Inside the control car, Chen Mang paid little mind to the small incident. He finished another entire movie, leaning back in his chair, satis

Inside the control car, Chen Mang paid little mind to the small incident. He finished another entire movie, leaning back in his chair, satisfied. This time, no one had interrupted him.

In the apocalypse, a moment of relaxation like this was a rare luxury.

Contentment.

Just then—

Beep... beep... beep...

The train’s radio began to chirp. Someone was sending him a private message. After getting the Oxygen Generator, he had removed that item from his broadcast message but had kept the rest of it pinned. A pinned message lasted for about ten minutes. He had the Train Auxiliary AI automatically re-pin it on a schedule.

Finally, after two full movies, someone else had contacted him.

"I have the blueprint for the Headlights accessory. What can you offer?"

The message was simple and direct.

"What’s your price?"

"5,000 units of iron ore."

"Too high. A white-grade accessory blueprint isn’t worth that much."

"You’re number one on the Wasteland Train Leaderboard. You can definitely afford that much iron ore."

"Fair enough. Send me your train’s coordinates. I’ll deliver it personally."

"..."

Inside the locomotive, Chen Mang narrowed his eyes, absently toying with a sharpened branch, its tip still stained with dried blood. It was a crude weapon he’d fashioned for self-defense on his third day in this world.

He had once used this very branch to kill a man who tried to provoke him.

Though his train was now powerful enough that he had no use for such primitive tools, the branch held special significance. It was a relic from a time when he had no sense of security when he could have died in the wasteland at any moment.

This unremarkable branch had been his only source of comfort, however faint.

He didn’t mind making the trip. It would be a good excuse to rescue more survivors from the man’s train. He was no longer worried about being unable to support additional slaves; with the inexhaustible iron mines deep beneath the Ironridge Wasteland at his disposal, his only concern was not having enough of them.

But the other party didn’t reply immediately. A long time passed before another message came through.

"1,000 units of iron ore. Deal?"

"Deal."

Chen Mang suddenly laughed. It seemed the man had come to his senses. Perhaps he had a wise advisor by his side.

Using the remote trading function, he placed 1,000 units of iron ore on one side of the scale. The transaction was completed quickly, saving him a trip.

The moment he received the accessory blueprint, he slapped it onto the control console. The blueprint dissolved into motes of white light and merged with the console, granting the train the authority to craft the new component.

He had always suspected something.

Did all trains inherently possess the ability to craft every accessory, with blueprints merely acting as keys to unlock that authority?

Was it not the blueprint itself that imparted the technology to the train?

It was a chicken-and-egg question, pointless to ponder.

But he couldn’t help wondering.

"Headlights."

It was a white-grade accessory. He’d seen several other trains equipped with it, so it wasn’t particularly rare, but for some reason, he’d never acquired one.

It couldn’t just be mounted on the locomotive.

It could also be installed on various parts of the carriages’ exteriors.

He crafted three, placing one on the locomotive, one in the middle of the train, and one on the final carriage.

He then spent another 4,400 units of iron ore to upgrade the locomotive’s Headlight to Level 10. The upgrade didn’t increase brightness but reduced energy consumption.

The accessory itself could switch between high beams and floodlights.

Its base effect was quite strong.

And it came with two Advanced Effects.

[Headlight Level 5 Advanced Effect]: Consume one Energy Stone to unleash an intensely blinding flash of light. The effect’s strength depends on the level of the consumed Energy Stone.

"Hmm?"

Chen Mang glanced at the two Advanced Effects, raising an eyebrow. The first was straightforward—a flashbang effect, purely for support, and well within his expectations.

But he hadn’t expected the second Advanced Effect to be "None."

This was the first time he’d seen an Advanced Effect described as such.

It meant that not every accessory gained an effect at its corresponding level. Some basic components simply didn’t have one.

Good to know.

It seemed he wouldn’t need to consider upgrading the "Headlights" any further. Level 1 was sufficient. The blinding flash was a crowd-control skill he wouldn’t use often.

At least, he couldn’t think of a situation where it would be useful right now.

But when all three "Headlights" were connected to the generator via the electrical system, the once dimly lit cavern was suddenly bathed in brilliant light, the powerful beams scattering every shadow.

The energy consumption wasn’t too high, far less than the "Oxygen Generator."

"..."

As the cavern lit up, Chen Mang got a clear view of all the slaves at work. He also saw a dozen or so of them squatting in a distant corner, relieving themselves. Sometimes, you didn’t need to see things so clearly.

With the population now in the four digits, even urination and defecation had become major issues.

Out on the wasteland, it didn’t matter. They could hold it on the train and relieve themselves wherever they stopped. But they couldn’t just do that in the cavern. Lao Zhu had designated an area for them to use as a latrine.

But...

With over a thousand people, nature’s call was urgent, and not everyone could hold it. Back on Boss Kun’s train, it was common for slaves to relieve themselves right in the carriages. If the train was at full speed, you couldn’t just stop for one person’s emergency.

The train desperately needed a toilet.

But he’d never seen a "Toilet" accessory blueprint. If worse came to worst, he could just build two more refrigerators and use them as latrines. They were big enough, and he could assign people to clean them at regular intervals.

It was crude, but it would work.

He had to admit—

The "Refrigerator" was a fantastic accessory.

When powered, it was a large cold storage unit. Unpowered, it could serve as a warehouse or even a dormitory. Now, it could be a toilet. And if he was in a bad mood one day, he could even use it to make soap.

It was practically an all-purpose tool.

This reminded him of something else. With so many people on the train, he needed more roles than just "Enforcer" and "Slave." He needed cleaners to regularly tidy the carriages.

When he’d gone to check on the "Oxygen Generator" in the No. 10 Goblin Carriage today, the place was so filthy he hadn’t even wanted to step inside.

He immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Lao Zhu."

"Yesterday, didn’t over sixty female slaves choose to mine? Women can’t keep up with men in that department. Go pick ten capable ones to be in charge of cleaning the train."

"And pick another one—young, good-looking, sharp. Not some stubborn mule. She’ll be in charge of cleaning my control car."

"Their treatment will be the same as a Tier-3 slave, with promotions based on days worked."

"Understood."