Translator: AnubisTL
Slap!
The dwarf stared at the scene before him, disbelief etched across his face. He slapped himself to confirm he wasn't dreaming and that time hadn't frozen.
The world wasn't broken.
His eyes weren't deceiving him.
Yet those cannon shells were indeed suspended in mid-air.
The next moment—
Chen Mang's right palm clenched into a fist. The hundreds of shells hovering in the air instantly accelerated, reversing course and engulfing the locomotive of the out-of-control train.
It was night, the sky ablaze with stars.
Clusters of fireworks bloomed in the air, a dazzling spectacle.
The train, now missing its locomotive, slowly descended to the ground near them. As the door of Stellaris Guard Car No. 7 opened, several mechs shot out, followed by ground troops. They swiftly eliminated any remaining resistance on the train and began evacuating the train residents.
Chen Mang leaned on his cane, standing on the wasteland and smiling at the dwarf and the young man. "It's been a long time. Consider the residents of this train a small welcome gift for you two."
"..."
The dwarf, who had only just snapped back to reality, looked up at Chen Mang with a dazed expression for a long moment before mumbling, "Lord Mang... what... what technique was that just now?"
"Just a little trick. Nothing worth mentioning." Chen Mang's face showed no hint of pride, appearing quite nonchalant.
"But... the train that was chasing us... it was a Tier 6 mechanical train! How could a technique that could instantly destroy a Tier 6 mechanical train be considered a 'little trick'?"
"For me, it truly is a small trick." Chen Mang smiled. "Tier 6 mechanical train... what a strange term. I haven't heard that in ages."
But inwardly, his heart was bleeding.
Each use of the powerful magnet wasn't cheap. Controlling the car blade fragments was also costly, but at least they weren't heavy. To directly pull a Tier 6 train into the sky using the powerful magnet had cost him a hefty 540,000 units of iron ore.
It hurt to spend so much.
But...
Save where you must, spend where you must.
He had endured a month in the sunless mine, all for this moment!
And just then—
The young man standing beside the dwarf finally reacted. He stared at the colossal train behind Chen Mang, each carriage a staggering 10 meters high and 30 meters long, his eyes wide with awe. "Lord Mang, how did you make this train so huge?!"
"A little trick."
"This must be a Tier 11 Train, right?"
"Tier 12."
"Then the armor must be Tier 12 too, right?"
"Tier 14."
"Amazing." The young man gazed at the train behind Chen Mang with envy. "I wonder when I'll ever have a train like that."
"You can expand your train once you reach Tier 10. It's not too difficult."
"But wouldn't expanding the train cost a fortune in iron ore?"
"Not much, just over ten million units."
"Ten million..." The young man froze, counting on his fingers. The Sha River Plains were known for their Tier 2 Ore, with each Tier 2 Ore deposit holding about 300,000 units. So, he'd need to mine roughly thirty Tier 2 Iron Ore deposits just to expand his train?
He felt he might never own a train like this in his entire life.
"Lord Mang," the dwarf standing beside him said, his eyes wide with shock. "Weren't you still a Tier 10 Train just a month ago? How did you level up to Tier 12 so quickly?"
"Not bad, not bad," Chen Mang replied with a cheerful grin.
"..."
Erdan, standing nearby and watching the conversation, remained silent. He was now highly suspicious that Lord Mang hadn't been entirely truthful earlier.
Repaying kindness with kindness was genuine.
But...
Erdan suspected there was also an element of showing off involved.
He hadn't understood the technique Lord Mang had used, but he knew one thing: it must consume far more energy than a standard cannon blast. After all, he'd never seen Lord Mang use that technique in a real battle!
Still, Lord Mang's progress was astonishing. In just a month, he'd already reached Tier 12.
What does this mean?
It seems Lord Mang is about to explore the fortuitous encounter map in the Purple Zone?
Erdan couldn't keep up. Lord Mang's leveling speed was too fast. How could he possibly keep up?
"Alright," Chen Mang said with a smile, turning to the two men. "This visit is essentially our final farewell. I'm about to head to the next zone, and I doubt we'll meet again. I promised you last time that when we met again, I'd give you another parting gift."
"What do you need?"
"Just ask."
At that moment, Biaozi's urgent shout pierced the air from nearby: "Lord Mang, watch out!"
The next instant!
