Translator: AnubisTL
The Target Acquisition Radar screen showed a group of survivors huddled inside a single train carriage.
"..."
Chen Mang's expression turned slightly strange. While it was technically a train, it was more like a single carriage and a locomotive. The external armor was battered and tattered. His radar could detect information about other trains within range.
According to the data he'd gathered, this train was practically on the verge of being scrapped. It was no longer functional, and the integrity of its various accessories had deteriorated to less than 10%. This was well beyond the point of being usable.
And this train was currently submerged in a pond.
Normally, trains couldn't even enter the deep ruins of Taiping City. People would only drive them to the city's outskirts and send thugs inside to search for survivors and supplies. The fact that this train was here suggested it had likely been caught in the recent wasteland tornado and flung through the air before crashing down here.
After relaying his orders to Biaozi and the others, the roar of their off-road motorcycles filled the air. Biaozi and his men formed a long, single-file line and charged straight into the heart of the city ruins.
Deep within a pond in the city ruins, a train had plunged to the bottom. The locomotive was completely submerged, with only half a carriage remaining above the water.
This was an artificial pond.
A year after the apocalypse, it had fallen into disrepair. Though it hadn't completely dried up, the water level had noticeably dropped.
Several fully decomposed corpses floated on the surface, emitting a foul stench. The black water itself was repulsive, making it impossible to approach.
"Damn it!"
Inside the train, a man muttered angrily under his breath. Why had his luck been so terrible lately? Ji Chuchu's inability to sell her wares was already frustrating enough, but then he'd suffered a major disaster a few days ago, swept high into the sky by a tornado.
Dazed and disoriented, he'd passed out on the spot.
When he finally regained consciousness, only one carriage of the train remained, submerged deep within a muddy pond in the Taiping City ruins. The train was practically totaled, completely beyond repair.
Without the train's protection, how could he face those ferocious monsters?
He dared not leave the pond to explore the rest of the Taiping City ruins. At least here, he was relatively safe. After several days of observation, he'd noticed that neither zombies nor zombie wolves dared to enter the water. This pond was a precarious but tolerable sanctuary.
The train's food supplies had been completely depleted. The carriages containing food production accessories had long since been swept away, leaving only Slave Car 2.
But there weren't many slaves left. Many had died during the violent shaking, and those still alive were mostly critically injured.
Everyone was in a half-dead state.
"Damn it!"
A flicker of ruthlessness flashed in the man's eyes. He poked his head out of the carriage to survey the surroundings. They were doomed if they stayed put. He had to find a way to get some food.
Just then—
"Huh?"
The man froze. He thought he saw several motorcycles kicking up clouds of dust along the edge of the Pond, constantly leaping over obstacles as they approached him.
Are these people insane?
Daring to move like this in the ruins of Taiping City? And where did they even get off-road motorcycles?!
He watched the scene with mixed emotions. Ordinary survivors wouldn't dare act so brazenly. These were likely thugs sent by a Tier 3 train to search for survivors.
They were probably here to investigate his train, trapped in the Pond.
If he waved, they would definitely save him, but he would be reduced to a slave, forced to live under their roof.
He had once been a train conductor, managing over a hundred people. He naturally refused to become a slave, living at the mercy of others. But if he hid and didn't reveal himself, he would starve. Trapped like this, he would surely die.
After a brief hesitation, the man took a deep breath and made a swift decision. He stripped off his coat and held it over his head, then crawled out of the carriage, shouting with all his remaining strength, "Help! Help!!!"
Survive first.
He could find opportunities later.
The next moment—
"Roar!"
Perhaps startled by the loud cry, seven or eight Tier 2 Zombie Wolves, roused from their slumber in the distant ruins, emerged with bloodshot eyes, staring intently at Biaozi and his group, who had just parked their off-road motorcycles.
Saliva dripped from their fangs, staining the ground with the stench of death.
Step by step, they advanced.
A battle was about to erupt.
"...!"
