Translator: AnubisTL
Whether or not the man had cheated, his iron ore still needed to be exchanged. Neon City had to maintain a neutral stance; after all, Sun City was just a large shop within the city.
Neon City was the main entity, not Sun City.
The remaining mess could be left to the Stellaris to handle.
As for the casino's credibility, Sister Qi would take care of it.
Back in the Stellaris's locomotive cabin, Chen Mang paid no mind to the minor incident. The train had already arrived near the ruins of Qiu City, the Main City of the Stone Man Zone. There was no rush to find the Grin and Bear It Train later.
What a ridiculous name.
So awkward.
The train slowly decelerated, coming to a halt with a heavy thud as it slammed onto the ground.
In the distance, a city still vaguely recognizable as modern stood tall. Skyscrapers pierced the sky, but countless buildings had collapsed. Not a single light shone anywhere, and the streets were choked with dust-covered, abandoned vehicles.
There was no sign of life, not a trace of vitality.
This was Qiu City.
Qiu City was the largest city in the Stone Man Zone, with the surrounding three cities serving as its satellite cities.
"Qiu City," Chen Mang murmured, glancing at the mosaic-covered image on the target acquisition radar. It was clearly no longer functioning properly. His eyes narrowed slightly as he whispered, "Impressive. A Tier 100 target acquisition radar, and they just shut it down like that?"
"Xiao Ai."
"Send the first, second, and third teams out to work."
"Yes, sir."
The next moment!
As the door of Guard Car No. 7 opened, two mechs shot out first, hurtling toward the city ruins. The remaining guard members remained inside the refrigerator, carried on the mechs' shoulders.
The roads in these city ruins were far too complex.
Even off-road motorcycles couldn't navigate them properly.
Fortunately, they had the refrigerator.
"President Ai, President Ai..."
Standing at the edge of the refrigerator, Biaozi gripped the handrail tightly, gazing down at the city below. He called out softly several times without a response. Finally, he stretched his stiff limbs and rasped, "We're disconnected from the train now. Everyone be careful. The ruins deep within this city may be quite dangerous."
"Brother Biao, don't be afraid."
Zhang Yi, piloting the Pope Mecha and grinning, swung his massive mace. "This mace is a Tier 15 weapon. With me here, I can handle any ordinary thugs myself."
Biaozi was about to say something when his expression suddenly darkened. He cut him off with a sharp, "Stop!"
At his command, Zhang Yi and Zhang Er instantly froze mid-air. Though they usually joked around with Brother Biao, they obeyed him without hesitation when he gave an order. There were several reasons for this.
First, the Stellaris provided them with food and shelter, so they had to be obedient.
Second, they admired Brother Biao's performance in the Combat Training Virtual Space.
Finally, they knew they weren't the brightest bulbs in the box and figured it was best to follow Brother Biao's lead.
"..."
Biaozi remained silent, standing on the edge of the refrigerator, gripping the railing with a furrowed brow. His gaze was fixed on the nearby platform of a low-rise building, where strips of cured meat were drying in the sun.
Yes, cured meat!
He felt no joy at the sight, only an overwhelming sense of unease.
It's been over a year since the apocalypse, nearly two. This city ruin has been searched countless times. How could such an obvious piece of cured meat still be here, untouched? The other train conductors aren't fools. This is almost certainly a trap.
"Look back at the train."
As the mecha turned, Biaozi, standing on the edge of the refrigerator, glanced at the Stellaris train parked at the edge of the city ruins. They were now close to the city center, and even the Stellaris was starting to blur in the distance.
"President Ai? President Ai?"
He tried contacting President Ai again, but still couldn't connect.
"Brother Biao, could that cured meat below be a trap?" Zhang Er asked from the Pope Project mecha hovering in the air, his voice muffled.
"Hmm?"
Biaozi momentarily doubted his judgment. Had he misread the situation? If even Zhang Er could see it, surely everyone else could too. No one would use such a foolish trap, would they?
"How did you figure it out?"
"My brother and I have scavenged for supplies many times. How could such an obvious piece of cured meat have remained untouched? It's definitely a trap."
"Wait, let me think this through."
Biaozi took a deep breath, his mind racing. If even Zhang Er could see it was a trap, then the enemy was deliberately making it obvious. What was their purpose?
Based on his experience with the Virtual Map Chip in the Ultimate Challenge game, when a trap was deliberately revealed, it often meant the enemy wanted him to avoid that location. If he avoided the obvious trap and went elsewhere, he would unwittingly fall into the enemy's true trap—this was the second layer.
Thinking even deeper, the enemy might have anticipated he would see through the second layer and deliberately...
Just then—
"Here."
Zhang Yi's gruff voice suddenly cut through the air. "Brother Biao, I brought back the cured meat. Anything else?"
