After sitting back down, Lao Zhu sighed with emotion: "Back then, we were still in Master Kun's slave carriage. To be honest, Lord Mang, I noticed you the moment you boarded the train. You were noticeably cleaner than the others."

"You didn't seem like someone from after the apocalypse."

"You looked more like someone from before."

"After entering the carriage, Lord Mang, you claimed that straw mat for yourself. Three days later, you killed a man who came to challenge you with a single decisive strike."

"That's when I realized Lord Mang wasn't an ordinary person."

"At that time, everyone in the slave carriage had already given up hope and accepted their fate. Only Lord Mang burned with such fierce determination that you stood out glaringly."

"..."

Chen Mang listened quietly to Lao Zhu's reminiscence, smiling without speaking. Only after he finished did Chen Mang say softly: "Lao Zhu, you were the first to follow me, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"I've seen how hard you've worked all this time. Whether in terms of merit or seniority, you're second to none."

"Everyone has different roles to play."

"Just follow me, and don't worry."

In the dimly lit private room.

Chen Mang didn't bring up the matter again, instead chatting with Lao Zhu about his life before the apocalypse. About thirty minutes later, Chen Mang stood up, patted Lao Zhu on the shoulder, waved his hand, and left the room.

Lao Zhu stood where he was, watching Lord Mang's retreating figure, his eyes slightly red. As someone who often counseled others, he naturally understood that Lord Mang had come specifically to reassure him—he just hadn't expected it.

The moment a ripple of discontent had formed in his heart, Lord Mang had detected it and been willing to make this trip just for him.

Truthfully, he already knew everything Lord Mang had said.

Everyone has different roles.

But humans are emotional creatures. Often, we know the right principles but can't help being affected by our feelings when acting on them. Now, though, those emotions were gone. Lord Mang was right—his seniority and contributions were beyond question. What was the point of worrying?

Inside the train's control room.

"Having such a big train isn't always good. Going back and forth like this is quite a hassle."

Chen Mang sat in his chair, watching the lines of information flashing across the screen.

"Train Conductor."

Xiao Ai's voice sounded in the control room: "You had me keep an eye on Lao Zhu because you were worried he might grow resentful."

"No."

Chen Mang shook his head: "Generally speaking, those who flatter their superiors inevitably bully their subordinates. Lao Zhu's behavior stems from habits formed by his pre-apocalypse work experience. Logically, people like him often take out their frustrations on those below them to compensate for the groveling they do above. Without exception."

"It's a psychological compensation mechanism."

"Do you know which group makes up a significant portion of women who hire male escorts?"

"Prostitutes."

"Those who work in nightclubs and KTVs."

"Those girls put on smiles every day serving men, but deep down they're resentful. They compensate by seeking male escorts to regain the feeling of being served. It's the same principle as how palace maids serving eunuchs in ancient times often had it worst. People will always find ways to compensate themselves."

"However, from the Stellar Train's development until now, Lao Zhu has almost never bullied those beneath him."

"This means Lao Zhu's fawning over superiors isn't due to submission to authority. If it were, he would be extremely arrogant toward subordinates when in high positions."

"Lao Zhu's flattery comes from genuinely believing I'm remarkable. He's not fawning over power, but over me personally."

"Only in this scenario does one avoid the pattern of toadying to superiors while bullying subordinates."

"Uh..."

Xiao Ai's voice from the train's sound system seemed to glitch, pausing before saying confusedly: "Train Conductor, it sounds like you just found a way to compliment yourself."

"This is called recognizing talent."

Chen Mang shook his head: "This is what I admire most about Lao Zhu. After working in power structures for so long, when the apocalypse came, he immediately broke free from hierarchical thinking. That's rare. If he'd positioned himself as the train's second-in-command and started enjoying power, he wouldn't have lasted."

"This is the apocalypse, not the old world. You can't just keep your position by avoiding major mistakes."

"Even if I didn't kill him, he wouldn't survive long."

"Subordinates would complain about him constantly, potentially causing divisions within the train."

"But he positioned himself as my steward. When I first met Lao Zhu in Master Kun's slave carriage, he looked like he'd been a slave forever—you'd never guess he was once a Deputy Train Conductor. He's remarkable at placing himself in the most appropriate position at the right time."

"And he never oversteps."

"You won't find a more suitable Deputy Train Conductor in the entire carriage."

"Uh... if Lao Zhu is as capable as you say, why did you need to counsel him?"

"He's human, not divine. All humans have emotions."

Chen Mang shook his head and changed the subject: "What's the situation with that train we saw earlier? Did it have two locomotives?"

