Translator: AnubisTL
But—
Destroying a Tier 9 Train takes only four seconds.
Since ancient times, an immutable law has held true: destruction is always easier and faster than construction.
His train upgrade speed wasn't particularly fast, largely because he spent considerable time strengthening the train's foundation. This was the reason his Tier 7 Train could instantly kill a Tier 9 Train.
This time, it was a true instant kill.
No exaggeration.
On the leaderboard, the name of the Tier 9 Train "Horizon" began to fade, quickly disappearing altogether.
At this moment, the sudden disappearance of two trains in such a short time finally caught people's attention.
Panic instantly swept through the train radio.
Speculation erupted: Was the Stellaris's claim about the Zombie Volcano true? Had it already begun to erupt?
But soon, someone suggested that the two Tier 9 Trains might have simply moved to a higher-level zone. This calmed the panic, as everyone had been terrified of a disaster.
Then, another person asked why the trains would choose this moment to leave, rather than earlier or later. The answer was obvious: they were probably fleeing.
The train radio filled with panicked and fearful messages once more, this time even more intense than before.
"Humans are subconsciously conformist."
"If 9,900 people turn left toward Hell and 100 turn right toward Heaven, the 10,001st person will likely turn left, even if they know Hell lies that way."
"That's why Hell is so crowded."
"Because there are always fools leading the way."
Inside the Stellaris train.
Chen Mang sat in his chair, watching the train radio's sudden shift in tone as message after message poured in. His expression remained calm as he murmured, "You've developed self-learning capabilities. Your database contains no data on riding motorcycles, yet through observing Biaozi and others, you've already learned how to ride one."
"Train Conductor, are you praising me?" Xiao Ai whispered from the corner.
"In a way," Chen Mang paused, then continued, "But if that 10,001st person were alone at the crossroads, they'd likely trust their own judgment and turn right toward Heaven."
"Humans are often wiser when alone."
"So, Train Conductor, where will you go?"
"..."
Chen Mang stood up, lit a cigarette, and sighed deeply before turning to Xiao Ai. "Nowhere. Heaven and Hell are just places you go after you die, aren't they?"
"I can't die."
"Let's go. Let's get off and see what we've gathered this time."
I can tell.
No one seemed to be able to sleep tonight. Even though it was already past midnight, the train radio was still buzzing with activity.
It's only been two hours.
In that short time, the train radio's tone had shifted several times.
It started with skepticism about the news's authenticity.
Then came a willingness to believe the news was true, but with the condition that they wouldn't unconditionally offer their copper ore—they'd need something in return.
Now, nearly everyone was willing to contribute most of their copper ore, just hoping someone would step forward to unite them in preparing for the impending disaster.
Not every train possessed 9th-tier or higher weapon accessories.
Only by pooling most of the copper ore in the hands of those trains could they prioritize eliminating the most dangerous Tier 9 Zombies. The remaining Tier 7-8 Zombies could be dealt with gradually, while lower-tier ones could be tanked with energy shields.
But...
The Stellaris had been silent on the train radio for a long time, only silently posting pinned messages selling items. The remaining nine trains had also fallen strangely silent, as if they'd all suddenly become mute.
634,000 units of iron ore, 580,000 units of copper ore, 1,010,000 units of wood.
2 Murphy Stones, various life necessities.
Over 800 survivors.
...
...
Chen Mang took the list from Old Pig, his brow furrowing slightly. During the attack, he hadn't thoroughly examined all the accessories on the Tier 9 Train, only checking the defensive and offensive components.
As a result, he wasn't very familiar with the train itself.
"Old Pig."
"Yes, Lord Mang?"
"Go check if the train conductor is dead. Ask him why he was chopping so much wood—was he planning to make balls?"
"Uh, Lord Mang, should I go down and ask?"
"Can you even get back up if you go down there?"
"It'll be tough, I think."
"Never mind then." Chen Mang waved his hand. "Just load everything onto the train first. Hurry up. Same old rules: kill the thugs and management."
"This train conductor was full of lies."
"How dare he come here to trade when he didn't even have a million units of iron ore on board? It's clear he never intended to give me the full amount—he was just trying to cheat me. It's so hard to find an honest trader these days."
Iron ore was what Chen Mang needed most right now.
The bald man's Tier 9 Train had over a million units of iron ore in storage. However, this Tier 9 Train only contained about 600,000 units—nearly half the original amount. It was clear he had spent a significant amount of time chopping wood.
