Chapter 24: "Now, everyone, down the mine!"

"If we go now, we might catch some survivors fleeing from the city ruins."

"No."

Chen Mang stood in the pitch-black rainy night, gazing into the dark wilderness where he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face, and shook his head: "We won't get involved in this mess. Tonight, we'll continue to rest. Biao Zi, you keep watch. We'll start mining at dawn. I don't want any trouble before the Train reaches Level 2."

Only when the Train reaches Level 2 does it truly qualify to roam the wilderness.

Before that, the Train is still in its infancy. It lacks not only offensive components but also many crucial ones, such as the "High Beam Headlights." Currently, not a single light is on in the Train.

The "Generator" and "Circuit System" have been built, but there's no surplus of Energy Stones.

Driving at high speed in a pitch-black rainy night without High Beam Headlights is extremely dangerous—it's like playing parkour with your eyes closed. Earlier, when he controlled the Train to kill the Zombie Wolves with the Car Blade, he had to carefully manage the Train's speed.

Even so, it made him slightly nervous. He could only lock onto targets using the faint moonlight, which was perilous.

At that moment—

A faint DJ music sound came from the distance, rapidly increasing in volume. At the same time, he could vaguely see a long, dragon-like Train in the dark rainy night, guided by two beams of light, speeding toward their location.

"Everyone, board the Train! Prepare for battle!"

Chen Mang's expression changed slightly, and he immediately ran toward the front of the Train. All the enforcers quickly returned to their positions, ready for battle. The rain covers on the heavy machine guns were removed, and the Car Blades on both sides of the Train began to spin rapidly.

But.

Just as he was about to start the Train, the one blasting deafening DJ music had already arrived in front of them. It showed no intention of slowing down, though it didn't crash into them either—it just sped past at full speed, heading further into the distance!

As it passed by, the Train honked three times as a signal.

"..."

Chen Mang's expression turned grim as he watched the Train gradually disappear into the rainy night. It seemed the other party had no ill intentions—or perhaps they were in a hurry to reach the city ruins.

But.

As it passed by, he noticed that the Train had a total of thirteen carriages, and the armor on each carriage was the same as that on Master Kun's locomotive. It was clearly the green-grade Vehicle Component, "Carriage Steel Armor."

Just that armor alone required 13,000 units of Iron Ore.

Moreover, each carriage of that Train had two heavy machine guns on top, and on the front of the Train were two massive cannons with barrels as thick as a grown man's forearm.

This was the most powerful Train he had ever seen.

It was far stronger than Master Kun's Train. The firepower alone was on a completely different level, and his Train couldn't compare at all.

In addition, the other Train had already equipped all the necessary life components, such as High Beam Headlights and sound systems.

Perhaps only a Train like that could roam the wilderness so boldly, blasting DJ music without a care.

His already tense mood became even more urgent after witnessing this. He needed to gather as much Iron Ore as possible. He wanted to build his Train to that level—to roam the wilderness with the same arrogance and ferocity!

And so.

Despite the minor interruption, the latter half of the night passed uneventfully.

At dawn, all the Slaves were herded out of the Slave carriage. After each received their ration of food, Chen Mang stood atop the Train, looking down at the ragged Slaves below. Lao Zhu and the other enforcers stood in front of the Slaves, their faces cold and weapons in hand. After a moment's pause, Chen Mang took a deep breath and shouted.

"My name is Chen Mang, and I'm your Train Conductor."

"Here are two clean, freshly washed women—they used to be Master Kun's women. Master Kun was your former Train Conductor. Today, whoever mines the most will get to choose one of these two women!"

"The second-place miner gets the remaining one."

"And the top three will get hot steamed buns and pickles!"

"My only demand is this: dig as much Iron Ore as you can. The more you dig, the better I'll treat you. But if anyone tries to slack off, I'll chop them into nine pieces!"

"Now, everyone, down the mine!"

Perhaps Master Kun had rarely given motivational speeches to these Slaves, or perhaps it had been too long since they had been with women. Many of the Slaves' eyes lit up at the prospect. They wolfed down their food, grabbed their pickaxes, and rushed into the mine!

  It wasn't just about the women.

For many Slaves, when survival itself was uncertain, no one would think about women.

But.

These were Master Kun's women—the same Master Kun who had oppressed them for so long. This was different. It wasn't just about the women anymore; it carried a sense of revenge.

It was like how ancient rebels, after storming the palace, would always become infatuated with the royal consorts.

Sure, the consorts might have been beautiful, but it was the reversal of status that truly drove people to lose their senses.

Normally, an average adult could produce 1 unit of Iron Ore per hour. The output wasn't fixed—the logic of mining was:

Swing the pickaxe at the ore a certain number of times, and an Iron Ore would drop.

However, for most adults, completing these swings took about an hour.

If someone was exceptionally strong or had experience in demolition work, they could reduce the time to fifty or even forty minutes.

But continuously swinging a pickaxe was exhausting. If someone wasn't used to manual labor, their arms would tire after just a few dozen minutes.

On average, it was about the same for everyone.

To come in first, aside from swinging harder, one could only extend their working hours.

On the Train.

The two women standing behind Chen Mang forced somewhat seductive smiles, trying to motivate the Slaves.

This wasn't the outcome they had hoped for. They had wanted to become the Train Conductor's wives. But... many things didn't go as one wished. All they could do now was perform their roles well, lest they lose their value.

On the Train, losing value was almost equivalent to losing one's life.

At least now, they only had to serve one man. It was better than mining. If they had to dig for over ten hours a day, they wouldn't be able to handle it—they weren't used to it. After all, being the Train Conductor's wives had been a much easier life.

"..."

Standing atop the Train, Chen Mang rubbed his throat and looked down at the Slaves rushing into the mine and the enforcers below, deep in thought.

I wonder if there will be mechanical mining Vehicle Components in the future. Human efficiency is just too low.

Currently, the Train's stock of moldy bread is running low.

To build the "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line," 100 slices of moldy bread are needed. I can't use up all the bread slices. I'll build the "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line" later.

But I'm curious.

I was able to build this production line because I seized Master Kun's resources and had these bread slices. Where do others get their bread slices to build production lines? Do they collect them from the city ruins?

He didn't dwell on this.

Instead, he immediately walked to the No. 3 living carriage, consumed 100 bread slices, and built the white-grade Vehicle Component, "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line."

About three meters long and one meter wide.

Not too large of a production line.

Thus—

His "Stellar" Train gained another basic living component.

And the component's panel appeared before him.