Translator: AnubisTL
No horn blared.
No DJ played.
Despite his surging emotions, Chen Mang chose to enter the darkness ahead as gently as possible, quietly and stealthily.
After all, he only had Tier 10 armor.
He could roam freely and domineer in the Zombie Basin, but now that he had entered the Blue Zone's Crisis Valley, he needed to be cautious and keep a low profile. His priority was to reach Tier 12 armor as quickly as possible.
Only then would he start acting boldly and openly.
It was nighttime.
The starry sky above Crisis Valley twinkled invitingly.
Stars were truly magical things, stirring the most primal desires within humans. They were like a half-dressed beauty, tempting one to throw caution to the wind and pounce, yet always remaining just out of reach.
The instant the train passed through the light barrier—
Boom
A faint cracking sound echoed from outside the train. The Stellaris had officially entered the Crisis Valley zone. The Resource Detection Radar and Target Acquisition Radar, which had been running continuously, quickly displayed lines of information on the control panel screen.
A Tier 9 Monster is being chased by a Tier 10 Monster nearby.
Ten kilometers further, a Tier 10 Train was guarding a Tier 2 Iron Ore, mining away.
Scattered low-Tier monsters roamed the area as well.
The highest-Tier mine in the vicinity was a Tier 3 Iron Mine located 8,000 meters underground.
Everything seemed normal.
"Whew," Chen Mang exhaled lightly. The screen displayed the Tier 8 Armor Tier of the Tier 10 Train, just as he had expected. While his Tier 10 armor might struggle against the monsters in this zone, it should have no problem with the train.
These trains all suffered from the same weakness: high attack, low defense.
Theoretically speaking, the best defense is offense. If your attack is strong enough to obliterate enemies before they can approach, what's the point of defense? For example, his "Black Hole Armed Robot" had no armor at all and still worked perfectly fine—in theory.
But there would always be times when close combat was unavoidable.
At that moment, Erdan's "Travel Frog" train had already bid farewell and switched to its Bunny Cloud Wheels, vanishing over the horizon in the blink of an eye to continue its exploration mission.
Chen Mang made no fuss. He extended his drill and headed straight for the Tier 3 Iron Mine 8,000 meters underground. He would mine some ore first and then check the train radio for any useful information.
An hour later.
The Stellaris train had stopped in a cavern 8,000 meters underground. Chen Mang, sitting in his chair, nodded thoughtfully after reading the messages on the train radio. In the past hour, he had roughly grasped the situation in this zone.
The Blue Zone: Crisis Valley.
It was where four zones of the Republic intersected.
Two Blue Zones and two Green Zones.
To reach higher-level zones, one had to pass through the two Blue Zones. There was no direct route; a detour was necessary.
This zone was called Crisis Valley because a massive canyon, 8,000 meters deep and hundreds of meters wide, spanned the entire area, dividing it in two.
To cross to the other side, one needed a Bunny Cloud to fly over. In Crisis Valley, a special monster called the Night Rabbit roamed the wilderness. Killing one had a small chance of dropping a Rabbit Cloud Accessory Blueprint.
The area on the other side of the canyon was home to the ruins of a Mechanical City. Many train conductors had found great opportunities there. The ruins were said to be vast, with the tallest skyscraper reaching several thousand meters high, offering a panoramic view of the sea of clouds from its summit.
"So it's like that."
Chen Mang rubbed his temples thoughtfully. The sense of danger in this zone was relatively low, far less than in Kunlun Mountain or the Zombie Basin after the outbreak. It was comparable to the Sha River Plains, and the residents generally got along harmoniously.
Typically, zones where residents coexist peacefully meet two conditions:
Few monsters.Abundant resources.
This zone certainly had its share of resources, making it a safe place for trains to develop.
"That's great."
He stretched with a yawn. It was late, and he was starting to feel tired.
Safe development was exactly what he wanted. He loved safe development.
The half of the zone containing the ruins of the Mechanical City was known as the "Red Zone" by the train conductors. The Mechanical City was notorious for its "big reds"—a sarcastic reference to the frequent appearance of high-level loot. But after all this time, it had been thoroughly scavenged.
Thanks to the Night Rabbits, nearly a third of the trains in this zone could fly. The others couldn't fly not because they lacked Bunny Cloud Wheels, but because they lacked the necessary tail thruster accessories to reach the minimum takeoff speed.
