Translator: AnubisTL
"Let's sell some cigarettes before we leave."
Chen Mang glanced at the train radio and immediately drafted a message in the chat box:
Stellaris Train: Selling various daily necessities: cigarettes, tea, steamed rice noodle rolls, braised pork knuckle rice, coffee, etc. No face-to-face transactions required. Low prices, remote transactions available. Contact me directly via private message. Offer expires at noon today. No exceptions.
Almost the instant the message was pinned to the top, two people sent private messages.
Previously, daily necessities like bread and meat sandwiches were readily available on most trains, so demand wasn't particularly high.
But the items Chen Mang was selling now were rare on most trains.
While people couldn't buy large quantities, buying a small amount for personal enjoyment was perfectly feasible.
At the Iron Ridge Wasteland gathering, the going rate for a carton of cigarettes was 200 units of iron ore, equivalent to 20 units of iron ore per pack. Of course, prices would be higher on the Sha River Plains.
After all, the price of a product depends not only on its intrinsic value but also heavily on local consumption levels.
In the White Zone, people generally didn't have much iron ore to spare.
The price of cigarettes can only be sold at this price.
But on the Sha River Plains, where people have a little more money in their pockets, the price can be pushed up a bit.
"..."
Chen Mang glanced at the train radio. In just a moment, seven or eight people had already inquired. Besides the genuine scarcity and allure of his product, remote transactions played a significant role.
Few people would specifically drive a train just to buy a pack of cigarettes.
But with remote transactions, it was quick and convenient.
Without reading the messages, he handed over full control of the train radio to Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai transformed into a professional customer service representative, simultaneously confirming needs, negotiating prices, initiating production of Production Line 4 accessories, and arranging for the items to be delivered to the locomotive cabin. Then, Xiao Ai would place the items on the Heavenly Balance for remote transaction.
It was quite busy.
"What a pity," Chen Mang said, gazing regretfully at the organized Xiao Ai. "If this were a peaceful Era, with you as my assistant, I could have started a customer service outsourcing company and made a fortune. We wouldn't just have a three-minute response rate; we'd have a three-second one."
In his previous world, Chen Mang had briefly worked in e-commerce. During the startup phase, he couldn't afford customer service, so he took on the role himself. The three-minute response rate nearly drove him to a nervous breakdown.
Chen Mang left the transaction matter entirely to Xiao Ai.
Stepping off the train, he set up tables and chairs on the plains and sent Xiao Fang to fetch more food. He invited Erdan to join them for breakfast.
"See which flavor you like," Chen Mang said with a smile, picking up a chopstick of crab roe and putting it in his mouth. The sour pickled beans and chopped chili peppers mixed with the aroma of the steamed rice noodle roll instantly invaded his taste buds. He nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, the flavor's decent. Try it."
"This is so extravagant!" Erdan rubbed his hands excitedly, wasting no time in grabbing chopsticks and devouring the three portions of steamed rice noodle roll in front of him. "Brother, did you pin that message directly to the top of the train chat?"
"Could this be another overpowered effect of the train radio?"
"Mm."
Chen Mang ate quickly, finishing all three portions without wasting a single bite. Only after he had satisfied his hunger did he take a satisfied sip of hot tea, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, shook out one, and said with a smile,
"It can be quite useful sometimes. You might want to upgrade it later."
"Try one."
"These cigarettes are made from Premium Tobacco Leaf. The ones I sell on the train radio are just regular tobacco."
Premium Tobacco Leaf: 100 units of iron ore per pack.
Cigarettes are consumables, and non-essential ones at that. The price is indeed steep.
But for just one person, it's manageable. He can afford it.
Erdan quickly put down his chopsticks, lit a cigarette, and gave Chen Mang a thumbs-up. "Smooth!"
"Tsk."
Chen Mang shook his head with a wry smile, saying nothing more. He simply sat in his chair, watching Zhang Damei in the distance as she piloted her mech, battling zombies. Having someone to talk to was nice.
But speaking of which...
Zhang Damei had been getting increasingly reckless lately. Those few wandering zombies were at least a thousand meters away from the train, and their trajectory didn't even suggest they could reach it. Yet Zhang Damei had charged out to kill them anyway.
