"..."
Chen Mang looked at the scene before him, his lips twitching slightly. A space-shattering trap—even his level 18 armor probably couldn't withstand it, let alone level 30 armor. It seemed they'd have to solve this through decryption.
Just then—
A train moved.
The train had six carriages. The unpainted door of the train compartment opened, and a middle-aged man jumped down, muttering as he looked toward Chen Mang, "What the hell is going on here?"
His voice wasn't loud, but in the eerily quiet square, it was still faintly audible.
Then—
As if someone had pressed pause, the conductors from the other trains also jumped down, gathering together to whisper and discuss.
"Let's go."
Chen Mang immediately led Li Shiji and the others toward the group of conductors. He wanted to see what these high-level train conductors were like. After approaching, he glanced at everyone and spoke first.
"The other side of the cliff isn't the end either. I think we should share our findings first, then rely on our own skills once we cross the cliff."
"My current assessment is that the tens of thousands of glass cabins on the ceiling might be a red herring—there's no hidden information there."
However—
After he finished speaking, the group continued talking among themselves, as if excluding him, completely ignoring him.
"How are we supposed to get across?"
"No idea. Didn't that train just now try to fly over and get torn apart by space?"
"The only way now is to solve the puzzle here. Maybe we should try shooting at those glass cabins on the ceiling?"
"Hey!"
Biao Zi, standing behind Chen Mang, roared angrily, "Lord Mang is talking to you! Can't you hear him?"
After everything they'd been through, no one had ever dared to ignore Lord Mang like this.
Ignoring Lord Mang felt like an insult to them too.
"It's fine."
Chen Mang raised a hand calmly to stop Biao Zi, then looked at the group again and said, "You all seem to know each other?"
Still, no one responded. Not even a single glance was spared for him.
"Damn it!"
Biao Zi couldn't hold back his anger any longer. Rolling up his sleeves, he stormed forward, shoved aside the nearest thug, and reached out to grab a conductor by the collar to demand an answer.
But...
His body froze in place. He looked down at his right hand, which he'd just pulled back—why had that push felt so weightless? He glanced up at the cold-faced thug closest to him and pushed again.
This time, he saw it clearly.
His hand passed straight through the man's body without any resistance.
Bewildered, Biao Zi tentatively stepped forward and tried pushing a few more conductors. Sure enough, without exception, his hands went right through them.
"I—"
He took a deep breath of cold air, slowly retreating to Lord Mang's side, his voice trembling slightly as he whispered, "L-Lord Mang, they... they don't seem to be human."
"..."
Chen Mang didn't speak. He simply extended his cane, poking at them one by one—each time, the cane passed straight through their bodies without resistance. He then walked over to a nearby Train and stabbed his cane into it, meeting the same lack of obstruction.
Confirmed.
In this entire scene, only the "Stellar" and their group were real. All the other Trains were holographic projections.
No wonder these people had remained motionless at first. It was only when he sent one Train plummeting into the abyss that they finally stepped forward.
"Back to the Train."
Inside the Train compartment.
Chen Mang sat in his chair, glancing at the countdown on the control screen before speaking softly, "It's basically confirmed now. The 20 Trains must be positioned in separate plazas."
"Each one is tackling the challenge alone."
"In that earlier conversation, they mentioned a Train that tried to fly across and was torn apart by space. That Train likely wasn't the Level 1 Train—it was the '20th Train.'"
"It's like a reenactment of events."
"At some point, 20 Trains arrived here. The 20th Train attempted to fly across but was shredded by spatial forces. Now, the Stellar has taken the place of that 20th Train."
"If my judgment is correct, these people only leave their Trains to converse after one Train gets destroyed."
"Xiao Ai, replay the footage you just recorded. Let's see if there are any clues in it."
"Yes!"
Soon—
The screen displayed the earlier scene of the Train Conductors gathered in discussion, their voices playing through the Train's Sound System.
The conversation wasn't long.
It lasted only about two or three minutes.
"Gears." After the video finished, Li Shiji paced back and forth inside the compartment. "They mentioned the word 'gear' six times in that conversation. One of them even complained, saying, 'Another one of these 'find the Main Gear' games.'"
"Lord Mang, you all saw it too. That 'bridge' spinning like a metallic storm isn't rotating as a single unit. Instead, countless steel blades are spinning at their own individual frequencies."
