Although Lao Zhu's heart was pounding, he managed to put on a fierce expression. His experience was in managing internal affairs, with little exposure to fieldwork. Acting tough didn't come naturally to him, but with the team severely understaffed, he had no choice but to step up.

After leaving the carriage, Chen Mang immediately began searching the other abandoned cars. There should be plenty of resources left inside, but before sending the slaves to collect them, he needed to secure any dangerous items like firearms to prevent accidents.

They were in carriage seven. Carriages eight and nine behind them were also slave cars.

He checked those two first. They were empty except for scattered scraps of clothing and pools of thick, sticky blood. Chunks of iron ore dotted the mess like grim stars. The carriages themselves were nearly destroyed, with countless holes torn through the sheet-metal walls by zombies. Only their basic frames remained. He'd have the slaves scavenge these two cars for resources later.

The real prize lay ahead in carriages two through six.

Carriage six was the guards' quarters. Everyone inside was dead, but since there had been fewer of them, the scene wasn't as gory as in the slave cars. Several guns, police batons, bullets, and magazines were scattered in pools of blood.

He didn't let the filth bother him. With a slight frown, he rolled up his sleeves and began gathering everything, temporarily storing it in his new train engine.

Carriage five contained living supplies—bread, steamed buns, and bottled water. He also found a few vehicle accessories, including a "Level 1 Pure Water Filter," along with some steamers and spatulas.

Carriage four was a warehouse holding various types of ore, though not in large quantities—only a few hundred units. There were also plenty of mining tools like pickaxes and axes.

Carriage three was the combat car. Three heavy machine guns were mounted on its roof. Inside, he found two "Level 1 Bullet Production Lines" for manufacturing specialized machine gun and pistol rounds, along with a "Pistol Production Line." Logically, this car should've been full of ammunition, but it was now empty except for a few scattered bullets on the floor. The production lines were damaged, as were two of the three heavy machine guns.

Carriage two appeared to be high-end living quarters for the captain's inner circle. It had seven single beds—a significant upgrade from the slave cars. Although the carriage was wrecked, there was no blood or shredded clothing. It seemed the captain had abandoned the car but taken his confidants with him.

Chen Mang couldn't remove the remaining heavy machine gun from the roof on his own, but after several trips, he managed to haul all the smaller guns and ammunition to his train engine.

Only then did he finally take a moment to inspect the interior of his train.

The engine wasn't large—much smaller than a carriage, measuring three meters wide and seven meters long. The engine machinery took up the first four meters, leaving very little usable space—less than even a slave car. At the rear of the cockpit was a heavy steel door, clearly many times stronger than the sheet-metal walls of the other cars. Only someone with captain-level authority could open it.

Controlling the train was surprisingly simple: you just had to be inside the cockpit and steer it with your thoughts. It was impressively futuristic.

The cockpit itself was about twelve square meters, with the front end made entirely of glass, offering a clear view of the wasteland. As he stood there looking out, a deep sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. In this dangerous world, owning a train was no small feat.

Several buttons sat on the control console. One red button was labeled "Train Panel."

He pressed it, and a detailed display appeared on a nearby screen:

[Train Name]: TBD

[Train Level]: 1

[Train Accessories]: Level 1 Geocentric Furnace

[Number of Carriages]: None

[Ore Units]: None

[Upgrade Requirements]: 4 carriages, all 7 essential vehicle accessories crafted, and 5,000 units of Level 1 Iron Ore.

Next to it was another red button: "Train Crew." This panel allowed him to appoint a Vice-Captain and other crew members, each with different permissions, such as the authority to use heavy machine guns. Crucially, weapons produced by the train's production lines couldn't be used against the Captain or Vice-Captain, ensuring the Captain's absolute authority on board.

The control panel also had a red button for "Vehicle Accessories."

Pressing it brought up a list of all craftable accessories for a Level 1 train, along with their required resources. The list marked which accessories were essential for upgrading the train and which were optional.

There were thirteen in total. The first seven essential accessories were listed in green, while the six optional ones were in white.

Wait—

There were fourteen?

Beneath the thirteen was a final accessory, its name written in deep red. However, this one could only be crafted with a train obtained from a rare "Train Token."

"Holy shit..." Chen Mang stared at the red accessory, shock flashing in his eyes. This rare Train Token was even more incredible than he'd imagined.

[Accessory Name]: Wheel Swapper

[Accessory Grade]: Red

[Accessory Level]: 1

[Accessory Effect]: Creates a space above the wheels on each carriage that can store two additional sets of wheels, allowing for a free switch between a maximum of three sets.

[Upgrade Requirement]: 100 units of Iron Ore.

It might not look like much, but this was phenomenal equipment. There were many types of train wheels, each with different effects. With this, he could build three different sets and switch between them on the fly without affecting speed. It would allow him to handle any environment with ease.

Each vehicle accessory came with a short animated demonstration in addition to its description. For instance, if his train was currently using "Crawler Treads," activating the Wheel Swapper would cause a set of "Windfire Wheels" to extend from the side. Once the Windfire Wheels made contact with the ground, the Crawler Treads would retract. This enabled rapid switching with minimal impact on speed.

Normally, changing wheels was a labor-intensive process. The train had to be stopped, and a mechanic would have to manually replace them. That took time—time rarely available in an apocalyptic world.

Chen Mang took a deep breath as he looked at the remaining thirteen craftable accessories. His first step would be to gather all the ore and see how much he had. He'd definitely need to build a "Warehouse Carriage" first, to serve as a new slave car for transporting everyone.

Then he'd use the Geocentric Furnace to devour the damaged carriages.

It's a bit like the game Snake, he thought.

Just then—

Chen Mang felt a faint heat from the birthmark on the back of his hand. Another newbie mission was complete, but the notification had only just registered after he'd finished exploring all the cockpit's functions.