Translator: AnubisTL
For a long time, the structure of the Stellaris train would remain largely unchanged.
Unless there was a new population increase.
After consuming 32,000 units of iron ore to craft Tier 3 armor for the two newly added carriages, Chen Mang checked the cost to upgrade the Tier 3 armor to Tier 4.
Upgrading from Tier 3 to Tier 4 armor required 30,000 units of iron ore.
The Stellaris train currently had 13 carriages plus a locomotive, totaling 14 sections.
Upgrading all of them to Tier 4 would cost 420,000 units of iron ore.
"..."
Chen Mang's lips twitched slightly when he saw this number. Though he had known the price for a while, the actual upgrade still stung. The cost was a bit too steep.
But this iron ore expenditure was unavoidable.
Soon!
All 13 carriages of the Stellaris train, including the locomotive, had their armor upgraded to Tier 4. The price to upgrade from Tier 4 to Tier 5 armor was a staggering 50,000 units of iron ore per section, totaling 700,000 units of iron ore.
After another 700,000 units of iron ore were poured in, the train's armor finally reached Tier 5.
The number of iron ore units displayed on the train panel, which had seemed astronomical just moments ago, plummeted almost instantly. From 3.654 million units, it dropped to a mere 1.652 million units.
But—
It wasn't over yet!
Chen Mang had sworn he wouldn't set foot in Kunlun Mountain again until his armor reached Tier 6. Without Tier 6 Armor, he'd have no sense of security in the Green Zone. Upgrading a single carriage's Tier 5 Armor to Tier 6 Armor required a staggering 100,000 units of iron ore.
After pouring 1.4 million units of iron ore into the upgrade, his balance dwindled to a mere 252,000 units.
He'd been reduced to near poverty overnight.
Chen Mang stepped out of the locomotive cabin and stood on the desolate wasteland beside the train, leaning on his cane. He gazed at the train, now completely encased in thick armor, his eyes filled with pride.
The sense of security provided by Tier 6 Armor was unmatched by any other accessory.
With this, he could traverse the Green Zone without hindrance. No monster could stand in his way. What had he spent so many days toiling in the Iron Ridge Wasteland for if not this?
Moreover—
After upgrading to Tier 6 Armor, the most resource-intensive green-grade Accessory, the Steel Car Armor, finally gained its first Tier 5 overpowered effect.
Steel Car Armor (Tier 5 Overpowered Effect): Immune to corrosion from liquids, mists, swamps, and similar corrosive substances.s
Not bad.
The first time Chen Mang encountered the Tier 3 Spider Boss, he had accidentally brushed against some venom during the fight. This caused a minor energy leak in the train's energy stone. While it wasn't a major issue, it still took considerable time and effort to diagnose and fix.
With this overpowered effect, he wouldn't have to worry about corrosion from any future encounters with monsters that could spray or spew corrosive substances.
Excellent.
"Hoo..." Chen Mang exhaled deeply, glancing at the remaining 252,000 units of iron ore. After upgrading to a Tier 3 train, he still hadn't upgraded any of the craftable accessories, including the Tier 4 train upgrade, which would require 10,000 units of Tier 2 iron ore (equivalent to 100,000 units of iron ore).
The remaining iron ore was clearly insufficient.
But...
It didn't matter.
While Tier 6 armor might sound mundane, those four words meant he could now mine freely in the Green Zone. Why remain in the Iron Ridge Wasteland? The Green Zone held far more High-Grade Ore!
He could always find a mine once he reached the Green Zone. In the past two days, he had mined enough copper ore to stockpile 710,000 units in the train's reserves. His 40-Tube Cherry Blossom Fall Rocket Launcher was still unfired. Once he reached the Green Zone, he should find a Boss to test it out.
His rocket launcher was currently only Tier 1.
In contrast, his four Third-Rate Heavy Machine Guns had long been upgraded to Tier 5.
Finally, he turned to the Regional Rankings.
Iron Ridge Wasteland Power Value Ranking
Top Rank: Stellaris, Tier 3 train, Power Value: 5412
Second Rank: Survivalist, Tier 3 train, Power Value: 2789
Third Rank: Black Tortoise No., Tier 3 train, Power Value: 2621
Fourth Rank: Purple Cloud No., Tier 3 train, Power Value: 2212
Fifth Rank: -
Tier 3 trains start with a base score of 500 points.
