Translator: AnubisTL
"..."
As they traveled, Chen Mang glanced at the items laid out on the nearby table, chuckling softly without speaking.
Though only a Tier 6 monster, the rewards were exceptionally generous.
Two lines of text floated across the control panel screen:
You have slain the Tier 7 Ancient Boss, 'Mechanical Zombie King.'
Gained 30 Reputation Value.
The panel displayed a Tier 7 boss.
This further confirmed his suspicions. If the zombie hordes had managed to deliver all their flesh and blood to the Zombie King, it might have fully evolved into a Tier 7 boss. In that case, the map should have changed accordingly, since the Green Zone could only accommodate Tier 6 zombies at most.
However...
The Sha River Plains had always been sparsely populated by monsters and humans. Even if the zombie hordes hadn't been intercepted midway and had successfully reached their destination, the amount of flesh and blood they carried would have been far from sufficient to evolve the Zombie King to Tier 7.
After hearing Erdan's account, it became clear that the "Mechanical Zombie King" boss was essentially a large-scale event, prematurely triggered by Erdan. The massive number of monsters in the Kunlun Mountain Region had likely been prepared long ago as living sustenance for the Mechanical Zombie King's evolution.
But as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes.
Erdan's accidental activation of the event had forced the Kunlun Mountain Region's abundant blood food into hiding. The zombie horde, left with no choice, descended upon the Sha River Plains to plunder sustenance for their king—only to encounter Chen Mang.
He slaughtered the horde midway, sending the Zombie King to its final demise with a single missile.
Thus, what should have been a major event concluded abruptly. Yet Chen Mang still intended to investigate the collapsed mountain, curious about the true nature of the situation.
"Ancient Boss?"
Chen Mang raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the term. Could this be a boss born from the apocalypse of another planet, somehow transported to this world?
Perhaps it was precisely this unusual prefix that granted him an additional 30 Reputation Value.
The loot was also quite impressive: three items in total.
Green-grade Vehicle Component Blueprint: "Vehicle-Mounted Zombie Perception Blocker"
Special Item: "Resident Evil" Virtual Map Chip
10 murphy stones
Only the second item was unfamiliar. It wasn't a chip to activate a fortuitous encounter map, but rather one that required the Tier 5 "Combat Training Virtual Space" to use.
The Combat Training Virtual Space offered various map options. Once this accessory reached Tier 10, the comprehensive physical fitness gains from training within the virtual space would simultaneously amplify in the real world.
Inserting the chip into the Combat Training Virtual Space would unlock a special map: Resident Evil.
Each successful completion of the map would directly increase comprehensive physical fitness by 0.2, up to a maximum of three times for a standard playthrough.
There was also an extreme playthrough mode with increased difficulty.
Each successful completion of the extreme playthrough would increase comprehensive physical fitness by 0.5, also up to a maximum of three times.
However, choosing the extreme playthrough meant that dying in the map would result in immediate brain death in the real world.
Theoretically,
anyone could gain a maximum of 2.1 points of comprehensive physical fitness from the Resident Evil map. Of course, this was just theoretical, given the extreme danger of the extreme playthrough. But even with standard playthroughs, a guaranteed 0.6-point boost to physical fitness was assured.
"Not bad," Chen Mang said with a smile as he stowed the items in a drawer. Anything that boosted comprehensive physical fitness was valuable, as it would allow him to pilot more advanced mechs in the future. He had reviewed Zhang Damei's combat footage from the previous night in the Train Log, and the mech had proven quite effective.
The ten murphy stones could also be traded—a worthwhile haul.
This missile strike had been a good investment.
Though he didn't know what an "Ancient Boss" was, he hoped future encounters would involve similar foes, provided their Tier wasn't too high. Tier 6 felt just right—anything higher would be too much to handle.
At that moment, the Stellaris train slowly hovered above the collapsed mountain. From above, a massive gash scarred the snow-capped peak, the very opening from which the Zombie King had emerged.
Both the resource detection radar and the target acquisition radar showed no anomalies within the mountain.
No minerals, no monsters.
