Translator: AnubisTL
"And..."
"The guard who died—go tell Old Pig what happened so it can be added to the training materials."
"Yes, sir."
With that, Chen Mang didn't linger. He immediately left the carriage.
The Stellaris was heading toward the Kunlun Mountain Region, preparing to enter the Yellow Zone, the Zombie Basin, once more.
"Trainmaster Zhu, what did Lord Mang mean?"
"...?"
Old Pig glanced at Biaozi before lowering his voice. "Slightly embellish the story. Tell me the details later, and I'll help you revise it."
"Does Maozi have any family on the train?"
"No."
"Erdan."
Inside the Stellaris's locomotive cabin, Chen Mang controlled the train as it soared through the sky, speeding toward the Kunlun Mountain Region. He picked up the train radio's walkie-talkie. "Wait for me in the Kunlun Mountain Region. I'll be there soon. Once I'm done, we can continue our journey."
"No problem," Erdan's voice replied quickly through the walkie-talkie.
Just then—
"Hmm?"
The target acquisition radar showed a Tier 4 Train below being pursued by a swarm of mantis-like monsters. The mantises were clearly faster, and two of them were Tier 5 Monsters. The train didn't seem to have any effective countermeasures.
It was in a dire situation.
Chen Mang didn't overthink it. He immediately maneuvered his train to hover above the Tier 4 Train. The Doomsday Cannon quickly locked onto the two Tier 5 mantis monsters and unleashed nearly a hundred rounds of artillery fire.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The explosions echoed across the plains, instantly reducing the two Tier 5 monsters to bloody mist.
Many lower-Tier mantis monsters in the vicinity were caught in the blast, some killed outright, others wounded.
Since we ran into them... might as well lend a hand.
Chen Mang didn't dwell on it. He glanced at the grateful message from the other train's radio before turning his train and continuing onward. The other train slowly came to a halt, and a group of thugs jumped out to eliminate the remaining mantis monsters.
Just then—
Xiao Ai, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up. "Train Conductor, Zhang Damei said two of the thugs on that train are her brothers."
"Brothers?"
Chen Mang raised an eyebrow and turned his train around, retracing his path.
...
'Could he have recognized me as a fellow native?'
On the Sha River Plains, inside the locomotive cabin of the Tier 4 Train, the man stared at the mandatory private message in the train radio, his eyes filled with relief and lingering fear.
He had been certain he was going to die here.
But somehow, he had been given a second chance.
A passing bigshot had saved his life.
Through a forced private chat message, he learned the other party was the Stellaris—the train belonging to the top boss of the Iron Ridge Wasteland. Even in the high-level zone, this boss remained the undisputed leader, holding the Top Rank on all three leaderboards.
He, too, had come from the Iron Ridge Wasteland.
Could this be the reason the boss had intervened to save him?
But he had been completely unknown back in the Iron Ridge Wasteland. How had this guy recognized him?
Just then—
He noticed the Stellaris train soaring back from the horizon, slowly descending before his own train. The moment it came to a halt, the door of a middle carriage burst open.
A mecha leaped out.
It began slaughtering the remaining mantis-like monsters.
Wait, a mecha?
Could a Tier 6 train already manufacture mechas?
In the blink of an eye, the remaining monsters around the train were wiped out. The mecha seemed to be saying something, and then... his two idiot thugs actually rushed forward, each clinging to one of the mecha's legs, sobbing uncontrollably?
What in the world was this scene?
The man sitting in the locomotive cabin stared in utter bewilderment. Though he had no idea what was happening, he dared not make any sudden moves, cautiously waiting for further developments.
Soon, a message arrived on his train radio:
"I want your two thugs. Name your price."
Now he understood.
The Stellaris train must have relatives of the two idiots on board. Could it be the younger sister they'd been talking about all along? He glanced at the ten cannons with their exaggerated caliber mounted on the Stellaris, and his lips twitched slightly.
"It's already a great kindness that you're willing to help, Great One. Since you've taken a liking to them, just take them away."
Before he could say anything more, the two hulking idiots had already followed the woman back onto the Stellaris. Their names were quickly removed from the train crew roster, and the Stellaris soared into the sky once more, leaving not a trace of cloud behind.
