CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: "GET IN THE CAR, GO TO TAIPING CITY, DO YOU KNOW THE WAY?

This Level 3 Boss Monster, the Cannibal Spider, dropped a total of four items upon death.

1. 2 units of Level 3 ore: "Red Heart Rock".

2. 100 units of Level 2 material: "Fine Spider Silk".

3. Green-grade Vehicle Accessories Blueprint: "Powerful Magnet".

4. Special Tool: "Hell Staff".

...

These four items are all the rewards from this boss drop.

The first two are "rare ores", such rare resources can’t be mined from a mine. They only drop after killing a boss and are often used in crafting and upgrading some special vehicle accessories.

But for now, he doesn’t need them temporarily.

The vehicle accessory "Powerful Magnet" has the effect of directly absorbing all the items dropped by monsters killed near the train or by Train Members into a specified carriage using a magnet.

The main use case for this accessory isn’t here; it’s during a Corpse Tide.

In the environment of a Corpse Tide, it’s certainly impossible to stop and pick up dropped items. With this device, dropped items can be easily retrieved from a horde of corpses.

The fourth item belongs to the category of special tools.

It’s not for train use, but for solo use. It’s shaped like a staff, and by holding this special tool, one can remotely control the train within a certain range, even if not in the train’s cockpit.

For example —

If he had this item last night, he wouldn’t have needed to return to the train’s cockpit to build a carriage. If he had some self-controlled firearms or thermal weapons, he wouldn’t need to control them from the cockpit; he could remotely control them while standing near the train with this staff.

Quite decent.

The item is good; it’s just that the name "Hell Staff" is a bit hard to admire.

"Quite nice."

Chen Mang nodded in satisfaction, certainly deserving as they fought the whole night to kill the boss. The reward was quite rich, and although the dropped "rare ores" were not needed for now, they would surely be useful in the future.

Half an hour later.

Everyone had already washed up. The blood of this spider was abundant, dyeing a large area of the wasteland red. After purifying it using a "Pure Water Filter", water was plentiful. Such a luxurious use of pure water for bathing was something many slaves hadn’t enjoyed in a long time.

"Let’s head back!"

Chen Mang cheerfully looked at the group of slaves, preparing to return to the initial iron mine, rest for a day, and then continue mining.

His current Level 2 train was just an empty shell of a Level 2 train, lacking many essential Level 2 train accessories. Although he had acquired a lot of rare ores, what he needed most now was ordinary iron ore.

He still needed to continue mining.

"Master Mang!"

At this moment, Old Pig came running over, tentatively suggesting, "I think the reason we haven’t seen a single monster in the past few days is likely because, during these days, this Level 3 Cannibal Spider was breeding in nearby ’Taiping City’, its presence scaring off other monsters."

"At this moment, Taiping City might be at its emptiest. Why not raid it?"

"Biaozi told me there’s a hidden compartment in a tobacco and liquor store on the outskirts of Taiping City, which hasn’t been raided yet."

"No."

Chen Mang shook his head, looking at Old Pig with a calm face, "What’s more important now is acquiring enough iron ore to craft some basic Level 2 train accessories, like enough heavy machine guns. If we had as many heavy machine guns as that train with the DJ, would we have to run?"

"This..." Old Pig hesitated for a moment. He actually wanted to add that even the train with the DJ ran, but in the end, he didn’t express it, only weakly adding, "There might be many Cannibal Spider larvae in Taiping City now. Killing them could drop a lot of good stuff, and no one else would compete with us at this time."

"..."

Chen Mang was silent for a moment, then glanced at Old Pig and hoarsely said, "Get on the train, go to Taiping City, do you know the way?"

...

Inside the train compartment.

Chen Mang drove speedily along the obvious tracks on the wasteland, traces left by the Cannibal Spider’s nocturnal travels. As long as he followed the tracks, he would quickly find Taiping City.

After all, the vast wasteland was almost bare with no good landmarks, and Old Pig didn’t know the way either.

He glanced at the Energy Stone in the train’s cockpit.

"72%."

Not bad, it could still be used for a while. Now he had only 313 units of iron ore. He originally planned to go back and continue mining to craft using the "Manufacturing Table", but Old Pig’s suggestion was tempting. Without the boss to protect the larvae, not exterminating them felt like a violation of the natural order.

At this moment, the "Fixed Star" train was already covered with brown-red bloodstains, emitting a foul stench under the sunlight.

After driving for a full four hours.

Chen Mang finally saw the ruins of a modern city on the distant horizon. However, many high-rise buildings had collapsed, and the city looked battered and scarred, with more details revealing themselves as they drew closer.

A lot of marks of violent burning, roads piled with cars, and leaves and garbage scattered everywhere with no one to clean up, though no bodies were seen.

"..."

Chen Mang silently looked at all this, and this scene gave him a clearer understanding of crossing into a doomsday world. Over the past few days on the wasteland, there was hardly a trace of human civilization to be seen.

How many survivors could be hiding in such an environment?

As the train approached the city ruins, Chen Mang slowly reduced speed, finally stopping at the edge of the ruins as it could go no further. The way forward was blocked by various cars and collapsed buildings, and the train could no longer proceed.

They would need to proceed on foot from here.

In the distant sky.

There was a huge spider web.

A giant web strung in the air between high-rise buildings, made entirely of spider silk as thick as an arm. The ground around was littered with traces eroded by thick green liquid, and many cars and buildings had been pierced by scattered spider silk.

The ground was dotted with scattered spider silk. These strands shot out like bullets, easily penetrating buildings made of reinforced concrete.

The ground even showed many heavy machine gun shell casings and scattered firearms, as well as... a few abandoned carriages, which could later be thrown into the "Earth Core Melting Furnace". Maybe these abandoned cars could be decomposed into iron ore.

It was evident a fierce battle had taken place here.

"It really was lucky."

Chen Mang muttered to himself, standing at the edge of the ruins and gazing at the scene before him. It seemed that the Level 3 Cannibal Spider’s silk and poison had been exhausted here. Otherwise, he might not have been so fortunate.

Of course, if he ever wrote his autobiography, he certainly wouldn’t include this bit of luck. He would record... the feat of destroying the Level 3 Cannibal Spider boss with the might of a newly arrived Level 2 Train.

And on that giant spider web.

About a dozen small spiders were dangling in the air from a strand of spider silk.

These were the Cannibal Spider larvae.

"Biaozi."

Chen Mang waved Biaozi over, patted him on the shoulder, and softly said, "Take the team and gear, finish off all those larvae, and bring back everything they dropped."

"Pick up speed."

"This is no place to stay long. Complete the task and return immediately so we can set off, understand?"

"Understood!"

Biaozi nodded earnestly, then gestured to the other nine thugs to take enough magazines and some Car Blade Fragments. They quickly crossed the ruins, running swiftly toward the giant spider web.

...

"Master Mang."

At the edge of the ruins, Old Pig hesitated and said, "Should I go with them? What if they run away and don’t come back?"

"If they run, they run."

Chen Mang leaned on his staff, standing at the edge of the ruins, looking at the spider web that spanned between the high-rise buildings, and calmly said, "You must allow for anyone to leave you at any time, and not let it consume too much of your mind."

"In this world, anyone can leave at any time."

"But just because they might leave doesn’t mean you don’t use them."

"A ship will always risk going out to sea, but it’s not built to stay moored forever."

"Alright."

"Pay attention to the surrounding situation. A single spider can’t birth all these larvae. I have an unsettling feeling. The sooner we complete the task and leave, the better."