Translator: AnubisTL
Beep, beep-beep!
"Detecting incoming firepower. Estimated arrival in two seconds."
"Attack intensity: 9th-tier."
"Recommended course of action: None."
The bald man froze, his peripheral vision catching the hundreds of shells streaking across the night sky in his rearview mirror. A flicker of horror flashed in his eyes. Without hesitation, he activated the Zaibatsu Energy Shield and slammed the control stick forward!
He was determined to escape this place as quickly as possible!
After quickly scanning the target acquisition radar, he couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Damn it!
He couldn't even see the enemy on the radar screen. He didn't know who to fire back at.
The next moment—
Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of shells slammed into the Zaibatsu Energy Shield surrounding the train. A Tier 8 energy shield could withstand a portion of a 9th-tier attack, but only a portion. The shield was quickly riddled with holes.
The shells pierced through the energy shield and slammed into the train's 3rd-tier armor.
Almost instantly, the bald man in the locomotive cabin felt the train violently shake. His eyes were filled with terror, yet he grinned with relief at having survived. He'd escape first, then find out who was behind this.
But then, in his rearview mirror, he saw hundreds more shells hurtling toward him!
Despair slowly crept into his eyes.
He was... going to die.
Then, his gaze turned to the "Immediate Self-Destruct" button, filled with venomous hatred. Even in death, he refused to let others claim the resources of his train!
Just then, a mandatory private message appeared on his train radio screen.
It was from the Stellaris.
"Surrender quickly, and I'll spare your life."
Instantly!
The bald man snapped to attention. Grasping at this last lifeline, he grabbed the walkie-talkie and screamed, his eyes wild, "Brother!"
But before he could utter another word, a meteor shower of artillery shells streaked across the night sky, completely engulfing the locomotive of the Tier 9 Train.
The name "No. 1," a Tier 9 mechanical train, slowly faded from the leaderboards, then vanished entirely.
The bald man was dead.
This was the first Tier 9 Train to be destroyed in the Zombie Basin in recent days.
In the darkness.
The Stellaris slowly pulled up alongside the Tier 9 Train, its locomotive now engulfed in flames. As the door of Guard Car No. 7 opened, members of the first, second, and third teams poured out, quickly splitting into several groups to control the train's slaves, eliminate any remaining resistance, and gather resources.
Ten minutes later...
Chen Mang stepped off the train and entered the No. 1 train's severely damaged locomotive cabin. He knelt down, gazing at the bald man before him, whose eyes were locked in a desperate, unyielding death stare. He spoke softly.
"I told you to surrender quickly, and I would have spared your life."
"Why wasn't it fast enough?"
The locomotive cabin was in ruins, charred black everywhere. The man's lower body was gone. Only his mangled upper torso lay like a fallen leaf in the autumn breeze.
Chen Mang then rose and turned to Biaozi, who had come to report. His voice was calm as he instructed, "Kill all the thugs and management-level personnel. Round up the remaining residents and detain them on the Stellaris. We'll screen them one by one after the disaster passes."
"Yes!"
After completing these tasks, Chen Mang finally stepped off the train. Leaning on his cane, he stood on the wasteland, gazing at the distant moon. Behind him, the air was thick with smoke mixed with the faint scent of roasted meat—a smell he found strangely comforting.
Tonight was bright.
He had abandoned his plan to save most of the residents from the Zombie Volcano crisis. Some people simply weren't worth saving.
Especially those who had tried to sell him copper ore.
He had offered the copper ore to save their lives, yet they demanded payment. Very well, let them keep their copper ore. Let's see if their Yellow and blue-grade weapons could even pierce the defenses of a Tier 9 Zombie.
He had prepared for the worst.
The Stellaris train, including the locomotive, had a total of 16 carriages. Upgrading all carriages to Tier 9 Armor would cost 8 million iron ore units.
But—
If things truly deteriorated to that extent, he would have to abandon some carriages. For example, he could discard 10 carriages, retaining only the locomotive and 5 carriages. Upgrading these to Tier 9 Armor would then cost only 3 million iron ore units. He could even go to extremes.
He could retain only one carriage, and everyone and everything would be stored in the refrigerator.
However, this would mean sacrificing a great deal. The foundation he had built up over these past few months would be lost.
This included the Red-Tier Accessory "Groundburst Missile," the 10 Doomsday Cannons, the "40-Tube Cherry Blossom Fall Rocket Launcher," and the carriages with Tier 8 Armor.
