Translator: AnubisTL
"You didn't mention the Stellaris when you were out, did you?"
Upon hearing this, the deputy train conductor of the Azure Dragon Train and the other thugs' eyes, which had previously held a flicker of disappointment, regained a glimmer of hope. Having a stellar coupon wasn't bad; they might not be officially part of the Stellaris's crew, but they'd still be considered external personnel.
At least with the Stellaris backing them, their quality of life and sense of security would improve significantly.
"Brother Dan," the deputy train conductor said with a solemn and earnest expression, "I don't know what others think, but I know you gave me a second chance at life. I will be loyal to you alone for the rest of my days!"
"Whether or not I have a stellar coupon doesn't matter. As long as I'm working for you, Brother Dan, I'll do anything you ask."
"..."
The thugs behind him stared impassively at the deputy train conductor's back. This was the deputy train conductor—look at how effortlessly he switched between emotions. Even they couldn't manage such rapid mood changes in mere seconds; it was quite a feat.
"You're the one, alright," Erdan said, patting the deputy train conductor's shoulder with a touch of admiration. "You truly live up to your role as my second-in-command. Your loyalty is unwavering."
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Once the Stellaris returns, I'll discuss the details with Old Pig."
The main focus was the details of upgrading the Azure Dragon.
Soon after, the Stellaris returned and once again came to a stop on the hillside.
"Trainmaster Zhu!"
As the train slowly came to a halt, Old Pig stepped out of Guard Car No. 7. Erdan's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed forward. "From now on, we're all colleagues. Please take care of me."
"Boss Dan, you're too polite," Old Pig replied with a smile, shaking Erdan's outstretched hands before casually draping an arm around his shoulders. "Lord Mang and I chatted briefly on the train. He has two ideas for your Azure Dragon."
"First, we could simply keep your current Azure Dragon."
"Second... we could rebuild it for you!"
"Rebuild it?"
"Yes," Old Pig said with a smile. "By chance, the train just acquired a Rare Train Token. Trains crafted using a Rare Train Token can randomly obtain two red-grade train components."
"Furthermore, Lord Mang still hasn't completed the S-Rank Mechanical Class Change Mission, 'Underwater Labyrinth.'"
"Lord Mang's idea is to rebuild a train for you, then deliberately fail the mission, allowing you to successfully complete the S-Rank Difficulty Mechanical Transmutation Tier mission. This would grant you S-Rank potential, a self-selected train special ability, and a red-grade Heavy Firepower Component."
"Which one do you think is more suitable?"
"This..."
A flicker of shock flashed in Erdan's eyes. He muttered in disbelief, "A Rare Train Token + s-rank potential?"
"That's so extravagant!"
"But wouldn't that consume a lot of resources? Even though the Azure Dragon only has one locomotive, leveling it up quickly to its current Tier 7 would still require a significant amount of resources. This..."
"Mm."
Old Pig nodded. "Lord Mang calculated the cost. It will indeed consume a bit more resources, roughly an additional one million units of iron ore. But Lord Mang said that when he was in the Iron Ridge Wasteland, even 50,000 units of iron ore could leave him gasping for breath. Now, 50,000 units of iron ore isn't too difficult for him to obtain."
"He could earn that much just by selling a few packs of cigarettes."
"As the train grows, its resource extraction efficiency increases. While a million units of iron ore might seem like a lot now, it won't be so significant when the train reaches Tier 10 or even Tier 15."
"Since your train's Tier isn't high yet, restarting now would be ideal. Once you reach a higher Tier, not only would it waste a lot of resources, but you might not even get the chance."
"Of course, I'm fine with that!"
Erdan couldn't help but grin, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "It just feels a bit like getting something for nothing. I haven't done anything yet..."
"Don't worry about it. Didn't Lord Mang save your life with a missile? Consider it a trade."
"Huh? Can we really trade like that?"
"Of course not. I just wanted to remind you, in case you forgot."
"I'll never forget that!"
"If you're okay with it, then it's settled. Lord Mang wants your train to become stronger so you can get better rewards in the fortuitous encounter maps. He has high hopes for your 'Azure Dragon'."