Biaozi, standing near the edge of the refrigerator, looked blankly at the cured meat between Zhang Yi's fingers, then at the empty platform below, and finally at the dozen or so terrified survivors crammed into Zhang Yi's refrigerator. After a moment, he asked incredulously, "What were you just doing?"
"I went down to get the cured meat and found a dozen survivors armed with blades and firearms lying in ambush nearby. For some reason, they didn't attack. But since I discovered them, I brought them back."
Huu...
Biaozi took a deep breath and remained silent for a long moment before speaking. "From now on, don't take any rash actions without my orders. Bring those survivors from your refrigerator and put them in mine."
"Yes!"
Soon after, through some rather rough interrogation methods, the truth emerged. For days, thugs from the train had been periodically entering the city ruins to search for survivors. These survivors, who had managed to survive the apocalypse, had been using this method to ambush and kill the lone thugs, seizing their weapons and supplies.
But...
When the Pope Mecha descended, not a single survivor dared to attack, clearly outmatched. Yet they were still discovered and captured.
"Keep them alive for now. We'll decide whether to kill them when Lord Mang gives the order."
Biaozi turned his gaze away from the captured survivors. Only this city could pull off such a feat. In other cities, target acquisition radars would sweep the area, leaving you nowhere to hide. Even if you were still breathing and hiding underground, they'd find you.
"Continue deeper!"
"Yes."
In the locomotive cabin.
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, gazing at the blueprint in his hand. He wasn't worried about Biaozi and the others. After these days of practical experience, they had gained considerable combat skills. With the mecha and the "refrigerator" for protection, if they still managed to get into trouble, it would be...
If he dies, he dies.
Utter trash.
A waste of resources.
Time Rift Detector: Red-Grade Accessory Blueprint
This was a blueprint he had brought back from Neon City. He didn't understand what the accessory did or what a temporal rift (temporal = of time) was, but he knew he wouldn't sell a high-grade accessory blueprint like this. He'd keep it for himself.
Crafting it required 50,000 units of iron ore.
After consuming 50,000 units of iron ore, a small clock was embedded in the control panel. This was the prototype of the accessory, with the following effect:
Detects temporal rifts within a 10,000-meter radius.
The corresponding screen next to it remained blank, not because it was blocked by a mosaic, but because it hadn't detected anything. He glanced at his remaining iron ore units and decided not to upgrade it for now. Red-grade accessories were expensive to upgrade, and he didn't have enough money.
He'd still have enough money after upgrading the train armor.
Damn it.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Why was a piece of armor so expensive?
Chen Mang casually picked up the Tier 10 Telescope beside him and looked into the distance. When he couldn't use the target acquisition radar, this primitive tool proved its worth once again. He had just upgraded it; he had previously upgraded a Tier 20 Telescope.
Chen Mang had just churned out a bunch of small gadgets in one go.
He planned to hang them all in the shop, whether anyone bought them or not. At least it would make the selection look more diverse.
Wait—
A flash of inspiration struck Chen Mang. He immediately switched to the Bunny Cloud Wheels, soaring through the air toward the ruins of Qiu City. He had just thought of something.
What if...
The reason Qiu City was shielded from target acquisition radar was because of a temporal rift?
The Stellaris train flew through the air, penetrating deep into the ruins of Qiu City. The Time Rift Detector continued to scan. When they were still 10,000 meters from the city center, the alarm blared.
Beep beep beep beep.
Chen Mang glanced out the window at Biaozi and the others, who had landed on the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper. Then he turned his gaze to the screen connected to the Time Rift Detector.
A black hole-like rift was slowly materializing on the screen, rotating slowly.
Composed entirely of black particles, it looked quite mysterious. He had been right—there really was a temporal rift here.
"Xiao Ai, what's a temporal rift?"
"I don't know," Xiao Ai's voice replied from the locomotive cabin. "There's no relevant information in the database."
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly. First, he piloted the Stellaris to pick up Biaozi and the others, then slowly approached the rift displayed on the Time Rift Detector.
This place felt eerie, not suitable for Biaozi and the others to explore.
The screen showed the distance had closed to less than a hundred meters.
He dared not get any closer.
Yet, with the naked eye, he could barely see anything. Only a faint distortion in the air nearby, resembling the spatial warping caused by heat haze, was visible.
The next moment—
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A cannon roared to life, unleashing a barrage of shells directly at the temporal rift. Each shell vanished the instant it struck, leaving no trace.
"Now that's something..."
Chen Mang's curiosity was piqued. This thing looked like a portal, but what kind of unknown portal was it?
"So the Mechanical Civilization's 'Portal' might have been invented through the study of temporal rifts?"
