"Yes, sir!"

The moment the order was given, Biao Zi and his guards moved to intercept the approaching group. He fired a single warning shot into the air before shouting at the survivors who were now hurrying toward them.

"Hands up! One wrong move and you're dead!"

His body was tense, the Dragon Assault Rifle in his hands loaded and aimed at the crowd. His finger rested on the trigger, ready to fire at a moment's notice. He'd rather face a pack of Zombie Wolves than a group of unknown survivors.

After all, the train he'd been on before was destroyed precisely because a rival crew had sent their men disguised as refugees. They'd infiltrated the train and opened fire, inflicting devastating losses. The captain had been killed on the spot.

He'd learned that lesson the hard way and had no intention of repeating it.

Biao Zi's eyes locked onto the approaching survivors. If even one of them reached into their clothes, he would open fire without hesitation. A group of survivors appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the wasteland was inherently suspicious.

But...

The survivors seemed to understand his mindset. With their hands held high, they slowed their pace as they drew near, their voices trembling as they shouted, "Don't shoot! Please, don't shoot!"

When the two groups were only a dozen meters apart, Biao Zi's men rushed forward, forcing all twenty-odd survivors to the ground. They patted each one down, and only after confirming they carried no weapons did they turn and give Biao Zi a nod to signal all clear.

Biao Zi let out a breath of relief and raised his walkie-talkie.

"Boss Mang," he said in a low voice. "All clear."

Chen Mang descended from the Stellar, which stood parked on the silent plains. Draped in his coat and leaning on the staff, he walked over to the survivors lying prostrate on the ground. After sweeping his gaze over each of them, he spoke.

"Is there anyone here who can speak for the group?"

"I... I can," a man stammered, shakily raising his hand and getting to his feet. "We were all slaves on the Eternal Life Train. Last night, our train was attacked by a zombie horde, and our carriage was detached and abandoned as bait."

"But for some reason, the horde didn't attack us. It just kept chasing the train."

"By the time they were gone, it was the middle of the night, so we didn't dare move. We waited until dawn, hoping we could find another train in the wasteland and keep working as slaves. We're all strong—very capable!"

"..."

Chen Mang's expression remained calm as he looked at the middle-aged man, then back at the other survivors. There were about twenty of them—seventeen men and five women, mostly around thirty years old, with no one too old or too young.

Naturally, he was happy to have more hands for the mine.

However...

He found it far more likely that someone in this group possessed a Zombie Perception Scrambler than that the horde had simply ignored them. He had used that very item to escape a horde once.

It was probably just hidden too well for a simple pat-down to find. The device wasn't large; it could easily be concealed within the body.

Chen Mang turned his head and gave Biao Zi a subtle wave. "Strip them," he ordered quietly. "Search them again. Be thorough with the women. There are plenty of places to hide things."

Biao Zi paused for a fraction of a second before understanding dawned on his face. "Understood," he said in a low voice.

What Chen Mang didn't see was the flicker of panic and fury that flashed deep in the eyes of the man who had just spoken.

Ten minutes later, all the survivors stood naked, huddled together in a small area.

Chen Mang squatted down, using his staff to poke at a device on the ground that resembled a walkie-talkie. It was still slick with viscous fluid. Beside it lay a pistol, three magazines, and even a Train Token. All of it had been found on one of the middle-aged women.

"..."

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Chen Mang gestured with his hand. Biao Zi quickly dragged the woman forward and threw her down before him.

"Quite the actress, aren't you?"

He lifted his cane and gently tapped her cheek. "Trying to bring a weapon onto my train without telling the truth," he said calmly. "What exactly were you planning?"

The woman, her hair disheveled, knelt helplessly on the ground with her arms bound behind her back. There was no room for resistance. Her face was a mask of terror as she shrieked, "It had nothing to do with me! It was him! He forced me to do it!"

"He was the head of the guards on the Eternal Life!"

"He threatened us, made us hide his identity! He was planning to join a train and take it over one day! He forced me!"

Chen Mang followed her gaze and saw the same middle-aged man who had spoken to him earlier. The defiance and fear in the man's eyes were practically overflowing; he knew his death was certain.

With a final show of backbone, the man stood up and walked out from the crowd, stopping two meters from Chen Mang. Staring him down, he ground out each word through clenched teeth. “You win. I admit defeat. Now that the truth is out, I have nothing more to say. Just give me a quick death!”

"The people I admire most are guys like you—meticulous, cunning!"

"What a pity!"

"A real pity. If I had met you sooner, I would have become your most loyal man. But if you're willing—"

The next second...

Rat-tat-tat—

The sharp crack of an assault rifle echoed across the plains. Chen Mang tossed the rifle back to Biao Zi and remarked casually, "What was all that nonsense he was spouting?"

As the gunshots faded, the man lay dead in a pool of his blood.

Soon, after a round of interrogations, the full picture became clear.

The group had indeed been from the Eternal Life Train. When the zombie horde attacked, they, along with the guard who happened to be in the slave car at the time, were abandoned as bait.

This guard had long been secretly hoarding supplies, including the Handheld Zombie Perception Blocker (Scrambler) and a Train Token, which he had his lover hide for him. His original plan was to assassinate his captain and seize control, but the horde had ruined everything.

After being abandoned, he used the blocker to keep the group of slaves alive. His new plan was simple: join another train, infiltrate its inner circle, kill the captain, and plunder all its resources and slaves. Then, with the Train Token, he would start his operation.

It made sense.

Simply activating a Train Token without enough resources to upgrade it to Level 2 was a death sentence. The best strategy was to join another train and seize its assets first. After all, a train's greatest vulnerability is from within, especially if it lacks a component like an "Internal Fire-Control System."

Once you got close to the captain, a small pistol was all it took to end them. With his group of followers, he had a real chance of using another nest to hatch his egg.

Chen Mang didn't have much of an opinion on the plan.

He only knew one thing: he had just gained twenty-one new slaves.

Oh, no. Twenty.

He'd had Biao Zi "take care of" the man's lover as well.