"But Lord Mang has one condition."
"What condition?"
"You need to rename your new train."
"Rename it? Not 'Azure Dragon' anymore?"
"Call it 'Travel Frog'."
"Uh... I guess that's okay, but what does it mean?"
"I have no idea. It's just Lord Mang's little quirk."
"Were you just talking smack about Lord Mang behind his back?"
"I didn't do anything wrong. I just mentioned a hobby. Isn't that normal?"
Stellaris, locomotive cabin.
Chen Mang stared at Mundo and the two others before him with a complex expression. After a long silence, he turned his gaze to the six murphy stones on the table. He had given them to Mundo to sell to high-tier trains just before the crisis erupted, hoping to gather enough iron ore.
Mundo had indeed returned during the crisis.
However, he had already collected enough iron ore by then and no longer needed to sell the stones.
But...
Chen Mang hadn't expected Mundo to fail to sell even a single murphy stone. Or rather, he had sold them, but never delivered them.
"..."
Chen Mang sighed deeply, lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and pointed weakly at the refrigerator filled with iron ore. "Doba, come explain exactly what happened here."
"Yes, Lord Mang!"
Doba puffed out his chest proudly. "Reporting to Lord Mang, Mundo, as the greatest black market merchant, perfectly completed his mission. He sold all six murphy stones, exchanging them for over a million units of iron ore and various resources."
"And leveraging his identity as a black market merchant, he had the train conductors pay upfront. The moment he received the payment, he teleported away, leaving not a trace behind!"
"Completed several transactions perfectly within 18 hours!"
Mundo, who had been somewhat terrified by Lord Mang's expression, wondering if he had done something wrong, immediately felt reassured after seeing his Clan Leader's expression. He puffed out his chest with pride, awaiting Lord Mang's praise.
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent for a long moment, his face expressionless, before tapping his index finger knuckle lightly on the table. "Perhaps it's a matter of cultural differences. In the Human Clan, what you did isn't called trade; it's called highway robbery."
"Did you mention the Stellaris's name while you were out?"
"No."
"Good. Don't mention it in the future either. Go get a new black cloak made—one that covers you completely."
"Understood!"
"Leave now. I need to rest. I'll call you later."
He watched their retreating figures, sighed again, and waved Xiao Fang, who had been standing at the door, to leave as well.
He could already picture the scene.
After all, a "black market merchant" was a fortuitous encounter!
When he first met Mundo, a few lines of text had appeared on the train control panel screen:
[Apocalypse Fortuitous Encounter: Black Market Merchant.
His whereabouts are uncertain; he might appear on any train. However, only trains with Legacy Value can purchase rare and precious items from him.
Attacking, imprisoning, or harming the Black Market Merchant is strictly forbidden.]
Under these circumstances, who would suspect this Black Market Merchant's motives?
Since he's a black market merchant, selling a few murphy stones seems perfectly reasonable, especially if you have Legacy Value.
And with the rules forbidding attacks, imprisonment, or harm, the consequences of violating them are unspoken but clear. In this situation, no train conductor would dare attack Mundo.
So—
When the train conductors excitedly descended, carrying their Storage Boxes, ready to exchange murphy stones with Mundo, they found him tossing the boxes into the refrigerator. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving only a bewildered train conductor standing alone in the freezing wind.
They'd probably rather believe the Black Market Merchant had gone home with a stomachache than admit he'd run off.
To be honest, the haul was substantial. It seemed Mundo could make this a regular practice. As long as he encountered high tier trains, he could essentially rob the rich to help the poor, depending on the random encounter. It all came down to luck.
Very good.
Mundo will now also be a Travel Frog owner. With Erdan already having one, he now has two. He just needs to stay comfortably aboard the Stellaris, and his Travel Frogs will bring him a steady stream of abundant resources.
He turned his head to glance at the train panel.
Thanks to the divine maneuver of that black market merchant, the train's iron ore resources had surged to 2,020,000 units!
There was nothing left to say!
They could immediately restart the Azure Dragon!