"Some blades rotate faster, others much slower."
"And the power source for all these blades lies in the gears at their base. These gears are interconnected, forming a massive and intricate Gear Matrix. Every Gear Matrix has a 'Main Gear'—the core source of all motion."
"As the Main Gear turns, all the other gears follow suit. But due to factors like tooth spacing, each gear spins at a different speed."
"So—"
"If we locate the Main Gear and adjust its rotation speed, we can synchronize all the steel blades on that bridge. At that point, the bridge might return to normal."
"The question now is: where is the Main Gear?"
"Sound reasoning." Biao Zi nodded solemnly.
"Could it be on the bridges of other trains?" Lao Zhu frowned. "Since the other 19 trains are just holograms without real people, their dedicated bridges might also contain corresponding clues, right?"
"Possibly," Biao Zi mused thoughtfully.
"No."
Chen Mang sat calmly in his chair, lifting his gaze upward. His eyes traveled past the skylight to the tens of thousands of glass cabins on the ceiling as he murmured softly, "The biggest clue in that video just now was that one Train Conductor kept his head down playing a handheld game—specifically, a matching game."
"If I'm not mistaken, the position of the Main Gear should be on the ceiling."
"Those tens of thousands of glass cabins filled with mechanical organs—hearts, lungs, livers—aren't red herrings."
"Rather, they're the puzzle."
"Once we eliminate these tens of thousands of glass cabins, the answer will reveal itself."
"As for how to solve the puzzle..."
"Doesn't it feel a bit like a matching game to you?"
"Right!" Biao Zi froze for a moment before slapping his forehead and looking up at the ceiling. "It really does resemble a matching game!"
"Let's try it."
A Doomsday Cannon locked onto one of the glass cabins and fired without hesitation. A Level 1 cannon shot struck the glass cabin containing a "Mechanical Heart."
No damage was dealt, and the glass cabin showed no signs of shattering.
Next, two more shots hit glass cabins with "Mechanical Hearts" in the same row.
Instantly, the three previously dim glass cabins emitted a faint white glow in unison before falling silent again.
"Switch to Level 10 shells and try again."
Chen Mang felt more confident now. He hadn't dared to use Level 10 shells earlier out of caution, but the faint white glow from the three cabins confirmed his theory.
"Not enough. Level 15."
"Level 16."
"Level 17."
"..."
"Level 20!"
When the shells reached Level 20, three consecutive precise hits on the three glass cabins containing identical mechanical organs triggered something extraordinary.
The three suspended glass cabins flashed red simultaneously before shattering into dust and vanishing into thin air.
Meanwhile, the remaining glass cabins on the ceiling swiftly rearranged themselves, filling the gaps in the blink of an eye.
At that moment!
They noticed an extremely well-hidden recess at the far left end of the ceiling. New glass cabins had emerged from there, pushing forward one by one to fill the vacancies.
"Confirmed. It's a matching game."
Chen Mang grinned. Now that they had identified the puzzle, the solution was straightforward. He turned to Li Shiji and Xiao Ai. "Join the Hive Mind and tackle this game together. I've never been fond of matching games, especially with this many pieces—it strains my eyes."
For the first ten minutes, they hadn't even considered the matching game angle.
Mainly because...
Match-3 games are generally known for their cute and charming style, so it's hard to associate them with the bloody, post-apocalyptic mechanical organs hanging everywhere. Moreover, the sheer quantity of them severely limits one's ability to think outside the box.
For instance, no one ever looks up at the stars and thinks of playing a round of match-3 with them.
"Leave it to me!"
Li Shiji confidently thumped his chest. "Director Ai, let's tackle this together. There are quite a few, so we should work as fast as possible."
"No need."
Xiao Ai replied with a serious expression. "Given my computational power, this level of match-3 is practically an insult. I can handle it alone. You take a break—no need to waste brainpower."
"But I'm a game designer—"
Before he could finish—
The Doomsday Cannon aboard the Stellar Train began firing in rapid bursts. One after another, Level 20 shells shot toward the glass cabins suspended from the ceiling. Without pause, the cabins shattered into dust midair.
With Xiao Ai's processing capabilities, this match-3 game was indeed a bit insulting.
Half an hour later.
The ceiling, once densely packed with glass cabins, now held only the last three. Inside these final cabins were mechanical hearts.
