For a long time, the structure of the Stellar Train was essentially fixed.
Unless there was new population growth.
After consuming 32,000 units of iron ore to equip the two newly added carriages with Level 3 armor, Chen Mang turned his attention to the cost of upgrading from Level 3 to Level 4 armor.
Upgrading from Level 3 to Level 4 armor required 30,000 units of iron ore.
The Stellar Train currently had 13 carriages plus a locomotive, making a total of 14.
Upgrading all of them to Level 4 would consume 420,000 units of iron ore.
"..."
Seeing this number, Chen Mang's mouth twitched slightly. Although he had known the price beforehand, it still stung when it came time to upgrade. The cost was simply too high.
But this iron ore had to be spent.
Soon!
All 13 carriages and the locomotive of the Stellar Train were upgraded to Level 4 armor. The price to upgrade from Level 4 to Level 5 armor was a whopping 50,000 units of iron ore per carriage, totaling 700,000 units.
After another 700,000 units of iron ore were spent, the train's armor successfully reached Level 5.
The once astronomical number of iron ore units in the train panel almost instantly shrank from 3.654 million to 1.652 million.
But—
It wasn't over yet!
He had once said that he wouldn't take a single step toward the Kunlun Mountains until the armor reached Level 6. Without Level 6 armor, venturing into the green zone would feel utterly unsafe. Upgrading one carriage from Level 5 to Level 6 armor required a staggering 100,000 units of iron ore.
After spending 1.4 million units of iron ore,
Only 252,000 units remained.
It was almost like returning to poverty overnight.
Chen Mang stepped out of the train compartment, leaning on his cane as he stood on the wasteland, gazing at the heavily armored train before him with pride.
The sense of security provided by Level 6 armor was unmatched by any other accessory.
With this, even in the green zone, he could move unhindered. No monster could stop him. What had he spent so many days in the Iron Ridge Wasteland for, if not this?
And—
After reaching Level 6 armor, the green-tier accessory "Carriage Steel Armor," which had consumed the most resources, finally unlocked its first Level 5 Supermodel Effect.
Carriage Steel Armor Level 5 Supermodel Effect: Immunity to corrosion from liquids, mist, swamps, etc.
This effect was quite good.
During his first encounter with that Level 3 spider boss, some venom had accidentally come into contact with the train during the fight, causing a slight energy leak. Although it wasn't much and didn't cause any major issues, it still took a lot of time and effort to troubleshoot.
With this Supermodel Effect,
He wouldn't have to worry about corrosion from spitting or spraying monsters in the future.
Nice.
"Phew,"
Chen Mang let out a long breath and looked at the remaining 252,000 units of iron ore. He hadn't yet upgraded the accessories that could be crafted after reaching Level 3 train, and upgrading to Level 4 train would require 10,000 units of Level 2 iron ore, equivalent to 100,000 units.
The remaining iron ore simply wasn't enough.
But—
It didn't matter.
Level 6 armor might sound down-to-earth, but those four words meant he could now mine freely in the green zone. Why stay in the Iron Ridge Wasteland? The green zone had more high-grade ore!
He could always find mines once he got to the green zone. In the meantime, he had mined quite a bit of copper ore, amassing a reserve of 710,000 units in the train. His "40-Tube Cherry Blossom Rocket Launcher," which he had crafted but never fired, would finally get its chance. Once in the green zone, he'd find a boss to test it on.
His rocket launcher was still at Level 1.
In contrast, the four "Makeshift Heavy Machine Guns" had already been upgraded to Level 5.
Then he turned his attention to the Regional Leaderboard.
Iron Ridge Wasteland Power Value Ranking:
1st Place: Stellar Train, Level 3 Train, Power Value 5412.
2nd Place: Survival Train, Level 3 Train, Power Value 2789.
3rd Place: Xuangui Train, Level 3 Train, Power Value 2621.
4th Place: Ziyun Train, Level 3 Train, Power Value 2212.
5th Place: -
The base value for a Level 3 Train was 500 points.
Each survivor taken in by the train added 1 point. His survivors had contributed 1012 points.
