Translator: AnubisTL
Just then.
A massive holographic screen materialized above the mechanical city.
[The Miraculous Encounter Map: Sky Piercing Tower has officially opened. Maximum train capacity: 8. Participating trains: 2.
This Miraculous Encounter Map consists of five stages.
The difficulty of each stage increases progressively, from D-Rank, C-Rank, B-grade, A-grade, to S-grade.
Clearing each stage grants the corresponding stage completion reward.
First Stage: D-Rank Difficulty: Doomsday Sprint.]
The next moment—
The traffic lights lining the eight roads suddenly began to flash. When the green lights finally stabilized and remained illuminated, the hazy mechanical city instantly seemed to come alive. Every light in the city flickered on, enveloping the entire metropolis in a dazzling neon glow.
Simultaneously, two elevator platforms slowly rose from the platforms behind the Azure Dragon and Stellaris trains. Each platform bore a towering ten-meter-tall mech wielding a massive greatsword!
The sight was utterly awe-inspiring.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang slammed the control stick to the floor. With a thunderous roar, the train's speed surged, hurtling down the asphalt road toward the heart of the mechanical city!
Meanwhile, the control panel screen flashed rapidly with several lines of text:
[This mech model is the Stellaris III. Its heavy sword can pierce Tier 7 defense, and its armor also provides Tier 7 defense.
Reach the finish line within ten minutes to pass.]
Simultaneously, several routes appeared on the screen, like a navigation system. These were the pre-planned paths for this fortuitous encounter map. Xiao Ai's urgent voice echoed through the locomotive cabin.
"Choose the third route."
Chen Mang, in the control room, glanced at the upcoming fork in the road. Without hesitation, he immediately steered the train onto the rightmost path, which led deeper into the mechanical city.
Towering skyscrapers constructed from mechanical components flashed past on either side.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent collisions shook the train. Despite the Universal Wheels, which allowed for tighter turns, the train's high speed caused the rear carriages to slam against the walls with a cacophony of sparks and lightning.
Thanks to the Armor, the train sustained no damage.
And thanks to the Permanent Shock Absorber, the residents inside felt no jarring sensations.
At that moment—
Xiao Ai finally managed to explain, "The third route has a fifty-meter-wide chasm. The train can cross it entirely using spider silk. Compared to the other routes, this is the optimal solution. The first route..."
"No need to explain."
Chen Mang cut Xiao Ai off. "I trust you. Just give me your conclusion."
Then, glancing at the armor in the rearview mirror—a towering figure like three small buildings, wielding a heavy sword and sprinting at incredible speed—he licked his lips, adrenaline surging. A grin spread across his face. "I like this map."
With that, he slammed his hand down on a button on the control panel.
Instantly!
In Carriage 12, eight rapid-fire ballistae emerged from the rising platform. Ballista bolts were quickly loaded, and with a piercing whoosh, eight bolts shot toward the pursuing mecha!
They hit their mark.
But...
After impact, the bolts failed to even chip the mecha's paint, let alone cause any real damage. They simply fell to the ground, their momentum spent.
"These things..."
Chen Mang suppressed the urge to test the train's special ability against the armor. He merely glanced at the 3D map of the train, where the eight rapid-fire ballistae were displayed. "I'll replace you all eventually. You're absolute waste."
Tier 7 defense.
His train's special ability might not even be enough to take it down. While his drill and vehicle blades were tier-level superior, that only meant they could pierce the mecha's defense. He doubted they could inflict much damage beyond that.
But when that heavy sword slammed into his train, it was a direct hit every time!
His armor couldn't withstand that thing.
Just then—
A massive chasm suddenly appeared in the middle of the straight asphalt road ahead. However, the Stellaris didn't stop. Maintaining its speed, just as it was about to reach the pit's edge, two strands of spider silk shot out, landing on the far side. The train followed, effortlessly crossing the gap.
In the blink of an eye, it had reached the other side.
Resuming its mad dash down the mechanical city's asphalt roads, Chen Mang glanced in the rearview mirror. The mech had simply bent its knees slightly and leaped across, easily keeping pace.
"Impressive," Chen Mang said calmly, continuing to stare straight ahead. A fifty-meter jump was quite a feat.
"Select Route 2 ahead," the Train Auxiliary AI instructed.
Another fork in the road appeared.