Wood is basically useless except for making clothes, right?
He hadn't encountered any accessories that required wood for upgrades.
Adding to the existing 1 million units of wood, the train now held a staggering 2.5 million units. When would he ever use it all? If he made Xiao Ai's Space Pouches with it, he could create 2.5 million of them.
Another 1,500 survivors had joined the train.
Normally, he only killed the train conductors. He hadn't killed the thugs from the Geocore Nuke incident, and they were now train residents.
However, the thugs from these Tier 9 Trains were stubborn and spoke harshly. They also appeared fiercely loyal, making it difficult to keep them alive.
If he kept them, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Twenty minutes later, the guards had finished transferring all the resources to the Stellaris. Well, in reality, it was mostly Zhang Yi and Zhang Er doing the work.
They were efficient and enthusiastic, looking as refreshed as if they had just finished a satisfying workout.
In this work state, if they had run a moving company before the apocalypse, they would have been guaranteed to make a fortune. The only risk was they might have ended up moving everything into their own rooms. These two guys shared an identical hobby: collecting supplies. They didn't care whether the items were useful or not; as long as they had them in their possession, they were happy.
The survivors were all herded into the refrigerator of Carriage 11 for temporary detention.
This group needed to be thoroughly screened to determine if any of them were related to the train conductor or included female family members.
The refrigerator was equipped with the Mechanical Eye, and Xiao Ai would capture anyone whose eyes flashed with a hint of malice. After the crisis was over, Old Pig would conduct background checks on each individual.
Xiao Ai's Mechanical Eye was particularly effective.
It had already caught several people.
Every night, someone would inevitably let a flicker of malice cross their eyes, only to be precisely detected by Xiao Ai, who would then alert Biaozi and the others.
It was mainly because these people couldn't just keep their resentment to themselves; they had to express it, acting as if they were preparing for a long-term grudge.
They deserved to die.
After completing these tasks, Chen Mang once again piloted the Stellaris, opening its massive maw to slowly swallow the remaining sixteen carriages of the Horizon, like a python swallowing an elephant, bit by bit.
Chen Mang acquired another 670,000 units of iron ore.
With this, the total amount of iron ore stored inside the Stellaris had reached 4,341,000 units!
They were now halfway to their goal of 8 million units.
"This is much faster than mining," Chen Mang chuckled, sitting in the locomotive cabin. "What they call a crisis is both danger and opportunity."
He then targeted the Logitech, one of the six Tier 9 Trains he had previously encountered, preparing to repeat his earlier tactic.
"I'll sell you 100 murphy stones for 1 million units of iron ore. Deal? Don't tell anyone else."
The other party responded quickly.
"You were behind the attacks on the Horizon and No. 1, weren't you?"
Chen Mang frowned slightly. Had they figured it out so quickly? He had hoped to lure in a few more. After a moment's pause, he replied:
"They already left the Zombie Basin. Do you want the deal or not? If not, I'll find someone else."
"No, kid. Listen carefully. I admit your train is powerful, but I'll be blunt: even if you upgrade to a Tier 9 Train, you'll never escape the Zombie Basin."
"Even if your train is the most powerful, how could you possibly hold off those hordes of zombies without us? How many cannons does your train have? Dozens? Hundreds? And how much copper ore do you have? Millions of units? Tens of millions?"
"Without us, you're doomed!"
Chen Mang glanced at the message on his train radio and suddenly chuckled. He understood. The message's subtext was clear: these Tier 9 Trains couldn't escape the Zombie Basin either.
He sent a final reply and then blocked the sender.
"Hehe."
So that's why.
That's why the Horizon and No. 1 disappeared from the leaderboard. They immediately assumed they had been destroyed.
Not that they had escaped the Zombie Basin.
It turned out these people knew better than anyone that their Tier 9 Trains couldn't leave this zone anytime soon.
He had initially thought they were hesitant to enter the Blue Zone because they feared the dangers there. But it turned out they were simply trapped.
This is getting interesting.
He wasn't in a hurry anymore.
He had already chosen his second path. At his current rate, even if he couldn't lure away a Tier 9 Train, the Zombie Basin was only so big. He could search slowly. Even if he didn't encounter a single Tier 9 Train, the 4 million units of iron ore he had would be enough to upgrade nearly half of his carriages to Tier 9 Armor with minimal losses.
But...
How are these Tier 9 Trains going to survive?
He was curious.
