Translator: AnubisTL
"Divorce."
A flicker of anger crossed the middle-aged woman's face. "Fine, let's split up then. After we separate, I'll become a pleasure worker. I'll save up my own companionship vouchers to buy a house. As long as you can accept your wife selling her body."
"Can you?"
The middle-aged man, who had been fuming just moments ago, froze in place. His mouth opened and closed slightly, but no words came out.
"Checkmate, buddy."
A man who had been watching the drama couldn't resist leaning in. "If your wife really goes into pleasure work, I'll be the first to patronize her."
"Get lost!"
The middle-aged man turned his head and roared at the man, then took a deep breath to suppress his emotions. Finally, he forced a strained smile. "Don't talk nonsense, dear. Of course I'll buy it. How could I not?"
"I'll work harder at mining from now on."
"That's more like it."
"Everything's gone to hell."
A young female celebrity sighed as she looked at the crowd. She needed to figure out how much to price herself. After a moment, she turned to the woman beside her. "Sister, what do you think would be a fair price for us?"
"I'm going to price myself at one companionship voucher."
"That cheap?"
The woman blinked, her eyes gleaming with cunning. "My quality is definitely higher than those other women. Who can compete with me when I'm offering my services for just one companionship voucher? After all, I'm still a celebrity."
"I can save up fifty companionship vouchers in no time and buy a high-precision outfit."
"I just saw Sister Chuchu wearing that outfit emerge from Lord Mang's room. You wouldn't believe it—the outfit looked incredibly elegant. Ji Chuchu looked like she'd stepped back in time to attend a pre-apocalypse gala."
"Once I'm wearing that outfit, I'll raise my price and go high-end. That's when I'll really start earning big."
"Huh?"
The young actress who had asked the question was slightly stunned. She murmured, "You're all so business-minded."
"Just follow our lead," the woman replied. "You'll learn."
The sun reached its zenith.
Biaozi stood on the wasteland, facing the seventy or eighty people before him. His voice was cold as he announced, "Twenty-one of you will become guards for the Stellaris train. You will receive Tier 3 Advanced Talent benefits."
"Let the most capable step forward."
"All of you will now enter the Combat Training Virtual Space to engage in life-or-death battles on the arena. The last 21 survivors will become the guards of the Stellaris."
"The final two survivors will be appointed as the captains of the second and third guard teams."
"Do you all understand?"
As his words fell, the crowd before him roared back with fervent enthusiasm: "Understood!"
Biaozi nodded with satisfaction. Just then, Wildcat approached, about to place a hand on Biaozi's arm. Biaozi sidestepped him with a frown, brushing off nonexistent dust from his new clothes.
"Speak your mind. Keep your hands off."
"Don't get my new clothes dirty."
Lord Mang had personally crafted two sets of new uniforms for every member of the Stellaris.
The ordinary residents' uniforms were crimson, a color personally chosen by Lord Mang. The left sleeve bore the Stellaris logo, designed around the character "Mang."
Each uniform also had a unique serial number: 1, 2, or 3.
These serial numbers corresponded to different tiers of Resident Benefits.
He wore a windbreaker on top and windproof pants below, made of an extremely special material that provided excellent temperature lock. After the light rain last night, the temperature had dropped considerably, but wearing this outfit immediately made the cold much less noticeable.
The guards' uniforms weren't as loose, resembling special forces uniforms from before the apocalypse. They were covered in tactical pockets, giving them a sharp, professional look.
He really liked this outfit.
His only regret was that it was the standard version.
He planned to save up 50 companionship vouchers to buy the high-precision version, which would look even cooler.
"Um..."
Wildcat spoke in a weak voice, "I don't want to be captain. I want to stay on the first team."
"What the hell?"
Biaozi was slightly taken aback. "Who said anything about you being captain?"
There was no way he'd let Wildcat become captain. If the second and third squad captain were both his people. That would be crazy. He wouldn't dare put his own people in those positions.
"Huh?"
"Oh, never mind then. The other brothers were saying I might be the new captain, so I thought... That's good. I'm not suited to be captain anyway. Never mind, Brother Biao. You keep working. I'm going to eat now."
Biaozi casually glanced at Wildcat's retreating figure before turning back to the group in front of him.
