Translator: AnubisTL
Chen Mang shook his head, clearing the jumbled thoughts from his mind before turning his gaze to the "Train Ticket" accessory displayed on the control panel screen.
Though white-grade, it was actually quite useful. Otherwise, it wouldn't be included in the craftable accessories for Tier 4 Trains.
He'd come to realize something. As his Tier increased, relying solely on rapid leveling wouldn't be enough to pull ahead of other trains and survive longer. He'd need to venture into fortuitous encounter maps or defeat bosses to obtain rare blueprints. Only then could he truly create a gap.
This accessory's effect was to produce Train Tickets. Guards on field missions could tear up a ticket to instantly teleport back to the train's designated binding location. The initial teleportation range was 1,000 meters, increasing to 10,000 meters at Tier 10.
This accessory was highly effective in ensuring the safety of field personnel.
Not bad. In situations where the train's firepower support was insufficient, this accessory could significantly reduce casualties. Moreover, it had unlocked two Overpowered effects.
Train Ticket Tier 5 Overpowered Effect: If teleportation fails, the user's first-person perspective footage from the final minute before death is transmitted back to the train.
Train Ticket Tier 10 Overpowered Effect: None.
Overall, this accessory was quite good. The only regret was the lack of a Tier 10 effect. He had hoped that if he upgraded the accessory to a high enough Tier, it might even gain a Tier 20 or Tier 50 overpowered effect.
Could it be possible...?
To have a resurrection-like effect, where field personnel holding the Train Ticket would instantly revive inside the train upon death?
As it turned out, that was unlikely.
But it made sense. Such an effect would be too fantastical, shattering the very fabric of life and death. Even the Medical Bay could only save those on the brink of death, not resurrect the deceased.
With this accessory, he could finally venture out for a stroll.
He would stay within a 10,000-meter radius of the train. If danger arose, he could remotely control the train with the Hell Staff or teleport directly back using the Train Ticket.
Not bad.
Soon, the night passed. It had been a night of rest, and everyone was relaxed.
As dawn broke, the Stellaris train set off once more, heading west toward the city center to rescue Yan Yao. For the Stellaris, rescuing a survivor was simple, especially with a general description.
The Stellaris train set off again, heading west towards the city center to search for Yan Yao. For the Stellaris, rescuing a survivor was simple, especially with a general description.
The target acquisition radar screen clearly marked nearby lifeforms.
It was worth noting that throughout the journey, the radar had barely detected any survivors. They had likely been scavenged by other trains or devoured by monsters.
Finally!
The Stellaris slowly entered the park, where about thirteen detached villas stood in a corner.
"Quite a crowd," Chen Mang observed, glancing at the radar. Seven of the villas had red dots beneath them, indicating lifeforms Underground. Did all the wealthy like to build bunkers? One villa even housed over thirty people.
He immediately called Ji Chuchu over the walkie-talkie. "See if either of these is the Yan Yao you mentioned."
Among the seven villas, only two had a single red dot. According to Ji Chuchu, Yan Yao should be in one of them.
"Neither of them," Ji Chuchu shook her head, quickly scanning the real-time images around each red dot on the screen. Finally, she focused on one villa. "Lord Mang, this is Yan Yao. I don't recognize the woman next to her."
"Mm."
Chen Mang nodded, gazing at the villa with two red dots. Without saying much, he maneuvered the train into the residential area and slowly brought it to a halt.
Upon receiving the order, Biaozi and the others immediately jumped down, their faces tense. They fanned out in a three-by-three formation, Soaring Dragon Assault Rifles slung across their chests, and quickly advanced toward the villa in a fan-shaped formation.
Although the AI had reported no immediate danger, caution was always wise.
"Be careful," Biaozi warned, his nerves on edge. He kicked open the slightly ajar door with a forceful kick, then surveyed the interior of the villa, now shrouded in spiderwebs. The faint footprints on the floor indicated it hadn't been visited in ages.
The first thing that caught his eye was the soaring ten-meter-high living room.
