CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35: "MASTER MANG, THIS TIME THE HARVEST IS QUITE SIGNIFICANT.

After all, there were ten people carrying fully automatic rifles. The twenty or so zombie wolves were easily dealt with before they got close.

However...

"..."

Biaozi slightly frowned as he glanced at the few people beside him. The teamwork was still not up to par, and the attack targets were too scattered. Often, several people aimed at the same wolf, but there was no way around it. They would have to gradually train after returning to the train.

He’s not a professional, and no one here is, so they can only find problems in practice and improve them.

He then ordered all the thugs to fire at the spider hatchlings overhead, while he began to check each zombie wolf one by one. After finishing, he sighed regretfully; nothing was dropped.

This was his first field mission, and he naturally hoped for a bigger haul, so he could report back with more confidence.

But then...

Biaozi’s eyes quickly lit up as he noticed a tobacco and liquor store not far away. That store was the one he mentioned having a hidden compartment. He immediately ran over with big steps, ready to loot it, considering they didn’t need him here right now.

The fight ended quickly. Although the targets were moving, their movement was not extensive, so they were fairly easy to hit, and the hatchlings’ defenses were very low.

When Biaozi returned, he had others stay alert on the spot and began shoving all the glowing items dropped on the ground into a burlap sack he had picked up from a convenience store. Until... he saw a familiar dropped item, paused slightly, then couldn’t help but touch the back of his head and grinned.

"Damn... really scored this time."

"Master Mang, oh Master Mang, this is a killer move, how can you block it."

A token emitting a milky white light was lying quietly on the ground.

It was the "Train Order".

...

Thirty minutes later.

Chen Mang, who had been standing under the train, finally saw Biaozi and his group running quickly toward him from the urban ruins, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Honestly speaking.

This place gives him a much stronger sense of unease than in the wasteland. Mainly because there are collapsed buildings everywhere, and the routes the train can take are limited compared to the vast wasteland, where you can drive freely.

Soon —

Biaozi and the others ran to the vicinity of the train. Biaozi grinned as he piled the burlap sack he was carrying on his shoulder onto the ground: "Master Mang, this time the haul is not small and it’s all in here."

"By the way, that tobacco and liquor store I mentioned to the Deputy Train Captain was nearby, I took the opportunity to loot some cigarettes."

"Master Mang, see if you can use them."

"Good, good, good!"

Chen Mang responded happily three times, motioned for a nearby person to move the items into his train cab, looked at Biaozi’s left arm with a blood-soaked bandage, and was just about to say something when he felt the ground shaking. He instinctively turned his head back to see a dense swarm of zombies, appearing at some point, now rapidly rushing toward the urban ruins.

"Get on the train!"

Chen Mang was the first to dive into the train cab, and the others quickly slipped into carriage No. 3 without much delay.

"Boom...!"

Amid the roaring sound of the engine, the train stained with filthy blood roared back along the original path and brushed past the corpse tide.

The zombie encirclement hadn’t formed yet, and they discovered it early enough. With a zombie’s speed, it’s completely impossible for them to catch up.

...

Inside the train carriage.

Chen Mang stuck his upper body out of the skylight, looking back at the corpse tide like a dark cloud behind them, feeling a surge of exhilaration for some reason, just feeling it’s very thrilling.

This feeling of brushing past the edge of a knife is like the most lethal poison, really satisfying.

Just wait.

Once his train is upgraded strong enough, he will drive it to completely wipe out this corpse tide for once, for all the times these damn things have been chasing him!

On the empty wasteland.

The Fixed Star train raced forward at high speed, the city ruins behind grew smaller and smaller, and the powerfully intimidating zombie horde gradually receded.

"Hahoo!!!"

Feeling the excitement, Chen Mang looked at the corpse tide and couldn’t help but shout loudly with his hands around his mouth.

After finishing, he retreated back into the carriage, feeling a bit unsatisfied, but it was the happiest day he’s had since coming here, unrelated to acquiring more or upgrading the train, just from the joy of the experience.

This feeling is like...

hiding in his little cabin during a thunderstorm with lightning everywhere.

Humans are naturally fearful of danger, but if you have a safe enough shelter before danger arrives, this shelter becomes the G-spot; the more dangerous it is outside, the more thrilling it feels.

...

After returning to the train cab, Chen Mang took a deep breath, then opened the burlap sack Biaozi brought back. The first thing he saw was... thirteen packs of cigarettes.

He didn’t recognize the brand.

It should belong to this world’s brand of cigarettes.

He quickly unwrapped one, took out a pack, extracted a cigarette, lit it, and placed it at his lips. After taking a deep drag with closed eyes, he opened his eyes and blew out a thin blue smoke, feeling tranquility looking at the smoke swirling in the carriage.

Smoking isn’t a good habit.

But in such a high-pressure environment like doomsday, one always needs a few bad habits to act as mental support.

Finally, no longer short on cigarettes.

He did nothing else, just sat at the control panel enjoying the cigarette till the end, then opened the window and flicked the smoldering red stub outside, looking at the rapidly retreating wilderness outside the window, and suddenly laughed... it felt like this world might not be so bad.

In this world, as long as you have enough strength, you can do anything.

Life might be shorter, but... it would be more interesting.

Light another one.

Chen Mang lit another cigarette, gradually calming his mood, with a smile ready to inventory this trip’s harvest.

Worth mentioning is the train scrap sections where he defeated level 3 Cannibal Spiders and the abandoned train sections on the city’s wasteland border, all of which were consumed by his "Earth Core Melting Furnace," yielding a total of 500 units of iron ore.

He currently has 813 units of iron ore.

Not too bad.

Consuming an ordinary train carriage generates about 50 units of iron ore, equivalent to half-price recycling.

From this perspective, the main theme of the train on the wasteland is still about development; looting is somewhat cost-ineffective since no one’s train stores too much iron ore, whatever little they have is already used without accumulating much.

Plus, ordinary people don’t even have the red-grade vehicle accessory "Earth Core Melting Furnace," and battles constantly pose risks of personnel casualties and train damage.

The cost-effectiveness of battles is even lower.

It’s still best to find mines and develop them yourself for the highest cost performance.

Unless...

Unless you’re overwhelmingly powerful, the cost-benefit of battles becomes very high, as although you cannot loot iron ore, you can loot slaves.

Those abandoned cars can’t be decomposed into iron ore after consumption, but he found out this thing eats anything indiscriminately and can be used as a garbage disposal in the future to clear roadblocks, which is a new use.

...

Besides the 13 packs of cigarettes, there was even a bottle of spicy sauce in the burlap bag, which he didn’t know where it was dug up from.

"Good stuff, indeed."

Chen Mang satisfiedly placed the bottle of hot sauce to the side, finally able to change up the flavor for dinner later, but he was most concerned with the drops from the spider hatchlings, as those were the crucial goal for this trip.

Quickly, he finished inventorying all the supplies.

Totaled —

1. 300 units of level 1 material "Fine Spider Silk".

2. 200 units of level 1 ore "Red Heart Rock."

2. Special tool, one Train Order.

3. Green-grade vehicle accessory blueprint "Spider Leg".

"..."

Chen Mang looked at the batch of items in front of him, slightly stunned, then picked up the Train Order from amidst the ores, tossed it in his hand, then couldn’t help but chuckle silently, turning his head to look out the window, exhaling a long puff of smoke.

"This guy..."

"Isn’t he probably smirking to himself right now?"