Chen Mang raised a hand to stop Xiao Ai.
He turned his gaze to the data on the control panel.
It showed that 99,997 glass cabins had been successfully destroyed. These were the last three—meaning there had been exactly 100,000 cabins in total. Initially, they could only see about 20,000 to 30,000. The rest were hidden elsewhere, only replenishing once they discovered the game and began playing.
In other words, this required 100,000 Level 20 shells.
A Level 18 shell costs 5,000 units of copper ore.
Level 19 costs 6,000 units.
Level 20 costs 7,000 units per shell.
An exorbitant price!
Firing 100,000 Level 20 shells would normally require 700 million units of copper ore. Even with his Level 20 Doomsday Cannon—which had the Supermodel Effect of Halved Consumption activated three times—it still consumed 87.5 million units.
A single Serendipity Map had nearly drained his entire reserves!
He only had a little over 100 million units of copper ore to begin with.
Most high-level trains, however, only have a Level 10 Doomsday Cannon at best. Without enough Murphy Stones to upgrade it to Level 20, they'd only benefit from two Halved Consumption effects, requiring 175 million units of copper ore. But a Level 10 Doomsday Cannon wouldn't be enough. If they used other Firepower Accessories upgraded to Level 20, the copper ore cost would be even higher.
If a train didn't have enough copper ore reserves, there'd be no way to clear this first stage.
"Hah—"
Chen Mang exhaled slowly but didn't immediately destroy the remaining three glass cabins. Instead, he lit a cigarette to steady his nerves, preparing to face the mystery behind the answer—mainly because the sunk cost was too high.
This Serendipity Map allowed players to quit upon failure without any penalty.
But when he'd shattered around 70,000 to 80,000 glass cabins and still saw an endless stream of replacements, he'd felt a pang of despair. He'd already sunk tens of millions of copper ore into it, yet there was no end in sight.
At that point, giving up would have been—
Then not only was this Serendipity Map trip wasted, but he also lost tens of millions of Copper Ore for nothing.
He had actually made up his mind at that moment.
To tough it out.
If the Copper Ore ran out in the end, he would urgently activate Neon City, adjusting the exchange rate between Copper Ore and Stellar Coupons to 1:3, to exchange as much Copper Ore as possible to get through this.
But in the end, he managed to hold on. It didn't even take 100 million units of Copper Ore—87.5 million units were enough. That was the precise number.
"..."
Chen Mang looked at the level 50 Doomsday Cannon on the control panel. After firing hundreds of shells and sensing something was off, he had upgraded one Doomsday Cannon to level 50, hoping the fourth Supermodel Effect would also be Halved Consumption.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
It was just increased power.
This level not only tested one's judgment and ability to observe information but also the Train's foundation. The Train had to possess at least a level 10 Doomsday Cannon, 175 million units of Copper Ore, and one Train Token.
Or, like him, a level 20 Doomsday Cannon and 87.5 million units of Copper Ore.
Only then was it possible to pass this level.
Missing even one of these would make it impossible to clear.
If there was no Doomsday Cannon, other Firepower Accessories would work—as long as they had an attack strength of 20. However, the Doomsday Cannon was the most cost-effective. Using other Firepower Accessories would require a terrifyingly astronomical amount.
He didn't linger any longer and chose to destroy the last three Glass Cabins.
The next moment—
The pristine ceiling suddenly cracked with countless Spiderweb-like fissures, and intense light seeped through the gaps as the cracks multiplied.
Seconds later.
The shattered ceiling turned to dust and vanished into the air, replaced by a massive gear slowly rotating. Countless smaller gears, connected by drive rods to the enormous one, covered the entire ceiling.
The scene was filled with a desolate, apocalyptic atmosphere.
"Found it. This is the Main Gear."
Chen Mang looked up at the massive gear on the ceiling. Beside it were two buttons.
「Fast」.
「Slow」.
Clearly, more Copper Ore would be consumed. He was genuinely worried about running out. Now, he wasn't as concerned about others overtaking him—unless those high-level Trains had mined one or two level 5 Copper Ores before entering this Serendipity Map, they definitely wouldn't have this much Copper Ore.
"Boom!"
A shell blasted the 「Slow」 button. If the gear could be stopped completely, that would also clear the level. But the shell had no effect—evidently, this was already the slowest speed.