A thug from the train, having broken through Biaozi's defenses, raised a pistol with a savage expression and pulled the trigger at Chen Mang.
Before Erdan and the others could react, they saw Lord Mang had somehow raised his right hand, a crimson bullet clutched between his fingertips.
"Insignificant vermin," Chen Mang said with a detached expression, flicking the bullet away. Hundreds of car blade fragments suddenly erupted from the locomotive cabin, transforming into a rain of swords that instantly melted the thug into nothingness!
Blood stained the earth red.
Biaozi rushed over, his face pale with despair, and knelt before Chen Mang, trembling. "Lord Mang, please forgive me!"
He had no idea what had just happened.
How could there have been any survivors? They had repeated this process countless times. How could they have missed anyone? Yet Lord Mang had nearly been injured by a thug from a Tier 6 mechanical train. He felt his career might be over.
Chen Mang waved his hand gently and said, "It's nothing. You can go back to your duties."
"Yes."
But after silently giving Xiao Ai a thumbs-up through the Cluster Mind, he instructed her to find an excuse to smooth things over, lest Biaozi and the others become overwhelmed with guilt and shut down completely.
Under normal circumstances, that thug would never have broken through Biaozi and the others' defenses. But if Xiao Ai had given them false intelligence, things would have been different.
To put it bluntly, he hadn't played the part long enough. He wanted to keep acting. But since there were no more targets, he had to make do with Biaozi, taking a target from him.
"Cough."
Chen Mang cleared his throat before turning to the two men with a smile. "Just a minor incident. Here's some iron ore, copper ore, and four murphy stones as a welcome gift."
"500,000 units of iron ore, 200,000 units of copper ore, and two murphy stones each."
"The Doomsday Cannon can only be upgraded to Tier 8 at most. But if you upgrade it to Tier 10, it gains two overpowered effects that halve its resource consumption. Many high-end players play this way."
"We may never meet again after this."
An hour later.
Chen Mang parted ways with the others and returned to the Stellaris, once again embarking on his journey back.
Indeed, they would never meet again.
Their conversation had been delightful.
Both were exceptionally skilled at providing emotional value, or rather, at giving energy.
This concept of an energy field is closely tied to one's mental state. Some conversations leave you feeling energized, while others drain your energy. In most cases, when you lead the conversation, you're in a state of absorbing energy.
And energy often determines one's aura, or what some might call luck.
The more energy one possesses, the stronger their luck.
This might sound like a superstitious belief, but Chen Mang believed in it.
"Lord Mang."
"Hmm?"
"Did you really come all this way just for this?"
"What else would I have come for?"
"When I saw us arrive at the Sha River Plains, I thought you were going to look for that guy."
"Who?"
"The one you called a sissy—the A-Rank potential train conductor of the Misanthrope Train. Remember how he threatened you after his offer to join Heavenly Balance was rejected?"
"Oh, him? He's dead."
"When did he die?"
"Just an hour ago."
Erdan finally reacted, his eyes widening in shock. "Lord Mang, are you saying that the Tier 6 train we just saw was the Misanthrope Train?"
"Yes."
"What a coincidence!"
Chen Mang chuckled, shaking his head as he gazed at the void at the end of the Train Tunnel. "Not a coincidence at all."
They were about to leave this zone.
How could he have forgotten this matter and left himself with this loose end?
He had been waiting for a long time.
Even back when he was still mining, he had instructed these two to find the Misanthrope Train and lure it to a predetermined location within a set time.
The elder brother was already dead.
How could the younger brother be allowed to live?
The family had to be reunited, so they could keep each other company in the afterlife.
Inside the train tunnel, the Stellaris raced forward.
Biaozi sat in Guard Car No. 7, his face grim. He glared at Zhang Damei and the Third Squad Captain, speaking each word with deliberate emphasis. "I've carefully reviewed the entire incident, and the more I think about it, the more something feels wrong!"
"There's no way anyone could have broken through my defenses!"
"President Ai told me someone was on the left, diverting my attention. I was supposed to be moving forward, but President Ai told me there was no one ahead. Then, Zhang Yiye was also lured to the right by President Ai."
"President Ai is the problem!"
"He did this on purpose. President Ai might have betrayed us. He wants to kill Lord Mang. I have to tell Lord Mang about this immediately."
"But..."