A 3D model of the "Grinning Grimace Train" appeared on screen.

"Besides Locomotive One, Carriage Three is also a locomotive, just disguised as a regular carriage."

"It doesn't provide much power, but if Locomotive One gets destroyed, the conductor can quickly relocate to Carriage Three and continue operating the train."

"This guy's quite creative."

Chen Mang nodded. This was the most troublesome train he'd encountered so far, though not excessively so—just more annoying to eliminate.

He then turned his attention to the train crew. Mundo had already departed.

No telling which area he was in now.

Chen Mang had given Mundo 5,000 Neon City Free Entry Tickets to distribute, along with a new outfit—signifying his retirement from all those shady schemes.

Once Mundo left, communication became impossible.

They'd have to wait and see how he progressed.

Half an hour later.

The Stellar Train slowly pulled up to a Level 4 iron ore deposit Chen Mang had marked earlier during their journey. As the train stopped, residents rushed out carrying pickaxes, ready to begin mining.

The Black Hole Armed Robots and the Guardian squads once again began patrolling the perimeter.

"Notify Biao Zi that the Guardian squads need to be expanded—30 members per squad."

"I'm heading into Neon City to take a look."

"Understood."

Inside Neon City.

It was already near dusk on Monday. Today marked the trial operation of Neon City, which would close by nightfall and reopen the following Monday.

By the floor-to-ceiling windows of Sun City's skyscrapers.

Xiao Ai reported the data: "As of now, the cumulative number of Train Conductors entering Neon City is 188, with the peak number of Train Conductors staying in Neon City at 101. And—"

"Save the full data summary for after midnight tonight. How did the batch of goods I sent in a few hours ago perform?"

"They performed quite well."

Xiao Ai nodded. "Among daily necessities, 'paper napkins' sold the best."

"In tools, the top performers were Level 4 pickaxes, Level 4 axes, and off-road motorcycles."

"Paper napkins?"

Chen Mang was slightly surprised but quickly understood. It seemed other Train Conductors all faced the dilemma of how to clean themselves. The Level 4 pickaxes also sold decently, though not everyone had Murphy Stones to invest in the "Pickaxe Production Line."

For those looking to mine high-grade ore now,

buying high-level pickaxes was a solid option.

"Any unexpected incidents?"

"None."

"Good."

Chen Mang nodded, feeling somewhat relieved as he gazed downward. Over the next few days, he'd check on Mundo's progress. If Mundo's results were promising, the next Monday's reopening should see a surge.

"Custom clothing orders were also substantial. Several Train Conductors placed large orders—over 8,000 pieces in total, priced at 100 units of iron ore per garment."

"Temperature-locked, without space pouches."

"So that's 800,000 units of iron ore. Not bad at all."

Currently, Neon City's exchange rate was—

One unit of iron ore or one unit of copper ore could be exchanged for 1 Stellar Coupon.

However, Stellar Coupons could only be exchanged for iron ore, not copper ore.

But so far,

no one had traded copper ore for Stellar Coupons. Copper ore was a lifeline resource—not something people casually exchanged. As for lumber, he didn't accept it. That material was only useful for making clothes and such, with little utility elsewhere.

After observing for a while, Chen Mang returned to the Train's control room. There wasn't much for him to do there—he'd already assigned tasks to everyone. Unless an emergency required his input, Uncle Li and the others could handle the rest.

He sat at the control panel, staring at the upgrade requirements for Level 13 Train,

pondering one question:

Should he upgrade to Level 13 Train first, or stockpile iron ore to reach Level 16 Armor?

-

「Upgrade Conditions」: Consume 40,000 units of Level 3 iron ore; all accessories in the carriage must exceed Level 220; and possess 500 or more Survivors.

-

The conditions were simple—he met them all.

Soon he made up his mind. The Level 15 Armor would suffice for now—he'd upgrade the Train to Level 13 first. The sooner he reached Level 15, the sooner he could see what changes Xiao Lu would undergo after waking up. He was quite curious about what this S-grade Starry Sky Behemoth's offspring would look like once roused.

This was the first time he'd seen a Train upgrade condition that imposed a limit on the number of Survivors aboard.

The requirement wasn't high—just 500 would suffice.

The Accessory Level requirement remained unchanged from the last upgrade.

The next moment—

As 4 million units of Iron Ore were crushed within the Train, words slowly appeared on the screen.

-

「Your Train has been upgraded to Level 13.」

「More craftable accessories will be unlocked.」

-

"Huh?"

