Translator: AnubisTL
"Cough."
As soon as Chen Mang finished speaking, Old Pig, standing nearby, casually coughed into his fist.
"Cough, cough, ... your mother's head!" Chen Mang turned to Old Pig, his voice sharp with annoyance. "I want an honest evaluation, not some nonsense flattery. Don't make random hints when you shouldn't."
"And next time you want to hint, can you at least try not to be so cliché? Do you think I'm deaf?"
Old Pig's eyes darted around, avoiding Lord Mang's gaze in embarrassment.
"Come on!" Chen Mang turned back to the young man, frowning. "Tell me how you did it. I designed so many complex branching paths."
"Um..." The young man took a deep breath, then mustered his courage and began. "This maze has a relatively simple topological structure. Despite its winding, convoluted appearance, this rectangular maze is essentially just a straight line."
"The starting and ending points are simply the two ends of that line. The branching paths are just offshoots from it."
"So..." The young man pulled a sharp stone from his pocket and carefully traced the maze's entire route, carving it onto the stone. Then, he peeled the entire maze off the paper.
Chen Mang pinched the maze, now peeled from the paper, between his hands and gently pulled it taut.
The intricate maze, which had seemed incredibly complex just moments ago, instantly transformed into a faint line, its branching paths now resembling branches growing from the trunk of a great tree.
"By stretching this maze infinitely, you can quickly find the correct route," he explained.
"You didn't do that just now," Chen Mang pointed out.
"I have a strong sense of spatial awareness. I simulated it mentally. This method is just to make it easier to understand."
Chen Mang remained silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he spoke: "As a slave, you're carrying a sharp stone like this on your person?"
"Huh?"
The young man froze, his face turning deathly pale as he realized he'd revealed something in his intense focus. His voice trembled uncontrollably: "I... I don't want to be robbed again."
"There's a slave who steals one unit of iron ore from me every day. He then turns it in at the end of the day. He's a first-tier slave, and I don't dare say anything."
"I... I don't want to be robbed anymore. How much iron ore I mine determines how long it takes me to advance. I want to reach second tier status as soon as possible."
"I prepared this thing. If he tries to rob me again, we'll fight to the death."
Hearing this, Chen Mang frowned slightly and turned his head to look at Old Pig standing beside him.
Old Pig, standing nearby, was cursing internally. Why the hell couldn't you have just talked to him privately about this? What are you trying to do? complaining to the emperor? Goddamn it!
Did you accidentally pull that out, or did you do it on purpose?
He looks so young, but he's already a scheming little bastard!
Though his mind was filled with curses, his face was filled with anxiety and fear as he quickly bowed low.
"Lord Mang, this was my oversight. I'll handle this matter immediately."
"Mm." Chen Mang nodded casually. "Just give him a beating. Don't waste a slave. Oh, and there's a draft of the Train Rules in that drawer. Take it and announce it before work starts tomorrow morning. From now on, all procedures will follow these rules."
After settling this minor incident, Chen Mang closed his eyes again, leaned back in his chair, and tentatively tried to infinitely extend the maze he had just designed in his mind. A minute later, he opened his eyes, pulled out a cigarette, and tossed it over: "I need you to design a maze complex enough to trap a robot."
"That robot possesses extraordinary intelligence and the stamina of a grown man. If you were tasked with designing a maze to trap it, what would you propose?"
"A static maze or a dynamic one?"
"Static."
The young man hastily and respectfully accepted the cigarette, though there was no fire to light it. He held it in his hand, pondering for a few seconds before speaking.
"Typically, designing a sufficiently complex maze requires random algorithm software to generate irregular paths, but we lack the resources for that."
"However, we can approach it in six steps."
"First is to divide the maze area into distinct zones—say, ten zones, each a separate maze. The correct path must traverse each zone's maze."
"The second step is to ensure each node has at least three possible directions, with dead ends accounting for 60% to 70% of the paths. If possible, aim for seven layers of nested paths."
"The third is if the maze is a 3D structure, incorporate at least three vertical connections between levels."
