Among a crowd of greedy eyes.
Chen Mang slowly ate two steaming buns with pickled vegetables and finished off the bottled water in his hand before taking a deep breath. He finally felt a bit full; he'd been on the verge of fainting from hunger these last few days.
Earlier, he had protected the key parts of his body as much as possible, and now he felt sore all over, but his movement wasn't very affected. His joints were intact.
If only he had a cigarette now, he always wanted to smoke after a good meal.
He glanced around the carriage, leaning silently against the iron wall, and said nothing. Suddenly brought to this world, the events of the past few days had truly shaken him. From a society where he lacked nothing, he suddenly found himself in this doomsday world.
Surviving had become the greatest issue.
As for cigarettes.
What was he thinking, in this environment where starvation was a constant threat, where would he possibly find a cigarette?
Just then—
"Boss..."
A bald man with a muddy face approached, keeping a relatively safe distance before flashing a flattering smile. He carefully pulled out a cloth from his chest pocket and extracted two slightly wrinkled cigarettes, offering them with a look of fawn and trepidation: "Boss, would you like a smoke?"
"..."
Chen Mang glanced down at the cloth with the two wrinkled cigarettes and then looked up at the bald man. He knew everyone in this carriage was on the brink of starvation, with nothing left on them, yet this man had managed to stash two cigarettes. If this had been revealed earlier, they would've been snatched away instantly.
Sure enough.
He noticed that quite a few men were eyeing the bald man's back with a hint of greed. If he rejected the offer, the bald man's fate wouldn't turn out well.
The bald man was fully aware of this, as he gazed imploringly with anxiety in his eyes.
After pausing for a moment, Chen Mang took the cigarettes from the bald man's hands, brought one to his lips, wrapped the other in the cloth, and tucked it into his pocket.
At the sight of this.
The bald man breathed a sigh of relief and quickly produced half a box of matches from his chest, flattered as he approached, lighting a match in the dim carriage, and carefully brought the flame to Chen Mang's mouth. "Boss, here's the fire."
"Hoo..."
Chen Mang, seated on the straw mat and leaning against the carriage's iron wall, exhaled a puff of smoke, lightly furrowing his brows and unable to restrain a few coughs. The cigarette was a bit moldy and harsh.
But in this environment, having a cigarette after a meal is a luxury, so what was there to be picky about?
He took another deep drag.
Tapped the ash onto the nearby iron floor of the carriage, then looked at the bald man and motioned for him to sit beside him, speaking softly: "From now on, sit next to me."
As soon as those words were spoken.
The greedy looks toward the bald man from the other passengers quickly faded away.
"Thank you, thank you, boss."
The bald man was visibly excited, hurriedly getting up and cautiously sitting on the iron beside Chen Mang, ensuring his butt did not touch even a bit of the straw mat.
The red glow of the cigarette tip flickered in the dim carriage.
Soon.
The cigarette burned out, and Chen Mang extinguished the stub on the iron floor of the carriage. After a brief pause, he asked quietly: "Where did you get the cigarette?"
He didn't know much about this world, and he needed to gather as much information as possible through conversation. He hadn't engaged earlier because none of these people were suitable for having a conversation, but this bald man who actively submitted was the first person he'd met who could be spoken with.
He didn't mind someone submitting, rather he accepted it because ultimately, one person's strength was never enough. More people made things easier.
Whether the other was genuine...
Thinking about this was as tedious and pointless as a teenager's first romantic fantasy.
"Well..."
The bald man glanced around, lowered his voice: "Boss, I used to be a Deputy Train Captain, but only for a small train, not as large as this one."
"After a disaster, the train was completely destroyed, and when stranded in the wilderness, I was captured by this train and became a slave. That time, a pack of cigarettes didn't finish, and I've kept it until now, with only two left."
"This train's slave carriage has three sections, with about 100 people in each, totaling 300 slaves."
"It's probably a level 2 train, maybe even close to a level 3."
"The train is headed to the mines. Though mining is a physical job and dangerous, with occasional deaths, during those mining days, food is supplied until full, everyone can eat their fill."
"Just..."
"Boss, if you can arrange a job with a low danger level for me when the time comes."
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent for a long time, absorbing all the information before looking at the middle-aged man whose head was close to his ear but whose butt was firmly seated outside the straw mat.
Despite the exaggerated posture meant to show restraint, Chen Mang appreciated him.
This was someone who understood boundaries.
"Deputy Train Captain?"
"Yeah." The bald man said a bit bashfully: "I've been a deputy all my life. Before Doomsday, I was a class vice president, joined a company as a deputy manager, and later, after Doomsday, I was lucky enough to become a Deputy Train Captain."
"I've never been in charge; never considered being in charge."
"Limited abilities."
"Fortunate to scrape a living before and after Doomsday."
"..."
Chen Mang didn't speak anymore. Based on his observations over the past few days and the information this man revealed, there were basically only two kinds of people in this post-apocalyptic world.
Train Captains, slaves.
Every train had different levels, with higher-level trains having stronger defenses and weapons.
In the first three days of his crossing into this world.
They remained stationed in a wilderness area. Although they weren't allowed to leave the carriage, he could sense through the intermittently opened connecting seams that the thugs were constantly vigilant, as if fearing some kind of monster would emerge at any moment.
In this doomsday world.
The only places of gathering were trains; the larger the gathering place, the larger the train.
To survive long enough and well in this world, one has to become a Train Captain and own a train.
Train Captain...
He began to contemplate deeply without speaking. This bald man had once been a Deputy Train Captain and certainly understood trains better than other slaves. This person was useful, he couldn't afford to die and they were a talent.
Most importantly, despite once holding a high position and now being a slave, he showed no sign of non-belonging, as if he were born a slave.
And when he sensed a chance.
He immediately offered his cherished goods to curry favor for protection.
The man was a crafty old fox.
...
The carriage fell into silence again, with only the occasional sound of someone urinating in the other corner.
The bald man dutifully sat beside Chen Mang, resting his head on his arm, taking a short nap.
His eyes were filled with unease about the journey ahead.
In this world.
Only within the continuously moving train carriages was there basic safety; stationed in a wilderness or mine, the danger level greatly increased, with the risk of being surrounded by a large Corpse Tide.
He didn't want to die.
No one in the carriage wanted to die.
No one wanted to die.
But someone inevitably would.