Translator: AnubisTL
If he had Tier 14 armor, he'd feel much safer.
But for now, he'd hold off. He didn't have enough iron ore. Once the Train Expansion was complete, he planned to upgrade his armor first.
Back in the Green Zone, everyone's firepower accessories were Blue or Yellow grade, and they could only be upgraded to Tier 5 or Tier 8 at most. His armor was more than sufficient. Now, in the Crisis Valley Zone, everyone had Red-Tier Accessories that could be upgraded to Tier 10 or higher. It left him feeling completely insecure.
Upgrading firepower accessories cost far less iron ore than upgrading defensive components.
He checked his Iron Ore Balance: 9,010,000 units. He hoped to find Tier 4 Iron Ore tonight. The Cosmic Receiver had already begun manufacturing it.
He had also devoured the few Ordinary Carriages he had acquired, collecting all the Tier 100 car blade fragments they contained and storing them in the refrigerator in the locomotive cabin.
As material for the next "Ten Thousand Swords Unleashed."
This thing...
Leaving aside its power, its effects are simply stunning. Most importantly, no other train conductor can replicate it—it's his unique signature move!
As for the 1,200 survivors...
With the addition of 1,200 survivors, the train's population surged to over 6,500.
Another massive increase.
In truth, the train no longer needed more miners. It truly didn't. As the iron ore grade increased, a single mine could yield a substantial amount of iron ore with minimal manpower.
At this point, the number of mines, not the number of survivors, determined the train's iron ore acquisition rate.
Yet—
He still took them in. After all, according to his grand plan, he would need a vast workforce to maintain his "Neon City" in the future.
The usual procedure: starve them in the refrigerator for three days, then decide.
For the train, accommodating over a thousand extra mouths posed no significant burden. But for those below, it meant the path to advancement had become much narrower.
Initially, the residents numbered in the 1000s experienced rapid Advancement. They woke up each day to mining, finding immense satisfaction in their work and progressing at an astonishing rate.
For the residents numbered after 4000, however, the situation was drastically different—too many wolves and too little meat. There simply wasn't enough iron ore to mine.
The good news: they had longer rest periods.
The bad news: the Advancement pathway seemed to have closed.
"Time to sleep," Chen Mang said, stretching his limbs. He walked into the nearby refrigerator-bathroom, washed up, and wrapped himself in a towel before heading to bed. The little guy was already asleep on a chair.
Chen Mang hadn't slept properly in a long time. His body was starting to feel the strain.
Before drifting off, he gave Xiao Ai one last instruction.
"If you can't find Tier 4 Iron Ore, Tier 3 will do. We need to start working first thing in the morning."
"Understood."
Old Pig arrived at Carriage 10 "Entertainment" and gazed at the brightly lit Film Studio, teeming with people and bustling with noise. After a moment's hesitation, he pushed open the door.
Even though it was late at night, filming was still underway. Many people were dressed in suits, suggesting they had begun shooting modern films.
"Trainmaster Zhu, you've arrived," someone greeted him.
Seeing this, Zhang Yiren rushed over excitedly. "Your advice last time was incredibly helpful. This time, I've made a film with no adult content, focusing entirely on the plot."
"It's about a rich second-generation heir who runs over and kills someone while driving."
"But because his family's power is overwhelming, he manages to escape conviction. At the final court hearing, his family hires a lawyer with a 100% success rate."
"Then, the victim's family pretends to be the lawyer and tricks the protagonist into confessing all the details of his crime."
"After the family leaves, the protagonist hears the doorbell. When he opens the door, he finds someone claiming to be his real lawyer standing outside."
"The entire film is full of twists and turns, with constant climaxes!"
"It tells the story of how ordinary people can rise up against those in power and ultimately achieve victory, crushing the so-called elite under their feet. The film is filled with positive themes of resistance, struggle, and defiance against authority!"
"..."
Old Pig spat into his mouth with a blank expression before slapping Zhang Yiren on the forehead. "Resistance! Struggle! Defiance against authority! You actually dared to make this film!"
"Who are you resisting? Who are you struggling against?"
"Should we let Lord Mang play the villainous male lead again?"
"Your subject matter is too sensitive. They could execute you right now!"
"If you're making a movie, just make a movie. Stop trying to elevate it with some kind of 'value enhancement'."