The total level of his accessories was 313, adding 3130 points.
He had two red high-quality accessories, adding 200 points.
He had a total of 57 Supermodel Effects, adding 570 points.
The main reason for his high score was the total level of his accessories. His total accessory level was 313, far exceeding the requirement of 80 for upgrading to a Level 4 Train. This massive overflow was why he had achieved a score that a Level 3 Train shouldn't logically reach!
His score was more than double that of the second-place train.
The discussion on the Train Radio about this was also intense.
Bastard Train: "Listen up, brothers, let's do the math. The scoring algorithm for trains is transparent, right? There's no way points just magically increase by hundreds or thousands. If the score went up, it's either because of more slaves, higher accessory levels, or more Supermodel Effects."
"But Stellar Train's score of 5412 is completely unreasonable. Accessory levels are basically capped at Level 3, and at most, you can get a yellow-tier accessory to Level 5."
"But the number of yellow-tier accessories you can craft at Level 3 Train is limited. Even if you crafted all of them, how many levels would that add? It's not like Stellar Train has a ton of blueprints for yellow-tier accessories, right?"
"Okay, even if that's the case."
"Let's say he has twenty. That's a lot, right? Even if he maxed them all out, that's only 60 levels, or 600 points! So where the hell did his 5000+ points come from?"
Infinite Train: "Hmm, could it be from slaves?"
Bastard Train: "You're nuts if you think you can stuff 5000 slaves into a train. Do you even know how quickly that would bankrupt you? Could you even sustain that many slaves? You'd need to mine every single day, and we all know how hard it is to find survivors in the ruins of Taiping City. Finding 5000 survivors is just a pipe dream."
Ziyun Train: "Alright, no need to argue. I think the conductor of the Stellar Train, though we've never met, must be a brave and resourceful person with unparalleled methods. It's only natural that he's developing faster than the rest of us."
Bloodthirsty Mad Bull Train: "Hey, I remember you. Weren't you the one who said you wanted to confront the Stellar Train and see if he dared to speak up in front of you?"
Ziyun Train: "...You've got the wrong person."
"Really?"
Chen Mang glanced at the chat logs on the Train Radio and pulled out a small notebook from the drawer. On it was written:
Ziyun Train, arrogant tone, wanted to confront me with his train, asked if I dared to speak up in front of him.
He hadn't misremembered.
He clearly remembered this. It had only been a little over a month, and this guy's attitude seemed to have improved a lot. He wasn't as boastful as before.
Indeed.
In the apocalypse, people grow quickly, even their temperaments.
He shook his head with a smile, said nothing more, and tucked the notebook back into the drawer. He leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on the control panel, and leisurely lit a cigarette. Picking up the remote, he prepared to find another zombie movie to watch.
Watching zombie movies in the apocalypse offered an immersive experience.
Wait.
He glanced at the Targeting Radar screen, which showed a small Corpse Tide passing by 7,000 meters to the left.
Perfect timing.
Grabbing the walkie-talkie, he said, "Biao Zi, take some men on the off-road motorcycles and capture a few zombies."
"Got it."
Half an hour later.
Biao Zi returned triumphantly on the off-road motorcycle, with a Level 10 refrigerator tied to the back. Inside the refrigerator were four or five Level 1 zombies.
Following Lord Mang's orders,
They secured these bloodied, white-eyed, constantly howling zombies to the windows of the locomotive.
Since there were no chains or other convenient means to secure them,
Biao Zi and the others had to do it themselves, letting the zombies stand on their shoulders while they held onto the zombies' legs. This way, the upper bodies of the zombies appeared at the windows of the locomotive, continuously pounding on the glass.
While capturing the zombies, he had used the Handheld Zombie Perception Blocker issued by Lord Mang, so the Corpse Tide hadn't been disturbed. They had taken the zombies unnoticed.
Inside the train compartment,
It was morning, and sunlight filtered into the compartment, creating an atmosphere of utmost tranquility and warmth.
But then—
"ROAR!"
A piercing roar suddenly shattered the peace.
A horrifying, bloodied face appeared at the window, its pale, lifeless complexion and bloodshot eyes glaring with murderous intent at Chen Mang inside the compartment.
