"If we go now, we might be able to catch some of the survivors fleeing the city ruins."

"No."

Chen Mang stood in the dark, rainy night, staring out at the pitch-black wasteland where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He shook his head. "I'm not getting involved in that mess. We'll rest for the night. Biao, leave someone on watch. We'll start mining first thing in the morning. Until this train hits Level 2, I don't want any complications."

Only a Level 2 Train had the basic qualifications to roam the wasteland.

Before that, a train was in its infancy. It had almost no offensive accessories to speak of, and it lacked many key components, like "Headlights." As things stood, not a single light on his train was working.

He had built the "Generator" and "Electrical System," but he didn't have a spare Energy Stone.

Driving at high speed in the dark rain without high beams was incredibly dangerous—no different from doing parkour with your eyes closed. He'd had to carefully control his speed when he'd used the Carriage Blades to kill those zombie wolves earlier.

Even so, it had been nerve-wracking. He could only lock onto his targets using the faint moonlight. It was risky.

Just then—

The faint, almost inaudible sound of DJ music drifted from the distance, the volume rapidly increasing. At the same time, he could just make out a long, dragon-like train in the night, guided by two beams of light, speeding directly toward their position.

"Everyone on board! Prepare for battle!"

Chen Mang's expression shifted. He immediately sprinted for the engine, and all the enforcers scrambled back to their positions, ready for a fight. The tarp was ripped off the heavy machine gun on the roof, and the Carriage Blades on both sides began spinning at high speed.

But—

Just as he was about to start the train, the other vehicle, blasting deafening DJ music, was already upon them. It showed no signs of slowing down, but it also didn't try to ram them. It simply shot past, continuing at full speed into the distance!

As it passed, the train honked its horn three times in greeting.

"..."

Chen Mang watched with a grim expression as the train faded into the rainy night until it was completely gone. It seemed they had no hostile intentions, or perhaps they were just in a hurry to get to the city ruins.

But—

As it had sped past, he saw that the train had a full thirteen carriages. The armor on each one was the same as the armor on Boss Kun's old engine—clearly the green-grade vehicle accessory, "Carriage Steel Armor."

That armor alone would have cost a full 30,000 units of iron ore.

On top of that, every single carriage had two heavy machine guns mounted on its roof. The engine itself was armed with two incredibly powerful-looking autocannons, their barrels as thick as a grown man's forearm.

It was the most powerful train he had ever seen.

It was far stronger than Boss Kun's train; its firepower wasn't even in the same league. And his train couldn't begin to compare.

Furthermore, the other train already had a full suite of lifestyle accessories like headlights and a sound system.

Perhaps only a train like that could afford to blast DJ music so brazenly while roaming the wasteland.

The sense of urgency he already felt tightened in his chest. He had to get more iron ore, as much as possible. He had to build his train up like that one. He, too, wanted to roar across the wasteland with such arrogant, unrestrained power!

And so, despite the small interruptions, the rest of the night passed peacefully.

At the crack of dawn, all the slaves were herded out of their carriage. After each one received their portion of food, Chen Mang stood on the roof of the train, looking down at the ragged slaves below. Lao Zhu and the other enforcers stood before them, their faces cold and their weapons ready. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then roared.

"The name's Chen Mang, and I'm your captain!"

"See these two women? They're all cleaned up. They used to belong to Boss Kun—your old captain. Today, whoever digs the most ore gets to pick one of them!"

"Second place gets the one that's left."

"And the top three miners get hot steamed buns and pickled vegetables!"

"I only ask one thing of you: dig me enough damn iron ore! Whoever digs the most gets my respect. Anyone who slacks off or tries to cut corners, I'll personally chop him into pieces!"

"Now, everyone, into the mine!"

Perhaps it was because Boss Kun had rarely given them motivational speeches, or perhaps it was because the slaves genuinely hadn't been with a woman in a long time, but at that moment, the eyes of many of the slaves truly lit up. They wolfed down the food in their hands, grabbed their pickaxes, and charged into the mine!

It wasn't just about the women.

For many slaves, when survival itself wasn't guaranteed, no one was really thinking about sex.

But—

These were Boss Kun's women. The women of the man who had oppressed them for so long. That was different. This wasn't just about women anymore; this had the faint taste of revenge.

It was the same reason that conquering armies in the old days couldn't keep their hands off the emperor's concubines.

Sure, the concubines might have been beautiful, but it was the thrill of the status reversal that truly drove men mad.

Normally, an average adult could produce one unit of iron ore per hour. This output wasn't fixed. The logic of mining was simple—

After hitting the ore formation with a pickaxe a certain number of times, a nugget of iron ore would fall off.

For most adults, reaching that number took about an hour.

If someone was exceptionally strong, or if they had experience in demolition, they could swing a pickaxe with enough speed and expertise to shorten that time to fifty or even forty minutes per unit.

But swinging a pickaxe continuously was exhausting work. For anyone not used to manual labor, their arms would be sore after just a few dozen minutes, let alone a full day.

On average, everyone's output was about the same.

To become number one, besides working harder, the only way was to work longer.

Meanwhile, on the train.

The two women standing behind Chen Mang forced seductive smiles, trying to encourage the slaves.

This wasn't their ideal outcome; they wanted to be the captain's wives. But many things in life were beyond their control. All they could do now was perform this job as well as possible to avoid losing their value.

On this train, losing your value was basically a death sentence.

For now, it was an acceptable arrangement. At least they only had to service one man, and at least it was better than mining. If they had to mine for over ten hours a day, they wouldn't be able to take it. They had grown accustomed to the easy life as the captain's wives.

"..."

Standing on the roof, Chen Mang rubbed his throat. He watched the slaves rushing into the mine and the enforcers standing guard below, lost in thought.

He wondered if there would be vehicle accessories for mechanized mining in the future. Human efficiency was just too low.

Right now, the train's supply of moldy bread was running low.

Crafting the "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line" required 100 slices of moldy bread as a material component. He couldn't use them all up. He would build the production line in a moment.

He was just curious about one thing.

He only had these bread slices to build the production line because he had scavenged Boss Kun's resources. How did other people build it? Where did they get their first hundred slices? Could bread scavenged from city ruins also be used as a material?

He didn't dwell on it too much.

He immediately went into Carriage #3, the living quarters, and consumed 100 slices of bread to build the white-grade accessory, the "Moldy Bread Slice Production Line."

It was a small assembly line, about three meters long and one meter wide.

And with that—

His train, the Stellar, had gained another basic lifestyle accessory.

The accessory's panel materialized before him.