Chapter 3: "Survival Days Reached 3, Activating Train Conductor Panel."

In the night.

The train continued to rush towards the distance.

Chen Mang sat in the constantly undulating carriage, his expression somewhat dazed. The clanking sound was not the train wheels hitting the tracks, but the ground.

In the past few days, he had noticed.

This train was not running on tracks, but directly on the ground, which was quite unique.

At this moment—

"Huh?"

Chen Mang was slightly stunned. He suddenly felt the birthmark on the back of his hand, which had always accompanied him, becoming slightly hot. Subconsciously looking at it, he saw a semi-transparent panel suddenly floating in front of him.

"Survival Days Reached 3, Activating Train Conductor Panel."

"Received Newbie Reward: gls Pistol*1, with 18 rounds of 9mm bullets."

"Triggered Newbie Train Conductor Missions."

"1: Within three months, own a train, reward unknown."

"2: Within three months, have three enforcers and 10 Slaves, reward unknown."

"3: Within three months, kill 10 zombies, reward unknown."

"The shorter the time taken, the richer the rewards."

"After completing the three Newbie Train Conductor Missions, the 'Train Conductor Panel' will be officially unlocked."

This rather sci-fi scene made Chen Mang pause for a moment, especially since the panel's pale white light was extremely glaring in the completely dark carriage. He subconsciously glanced around.

But found that no one had any special reaction.

As if.

Only he could see this panel.

"."

After a long silence, Chen Mang finally lowered his head to look at the mark on the back of his hand that was no longer hot, gently stroking it, feeling somewhat dazed.

His name was Chen Mang.

He had given himself this name. He had grown up in an orphanage without parents since childhood. There was a very special birthmark on the back of his hand, which looked like the Chinese character "莽" (Mang).

Many times.

He also thought that perhaps this was something left by his parents whom he had never met, hence he named himself Chen Mang.

He never expected that this birthmark, which had accompanied him all his life, would only now reveal its purpose in this world. Perhaps... his parents had already crossed over and, before being forced to leave him, left him this thing?

He couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head, dismissing these absurd thoughts from his mind.

After some exploration, he had roughly understood how to use this panel. The panel could automatically appear in front of him or retract based on his thoughts. When he placed his hand in his chest, he felt a heavy brass-handled pistol and a pile of bullets.

The reward had really arrived.

But the problem was.

He tucked the pistol at the back of his waist, covering it with his clothes, and stuffed all the bullets into his pockets. Only after doing all this did he breathe a sigh of relief. This thing wasn't entirely good news.

If the enforcers in the front carriages discovered that a Slave had such a thing, there likely wouldn't be any good outcome.

Even if he could hit every shot, he couldn't face so many enforcers head-on, especially since the heavy weapons on the train were the main threat, which a pistol couldn't handle.

After arriving at the mine.

He would find a secluded place to study it.

And so.

In a daze, it felt like they had been traveling for four or five hours. When the horizon began to lighten, the train finally slowed down and, with a clang, stopped somewhere in the wilderness.

The next moment—

"Bang!"

The door was forcefully opened. A group of enforcers wearing steel boots, with pistols at their waists and batons in their hands, stood at the carriage door, shouting angrily, driving all the Slaves out of the carriage. Special personnel at the carriage door handed out pickaxes one by one.

Each Slave received one.

Except for three people.

Chen Mang, and two other burly men from the Slave carriages who looked particularly fierce. Clearly, their main task was to oversee the workers.

"Everyone, stand properly!"

With a roar.

All the Slaves weakly crowded in the wilderness, while Chen Mang and the two other Slave overseers stood at the front of their respective carriage Slaves. The man standing on the carriage was the middle-aged man who had come to teach him a lesson not long ago, now arranging tasks on the carriage.

"."

Chen Mang casually surveyed the surroundings, feeling the cool, fresh air, which made his body feel much more comfortable.

These three days in the carriage, the pungent smell inside was enough to conquer anyone.

He wore a thin jacket, a short-sleeved shirt inside, and long pants.

The chill of the early morning wilderness was somewhat penetrating.

All around, there was only wilderness.

An endless wilderness, without any trees or ruins, only cracked land that looked quite barren. Beside them, there was a small mound several meters high, with an obvious mine entrance on its slope.

This should be the mine.

It looked clearly non-compliant, with almost no safety measures, relying solely on fate.

At this moment—

The middle-aged man in steel boots on the carriage roof had finished arranging the tasks. The three Slave teams entered three different areas of the mine to start mining. Before that, each Slave needed to have a full meal.

Several enforcers pulled out boxes of moldy bread slices and muddy fresh water from the carriage and began distributing them.

All the Slaves eagerly stretched their necks, tiptoeing to queue up, afraid that the food would run out before their turn.

On this day.

Each Slave could receive ten slices of bread and three cups of fresh water, far exceeding the usual food supply. Before doing hard labor, of course, they should eat their fill.

And the three Slave overseers.

Each received six warm moldy buns, two packs of pickles, two bottles of mineral water, and a walkie-talkie.

When they went down to mine, the train and enforcers would be stationed outside the mine. In case of any emergencies, they would contact them through the walkie-talkie, and they needed to bring all the Slaves out as quickly as possible and escape back to the train.

After announcing the disbandment, free action, and eating before going down.

All the Slaves dispersed, sitting on the ground wherever they found a spot, and began eating voraciously.

"Try it."

Chen Mang turned his head to the middle-aged man who had been following him closely, throwing him a bun and half a pack of pickles, then found a quiet corner to sit down.

He chewed the bun in his hand unhurriedly.

He wasn't very hungry at the moment, as it hadn't been long since the last midnight snack.

But in the wilderness, having food was a good thing. Keeping himself physically strong was always beneficial.

While observing the other two Slave overseers, he casually spoke in a low voice.

"Do you have a name?"

"Thank you, Big Brother, thank you!"

The middle-aged man, who looked quite slick, carefully took the warm bun and repeatedly expressed his gratitude. Hearing the newly recognized Big Brother ask for his name, he was slightly stunned, then couldn't hide his excitement as he whispered.

"Big Brother, my name is Lao Zhu (Old Pig)."

"Old as the surname?"

"Yes, yes, it's a rare surname."

Chen Mang couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head: "What parents would name their child Pig?"

"When I was young, my family was very poor. My parents hoped I could live as happily as a pig, without worries, waking up naturally every day."

"My mother had intellectual disabilities. When she was young, she was in a car accident and lost all four limbs. She only married my father after meeting him. My father was deaf and mute, doing physical labor at a construction site."

"We lived in an abandoned shipping container."

"Shortly after I was born, my mother was alone at home and died in a fire. When I was nine, my father fell from a scaffold and died."

"But thinking about it, it's better that they died."

"If they had lived until the apocalypse, it would have been even more painful."

"."

The smile on Chen Mang's face slowly froze. He didn't speak, just expressionlessly took another bite of the bun and chewed.

As for Lao Zhu, he didn't seem to mind, still wearing an excited smile.

In the apocalypse.

Names were very important. Asking someone's name, in a way, was a preliminary acceptance of that person. For example... the head enforcer of this train had not asked Big Brother's name.

After all, for someone who could be replaced at any time, knowing their name was meaningless.