To avoid any further complications—since no one had chosen the S-rank class change earlier, but now someone had—he immediately headed out of the locomotive cabin.
As for the Rare Train Token, it had dropped from a Tier 9 Monster.
"Farewell, my old friend."
Inside the Azure Dragon.
Erdan stood in the locomotive cabin, a hint of reluctance in his eyes as he gazed at the accessories. Every accessory that could be removed had already been taken off—the headlight, the Vehicle Audio System, the third-rate heavy machine gun, the Bunny Cloud, and the nitrous tailpipe.
The remaining accessories that couldn't be removed would have to stay on the train.
After one last sweep of the locomotive cabin, he took a deep breath and, on the train crew panel, chose to relinquish his position as train conductor and forgo appointing a successor.
In the next moment—
The profound connection he had felt with the train vanished instantly. The familiar locomotive cabin now seemed strangely foreign, evoking the hollow ache of losing a mother.
Empty.
When his mother died, he hadn't grieved much.
It was only one day after work, when he instinctively opened the refrigerator and saw the dumplings she had wrapped for him before she passed, that he froze in place. He realized he was truly alone in the world.
From that moment on, he began to wander the world, for he no longer had a home.
"Alright," Erdan said, his mind racing through countless thoughts. He stepped off the train and glanced wistfully at Chen Mang, Old Pig, and the others standing nearby. "I'll miss my old friends."
But he smiled, clutching the Train Auxiliary AI he had just removed from the train.
"At least I managed to take this accessory with me."
"At least you'll have some company," Old Pig chuckled, tossing a Rare Train Token from his pocket and pointing to a nearby Storage Box. "There's a million units of iron ore in there, along with some Wood and copper ore. Use it as you need."
"Let me know if you need more."
"Alright!"
Erdan took a deep breath and immediately accepted the Rare Token. The next moment, a locomotive formed from countless dotted lines materialized in the air. As the lines gradually solidified, the locomotive descended and crashed heavily onto the ground.
Just like before.
Having been through this once already, Erdan moved with practiced ease. He immediately entered the locomotive cabin and crafted all the available accessories. He then reinstalled all the accessories he had previously removed from the Azure Dragon train.
Using iron ore, he upgraded all the basic accessories to Tier 5.
He also crafted four ordinary carriages for Train Upgrade. Once the upgrade was complete, he began crafting the accessories available for Tier 2 trains.
Soon, he reached Tier 3, with a train consisting of 18 carriages. These carriages had no accessories; they were solely for upgrading the train and would soon be consumed by the Stellaris's Geothermal Core Furnace.
All the requirements for Train Upgrade had been met. As for the total Tier of the train's accessories, the Azure Dragon's original accessories were already maxed out, so that requirement was also satisfied.
The process had reached the class change stage.
"I'm going, Lord Mang!"
"Go ahead."
The moment Erdan selected the S-rank Mechanical Train Class Change Mission, the walkie-talkie in Chen Mang's hand, which had been unresponsive until then, began flashing red and emitting a beeping sound. Chen Mang chuckled, returned to the Stellaris's locomotive cabin, closed the door, and pressed the red button. His vision immediately went black, and his body slumped backward, powerless.
Fifteen minutes later.
"Buzz... buzz... buzz..."
The sound of propellers slicing through the air echoed above the Stellaris's locomotive. A massive drone flew in from the distance, hovering directly overhead. Suspended beneath the drone was a square box.
As the box crashed heavily onto the ground and scattered its contents, a robot stood up.
"So this is what it feels like to be a robot?"
Chen Mang's consciousness was now within the robot's body. He tentatively moved his limbs, finding them stiff and awkward. "Xiao Ai controls this thing all the time?"
Without further delay, Chen Mang strode past Erdan and the others, flicking Old Pig's forehead before heading toward the Travel Frog's final carriage. This was where Erdan had set up the maze's starting point, with the finish line in the locomotive cabin.
Entering the carriage, Chen Mang sat cross-legged on the floor and waited patiently. His mission was to fail the quest, forfeiting the reward of 30 Murphy Stones to grant the Travel Frog S-rank potential.
(End of the Chapter)
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