Another shell struck the 「Fast」 button.
The massive gear sped up just a fraction—so slight it was barely noticeable to the naked eye. But the smaller gears connected by the drive rods faintly revealed the slight increase in speed.
The rotating steel blades on the bridge adjusted accordingly.
Now it was just a matter of trial and error.
On the twenty-third shell fired—
"Clang!"
A crisp sound echoed across the entire plaza.
The sound of countless gears spinning rapidly followed. The steel blades on the bridge had synchronized their rotation completely, appearing as one unified entity turning in unison. Gradually, their rotation slowed until the blades came to a complete stop, forming a solid steel bridge.
"Whew."
Chen Mang exhaled lightly and slowly pushed the control lever to steer the train onto the steel bridge. It was a bit challenging.
This level primarily tested the train's foundation and information-gathering ability. It was possible to pass without a Train Token, but without it, there would be no reminders. As long as one could recognize that the overhead challenge was a matching game, the Token wasn't strictly necessary.
The Stellar Train traversed the hundred-meter-long steel bridge smoothly, arriving at the other side of the cliff.
Here lay another plaza.
As they arrived, the white mist gradually dissipated like a maiden lifting her skirt, revealing a breathtaking sight before them.
Chen Mang glanced around.
Only one train occupied this plaza, with no other paths leading to it. He had no idea whether the other 19 trains that had entered the challenge with him had made it here or how far along they were.
The plaza was enclosed by walls dozens of meters high, reaching up to the ceiling like a cage trapping the Stellar Train in the center.
Embedded in these walls were countless faces.
Tens of thousands of human faces, all staring grotesquely at the Stellar Train, emitting a piercing noise in unison—a sight that sent chills down the spine.
On a whiteboard at the front of the plaza, three lines were written:
-
"These are the Mechanical People who once died unjustly."
"You must play the correct frequency of sound through the 'Car Audio' to soothe them and pass."
"Only three attempts are allowed."
-
"Xiao Ai, what fruit is good for the brain?"
"Blueberries and cherries are both excellent for brain health."
"Have Xiao Fang bring me some."
"Understood."
Chen Mang sighed softly, leaning back in his seat as he lit a cigarette. He turned to Li Shiji and waved dismissively. "Come, see if you have any ideas. My head hurts a bit."
"Let me take a look."
Li Shiji nervously scanned each face embedded in the walls.
Thirty minutes later.
Still no clues.
Lao Zhu and Biao Zi had already stepped out of the train to inspect the faces up close. They looked eerily lifelike, their eyes fixed intently on the observers, their expressions vivid.
"Soft."
Biao Zi poked one of the faces experimentally. "Doesn't feel like a corpse. Feels alive."
He then took a massive fire tongs, using it like a mouth spreader to stretch the face's mouth to its limit. Peering deep into the throat, he confirmed there were no hidden notes or messages before withdrawing the tongs and moving to the next face.
"Train Conductor Zhu, I feel like we're wasting our time. The answer can't just be a note hidden in one of these faces. How long would that take?"
By now, all the train's residents had disembarked, each wielding a massive fire tongs forged by Lord Mang using the "Mechanical Heart." They were systematically checking every face's mouth for hidden clues.
The scene was bustling.
Some climbed ladders, others stood on scaffolds, and a few balanced on the shoulders of mechas—all working swiftly to inspect every face for anomalies or concealed items.
"Stop yelling already, I swear... here's a hammer for you."
Biao Zi was getting annoyed by the voices coming from these human faces. He raised the fire tongs in his hand threateningly at the face before him, though he didn't dare actually strike it down.
"Look, these faces' throats are basically blocked all the way up to the tonsils."
"How are they even making sounds?"
"There should at least be some airflow for vocalization, right?"
"Let's just start working. The answer will come as we proceed." Lao Zhu said seriously as he examined each face's mouth one by one. "Lord Mang's riddles would never be crudely hidden inside someone's mouth, but we don't have any better options right now. We can't just sit around waiting—we should start investigating. Who knows, maybe the answer really is in one of these mouths."
"Fair point."
Biao Zi pried open another face nearby, examined it carefully, then pulled out his notebook before moving to the next one.
"On second thought, if we could take this wall, it would actually make a pretty good collectible."
