Translator: Anubis Translations
Congratulations! You have completed all Newbie Train Conductor Missions and have become a qualified Train Conductor.
Officially unlocking the Train Conductor Panel with the following effect:
Infinite Upgrade
The train components of your train will have no Tier cap and can be upgraded infinitely.
"Is that it?"
Chen Mang looked at the translucent panel before him with confusion. The effect didn't seem particularly impressive—just unlimited upgrades for train components? That didn't sound particularly useful.
When in doubt, ask Old Pig. After all, Old Pig had once served as deputy train conductor, and he understood these things better than Chen Mang. That was one of the main reasons Chen Mang had appointed him to that position in the first place.
He had already gained some understanding of this world.
This world had been partially digitized, with many things represented by panels. For example, trains and train components had their own panels. Gasoline had been replaced as an energy source, not because it was unusable, but because it couldn't be used by trains. Anything that couldn't be used by trains was gradually being abandoned.
And his Train Conductor Panel was the only one of its kind.
It was a bit like a game plugin—a simple, crude way to understand it was to think of it as plugging in a USB drive.
So far, after completing three newbie missions, his cheat had been fully activated. However, he found it difficult to judge its strength. Was it a small advantage, or something game-changing? After all, there were differences between USB drives.
"Old Pig."
Chen Mang immediately turned to look at Old Pig. "Is there a Tier cap for every train component?"
"Mm-hmm."
Old Pig nodded vigorously, finally ready to showcase his expertise. With a serious expression, he explained, "Train components are categorized by grade—White, Green, Blue, and so on. The higher the grade, the rarer the component, and the higher its Tier cap."
"For example, many White components max out at Tier 2."
He continued, "Take the 'Vehicle Blade'—a White component I know. It allows you to attach two sharp steel blades to the sides of the carriage. When facing a zombie horde, the entire train transforms into a razor-sharp blade, slicing through zombies at the waist."
"This isn't a standard component included with the train. Its blueprint drops randomly when you kill monsters in the wilderness."
"The previous Train Conductor obtained this blueprint during a battle against a zombie horde. The Vehicle Blade can only reach Tier 2. Even at Tier 2, the blades become larger and sharper, but that's about it. After all, it's just a White component—something to use during the early stages. A truly formidable train relies on high-grade components."
"..."
Chen Mang's mouth slowly widened as he stared at the birthmark on the back of his hand, his expression somewhat dazed. At that moment, he finally understood the full meaning of "Infinite Upgrade"!
This meant that even a "White Accessory" could be upgraded without limit.
A Tier 2 "Vehicle Blade" might indeed be, as Old Pig had suggested, something only suitable for weaklings.
But...
What about a Tier 10 "Vehicle Blade"?
Or a Tier 20, Tier 50, or even a Tier 100 "Vehicle Blade"?
Wherever his train passed, not a blade of grass would remain!
This was it!
Even in the USB drive world, his panel was now far ahead of everything else!
My stats surpass yours!
Haaah...
Chen Mang took a deep breath. Damn it, he didn't know why the birthmark he was born with had suddenly become so powerful after being transported to this world, but... who cared?
He figured he must have been a virtuous person in his past nine lives, and this was his reward in this lifetime!
Right now, he only had one train component at Tier 2: the "Geothermal Core Furnace."
The Tier 1 "Geothermal Core Furnace" could only devour Tier 1 trains. To devour those abandoned Tier 2 trains earlier, he had just spent his last 100 units of iron ore to upgrade the "Geothermal Core Furnace" to Tier 2.
He now only had 600 units of iron ore left.
What a pity.
These slaves needed sleep. Otherwise, operating around the clock would yield even more iron ore.
First, upgrade the train to Tier 2, then capture more slaves from the nearby city ruins to obtain more iron ore, and use it to build an even stronger train!
Repeat this cycle until his train roars unchecked across the wasteland!
Half an hour later.
Chen Mang returned to the iron ore mine entrance. Just like before, under the furious shouts of the thugs, the slaves filed out of the carriages, collected their pickaxes, and descended into the mine.
The scene was strikingly familiar, as if it had happened before.
The only difference was:
This morning, he had stood among the slaves. Now, he stood in the locomotive cabin.
Perhaps the apocalypse wasn't without its advantages. With enough luck, the journey from slave to Train Conductor could take mere hours. In peacetime, achieving the same feat would require far more than luck alone.
Inside the Train:
Chen Mang glanced at the screen displaying the train crew members.
So far, the train had ten thugs and eighty-one slaves. Each name was white; when someone died, their name would turn black. This feature allowed the Train Conductor to clearly monitor the survival status of his passengers.
He suspected that the thugs had rushed to the carriage last night after he killed the slave because of this very feature.
"But..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly, tilting his head as he gazed into the distance. If this system existed, the original Train Conductor must have known that their group of slaves hadn't died. In fact, they had even joined another train.
Could that escaped locomotive return to find them?
But.
It was just one locomotive that had escaped. Even if it returned, he wasn't particularly worried. After all, he still had ten thugs armed with assault rifles and a Heavy Machine Gun. He wasn't completely defenseless.
Meanwhile, in another part of the wasteland...
Inside a battered locomotive fleeing across the wasteland, a rotund man stared at the "Train Crew" list on the screen and froze.
He had been agonizing over the loss of those slaves. Capturing those three hundred slaves had cost him considerable effort.
Now they were all dead.
The difficulty of rising again would be extraordinary.
But.
The "Train Crew" list showed that nearly a hundred of his slaves hadn't died at all. Instead, they had joined an "Unnamed" Tier 1 Train. One of them, Chen Mang, had even become the Train Conductor!
How was this possible?!
He had directly abandoned that group of slaves in the zombie horde. How could they possibly have survived under those circumstances?
Could it be...
"..."
The man's eyes burned with fury. That slave, Chen Mang, must have stumbled upon some opportunity. It wasn't surprising; the wasteland was teeming with possibilities. With enough luck, anything could happen.
What infuriated him was that after he had sacrificed his own position to survive, his slave had actually seized an opportunity to become a Train Conductor?
How could he endure this humiliation?!
A newly constructed train was essentially defenseless, no different from a lamb awaiting slaughter. Now that the zombie horde had been outrun, his most urgent mission was to track down those slaves, kill the Train Conductor, and reclaim his rightful property!
Though he didn't know their exact location, a newly appointed Train Conductor would quickly grasp the importance of iron ore. Therefore, Chen Mang was likely already back at the mine. By returning there, he could reclaim his slaves!
"Thank you so much," the rotund man chuckled, his eyes gleaming with sinister glee and excitement. "If it weren't for you, those hundred slaves might have perished long ago. Now that I can find them, rising again will be so much easier."
(End of the Chapter)
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