Biaozi sat astride his off-road motorcycle, one foot planted firmly on the ground. His face was tense as he watched the approaching zombie wolves. He gripped a car blade fragment tightly in his hand, though he was nervous, he remained in control.
Biaozi frowned, glancing at the train submerged in the pond and the bloated corpse floating on the surface, its stench of decay filling the air. He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose.
That smell...
It's potent.
This pond was probably turning into a zombie breeding ground. Getting the people out of the train was going to be tricky.
Just then!
"ROAR!"
The pack of zombie wolves finally lost their patience, letting out a low growl. They crouched low to the ground, their limbs tense, ready to pounce.
But then—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several sharp whistling sounds suddenly pierced the air near Biaozi and the others. Eight ballista bolts shot from the distance, pinning the zombie wolves to the ground with lightning speed.
Five zombie wolves died instantly, without even a whimper. The remaining three struggled for a few seconds before falling silent.
"...Huh."
Biaozi turned to look at the Stellaris train, which had somehow climbed onto the rooftop of a thirty-six-story skyscraper nearby. He blinked in surprise, then chuckled. This long-range fire support truly gave him a sense of security.
He had worked as a thug on other trains before.
But no field operation had ever felt this secure.
They had off-road motorcycles for transportation, Soaring Dragon Assault Rifles and car blade fragments for weapons, Target Acquisition Radars and the Cluster Mind providing detailed and comprehensive enemy information, and the train offering long-range fire support.
Compared to his previous life as a thug, it was like being in heaven versus on earth—a complete and utter annihilation of his former existence.
The Stellaris currently consisted of eleven carriages. The rooftop of the high-rise building couldn't fully accommodate all eleven, so three carriages were suspended in mid-air, hanging vertically against the wall. It created an indescribably post-apocalyptic aesthetic.
He then turned his gaze to the carriage submerged in the pond, its roof barely breaking the surface, and began to consider how to bring these people back.
Minor injuries were no concern; the Stellaris possessed advanced medical technology capable of regrowing limbs. But the murky, black pond water was a death trap. Any wound that touched it was almost guaranteed to become severely infected, and survival would depend on fate.
Biaozi scanned the surroundings and quickly came up with a plan.
Ten minutes later.
The trunks of two trees beside the Pond were sawed through with car blade fragments and pushed into the water to form a crude wooden bridge.
These two trunks connected the Pond's edge to the exposed surface of the train carriage.
Soon, numerous survivors emerged from the train and crawled onto the trunks, their bodies pressed flat against the wood as they slowly and laboriously wriggled forward.
By the time all the survivors had reached the shore, the Stellaris train had somehow pulled up alongside the bank.
Sitting at the control panel, Chen Mang immediately spotted Ji Chuchu in the crowd. Though her hair was disheveled and her makeup had long since smeared, her underlying features remained quite attractive.
Besides her, several other women stood out as well. They were all minor celebrities from this world, but Ji Chuchu was the most famous and popular.
"Not bad," Chen Mang murmured, nodding slightly. These were precious resources indeed.
Immediately after, Old Pig stepped off the train and walked over to Biaozi, his voice low and grave. "I'm taking these celebrities. Lord Mang wants me to bring them to the Enforcer Car to have them cleaned up. The rest of you take the others to the last carriage."
"Understood."
"Oh, and one more thing," Old Pig said, pointing casually at the man standing nearby, his face plastered with a fawning smile. "You're the train conductor of this train, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes, I am."
"Kill him."
"Huh?"
The man froze, terror flooding his nerves. Just as he was about to bolt, his vision suddenly darkened. Thick blood seeped into his eyes, and as his consciousness began to fade, his legs gave way. He collapsed to the ground.
His final thought before death was:
We met at the Gathering last time, didn't we? You forgot? We were practically old friends!
"..."
After executing the shooting mission, Biaozi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. But his index finger still trembled slightly.
"What's wrong?"
