A panel once again appeared before his eyes.
Weapon Name: gls pistol.
Weapon Level: Level 1.
Weapon Effect: Can be loaded with Level 1 bullets, effective against Level 1 armor, monsters, etc.
He stared at the panel in front of him, then felt the brass bullets in his pocket.
A panel also appeared for the bullets, indicating that they were Level 1 ordinary bullets.
"Interesting," Chen Mang murmured thoughtfully. He was beginning to understand this world. After the apocalypse, the world had been transformed by supernatural forces, resulting in its current state. He wasn't sure if pre-apocalypse firearms would still work.
According to the information he had gathered from Lao Zhu, finding a "Train Token" didn't mean much for an ordinary person.
And the Train Tokens in the "Market" probably weren't in high demand either, since most buyers were Train Conductors who wouldn't need an extra token.
Even with a Train Token, upgrading the Train required resources, and to obtain resources, one needed Slaves. Managing so many Slaves alone would require enforcers, and to control those enforcers...
He would need a foundation.
In other words,
He would need a basic team.
If, If he could take control of all the Slaves on this Train, that would give him 300 Slaves—enough to get started. However, the Train Conductor of this Train had yet to show himself, and just dealing with the enforcers would be difficult, let alone the heavy machine guns mounted on the Train's roof.
Heavy machine guns were absolutely devastating against carbon-based life forms. He doubted he could withstand more than a few shots.
Meanwhile, in the mine, Lao Zhu, drenched in sweat and swinging his pickaxe, was also furrowing his brow and thinking quickly.
The reason he had pledged his loyalty to Chen Mang so quickly wasn't just because Chen Mang was strong and decisive, but also because Chen Mang had a strong sense of conviction. In his life, he had met many people, and those who achieved great things all had this same sense of conviction.
People with such strong conviction usually met one of three fates:
Success, sudden death, or having their conviction worn down by setbacks.
He didn't want to be a Slave anymore. He wanted to take a gamble. So he approached Chen Mang, and sure enough, Chen Mang soon began asking him about the Train. Normally, Slaves wouldn't care about how to own a Train.
But this was precisely his advantage. The other Slaves didn't understand these things, but he, having once been a Deputy Train Conductor, did.
As long as,
As long as Chen Mang could become the Train Conductor, he would surely become a core member of the team. Then, he would instantly rise in status. But now, the biggest problem was how to get Chen Mang a "Train Token."
Four hours later—
While Chen Mang was exploring the mine, he suddenly heard a frantic shout from the walkie-talkie in his hand: "Everyone, evacuate immediately, evacuate!!!"
The voice was so loud that it made his ears ring.
The next moment!
Before Chen Mang could react, the Slaves in the mine almost instantly turned pale, stuffed the Iron Ore they had mined into their pockets, and bolted toward the exit, running back the way they had come.
The mined ore, uneven and about the size of an egg.
This was 1 unit of Iron Ore.
Chen Mang had witnessed a Slave mine for an hour, and then this egg-sized 1 unit of Iron Ore had fallen from the iron lump on the ground.
"Run!"
Although he didn't know what was happening, Chen Mang, seeing Lao Zhu running toward him with a panicked expression, shouted and turned to run back the way they had come.
The journey there had taken nearly forty minutes.
The return trip was much faster.
Just over ten minutes later, the group of breathless Slaves emerged from the mine and saw the Train parked at the entrance, as well as the dark, surging Corpse Tide in the distance!
"..."
Chen Mang stared at the scene, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes. The Train had been impressive enough—nine carriages, all pitch black, with three heavy machine guns mounted on the roof.
It had felt secure.
But now, in the face of the dark, overwhelming Corpse Tide, it suddenly seemed insignificant.
He could even smell the stench of decay in the air.
The ground was trembling slightly.
It was the result of countless Zombies charging forward, now only a few hundred meters away. Though he couldn't see the Zombies clearly, he could already feel the suffocating tension.
Meanwhile, the enforcers stood at the wide-open door of the Slave carriage, their faces twisted in anger as they roared at Chen Mang and the others: "Move your asses, faster!!!"
Chen Mang didn't dare delay. He and Lao Zhu immediately ran toward their 7th Slave carriage.
The others from the mine were also emerging now.
By the time all the Slaves had boarded the carriage, and the doors hadn't even been fully closed,
The Train began to move quickly!
However, the acceleration was painfully slow, taking dozens of seconds to reach full speed. By then, it was already too late. The encirclement had formed, and the Corpse Tide wasn't coming from just one direction, but from nearly all sides!
"Ratatat!!!"
Chen Mang sat on the straw mat in the 7th Slave carriage, his expression dark as he listened to the sharp, heavy gunfire outside. The heavy machine guns were roaring, but given the sheer number of Zombies he had seen before boarding, he didn't think the machine guns would be effective.
To break out of this Corpse Tide encirclement,
In his view, they would first need to replace the wheels with the "track wheels" Lao Zhu had mentioned, which were less likely to get jammed by corpses. Second, the carriage armor would need to be strong enough. Their Slave carriage was clearly just sheet metal—a single strike from a pickaxe would tear it open, let alone withstand the relentless assault of the Corpse Tide.
He gripped the pistol tightly in his arms.
But at this moment, the pistol didn't offer much comfort.
The atmosphere in the carriage was tense. Many people were already breaking down, babbling incoherently or praying to God. There were no windows, so they couldn't see what was happening outside.
But from the almost continuous sound of the heavy machine guns firing, they could tell the situation was dire.
"Mang Ge."
At this moment,
Lao Zhu, sitting beside him, spoke in a trembling voice, his face pale: "Before we boarded, I saw the situation. The Corpse Tide's encirclement isn't tightly formed—there are gaps."
"However, these gaps are made up of several small gaps. We'd need to navigate through them like riding a motorcycle through traffic to break out."
"The Train's handling isn't as nimble as a motorcycle. The turning radius is too large. But if the Train Conductor had installed 'Level 2 auxiliary omnidirectional wheels' on each carriage, the Train would be much more agile. This is our only chance to break out."
"But..."
"Level 2 auxiliary omnidirectional wheels aren't a requirement for upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3. From what I know, most Train Conductors aren't willing to spend resources on this."
"If this Train doesn't have those Level 2 auxiliary omnidirectional wheels, then this time, we're in serious trouble."