"There are hundreds of thousands of collectibles embedded in this wall. What would you even do with it?"
"Think about it—one a night. Doesn't that sound great? Always something fresh."
"Biao Zi, get a grip. There are plenty of men's faces here too."
"Life's just thirty thousand short days. You should try everything at least once."
"..."
"I was just kidding, Train Conductor Zhu. Don't look at me like that."
"..."
Inside the train compartment, the cola can on the control panel was already stuffed with cigarette butts. Chen Mang massaged his temples with a headache, eyes shut tight. He had just tried substituting the men's faces and women's faces with 1s and 0s, then calculating in binary—only to quickly realize it was a goddamn stupid idea.
There were literally hundreds of thousands of faces here.
And no clear starting or ending point.
Nothing like the first level.
If the first level's difficulty was a 1, then the second level was a 10—more than ten times harder.
He really couldn't wrap his head around it.
The Mechanical Civilization was wiped out because they lacked firepower and couldn't beat the insectoids. Shouldn't the selection criteria be the train's strength and firepower? What's the point of screening for this crap? How does any of this help fight the insectoids?
And then there's that "Tuo Tuo."
Thirty-eight years old and still calling herself the little princess of the Mechanical Civilization. Couldn't you set up a normal Serendipity Map for once?
Nearby, Xiao Fang quietly stepped forward, carefully replacing the overflowing ashtray with a fresh one before retreating without a word.
Just then—
"Train Conductor."
Xiao Ai's voice suddenly echoed through the compartment. "Train Conductor, we've got a new lead. After you upgraded the Mechanical Eye to level 100, I input all the faces into the database and started cross-referencing them."
"Not all the faces are screaming with their eyes open."
"There are 12 faces with their eyes closed while screaming."
"And each has an extremely faint symbol carved on their forehead."
"Two types in total."
"「↑」「↓」."
"..."
Chen Mang perked up instantly, raising his head to stare at a face magnified several times on the screen—clearly visible, screaming with eyes shut, a "↓" mark hidden beneath its bangs.
"Display all the faces with closed eyes."
"Understood."
He quickly jotted down the symbols on paper: nine "↑" marks and three "↓" marks.
"That's it. That's it."
Chen Mang looked exhausted, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Default initial frequency is 0 Hz."
"The correct sound frequency to pass this level should be starting from 0 Hz, adding nine times, then subtracting twice. The only question now is how much to add and subtract."
"Any other anomalies?"
"None." Xiao Ai's voice paused briefly before continuing in the compartment. "I didn't find anything else unusual."
"I'm going to check it out!"
Chen Mang took a deep breath and leaped off the train, striding toward the stone slab at the front of the plaza. He needed to see if the final answer was hidden there.
An extremely crude stone slab.
Carved on it were the three sentences he had just seen. He carefully counted each character, thinking the added number might be the sum of these words. But the next moment, he froze slightly. Every inch of the square had been thoroughly searched, and Li Shiji had visited this slab countless times.
Yet, it seemed there was one place that remained completely untouched.
That was...
Chen Mang looked toward the Stellar Train. The spot was beneath the train carriage. Immediately, he used his cane to remotely control the train, making it hover slightly above the ground, and strode toward the space underneath.
Sure enough—
At the edge where they had just entered the square, beneath the 14th carriage, he found a faint and barely visible number etched into the ground.
"1892."
"Found it!"
Chen Mang grinned. If he wasn't mistaken, there were only two possible answers. One was 1892 Hz, and the other was starting from zero, adding 1892 nine times, then subtracting it three times.
Which would be 11,352 Hz.
"Everyone, return to the train quickly and in order!"
His voice echoed across the square through the car audio. Then, he strode back to the train compartment, sat down, and excitedly took the mineral water handed to him by Xiao Fang, downing it in one gulp before turning to the screen.
"Xiao Ai, emit a sound at 11,352 Hz."
"Let's try it."
"No problem."
The next moment—
A piercing sound burst from the car audio. Instantly, the endless wails from the hundreds of thousands of faces on the surrounding walls ceased. Their previously twisted expressions gradually softened, their eyes closing as if they had fallen asleep.
Then—
"Clank! Clank! Clank!"
The sound of gears turning echoed as the walls, which had felt like a prison, slowly split apart down the middle, revealing a train tunnel wide enough for the Stellar Train to pass through.