Old Pig, who had already turned to leave, noticed Biaozi's reaction and raised an eyebrow. "Did you suddenly convert to Buddhism? Are you developing a psychological aversion to killing?"
"He's a former train conductor. Lord Mang would never allow someone who once held such a position to become a slave on the Stellaris."
"A former train conductor would never be content in a subordinate role. They'd inevitably stir up trouble later."
"In the wilderness..."
"Isn't it already an unspoken rule that all train conductors, whether captured or absorbed, must be killed? And that any slave found to have once been a train conductor must also be executed? Isn't this already common practice?"
Biaozi forced a strained smile, shaking his head bitterly. "Sigh, of course I know that. But he's Ji Chuchu's manager. My mother adored that young man when she was still alive. It feels like I'm killing my own mother's idol. It's... a bit unsettling."
"Really? Someone actually falls for a manager?"
Old Pig didn't give it much thought, waving his hand dismissively. "Next time, just have your subordinates handle it. Even in the apocalypse, we can't force someone to kill their own mother's idol, can we?"
"But this is for the best," Biaozi said. "Since your mother likes this kid, we'll just send him down to keep her company. Then Auntie won't be lonely."
"Get your emotions in check. We still have a mission to carry out. Don't let this slow us down."
"Don't worry, Trainmaster Zhu. Nothing will go wrong."
Whew...
Watching Old Pig's retreating back, Biaozi took a deep breath. He lowered his gaze to the corpse lying in a pool of blood. He had served as train conductor several times before—his biggest secret aboard the Stellaris. This secret must never be discovered.
He had once held a sliver of hope, thinking that even if his secret were exposed, Lord Mang would spare him out of loyalty.
Now, it was clear: this secret could never be revealed. In the wilderness, no one would tolerate someone who had once been a train conductor among their ranks. It was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.
And he had no way to prove he wouldn't detonate.
Self-proof has always been a difficult task since ancient times.
The best solution was to conceal the bomb, ensuring no one knew it existed.
He glanced subconsciously at Black Rat beside him and the other brother who had been following him. Only these two knew his secret; no one else did.
"Big brother..."
Black Rat instantly understood the meaning in Biaozi's eyes. His lips twitched. "You can't be serious?"
"Cough."
Biaozi cleared his throat, trying to hide his embarrassment. He patted Black Rat's shoulder. "What nonsense are you thinking? Just got distracted, didn't you? Hurry up and get all these survivors into the carriages. We still need to search the next zone for more."
"Don't overthink things. We'll always be brothers."
With the support of the Target Acquisition Radar and the Stellaris's Spider Legs, the train could navigate almost anywhere in the ruins of Taiping City.
As night fell, the rescue operation came to an end.
The survivors' reactions varied upon being found, but no one cared. No one gave a damn about what they thought. They were all crammed into the carriages indiscriminately.
By nightfall, they had searched the western outskirts of Taiping City. Except for a few inaccessible locations, they had rescued most of the survivors hiding there.
The survivors who had managed to hide and stay alive until now were mostly in extremely concealed locations.
For instance, those hiding in Air-raid Shelters. Unless they opened the steel doors from the inside, it would be nearly impossible to break them open from the outside. If the occupants refused to come out, the search party had no choice but to leave.
By the end of the day, they had found a total of 289 survivors.
"..."
Night had fallen. The Stellaris train was parked in the wilderness outside the ruins of Taiping City for repairs. Inside the locomotive, Chen Mang frowned slightly as he tallied the day's haul.
Nearly 300 more slaves.
This was a good haul. Production efficiency would increase significantly.
But...
This was a city, after all. He had searched an entire suburban area and only found this many people?
Had everyone else died?
Was the death rate too high?
He had also taken the train to the Library and scavenged a large amount of printed materials, giving him a deeper understanding of this world. Taiping City wasn't a transient city; its permanent population alone was around several million.
Yet, in just a year after the apocalypse, almost everyone had died?
(End of the Chapter)
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