"Fourth is to employ audio-visual illusions to deceive the robot's perception—mirrors, audio systems, light and shadow effects, and misleading directional lights. Aim for mirror zones to comprise approximately 15% of the total area."
"Fifth is to ensure a 40% repetition rate in the mazes across the ten zones. This high repetition will confuse people's memories as they explore routes, making them doubt whether they've already passed through a certain path—what's commonly known as a 'Ghost Wall.'"
"The sixth step is to create a gradually scaling path ratio to generate an illusion of distance."
"With these steps, the number of backtracking steps should be guaranteed to exceed 30% of the total steps, and the number of mandatory nodes can reach..."
"Enough."
Chen Mang interrupted the young man's explanation, sat up from his chair, personally lit a cigarette for him, and patted his shoulder with admiration. "You're a true talent. Very professional."
"Old Pig, from now on, this young man will receive First-Tier Slave treatment on the Stellaris."
"After we find the slave who kidnapped him..."
"Let him personally beat them back."
"What's your name?"
"I..."
The young man, who had been so eloquent just moments ago, now stood before Chen Mang, trembling slightly as he held the cigarette in his mouth. "Master Mang, my name is Li Shiji."
"That's a good name."
Chen Mang let out a long sigh of relief. "Each of the refrigerators on the train has 100 square meters of space. I want you to use 100 refrigerators to create a sufficiently complex maze that meets the criteria I just outlined: the robot must be unable to complete it in under half an hour."
"What support do you need? Just say the word."
"We can add more refrigerators, but the total will likely be around 130 at most. Go back tonight and think it over. Report to me first thing tomorrow morning, and we'll discuss it further then."
"If you handle this perfectly..."
"You'll get a generous reward."
"Thank you, Lord Mang! Thank you, Lord Mang!"
Excitement and anticipation flashed in Li Shiji's eyes as he bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
Meanwhile, in the cavern outside the train, all the slaves had finished their dinner. But instead of immediately returning to their designated seats on the train to sleep, they gathered around to watch the commotion.
In the center of the crowd, a slave knelt on the ground, his face pale with fear. He wasn't bound, yet his body remained frozen, unable to struggle.
A crowd of armed thugs stood in a tight circle around the inner perimeter, maintaining order.
Behind the kneeling slave, Li Shiji hefted his baton, then leaned down to whisper in the slave's ear.
"Did you enjoy taking my iron ore?"
"It's not that I didn't want to retaliate, it's just that the time wasn't right."
"Remember this."
"My name is Li Shiji."
In the next instant, Li Shiji's eyes blazed with fury as he swung his arm in a wide arc, putting more force into the blow than he ever had mining. The baton slammed into the kneeling slave's back with a resounding thud. Without uttering a single curse, Li Shiji gritted his teeth and continued his relentless assault.
Like a storm, the blows came one after another, without pause. He showed no mercy, clearly aiming to beat the slave to death.
"Uncle Li," a young man in the crowd of onlookers whispered to Uncle Li, "look at him. He's already made a name for himself, and he's only a Tier 3 slave who just joined the train."
"You old man were already on the train early this morning. You're practically an elder, enjoying First-Tier Slave treatment. How come you still haven't made a name for yourself?"
"Have you come up with a new plan yet?"
"Can't you shut the fuck up!"
Uncle Li turned his head, a mixture of embarrassment and anger, to glare at the young man beside him. "You're such a Pressure Monster! Can't you stop pressuring me every day? I'm under a lot of pressure too, you know!"
"Are you being a little too ambitious for me?"
"Well, I can't pin my hopes on myself. I'm clearly unreliable."
"Shut up! I'll figure something out!"
"Of course, Uncle Li. I've always believed in you."
Deep within the crowd, Biaozi stood with his arms crossed, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He watched the scene unfold with a smirk. "Trainmaster Zhu, I guarantee this kid deliberately filed a complaint."
"No shit," Old Pig said, his expression sour. "Do you think I'm blind? This kid's as cunning as they come. I don't like him."
"Lord Mang seems to like him quite a bit."
"Of course he does. Though I don't like the kid personally, he's undeniably talented."