Chen Mang froze slightly as he looked at the newly available accessories, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. This was the first time he'd seen an accessory that required 「Titanium Crystal Mine」. Finally, he knew where Titanium Crystal Mine could be used.

-

「Controllable Nuclear Fusion Device」: Red-grade accessory. Requires 50,000 units of Iron Ore to craft.

「Nuclear Energy Transfer Network」: Red-grade accessory. Requires 50,000 units of Iron Ore to craft.

「Viper Drone Fighter Production Line」: Red-grade accessory. Requires 50,000 units of Titanium Crystal Mine to craft.

-

The first two were superior replacements for the 「Generator」 and 「Circuit System」.

He didn't feel anxious about them.

His Generator was already high-level enough, and his Circuit System was also sufficiently upgraded.

But for other Trains, as their levels increased, the efficiency of their Generators would become inadequate. The solution was to craft multiple Generators—four or five of them.

The 「Controllable Nuclear Fusion Device」 could convert Energy Stones into energy with near-zero loss at a much higher efficiency, while the 「Nuclear Energy Transfer Network」 was outright black technology—eliminating the need for a Circuit System altogether, as it could transmit energy wirelessly within the Train.

Not bad.

But his Generator was sufficient for now. He'd replace it later, once Neon City was operational and he had more Iron Ore to spare.

As for the 「Viper Drone Fighter」, that was a different story.

It was a medium-sized unmanned fighter.

Length: 11.2 meters. Wingspan: 6.5 meters. Height: 3.08 meters.

Unmanned, executing attack missions via input commands. It could take off from within the Carriage, moving directly from the interior to the last Carriage before launching into the sky.

However—

"Hmm."

Chen Mang silently studied the production line. It was a good thing, but when would he ever need it? His Train could already fly—and much faster than this fighter. Rather than deploying drones, he could just fly the Train out and slaughter everything in sight.

Still, it consumed Titanium Crystal Mine.

Right now, his Titanium Crystal Mine had no other use.

1.029 million units of it were just sitting idly in the Train.

Might as well upgrade it and see.

He spent 275,000 units of Titanium Crystal Mine to craft the accessory and immediately upgraded it to Level 10, unlocking its two corresponding Supermodel Effects.

-

「Viper Drone Fighter Production Line Level 5 Supermodel Effect」: Extended endurance. The fighter's body is equipped with Solar Energy Panels, absorbing energy to achieve infinite flight time—never needing to land.

「Viper Drone Fighter Production Line Level 10 Supermodel Effect」: Halved Consumption of Automatic Cannon ammunition.

-

"Huh?"

Chen Mang's expression turned slightly odd—it seemed this wasn't entirely useless after all. A Level 10 production line could manufacture up to Level 10 Viper unmanned fighters, with each costing 500,000 units of titanium crystal ore.

Cheap.

Yes, his first thought was that it was absurdly cheap!

The unmanned fighters produced could be described as having absolutely high attack and pitifully low defense. Their offensive power came mainly from four large-caliber automatic cannons mounted beneath the wings, requiring energy stones as their power source.

Level 10 attack strength, Level 1 defense strength.

And for just 500,000 units of titanium crystal ore, he could obtain an unmanned fighter with Level 10 attack power—what more could he ask for?

No—wait!

After a brief hesitation, he decided to upgrade it again. Suddenly, this thing seemed worth exploring further. He spent another 5.05 million units of titanium crystal ore to upgrade it to Level 20, unlocking a new supermodel effect.

-

「Viper Unmanned Fighter Level 20 Supermodel Effect」: Halved construction cost for fighters.

-

Now, he could manufacture up to Level 20 Viper unmanned fighters!

A single Level 20 Viper unmanned fighter originally cost 5 million titanium crystal ore to produce, but with the halved consumption, it was now only 2.5 million.

Chen Mang checked his titanium crystal ore balance.

「2.49 million.」

Well, just 10,000 short.

He had originally planned to build one first to see its performance—after all, 2.5 million titanium crystal ore for a fighter with Level 20 attack power was a steal. Mining a single Level 4 titanium crystal mine could yield around 10 million units.

Red-tier components could be upgraded to a maximum of Level 20.

In other words, any other train that was at least Level 13 and had mined a Level 4 titanium crystal mine could possess a Viper unmanned fighter with Level 20 attack power.

"..."

A strong sense of crisis instantly surged within him.

No.

His armor was only Level 15—far from enough!

Level 15 armor was too weak. He needed Level 20 armor!

But...