He was merely trying to minimize his losses.
Yet some people acted as if they had found his Achilles' heel.
Soon—
Half an hour later, Old Pig jogged over and reported, "Lord Mang, we've finished inventorying all the supplies."
"It's all here," Old Pig said, handing Chen Mang the inventory list.
Chen Mang scanned the list and chuckled. "As expected of a Tier 9 Train. You've got some serious assets. No wonder you were talking so tough—you actually had the goods to back it up."
The moment the attack began, Chen Mang had only one concern: What if the enemy pressed the "Immediate Self-Destruct" button? He wouldn't just have wasted his efforts; he'd have lost a lot of copper ore for nothing. That's why he'd offered the enemy a sliver of hope at the last moment.
When someone's drowning, they'll cling to even a single straw.
Sure enough, Chen Mang heard a desperate "Brother!" over the train radio. That single word was followed by silence—the artillery shells had already landed.
When death is imminent, there's no time for complex thoughts.
Even with the shells about to strike, the enemy hadn't even considered how to save himself. Could he really snap his fingers and make the shells swerve away?
"1.201 million units of iron ore, 1.08 million units of copper ore, 10,000 units of Wood."
"Various life supplies, quantity unspecified."
"Over 700 survivors."
"..."
Time was tight, so Zhang Yi and Zhang Er hastily tossed the life supplies into the refrigerator without carefully counting them. They focused on inventorying the resources.
There was no murphy stone or blueprint.
But the resources were truly abundant.
Chen Mang strode back to his locomotive cabin.
He glanced at the train resource panel.
"3.101 million units of iron ore, 2.235 million units of copper ore, 1.509 million units of Wood, 4.48 million units of Red Heart Rock."
Those two volleys of fire had cost him 800 cannon shells, consuming 140,000 units of copper ore.
Yet he had seized 1.08 million units of copper ore in return.
He had more than recouped his losses.
"..."
Chen Mang looked at the train panel and chuckled. "You wouldn't listen to reason, and now that the cannon shells are about to land on your heads, you're finally calling me 'Brother'? What took you so long? If you'd just called me 'Brother' earlier, wouldn't we all be getting along peacefully?"
He shook his head.
First, he withdrew 500,000 units to upgrade the locomotive's armor to Tier 9 Armor.
That way, even if something went wrong, at least the locomotive would survive.
The locomotive was the core of the train. As long as the locomotive remained intact, the train had a chance to rise again!
This is the advantage of the "Armor" accessory.
Armor, a defensive component, is upgraded individually for each carriage.
In contrast, the "Energy Shield" is a unified accessory. Once activated, it envelops the entire train, making individual carriage upgrades impossible. Of course, the resources required for each upgrade are astronomical, far exceeding those needed for armor upgrades.
Chen Mang also possessed the "Energy Shield" accessory, which he had upgraded to Tier 3.
He understood the situation.
The price of this accessory was based on the number of carriages. The more carriages a train had, the more resources each upgrade consumed—similar to armor, except that individual carriage upgrades weren't possible; the entire train had to be upgraded at once.
After upgrading the Energy Shield, each additional carriage also required an additional expenditure of iron ore.
"So, next..."
Chen Mang found the train of one of the six men Xiao Ai had just killed on the leaderboard.
9th-Tier B-Tier Potential Mechanical Train: Horizon
He sent a message:
"I'll trade privately with you. Give me 100 Murphy Stones, and I'll give you 1 million units of iron ore. Don't tell anyone; it'll disrupt market prices, and I won't be able to sell later. We'll trade in person. I'll send you the coordinates."
"Oh, changed your mind? Weren't you able to trade remotely?"
"The condition for remote trading is that the message must be pinned to the top of the chat, which would expose me. Say yes or no. If not, I'll find someone else."
"Smart. Send me the coordinates. We'll meet in person."
"Sent. I'll wait for you."
Good.
Chen Mang chuckled softly before consuming 300,000 units of iron ore to upgrade the Red-Tier Accessory, the Geothermal Core Furnace, to level 9. The locomotive slowly opened, revealing countless high-speed spinning gears within.
It swallowed the entire Tier 9 Train whole.
The sound of steel grinding and pulverizing filled the air.
870,000 units of iron ore gained.
"Tsk."