"What a shame."
Chen Mang sighed slightly as he gazed at the tunnel ahead. It was a pity the final answer was 11,352 Hz. If it had been above 20,000 Hz, things would have been different. Only by upgrading the "car audio" to level 10 or higher could it achieve the "Supermodel Effect," capable of producing sounds beyond 20,000 Hz.
Other trains definitely wouldn't have this capability.
With that, he could have eliminated nearly all 19 competing trains right here.
He wondered how the other trains were progressing.
This level had cost him over half an hour. He needed to pick up the pace.
Slowly pushing the control lever forward, he guided the train into the seemingly deep underground "train tunnel." The path ahead was unknown, but after clearing two levels in a row, he felt a surge of confidence. No matter how difficult the next challenge might be, he wouldn't feel completely powerless.
There was always a solution.
As long as that premise held, the rest was just a matter of time.
"Lord Mang."
Li Shiji, standing nearby, spoke with guilt. "I'm sorry... I wasn't much help."
"It's fine."
Chen Mang waved a hand dismissively and said softly, "In situations requiring rapid data input and filtering, how could human effort compare to AI? This level just didn't have room for you to shine. Don't blame yourself."
"I think we performed well in the first two levels. We should still be able to break into the top three."
"Keep pushing. Let's keep going."
The train tunnel wasn't too short, and the Stellar didn't dare go too fast. Traveling at 500 km/h, it arrived at the checkpoint's location after three minutes.
The space ahead gradually opened up.
Emerging from the train tunnel, what came into view was a massive "Heavy Machinery Factory." They were now positioned in the square before the factory's main gate.
The steel gate, covered in rust and completely dilapidated, lay collapsed to one side.
Wild grass grew thick around the toppled crane.
The ground was covered with a mixture of engine oil and viscous blood, the entire scene appearing utterly ruined. In a corner of the factory, one could faintly make out a small hill slightly taller than the two-meter wall, piled high with mechanical wreckage and human bones.
As the train slowly came to a stop,
a light screen appeared before them.
-
"Congratulations, Pioneer. Making it this far is proof enough of your strength."
"But—"
"A train is a collective. If only the Train Conductor exerts effort, this train won't have much potential. Talent reserves are counterintuitive in the apocalypse, yet they are absolutely necessary."
"What comes next will be quite entertaining."
"You may choose to exit this Serendipity Map at any time. However, please note that the moment you choose to give up, it means you voluntarily and permanently withdraw from the selection for the position of 'Mechanical Civilization Successor.'"
"This checkpoint is the final one of the second stage. Passing it means successfully clearing the second stage."
"In what follows, one thousand zombies will attack you in waves, each lasting fifteen minutes. After each Corpse Tide assault, your train will have a five-minute rest period."
"You must eliminate all one thousand zombies within these fifteen minutes. Failure to do so, or if the train compartment is breached, will result in failure."
"Starting with Level 1 zombies, each new Corpse Tide will see the zombies' levels increase by +1 across the board."
"In the 'Central Control Room' of the 'Heavy Machinery Factory' before you, a massive gear assembly is jammed, rendering the entire factory inoperative. You must complete thirty-six minor tasks during rest periods to successfully pass this checkpoint."
"In this stage, the Train Conductor must remain stationed on the train and cannot enter the factory."
"In fifteen minutes, the first Corpse Tide will arrive."
-
"Mechanical Civilization Successor?"
Chen Mang lowered his head and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it. He had expected the rewards of this Serendipity Map to be generous, but not this generous—it was actually a selection trial for the position of Mechanical Civilization Successor.
At the very least,
forget everything else, it would surely provide a lot of resources, right? Things like iron ore—he could use plenty of that.
But if they were selecting a successor, why were so few Train Conductors being filtered out? Wouldn't more participants increase the chances of finding a higher-potential successor? There wasn't enough time to dwell on this now.
He checked the train's copper ore balance.
Only 2.45 million units remained—far too little. Calculating at 20 minutes per Corpse Tide, the zombies would all be Level 4 after one hour.
After two hours, they'd be Level 7.
After three hours, Level 10.
Four hours, Level 13.
Five hours, Level 16.
Six hours, Level 19.