Even if the "Executioner" mech didn't consume much energy—a Tier 2 Energy Stone could power it for 100 hours of full-power combat—it was still wasteful.
That girl... she didn't know the value of a penny.
...
Noon arrived as the sun hung directly overhead.
The train radio had been silent for a long time, as almost everyone who wanted to buy had already done so.
"Gross profit: 168,800 units of iron ore. Cost: 4,920 units of iron ore."
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the locomotive cabin.
"That much profit?"
Chen Mang smacked his lips. Producing a pack of cigarettes cost him 10 units of iron ore, which he sold for 400 units. Honestly, he thought he was being quite generous selling them for only 400 units.
It was only a 40-fold profit.
After all his hard work to obtain the "Tobacco Production Line" blueprint, he deserved to make a decent profit, didn't he?
"Not bad," he chuckled, picking up a cup of hot tea and taking a sip. Without wasting any time, he immediately steered the train toward the Kunlun Mountain Region.
Their destination:
To pass through Kunlun Mountain and head to the Yellow Zone, the Zombie Basin.
Hot on their heels was the Azure Dragon Train.
They were traveling together, planning to test the waters in the Kunlun Mountain Region and see what the Yellow Zone was all about. Zombie Basin? Hadn't they heard that even a Tier 7 Mechanical Zombie King had met its end at his hands?
"The plan has changed."
In the Kunlun Mountain Region, Chen Mang gazed at the large, entirely green moth flapping its wings in the sky. He immediately abandoned his plan to head to the Zombie Basin tonight. His target acquisition radar showed that this monster was none other than the Tier 5 boss monster, the "Green Dragon."
Without hesitation, he switched to his Bunny Cloud Wheels and soared into the air, rapidly closing in!
If he could kill this Green Dragon, he would obtain the "Deep Sea Shield" accessory. With this, he could venture into the underwater labyrinth to retrieve the murphy stone. Only then would his departure from the Sha River Plains truly be complete.
He had already given up on this.
After all, the Green Dragon was an incredibly rare monster with no fixed territory, making it nearly impossible to track down. He had even resigned himself to the idea that life couldn't be perfect, using this phrase to console himself.
Yet, just before he set out, a miracle occurred!
Heavenly Father was truly looking out for him.
"You're truly kind to me, old man. May you live a long and prosperous life!"
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the Green Dragon frantically fleeing across his radar screen. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was like finally finding the treasure after searching high and low, only to discover it had been right under his nose all along.
"No... Ugh... Hey! Wait for me!"
"Damn it!"
Erdan, his eyes wide with disbelief, sat in the locomotive cabin, watching the mechanical arm rapidly change the wheels. The Stellaris, already vanished from radar range, left him feeling anxious.
He'd finally found a powerful ally, only for them to suddenly fly away?
The "Mechanical Arm," a yellow-grade Accessory, was incredibly rare. He'd seen countless trains, but only he possessed one. He'd obtained it from a fortuitous encounter map, and he'd always been proud of it.
While others took over ten minutes to change a wheel, he could do it in just one minute, without even needing slaves to get out and do the work. He could simply sit in the locomotive cabin and let the mechanical arm handle it.
But...
How the hell did the Stellaris just take off?!
One second, it was traversing the Kunlun Mountain Region using spider legs just like him. The next, those legs retracted, and it switched to Bunny Cloud Wheels?
He hadn't even seen a mechanical arm extend.
What kind of overpowered effect was this damn accessory?!
A minute later.
The Bunny Cloud wheels were finally successfully installed, and the Azure Dragon Train took off again. But Erdan stared blankly at the empty target acquisition radar, feeling utterly lost.
Where had his big brother gone?
Could someone tell him where his big brother had disappeared to?
And that green dragon wasn't a social creature. They were incredibly rare. He had spent considerable effort to learn that one green dragon was in the Kunlun Mountain Region, and he had searched for days before finally finding it.
Yet today, he had watched helplessly as the Stellaris Train had done nothing while a green dragon had tauntingly flown right past them, as if deliberately trying to be noticed.
Pure luck.
Just then—
Chen Mang's voice crackled over the train radio.
"I'm going to kill that green dragon and then head back to the Sha River Plains to check out that underwater labyrinth. Are you coming with me?"
"I'll wait here for you."
