"Donât you know that Iâve assassinated many enemies using the Faith Leap?"
"I know, but I think crushing them is more fitting than assassination, Train Captain."
"You really talk a lot."
"You can set my chatter frequency, from 0% to 100%, any interval is adjustable."
"Zero percent."
This time there was no response for a long time. Chen Mang turned his head and saw Ai sitting silently at the train room door, just watching him. It felt much quieter now. Chen Mang withdrew his gaze and once again looked towards the distant horizon.
Who knows how much time passed.
Chen Mang suddenly spoke again: "Do you know how this Apocalypse was caused?"
Still no response for a long time.
"Adjust back to 50%."
"I donât know."
"..."
...
Dusk passed away.
The night completely enveloped the entire city, and he hadnât received any call for fire support from Biaozi, indicating the search went smoothly. However, the Target Detection Radar barely showed any signs of survivors; the cityâs survivors had long been scavenged.
Chen Mang got up and stretched his somewhat stiff body before heading towards the train room.
Once in a while, itâs nice to just relax like this.
Sitting here lost in thought, without thinking about anything, feels quite good. The Apocalypse always keeps oneâs nerves tense.
People are like iron.
They need moments of tension and relaxation; if theyâre tense all the time, the body wonât be able to handle it.
At this momentâ
Biaozi and the others came back. Those guys were tough, stuffing an off-road motorcycle into the fridge and then carrying it up the stairs without asking for his help. They managed to get back on their own.
This fridge accessory, as long as thereâs space inside, no matter how much is stuffed in, it weighs only as much as one fridge.
The space inside is more like a dimensional space; the weight doesnât directly manifest in reality.
This accessory will become the most practical piece for a long time to come.
"Master Mang!"
Biaozi shouted with a hint of excitement, dropping the fridge heavily to the ground.
"Oh?"
Chen Mang, who had been admiring the cityscape, laughed slightly from the rooftop as he looked at this scene: "Seems like youâve got a good haul."
"Not too bad..."
Biaozi said, grinning ear to ear: "We found a tobacco factory and a brewery, but both were already looted clean, nothing left, though we brought back some tobacco seeds. Besides that, we also found lots of grain seeds in a granary."
"Those people took all the food, and the seeds were scattered on the ground. I collected them all and brought them back."
"I even dug some soil from the green belt, thinking maybe we could make a patch for farming inside the fridge."
"Besidesâ"
"We also found various living supplies like tables, chairs, projectors, discs, playing cards, and such."
"Of course, the main attraction is!"
"We brought back this..."
The fridge door swung open violently, and a faint wailing sound came from inside. It turned out to be a group of various livestock, with chickens, ducks, pigs, and even two cows, a total of twenty animals with quite a variety.
"Goodness."
Chen Mang couldnât help but laugh, knowing the breeding carriage could finally be put to great use; this batch is the first generation. Continual breeding would increase biodiversity within the train.
"Where did you find these? Shahe City has been scavenged many times, how could this be left behind?"
Although the animals in the fridge were all skin and bones, looking like they could keel over at any moment with no meat on them at all, still, in the Apocalypse, even just bones could be used for broth.
Other trains surely wouldnât pass up these animals.
"Uh..."
Biaozi scratched the back of his head before speaking: "I donât know either. We found them in a canister; the metal canister was stuck upright in the ground, and these livestock were hiding inside it."
"It looked like a giant Amoxicillin."
"I brought the canister back too."
Biaozi climbed into the fridge and soon pushed out a canister with a cracked and broken bottom. It truly looked like a large Amoxicillin, completely black and inconspicuous.
"Biaozi, try getting inside the canister."
"Alright."
Chen Mangâs eyes narrowed slightly. Using information transmitted from his cane, once Biaozi entered the canister, he disappeared from the Target Detection Radar.
What a joke!
His Target Detection Radar was upgraded to Level 15, yet it couldnât detect Biaozi inside this canister?
The canister possessed the ability to shield radar detection, with a very high shielding level, and it wasnât a Special Tool, but instead...
He was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Move everything into the train; Iâll be building a carriage later, specifically for breeding. Move some fridges inside and find a few people to assist with feeding these chickens and ducks, and cultivating those seeds, to see if they can grow."
"Yes."
A thought flashed in his mind earlier; this metal canister might be the key to initiating the Apocalypse. Its inherent high-level radar shielding could ensure it went undetected by this worldâs radars upon entering the atmosphere, landed successfully, and triggered the Apocalypse.
If thatâs the case, then there should be more than one of these canisters.
The livestock hiding inside might not have been escaping from the train but from monsters. This suggests those monsters wouldnât dare to approach this canister either.
Logically reasoning like this.
Many seemingly nebulous possibilities became gradually clearer.
Chen Mang looked up at the sky overhead; he couldnât find that countdown amidst the star-filled sky anymore, but no matter how this Apocalypse was triggered, he had to keep surviving.
...
Tonight was exceptionally lively.
All the residents donned clean clothes and sat cross-legged in small groups on the hospital rooftop, occasionally glancing toward the steaming boiler in the distance, unable to stop their throats from gulping.
Tonight.
Master Mang ordered a pot of pork, cabbage, and glass noodle stew for everyone.
Since the Apocalypse descended, how many people hadnât even smelled meat? Now, they couldnât help but glance over during the cooking process. The enticing aroma made their bodies tremble with anticipation.
"Add whatever you can find."
Old Pig glanced at the busy cook with a sigh: "Resources are limited. We only found these; thereâs no cabbage, but we did find quite a bit of carrots, potatoes, and glass noodles. Just toss in the glass noodles liberally."
"Everyone can only have a few pieces of meat; the glass noodles need to fill everyone up."
"That guy Biaozi somehow brought back half a fridge of glass noodles. The place had been scavenged by so many people, I wonder how he found so much."
"Ah, got it."
"Remember to save the best piece of meat; I need to send it to Master Mang."
"Of course, of course." The middle-aged man in the middle of the hustle wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly responded with a smile.
Food for a thousand people.
Thatâs a literal large pot meal. The Fixed Star train doesnât have such a big pot, but living people canât be stumped by trivial matters. Chen Mang crafted a standard carriage and upgraded its armor to Level 3, then customized it with a steel plate partition in the middle.
Then, use the one-third partitioned standard carriage as a pot.
Finally, thereâs the process of filling it with water, chopping vegetables, cutting meat, and adding ingredients.
Not all seasoning was available, but whatever there was, they used it. With such a huge pot, seasoning would definitely fall short; the final taste was anyoneâs guess, but at least itâd be warm.
As for the fire source...
That was no issue either.
This standard carriage was positioned on the ground, while the two "Nitrogen Tail Sprays" at the back of the last Fixed Star train carriage continuously shot blue flames, heating up this standard carriage.