After repeating the same trick several times, Chen Mang's control grew smoother. With the sacrifice of a few more carriages, all the giant spider's legs had been severed at the root. Its mountain-like body collapsed onto the wasteland, completely immobilized—like a lamb waiting for slaughter.

"Finally, time to eat."

Inside the cockpit, Chen Mang let out a long breath. He reconnected the carriages he'd abandoned nearby, then cautiously steered the train toward the enormous spider, circling to its rear.

Spiders shot webbing from their abdomens, and their mouths looked dangerous enough. Attacking from behind was the safest bet.

The only problem was, his Carriage Blades were only seventy centimeters wide. The spider was over ten meters tall—the height of a four-story building. Even though it was now immobilized and had lost most of its offensive capabilities but killing it was proving to be a challenge.

Even if he drove the train right up against the spider's rear, the blades would only leave a seventy-centimeter-deep gash—hardly a fatal wound for a creature this size.

But it didn't matter. Chen Mang scanned his surroundings. He finally understood why the wasteland had been so quiet for the past few days. The spider's aura must have scared off all the nearby monsters. For now, no other people or creatures were likely to pass by. He had plenty of time to slowly grind it down.

SCHLIIICK!

With a piercing tear, Chen Mang drove the train back and forth across the spider's rear. But no matter how many passes he made, he was only deepening the same seventy-centimeter wound. It wasn't enough.

Half an hour later, Chen Mang stepped out of the cockpit, his face expressionless as he stared at the mountain-sized spider king. The creature was completely immobilized and essentially defenseless.

But here was this juicy boss, served up on a silver platter, and he had no way to finish it off. He couldn't kill it. The creature's pained, full-throated shrieks meant it was still a long way from dying.

Yes, his Level 5 Carriage Blades could break its defenses—the level difference guaranteed that. But at the end of the day, it was still just a white-grade accessory. It only had so much power, and its seventy-centimeter width, even if he leveled it up a few more times to a full meter, wouldn't be enough.

He still couldn't kill the spider.

"What do we do now?" Lao Zhu stood to the side, completely at a loss. This was far beyond his understanding. As far as he knew, a Level 2 train encountering a Level 3 boss like the Cannibalistic Spider should have run for its life. Achieving this much was already a miracle. But now, with a clear chance to kill it and get incredible loot, they were completely stuck. Even with the boss unable to fight back, they simply couldn't land a killing blow.

"Sigh." Chen Mang let out a soft sigh, rubbing his temples as he thought in silence. If only he had a Level 5 autocannon. He'd blast it for ten minutes straight—he refused to believe the spider could withstand that.

He really couldn't bring himself to just leave.

"Boss Mang!" Just then, Biao had an idea. "Could we dismantle the Carriage Blades? It would be much easier to use them that way."

"No." Chen Mang shook his head, rejecting the suggestion. The blades' high-speed rotation was powered by the engine's Energy Stone. Once disconnected from the engine, the power supply would be cut, and they would stop spinning after a few moments. Furthermore, while the blueprint was tied to the engine, allowing every carriage he built to come with the blades, they couldn't be dismantled. Forcibly removing them would cause them to shatter into countless fragments. Wait a second—

He suddenly had the solution. The deep crease in his brow smoothed out. He strode back into the cockpit, built one more carriage, and after detaching it, waved for all the slaves to come over.

With nearly a hundred people working together, they quickly managed to forcibly rip the Carriage Blades from both sides of the new car.

As predicted, the removed blades instantly shattered into countless fragments, each one glinting with cold light.

And just like that, for the low price of 100 units of iron ore, he had acquired nearly a hundred steel fragments capable of piercing the Level 3 Cannibalistic's defenses. They were small, almost insignificant next to the four-story-tall monster.

But he had numbers on his side.

Lao Zhu and Biao instantly understood Chen Mang's plan. After distributing the steel fragments to the slaves, Chen Mang gave the order. Every slave, armed with a shard, charged toward the spider's rear and began furiously chiseling away.

Yes. Chiseling.

The whole scene looked exactly like a mining operation. After all, next to the colossal spider, the hundred or so slaves looked tiny. The enforcers didn't rest either—Biao Zi and Lao Zhu rolled up their sleeves and joined the effort.

An hour later, sitting on the roof of the train, Chen Mang watched the massive, chaotic scene and sighed with a touch of exasperation. "What a pain in the ass this boss is to kill."

They had been carving away for an hour, and the results were decent. They had managed to gouge a large hole in the spider's rear. The ground was now covered in viscous blood and chunks of flesh. Everyone's clothes were stained crimson, and the overwhelming stench hung heavy over the wasteland.

Time crawled by.

By the time the sky began to lighten, Chen Mang, whose eyelids were drooping on the roof of the train, was jolted fully awake by the sudden silence. The constant, piercing shrieks had finally faded. After having more than half its body hollowed out, the Cannibalistic Spider had finally collapsed, dead.

The moment it fell, several points of light shot out from its back, landing on a clean patch of ground nearby.

"That wasn't easy!" Chen Mang jumped down from the roof. He didn't immediately go for the loot. Instead, he turned to Lao Zhu and Biao Zi. "Get a few people with buckets to collect some of this blood. Pour it into the Pure Water Filter and get some water for everyone to wash up."

"Thank you, Boss Mang!" Biao's voice was hoarse. He straightened his aching back and cracked his stiff neck. God, he was exhausted, but the outcome was worth it. Of course, the slaves were the most tired. They had mined all day, then chiseled all night.

As soon as it was over, many of the slaves simply collapsed where they stood, too tired to even crawl back to the carriage.

Though the process had been arduous, the result was good. Most importantly, no one had come to disturb them all night. Otherwise, they would have had to abandon this massive prize and flee.

"Dinner's ready!" Chen Mang's eyes sparkled with anticipation as he strode toward the glowing spots on the empty patch of ground. This had to be the boss's loot. He hoped it would be enough to cover his investment.

He had sacrificed six carriages to scrap, after all. That was 600 units of iron ore right there.