"Attention, everyone!"
"Enter the carriages in order!"
The sky gradually darkened.
In Section 14, a makeshift carriage, only a refrigerator with its door wide open stood alone.
"Lord Mang!"
Li Shiji, his eyes ringed with dark circles, stood beside the refrigerator, his voice a mix of exhaustion and excitement. "The maze is completely set up. Anyone who enters will be trapped for at least half an hour, no exceptions."
"This is the entrance."
"The finish line is the refrigerator at the very back. As you instructed, Lord Mang, the words 'Finish Line' have been painted on the walls around it, so it's unmistakable."
"Just..."
"There are still seven people inside who haven't come out yet."
"Hmm?"
"Cough." Old Pig, standing nearby, awkwardly took over. "Lord Mang, I hired a group of people today to help Li Shiji test the maze, but a few got lost and are still trapped inside. They should be out eventually."
"Forget about those few people," Chen Mang said, his brow furrowed as he stood in the carriage, leaning on his cane. "This maze is crucial for the Stellaris's development. Find ten more people and send them in to search for the endpoint."
"Understood."
Soon, ten residents were rounded up and stuffed into the refrigerator.
An hour later, back in the carriage, Chen Mang tossed the magazine in his hand to Old Pig, who was standing nearby. "I'm going to sleep now. Tell me the fastest completion time in the morning. Tomorrow, we'll head to the Green Zone, the Sha River Plains."
"Clear out the maze as soon as someone emerges. I need it."
"Yes, sir."
On the Sha River Plains, inside the Azure Dragon train stationed near a Tier 2 Iron Ore deposit, a bald man with dark circles under his eyes stared blankly at the walkie-talkie in front of him, slumped over the control panel.
He felt like he'd turned into a stone statue waiting for the transmitter to activate.
Over thirty days had passed!
Had no one else been brave enough to attempt the mechanical train's S-Class job change quest?
He'd been consumed by this matter for over thirty days, barely sleeping. It had even given him dark circles under his eyes.
"Mom..."
"Are you sure that transmitter never rang while I was asleep?"
"No."
A mechanical, crisp voice soon echoed through the train: "This is the eighth time you've asked me this question. I am an AI. Unless the train's energy supply is interrupted, I will not enter sleep mode."
"Damn it!"
The bald man sighed heavily before climbing listlessly from the control panel and leaning back against his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. He muttered, "Heavenly Father, please send me someone with a steel will... I really need those thirty murphy stones."
As the moon set and stars faded, constellations shifted across the sky.
Dawn soon broke.
When Chen Mang awoke, he stretched languidly, his mind refreshed. He glanced at the calendar on the wall, his eyes faintly gleaming with anticipation. Today was the day they would travel to the Sha River Plains.
Both the Sha River Plains and Kunlun Mountain were Green Zones.
But during his last trip to Kunlun Mountain, the resource detection radar failed to detect a single resource mine, not even a lumber mill. Though the mountain was covered in dense forests, the trees there yielded no Wood when felled.
This made him highly suspicious.
Did Kunlun Mountain even have any resource mines?
He currently needed a batch of iron ore to upgrade accessories and for the Tier 4 Train upgrade. The Sha River Plains was his best, or rather, his only option.
As for the S-Rank Difficulty job advancement quest, it could only be completed in the Sha River Plains.
No matter the difficulty, all job advancement quests could only be done there.
Successfully completing the class change wouldn't immediately upgrade him to Tier 4.
He would only reach Tier 4 after meeting all the requirements for the Tier 4 Train upgrade. That's when the true benefits of the class change would be revealed, and he would never be able to return to low-level regions again.
For example, the White Zone, Iron Ridge Wasteland.
He had arrived in this world on the Iron Ridge Wasteland and spent over two months there, almost growing fond of the place. When he first transmigrated, it was early autumn; now, winter was fast approaching.
Fortunately, the Central Air Conditioner and the clothes he had made would prevent anyone on the train from freezing to death.
Just then—
Old Pig came to report the list of residents who had completed the maze yesterday. The fastest had reached the finish line in about four and a half hours, while the slowest had just emerged this morning, looking completely disoriented. Their pupils seemed unfocused, as if suffering from myopia.