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes and guided the train down through the mountain's gaping maw. The mountain's interior had been almost completely hollowed out, and at its highest point, countless colossal steel beams crisscrossed the cavern.
Each beam was thick and imposing, radiating a sense of immense weight.
The Zombie King had been secured to the mountain's peak by these steel frames. During the landslide, one of its arms had been exposed.
Below, along the mountain's inner walls, numerous bright incandescent lamps glowed steadily.
"Not a monster, then?" Chen Mang mused, slowly descending. Neither the incandescent lamps nor the steel frames seemed like the work of a monster. Glancing at the train's screen, where all accessory integrity ratings remained at 100%, and recalling the train's special ability, "Absolute Defense," he felt little fear and continued his descent.
In the next moment, a swarm of dozens of drones buzzed out from the train, rapidly probing the dark cavern below. They were equipped with resource detection radar to gather information. Several days prior, after leveling the valley with missiles, he had discovered valuable loot, including the blue-grade Vehicle Component Blueprint, "Swarm Platform."
This platform could be used to build and dock drones.
He had installed it outside Guard Car No. 7. Each drone possessed information-gathering capabilities and carried a small energy machine gun that consumed energy stones instead of ammunition.
A single Tier 1 Energy Stone could power a drone for hundreds of hours of continuous flight. Firing the weapon, however, depended on the caliber of ammunition used. A Tier 3 bullet, for example, would allow for ten minutes of sustained fire.
He had upgraded the accessory to Tier 10, and each drone was naturally at Tier 10 as well, theoretically capable of firing Tier 10 bullets.
However...
The Tier 1 Energy Stone's capacity was too small, only sufficient to power Tier 3 bullets at most.
To fire Tier 10 bullets, a Tier 5 Energy Stone would be required.
But offensive capabilities weren't the drones' primary function; reconnaissance was their main purpose. They were useful for clearing out small fry, but against a Tier 10 boss, there was no room for drones to operate.
Soon—
A flood of images streamed back from the drones to the Train Auxiliary AI. After AI processing and stitching, a complete picture emerged: at the bottom lay a vast plaza.
The plaza was surrounded by mechanical arms and scaffolding.
No monsters or robots were visible.
Minutes later, the Stellaris train slowly descended onto the plaza. The ground was covered in eerie patterns, and towering scaffolds lined the perimeter, each equipped with numerous mechanical arms.
The entire place resembled a rocket launch base.
Yet no rockets were in sight.
"Well, well, well..."
Chen Mang gazed around the plaza, slightly awestruck. Along the edges stood massive five-story scaffolds, laden with heavy firepower: rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, exoskeletal armor, colossal chainsaws, and massive greatswords.
Ammunition crates were stacked nearby.
The heavy machine guns were even larger in caliber than his own Doomsday Cannon.
A single burst from those weapons could terrify both humans and ghosts alike.
He tilted his head back, peering through the skylight at the massive gap in the cave ceiling and the countless incandescent bulbs lining the inner walls. Finally, he understood why the boss was called the "Mechanical Zombie King" and what this place was for.
Normally, when the time was right, the zombie at the very top would fall onto this plaza. Then, the scaffolds and mechanical arms would attach all these weapon accessories to the zombie, transforming it into a massive killing machine.
It would be similar to the Stellaris III mecha he'd seen in the mechanical city, only larger and equipped with even more firepower.
"Can I take any of this...?"
Chen Mang's eyes lingered greedily on the large firepower accessories displayed on the nearby scaffolds. These weapons weren't designed for humans; they were larger than a person.
These firepower accessories were originally designed for that zombie.
Although numerous, they were relatively small compared to the zombie's size and could all be mounted on it.
Storing them on the train was also a good idea. While not train components and lacking ammunition blueprints, they were free, and anything free was always welcome—the more, the better.
"Xiao Ai."
"Have Biaozi take the first team down to investigate."
"Understood."
"Merit, merit, merit!"
As the door of Guard Car No. 7 swung open, Biaozi, his face flushed with excitement, tightened the belt on his special forces uniform, grabbed his rifle, and led his team off the train. They began meticulously searching the perimeter of the plaza for anything unusual.