Why hadn't he seen other trains in the Stone Man Zone using this method? Even the Snarling Train, a Level 14 mechanical train, hadn't employed such tactics.

Soon—

He figured it out. For a fighter to take off smoothly inside a train carriage, two conditions had to be met:

1.

The train must have undergone expansion—and enough of it.

2.

It must have at least 150 meters of runway space.

Assuming each carriage was 30 meters long, that would require about five carriages. He met these conditions, but it seemed difficult for other trains to do the same.

Realizing this, Chen Mang finally relaxed a little. It had given him a scare—he'd thought many trains in the Stone Man Zone already had Level 20 attack capabilities, nearly costing him a night's sleep.

Still, one thing had to be said—

The imbalance between attack and defense was ridiculous!

Getting Level 20 defense was so difficult, yet Level 20 attack was this easy.

"Train Conductor."

At that moment, Xiao Ai's voice came from the train compartment: "A single Level 20 Viper unmanned fighter poses no threat to the Stellar. Despite its Level 20 attack strength, its defense is only Level 1. It would struggle to break through the Stellar's firepower net and dive close enough to strike. Not to mention, its speed can't even catch up to the Stellar."

"I know."

Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly. He naturally understood this point—one or two unmanned fighter jets held little significance, but with hundreds of them, the situation would be entirely different.

Any anti-air firepower inferior to the Berlin Flak Tower would essentially be left waiting to get pummeled.

The only catch was that achieving this required a massive amount of titanium crystal ore.

Just then!

Xiao Ai spoke up again: "Train Conductor, Uncle Li has returned. Someone is asking if they can exchange 'titanium crystal ore,' 'Crimson Heartstone,' or 'lumber' for Stellar Coupons."

"Titanium crystal ore and Crimson Heartstone are acceptable. Lumber is not."

"Understood."

Inside the train compartment.

Chen Mang gazed at the screen on the control panel, a rather wild idea gradually forming in his mind. The most impressive feature of these "Viper Unmanned Fighter Jets" was that they shared the maximum speed limit with the train.

Other fighters might struggle to break through the Stellar's firepower network.

But his fighters' speed...

Would make them impossible to lock onto—unless subjected to blanket fire coverage.

The number of Doomsday Cannons was far too few. On a train hundreds of meters long, nine units were laughably inadequate. In the coming period, all his iron ore would be spent on defense and offense, elevating the train's foundational strength!

Even though the train had already reached Level 13, the Doomsday Cannon remained the most versatile firepower accessory among all trains.

No surprise there.

It was cheap, offered the best cost-performance ratio, and was universally favored—himself included.

He didn't yet have enough copper ore to manufacture them freely.

Chen Mang glanced at the residents mining iron ore outside the window, a faint smile curling his lips. He now had multiple channels for acquiring iron ore.

Residents mining.

Solar Energy Panels.

Two "Cosmic Receivers," with several more still under production.

Neon City.

He had a hunch that explosive growth was imminent.

After upgrading to Level 13, the train hadn't just gained new accessories—it also unlocked a new function.

"Dream Creation."

It could craft different dreams and implant them into the minds of sleeping train crew members, consuming "Dreamstones" to enhance their Mental Strength.

Somewhat similar to the "Combat Training Virtual Space."

Except one improved the Physical Fitness Index.

The other boosted Mental Strength.

"..."

Chen Mang chuckled as he looked at the new button on the control panel. So this was how Dreamstones were meant to be used. But he had an even better method in mind. His gaze shifted to the single bed in the corner.

Embedded in it was a Dreamstone at 99% capacity.

The single bed's Level 100 Supermodel Effect was that when a Dreamstone was embedded, each dream had a chance to yield an item from within the dream. The Dreamstone's consumption varied based on the item's value.

No need to overthink it.

"Xiao Ai, after I fall asleep tonight, create a dream where I'm swinging a pickaxe in a Level 10 iron ore mine."

"Uh..."

A hesitant voice came from the train compartment: "Train Conductor, one unit of Level 10 iron ore is equivalent to 1 billion units of standard iron ore. Wouldn't the Dreamstone's consumption be too high to retrieve something of that value?"

"Let's try it first. We'll adjust if it doesn't work. By the way, have you figured anything out about that strand of hair I gave you last time?"

"A little. It doesn't seem human—more like it belongs to a Starry Sky Behemoth."

"A Starry Sky Behemoth?"

Chen Mang frowned slightly, recalling the nightmare he had last time. It was truly not a pleasant dream, but that woman by the shore didn't seem like a Starry Sky Behemoth at all.

He didn't speak further, instead waiting somewhat eagerly for nightfall.