Li Shiji had already brought everyone out of the maze.
Li Shiji possessed an exceptional sense of spatial awareness. He had a clear mental map of the entire maze, making navigating it as familiar as walking through his own home. However, the task had exhausted him, as he had had to search every dead end for lost residents—a physically demanding ordeal.
Everything was ready; they were just waiting for the final push.
"..."
All the residents and guards had returned to their assigned positions on the Stellaris. Chen Mang sat at the control panel, gazing out at the wasteland ahead in deep thought. They were about to leave the Iron Ridge Wasteland, and he needed to make sure he hadn't overlooked anything.
Returning later would be difficult.
Right.
He found the young man who had sent him the oxygen generator accessory blueprint in his private chat list and sent him the coordinates of the thirteen Tier 1 Iron Ore deposits on the surface.
These were the Tier 1 Iron Ore deposits he'd encountered recently.
He was too lazy to stop and mine them, but he figured this information would be invaluable for Rookie Trains. Now, when they ran out of ore, they wouldn't have to wander the wasteland like headless flies, blindly searching.
They could simply head straight to these coordinates.
"Huh?"
In the wasteland, inside the speeding Protagonist train, a young man with a worried expression was staring intently at the resource detection radar, hoping for an iron ore deposit to appear. Suddenly, he saw a private message from the Stellaris train in the train radio chat: coordinates for thirteen Tier 1 Iron Ore deposits.
His entire body froze.
His lips even trembled slightly.
"Brother, did something happen? Send me your coordinates. My train's firepower is decent; I'll see if I can help."
If he had to guess, the Stellaris train had likely run into serious trouble, a near-death situation that forced them to share these coordinates. Otherwise, this was a significant fortune in the wasteland—why would they suddenly give it away?
Even if he had helped the Stellaris train before, this seemed like an excessive reward.
The Stellaris train replied almost instantly:
Stellaris Train: I'm heading to the high-level zone. These coordinates are useless to me now. I'm giving them to you.
The young man froze for a moment before quickly reacting. His eyes lit up with excitement as he jumped up and down, showering the Stellaris with heartfelt gratitude. Only then did he turn his gaze to the nearest coordinate.
All traces of worry had vanished from his face, replaced by pure hope and excitement.
Like the King of the Pirates, he stood at the control panel, gazing out at the empty wasteland, and roared, "Full speed ahead!!!"
He knew it!
The Stellaris Train clearly had the protagonist aura. Once he'd latched onto this protagonist's thigh, he'd never be short on resources. Just look at these coordinates for thirteen Tier 1 Iron Ore mines! Wouldn't their value far surpass that of a missing oxygen generator?
For a long time to come, he wouldn't have to wander the wasteland searching for mines. Even if a monster occupied one of the mines, he could simply move on to the next. By the time he'd mined the thirteenth, the first would likely have refreshed.
He might not even need to search for iron ore again before reaching the high-level zone. These thirteen mines would be more than enough.
"Mm."
Chen Mang glanced at the protagonist train's message of gratitude without reading it closely. The oxygen generator accessory the young man had once sent him had been a great help, and he didn't mind returning the favor.
He opened the small notebook in his drawer. Two lines were written on it:
Soda Train: Made malicious assumptions.
Purple Cloud Train: His tone is arrogant and he challenged me to a collision and even asked if I dared speak loudly in front of him.
Chen Mang immediately activated the train radio and pinned a message to the top:
Stellaris Train: Train Conductors of Soda Train and Purple Cloud Train, please contact me. I wish to propose a trade."
Almost instantly—
Ignoring the commotion his appearance had caused on the train radio, Chen Mang turned his attention to a private message from the conductor of the Purple Cloud Train.
That was fast.
Purple Cloud Train: Brother, there are too many people outside. I'm begging you on my knees. I was wrong. Can you... let me off the hook? I admit I was a bit arrogant that day. I had just witnessed two carriages explode, and my emotions got the better of me.
Stellaris Train: What are you talking about, friend? Just send me your coordinates. I only want to make a trade.
Purple Cloud Train: Brother, my real brother, I truly know I was wrong.
(End of the Chapter)
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