Another chance to earn merit had arrived.
Well, even if they found something, it wouldn't exactly count as merit. It was, after all, part of their duty. But... it could still be considered a minor achievement, right?
Though inwardly thrilled, Biaozi instantly adopted a cautious demeanor as he began the mission. His face tense, he scanned the surrounding area from the edge, quickly searching the small platforms. The plaza was ringed by tall structures resembling rocket launch gantries.
In addition to the tall racks, there were many smaller ones, only about a meter high, filled with various tools.
"No dust," Biaozi muttered, his brow furrowing slightly. He picked up a wrench, examined it closely, then ran a finger across the rack. How could there be no dust after all this time? he wondered. Is the ventilation system still running?
Is the ventilation system this effective?
The rack in front of him was mostly filled with tools, while the adjacent racks held armor, weapons, and other equipment.
"Hmm?"
Biaozi suddenly froze, a flicker of excitement in his eyes. The armor and weapons were clearly not standard train equipment—they were smaller, designed for mechs. Could there be mechs here?
If they had a mech that didn't require such high comprehensive physical fitness...
Maybe I could finally have my own mech!
Fueled by this thought, Biaozi intensified his search.
He glanced at the First Squad Members behind him, issuing silent commands through the Cluster Mind to President Ai, who then transmitted the orders to the team members' Iris Chips. In the blink of an eye, the commands were relayed without a word spoken.
Immediately afterward, all the members nodded in unison and dispersed to begin their searches.
"Train Conductor," Xiao Ai's voice, cold and devoid of mechanical emotion, echoed through the locomotive cabin. "First, we can confirm that the carved patterns on the plaza are not a maze. They lack the fundamental elements of a maze."
"Nor are they any known script."
"As for whether they are related to occultism or some other language, my database contains no relevant information."
"However..."
"They do resemble some kind of sacrificial site."
"Sacrifice?"
The control panel screen quickly displayed a flat schematic of the plaza's patterns.
Simultaneously, Xiao Ai's voice continued: "Assuming I pour a barrel of blood into this depression here, the blood would flow through these carved channels, covering the entire pattern, like this."
On the screen, a water pit-like depression at the far left of the pattern slowly turned red, followed by the rest of the pattern quickly turning crimson. Xiao Ai was simulating what would happen if blood were poured into that depression.
"..."
Chen Mang fell silent, his eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed at the patterns on the plaza outside the window. He maneuvered the Stellaris train to lift off again, landing in an open area surrounding the plaza. If a sacrifice was possible, there was no point in foolishly remaining in the plaza.
I don't want to end up being the sacrifice myself!
Sacrifices, zombies, and mechanical firepower—this place is quite a mix!
Thirty minutes later.
"Train Conductor, Biaozi and the team have completed their reconnaissance. Detailed information is now displayed on the screen. Additionally, they found a chip housed in a transparent box."
"There's an inscription on the box."
"..."
Chen Mang looked down at the transparent box in his hand. The chip inside was roughly the size of his pinky finger, resembling the old-fashioned memory cards from the Era of his previous world.
The inscription on the box read:
Mechanical Zombie King Creation Project!
"Can you download the information from this chip?" He turned to Xiao Ai beside him.
"Of course," Xiao Ai replied.
She stepped forward, took the transparent box, and carefully inserted the chip into the "Train Auxiliary AI" interface on the control panel. Her mechanical voice stated, "This will work, provided the chip isn't encrypted with too high a Tier."
A minute later, Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the locomotive cabin again. Though her tone remained icy and robotic, a hint of admiration and happiness could still be detected.
"Congratulations, Train Conductor."
"This is a ruin similar to the mechanical city, but it's not a fortuitous encounter map. The chip contains detailed instructions on how to create the Mechanical Zombie King, a terrifying weapon of mass destruction."
"And..."
"All the valuable treasures are hidden beneath this plaza. Opening it requires a massive amount of flesh and blood—not just blood."
"The password is the pattern."
"And the password? The vast amount of zombie flesh and blood in your refrigerator, Train Conductor."
(End of the Chapter)
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