Each survivor rescued adds 1 point. His survivors alone added 1012 points.
The combined tiers of his accessories totaled 313, adding 3130 points.
Two Red high-grade accessories added 200 points.
His 57 overpowered effects added 570 points.
His high score was primarily due to the massive bonus from his accessories. His combined accessory tier was a staggering 313—far exceeding the 80 Tier requirement to upgrade to a Tier 4 train!
This allowed him to achieve a score that should have been impossible for a Tier 3 train.
His score was more than double that of the second-ranked train.
The train radio was buzzing with heated discussions about this unprecedented achievement.
"Brothers, let's do some math here. The train rating algorithm is transparent, right? There's no way it just randomly jumps up by hundreds or thousands of points. If the rating increases, it's either because they added more slaves, upgraded their accessories, or added overpowered effects."
"But Stellaris's rating of 5412 is completely absurd! The accessory Tier limit is basically Tier 3. At most, you might get a yellow-grade accessory, which would be Fifth-Level."
"But there are only a handful of yellow-grade accessories you can craft on a Tier 3 train. Even if you crafted them all, how many Tiers would that add up to? Stellaris couldn't possibly have a massive stockpile of yellow-grade accessory blueprints, could they?"
"Alright, let's assume they do."
"Let's say they have twenty. Is that too many? Even if they maxed them all out, that would only add up to 60 Tiers, or 600 points! Where the hell did they get over 5000 points from?"
Infinite Train: "Hmm... Could it be from adding slaves?"
"Bastard Train: You're so tough, you stuffed 5,000 slaves into your train. Truly impressive. Let's see if those slaves bankrupt you. Can you even afford to feed that many? And can you guarantee you'll find mines to dig every day? We both know how hard it is to find survivors in the ruins of Taiping City. Finding 5,000 survivors is a pipe dream."
"Purple Cloud Train: Enough arguing. I believe the Captain of the Stellar Train, though we've never met, must be a man of courage, wisdom, and unparalleled skill. It's only natural that he's developing faster than the rest of us."
"Bloodthirsty Mad Bull Train: Hey, I remember you. You said a while back you wanted to challenge the Stellar Train. You said you'd make him come to you and see if he dared speak loudly in your presence."
"Purple Cloud Train: You've got the wrong person."
"Really?"
Chen Mang glanced at the chat log on the train radio, pulled out a small notebook from his drawer, and stared at a line of text written on it:
Purple Cloud Train: Arrogantly challenged me to a train duel, asking if I dared speak loudly in front of him.
That's right.
He remembered it clearly. It had only been a little over a month, but this guy's temper seemed to have improved significantly. He wasn't nearly as arrogant as before.
Indeed.
In the apocalypse, people grew up fast, even their personalities matured rapidly.
He shook his head and smiled without saying much, simply tucking the notebook into a drawer. Then, he leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the control panel table. Lighting a cigarette with a leisurely air, he picked up the remote, ready to find another zombie movie to watch.
Watching zombie movies in the apocalypse was incredibly immersive.
Wait.
He glanced at the screen of the Target Acquisition Radar. It showed a small zombie horde passing by seven kilometers to the left.
Perfect timing.
He grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Biaozi, take some people and go catch a few zombies on the off-road motorcycles."
"Understood."
Half an hour later, Biaozi returned in triumph on his off-road motorcycle. Trailing behind the motorcycle was a Tier 10 Refrigerator, stuffed with four or five Tier 1 Zombies.
Following Lord Mang's orders, they then...
They secured the four or five bloodied, flesh-mangled zombies with their white eyes rolling and their constant roars to the locomotive's windows.
Lacking chains or other convenient restraints, Biaozi and the others took matters into their own hands. They let the zombies step on their shoulders and clung tightly to the zombies' legs, positioning the zombies' upper bodies around the locomotive's windows. The zombies continued to roar and pound on the glass.
During the capture, he used the handheld zombie perception blocker issued by Lord Mang, which prevented the zombie horde from reacting violently. He managed to snatch several zombies unnoticed.
Inside the locomotive cabin, the morning sun streamed through the windows, creating an atmosphere of serene afternoon tranquility that felt warm and inviting.
But just then—
"Roar!"
A piercing roar shattered the peaceful atmosphere.
