Translator: AnubisTL
The green dragon wasn't a particularly difficult monster to kill, only Tier 5.
But the problem was its lack of a fixed territory. It constantly roamed, recently appearing in the Kunlun Mountain Region. During Chen Mang's first expedition there, the Tier 5 train flying overhead was the one Erdan had taken to hunt the green dragon.
There was only one of them.
Once Erdan killed it, it was gone.
The chances of encountering another green dragon were practically the same as iron ore falling from the sky.
"Oh well," Chen Mang sighed, shaking his head with a hint of regret. He silently consoled himself: It's just some murphy stone. Not very valuable anyway. Not important!
I don't even want it!
Since the "Deep Sea Maze" fortuitous encounter map was inaccessible, he decided to stockpile more iron ore and upgrade to a Tier 6 train, preparing to head to the Yellow Zone, the "Zombie Basin."
He had already claimed nearly all the fortuitous encounters on the Sha River Plains, including those in the Ice and Snow Paradise zone.
The only one that had eluded him was the Kunlun Mountain encounter, which was exclusive to flesh trains. Otherwise, it wouldn't have escaped his clutches either.
Night fell.
All the train residents had drifted off to sleep, except for the guards on duty. Even Chen Mang had succumbed to slumber.
The AI steered the Stellaris across the Sha River Plains, searching for iron ore.
Dawn broke.
Chen Mang, roused from his sleep, quickly washed up before glancing out the window. He saw a Tier 2 open-pit iron ore mine. Many train residents were already mining, while he turned to the Train Log.
The Stellaris had encountered this Tier 2 open-pit iron ore mine after traveling for three hours last night.
Along the way, they had passed three Tier 2 Ore mines and one Tier 2 Copper Mine, but all were already occupied by other trains. Following its programmed instructions, the AI continued searching for unclaimed mines.
They had also run over a few insignificant monsters along the way.
Otherwise, nothing else of note had occurred.
Leaning back in his chair, Chen Mang closed the Train Log. Last night had been remarkably peaceful.
He then checked the upgrade requirements for the Stellaris to reach Tier 6.
[ Upgrade Requirements ]: Craft all four essential train components, consume 40,000 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore, ensure all carriage accessories are above Tier 120, and defeat a Tier 6 Monster.
The upgrade requirements remained largely unchanged, except for the increased iron ore consumption, now requiring 400,000 units.
A new condition had been added: defeating a Tier 6 Monster.
As far as he knew, many players focused solely on development, burying themselves in resource gathering and fleeing at the slightest sign of danger. This requirement forced all train conductors aiming for a Tier 6 train to confront a Tier 6 Monster.
Tier 5 trains that had rushed through upgrades without building a solid foundation would likely struggle with this mission for a long time.
But for him, this condition was already fulfilled.
To be honest, he realized he had never actively hunted Tier 5 Monsters. The ones he had killed were merely collateral damage from a missile strike in the Kunlun Mountain Region, where he casually crushed a few Tier 5 Monsters.
And there was Wildcat and his girlfriend's wedding.
Initially, Chen Mang had planned to invite three Tier 4 trains to his wedding banquet, as Stellaris was also a Tier 4 train at the time. Purple Cloud, which had recently arrived at Sha River Plains, could have been one of them, given their past interactions and familiarity.
Unfortunately, Purple Cloud was destroyed in the Kunlun Mountain Region.
This left Chen Mang without any candidates for his three banquet invitations.
Once Stellaris upgraded to a Tier 6 train, Azure Dragon could attend the banquet. He would then need to find two more Tier 6 trains to secure the 500 Legacy Value points.
Chen Mang explained this to Erdan, briefly mentioning his upcoming wedding, inviting him to the banquet, and mentioning the need for two additional Tier 6 trains.
Erdan quickly replied:
"Two Tier 6 trains for the banquet? I have two friends who are Tier 6 trains on Sha River Plains. Would it be okay if I invited them?"
"You have so many friends?"