Old Pig paused, hesitating. "Can you mentally stretch an incredibly complex rectangular maze into a straight line? I tried for ages just now, and my head nearly exploded. When I closed my eyes, it felt like countless lines were floating before my eyes."
"I almost hallucinated, but still couldn't figure it out."
"I'm a martial artist, Trainmaster Zhu! If I had that skill, would I have wasted my time as a guerrilla contractor?"
"With your brain, you're only fit to be a contractor. You'd be stunned if you didn't get paid."
"I'm a martial artist, Trainmaster Zhu!"
"So what?"
Biaozi winked, grinning. "A martial artist chasing down debts? That's right up my alley. There's no debt I can't collect. Otherwise, why do you think I was able to be a leader back then?"
Old Pig snorted dismissively.
"Spare me the bragging. You nearly got killed by Black Rat. Don't get cocky now. By the way, you used to be a Second-Class Train Conductor. Do you know any situations that would require a massive maze capable of trapping robots?"
"No idea."
Biaozi shook his head, his expression serious. "Is that what Lord Mang hired this kid for?"
"Don't look at me. I really don't know. It's not that I won't tell you, it's just that my old train and Lord Mang's train are completely different things. To say they're worlds apart is an understatement."
"But..."
"I need to advise you. Lord Mang didn't tell you to kill the guy. That kid's been too rough. The slave looks like he's about to die."
"Also, don't get into a feud with that little punk. Lord Mang is just using him to build a maze. He'll be useless afterward."
"You're still the second-in-command on the train, Trainmaster Zhu. Don't let things get ugly. You'll definitely be the one who loses out."
"Of course I know that."
Old Pig sighed softly. "I'm not stupid enough to feud with him. It's just that this is the first time I've been reported to the authorities. It stings that he didn't come to me directly but went straight to Lord Mang. I don't know what Lord Mang will think. He might think I've been oppressing the slaves so badly that they're afraid to even talk to me when something goes wrong."
"Don't worry about it. It's true that you were negligent in your duties. Exposing the problem is the only way to solve it. Relax."
Old Pig didn't say anything more. He simply stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Enough."
Then he turned to the half-dead slave lying on the ground. "Take him inside the train for treatment."
"Trainmaster Zhu," Li Shiji said in a low voice, handing over his baton as Old Pig approached.
"Hmm."
Old Pig took the baton without expression and turned to the slaves watching nearby, pointing toward the iron ore zone not far off. "All of you, get back to the train and sleep. If you're not tired, you can go over there and keep mining with Doba."
The slaves instinctively turned to look at the hundred-plus goblin slaves still mining in the iron ore zone. A shiver ran down their spines, and they scrambled toward the train carriages.
Those goblins...
They were absolutely insane!
In the past few days, the slaves had witnessed the goblins' relentless work ethic. Even when the slaves were asleep, the goblins were still mining. When the slaves had just woken up, the goblins were still mining, as if they never needed rest.
They were like cold, heartless machines, working non-stop around the clock.
Especially Doba.
He had been dominating the daily mining leaderboard for days, with no one ever surpassing him. He was practically invincible.
Initially, the slaves had looked forward to checking the daily mining rankings.
But after the goblins consistently occupied the top hundred spots, they had grown tired of even glancing at the leaderboard. The competition was too intense, too terrifying. Those goblins were like supermen.
At first, many people had never seen goblins before and found them novel. During breaks from mining, they would approach cautiously to greet them.
But after being repeatedly called "stupid humans" and told to stop disturbing the great goblins' mining, no one dared to approach them again.
"It seems Doba has spent his entire life trying to prove his greatness," Old Pig remarked, gazing at Doba's determined face as he mined nearby. The old man sighed with emotion as the slaves swarmed toward the carriages. "To be honest, that guy's stamina is truly impressive."
"Yeah, it is," Biaozi agreed, then turned his gaze toward the giantess standing among the short goblins with a strange expression. "But that woman's pretty strong too. It looks like she's locked horns with these goblins and is determined to see who can out-mine the other."
"I remember that giantess tried to talk to Doba today, but he just yelled at her."
"She seemed furious, and now she's determined to see who can dig the most."
(End of the Chapter)
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