Chen Mang steered the Stellaris into the second route. As soon as he entered the street, he saw a massive zombie horde charging toward them from the distance. Their faces contorted in rage, they nearly filled the entire street. All of them were Tier 1 and 2 zombies.
"Vroom, vroom, vroom!"
The vehicle blades on both sides of the carriage and the drill at the front of the locomotive rapidly extended, all spinning at high speed!
Immediately afterward, the Stellaris, without slowing down, plunged headfirst into the zombie horde. At the moment of impact, countless zombie limbs were flung into the air, and a torrent of viscous blood splattered across the front windows, instantly blinding Chen Mang.
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly. He'd need to install windshield wipers or something similar in the future. But he couldn't worry about that now. He immediately climbed through the skylight onto the train's roof, sat on the locomotive, and gripped his cane, preparing to take control with his mind.
The overwhelming stench of blood hit him almost instantly.
Any zombie that dared approach the train was instantly shredded into limbs and fragments, unable to inflict even a scratch on the vehicle.
He looked back.
The mech was sprinting across the blood-soaked asphalt, hot on his heels. This mech had no ranged weapons, only the heavy sword in its hand.
"Prepare to jump!"
"Width: 150 meters. Spider legs' maximum jump distance at top speed: 155 meters. Just enough."
Xiao Ai's voice rang out from the locomotive cabin.
At that moment, another massive pit appeared at the far end of the road. But this one was a staggering 150 meters wide, far beyond the reach of the spider silk, which could only spray up to 100 meters.
However—
Just as he was about to reach the end of the chasm, the wheels instantly transformed into spider legs, using the momentum to leap powerfully from the edge of the chasm, soaring high into the air!
As he descended, he crashed heavily onto the opposite side of the pit and resumed his frenzied dash across the asphalt road. Three seconds later, Chen Mang spotted the finish line: a plaza surrounded by yellow circles. When the train plunged into it, it felt as if it had entered thick, viscous air.
The train, which had been hurtling at breakneck speed, instantly ground to a halt.
The Azure Dragon Train had arrived first, waiting for him there.
Lines of text reappeared on the control panel screen:
[First Stage: Successful completion.
Reward for this stage: 10,000 units of iron ore. The Second Stage will begin in ten minutes.]
Chen Mang glanced in the rearview mirror at the mech that had silently turned around and returned along its original path as soon as he crossed the finish line. He then sat on the locomotive and looked down through the skylight at Xiao Ai. "Have Old Pig send someone to clean the locomotive."
Afterward, he turned his head to look at Erdan, who was grinning beside him.
"Pretty fast, huh?"
"Not bad," Erdan replied, poking his head out of the locomotive cabin with a hint of smugness. "After all, it can fly. It's a Tier 5 train, so it has to have something you can't do, right?"
"That's good."
He sat on the locomotive, lit a cigarette, and gazed at the mechanical city around him, built entirely from mechanical components. The sight was truly spectacular, something he had never seen before.
Old Pig had already begun cleaning the viscous bloodstains from the glass. They needed to find a way to get the train's basic accessories sorted out. It didn't even have a windshield wiper—what kind of train was that?
Ten minutes passed quickly.
The yellow glow gradually faded, and a new light curtain materialized before them.
The light curtain displayed a line of text and two flat maze maps.
[Second Stage: C-Rank Difficulty Mechanical Maze.
Reach the maze's end within 10 minutes to pass.
You have one minute to memorize the maze's layout. The stage will begin in one minute.]
Meanwhile, on the plaza in front, two gaping black holes slowly materialized on the side of a high-rise building. These were clearly the entrances to the maze.
"Li Shiji, report to the locomotive cabin immediately!"
The moment the holographic screen appeared, the AI took control of the train's Audio System, blasting the announcement at maximum volume directly into Li Shiji's ears, who was still leaning out the window admiring the scenery.
Without hesitation, Li Shiji sprinted toward the locomotive cabin.
He tripped and fell from running too fast, but he didn't even bother to get up. He scrambled to his feet and clawed his way toward the locomotive.
Bursting into the locomotive cabin, Li Shiji glanced at the two maze maps displayed on the holographic screen outside the window. His mind raced, but only 20 seconds remained. His lips trembled slightly from the pressure, and his fingers twitched nervously in the air as he mentally traced the paths.
Soon—
The countdown ended!