"Well, they're not exactly close friends. We've never met in person, but we've chatted on the train radio. I don't think they'll have any ulterior motives after seeing your Stellaris. They seemed like decent people when we talked on the radio."
"Alright, I'll give you the exact date later."
"Got it!"
Another matter settled.
Chen Mang stretched lazily and glanced at the screen to check Biaozi's progress. Biaozi had been training in the Combat Training Virtual Space all night and seemed to be doing well, having already reached the 29th floor.
"Not bad," Chen Mang murmured, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He leaned back in his chair, tossed a Red Heart Nut into his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. Just last night, Biaozi had been stuck on the 12th floor. How had he advanced so quickly to the 29th?
The 31st floor, and successful completion, was now within reach.
On the screen, Biaozi was fully armed and armored. He wore a motorcycle helmet, a steel saber at his hip, and a flamethrower in his hand, with a massive fuel tank strapped to his back. A rifle hung over his shoulder.
Currently, Biaozi was in the 29th floor office building, slaughtering the zombies charging at him with the flamethrower. Though still bearing significant injuries, they were far less severe than the night before. His entire demeanor had changed, his eyes now colder and more resolute.
"Wait, where did that flamethrower come from?"
Chen Mang quickly reviewed Biaozi's historical playthrough records. He soon found that during the fourteenth playthrough, after Biaozi obtained the fire extinguisher from the seventh floor and cleared the zombies from the fire escape, he didn't continue climbing upward as he had in previous attempts.
Instead, he descended.
Starting from the sixth floor, he systematically cleared each level, eventually securing both the sixth and first floors. It was there that he found the flamethrower and motorcycle helmet. Only then did he resume climbing the fire escape. On the twelfth floor, he acquired the armor and healing spray.
When the camera cut back to the present, Biaozi had already successfully reached the rooftop of the 31st floor. After unloading all his weapons and equipment, he let out a series of wild, triumphant roars into the sky before approaching the zipline at the edge of the rooftop.
Gripping the short pole on the zipline tightly, he kicked off forcefully, swinging his entire body rapidly toward the rooftop of the shorter building across the way.
Then—
The camera began to zoom out.
Biaozi's figure, sliding between the two skyscrapers on the zipline, gradually shrank as the perspective shifted from third-person to an overhead view. The entire city was swarming with zombies, and countless undead were scaling the skyscrapers like ivy.
As the camera zoomed out to the clouds, the city's zombie horde appeared as a mere black dot.
Finally, four large characters exploded across the screen:
"Clearance Achieved."
"That was tough," Chen Mang murmured, his expression thoughtful as he watched Biaozi, who was weeping with joy in the white space. Clearing the map for the first time was the hardest part; subsequent playthroughs would be much easier. He realized the Resident Evil map was more challenging than he'd initially thought, testing a wide range of skills:
Timing, desperate choices in near-death situations, the instinct to climb down, and brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Even someone who had never killed a chicken would undergo a profound transformation after successfully clearing this map once, developing a newfound ferocity.
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly, deep in thought. By reviewing the historical records, he had discovered numerous strategies for clearing the game. Currently, Biaozi was the only one on the train who knew these techniques. Chen Mang was considering whether to compile and share them with others.
Doing so would boost the overall combat effectiveness of the guard squad by ten percent.
However, this would be a great injustice to Biaozi. It would be like giving away all his hard-earned knowledge to others for free—techniques he had painstakingly discovered through countless deaths.
Moreover,
the map's design was precisely what allowed individuals to develop their abilities to the fullest. Sharing all the strategies would diminish the opportunities for personal growth.
Just then, Xiao Ai spoke up from beside him, "Train Conductor, the black market merchant has returned. I've compiled the footage he collected. Would you like to review it now?"
"Show me."
Soon, the screen displayed the footage the black market merchant had gathered the previous night.
There were many scenes.
For example,
an abandoned mechanical city overrun by zombies. These zombies had even developed intelligence, actively repairing the city and forming guard squads and zombie soldiers who controlled the heavy artillery on the city walls.
