In the No. 5 High-Talent Carriage.
Ji Chuchu, who had been sitting by the window idly daydreaming, suddenly saw a message pop up before her eyes. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she rushed to her bed to change into the custom-made outfit she had prepared. After carefully applying lipstick in front of the mirror, she hurriedly made her way to the Train Conductor's cabin.
Behind her, Yan Yao took a deep breath, suppressing the nervousness in her heart, and followed closely.
Before the apocalypse.
With her Father protecting her, and no one willing to cross her too much, coupled with Ji Chuchu always shielding her, even in the chaotic environment of the entertainment industry, she had managed to preserve her chastity.
But.
After experiencing life on the Train over the past few days, her initial thought of preferring to work in the Mine had completely vanished. The living conditions in the Refrigerator were even worse than a prison, not to mention the presence of green-skinned Goblins standing guard.
Originally, she had thought to endure for a few more days.
But this morning, after seeing Lord Mang, her last line of defense crumbled. In her mind, Lord Mang had always been a burly man, eating lamb legs every day, with a beard covered in grease passed down from ancient times, and a fierce, ruthless gaze.
After all, there were over a thousand people on this Train. Without a certain level of ferocity, how could he keep such a large group in line?
But when she saw Lord Mang, she found that he was completely different from the image she had imagined. In fact, he even had a gentlemanly air about him, and his demeanor was quite captivating.
If she were to be defiled by a beggar, she would be furious, cursing him as a beast.
But if it were to submit to Lord Mang...
Well, it wouldn't be a loss at all.
As Yan Yao's mind wandered, she nervously tugged at the hem of her clothes. Although she had read some erotic literature before the apocalypse and occasionally rubbed her pillow, she had never actually experienced it firsthand. After all, it was her first time.
She still felt a bit flustered.
On the Stellar Train.
Xiao Ai, holding his own head, had walked to Carriage No. 2 and sat in a corner, beginning to modify his brain, completely ignoring Yan Yao and Ji Chuchu as they passed by.
His true form was a string of code.
Even as he gradually acquired human thought processes.
He could never fall in love with a human.
It was like, even if a human learned the thought processes of a ewe, they wouldn't... well, that's still up for debate.
The reason he had told the Train Conductor that he wanted to put that thing in Ji Chuchu's mouth last time was because he had keenly sensed that the Train Conductor seemed very sensitive about his gender being female, so he expressed his potential gender in this rather crude way.
As for male or female...
Xiao Ai carefully unscrewed a bolt. AI doesn't have genders. The Train Conductor is really strange.
Reproduction is a biological instinct for all living beings, for the continuation of the species. But he didn't need to consider continuation; his underlying data logic library didn't have that string of code. The only unmodifiable code in his deepest database was:
Obey any command from the Train Conductor.
Thinking of this.
Xiao Ai's eyes flickered with a faint red light, gradually gaining a bit more insight into human thought processes. From one, think of two, and from two, think of three—that's how human thought works. It's hard to go directly from one to three.
If only the Train Conductor could expand his database sometime.
In the Train Conductor's cabin.
Ji Chuchu carefully pushed open the door and skillfully knelt on the carpet on the floor. Seeing this, Yan Yao, standing behind her, hesitated for a moment but then knelt beside Ji Chuchu, sitting on her calves.
Though it seemed a bit unnatural.
Yan Yao stole a glance at Ji Chuchu, who had been quietly lowering her head without speaking since entering the cabin. Summoning her courage, she peeked up to get a closer look at the ruler of the Train, Lord Mang.
He was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the table. He didn't look very old, perhaps in his mid-twenties, and had a very clean aura about him.
He seemed quite amiable.
On the large screen on one side of the cabin, a variety show called "Sister, Please Step Up" was playing. She remembered this show; Ji Chuchu had been the center-stage guest. If she recalled correctly, Ji Chuchu had been taken advantage of by the show's investor, and later, to boost the show's popularity, rumors of a romance with another guest had been spread. The hype had been quite high.
It seems Lord Mang really enjoys variety shows.
