Translator: AnubisTL
Named—
Great Dragon's Roar!
This colossal cannon, a yellow-grade large-scale weapon of mass destruction, was the product of unlocking the "Unknown Component" after completing his C-Rank Difficulty job advancement quest. It had cost him a staggering 400,000 units of iron ore to upgrade it to Tier 6!
This was the first time he would unleash its roar!
After all, each shot consumed a full Tier 3 energy stone, and he hadn't been willing to waste them.
"Child," the man at the control panel said, his target acquisition radar already locked onto the red dot on the map. All he had to do was press the firing button to unleash an instant barrage. His eyes gleamed with a mixture of excitement and cruelty, and a sinister grin spread across his face as he imagined the scene to come.
"Remember this: this is the Sha River Plains. Even if you were a dragon before, you'll have to crawl before me here!"
This was his plan!
The Great Dragon's Roar was an energy cannon, and only a Tier 6 energy shield could withstand its blast. Even if his opponent possessed numerous overpowered effects, he didn't believe they could have already upgraded their energy shield to Tier 6 after just arriving in the Sha River Plains.
"Pfft!"
At that moment, a suppressed snicker suddenly erupted from the corner.
"Are you laughing at me?" the man snapped, his face darkening as he turned his head sharply.
"You..." The battered man in the corner finally burst into laughter. "I've been holding myself back all these days, afraid I'd burst out laughing. Now I can't hold it in any longer. You've been relying on your Tier 6 energy cannon, the Great Dragon's Roar, all this time."
"Haven't you considered that your opponent has S-Rank Potential and a red-grade Large Firepower Accessory?"
"I had the first move! Besides, upgrading a red-grade Large Firepower Accessory to Tier 6 requires a mountain of iron ore he can't afford! Those three iron mines won't even come close!"
"That's true." The man in the corner nodded in agreement. "So, do you think that guy's 57 overpowered effects include 'Steel Car Armor'? Unlike energy shields, armor completely nullifies damage of its own Tier or lower, even from energy cannons."
"You don't think he'd bother upgrading his Steel Car Armor?"
As the words fell, the man at the control panel finally lost control and burst into laughter. He turned his head to the corner and said, "You... you're still as foolish as ever. Have you forgotten that armor is a separate accessory that needs to be upgraded individually? Each carriage's armor upgrade costs murphy stones and a massive amount of iron ore!"
"Are you trying to tell me he spent a whopping 42 murphy stones and over a million units of iron ore to upgrade all the Train Armor to Tier 6?"
"Foolish!"
"If I were lucky enough to get dozens of murphy stones, I'd prioritize upgrading the 'overpowered effects' of all my Green Accessories first, then move on to White and Blue ones. That's the most cost-effective approach, not dumping everything into armor!"
The battered man sitting in the corner paled slightly, clearly realizing he'd overlooked this point. Right, if I had a ton of murphy stones, I definitely wouldn't waste them on armor!
It made absolutely no sense!
It was like a beggar who suddenly struck it rich buying a golden bowl first thing—completely illogical!
He'd assumed that since the other person had so many overpowered effects, they wouldn't neglect upgrading their armor. But now, he realized they likely only upgraded the overpowered effect on one section of the Train Armor. There was no way they'd upgraded all the train's armor to have overpowered effects.
"And—"
The man at the control panel's eyes flashed with a ruthless glint as he glanced at the red dot on the target acquisition radar, which was rapidly closing in. He slammed his hand down on the Red button on the control panel. "Even if he somehow got enough murphy stones, the White Zone wouldn't have enough iron ore for him to mine!"
"If he really has it, then I'll admit defeat!"
The next moment!
The train, parked on the plains, shuddered violently under the recoil of the Great Dragon's Roar. A ball of light as scorching as the sun erupted from the cannon's muzzle, hurtling towards the train parked nearby.
"Beep beep beep!"
Inside the Stellaris, the control panel screen flashed red rapidly, accompanied by the AI's cold, mechanical voice.
"Detecting incoming firepower. Estimated time of arrival: two seconds."