"Perhaps, Train Conductor. I really don't have that information in my database."
He maneuvered the Stellaris to approach the temporal rift again, this time getting within ten meters. He could clearly see the air in front of him subtly distorting. He dared not get any closer; even this distance felt risky.
But he was desperate to see what lay within the temporal rift.
He opened the window.
Glancing at the control panel, he grabbed the recently crafted Tier 10 Telescope, walked to the window, aimed, and threw it with all his might. It hit its mark!
The moment the Telescope struck, it vanished.
"Bring me a Mechanical Eye."
"None available," Xiao Ai's voice echoed from the locomotive cabin. "This area is completely shielded. When Biaozi was scouting outside just now, I couldn't even connect to the Mechanical Eye on his person."
"Didn't Biaozi capture a group of people? Send them in to investigate."
"Understood."
Soon after—
Zhang Yi stood atop the train, piloting the Pope Mecha. He held a terrified survivor, who struggled violently, in one hand. After carefully securing the survivor with a steel cable, Zhang Yi slowly began to spin the cable in his hand, like a cowboy twirling a lasso.
With a sudden roar, he released the cable.
The survivor, bound to the cable, shot toward the temporal rift like a meteor!
The moment he struck the rift, he vanished.
Fortunately, the steel cable remained.
"..."
Chen Mang, watching this scene from the locomotive cabin, his eyes lit up. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and urgently barked, "Quick! Pull him back!"
The next moment!
A man suddenly materialized in the high air before them. The man had actually been pulled back from the temporal rift!
"This is even possible?"
Chen Mang's eyes widened in disbelief. He hadn't expected the temporal rift, which could swallow cannon shells, to be unable to consume the steel cable. Could it be because the cable hadn't fully entered the rift? "Bring him over here. I want to take a look."
Soon, the locomotive cabin door swung open.
Chen Mang frowned slightly as he gazed at the man before him. The man was completely white-haired, his teeth had all fallen out, and his eyes were vacant and unfocused. "Is this the same person from earlier?"
His entire body was covered in wrinkles, resembling the worn-out insole of an old woman's shoe.
Like a virgin's diary, it was crumpled into balls, blank yet filled with unspoken information.
"Hmm."
Zhang Yiye looked at the old man he was supporting with a dazed expression. "It's definitely him. He's aged terribly, but it's definitely him."
"Lord Mang, look at this."
Old Pig approached, holding a section of steel cable. "This end is still brand new, but the other end is severely aged and corroded, as if it's been exposed to wind and rain for thirty years."
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly, remained silent for a moment, then turned to the old man, who seemed to have lost his wits. "Give him two shots of cardiac stimulant and ask him what happened."
Biaozi nodded, and after the injections, the old man seemed to regain a bit of vitality. His complexion improved slightly, but his eyes remained vacant, his pupils completely unfocused.
"Take him down to the medical bay for treatment."
"I want him to open his mouth and tell me what he saw inside."
"Yes."
Biaozi quickly helped the old man down.
"Lord Mang," Old Pig said seriously, "based on the current information, the flow of time within the temporal rift may differ greatly from our own. While only a few seconds have passed here, nearly thirty years have elapsed within the rift."
Chen Mang shook his head. "Then what did he eat for those thirty years? Doesn't he need to eat?"
"Well..." Old Pig stammered, unable to answer.
Chen Mang remained silent, his gaze fixed on the accessory information displayed on the control panel screen.
Tier 50 Overpowered Effect: Built-in Space Stabilizer: When the train enters a temporal rift, members inside will not be negatively affected by the passage of time.
He finally understood what this accessory was for.
Just then—
Xiao Ai's voice echoed from the locomotive cabin.
"Train Conductor, the cost for treatment is 39.2 million units of iron ore."
"Let him die."
"Understood."
Great.
Chen Mang stared blankly at the accessory before him. This guy was finished. Nearly 40 million units of iron ore? When he treated Wild Cat's wife for ALS, it only cost a few hundred thousand. This was 40 million! Was this treatment or a down payment for reincarnation?
He knew the price wasn't arbitrary. It meant that eliminating the temporal rift's effects on a person came at an enormous cost.
This only piqued his interest in the temporal rift even more.
I have to go in there!
Of course, he wouldn't dare enter himself.
Aside from the fact that his train was larger than the temporal rift—who knew how the system determined whether he could only enter halfway or something else—he wouldn't risk it without understanding the nature of the temporal rift first.
However...
The Built-in Space Stabilizer was an accessory that could be crafted after upgrading to a Tier 3 train.
Though he wouldn't enter himself, he could find a warrior and use a train token to craft them a Tier 1 train. They could then go inside to investigate the situation.
"Old Pig, find a warrior."
"Understood."
