Chapter 51: "Does everyone know Ji Chuchu?

Very soon—

Each slave had a Level 2 pickaxe in hand. Perhaps because this time the mining site was outdoors, the Train Captain stood nearby overseeing the work personally. Every slave worked extremely hard, rolling up their sleeves and swinging down heavily on the protruding iron ore.

In an instant.

The darkness was filled with the heavy panting of the slaves.

The next moment!

In the night, Chen Mang turned up the volume on the external sound system to its maximum from the control panel. An extremely explosive DJ track blasted in the ears of every slave. Following this, a woman stood on the slave car, twisting her body rhythmically under dim lights.

The lighting was relatively dim, making it difficult to clearly see the woman’s figure. Yet it was precisely this sense of blur that lent a unique absurd and desolate aesthetic amidst the lonely darkness.

"See that old hen?!"

Chen Mang grinned, standing inside the train cabin, shouting into a walkie-talkie: "Once these two mines are fully dug out, I’ll stew her for you all to eat. Everyone will have meat to eat and soup to drink!"

"Want to dip bread in meat soup?"

As soon as he finished speaking,

the slaves turned their heads to look at the Train Captain standing at the window of the train cabin. The taste of bread soaked in meat soup involuntarily appeared in their minds, and they subconsciously licked their lips, throats moving, eyes filled with expectant roars: "Yes!"

Veins bulging on Chen Mang’s neck, he continued to shout with passion into the walkie-talkie clutched tightly in his hand: "See the woman dancing? Beautiful, right? But I’ll tell you, if you work well, women of this quality are nothing!"

"Yesterday, I went to a gathering and saw a popular star, Ji Chuchu!"

"You all know Ji Chuchu, right?"

"If you work well, I’ll invite this star to come and dance for us!"

"Tell me, do you want that or not?!

"Does anyone want that?!"

This time—

The slaves, already filled with vigor, completely burst with excitement, glancing at each other in the darkness. They all raised their pickaxes, their eyes full of enthusiasm, yelling: "Yes!"

"I never thought I’d get a chance like this in this lifetime!"

"Master Mang, don’t worry, we’ll definitely work hard. If anyone dares slack off, we’ll be the first to deal with them!"

"Master Mang, is what you said true? Do we really have a chance?"

"Hey."

Laughing, Chen Mang held the walkie-talkie and shouted: "I, Chen Mang, have never broken a promise. Once we’ve dug out all the iron and copper ore, I’ll invite Ji Chuchu to dance for you!"

"Everyone will have a share."

"Even as slaves, you’re still my slaves, and how can my slaves be on the same level as others’ slaves."

"As long as you follow me and work hard, you can live better lives than you did before Doomsday!"

"Now, get to work!"

The boisterous DJ sounded once again, deafening, stimulating the nerves of every slave, especially after such a motivational speech, their spiritedness intensified.

"..."

Chen Mang stood at the train cabin window, watching those incessantly wielding their pickaxes in the dark, rubbing his somewhat dry throat, then chuckled softly without speaking.

The popular top star, Ji Chuchu.

He wanted that too, he’d never encountered a top star before.

But...

More than the price of 50,000 units of iron ore, he preferred to bring back Ji Chuchu by force with a fully equipped Level 2 train.

Trading was for making guns, making guns was for seizing provisions.

If, after making guns, he still had to continue trading, what was the point of making guns?

He expended so much effort, running to the Doomsday Abyss, mining iron and copper ore. It wasn’t because he had nothing better to do.

"What a beautiful sound."

Chen Mang listened to the crisp sound of pickaxes continuously striking the iron ore outside the train, his lips involuntarily curving into a slight smile. The cup in his hand at this moment seemed to transform into a glass of red wine, and his grand train plan was about to officially commence from here!

One day soon.

His train would become the most terrifying existence on the wasteland.

...

Among the slaves.

A middle-aged man covered in dust was also smiling, swinging his pickaxe at the iron ore, and it was clear his mood was quite good.

"Mr. Li."

Beside him, a young man approached, panting slightly, with a teasing glint in his eyes: "Looks like Mr. Li is quite looking forward to it, smiling so happily?"

During these days together, he had learned the name of this formerly middle-class man from before Doomsday, but he preferred to call him Mr. Li.

"Ji Chuchu?"

Mr. Li shook his head with a laugh: "It’s Doomsday, so I won’t hide it from you. We all understand, but what makes me truly happy isn’t that."

"It’s that..."

"Haven’t you noticed there’s no other train here apart from our Constant Star Train?"

"Last night, the train directly descended vertically from a cliff."

"No one’s mined the resources here, and there’s no one to compete with us."

"This means the Train Captain has a unique, rare capability."

"What truly makes me happy is this: with so many resources plus the captain’s capabilities, the train is bound to develop to a remarkable stage, and our safety will be greatly assured, because in Doomsday, survival is always the priority."

"Who wouldn’t want to follow a Train Captain who is strong enough?"

"Who wouldn’t want to feel a sense of security?"

"Especially this Train Captain, who can promise to make chicken soup for us with an old hen, revealing two things."

"Firstly, this captain is generous, willing to share benefits with the lower ranks."

"Secondly, the captain doesn’t value these things highly, even the extremely scarce Ji Chuchu in others’ eyes is just so-so to him; his ambition is larger."

"These two points are what make me happy."

"Additionally..."

"We are currently Level 2 slaves, the newly joined are Level 3. Given Master Mang’s temperament, he will certainly recruit more slaves in the future, meaning as more slaves join, we stand a great chance of escaping slavery."

"We, being the earliest joiners, may become lower-tier managers of the slaves."

"Such a train, with its clear vision, generous leadership, and clear paths for advancement, shouldn’t we be happy to be among the first lucky ones?"

The young man paused, then muttered in a daze: "Mr. Li, you think deeply. My mind was full of Ji Chuchu just now, didn’t think that far."

"Let’s keep working."

Mr. Li smiled, patting the young man’s shoulder. He also had a clear goal for himself, feeling that with his past management experience, as the train develops, he could likely become one of the grassroots managers."

Originally, he hadn’t thought like this because he assumed there always had to be slaves, but... after this batch of new slaves joined, he suddenly realized, indeed there’s always someone being a slave, but Master Mang would capture enough of them."

This young guy was already his pre-selected trusted aide."

Fostering him ahead, ensuring he wouldn’t be without support once he rose to the top."

Even though he’s not the Train Captain, he believed the train’s early form might be extremely rough, but would eventually develop into a small societal structure where everyone would exhibit their value in exchange for the train’s protection."

All it took was a chance... During the train’s development, if he could catch Master Mang’s attention, he could emerge from slavery."

In the future, one day, he might even become the second Deputy Train Captain!"

There could only be one Train Captain."

But as the train grew and its population increased, there couldn’t be just one Deputy Train Captain."