"So greedy," Chen Mang muttered, peering through the binoculars at the enemy engine as it gradually slowed.

"You son of a bitch," he added under his breath. "There's a road to heaven, but you chose to walk straight into hell."

Since his opponent was being so arrogant, he was more than happy to play along. It was always better to minimize casualties. In this apocalyptic world, every life was valuable—a rare source of labor.

Soon enough, only a few dozen seconds later, the blood-stained train engine had slowed to a crawl, stopping less than fifty meters away.

"Whew…"

Chen Mang took a deep breath, ready to order Lao Zhu to baptize the engine with heavy machine gun fire from Carriage #2. He wasn't sure if the bullets could pierce their armor, but just as he was about to give the command—

Before he could speak, he saw eight men step out of the enemy engine.

The eight armed men began walking toward him as if they were on a leisurely stroll.

The portly man in the lead wore a contemptuous smirk as he shouted, "Where's Chen Mang? Tell him to get out here!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

Chen Mang stared at the approaching group, a sense of unreality washing over him. How could they be so brazenly overconfident? Did they have some ace up their sleeve?

Maybe they were wearing advanced body armor?

But body armor doesn't protect your head.

If at first he had thought they were just being cocky, now he was beginning to suspect they had a genuine reason for their confidence. After a moment's hesitation, he keyed the walkie-talkie. "All units, open fire! Hold the heavy machine gun for now."

The next instant, the side door of Carriage #3, which was parked perpendicular to the mine, swung open. Ten men wielding fully automatic "Dragon Assault Rifles" stood at the edge of the car, aimed their barrels at the approaching group, and, without the slightest hesitation, pulled their triggers.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!

The deafening roar of gunfire shattered the wasteland's silence.

At a distance of only twenty or thirty meters, even a novice could hit their target with an assault rifle. A single spray was more than enough.

They didn't even need to change magazines.

After the first volley, all eight men were lying in pools of their own blood.

"..."

Standing in the cockpit, Chen Mang waited patiently for several seconds before giving his next order. "Go confirm the kills."

He didn't get out of the car himself.

If it was a trap, he could lose his life right then and there. His job was to command.

Only after the ten-man squad had walked up to the eight bodies and put a final bullet in each of their heads did the confirmation come over the walkie-talkie: they were all dead.

"Well, that was…"

Chen Mang let out a soft sigh. He'd been his own worst enemy, scaring himself for nothing. He'd expected a fierce battle, but it had ended so simply. The encounter taught him a valuable lesson: always use your full strength, no matter the enemy.

He finally stood, slinging an assault rifle over his shoulder. Flanked by his enforcers, he left the engine and walked toward the enemy train car parked nearby. He wondered if there was anything good inside.

With its owner dead, the engine was now ownerless.

Inside the cockpit, two women were huddled in a corner, their eyes wide with terror as they clamped their hands over their mouths.

Chen Mang waved his hand, signaling his enforcers to escort the two women out first. Then he began to methodically search the cockpit alone.

There was only a small amount of iron ore and some food. It was clear that when Boss Kun had detached the carriages in a panic, he'd barely managed to take anything with him. But wait—

He suddenly noticed a blueprint lying on the control console.

He immediately walked over to it.

[Blueprint Name]: Carriage Blades

[Blueprint Grade]: White

[Crafting Cost]: 500 units of Iron Ore

"..."

Chen Mang froze for a second. Weren't these "Carriage Blades" the very same White-grade accessory Lao Zhu had told him about? The one that could only be upgraded to Level 2 and was only meant as a temporary tool for weaker captains? He remembered thinking about what would happen if he, with his Infinite Upgrade ability, could push it to Level 10.

But since it wasn't a default accessory and only dropped randomly from killing monsters, he hadn't given it much more thought.

He never expected to get the blueprint so quickly. Boss Kun had delivered it to him from so far away—a priceless gift, truly a touching sentiment.

"Nice."

A satisfied grin spread across Chen Mang's face. He carefully tucked the blueprint into his pocket. He would use it later and see what it could do.

He hoped to get it to Level 10 as soon as possible, just to see if it would undergo some kind of qualitative change.

After finishing his search, he gestured for the enforcers to come in and move all the resources and food out. He planned to use the "Geocentric Furnace" to devour this engine and recycle some resources.

As he passed the eight bodies lying in their own blood, Chen Mang glanced at Boss Kun's corpse, the man's eyes still wide with disbelief. He sighed, a feeling of grim irony washing over him. This whole affair had only made him more cautious. In the apocalypse, any act of arrogance was just courting an early grave.

Then he noticed something else.

Among the eight men were three familiar faces.

It was them—the three who had beaten him with police batons. He had assumed they'd been devoured by zombies long ago, but here they were. It truly was fate.

Chen Mang pursed his lips. He thought about raising his rifle and putting another volley into their bodies, but decided against it. Better to save the bullets.

Beside him, Lao Zhu was quickly collecting the weapons the men had been carrying. Firearms from other trains were considered contraband; it was best to keep them out of the hands of the enforcers and slaves.

Chen Mang said nothing, simply returning to his cockpit. He drove his train up to the ownerless engine and activated the "Geocentric Furnace." The front of his engine split open like a great, bloody maw, revealing countless rapidly spinning gears, and swallowed the enemy vehicle whole.

[Iron Ore +1,000 units]

As expected of a Level 2 train's engine, it yielded more iron ore than all the other carriages combined. Its armor looked much thicker than his own; if they had rammed into him at full speed, he would have been in a world of hurt.

And so, the encounter ended as unceremoniously as it had begun.

Back in the cockpit, Chen Mang pondered two questions.

First, what should he name his train?

Second, he now had 1,600 units of iron ore. What accessories should he build first?

After a moment of thought, he finally decided on a name.

Let's call it "The Stellar."