Not long after, a burly man strode forward, his face stern. He stood at attention, gazing at Lord Mang, and shouted, "Good afternoon, Lord Mang! Resident No. 1998 reporting for duty! Awaiting your orders!"
"You again?" Chen Mang looked at the man with a strange expression. "Weren't you the warrior on the previous two missions as well?"
"I was the one who first cracked the combination lock, and my twin brother was the one who moved those robots. This time, it's me."
"Why are you always so eager to volunteer?"
"I'm tough!"
"How tough?"
The burly man ripped off his shirt, revealing an upper body covered in scars. "I've been injured countless times since childhood, but I've never died."
"Of course not, who has?" Chen Mang didn't press the matter further. He simply took out a train token and tossed it to the man, saying solemnly, "This mission is extremely dangerous. I'll do my best to ensure your safety, but the mortality rate remains high. If you return alive, you'll receive Third-Tier Elite Talent Benefits."
"Yes, sir!"
"Old Pig, give him a Tier 4 Energy Stone."
The train currently held only nearly a million units of iron ore. Manufacturing another Tier 4 Energy Stone would consume 500,000 units, leaving the train almost completely empty.
The Man's Train didn't need upgrades. A Tier 1 train would suffice. Even upgrading to a Tier 3 train wouldn't help. There was no Infinite Upgrade. To craft a Tier 50 Built-in Space Stabilizer would require an astronomical amount of murphy stone.
But he had another plan.
Some accessories could be removed, while others were permanently fixed.
The Built-in Space Stabilizer fell into the removable category.
He detached it and installed it on the Man's Train.
The rest...
He left to fate. Whether he'd return alive was anyone's guess.
A few minutes later, Zhang Yi, piloting the Pope Mecha, hoisted a small locomotive onto his shoulder. With a roar of exertion, he hurled it toward the temporal rift, a long steel cable trailing behind.
Yes.
The Tier 1 train the man was piloting couldn't even fly. It still used the most basic wheels.
In short, it was an empty shell.
Chen Mang watched the man inside the train, roaring encouragement to himself, with a complex expression. He had to admit, the man's courage far surpassed his own. He could never bring himself to pilot a Tier 1 train into a temporal rift.
The unknown within was absolute.
The odds of death were overwhelming.
In this First-Class Empty-Shell Train, he couldn't even sleep peacefully at night.
Many accessories had become commonplace on trains now, like Magnetic Levitation and Bunny Clouds, but for a Tier 1 train, these were impossibly advanced.
"Old Pig."
"Lord Mang, what do you need?" Old Pig stood respectfully to the side, slightly bowed.
"If that man comes back alive, give him a refrigerator."
"Yes, sir."
The next moment—
Standing atop the locomotive cabin, Zhang Yi yanked hard on the steel cable, pulling out the Tier 1 Train Head.
Chen Mang stared intently at the locomotive. Only after seeing that the man sitting inside hadn't aged did he finally burst into laughter. The others in the locomotive cabin erupted in cheers of excitement.
They had succeeded.
The man had returned alive and hadn't aged.
"Quick, bring him over here! Ask him what happened inside."
Chen Mang surveyed the burly man standing before him with satisfaction. "You're tough. Do you feel any discomfort?"
"No."
The man scratched the back of his head, hesitated, and then cautiously said, "I just felt like I was sitting in the train when it was suddenly flung into an eerie tunnel. Before I could even get a good look, I was yanked back out."
"Should I try going in a few more times?"
"It's not that simple. I feel uneasy accepting these Third-Tier Elite Talent Benefits."
"Tell me more about that tunnel."
"Mm."
The burly man pondered for a long moment before speaking seriously. "The tunnel was enormous, a kind of incomprehensible vastness. Around it flowed countless streams of light, like a space-time tunnel."
"The dizziness was overwhelming, and I didn't have time to examine it closely."
"Excellent."
Chen Mang was very satisfied. "Go back in again. This time, stay inside for a full three minutes before coming out. Bring the Mechanical Eye, and bring Li Shiji with you. Old Pig, go to Neon City and fetch Li Shiji."
"The Mechanical Eye might not work inside. We'll need his human eyes."
"Also, bring one of the survivors who ambushed you earlier. Tie him to the front of the locomotive and observe any changes to his body while exposed to the outside. Record everything."
"Are you sure you're feeling no discomfort now?"
"None."
"Good!"
Chen Mang nodded, then turned his gaze toward the temporal rift not far away. He felt he had a rough understanding of what lay within. If this time difference could be exploited...
He wondered if it might be possible to toss a Solar Energy Panel into the rift without using the Built-in Space Stabilizer.
Instantly absorbing thirty years' worth of energy.
What a dream. He wondered if it could actually be done.
(End of the Chapter)
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