Chen Mang didn't think too much about it. He stood at the entrance of the train's head, peeking toward the Slave carriage not far away. Hearing no major commotion, he continued to explore.
Nearly a hundred Slaves.
That wasn't a small number. To put it bluntly, even if a hundred pigs charged at him, a small handgun would be useless, let alone a group of Slaves who had survived the apocalypse.
However, he wasn't short on bullets now. He had just collected quite a few handgun bullets from the abandoned carriage.
Then, he looked at the birthmark on the back of his hand. Soon, a semi-transparent panel floated before his eyes.
"Beginner Train Conductor Mission 1: Own your own Train within three months, completed."
"Time taken: less than a day."
"Reward: Blueprint for the 'Soaring Dragon Assault Rifle' Production Line *1."
"."
Looking at the reward on the panel, Chen Mang couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. An assault rifle—this thing was fully automatic. Whether it was power, range, suppression, or accuracy, it far surpassed a small handgun.
Moreover.
According to the "Train Rules," weapons produced on the Train's production line couldn't harm the Train Conductor or the Deputy Train Conductor. This allowed him to hand over weapons to his enforcers with greater peace of mind.
The prerequisite was that the production line had to be built by the Train Conductor himself. Production lines dismantled from other Trains didn't follow this rule.
Of course.
He could ignore this Train rule. It wasn't as if he couldn't use weapons produced from this line to harm the Deputy Train Conductor.
And he already had someone in mind for the Deputy Train Conductor.
"Blueprint Name": Soaring Dragon Assault Rifle Production Line.
"Blueprint Grade": Green.
Besides the "Train Panel," "Train Crew," and "Vehicle Components" on the Train's control panel, there was also a button labeled "Train Rules."
Pressing this button.
A screen inside the Train's cabin would display some basic rules about the Train. These rules could better guide survivors to become Train Conductors.
Among them was an explanation of the grades of Vehicle Components.
The grades of Vehicle Components, from low to high, were—
White, Green, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold, Pink, Rainbow.
The lowest grade was White.
For example, a Level 1 Train could craft 14 components, six of which were White. These six components were relatively ordinary.
The higher the grade, the rarer the component.
The remaining seven components were all Green. To upgrade the Train to Level 2, all seven of these components had to be crafted, as they were essential for the Train.
These seven components were.
"Purified Water Filter": Green-grade component, requires 100 units of Iron Ore to craft.
"Wind-Fire Wheel": Green-grade component, requires 500 units of Iron Ore to craft.
"Carriage Steel Armor": Green-grade component, requires 1000 units of Iron Ore to craft.
"Circuit System": Green-grade component, requires 10 units of Copper Ore to craft.
"Generator": Green-grade component, requires 100 units of Copper Ore to craft.
"Pickaxe Production Line": Green-grade component, requires 100 units of Wood to craft.
"Axe Production Line": Green-grade component, requires 100 units of Iron Ore to craft.
Ores were graded, ranging from Level 1 to Level 3. Different levels of ores were used to meet the crafting and upgrading requirements of different levels of "Vehicle Components." All ore units here were Level 1.
These seven components were essential for upgrading the Train.
As for the remaining six White components, they could be crafted or not.
"Single Bed": White-grade component, requires 1 unit of Wood to craft.
"Refrigerator": White-grade component, requires 100 units of Wood to craft.
"Cola Production Line": White-grade component, requires 100 bottles of mineral water to craft.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line": White-grade component, requires 100 slices of moldy bread to craft.
"Telescope": White-grade component, requires 10 units of Iron Ore to craft.
"Steamed Bun Production Line": White-grade component, requires 100 steamed buns to craft.
"Hmm."
Chen Mang carefully studied the information inside the Train cabin and finally concluded that the Train could essentially form a self-sustaining ecosystem. It was entirely possible to live self-sufficiently on the Train.
It was like a mobile shelter.
Even if the Train's level was upgraded high enough and all Vehicle Components were upgraded sufficiently, he would have an extremely sci-fi and violently beautiful long dragon Train.
As for
the Moldy Bread Slice Production Line, which required 100 slices of bread to craft, which seemed a bit unreasonable, he quickly accepted it. After all, working in the mines already felt sci-fi enough.
Next.
He would first take stock of his resources and then decide which component to prioritize.
He filled his handgun with bullets, took four magazines from other handguns, and filled them all with bullets before leaving the Train cabin and heading toward Carriage Seven, the Slave carriage.
Inside the Slave carriage.
There was no riot, and it was even somewhat harmonious. Each Slave orderly handed over the iron ore from their pockets, piling it up on the ground into a small hill.
As soon as Chen Mang arrived.
Lao Zhu, holding a pickaxe, hurried over: "Mang Ge, we've counted them. There are 356 units of iron ore in total."
"Hmm."
Chen Mang nodded, scanning everyone present before calmly saying, "A Train can't be without enforcers. The next three days will be the trial period. The top 10 performers will be promoted to enforcers, given the right to carry weapons, and enjoy higher-grade food—enough to eat their fill every day."
"Everyone, head to the other abandoned carriages and collect the scattered ore resources."
"I want you to understand one thing: I saved your lives. I don't need your gratitude. I just need you to know that since I have the ability to save you, killing you wouldn't be too difficult."
"Now, disembark!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
The Slaves in the carriage suddenly had a spark in their eyes, emerging from their lethargic state. They all rushed out of the carriage with great enthusiasm, quickly collecting resources, completely unfazed by the dirty and sticky pools of blood in the carriages.
"."
On the wasteland, Chen Mang calmly watched the Slaves scavenging through the abandoned carriages like locusts. In the "Train Crew" appointments, there were four basic positions.
They were Train Conductor, Deputy Train Conductor, Train Guard, and Survivor.
Positions could be custom-added, but the basic positions were these four.
The Train Guard was the enforcer, and the Survivor was the Slave, just phrased more politely.
(End of Chapter)