Hearing Chen Mang's voice, Erdan finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least his big brother hadn't abandoned him.
The green dragon was faster.
The Stellaris train, however, was much faster.
"Doomsday Cannon locked on."
"Ready to fire at any moment."
Chen Mang frowned slightly, his thumb hovering over the red button on top of the control stick. He hesitated to press it. In his field of vision, the green dragon continued to flap its wings, occasionally turning to hover in mid-air and glance at him.
Was it a challenge? Or perhaps a plea for mercy?
A plea for mercy?
No, that didn't quite fit. It felt more like... a guide.
Could it be...?
Chen Mang remembered the foxtail grass growing outside the locomotive. According to Erdan, green dragons, though not high-Tier, were incredibly elusive due to their lack of fixed territories. If he had truly been lucky enough to encounter this one, there could only be one explanation:
The green dragon was a special passenger.
"A passenger?" Chen Mang narrowed his eyes. After a long moment, he finally removed his thumb from the red button, choosing not to fire. He decided to follow the green dragon for a while longer to see if it truly intended to lead him somewhere.
He wanted to see where it would take him.
But the direction it was flying... after circling in the air, it had returned to the Sha River Plains.
An hour later.
The green dragon descended from the sky and landed beside a lake.
This was precisely the location Erdan had sent him for the "Underwater Labyrinth."
"Erdan."
Chen Mang picked up the train radio's walkie-talkie and whispered, "When you killed that green dragon, did it stop mid-flight to look at you, as if..."
"As if it were taunting you, right?" Erdan's voice crackled back through the walkie-talkie. "Yeah, it did. But I wasn't about to let it get away with that. I closed the distance and unleashed a full volley from the Doomsday Cannon. Easy kill!"
"... "
Chen Mang silently cut off the conversation with Erdan. If he wasn't mistaken, this mysterious green dragon was indeed a mysterious traveler, similar to a "black market merchant," except unlike the merchant, it couldn't be killed since it resurrected after Erdan killed it.
It was more like...
Just then—
Several lines of text appeared on the control panel.
[Apocalypse: Hell Green Dragon
This elusive monster could be encountered on any train. It can resurrect endlessly, and before its death, it swallowed the Accessory Blueprint for the Deep Sea Shield. Now, the only way to obtain the Deep Sea Shield is to kill the Hell Green Dragon.
But it's already dead.
Only a fragmented Soul controls its decaying flesh.
Its sole desire is to return home, to its roots.
If you succeed in sending it home, you will receive a substantial reward.]
"Is this foxtail grass really that effective?"
Chen Mang glanced at the line of text on the control panel screen and then at the green dragon, which was now quietly squatting by the lake, its gaze unfocused and distant as it stared at him. It had just spat out a blue accessory blueprint.
They called it a green dragon, but it looked more like the Western dragons from his previous world. You could easily mistake it for an oversized green moth.
Soon after—
Zhang Damei, piloting her mech, jumped off the train, slung the Giant Axe over her back, and cautiously approached the green dragon, preparing to retrieve the blue accessory blueprint it had spat out.
The powerful magnet could only absorb items dropped by monsters.
This blueprint, however, hadn't dropped after the monster died. Instead, it had been spat out by the monster itself.
Therefore, it couldn't be picked up.
Someone had to go down and retrieve it.
Everything went smoothly. As Zhang Damei approached, the green dragon merely retreated a few steps, making no threatening gestures.
The blue-grade Deep Sea Shield blueprint was retrieved without incident.
Immediately afterward, the green dragon flapped its wings and landed on the locomotive, as if waiting for something.
The next moment!
A pale blue energy shield enveloped the entire Stellaris train, protecting it from water pressure and leaks.
Though they couldn't communicate, Chen Mang understood the green dragon's intent. He immediately crafted a propeller and upgraded it to Tier 10, then, propelled by the Tier 6 Auxiliary Universal Wheels, the Stellaris slowly approached the lake's edge and plunged into the water.
The propellers, replacing the wheels, began to spin rapidly, driving the train deeper into the lake's depths.
Meanwhile, the green dragon remained motionless atop the train, making no unnecessary movements. The energy shield completely blocked the water, keeping the dragon dry.
Train, monster.
In this environment, they coexisted in remarkable harmony.
(End of the Chapter)
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