After emerging from the Goblin Ruins map, Chen Mang didn't linger. He immediately activated his "Token of Civilization" on the Shahe Plain—use it early, cooldown early.
In the next moment—a portal with black edges and a starry center slowly appeared before him. It was incredibly tall, over thirty meters high, almost enough for a heavy truck to drive in vertically.
"Woo woo..."
Accompanied by the sound of a horn, the Stellar Train drove into the massive portal before it, quickly entering a pitch-black space with no light or sound around, as if it had entered outer space—extremely silent.
As the portal behind slowly closed, the Resource Detection Radar began to go wild. There were no underground mines here; all the mines were open-air, and there were a lot of them.
"Holy crap..."
Chen Mang looked at the more than a hundred red dots representing mines on the Resource Detection Radar, his mouth unconsciously gaping in shock. This was the first time he had seen so many mines.
This feeling...
It was like a kitten falling into a fishmonger's cage, or a mouse falling into an oil jar.
You can't dig them all, simply can't dig them all!
"..."
Chen Mang glanced at the lines of text that appeared on the control panel screen.
-
"This place is the Goblin Tomb."
"Remaining time: 47:59:38."
-
He could only stay here for 48 hours.
Then he took a deep breath and, without hesitation, quickly turned on the headlights, illuminating the surroundings before pushing the control lever forward. Since he only had 48 hours, to maximize his gains, he had to find higher-grade Iron Ore, like Level 3 mines.
Currently, the surrounding mines were all Level 2, but with Level 2 mines so dense, Level 3 mines couldn't be far.
The work efficiency of the Train Residents was already maxed out, but if they found Level 3 Iron Ore, the output could increase tenfold.
Three minutes later.
He spotted Level 3 Iron Ore on the Resource Detection Radar—two Level 3 mines right next to each other. He immediately stopped the train.
A message rang in the ears of all Train Residents.
-
"Everyone, work continuously for the next 48 hours. Cola, food, and water will be unlimited and free."
"Sleep after 48 hours."
-
Immediately, a large number of Train Residents rushed out, pickaxes in hand, running excitedly toward the mining area.
"Sigh."
Chen Mang looked out the window and sighed with regret. He had wanted to say that everyone could have three cigarettes—great for staying alert—but tobacco was a non-renewable resource, and there wasn't much on the train. If everyone got three, there wouldn't be much left.
Though every time they went to a city, they could collect quite a bit of tobacco.
But it was a non-renewable resource—use one, lose one.
He wondered if there was something like a Cigarette Production Line. After all, there was a beer production line, so it made sense to have a cigarette one too.
You can only stay here for 48 hours.
So forget sleeping—no way. Even with unlimited cola, you'd be exhausted by the last dozen hours, but... push through, dig as much as you can.
You don't get to eat meat every day. When you can eat meat, eat as much as you can. No need to think about it now.
If...
If he left all the Train Residents here when he left this space, prepared enough food and water for them, and then picked them up the next time he came in—would that work?
There were no monsters in this space; his Targeting Radar hadn't made a sound. It seemed safe.
But it probably wouldn't work.
"Huh?"
Doba, still immersed in the emotions of seeing the Goblin murals, didn't rush out the train door this time. Feeling a bit down, he followed the crowd out, but when he saw the scene before him—
The distant, dark, unknown depths.
The uneven, pockmarked ground beneath his feet, the familiar scent of decay in the air, and the half-buried pickaxe handle at his feet—he was stunned for a long time before looking up at the crowd and murmuring,
"Are we home?"
"I don't remember dying..."
"Didn't I die?"
"If I didn't die, how did I get back?" Doba stood there in confusion for a while before glancing back at the Stellar Train and the group of Train Residents already mining with pickaxes in the distance. Then it hit him.
"The Human Prophet seems to be even more powerful..."
"How did he get into a place like this?"
Every time he died before, he would enter this space. The other members of his clan would fall asleep here after death, but he alone remained awake, mining bit by bit in this area with a single pickaxe.
Back then, he hadn't found a Level 3 pickaxe—only a Level 1 one.
He didn't know how long he had been mining.
And he didn't feel tired.
Every time he died, he would come back and keep mining. He lost track of time, but one day, a Goblin Train was finally built.
He remembered being so excited.
He drove the Goblin Train recklessly through the silent space, excitedly telling his clanmates about it, even though they were all asleep and couldn't hear him. But he didn't care.
Later...
Later, the Goblin Train grew stronger, even upgrading to Level 2. Every time he went out on a mission, he returned successfully. He was thrilled, feeling that as long as this Goblin Train existed, the Goblin civilization hadn't completely perished.
Until one day, in the Doomsday Abyss, he met the Human Prophet, and the Goblin Train he had spent so many days building was completely destroyed.
He was sad.
At that moment, he felt like he had truly died.
But when the Human Prophet convinced him to submit and promised to help him rebuild the Goblin civilization, he suddenly wasn't sad anymore. The Human Prophet was powerful, and with his help, the Goblin civilization would surely revive.
And the Human Prophet respected the Goblins, never calling them ugly.
It was Doba's honor to follow such a person.
"That Human Prophet... so powerful."
The Black Market Merchant beside Doba murmured, his eyes filled with awe.
"Impressive, right?"
A hint of pride flashed in Doba's eyes before he patted the Black Market Merchant's shoulder. "I know you can't do heavy work. Stay on the train. I'll go work. Remember, don't use your ability casually, or you might not be able to return to this train."
Actually.