Soon—

Night fell.

Chen Mang had already washed up and made all necessary preparations, lying on his bed with quiet anticipation.

Perhaps because he was too excited, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

Only then did he realize—

The Train had many stimulants but nothing to aid sleep.

"Train Conductor, need help sleeping?"

"Play some music?"

"No, lower the oxygen levels."

"That's called passing out, Mom."

Half an hour later.

.In a daze, Chen Mang still fell asleep. Perhaps because of his constant thoughts, when he found himself holding a pickaxe in front of a Level 10 Iron Ore deposit, he vaguely realized he might be dreaming.

But he quickly suppressed that thought.

He worried that if he became fully conscious, it would be disastrous.

The Level 10 Iron Ore was truly beautiful—multicolored, glowing in a radiant spectrum.

Excited, Chen Mang charged forward with his Level 10 Pickaxe and began mining with more vigor than the residents. This was his first time mining since arriving in this world. Even on Master Kun's Train, he had never mined before.

It felt pretty good.

Beside him were 20 bottles of cola and an Oxygen Generator.

Midnight arrived.

Uncle Li, returning from Neon City, found Director Ai in Carriage No. 2: "Director Ai, could you take me to see Lord Mang? I need to report today's data. The results are excellent—he'll definitely be thrilled."

"No time. Lord Mang is mining."

"Mining?"

Uncle Li stood there, bewildered. He had indeed seen some residents mining at the nearby Mine when he returned, but Lord Mang mining?

Had he only been away in Neon City for a day, and already the Stellar had declined to such a state?

How many people must have died for Lord Mang to personally take up mining?

"Yeah."

Xiao Ai, squatting on the ground repairing a Mecha, replied casually without looking up: "Mining in his dreams. Go back and report tomorrow morning. Preferably at noon."

"Uh..."

Uncle Li caught the implication in Director Ai's words and tentatively asked, "Director Ai, could you clarify?"

"No clarification. Go sleep. Don't disturb me."

Xiao Ai waved him off, too lazy to explain further.

The Train Conductor spent the whole night mining in his dreams.

If he woke up the next morning and successfully brought back one piece of Level 10 Iron Ore, no matter what Uncle Li said, the Train Conductor would be in a great mood. But if he failed and was exhausted from the effort, his expression would likely be foul—and Uncle Li would probably suffer undeserved consequences.

Honestly, Xiao Ai doubted the odds of success.

The Supermodel Effect clearly stated it was a small chance to bring back an item. Since it had already happened once last time, it was unlikely to happen again. Such a low probability event wouldn't reasonably occur twice in a row.

The odds were just too slim.

So he'd already decided to avoid bothering the Train Conductor tomorrow to dodge any scolding.

"What a shame."

Back in Breeding Carriage No. 15, Uncle Li sighed regretfully as he looked at the report in his hands. The first day of trial operations had gone so well—who knew Lord Mang would sleep so early?

Xiao Ai's other body was still in Neon City, working with Li Shiji and Sister Qi to refine some of the day's identified issues.

For now, he was the only one on the Train who knew these results.

"Uncle Li, you're back." The young man who always followed Uncle Li greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah. I went to report to Lord Mang, but he was asleep."

"What happened on the Train today? When I passed Resident Car No. 8, I saw Biao Ge hanging on the wall?"

"A lot happened today, but you weren't here. My clearance isn't high enough, so no one told me much. I could only observe with my own eyes. First, we went to the City Ruins, then there seemed to be some Portal activity back and forth. Finally, we had a fight with a Train. Biao Ge got caught in the Train's self-destruct during that battle and was seriously injured. Then he got put up on the wall."

"I went to see him. The injuries were severe—looked pretty gruesome. They pulled 106 Steel shards from his body. Lord Mang said only someone as tough as Biao Zi could survive that; anyone else would've died for sure."

Uncle Li seemed quite pleased with this remark and nodded solemnly. "Given your position, you really wouldn't have access to the most classified matters. But don't worry, just keep performing well. Once I finish setting up the Zombie Spawning Cage, securing your spot in the Breeding Carriage shouldn't be a problem."

"Hand me the gloves. I'm going to check on the progress."

"Uncle Li, you've been working since last night. Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Only useless people sleep."

"Uh... Uncle Li, you just said Lord Mang was sleeping."

"..."

Uncle Li remained expressionless and silent for a moment before slapping himself. "What I meant was, I'm not the brightest, so I have to work harder and can't afford to sleep."

"Bring me a few cans of cola."

"Right away."

(End of Chapter)