A bloodied, flesh-mangled face of terrifying horror had appeared outside the window. The ashen cheeks were devoid of color, and the zombie's white eyes locked onto Chen Mang inside the cabin with a bloodthirsty gaze. It pounded on the glass with its hands.
A bloody handprint remained on the train window.
The warmth that had filled the locomotive cabin vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling sense of impending doom. Even the once-warm sunlight now seemed like a harbinger of dusk, a death knell.
Chen Mang, seated at the control panel, paled. Intense fear and despair surged through him, causing him to curl up in his chair and pull a blanket over himself.
Trembling, he picked up the remote and played a zombie movie on the screen.
"Roar!"
The zombies' guttural roar from the film and the one outside the window echoed almost simultaneously, creating a uniquely immersive viewing experience.
This is it!
This is what makes it so real!
Only in this state can I truly appreciate the unique charm of a zombie movie.
An hour and a half later.
Biaozi, standing outside the train, trembled like a sieve. He looked up at the zombie perched on his shoulder, its eyes vacant and heavy. So heavy...
Finally!
He received Lord Mang's order to finish the job. His legs buckled, and just as he reached into his pocket for the car blade fragment to kill the zombie lunging at him, another order came from Lord Mang.
Lord Mang instructed him to keep these zombies alive, stuffing them into the refrigerator to prevent them from starving.
"We'll need them again later."
Uh... What do i feed them?? Bread?
Biaozi stared at the zombie under his foot, lost in thought. If it couldn't eat bread, what else could they feed it? Perhaps the corpses of other monsters? That wouldn't be impossible.
There was still a pile of "corpse meat" in the train, but these zombies seemed to have a strong sense of professional ethics and wouldn't eat their own kind.
Let's try the bread first.
Hesitantly, he pulled out a slice of bread from his pocket and tossed it into the zombie's mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
Hey, it was eating it with gusto! Bread would do just fine. He didn't know why Lord Mang was keeping zombies, but Lord Mang was the train conductor, standing at a higher vantage point and seeing further. If he was keeping these zombies, they must have a purpose. Perhaps they were pawns in some grand plan.
For instance, he still didn't know what Li Shiji's maze was even for. But Lord Mang seemed to take it very seriously.
Because Lord Mang valued it so much, when Li Shiji came to him asking for people, he didn't hesitate to agree on the spot. What Lord Mang valued was what he valued.
Soon—
The second day arrived.
In the early morning, a layer of overcast clouds blanketed the sky, remnants of a light rain that had fallen the previous night.
Although the rain had stopped, the weather remained gloomy, yet the air carried a surprisingly sweet fragrance.
All the slaves stood on the wasteland in an orderly manner.
They gazed at the armed thugs gathered beneath the train, along with Biaozi and Old Pig—the two men they had seen most frequently in recent days. In contrast, they had rarely encountered Lord Mang, the train conductor.
Just then—
A man in a suit emerged from the rear of the train and ascended to the carriage roof. Leaning on his cane, he surveyed them all from above. For a moment, everyone held their breath. This was Lord Mang, the train conductor of the Stellaris, and their leader.
"He's so cool," Zhang San, who stood out from the crowd, whispered, clutching his clothes.
Indeed, he was quite handsome.
Uncle Li couldn't help but agree. Lord Mang already possessed an indescribable aura of authority. Uncle Li had seen other train conductors, many of whom carried an air of petty self-importance. But Lord Mang never displayed such traits.
The expensive suit, with its impeccably tailored, boxy cut, further enhanced Lord Mang's imposing presence.
The heavy, imposing train beneath his feet added another layer of majesty.
With the desolate wilderness as his backdrop, he exuded the aura of an apocalyptic king.
Back on Master Kun's train, he'd never felt the urge to stand out. But here, with Lord Mang, he truly wanted to rise above the crowd.
"It's alright, Uncle Li. I believe you'll get your chance someday."
Before the words could fully leave his mouth, Uncle Li swiftly covered the young man's mouth, his eyes wide with terror and a hoarse, urgent whisper: "Are you insane? Why don't you just find a dragon robe to cover me with?"
Once free, the young man shook his head helplessly. "Uncle Li, what are you thinking?"
"While I have high expectations for you, I don't expect that much."
"I meant that I believe that even though we're currently as insignificant as ants, you'll eventually stand beneath the train, just like Brother Biao and Trainmaster Zhu, when Lord Mang speaks."
"Whew, you scared me half to death."
(End of the Chapter)
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