In a frigid canyon, a battered robot crouched on the ground, using a welding torch to repair a completely wrecked train.
A train pulled to a stop, completing a transaction with a black market merchant. The train stretched over forty carriages, resembling a mechanical dragon traversing the wasteland. The train conductor was a burly man with a face scarred by knife wounds and thick, fleshy features. He stared intently at the camera hanging from the black market merchant's chest for an extended moment, lost in thought.
Who knows what conspiracy theories were brewing in that man's mind? Perhaps he imagined the black market merchant was a high-dimensional civilization's observer or some other such nonsense.
There was also a deserted forest where the black market merchant sat on a tree branch, swaying in the night for hours, until a venomous snake startled him into teleporting away.
And then there were the thousands of humans gathered on a sea-surrounded island, constructing wooden huts and tents. Occasionally, trains would burst forth from the ocean around the island.
And so on.
Chen Mang exhaled slowly, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. His understanding of this world deepened with each image. It was far more complex than he had imagined.
Or rather,
it needed to be more diverse.
For example, the "Mechanical City" helped human civilization better control the train and survive. Therefore, if a Mechanical Civilization existed, it should be friendly to humans. Yet the Mechanical Zombie King was clearly creating more terrifying monsters.
Perhaps the monsters were being created to fight other monsters?
Fighting poison with poison, magic with magic.
But one thing was undeniable: black market merchants truly lived freely, going wherever they pleased. Without them, how long would it take him to see these sights?
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"Call them both over."
Soon, Doba and the black market merchant arrived in the locomotive cabin.
"Well done," Chen Mang said, his gaze serious as he turned to the black market merchant. "Go back and rest for now. Keep doing this in the future. This is exactly the kind of information I need. Do you have a name?"
"I've forgotten," the black market merchant replied, shaking his head, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. "I used to have one, but I've forgotten it."
"Hmm, I'll give you a name then. From now on, you'll be called Mundo."
"Alright."
"You may leave now."
A new day had begun.
All the train residents had already started their daily work.
Everyone was shining in their respective roles, including the teachers. Three women, all former educators from before the apocalypse, were chosen to primarily teach theoretical knowledge to the children. Once the children reached a certain age, they would begin learning practical skills.
Currently, every resident on the train was working in a role best suited to their abilities.
But today—
Something significant happened for the train residents.
The first "refrigerator" found its buyer. A refrigerator cost a staggering 1,000 stellar coupons, an amount no one on the train possessed except for one person: Doba.
All the train residents gathered near Carriage 11 to watch the spectacle.
Lord Mang had created a "space gate" on Carriage 11. Inside lay a vast, open space with clouds in the sky, a sun, and an endless grassland stretching to the horizon. The perimeter was ringed with trees, creating a scene reminiscent of a secluded paradise.
In the middle of the grassland stood a large, open refrigerator.
Inside, Doba was directing over a hundred goblins as they decorated the space with various purchased household items. He had even set up a small stool as his makeshift throne.
He bought numerous blankets and spread them across the refrigerator's floor, ensuring all the goblins would have a comfortable place to sleep at night. Given the goblins' short stature, the space was more than adequate.
It was more spacious than the train carriages.
Most importantly, this territory belonged to the Goblin Territory, making it feel more like home.
Doba stood resolutely at the refrigerator door, gazing out at the vast prairie. He needed to buy two more refrigerators to ensure his people could sleep more comfortably!
Meanwhile, in Guard Car No. 7, Biaozi stared at his panel displaying a physical fitness score of 12.4, grinning with satisfaction.
Finally!
After a whole night, he had successfully cleared the challenge!
He was currently the only person on the train to have completed it. This morning, his squad was on duty, and he planned to share his strategies after his shift ended. Initially, he had intended to keep the tips within his squad, but then he realized that strengthening other squads would ultimately benefit the Stellaris.
Hiding such knowledge might displease Lord Mang, so he decided to share it with everyone. This would earn him goodwill, and when the other two captains had good opportunities in the future, they might remember him.
What goes around comes around.
(End of the Chapter)
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