If the Black Market Merchant wanted to leave the train, no one could stop him. But he stayed voluntarily.
At first, he stayed only because he submitted to Doba, wanting to rebuild the Goblin civilization with him. But after hearing many stories about the Train Conductor from Doba and witnessing the power of that missile, the Black Market Merchant had also truly submitted to Chen Mang.
Doba took a deep breath, and the earlier sense of loss vanished from his mind. He hoisted his pickaxe onto his shoulder, followed by a hundred Goblins, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Stupid humans, get the hell out of the way for the great Doba!"
Though the Black Market Merchant hadn't regained all his intelligence like Doba had, and had lost even more memories...
He was the only clanmate who could barely hold a conversation with Doba, which made him quite happy.
In the silent space.
The Train Residents swung their pickaxes at the Level 3 Iron Ore, all fully engrossed.
After all, you don't get to mine every day. When there's no mining, you can't earn Stellar Coupons, especially when cola is free these two days. You can keep restoring your energy, sleep well after two days, and then recover.
"Huh?"
A middle-aged man, distracted, accidentally struck the ground with his pickaxe. As he was about to swing again, he felt something was off. He instinctively crouched down, dug through the soil, and unearthed a Train Token.
The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with astonishment. Almost immediately, he subtly bent down, picked up the Train Token, and clenched it in his hand, his palm quickly sweating.
His eyes were filled with struggle.
Life on the Stellar Train was good—better than on other trains he'd been on. But... if he could have his own train, he could enjoy a life like Lord Mang's.
That kind of life would be even better.
But... but...
Half a minute later, the middle-aged man gradually calmed down, sighed deeply, and tightly gripped the Train Token. He strode toward a Guardian, and as he made the decision, the heavy stone in his heart fell away. He felt no more tension, completely relaxed.
In that half minute.
He had thought a lot—about how to start if he escaped the Stellar Train to build his own, how to search for Slaves, how to compete with other trains for mines in this area, how a Level 1 train could face monsters, and how to deal with the Stellar Train's retaliation...
He thought a lot, but in the end, he came to only one conclusion.
It was certain death.
And if he didn't turn it in quickly and was found hiding the Train Token, the Train Rules would still sentence him to death. Though he wanted to be the boss, after careful consideration, he realized he didn't have what it took to lead.
Building a train only requires one Train Token.
But to keep the train alive, you need more than just a Train Token.
Better to work hard and save up for a refrigerator—that would give him more peace of mind.
"A Train Token?"
Shan Mao Zi took the item handed to him by the Train Resident and gave it a once-over. "I'll report this to Biao Ge. What's your resident number? The reward will be directly deposited into your account. You can check the Stellar Coupons changes on your Iris Chip."
"Resident number 891."
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he said the number.
After turning it in, he felt much lighter. Indeed, he wasn't cut out to be the boss—just thinking about it had already drenched his back in sweat.
"Damn it..."
In the Kunlun Mountains area, Er Dan, sitting at the controls of the Azure Dragon, anxiously typed a series of messages into the Train Radio chat box with Chen Mang.
He couldn't reach Chen Mang at all.
What was he doing?
Was he sleeping in broad daylight? Even if he was, shouldn't the AI make some noise? Could Chen Mang have set the AI to not wake him no matter what, even if the sky fell?
After trying for a full ten minutes with no response.
Er Dan sighed deeply, his eyes filled with helplessness and resignation as he muttered, "Bro, I always think of you first when there's something good, but if I can't reach you, it's not my fault..."
"This is the apocalypse, bro."
"Don't wander off outside the train. Are you out there mining with a pickaxe or something?"
If he couldn't reach him for so long, there was only one reason.
Chen Mang wasn't in the train cabin. Where he was, who knows, but he definitely wasn't in the cabin—otherwise, he would have heard Er Dan's voice almost breaking through the Train Radio.
Then he looked at the hole before him.
Yes.
He was deep underground, obsessed with exploring hidden maps. When he heard that all the monsters in the Kunlun Mountains area had disappeared, his first thought was that a hidden map must be opening there. Otherwise, such a scene wouldn't occur.
So he came to investigate.
Through his persistence, he finally spotted a valley in the air that stood out from its surroundings, as if it had been heavily bombarded. He controlled the train to explore underground.
Sure enough, he encountered an incredibly tough flesh wall that the drill bit couldn't penetrate.
His experience told him.
Behind this flesh wall was a hidden map. Without hesitation, he began exploring around the wall deep underground, trying to find an entrance or a loophole.
Finally—
He actually found a loophole—a hole that looked like it had been forcibly drilled open, just big enough for a train to pass through.
He had wanted to contact Chen Mang so they could explore together.
But Chen Mang wasn't responding, so he had no choice but to go alone.
Then he took a deep breath and slowly maneuvered the train into the hole. After passing through the several-meter-thick flesh wall, he successfully entered the cavern. As the headlights turned on, the interior of the cavern was instantly illuminated.
Two huge Worm Monsters appeared before him.
A roar echoed in his ears.
"Run... run fast..."
And a line of text slowly appeared on the screen.
-
"This is the exclusive Fortuitous Encounter map for the Flesh Train, 'Armory.'"
-
He felt his breath stop almost instantly, his heart pounding violently. He quickly controlled the train to escape!
In his last glance before leaving.
He saw countless small flesh spiders scurrying across the cavern ceiling, like Mechanical Nanite Spiders, repairing something.
As he left.
He saw countless spiders inside the hole rapidly repairing the edges of the entrance.
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