"Did you memorize them?" Chen Mang asked, turning to Li Shiji.
"I memorized both maps. Which one are we taking?"
"The one on the right. You take the lead."
Chen Mang suddenly remembered something. He picked up the train radio walkie-talkie and found it still functional. Turning his head toward Erdan, whose face was etched with anxiety in the locomotive cabin, he frowned and asked, "Can you make it through? If not, I'll help you."
"Thanks!" Erdan's excited and urgent voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. "I've got a goddamn phobia of mazes now."
Chen Mang didn't linger. He steered the train into the black opening to the right of the towering buildings ahead.
Inside, it was pitch-black.
When the headlights flicked on, they revealed a tunnel made of black steel. The tunnel was enormous, standing a full ten meters high, and the intersections were equally vast, allowing the train to turn smoothly even without Universal Wheels.
"Turn left!" Li Shiji barked urgently, staring at the three-way intersection ahead. He then glanced down at the train's speedometer on the control panel and grabbed the train radio walkie-talkie, speaking rapidly. "Maintain the train's speed at 50 kilometers per hour. Not faster, not slower."
"In three seconds, you'll reach the first intersection. Turn right."
"After that, follow my instructions."
He then turned back to the tunnel ahead. "Lord Mang, we turn right at the next intersection."
Three minutes later.
"Woo!"
With a blast of its horn, the Stellaris train successfully emerged from the maze and came to a halt in a plaza once more. The control panel screen lit up again with several lines of text:
"Second Stage: Passed."
"Reward for this stage: A random white-grade accessory blueprint. Randomization in progress... Randomly selected: 'Iris Chip.' The Third Stage will begin in ten minutes."
"P.S.: All accessory blueprints obtained in this fortuitous encounter map can only be acquired through the Sky Piercing Tower Encounter Map."
"Impressive," Chen Mang said, turning to Li Shiji, whose body was trembling slightly from intense concentration. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. "I can understand you remembering the flat map, but you had no idea what was happening in Erdan's ear. How did you manage to guide him correctly?"
At that moment, Erdan's Azure Dragon Train slowly pulled out and stopped beside them.
Relaxing slightly, Li Shiji replied in a soft, embarrassed voice, "Although the two maze maps were different, the flat map had a scale marked on it. As long as the train conductor kept the speed at 50 kilometers per hour, maintaining the same speed as the Stellaris..."
"I could use the Stellaris's progress to deduce where the other train would be on its map at any given time."
"But I didn't know the exact rules, so I had the other train arrive at the finish line a little later. I'm not sure if there's any benefit to arriving first, but it shouldn't hurt."
"Amazing."
Chen Mang patted Li Shiji on the shoulder, signaling him to return. "You'll be rewarded after this."
Then he turned to Xiao Ai.
"With your processing power, can't you record the maze's flat map and quickly deduce a solution?"
"Yes, I can," Xiao Ai's mechanical voice echoed through the locomotive cabin. "But you need to input the maze's flat map data into the Train Auxiliary AI. That way, I can process it quickly. This robot's information reception device is too poor to absorb information rapidly."
"However, there are many damaged robot accessories here. Perhaps we can find some to modify this robot later."
"Then it will be possible."
"My processing speed is fast, but my download speed is slow."
Just then, Erdan's excited and grateful voice crackled over the train radio. "Brother, thank you, really. I'm truly traumatized by mazes now. If you hadn't helped, I really wouldn't have made it through this stage."
Chen Mang, seated at the control console, turned his head toward the Azure Dragon Train and waved with a smile.
"No problem."
"If you hadn't provided the coordinates, I wouldn't have made it here either."
"There are several more stages ahead. Let's keep going."
Soon, the waiting period passed again, and the Third Stage arrived!
A holographic screen reappeared in the plaza.
[Third Stage: B-grade difficulty, Labyrinth of Despair.
Clear Condition: Solve the riddle to find your way out.
Time limit: 3 minutes.]
The instant this light screen appeared, a deafening chorus of grinding gears erupted. The platform suddenly began to rotate slowly.
With each rotation, the platform expanded.
Gradually, they split into two separate plazas, separating the Stellaris and the Azure Dragon Train.
Then, countless nozzles resembling star engine emerged from the ground along the edges of the circular plazas. A torrent of icy air shot out, forming sword-like pillars that pierced the clouds.
(End of the Chapter)
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