The zone where Chen Mang's train was located contained a pre-apocalypse city that had long since turned to ruins, known as the "White Zone."
Almost all salvageable supplies and survivors had already been swept away, leaving the area nearly barren.
The train now held only 400,000 units of iron ore.
First, he would completely excavate this Tier 3 Iron Mine, then search for higher-tier deposits.
This zone was vast.
The largest zone he had encountered was the White Zone, the Iron Ridge Wasteland, which was two to three times smaller than this one.
He then turned his attention to the accessories that could be crafted after upgrading the train to Tier 10.
There were three.
Star Ring Energy Shield: Red-Tier Accessory, requires 50,000 units of iron ore to craft.
Comet Main Cannon: Red-Tier Accessory, requires 50,000 units of iron ore to craft.
Infernal Wheels: Red-Tier Accessory, requires 50,000 units of iron ore to craft.
Three Red-Tier Accessories!
These three accessories are the core components for upgrading to a Tier 10 Train. The difference in combat power between a train equipped with these accessories and one without them is astronomical.
Train component grades, from lowest to highest, are:
White, Green, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold, Pink, Seven Colored.
Red-Tier accessories are superior to Purple-Tier accessories.
Purple-Tier accessories can only be upgraded to Tier 10 and possess two overpowered effects.
Red-Tier accessories, on the other hand, can be upgraded to Tier 20 and possess three overpowered effects.
However, this raises a resource issue.
The Zaibatsu Energy Shield, which required a significant investment to craft, becomes obsolete. Upgrading the Star Ring Energy Shield from scratch would waste a large amount of resources. This is why some trains prioritize upgrading their train itself, neglecting their energy shields altogether.
As long as no danger arises, upgrading the train directly to Tier 10 and then upgrading the Star Ring Energy Shield is the most resource-efficient approach.
Of course, that's assuming he survives long enough to reach Tier 10.
The "Comet Main Cannon" had carriage size requirements. The cannon's bore alone was a full 2 meters thick, and its base was 5 meters wide. It was a massive energy weapon typically mounted on the locomotive, requiring the locomotive to be at least 7 meters wide.
In other words, without using the Train Expansion function granted by reaching Tier 10, the cannon simply couldn't be built.
...
Chen Mang pondered silently. It seemed the Stellaris would have to undergo Train Expansion as well. As the train leveled up, its size would inevitably increase. After all, the more powerful the weapon, the larger it would be. If the train remained too small, the weapons simply wouldn't fit.
Even if he forced them to fit, it would be like a small cart pulling a massive load—a ridiculous sight.
While this would limit the places the train could travel, such situations would be handled by solo ground troops.
He hadn't crafted any of these three accessories yet. They were too expensive, and he couldn't afford them for now.
And then there were the "Blazing Wheels."
Like the Windfire Wheels, these were designed for high-speed travel across hard, flat terrain like the wasteland. They were essentially an upgraded version of the Windfire Wheels, offering even greater speed, but at a higher price.
That concludes all the information about this zone and the Tier 10 Train.
It could be said that only after reaching Tier 10 did it truly feel like he possessed a Doomsday Train. Many accessories and functions had just begun to unlock, and before that, it had felt more like a Newbie Village.
Each subsequent tier represented a qualitative leap in combat power.
Twelve hours later, dawn broke.
The Tier 3 Iron Mine deep underground had been completely depleted, replenishing the train with 2.8 million units of iron ore.
All residents returned to their respective carriages to rest.
Meanwhile, the Stellaris continued its rapid underground exploration, searching for potential iron ore deposits both above and below ground. This zone seemed devoid of monsters—at least, Chen Mang hadn't seen a single one in his twelve-hour stay. He also hadn't encountered any other trains underground, as if everyone lacked a drill accessory.
The train's underground speed was remarkably swift, only slightly slower than its surface travel.
Prioritizing armor upgrades, Chen Mang aimed to reach Tier 11 armor first. Then, he would prepare to reorganize the carriages, as the resident population had grown too large. He needed to quickly move everyone through the Resident Gate and upgrade all basic accessories.
Chen Mang steered the train deeper into the earth.
Ever since the incident at the Zombie Basin, Chen Mang's first priority in a new zone was to check for hidden underground structures, drilling as deep as possible.