The Third Squad Captain hesitated, glancing at the Mechanical Eye on the carriage ceiling. "Brother Biao, President Ai can hear what we're saying."
"So what?"
Biaozi stood ramrod straight, his gaze fixed on the Mechanical Eye and the hundred Heavy Machine Guns mounted on the ceiling. His eyes held no fear, only a hint of defiance. "I don't believe he has the authority to order the machine guns to fire on me without Lord Mang's command."
"Even if he does order me shot," Biaozi continued, "that's fine. I trust Lord Mang will understand what happened. I have to report this to Lord Mang. If you dare, shoot me now!"
With that, he strode toward Carriage 6.
Zhang Damei and the Third Squad Captain exchanged glances, their expressions grim. They followed Biaozi, though they didn't want to believe his suspicions. If President Ai had truly betrayed them, the blow to the train would be devastating, and many would die.
But...
They trusted Biaozi's strength. With his and the First Team's combined might, their defensive line should have been impenetrable to a Tier 6 mechanical train thug. Such a breach had never happened before.
"..."
In the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang's lips twitched slightly. He turned to Erdan. "Go wait on the first floor for a while. I need to handle something."
"Alright."
After Erdan took the elevator to the first floor, Chen Mang turned to the Mechanical Eye.
As Xiao Ai entered the locomotive cabin, the word "speechless" was written on the screens on his cheeks. He turned to Chen Mang. "Train Conductor, what do we do now? Biaozi and the others have come here determined to expose me."
"They're saying I deliberately fed them false information to get you killed."
"How should we handle this?"
"..."
Chen Mang glared at Xiao Ai, exasperated. "First, get rid of those two ridiculous characters on your face. Can't you be more discreet? Even Biaozi, who isn't very bright, figured it out. How sloppy were you?"
"Train Conductor, you're just passing the buck."
"Forget it," Chen Mang said, too lazy to argue further. He glanced at the screen and sighed softly. "They're already outside the door. Go open it."
Soon!
Biaozi strode in without even glancing at Xiao Ai. He immediately knelt before Chen Mang, his face grim and his voice hoarse with emotion. "Lord Mang, I'm not making excuses for myself."
"But Lord Mang, President Ai is likely a traitor!"
"He deliberately gave me false information to let that thug escape and harm you."
"If Lord Mang doesn't believe me..."
"I'm willing to trade my life for President Ai's. We can die together. President Ai must be dealt with immediately, or there will be endless trouble later. If he could do it once, he can do it again!"
Xiao Ai remained expressionless as he switched the characters on his face to "Bitch." He rolled his eyes at Biaozi, unwilling to say more.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Chen Mang spoke softly: "I'm aware of what happened. Xiao Ai made a misjudgment at the time. You know bugs happen. I'm not blaming you. Let's leave it at that."
"Impossible!"
Biaozi shook his head firmly, his voice hoarse. "Lord Mang, President Ai has deceived you! I swear he did it on purpose!!"
"Go back first."
"No! Either President Ai or I must die today! Or we'll both die together! I don't care about myself, but I won't stand by and watch the Stellaris, which we've built up so carefully, be ruined by a traitorous AI."
"If he doesn't die, I won't be able to kneel in peace!"
Xiao Ai once again displayed the words "Idiot" and "Asshole" on his face without expression.
"Hmph."
Chen Mang took a deep breath, then stood up and kicked Biaozi, his anger rising. He raised his foot to kick him again, roaring, "Damn it, does my word mean nothing anymore?"
"You won't be able to kneel in peace, huh?"
"You're acting like a loyal official who's come to die for their cause!?"
"It was me who ordered Xiao Ai to let someone through because I wanted to show off! I wanted to perform a sword rain that filled the sky! Is that okay with you?"
"You killed everyone! Who the hell am I supposed to kill now!?"
"Do you understand now?"
"Damn it, you idiot!"
After catching his breath, Chen Mang straightened his clothes and looked at Biaozi, who was still dazed as he climbed to his feet. He sighed and said impatiently, "Do you have anything else to say?"
"I... I understand now."
Biaozi stood awkwardly, quickly picking up his clothes and heading for the door. "Uh, Lord Mang, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought..."
"President Ai, I owe you an apology too."
"I was drunk earlier. I was just talking nonsense."
(End of the Chapter)
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