The copper ore in the train was insufficient—far from enough. Fortunately, there was still plenty of iron ore, with over 60 million units remaining. He also had 40 Viper Unmanned Fighters, each equipped with a level 20 automatic cannon that consumed energy stones rather than copper ore.
Other offensive measures, such as mechas, also relied on energy stones for power.
He did the math.
If he deployed all his reserves, they could hold out for six hours at most!
After six hours, the zombies they'd face would all be level 19 or higher. Even a single one of them would spell doom for the train, let alone a thousand!
"Phew..."
Chen Mang took a deep breath and turned his gaze to Lao Zhu, Li Shiji, and the others. "From here on out, it's up to you. I'll stay on the train to deal with the Corpse Tide. The tide won't enter the abandoned factory, so you'll need to go in and complete thirty-six small tasks."
"The tasks are unknown, and so are the methods to solve them."
"The first wave of the Corpse Tide will arrive in 12 minutes."
"Xiao Ai will set a countdown on each of your iris chips—six hours. That's all the time we have. If the countdown ends before you finish the tasks, it means we've failed this run."
"For this operation, I need to stay on the train. The rest is up to you."
"Too many people would just get in the way and cause more harm than good."
"Lao Zhu, Guardian Teams One, Two, and Three, Li Shiji, Xiao Ai, and Uncle Li—you'll go. Lao Zhu, since you're familiar with the residents, pick a few with quick wits. If, after three hours, we're still far from completing the tasks, I'll send all the residents into the factory for a thorough, carpet-style search."
"Any questions?"
"Lord Mang..."
Biao Zi hesitated before speaking. "Maybe I should stay behind to protect the train. You know how it is—I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Puzzle-solving isn't my thing."
"You have to go."
Chen Mang shook his head. "You think you're slow compared to Li Shiji, but honestly, you're quicker than most train residents. Think about it—isn't that true?"
Biao Zi tilted his head and pondered for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I guess so. What about Zhang Yi and Zhang Er? Are they going?"
"Oh, they're not."
"Alright then..."
Chen Mang glanced at the countdown on the control panel. "The first wave of the Corpse Tide arrives in 11 minutes. If anything comes up, contact me through Xiao Ai. Everyone, move out now. Quickly, quickly!"
Biao Zi and the others didn't dare delay. They swiftly exited the Stellar Train and headed toward the ruined factory ahead.
"Good luck, everyone."
"The future of the Stellar rests in your hands right now. Whoever solves a task will be rewarded with 1,000 Stellar Coupons."
Chen Mang then leaned back in his chair, watching as the group disappeared into the abandoned factory. He sighed softly and prepared to wait patiently for the first wave of the Corpse Tide.
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train cabin.
"Train Conductor, you seem a bit lacking in confidence."
"The difficulty is too high."
Chen Mang lit another cigarette and stared at the swirling smoke before speaking. "Completing 36 tasks in six hours, with both the objectives and solutions completely unknown—first, they have to find the tasks, then figure out the answers. The time is too tight."
"And the factory is too big."
"But I'm waiting for a miracle to happen."
Pale-faced from extreme tension, Li Shiji was striding swiftly into the depths of the factory while rapidly processing and storing every possible detail of his surroundings into his memory.
He pulled out a syringe of cardiac stimulant from his coat and injected it into his arm to maintain alertness.
Quickly separating from the main group.
Circling the factory building to investigate, he spotted a small locked wooden hut after a few minutes. On its door was a faint yellow question mark—a sliding combination lock resembling those used on password-protected diaries. Clearly, this was one of the 36 minor tasks.
"Password... password..."
Li Shiji's lips trembled slightly as he stared at the eight-digit combination lock. Eight digits... eight.
He immediately sprinted frantically toward the factory gate, retrieving a dog tag from a human corpse in the security booth. The tag bore the soldier's birthdate: February 18, 7228.
Then he bolted desperately back toward the wooden hut.
Using the cardiac stimulant as an adrenaline booster proved quite effective.
With trembling hands, he rapidly dialed the combination lock, entering the numbers.
"72280218."
The next instant—
"Click."
A crisp sound echoed as the lock opened, and the faint yellow question mark on the hut gradually transformed into a green exclamation mark.
Li Shiji laughed hoarsely yet excitedly, gripping the dog tag so tightly that veins bulged across the back of his hand.
"Director Ai, first one done!"
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