The next moment—
At a depth of 10,000 meters, the target acquisition radar suddenly began beeping rapidly.
The signal originated from 30,000 meters below.
A Train Tunnel?
It resembled the Supersonic Train Tunnel from the Geocore Nuke zone map, but this one ran deep underground, parallel to the surface. The tunnel was enormous, roughly 100 meters high and wide.
Such a vast space could easily accommodate a train, even the largest zombie Chen Mang had encountered, the Tier 7 Mechanical Zombie King.
"So there really is something hidden down here?"
Chen Mang's expression turned slightly curious. He immediately steered the train deeper, intending to investigate the tunnel. Normally, trains would have difficulty detecting such a structure.
First, the drill's Tier wasn't high enough for rapid underground travel. By the time he reached this depth, it would be ages from now. Second, the target acquisition radar's range was limited. He hadn't yet seen a high-tier replacement for the target acquisition radar. Typically, a fully upgraded target acquisition radar would only have a detection range of 3,000 meters.
The drill bored deeper.
It struck the reinforced concrete shell of the tunnel, a material of exceptional hardness. Drilling proved incredibly difficult, even for his Tier 50 Drill. Only wisps of dust drifted out, barely scratching the surface.
But he never believed in such things.
After consuming 377,500 units of iron ore, he immediately upgraded the drill to Tier 100!
The drill became even harder and spun faster.
The improvement was substantial.
As the Tier 100 Drill began to spin rapidly, a cloud of dust filled the air. A small hole soon appeared in the tunnel's outer shell, and within moments, a large opening had been carved. The train successfully entered the Train Tunnel below.
The Stellaris hovered in mid-air within the tunnel, its fifteen carriages settling smoothly onto the ground.
Four marked lanes, or what would be called a four-lane road, stretched through the tunnel, though each lane was exceptionally wide.
The air in the tunnel was heavy and stagnant, almost completely devoid of oxygen.
Rows of incandescent lamps lined the tunnel walls, preventing complete darkness. The tunnel stretched endlessly in both directions, its origins and destination unknown.
"This tunnel probably didn't exist before the apocalypse, right?"
Chen Mang sat in the locomotive cabin, gazing around. "So this Train Tunnel should be part of the Mechanical City Ruins in the Red Zone?"
"It's a secret passage from one of the Mechanical City's districts."
"Does that mean we can enter the Mechanical City Ruins even without the Bunny Cloud Wheels?"
"If that's the case..."
He glanced down at the direction indicator on the control panel screen. "Driving north should lead us straight to the Mechanical City Ruins. But where does this Train Tunnel connect to it?"
...
After pondering for a long moment, Chen Mang immediately turned the locomotive around and drove south along the Train Tunnel!
He wasn't particularly curious about the Mechanical City itself. Many people had already been there, and he doubted he'd find anything worthwhile.
But this Train Tunnel clearly hadn't been used in ages. A thick layer of dust coated the floor. He was far more intrigued by where this tunnel connected to the Mechanical City!
That place must be untouched.
And where no one had been before meant he could find even better treasures!
Inside the Train Tunnel...
The Stellaris train strictly adhered to traffic regulations, traveling in the rightmost lane of the four-lane road. On either side of the four-lane road was a smaller road, with signs warning smaller trains not to use the lanes designated for large trains.
Though he knew no one was enforcing the rules anymore, he still followed them meticulously.
After all, in this ghost place, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if a Tier 12 Robot Traffic Officer from the Mechanical Civilization suddenly jumped out from a corner, pulled him over, and slapped him with a ticket.
The train wasn't traveling at breakneck speed.
He maintained a speed of 280 kilometers per hour. Any faster, and he'd risk missing hidden information along the tunnel walls—information that AI couldn't detect, only human minds could.
AI's method of processing information was akin to a spot-the-difference game, lacking the capacity for deep, associative thinking.
Humans could look at the veins on a leaf and connect it to a stick figure, then to a curvaceous figure, then to a woman's buttocks, then to a post-coital cigarette, eventually reaching a state of enlightenment.
AI, on the other hand, could only see a leaf and think about botany.
In this regard, they weren't even on the same level.
This was why AI would never be able to contemplate the truth about an apple.
Just then—
"Huh?"
Chen Mang stared at the scene before him, his expression momentarily stunned. "Is law enforcement really this crude?"
(End of the Chapter)
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