"Sigh."
The man watched the departing Stellaris with a complex expression. Though he often cursed the two idiots and made them carry treadmills back from resource collection trips, their sudden departure left a hollow feeling in his heart.
It felt like...
his two big yellow dogs had been led away.
Inside the Stellaris's locomotive cabin, Chen Mang stared at the two giants' physical data displayed on the control panel. Xiao Ai had already installed Iris Chips in them. Their comprehensive physical fitness was off the charts.
Zhang Damei's comprehensive physical fitness was 18.2, already the highest on the Stellaris.
But then...
Zhang Damei's brother, Zhang Yi, had a comprehensive physical fitness of 22.8.
Second Brother, Zhang Er, has a comprehensive physical fitness score of 21.9.
Each one is stronger than the last.
This is absurd. This is the apocalypse! Before the apocalypse, this planet couldn't have been some low-martial world, could it? And what about bloodlines?
Do these children come with Tyrannosaurus bloodlines, granting them ridiculously high physical stats?
If not for the information he'd gathered, which indicated that this planet was a modern world with technological advancements similar to his previous world before the apocalypse, he might have actually believed the low-martial world theory.
Pretty strong.
Two more mecha pilots added to the roster.
However, with their comprehensive physical fitness scores, piloting the green-grade Executioner mecha is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. To fully unleash the Executioner's power, a comprehensive physical fitness score exceeding 14.0 is required. These two guys are nearly doubling that!
But it doesn't matter.
The Zombie Basin is a yellow-grade zone, meaning it must contain higher-grade minerals and more advanced Mecha Blueprints.
Soon, he met up with the Azure Dragon Train waiting for him. The two of them soared through the air side by side once more, hurtling toward the Zombie Basin zone!
Several hours later, a massive light curtain appeared ahead. This marked the zone boundary, with four large characters emblazoned across it:
Zombie Basin.
At the same time, two lines of text slowly materialized on the control panel screen:
[The area ahead is the Yellow Zone, the Zombie Basin.
The highest-tier monsters here can reach Tier 9. Our train is currently Tier 6. The danger level is high. Please exercise caution."]
As the train passed through the light curtain, the Stellaris officially entered the Yellow Zone's Zombie Basin.
The sky was already growing dim, nearing dusk.
"Let's rest here for the night."
The two quickly reached a consensus.
For their first night, they decided to camp on the edge of the zone and wait until dawn to proceed. After all, the Yellow Zone was home to Tier 9 monsters.
A Tier 9 boss would be an extremely formidable opponent for both the Stellaris and the Azure Dragon.
Fortunately, they shared a common advantage: they could fly. Since this was the Zombie Basin, the primary threat should be zombies, and zombies couldn't fly. As long as they weren't attacked by other trains, the danger wasn't too great.
Inside the Stellaris' locomotive cabin, Chen Mang glanced at the resource detection radar and the target acquisition radar.
The target acquisition radar displayed numerous red dots, mostly zombie hordes. They were still far away and posed no immediate threat. The highest-tier zombies within those hordes were Tier 6.
Even if a train arrived, it wouldn't pose a significant threat.
As for the resource detection radar, it showed two Tier 2 Iron Ore deposits within range, both open-pit mines currently occupied by zombie hordes.
These hordes were no match for the Stellaris.
However, he didn't want to stir up trouble on the first night. He decided to wait until dawn.
He glanced at the "Vehicle-Mounted Zombie Perception Blocker" accessory on the screen. He had already upgraded it to Tier 10. This accessory had never been useful before, but in this zone, it would prove invaluable.
Even 9th-tier zombies wouldn't be able to detect him.
He could mine in peace.
Tonight, he would sleep.
"Zhang Damei!"
In Guard Car No. 7, Biaozi pointed an angry finger at Zhang Damei's nose and roared, "Have you gone too far? Second team already has a mecha. What more do you want?"
"We just lost a man from First Squad."
"Those two must join our squad!"
"Brother Biao, what are you talking about?" Zhang Damei stood firm, shielding her two brothers behind her. She met Biaozi's gaze without flinching, her voice resolute. "Brother Biao, I respect you as a senior, but these are my brothers."
"My own brothers."