"Lord Mang told me not to interfere too much with the ideas of the people below. Just shoot your film as planned. Don't worry about my suggestions. Stick with your original 'Kill the Grass' script and keep filming."
"That's absolutely out of the question."
"You should know better than to even consider it."
"You're not a cat. Value your life."
With that, Old Pig strode out of the Film Studio, leaving Zhang Yiren standing there, completely bewildered.
"..."
After a long moment, Zhang Yiren looked down at the script he'd just written. Only after Trainmaster Zhu's warning did he realize that a film depicting class conflict was indeed too sensitive to make. The class structure on the train was clearly defined; who would they be fighting against?
He couldn't help but shiver. Thank goodness he hadn't filmed it yet.
If he had, and some idiot had shouted, "Resist! Struggle!"
His head would have rolled off along with that idiot's.
"Let's stick to the zombie-slaying-by-slapping method," Old Pig suggested. "It's a bit crude, but the people love it, and it's safe—won't get your head chopped off."
"Alright, cut!"
"We're switching scripts. Costume department, bring out all the clothes from the previous script. We're continuing where we left off."
"Uncle Li."
Old Pig stood inside Carriage 15, the "Breeding Carriage," beaming at Uncle Li. "Lord Mang has officially responded to your Zombie Grinding Cage experiment today, offering high praise and affirmation."
"From now on, the train will provide you with all the resources you need for your experiment."
"Just go to the Resident Store for anything you need. If they don't have it, contact me directly."
"And I've brought the person you requested."
Zhang Yi, following behind, shook the refrigerator, and a terrified man tumbled out.
"Furthermore..." Old Pig looked at Uncle Li with a meaningful smile. "Lord Mang explicitly stated that if your Zombie Grinding Cage experiment succeeds, you will be granted Tier 1 Advanced Talent status. Currently, only three people on the Stellaris enjoy this privilege."
"I spoke highly of you to Lord Mang."
"Understood, understood!"
Uncle Li stood ramrod straight, his face flushed with excitement. "I will certainly live up to Lord Mang's and the Stellaris' expectations! I'm also deeply grateful to Trainmaster Zhu for speaking so well of me to Lord Mang. Words can't express my gratitude. You'll see my performance in the future!"
"Keep up the good work. You know I've always believed in you from the start."
"When I refused to let you become a teacher, it wasn't to make things difficult for you. I just felt it was a waste of your talents."
"I understand, Trainmaster Zhu!"
"Alright, you should get back to work. I'll be going now."
"Farewell, Trainmaster Zhu!"
Whew
After Old Pig left, Li Shucai stood rooted to the spot, taking deep breaths. It took a long moment for his breathing to steady. His hand trembled uncontrollably as he lit a cigarette and brought it to his lips. His eyes reddened, and his voice rasped with emotion.
"Did you see that? Laozi has finally risen!"
"First-Level Advanced Talent待遇!"
"Even higher than Li Shiji!"
"I told you all along! Even if I were just a pig farmer, I'd still reach the pinnacle of pig farming! Give me any platform, any opportunity, and I'll make it work! That's my ability!"
"Lord Mang has seen all our hard work these past few days."
"Um..." the young man who had been following Uncle Li whispered, "Lord Mang only promised. You haven't actually done it yet. It's a bit premature to pop the Champagne."
"You don't understand."
Uncle Li shook his head, his eyes slightly red. "At first, I had no idea where to start. I just felt like I needed to do something. As I worked, the idea of a Zombie Grinding Cage came to me, but I wasn't sure if it was the right approach or if it would even be useful for the train."
"I was just doing it out of my own pocket."
"But now—"
"Lord Mang has validated my idea! Didn't you hear Trainmaster Zhu? Lord Mang gave me high praise and affirmation, which means I'm on the right track!"
"In your eyes, it's just a promise."
"But in my eyes, it's Lord Mang acknowledging all the effort I've poured in these past few days and telling me I'm on the right path—that I'm not wrong! To keep going with unwavering determination!"
"Those are two different things!"
Sigh.
Uncle Li took a deep breath, wiping the moisture from his eyes with his sleeve before pointing at the man tied up on the ground. "Go, tie him to the pillar first. We'll continue the experiment tonight!"
"I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!!!"