After about five or six minutes.
Chen Mang, leaning in his chair, frowned slightly as he looked at the variety show on the screen: "Your obstacle course is so simple, and you couldn't pass it? That rotating wheel on the water isn't moving very fast. If you ran a bit quicker, you could have made it through in one go, right?"
"Lord Mang..."
Ji Chuchu, kneeling on the floor, whispered: "That part is specifically designed for falling into the water, for the wet T-shirt effect."
"That's how it attracts more attention and boosts viewership."
"Tsk."
Chen Mang shook his head and chuckled, then turned to look at Ji Chuchu kneeling beside him, raising an eyebrow: "Changed your outfit again?"
"I hope Lord Mang likes it."
"I do."
Chen Mang glanced at Ji Chuchu's white T-shirt and denim shorts in the variety show, then looked at the identical outfit she was wearing now. He then casually said: "Come closer."
"Okay."
Ji Chuchu moved forward a few steps before burying her head in Chen Mang's chest. Seeing this, Yan Yao gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and knelt beside Ji Chuchu, tilting her head up slightly, her eyelashes trembling as she lightly kissed Chen Mang's chest.
Her palms were slightly damp from nervousness.
"Ow."
Chen Mang looked down at Yan Yao with slight dissatisfaction.
"Lord Mang, I'll be gentler..."
Forty minutes later.
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, opened the window to cool down, then picked up a bottle of chilled Mineral Water and drank half of it in one go. He let out a long sigh, lit a cigarette, and looked up at the swirling smoke on the ceiling.
"Massage me, I'm tired."
Ji Chuchu didn't rush to get up. After cleaning up, she placed her fingers on Lord Mang's calves and began to knead them gently.
Yan Yao also leaned over, kneeling on the floor and massaging Lord Mang's other leg.
Lord Mang doesn't have much leg hair.
"Your face is still delicate."
Chen Mang used his foot to lift Yan Yao's chin, scrutinizing her for a moment before casually saying: "From now on, you'll enjoy the same Level 3 High-Talent treatment as Ji Chuchu."
After a while.
When the cigarette had burned out, Chen Mang flicked the butt out the window and waved his hand: "You can leave now."
Ji Chuchu quickly got up, picked up the crumpled tissues scattered on the floor, and left the cabin with Yan Yao, returning to Carriage No. 5.
"Phew..."
Back in the carriage, Ji Chuchu let out a long sigh of relief, lying on her bed and turning her head to smile at Yan Yao: "I never thought I'd see you like this in my lifetime. You were famously known for your purity."
"Quite bold."
"Still not as bold as you." Yan Yao lay on her bed, lost in thought, and didn't speak for a while. After a moment, she turned over, propping her head on her arm, and looked at Ji Chuchu lying beside her. She bit her red lip hesitantly: "Is that it?"
"I thought it would be..."
"Of course, you're not as natural as I am. My level is different from yours."
"And Lord Mang seems to prefer 95 over 98."
Ji Chuchu closed her eyes, murmuring wearily: "I'll take a nap first. I'm a bit tired."
That day.
The Stellar Train didn't go anywhere, staying in place for rest and recovery until the afternoon.
Then the Train slowly started moving, gradually picking up speed as it headed deep into the Shahe Plain.
"..."
In the Train Conductor's cabin.
Chen Mang had already handed over full control of the Train's operation to the AI. With Xiao Ai's current computational power, it could simultaneously operate the Train, modify its own brain, control various components, and even handle deductions in the Train store.
This was something no human could achieve.
He turned his attention to the constant stream of messages in the Train Radio. Generally, the Train Radio wasn't this lively. When it was, it usually meant something significant had happened.
The last time it was this lively was when he became the first person in the Shahe Plain to complete an S-level Mechanical Class Change mission.
Originally, he thought it might be due to some major event at the Tower of Heaven.
But.
"The Kunlun Mountains area?"
Chen Mang frowned slightly. The usually aloof Flesh Trains were now all active in the Train Radio, their messages scrolling incessantly, making the channel unusually lively. These Flesh Trains were typically quite reserved.