"Attack intensity: Tier 6."
"Recommended response: Ignore."
The next instant—
"Boom!"
The sun-like ball of light slammed into the Stellaris, momentarily slowing its speed before it quickly recovered.
"Spider leg integrity reduced to 33%. Powerful magnet integrity reduced to 2%. External speaker..."
"Repair."
Chen Mang, seated at the control panel, glanced at the blank screen of the target acquisition radar. His eyebrows shot up as he immediately upgraded the radar to Tier 15. A red dot soon reappeared on the screen.
By this point, the train had left the swamp and reached the Sha River Plains.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang retracted the spider legs, switched to the Windfire Wheel, and immediately turned the locomotive, racing towards the red dot.
Meanwhile, a swarm of Mechanical Nanospiders poured out of the locomotive cabin, swiftly repairing the train's exterior accessories.
"He... he's not dead?"
Inside the train, the man standing before the control panel's face twisted in disbelief. His eyes were fixed on the red dot rapidly closing in on him on the screen. How could this be? After taking a direct hit from his Tier 6 Great Dragon's Roar Energy Cannon, it was still moving at such incredible speed, and it was coming for him?
Impossible!
His Great Dragon's Roar was Tier 6. Could the other train's energy shield also be Tier 6?
This...
"Pissing your pants, are you?" the battered man chained in the corner sneered, his eyes filled with mockery as he watched the man at the control panel's trousers begin to darken. "Tsk, starting to get scared? This is the best piss smell I've ever smelled in my life."
"It's nice to know I'll be going to hell with you."
The man at the control panel took a deep breath, a storm of thoughts swirling through his mind. His eyes were clouded with shadows. He had one last chance: to quickly retract the Great Dragon's Roar back into the open-air carriage.
Only then did he rush to the train radio and send a mandatory private message to the rapidly approaching Stellaris.
"Hey, I might have got the wrong guy."
"Good."
Chen Mang glanced casually at the private message on the train's communication system. He could now see the other train, which had begun to flee at high speed in the distance.
The next moment—
He slammed the control lever to the floor!
Just as the Stellaris was about to collide head-on, the Drill extended and began spinning at high speed. Simultaneously, the vehicle blades extended and began spinning just as rapidly. Chen Mang slammed the triangle button on the Special Effects Control Console.
The train leaped into the air, began spinning at high speed, and accelerated even faster, directly pursuing the fleeing train!
Like a red-hot steel rod piercing straight through the anus—
Chilling to the bone!
The high-speed Drill tore through the last carriage, ripping through the train's belly like a dragon's roar, and plunged straight toward the locomotive!
Seconds later, the Stellaris slowly came to a halt, leaving a scene of utter devastation in its wake.
Shattered train wreckage lay scattered across the Sha River Plains. Countless fragments lay embedded in the ground, and several fires burned among the ruins. The air was thick with the acrid stench of burning metal and the cloying sweetness of blood.
The entire ground was stained crimson, littered with limbs and shredded flesh.
Boom.
With the sudden crash of the door to Guard Car No. 7, Biaozi and his team, already prepared, roared off the train on their off-road motorcycles. Armed with Soaring Dragon Assault Rifles, they quickly closed in on the wreckage, ready to eliminate any remaining resistance and gather supplies.
In truth, the latter was their primary objective.
Given the scene before them, it seemed impossible anyone could have survived.
Complete annihilation.
Everyone aboard the train—from the train conductor to the slaves—had become one with the plains.
Biaozi, clad in a special forces uniform, leapt from his off-road motorcycle. He gazed at the wreckage just a few meters away, his expression remarkably calm. Though the scene was truly gruesome, he had seen far worse.
Especially during the early days of the apocalypse, when countless horrific sights had desensitized him to such carnage.
He still remembered that day vividly.
It was just after the apocalypse began. He and his Brothers were eating at a restaurant when they heard an uproar outside. Pulling back the curtains, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.
The streets were choked with abandoned vehicles, and panicked crowds were fleeing aimlessly amidst screams and cries.
At first, he thought it was a stampede.