Beneath the once-exquisite chandelier, a desiccated corpse swayed gently in the breeze.
"Damn it!"
Biaozi's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath. "Didn't that scare the hell out of me first thing in the morning? It's the apocalypse! If you're going to kill yourself, at least choose a clean method. Don't you fear getting eaten alive by monsters before you even hang yourself?"
The corpse's legs were missing.
The wound had completely dried and turned pale. On the floor beneath the corpse lay a splash of dried, brownish-red blood.
The legs had likely been devoured by the leaping monsters, while the rest of the body was out of their reach.
One thing was certain about these monsters: they consumed all human corpses. While this apocalypse was undeniably brutal, at least it had prevented any outbreaks of disease.
Otherwise, if the monsters hadn't eaten the corpses, the sudden influx of bodies during the apocalypse, especially in the summer heat, would have been disastrous. The apocalypse's difficulty would have doubled.
Biaozi turned his gaze away from the corpse. It was a middle-aged man. Too bad. He had a plump belly, but the monsters had only eaten his legs, leaving his belly untouched. The corpse was shrunken, but the outline of his former belly still hinted at its meatiness.
The villa before him showed only faint footprints on the first floor.
The Second Floor stairs were completely devoid of footprints.
It seemed the thugs who had previously looted this villa had only searched the first floor, completely ignoring the rest. Biaozi understood this perfectly. Back when he was a thug, he would have done the same, avoiding any place that seemed Eerie.
The items belonged to the train conductor.
His life was his own.
Why bother risking it?
In the past, if Biaozi had seen this scene at the entrance of this villa, he wouldn't have even stepped inside. It would have given him the creeps. But today was different.
Biaozi took the lead, following the instructions from the AI in his mind, and headed straight for the basement. He made his way directly to the safe room in the corner, which looked like an ordinary room from the outside. He knocked on the wall.
Extremely thick.
They hadn't skimped on the rebar. He tried pressing down on the doorknob, then slammed the butt of his rifle against the lock.
A fake door.
The real door was the security door behind this fake one. This wasn't going to be easy.
"..."
Biaozi frowned slightly, about to say something, when he noticed a swarm of black mechanical nanospiders had silently crawled down to the basement. They began squeezing through the gaps in the security door.
A few seconds later.
With a crisp click, the security door slowly swung open from the inside.
Biaozi immediately pushed it open and turned to the two women huddled in the corner, shivering and looking deathly pale. His voice was hoarse and deep as he asked, "Do you know Ji Chuchu? She belongs to Lord Mang."
Just then—
"Meijia!"
Wildcat, standing behind Biaozi, suddenly trembled with excitement. "You... how are you here? I've been searching for you all over Taiping City! You..."
"Wait a minute."
Biaozi, slightly dazed, turned to the two emaciated women in the corner and frowned. "You said the other woman is your friend?"
"Yes, yes!" Wildcat exclaimed excitedly. "It's her, it's her, it's her!"
"Wildcat?"
The woman who had been hiding in the corner, upon hearing the familiar voice and confirming she wasn't mistaken, instantly reddened around her eyes. She tossed the dagger she had been clutching aside and lunged toward Wildcat, her voice trembling with tears. "I never thought I'd see you again before I die. I... I..."
"Me neither..."
"Alright, alright, enough of the 'you... you... me... me's.'"
Biaozi sighed softly, interrupting their reunion. "We're on a mission. Keep it together. We can talk more when we get back."
"Yes, sir."
Wildcat, realizing he had lost control, took a deep breath to suppress his emotions and led the woman to his side.
"Can you walk?"
Biaozi glanced at the pile of fast-food packaging in the safe room before turning to the woman who was shakily rising from the corner.
There's quite a bit of food in this secret room.
There was still plenty of food left. They could move it all back to the train later. It looked like they had enough supplies to last another two or three months without any problems.
"I can walk."
After shakily standing up from the corner, the tall woman finally turned her gaze to Biaozi's special forces uniform and took a deep breath. "My father is the director of the Special Task Force in Sha River City. Did he send you to rescue me?"