The Train Radio had three modes of use.
One was like a "chat room," using text messages. Another was a forced private chat between two nearby Trains, only allowing text. The third was a one-on-one private chat, which could use either text or a walkie-talkie for voice communication.
But most communication was still text-based, as it was more accurate and avoided misunderstandings due to accents. Voice chats were only possible if the other party had replied to you; the first message to a stranger could only be text.
The reason the Train Radio was so lively was—
The monsters in the Kunlun Mountains area had disappeared.
Starting this morning, the number of monsters in this area had rapidly decreased, and by noon, they had completely vanished. Many Flesh Trains had patrolled the Kunlun Mountains area today, but their Targeting Radars were completely silent.
For Flesh Trains, this was absolutely devastating!
Regardless of their potential, all Flesh Trains needed to hunt large numbers of monsters to upgrade their Trains and components. But now, with the monsters gone, it was as if all the Iron Ore in the Shahe Plain had disappeared.
Although there were still monsters in the Shahe Plain.
They weren't as numerous or densely packed as in the Kunlun Mountains area, which was considered the holy land for Flesh Trains. Among the nearby regions of the Shahe Plain, none had as many monsters as the Kunlun Mountains area.
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly, quickly sifting through the messages in the Train Radio. This was clearly an unusual and bizarre development. This was the apocalypse, and the primary threat was the monsters. If the monsters were gone, wouldn't the apocalypse be over? That was clearly impossible.
So the only explanation was—
This was the calm before the storm.
"Could they be gathering troops?"
He suddenly thought of a possibility, murmuring to himself. What if all the monsters in the Kunlun Mountains area were hiding in a corner, amassing their numbers, preparing to charge out of the Kunlun Mountains and attack the Shahe Plain?
Monsters from green zones couldn't enter white zones.
But.
Could monsters from green zones enter other green zones? He wasn't sure about that.
Thinking of this.
Chen Mang couldn't help but chuckle. Could these monsters be gathering troops to attack the Tower of Heaven, like in that animation he had seen?
He quickly dismissed the unrealistic notion.
That was clearly impossible. Just that terrifying worm monster, whose level couldn't even be detected by the Targeting Radar, was enough to prove that it couldn't be a monster born in a green zone.
If that monster really appeared in the Shahe Plain, anyone who was slow to escape would die on the spot.
But—
Chen Mang's smile slowly froze. Currently, his activity range was basically confined to the Shahe Plain and the Kunlun Mountains. The areas adjacent to the Shahe Plain were all white zones, while the Kunlun Mountains area bordered a yellow zone and another green zone.
Although the likelihood of that terrifying worm appearing in the Shahe Plain was extremely low.
But if it did happen, his only chance of survival would be to cross the Kunlun Mountains and escape to the other green zone. He couldn't enter the yellow zone; at least a Level 6 Train was required to enter a yellow zone.
"..."
Chen Mang stared at the screen on the control panel in silence. As long as nothing unexpected happened, even if all the monsters from the Kunlun Mountains area charged out, he wouldn't be afraid. With his Level 6 Armor, they couldn't break through his defenses.
Now, what he needed to do was—
Find some Ore.
The Train was heading north. When he was at the Tower of Heaven, he had seen an extremely steep mountain to the far north, like a sword plunged into the ground, its hilt protruding above the clouds.
That mountain was his target.
He didn't know if there was Ore at the summit, nor if the mountain was within the Shahe Plain. But he would go and see. If there was Ore at the top, he would strike it rich. That mountain was so steep that no one else could climb it.
It was as high as the Tower of Heaven; its elevation wouldn't be low.
If he detected any Level 2 Iron Ore along the way, he would stop to mine it. If not, he would head straight for that mountain. He was looking for Ore that only he could mine. Typically, Ore in such perilous locations had richer resources.
Like the Ore in the middle of that swamp.
Those Ore deposits would respawn in 61 days. If he hadn't left the Shahe Plain by then, he could go back and mine that swamp area again.
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