"Alright."

After a moment's thought, Chen Mang gave his orders. "Take these two women, give them a quick rinse with water—don't use too much—and then tomorrow morning, tell all the slaves that whoever mines the most gets to pick one of them for the night."

"Second place gets the other one."

"And don't we have a few other women among the slaves? Tomorrow, I want you to carefully track their output. If their efficiency is much lower than the others, don't make them mine anymore. Just add them to the... support team."

"Understood!"

Lao Zhu nodded, his face serious. He pulled out a small notebook and jotted down Chen Mang's orders before a few guards led the two women away.

Chen Mang didn't speak much with his new "Patrol Leader," just a few simple words to learn his name before dismissing both Lao Zhu and Biao.

His first impression of Biao was that the man was brawny, covered in thick muscle, and looked tough as nails.

After they left, Chen Mang lay down on the bed in his cockpit and let out a soft sigh. God, he could use a cigarette before bed.

He needed a little something for the soul.

But…

He hadn't found a single cigarette on Boss Kun's engine. The guy was apparently a non-smoker. After he got the train to Level 2, he'd have to make a trip to the city ruins and see if he could find any.

As for women to scratch his itch, that could wait until after he found some smokes. What was the point of fooling around if you didn't have a cigarette afterward? It was missing the best part. An encounter without that final, crucial step was no fun at all.

Lost in a haze, he gradually drifted off to sleep.

It was his fourth day in this world, and he slept more soundly this night than the previous three.

He dreamed many dreams.

He dreamed of himself at the helm of his train, roaring across the wasteland with unchecked power.

He dreamed of the train being overrun by a zombie horde, everyone devoured alive.

He dreamed of being betrayed by his men, left utterly alone.

He even dreamed of piloting his train into the sky, thousands of miles above the earth.

Pitter-patter…

In his drowsy state, Chen Mang was woken by a faint, rustling noise. He opened his eyes to see rain streaking down the glass of the cockpit.

It's raining.

The thought drifted through his mind as he rolled over on the soft bed, ready to fall back asleep. He felt even more comfortable now. For some reason, rainy days always felt perfect for sleeping.

But then—

He thought he heard a sound that didn't belong—the growl of an animal?

The next second—

Chen Mang was wide awake, all sleepiness gone as he shot out of bed. He stood at the control console and scanned his surroundings. Through the dark, rainy night, he could just make out a pack of wolf-like creatures surrounding the train. They were growling, and though they hadn't attacked yet, it was clear he was trapped.

"Dammit!"

His expression changed. He immediately sat at the console, his mind merging with the train. The engine roared to life, and the force of acceleration pressed him back into his seat as the train began to move through the rainy night. At the same time, the Level 5 Carriage Blades extended from the sides and began spinning at high speed.

The whoosh of the blades mixed with the low growls of the wolf-like monsters, instantly turning the calm, rainy night into a scene thick with killing intent.

And then—

The train picked up speed. The wolf-like creatures didn't dare try to block it with their bodies, scattering to the sides. However—

SLICE!

The high-speed blades on both sides cut down any wolf that got too close, splitting them in two.

Once the train reached top speed, Chen Mang didn't flee. This was his mine, and he had to protect it. He couldn't run too far. Besides, he could see there were only twenty or thirty of the wolves—nothing compared to a zombie horde. He could handle them.

In terms of speed, the wolves were no match for the train.

Though they were agile, Chen Mang rammed the train into them several times, and soon, the last wolf fell in the rainy night.

Once the crisis was over, Chen Mang slowly brought the train to a halt. He stepped out of the cockpit and into the rain, walking over to one of the wolf corpses and looking down at it, his face unreadable. By now, Lao Zhu, Biao, and the other enforcers had rushed out of Carriage #3, weapons in hand, and formed a protective perimeter around him.

"Boss Mang!"

"..."

Chen Mang remained silent, his gaze fixed on the wolf corpse at his feet. He had seen this monster in the "Novice Guide." It was a "Zombie Wolf," a common Level 1 monster that typically fed on carrion in the wasteland.

They scavenged the corpses of zombies, humans, and other monsters.

They weren't particularly aggressive, and while they were pack animals, their numbers never reached the terrifying scale of a zombie horde—a hundred at most. Even if he hadn't woken up, the wolves would have struggled to break through the train's sheet-metal armor.

But—

This was a wake-up call. The train desperately needed a vehicle accessory like a "Radar." Since that wasn't an option for now, he had to have someone stand watch at night. This time, it was a minor threat. What if next time it was a zombie horde?

If they were completely surrounded, just getting the train started would be a problem.

The spinning of the "Carriage Blades" drew power from the Energy Stone in the engine. While the consumption wasn't high, he couldn't keep them running forever. Over time, a horde would inevitably trap and overwhelm them.

"Biao."

Standing in the dark rain, Chen Mang turned his head and said softly to the man beside him, "Arrange for a few men to stand watch at night. If this happens again, you and I might both die here."

"Yes, sir. It won't happen again," Biao said, his voice hoarse with shame. He had, in fact, arranged for a watch. But the other enforcers didn't really listen to him, so he could only assign his own man, Hei Wa, to the duty. Who knew the bastard would actually fall asleep?

He couldn't possibly say that out loud. If he did, Hei Wa might lose his life. He had to take the fall for this.

Even though Boss Mang hadn't given the order initially, it was something he, as patrol leader, should have arranged himself.

Just then—

Lao Zhu took a step forward, crouched in the rain, and picked up a piece of torn wolf flesh. He sniffed it, and his brow immediately furrowed. "Boss Mang," he said with a hint of unease, "something's not right."

"Normally, these 'Zombie Wolves' are one of the easier monsters to deal with on the wasteland. They usually don't venture this deep, mostly sticking to the edges of city ruins to scavenge for carrion."

"Only old, sick, or badly injured wolves get driven out of the pack and into the deep wasteland."

"But this pack was made up of healthy, adult Zombie Wolves. They shouldn't be here."

"Unless…"

"Unless a more terrifying monster has appeared in the nearest city ruin, forcing them to migrate."

"But if that's the case, the survivors in that city are in grave danger. Survivors might already be fleeing from the city's outskirts, but for them, the wasteland at night is nothing but a tomb."

"These survivors usually hide deep within the ruins and are hard to find. Other trains might already be on their way to pick them up now."