And also excited.
Combat Training Virtual Space
The train conductors of the seven mechanical trains stood on the arena, silently staring at each other without a word.
After a long pause, the middle-aged man finally spoke, his voice tinged with a strange undertone. "It feels unreal. The bald man who was just talking to me here a moment ago is now dead in the blink of an eye."
"If I'd known that was the last time I'd see him, I would have looked at him more closely."
"Sounds like you were good friends," the young man in a tracksuit sneered, leaning against the edge of the arena with a grim expression.
"Oh, not at all," the middle-aged man said, spreading his hands helplessly. "I just wanted to study his death face. I wanted to see what a dying person's expression looks like so that if I ever get that look myself, I can hide away and avoid dying needlessly."
"You look just like him right now."
"Don't say such things lightly. I think I look quite good right now."
"Enough!"
At that moment, a man in a white suit stepped forward, his face icy as he spoke each word deliberately. "We must contact the Stellaris. According to their estimates, the Zombie Volcano will erupt in no more than twenty hours."
"Just tell him the bottom price: 50 murphy stones!"
"50 murphy stones per train. If we can join forces with him to gather all the trains, we'll also need time to collect copper ore. We can't wait until the last second. You may not be in a hurry, but I am!"
"I don't want to die here!"
"I can't go." The young man in the tracksuit said grimly, one word at a time. "That bastard blocked me and sent me back a 'hehe'!"
No one spoke.
After a long silence, the man in the white suit finally said, "I'll go. I arrived late and didn't have any conflict with him."
"I'll go ask."
With that, the man vanished from the arena. A minute later, he reappeared, his expression less than pleasant.
"What did he say?"
The middle-aged, muscular man hesitated. "Did he refuse? You don't look like he agreed."
"He neither refused nor agreed."
"Then what did the Stellaris reply?"
"Two words."
"Which two words?"
"Hehe."
"..."
"..."
No one spoke. They all stood in stunned silence. After a long pause, the middle-aged man finally spoke again. "How dare he reply like that? Doesn't he fear death? Can he even survive the Zombie Volcano eruption?"
"We must all work together to survive this!"
"Doesn't he understand this?"
"Well..."
Just then, a middle-aged man in the crowd raised his hand and whispered, "I think the Stellaris does understand. Didn't they propose this arrangement in the first place? It's just that you're demanding too many murphy stones. They don't want to play your game anymore."
"I've always wondered why you keep targeting the Stellaris. The Zombie Volcano erupted and didn't just kill them."
"Because they have a lot of murphy stones! If we don't target them, who else are we going to target?"
"Right." The middle-aged burly man paused for a moment before speaking. "Before the apocalypse, I was a negotiation expert. Let's give him an hour. I'll go talk to him. This time, we'll lower the demand to just 20 murphy stones per train."
"That should be fine."
"With seven of us, that's only 140 stones total. It's already a small amount."
An hour later.
Everyone turned to the returning middle-aged burly man with anticipation in their eyes. "How did it go? Did the negotiation work?"
The middle-aged burly man stood silently for a long moment before rasping, "He neither agreed nor refused."
"It wasn't just two words, was it?"
"Mm."
"..."
"..."
The middle-aged man who had interrupted earlier sighed, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "You've been trying to bleed him dry. It's obvious he'd rather die than play your game anymore."
"Alright, I'll go."
"I'll tell him we don't need any Murphy stones. Let's sit down and talk."
"After all, the Stellaris managed to take down No. 1 and Horizon in such a short time. Its strength is undeniable. With the Stellaris on our side, we'll have a much better chance of surviving this crisis together."
"If there are no objections, let's settle it like this."
"Survival comes first. Put your petty schemes aside for now."
The others exchanged glances, but no one spoke. They had tacitly agreed. There was no other choice. They had to bring the Stellaris over to weather this crisis.
With that, the middle-aged man vanished from the spot.
Three minutes later, he reappeared on the stage, his expression unchanged.
"What did the Stellaris say?"
"Two words."
"hehe?"
"Mm."
The young man in the tracksuit finally lost his temper, slamming his hand on the stage in frustration. "Hehe my ass! All he does is heh heh heh heh! We're not even asking for a single Murphy stone, and he still heh heh heh heh! What the hell does he want?!"
TL/N: Hehe
"He's spitting in our faces!"
"What the hell is he trying to pull?!"
"Does he expect us to beg him?!"
(End of the Chapter)
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