In the Zombie Basin, inside the Horizon, a Tier 9 Train, a woman sitting in a chair pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes were filled with contempt as she stared at the Stellaris's information on the train panel. She could guess what the Stellaris was thinking: to quickly reach level 9 and escape this Zombie Basin zone.
Too bad.
Even reaching level 9 wouldn't allow it to leave.
But it didn't matter. She would secure the 100 murphy stones first. When the Stellaris realized it couldn't escape and came begging for help, then she would organize all the trains to gather and prepare to jointly resist the impending crisis.
As for the million units of iron ore?
She had no intention of giving any.
Her train, with B-Tier potential, came equipped with a "Train Special Skill" and a Blue Large Firepower Accessory, the "Light Energy Cannon." As a Tier 9 Train, she wasn't particularly intimidated by the Stellaris.
Even though the Stellaris boasted an absurd number of overpowered effects and S-rank potential, in a real fight, the outcome would be far from certain.
But she had no intention of fighting. She planned to simply promise the iron ore after the Zombie Volcano subsided. Could the Stellaris really dare to attack her then? Would it risk offending her at such a critical juncture?
Two facts stood clear before her:
First, without a collective call from all Tier 9 Trains, it would be impossible to gather the trains together. The Stellaris's individual influence wasn't enough.
Second, even if all trains heeded the Stellaris's call and surrendered all their copper ore, it wouldn't matter. How could a single train, even the Stellaris, withstand such a massive zombie horde with its limited weaponry?
They needed the Tier 9 Trains.
Only they and a handful of veteran Tier 8 Trains possessed the power to kill Tier 9 Zombies!
Completing the B-grade difficulty Mechanical Class Change Mission required a significant amount of murphy stone.
She had tasted the exquisite allure of murphy stone.
This only intensified her craving for it.
"If they could casually offer 100, there must be more, right?"
A strange light flickered in the woman's eyes as she eagerly pushed the control stick, turning the train toward the coordinates.
Zombie Basin
On a desolate wasteland, a Tier 7 flesh train stood quietly to the side.
It was the Stellaris, disguised as a flesh train using the "Mechanical Tentacles" accessory.
At this moment, it was approximately 8,000 meters from the coordinates.
He wasn't sure if the Tier 9 train, the Horizon, would come, so all he could do was wait patiently.
Just then—
"It's here!"
The target acquisition radar showed a Tier 9 train rapidly approaching.
The Stellaris's front drill quickly extended and began spinning at high speed, vanishing into the ground. Deep beneath the surface, it rapidly closed in on the approaching Tier 9 train.
Soon, it was traveling parallel to and directly beneath the Horizon.
They were now only 300 meters from the coordinates.
But he wouldn't wait any longer.
In the next instant!
Train Skill: Death Spin!
A metal storm of high-speed spinning blades erupted from the ground, targeting the Horizon's locomotive cabin in an instant.
The rapidly rotating drill pierced through the Horizon's locomotive cabin.
Then, the high-speed spinning vehicle blades on either side of the carriages enveloped the cabin.
In the blink of an eye, the battle was over.
The Tier 9 train, the Horizon, was destroyed.
The Stellaris, completely invisible on Radar, struck like a venomous snake that had been lying dormant in the ground for ages.
One strike, instant death.
The Tier 9 Train hadn't even managed to activate its energy shield. This was another drawback of energy shields: they only activated automatically upon sensing an attack. In a situation like the Stellaris's sudden emergence from the ground, the energy shield simply couldn't activate in time.
The locomotive cabin, protected by only 3rd-tier armor, was crushed almost instantly.
The second and third carriages, carried forward by their momentum, slammed into the Stellaris as it burst from the ground, instantly mangled in a similar fashion.
The remaining carriages, losing their balance, crashed into an empty field nearby.
It was like a headless centipede.
Wheels spun on the overturned carriages, their rotation slowing as their power supply dwindled.
The entire battle, from start to finish, lasted less than three seconds.
If Chen Mang hadn't limited the vehicle blade's extension to just one meter instead of its full ten-meter reach, the fully extended blade could have sliced through nearly half of the 19-carriage train.
Building a Tier 9 Train truly took an incredibly long time.
Even for Chen Mang, it had taken nearly three months to progress from a Tier 1 Train to his current Tier 7 Train.
For others, even if they were as fast as him, building a Tier 9 Train would still take at least four months.
(End of the Chapter)
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