Translator: AnubisTL
As Biaozi finished speaking, a disheveled woman in the crowd of survivors suddenly flickered with a glimmer of hope in her otherwise lifeless eyes. Trembling, she stood up and pointed at the man with a face full of fleshy folds.
"Those two men were his thugs. They've been abusing us women since the apocalypse."
"Can you kill him?"
"You don't know what we've been through these days..."
"Shut up."
Biaozi's expression turned impatient as he glared at the woman. "Everyone, stand up right now and follow me out of the container. If I hear another word from you, you'll be the first to die."
The woman froze in place, the fragile hope that had just ignited in her eyes instantly extinguished. After a long moment, she lowered her head and murmured, "I thought you were here to save us."
Biaozi couldn't be bothered to say more. He simply waved his hand, and under the cold gazes of the thugs, all the survivors slowly emerged from the corners, trembling as they walked along the container toward the exit.
Wildcat, standing to the side, scanned each woman's face, but didn't recognize any familiar figures. His expression grew slightly anxious, and he was about to say something when a rough hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Biaozi patted Wildcat's shoulder without speaking, his lips moving slightly as he shook his head.
Wildcat paused, then quickly understood. He could only force himself to calm down.
Soon, the survivors, escorted by Biaozi and his armed thugs, emerged from the container and into the open space. After so long without sunlight, they instinctively squeezed their eyes shut, huddling together, uncertain of their fate.
"Gentlemen!"
The burly man with the flashlight and menacing face knelt on the ground, eyes closed, his voice trembling with fear. "Don't listen to that stinking woman's lies! It was us brothers who risked our lives to scavenge for supplies all these days."
"The canned food they ate, the blankets they slept on, the water they drank—we brothers risked our lives to find it all!"
"We've lost several brothers because of this."
"Don't I deserve to sleep with them? Besides, I didn't force them. They came to me willingly for food!"
At that moment, another woman's voice, filled with heart-wrenching sobs, trembled, "If we don't sleep with you, you won't give us food. Do you think we're doing this willingly?"
"Screw your 'willingly'!"
The man, whose face was covered in thick, fleshy folds, roared in exasperation, "Do you think I'm willingly waiting for the apocalypse to come? Then why the hell don't you go out and find your own food? Did I stop you?"
"If you were willing to share your food without any conditions, that would be true kindness, something worth talking about."
"Screw your 'kindness'!"
...
Biaozi remained silent, barely even bothering to pay attention to the farce unfolding before him. He had always held the belief that no good people survived the apocalypse; the good ones had died first.
Everyone here was rotten.
There was no point in comparing who was the most rotten.
He lowered his head to light a cigarette, then glanced at the blinding sun and waited patiently. It wouldn't be long now. The roar of engines grew louder, gradually filling the air.
A train, entirely black and covered in thick armor, lumbered through the city ruins on dozens of Mechanical Legs. It finally came to a halt in the empty space of the container factory.
Then—
A young man descended slowly from the locomotive via a ramp. With each step he took, the gun barrels of the Heavy Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers, and other Firepower Accessories mounted on the carriage roof swiveled slightly.
By the time he reached the ground, all the gun barrels were fully aimed at the survivors.
The scene fell silent, eerily quiet.
The arguing couple, who had been locked in a tense standoff just moments ago, now stood frozen, their mouths slowly widening in disbelief. Their eyes, wide with shock, stared at the scene before them, filled with a mixture of disbelief and terror.
At that moment, Chen Mang's voice echoed from the train's External Speaker:
"Everyone, proceed to the last slave car."
This section, carriage eleven, was hastily constructed by Chen Mang. Each carriage cost 100 Units of iron ore and was intended to temporarily house the survivors.
Standing in the open space, Chen Mang gazed at the ragged survivors before him, a smile playing on his lips. With the Target Acquisition Radar, finding slaves had become much easier—no matter how deeply they hid, he could always find them.
He needed more slaves.
Only then could he achieve higher production efficiency when he discovered the next mine.
No one ever complained about having too many slaves; he could afford to feed as many as he could acquire.
Though they appeared somewhat frail, a little recuperation back on the train would quickly remedy that. This group of survivors still contained no elderly or children. In the apocalypse, both were rare commodities, especially after a year of its devastation. Surviving this long was no easy feat.
Afterward, he returned to the locomotive.
This time, his goal was to rescue 1,000 survivors.
With the Target Acquisition Radar, the Cluster Mind, and Biaozi's gang of thugs riding off-road vehicles, the task of searching for survivors had become remarkably simple.
Then...
Chen Mang returned to the locomotive. He had no intention of making a speech yet; he would wait until all the survivors had been searched. He had come down simply to admire his first batch of spoils.
The woman who had been vehemently denouncing the man's countless crimes moments earlier now stood speechless, her mouth slightly agape, as she gazed at Chen Mang.
For some reason, though the armed man had coldly executed two people before their eyes, she had dared to cry out in protest. Yet, the young man who had just emerged from the locomotive, despite his cheerful smile, left her utterly unable to open her mouth.
For a moment, the survivors remained silent, quietly following Biaozi and his men toward the last carriage, their obedience almost unsettling.
"Tsk," Biaozi muttered, scratching the back of his head and clicking his tongue. "These folks have pretty good eyes. Why didn't they shout a few words when Lord Mang came down? Do I really look that easy to bully?"
He pulled out a car blade fragment from his chest pocket and stared at his own stubbled face reflected in the shard. He forced a fierce expression, then turned to Black Rat beside him with a puzzled look.
"Don't I look fierce?"
"You do, Brother Biao."
"Then why don't they seem afraid of me?"
"Maybe they thought you were here to save them at first. They thought you were a good guy."
"What about Lord Mang?"
"Lord Mang doesn't look like a good guy at all."
"Doesn't he?"
"Does he?"
"Black Rat, let me remind you, you're still stuck in Cluster Mind mode."
"...He does. I misspoke just now. Lord Mang looks like he's brimming with righteousness, especially with those four 40-tube Rocket Launchers. They look so upright and just."
Just then—
In the locomotive, Chen Mang glanced at the survivor hideout in another zone on the Target Acquisition Radar. After zooming in on each survivor's information, he paused, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
An old acquaintance.
Among this group of survivors, one woman was none other than Ji Chuchu.
Wasn't Ji Chuchu a slave on another train? How could she be here?
(End of the Chapter)
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