidifying around him.
A holographic screen appeared before him.
"This map consists of nine stages. Reach the endpoint before time runs out to succeed."
"..."
Biao Zi glanced at the enormous string of numbers in the sky—a thirty-minute countdown. This map seemed to be a challenge level with no monsters; all he had to do was clear the obstacles.
"Hmm, this map doesn't look too difficult."
The first challenge was to leap from the rooftop of the high-rise he was standing on to the rooftop of the opposite building.
The two buildings were two meters apart.
The opposite building was slightly shorter, about three meters lower.
This was no challenge at all. Even with his pre-apocalypse physical abilities, he could have cleared it easily, let alone with his current enhanced physique!
"Hah!"
Biao Zi took a deep breath, took a few steps back, and prepared for a running jump. But the moment he stepped back, a sudden, searing pain shot through his entire body. Blood gushed from his mouth as his body stiffened. With great effort, he looked down.
Countless steel spikes had shot up from the ground, piercing straight through his body.
A trap.
That was Biao Zi's last thought before death.
But it didn't matter. This was just normal difficulty—he was never short on the courage to start over.
Once again, he appeared at the edge of the rooftop. This time, he didn't immediately step back for a running start. Instead, he moved slightly to the left before retreating to build momentum.
The moment he took a step left, the steel spikes shot up again.
Retry!
This time, he tried the right side. The spikes sprang up once more.
Retry!
This time, he took a big leap to the side. Surely there wouldn't be a trap here? The spikes emerged again.
Retry!
Fine, no running start. Could he just jump from a standstill?
Biao Zi took a deep breath, planted his feet at the edge, and leaped with all his might. Mid-air, a high-speed rotating blade shot up from between the buildings, slicing him clean in half.
Another trap.
Retry.
This time, Biao Zi draped his body over the rooftop edge, stretching his legs as far into the air as possible. The moment he heard the sonic boom, he yanked his legs back, baiting out the blade trap. Then, he climbed back onto the rooftop.
Deep breath. Aim. Standing long jump!
This time, no traps activated. But just as he was about to land, he suddenly noticed steel spikes protruding from his landing spot on the opposite rooftop.
Expressionless, Biao Zi closed his eyes mid-air, bracing for the pain once more.
After dying over thirty times in a row,
Biao Zi finally reached the second challenge. With red-rimmed eyes, he pressed the red button that had appeared on a pillar on the rooftop. Next to it was a sign: 「Second Challenge」.
Pressing this button probably marked the official start of the second challenge.
However...
He soon heard rapid beeping. The next moment—BOOM!—flames engulfed the entire rooftop in an explosion.
Again!
This time, he ignored the red button trap and was about to charge toward the third challenge when he spotted another sign: 「Look Up」.
Instinctively, Biao Zi raised his head. The massive countdown in the sky was plummeting straight toward him!
His last thought before death:
Why the hell was that countdown a physical object?!
"..."
Chen Mang sat in the train compartment, wincing as he watched Biao Zi's challenge footage on a nearby screen. A glint of anticipation flickered in his eyes—not for Biao Zi's success, but for the creative new ways he might meet his end.
So far, Biao Zi had died over thirty times.
Each death had been in a different place.
This map was clearly designed to be trial-and-error with lives. Anyone could clear it—as long as they died enough times. Once the strategy was spread, later players could even one-shot it by following the guide.
"Who the hell designed this map?"
Chen Mang sighed as he leaned back in his chair, observing the scene.
The Stellar Train was currently on autopilot, its Targeting Radar actively scanning for targets.
He had only two objectives for this trip to the Blue Zone—the Land of Extreme Cold.
First, to take in the scenery of different regions and learn more about their conditions.
Second, to hunt an extreme cold monster of Level 11 or 12 and obtain the two attachments: the Sled and the Snow Machine.
The Sled was a type of wheel, similar to tracks, allowing the Train to traverse thick snow. However, the former was faster under special circumstances.
Like going downhill.
And more energy-efficient.
These attachments were useless to him. With magnetic levitation, his Train wouldn't get stuck in snow, and the Weather Control Device could create heavy snow, making the Snow Machine redundant.
But since he was here, and these attachments had a high drop rate only in this region, he might as well take them. Just like how the Drill Bit initially had a high drop rate only in the Kunlun Mountains.
Those who missed it there would hardly get another chance elsewhere.
However, after dozens of minutes in the Land of Extreme Cold, he still hadn't encountered any high-level monsters—just Levels 8 to 10 at most.
He was aiming for Level 12, partly out of personal curiosity.
He wanted to test the full power of the Train Stunt "Death Spin" at 5,000 km/h.
Just then—
The Targeting Radar suddenly beeped.
The screen displayed a Level 12 extreme cold monster 100,000 meters away, sprinting rapidly across the snow.
"Found you!"
Chen Mang's eyes lit up as he straightened in his seat, no longer concerned with how Biao Zi might die next. He slammed the control stick forward, and an intense g-force pressed him into his seat.
In just 1.4 seconds.
The Train accelerated to 5,000 km/h.
Equivalent to 1,390 m/s.
A minute later, the Stellar Train was closing in on the blinking red dot on the radar at full speed.
Data streamed across the screen.
「Distance: 5,000 meters.」
「Distance: 3,000 meters.」
「Distance: 1,000 meters...」
When the distance narrowed to a few hundred meters, Chen Mang didn't hesitate. He punched the red button on the Stunt Console.
The entire Train launched into the air.
Car Blades and Drill Bits extended, spinning at high speed.
Then—
The Stellar Train began rotating violently, hurtling toward the 20-meter-tall snow monster at a speed barely visible to the naked eye.
"BOOM!"
In the blink of an eye.
A deafening collision, mixed with a sonic boom, echoed across the vast white expanse.
The Stellar Train rapidly decelerated before gently levitating back above the snow.
Behind him was a grand spectacle of blood and scattered flesh.
The towering snow monster, standing over twenty meters tall, had barely put up any resistance the moment it was struck. In an instant, its entire body disintegrated into countless pieces of flesh, meeting an extremely gruesome end.
Instant annihilation.
A level 12 snow monster, killed in a flash.
However—
"Hmm."
Chen Mang turned his gaze to the control panel screen, where lines of text continuously scrolled past.
-
"Warning, warning."
"Car Blade integrity reduced to 11%. Drill Bit integrity reduced to 97%. Car Audio integrity reduced to 0%. Powerful Magnet integrity reduced to 0%. Headlights integrity reduced to 0%. Mechanical Tentacles integrity reduced to—"
-
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