"Have all the monsters been eliminated?"
"..."
Biaozi curled his lip, his gaze drifting away from the woman in the safe house. "Special Task Force, huh? If your father was a dedicated official, his death anniversary should be coming up soon. If he was a coward, he might still be alive."
"Lord Mang sent me."
"Come with me."
He didn't say much to the woman. He couldn't predict what role she might play on the train later. If she couldn't walk, he'd have to call two female residents to help her. It was best to say as little as possible to avoid mistakes.
But it seemed...
She probably hadn't fully grasped the concept that the world had officially entered the apocalypse. Her memories were still stuck in the early days of the outbreak, and it would likely take her a while to adjust.
"So there's this too?"
In the Stellar Train Compartment, Chen Mang looked at Xiao Ai standing beside him with surprise. "Why haven't you used this before?"
Xiao Ai's emotionless voice echoed from the robot's loudspeaker.
"I never had the opportunity before, and I only figured out how to do this recently. I can now control multiple threads of mechanical nanospiders simultaneously to perform extremely delicate tasks, allowing them to do more than just repair accessories. However..."
"I can only pick simple locks. Anything too complex is beyond my capabilities unless you can find me lockpicking manuals to study. But this is already my computational limit. I can only control this many nanospiders at once, and while controlling them, I can't control any other accessories."
"That's good," Chen Mang nodded, then turned his attention to the target acquisition radar on the screen. It showed that several people had been sneaking up to the window to observe him during his stop here, but none had spoken.
It seemed they didn't want to leave.
At least until their food ran out, staying in the safehouse was safer than staying on the train—though this didn't include his train.
Moreover—
He glanced at the "Doomsday Marriage Certificate" in his drawer and chuckled. There was an unexpected bonus: Wildcat's girlfriend had somehow made her way from Taiping City to the safehouse in Sha River City.
Another 100 Legacy Value points to gain.
Though he didn't need them yet, Legacy Value and Reputation Value were resources you only realized you needed when it was too late to acquire them. Stockpiling them early was always a good idea. Now he had 200 Legacy Value points.
Just then—
The train radio crackled with a message from the conductor of the Azure Dragon Train.
Azure Dragon Train Conductor: Brother, are you ready? We might not have the full half-month deadline. The plan has changed. We need to head to the Heaven-Piercing Tower by tomorrow at the latest.
Stellaris: Elaborate.
Azure Dragon: The Sky Piercing encounter map officially opens tomorrow. A Train Elevator will descend from the sky directly to the ground, allowing us to ascend even without the ability to climb a 90-degree cliff face.
I thought this was an exploration-type encounter map. Turns out it's a competitive, open-world map that just hasn't officially opened yet.
I knew the conditions were too harsh for anyone to explore it. I couldn't even manage it myself. How many people could possibly succeed?
"This map doesn't allow Tier 6 trains to enter."
"If you want to go, Brother, we'll need to meet up tomorrow morning and head there together."
"Alright, send the coordinates."
"No problem. Meet me tomorrow morning at coordinates '391, 8192, 283'."
"Three parameters?"
"Oh, oh, sorry, almost forgot. Your train can't fly, so just longitude and latitude will do. No need for altitude. Meet me at coordinates '391, 8192' on the ground."
Chen Mang stared expressionlessly at the chat log on his train radio. This guy's doing this on purpose, isn't he?
Even if his train could fly, why couldn't they just meet in the air?
Just wait!
Who said he couldn't fly? He already had the Bunny Cloud, and once he got some acceleration-boosting train components, he'd be soaring too. Then he'd set the coordinates to '391, 8192, 5000'.
That guy's Bunny Cloud Wheels were only Tier 6, so he could only fly up to 3,000 meters.
He'd definitely fly higher.
Good.
He hadn't had much close interaction with other trains yet. He couldn't keep building in isolation forever. Tomorrow, he'd go check out how other trains were developing, see if there was anything he could learn.
(End of the Chapter)
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