"There's no reason, logically or emotionally, why they shouldn't join our second team, right?"
"Our third team doesn't have a mecha either." The Third Squad Captain, a rather handsome young man sitting in the corner, led his team members forward, his expression serious. "We must have one too."
Suddenly, the carriage erupted into chaos.
All three guard squads were vying for ownership of the two newcomers.
Everyone understood that these two were destined to pilot mechas. With their exceptional comprehensive physical fitness, their addition to any squad would significantly reduce casualties during missions and greatly enhance combat effectiveness. No one wanted to miss out.
Though no one resorted to violence, the argument grew increasingly heated.
"Stop!" Zhang Damei shouted, hands on her hips. "The three of us captains will settle this in the virtual space. Whoever wins gets them!"
Biaozi and the Third Squad Captain exchanged glances, then resumed their loud squabbling.
Neither of them mentioned the idea of settling the matter in the virtual space.
Why fight when they could argue it out?
"Uh..."
Zhang Er stood behind Zhang Damei, carefully stuffing a steaming meat sandwich whole into his mouth. After savoring each bite with obvious delight, he reluctantly swallowed and leaned close to Zhang Yi, whispering, "Big brother, are we really this popular?"
"They seem to be welcoming us quite warmly."
"I don't know," Zhang Yi replied, his face stern and cold as he, too, stuffed a steaming meat sandwich into his mouth. Lowering his voice, he added, "We need to maintain a serious demeanor. It makes us seem less approachable."
"You forgot what father told us," Zhang Er reminded him. "In an unfamiliar environment, if you appear too easygoing, you'll be bullied relentlessly."
"Right, right, I almost forgot."
Zhang Er immediately adopted a serious expression, but then he reached for another meat sandwich from the nearby plate and stuffed it whole into his mouth. The momentum he'd just built up instantly faltered, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Big brother, this meat sandwich is so delicious! It's so greasy and flavorful. I haven't had anything this good in ages."
"Lord Mang is really kind. We just joined the carriage and haven't done anything yet, but he already gave us a whole plate of meat sandwiches to eat."
"Now we can finally eat our fill."
Zhang Yi, who had been wearing a serious expression, couldn't help but nod in agreement. He picked up another meat sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth. "So this is how Xiao San lives every day?"
"Too luxurious!"
"Second Brother, remember this time: when you go out to scavenge for supplies, you absolutely cannot bring back another treadmill."
"Don't worry, Big Brother. I'll behave myself this time."
Just then—
"Enough!"
Biaozi took a deep breath, shouted to stop the escalating argument, and turned to the other two captains. "I'll go see Lord Mang tomorrow morning and have him handle the distribution."
"Will that work?"
Zhang Damei and the Third Squad captain exchanged glances and nodded in unison. "Lord Mang's arrangements will definitely be fair."
"Then let's eat. The steamed buns will get cold soon."
With that, everyone in Guard Car No. 7 turned their attention to the plate of steamed buns on the table, ready to begin their evening meal. But all they saw was an empty plate.
Only a few oil stains remained to prove that the plate hadn't always been empty.
"Where's the food?"
Biaozi stared blankly at the empty plate. He distinctly remembered ordering a plate of steamed buns and meat sandwiches for the First Squad Members just moments ago.
His gaze quickly shifted to the two burly men standing beside the plate, taller and more muscular than Zhang Damei. They were wiping grease from their mouths with their sleeves, clearly having just finished a hearty meal.
"You two ate the whole damn thing?" Biaozi's eyes widened in disbelief. "That was supposed to be enough food for thirty people! You two finished it all? Do you have Tier 10 Refrigerators in your stomachs?"
"Uh..." Zhang Er cautiously poked Zhang Yi's belly. "What does 'Tier 10 Refrigerator' mean?"
"I don't know." Zhang Yi quietly moved behind Zhang Damei and whispered, "But I think we ate the wrong thing. This wasn't meant for us."
"Then we're screwed, aren't we?"
"Looks like it."
Zhang Damei, who had been fiercely arguing over ownership just moments ago, now wore a look of embarrassment. She waved her hand dismissively, feigning composure. "No problem. I'll pay for dinner tonight. Consider it my treat!"
"Their meal is on me!"
(End of the Chapter)
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