Until—
When he saw white-collar workers in the office buildings on both sides of the street screaming in despair and leaping to their deaths like dumplings, followed by countless monsters with bloodied mouths and murderous glares lurking inside the buildings, he realized the apocalypse had truly arrived.
Though the scene was horrific, it paled in comparison to the chaos of the apocalypse's initial days.
Minutes later, Biaozi and his group had packed all the supplies they'd gathered into the refrigerator attached to the back of their off-road motorcycle. Not a single person had survived; all were dead.
"Hoo..."
Standing beside the motorcycle, Biaozi gazed at the wreckage of the train before him. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, then knelt and stuck the cigarette into the ground, muttering, "Rest in peace."
Not even a single intact corpse could be found. The slaves on this train shouldn't have died, but in a train battle, how could you know which carriage was the slave car and which was the firepower car? To alter your attack trajectory to avoid the slave car would have likely resulted in the Stellaris lying here instead.
He was fortunate.
But these slaves were unfortunate. If they had been on the Stellaris, they wouldn't have died, and they would have even enjoyed decent treatment.
But in this world, there are no "what ifs."
"Let's head back."
Biaozi patted Wildcat on the shoulder, hopped onto his off-road motorcycle, and twisted the throttle. Humans are inherently afraid of death, but after the apocalypse, many chose suicide to escape it, even when they had a chance to survive.
When people are consumed by extreme fear and see no hope, ending their own lives becomes the only choice they feel they have left.
"..."
In the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang, seated at the control panel, stared at the triangular button on the Special Effects Control Console.
He hadn't been able to test the drone properly last time.
Now it seemed...
This "Death Spin" train special effect was even more powerful than he'd imagined. This was mainly because the Drill, Vehicle Blade, and Armor accessories on his train were all high-tier, allowing it to effortlessly pierce through the enemy train's armor and energy shield.
But it was also quite energy-intensive.
The Tier 2 Energy Stone he'd just crafted using 5,000 units of iron ore had already been completely depleted. He crafted another Tier 2 Energy Stone and inserted it into the Generator to keep the train running.
The cooldown time for this train special effect is 48 hours.
At this moment, the triangular button on the Special Effects Control Console had dimmed. When it lit up again, the special effect could be used once more.
But even so, this train special effect would remain his primary attack method for a long time to come. Compared to other attack methods, it consumed far less, with no restrictions other than the cooldown.
As for the 5,000 units of iron ore it consumed, that was practically negligible compared to other firepower accessories.
In that case, he needed to upgrade the drill and vehicle Blade accessories further. Their power would increase significantly as a result.
The energy shield on the train he had just destroyed was Tier 5.
It had melted away with little resistance, but he wondered if he could achieve the same ease against higher-quality, more advanced defensive components.
Next...
He would head to Sha River City to scavenge for supplies.
Two hours later, the Stellaris train slowly pulled to a stop beside an abandoned city. He didn't know Sha River City's coordinates, so he had asked the train conductor of the Azure Dragon Train.
Though the city was now in ruins, choked with stalled cars and overgrown weeds, it still held a faint echo of its former glory.
Just a year.
The city, once ablaze with neon lights at night, had become permeated with a profound sense of desolation, appearing utterly deserted.
Chen Mang switched to "spider leg" mode and slowly pushed the control stick, maneuvering the Stellaris train through various obstacles, heading straight into the heart of the ruins. His objective: essential supplies.
These items wouldn't show up on the Radar.
He had to drive the train into the City and have Biaozi and his men search the surrounding area.
Soon.
Half an hour later.
The Stellaris train came to a halt on the rooftop terrace of a hospital. The space was ample enough to accommodate all 14 of its carriages. Biaozi and his three teams of thugs, who had been waiting downstairs on their off-road motorcycles, had already begun their search.
Their primary targets were essential supplies, any useful information, and livestock like chickens, cattle, and sheep.
If they were lucky enough to find any.
His "Breeding Carriage" had yet to be put to use. With most of the population already dead, these creatures had little chance of survival.
(End of the Chapter)
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