Lord Shen, his face contorted with terror as he was bound to the pillar, looked at Uncle Li, who was approaching him with a sharp blade. He screamed hysterically, "Don't come any closer! I'll talk! Isn't that enough?!"
"Uh..."
Uncle Li hesitated slightly, stopping in his tracks to look at Lord Shen tied to the pillar. "What do you want to say?"
"I don't know!" Lord Shen cried, on the verge of collapse. "You haven't asked me anything! Just ask, and I'll tell you!"
"Wait."
Uncle Li turned to the young man beside him. "Go ask President Ai if Lord Mang wants to extract any information from this man."
"Yes."
A minute later.
The young man returned, shaking his head. "I asked President Ai. He said Lord Mang has no interest in this man and that we can do whatever we want with him."
"Understood."
Uncle Li glanced at Lord Shen, bound to a pillar, with a strange expression. "Did you really think you knew some secret? Just bear with it, it's going to hurt a little."
The next moment—
"Aaaah!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the refrigerator.
"Quick, take it to that zombie and connect it!"
"Understood, Uncle Li!"
...
Lord Shen, tied to the pillar, trembled violently from the excruciating pain. He desperately wanted to faint, but the demon-like man before him had injected some unknown serum that kept his mind crystal clear, preventing him from losing consciousness.
The searing pain tormented every nerve in his body.
At that moment, he deeply regretted everything.
He regretted stepping forward as the first to speak, regretting choosing "Immediate Ejection" over "Immediate Self-Destruct," and regretting that when he detonated in the refrigerator, he only destroyed the special item instead of taking himself with it.
He had assumed his captors wanted to extract information from him. After all, as the train conductor of a Tier 12 Mechanical Train, he surely knew secrets others didn't.
But...
From start to finish, he hadn't seen Lord Mang at all.
Nor had anyone come to interrogate him.
He'd originally planned to play tough, revealing only half the information to secure his survival. But now the script seemed to be unfolding differently than he'd anticipated. Wouldn't Lord Mang be curious about the opportunities he'd encountered to reach Tier 12 on the Mechanical Train?
The entire Crisis Valley knew!
He'd been chased into the Crisis Valley from a low-tier train and only risen to prominence after stumbling upon a major opportunity. Wouldn't Lord Mang be curious about this "major opportunity"?
Especially...
Especially...
When he saw the zombies chained up nearby, their faces etched with despair, he realized this was the first time he'd ever seen anyone keeping zombies on a train. Compared to this, the 100-square-meter refrigerator seemed utterly unremarkable.
Especially when his...
"Hmm."
In Breeding Car 15, Uncle Li narrowed his eyes, arms crossed, and gazed at the chained zombies before him. "President Ai just sent me some advanced intelligence about the train's current status. This confirms that my research direction has been correct all along."
"Zombies can't reproduce normally."
"But—"
"The planetary consciousness can be deceived."
"In other words, we can trick the planetary consciousness into overflowing core energy at designated locations to create more zombies through reproduction. These zombies would be born through a reproductive process, but the core energy within them would be far less than that contained in a single unit of Tier 4 Iron Ore. This means we need an assembly line, constantly churning out zombies!"
"All we need to do is connect the Zombie Crushers, converters, and Containment Units!"
"No wonder Lord Mang values my plan so highly. If it succeeds, my name, Uncle Li, will be etched in the history of Stellaris, forever celebrated by future generations!"
"This is a monumental achievement, rivaling Trainmaster Zhu's service to the Dragon!"
"Whether I rise to prominence depends entirely on how this operation goes!"
"Young man."
"You're fortunate. The train you're riding is about to take off."
"You mean the Stellaris?"
"I'll do it," I said.
"You?"
"Didn't you say last time I was your train?"
"Oh, right, yes! Uncle Li, you can do it! You're the best!"
The young man looked at Uncle Li with genuine seriousness and admiration, giving him a thumbs-up.
"..."
Lord Shen, bound to the pillar, gazed at the two men before him with despair and agony in his eyes. He didn't fully understand their talk of planetary consciousness and core energy, but he could grasp the gist.
He was likely one of the plan's primary experimental subjects.
The good news: he wouldn't die anytime soon.
The bad news: he'd rather his mother had died instead.
(End of the Chapter)
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