The zombie began pounding on the glass,
Leaving bloody handprints on the window.
The once warm atmosphere in the compartment vanished, replaced by a sense of impending danger. Even the sunlight now seemed like a harbinger of doom.
Chen Mang, sitting at the control panel, turned pale. A surge of fear and despair overwhelmed him, and he curled up in his chair, pulling a blanket over himself.
Then, trembling, he picked up the remote and started playing a zombie movie on the screen.
"ROAR!"
The roar of the zombie in the movie and the roar of the zombie outside the window seemed to synchronize, creating a uniquely immersive viewing experience.
This was the feeling!
Only this way could he truly appreciate the unique charm of zombie movies.
An hour and a half later.
Outside the train, Biao Zi's legs were shaking like a sieve. The zombie standing on his shoulders looked bewildered. It was so heavy!
Finally!
He received Lord Mang's command to end the ordeal. Just as he was about to pull out a Train Blade Fragment to kill the zombie lunging at him, he received another order from Lord Mang.
Lord Mang told him to keep the zombies, stuff them back into the refrigerator, and make sure they didn't starve.
They'd be needed next time.
Hmm... Do zombies eat bread slices?
Biao Zi looked at the zombie in deep thought. If they didn't eat bread, what then? Use the corpses of other monsters? That could work.
There was some Corpse Meat stored in the train, but these zombies had a professional ethic—they didn't eat their own kind.
Better try feeding them bread first.
Hesitantly, he pulled out a bread slice from his pocket and tossed it into the mouth of the zombie he was stepping on.
"Crunch, crunch."
Hey, it ate it quite happily. Bread slices would do. Although he didn't know why Lord Mang was keeping these zombies, as the Train Conductor, Lord Mang had a higher perspective and a longer vision. If he was keeping them, they must be useful. Maybe they'd play a role in some grand plan later.
For example, he still didn't know what the maze built by Li Shiji was for.
But Lord Mang seemed to take it seriously.
Because Lord Mang valued it, when Li Shiji came to ask for manpower, he agreed without hesitation. What Lord Mang valued, he valued.
Soon—
The next day arrived.
Early morning, the sky was overcast, and a light rain had fallen the previous night.
Although the rain had stopped by morning, the weather still looked gloomy, but the air smelled sweet.
All the slaves stood nervously and uneasily in order on the wasteland.
They looked at the group of armed thugs standing below the train, along with Biao Zi and Lao Zhu. These two were the ones they had seen the most in recent days, while Lord Mang, the Train Conductor, they had only seen a few times.
Just then—
A man in a suit walked from the rear of the train to the top of the carriage. Leaning on his cane, he looked down at all of them. For a moment, everyone's breath seemed to stop. This was Lord Mang, the conductor of the Stellar Train and their leader.
"So... so handsome,"
Zhang San, who stood out in the crowd, couldn't help but tighten her grip on hier clothes and whisper.
Indeed, he was quite handsome.
Uncle Li couldn't help but sigh. Lord Mang naturally exuded an indescribable air of authority. He had met other train conductors before, and many of them had a certain air of petty triumph, but Lord Mang never had that.
Plus, the suit he wore looked expensive and impeccably tailored.
The imposing train beneath his feet added to his awe-inspiring presence.
With the wasteland as the backdrop,
He gave off the aura of a king in the apocalypse.
Back on Master Kun's train, he had never thought of standing out, but here, under Lord Mang, he truly wanted to rise.
"Don't worry, Uncle Li, I believe one day—"
Before he could finish,
Uncle Li quickly covered the young man's mouth, his eyes filled with panic and fear as he hissed, "Are you out of your mind? Why don't you just drape me in a dr
agon robe while you're at it?"
The young man broke free and shook his head helplessly. "Uncle Li, what are you thinking?"
"I may have high expectations for you, but not that high."
"I was just saying that even though we're standing here like ants now, I believe one day you'll be like Biao Ge and Train Conductor Zhu, standing below the train when Lord Mang speaks."
"Phew, you scared me..."
(End of Chapter)