Four factors determined a train's speed: external acceleration accessories, wheel type, the train's weight, and its level.

The Stellar was currently equipped with Level 1 "Windfire Wheels." Their advantage lay in maintaining maximum speed on the wasteland's flat terrain, adding a full 30 km/h to top speed.

The train's base maximum speed had been 100 km/h. After upgrading to Level 2, that increased to 130 km/h. Factoring in the Windfire Wheels and the train's weight...

"156 km/h."

Chen Mang stared at the maximum speed displayed on the control console. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm as his mind raced through possibilities. Right now, he had only two ways to increase speed.

He certainly didn't have any external acceleration accessories. That left upgrading the Windfire Wheels or decoupling all the carriages.

But upgrading the Windfire Wheels from Level 1 to 2 required a thousand units of iron ore, and he only had 913. He could toss his spare firearms into the Geocentric Furnace—that should provide the remaining 87 units.

Climbing through the skylight to reach the front of the engine was risky, but feasible. If whatever was chasing him got too close, that would be his only option.

"But still..."

Chen Mang glanced at the empty, dark landscape in his rearview mirror. This speed should be enough, right? No monster could run this fast on two legs. Even a zombie would kill itself trying to keep up.

"Boss Lu."

Inside the eight-car train ahead, a muscular man with a Guanyin【TN: Buddhist goddess of mercy】tattoo shook his head. He looked up at the dwarf-like man sitting at the control console. "That train doesn't have a radio. We can't contact them."

"Sigh."

The dwarf sighed, shaking his head with pity. "What a shame. If whoever's on that train had abandoned it and fled into the mines, they might've survived."

"He saw us running and decided to follow. At his train's speed, that thing will catch up in no time. That guy, really..."

"Taiping City's been in chaos these past few days. Don't tell me he's been mining here this whole time. He's got some real guts." 

He remembered this train. A few days ago, when he'd arrived to join the battle at Taiping City, this very train had been here mining. The fighting had been insane, yet when he fled, he found this train still here, still mining.

Incredible.

So you're just gonna chill and level up while the world burns, huh?

Looked like the harvest was good too—the guy had even armored his engine.

Having started from nothing himself, clawing his way up, he could understand this unknown train captain. It was just a pity. A few days of mining had earned him a one-way ticket to hell. Hopefully, there were mines to dig in hell, too.

If there were mines in hell, they'd surely be full of rare ore. Maybe he could build a hell-train or something.

At his current speed, he could no longer see the other train. He fiddled with the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist, closed his eyes, and clicked his tongue. "Someone as kindhearted as me is going to heaven. I'll build a heaven-train when I get there."

The Cannibalistic Spider behind them was Level 3. The heavy machine guns and autocannons on their train were only Level 2—they couldn't break its defense. Fine for bullying the spider's young, but useless against the boss.

That cannibalistic spider behind them was Level 3. The heavy machine guns and autocannons on their train were only Level 2—they couldn't break its defense. They were fine for bullying juveniles, but they couldn't penetrate the boss at all.

When a monster's level exceeded an offensive accessory's level, the accessory's damage was completely nullified. It wouldn't even scratch it. Even a Red-grade accessory like a Level 2 "Sentry Cannon" couldn't harm a Level 3 zombie.

An offensive accessory's power was determined by both grade and level, but its ability to penetrate a monster's defense depended solely on level. Upgrading an accessory not only increased power but also allowed it to deal effective damage to higher-level monsters.

Level 1 was the exception. Level 1 monsters were the most basic type—even ordinary weapons like axes could harm them. After the apocalypse, all standard firearms had become useless. To get guns that could hurt monsters, you needed a production line on a train.

And that was why trains were the only theme of this world.

Initially, their group had been harassing the boss from the edges. When the Level 3 cannibalistic Spider moved to one side, trains on the other side would seize the opportunity to kill its young, hoping for rare resource and accessory blueprint drops.

But after they killed too many offspring, the spider went berserk. It stopped caring about its remaining young in the city and started chasing them with rabid fury.

All they could do was run. What else was there?

At first, they'd scattered in different directions, but then the boss spat out all its webs, blocking other routes. They were forced in one direction. Once they hit the open wasteland, there was no need for turning—just floor it and compete on speed. They were, at least, slightly faster.

"What a shame, though."

The dwarf glanced back at the sand-swept wasteland with regret. The rare resources they'd gotten from killing the spider's young over the past few days were decent, almost enough to cover their losses. If they'd managed to kill the boss itself, the drops would have been even richer.

But only Level 3 or higher offensive accessories could harm that spider. Whether it was a Green-grade heavy machine gun or Blue-grade autocannon, the cost to upgrade them to Level 3 was immense. He hadn't prioritized those upgrades since Level 3 monsters were rare on this wasteland. He did have a Level 3 "Dragon Assault Rifle Production Line," though.

But the bullets fired from a Level 3 rifle, while technically capable of penetrating the cannibalistic spider, were no different from a mere tickle.

White-grade offensive accessories didn't cost much to upgrade, but you couldn't get White-grade accessories to Level 3 in the first place.

So they had no choice but to run.

Meanwhile, aboard The Stellar, Chen Mang suddenly felt the ground begin to vibrate. He glanced instinctively at his rearview mirror, and his breath caught.

On the distant horizon, a spider dozens of meters tall was hurtling toward him at incredible speed. It looked like a small mountain scurrying across the plains.

Chen Mang's face went pale. He sucked in a sharp breath, feeling all the blood rush to his head as adrenaline surged through him. He discovered, for the first time, that he might have megalophobia【TN: fear of large objects】.

He wasn't particularly afraid of spiders, but seeing one this big for the first time... it was a little too much to handle.