Chapter 332: Chapter 205: This place is like a giant... heart! _2
And right at the center of the heart, there was a small red dot flickering.
Just ahead of the train, about a few hundred meters away.
It was a head...
A zombie head roughly 50 meters wide, with its eyes tightly shut, placed on the ground.
"..."
Chen Mang turned his head to look at the weakly flickering red dot on the Target Detection Radar, which displayed the information.
「Monster Information: None.」
「Current Level 9, Full Level Unknown.」
At that moment—
The gigantic zombie head suddenly opened its eyes, bouncing a few times on the ground, staring fixedly at the Constant Star Train hovering in mid-air within the cave, eyes filled with fierce light, then it suddenly opened its mouth and roared loudly!
"Roar!"
The sound was deafening, almost echoing throughout the Zombie Basin!
Right after.
A strong and violent airflow burst from the zombie’s mouth, shooting towards the Constant Star Train, which under the intense wind, was instantly slammed heavily against the wall, falling mid-air!
Luckily, the Constant Star Train, equipped with Level 9 armor and Level 10 Permanent Shock Absorption, suffered no actual damage.
Only external components like the "sound system" and "Powerful Magnet" had their integrity instantly drop to single digits.
"Whew..."
Chen Mang, controlling the Constant Star Train to hover once more in mid-air, looked at the gigantic zombie head and suddenly laughed out loud; no surprise, this zombie head was the mastermind behind the "Zombie Volcano" this time.
Clearly, it was in a broken state.
The zombies and monsters should have gone out to collect flesh now, and perhaps all the monsters in the Zombie Basin were rushing here to protect their king!
As expected.
Soon, the Train Radio transmitted Er Dan’s urgent voice.
"Master Mang, all the monsters in the Zombie Basin suddenly retreated and rushed to the deepest part of the basin!"
The next second—
Without any hesitation, Chen Mang rapidly locked onto the giant zombie head with the Doomsday Cannon and fired instantly; each shell carried an unbearable intimidation in mid-air, enveloping the enormous zombie head completely.
There was no resistance.
The head bounced a few times on the ground, trying to escape but failing, and could only despairingly howl while looking at the hundreds of shells that enveloped it!
"Boom boom boom!"
Countless explosions followed.
It was even smoother than he anticipated.
The zombie head had no means of counterattack; its only attack method was that violently fierce airflow, which created the Zombie Volcano earlier, but clearly couldn’t be used again, even if it could, it wouldn’t make any difference against the Constant Star Train.
Following that!
Two lines appeared on the train control panel screen.
-
「You killed the Level 11 ancient boss ’Giant Zombie King’.」
「Obtained 50 Reputation Value Points.」
-
"..."
Chen Mang gazed at the scene before him; the giant zombie head, reduced to fragments in mid-air, along with its dropped items, was all absorbed into the train by the "Powerful Magnet".
He chuckled softly.
Then maneuvered the Constant Star Train to depart from here once more.
When it burst out to the ground again, already flying in the sky.
The sun’s rays spread across the Zombie Basin, restoring its tranquility once more; this zombie head was commanding all the monsters, and now that the commander was dead, naturally, the crisis ended.
"Hmm... it should count as peace, right?"
Seated inside the train room, Chen Mang lit a cigarette, overlooking the Zombie Basin from above.
Those corpse tides had completely separated from the monsters, no longer forming an army, but scattered to occupy territories individually.
Good news: These monsters won’t be attacking the train as a regiment anymore.
Bad news: These monsters are still alive, not dead.
At this moment, the number of monsters in the "Zombie Basin" has increased over tenfold, with Level 9 monsters also multiplying by over tenfold; future mining difficulty has greatly increased, but... more unmanned mines could be found, given that not many trains survived.
In the train ranking list.
Eleven Level 9 trains.
Only 3 survived, including one Flesh and Blood Train and two Mechanical Trains.
Further down, more trains were annihilated.
About sixty to seventy percent of trains didn’t escape this crisis, having nowhere to flee with Level 9 monsters blocking sea, land, and sky...
He maneuvered the train to fly towards Er Dan, needing some rest.
He hadn’t slept for a long while, already noon, needing to find a spot to sleep.
Really weary.
Hadn’t felt fatigued during battle just now, but as soon as he relaxed, exhaustion swiftly surged within.
About an hour passed.
Chen Mang, maneuvering the Constant Star Train, landed on the mountain peak anew; none of the trains under his protection suffered any casualties, each maintaining zero fatalities.
...
"Master Mang..."
Er Dan approached Chen Mang standing at the edge of the hillside, dazedly overlooking the distance and muttering: "Is it over?"
"I suddenly feel like the paths I chose in the past were all wrong."
"I prefer exploring adventure maps more, and I have more experience in exploring adventure maps; I always feel that with enough components, more combos can be created to cope with more crises."
"Just mining would only create the train-upgradable components with no future."
"But now I see, I was wrong."
"If I kept mining, I could have upgraded the "Wealthy Energy Shield" to Level 9, and maybe even without your help Master Mang, I wouldn’t have faced any risk of death in this crisis."
"You’re wrong."
Chen Mang leaning on a cane, standing at the edge of the hillside, chuckled lightly, pulled out two cigarettes, handed one to Er Dan, and placed the other in his mouth; with a snap of his fingers, Ai on the side immediately extended fingers beneath the cigarette and emitted a small flame.
"Whew..."
He exhaled a long puff of smoke, stretching leisurely, inhaling the mixed scent of smoke and blood in the air.
"The "Wealthy Energy Shield" is a blue-grade component, can only upgrade up to Level 8."
"To reach Level 9, Murphy Stone is needed; mining can’t dig out Murphy Stone."
"Adventure maps must be explored, and mining must be done."
"Also, even if you had a Level 9 "Wealthy Energy Shield", how many resources do you have to keep the "Wealthy Energy Shield" active, how would you handle those Level 9 monsters?"
"Train development requires a lot of things."
"Constant Star Train will encounter many things later."
"I can’t tackle every adventure map; I don’t have that much time, and choosing when facing two adventure maps at once is difficult. Any thoughts about joining my train and becoming a captain, just responsible for exploring adventure maps, nothing else to worry about?"
"How is it possible?"
Er Dan helplessly shook his head: "Master Mang, many adventure maps require the Train Captain to pilot the train into; if I joined your train, I wouldn’t qualify to enter adventure maps."
"No."
Chen Mang patted Er Dan’s shoulder seriously, saying: "Captain is just a title; you’re still the Train Captain of the "Azure Dragon". In name, Azure Dragon will be a subordinate of the Constant Star, and all your slaves belong to me."
"You don’t need to worry about iron mines, don’t need to worry about slaves, don’t need to worry about upgrading."
"I’ll provide all resources needed for your train upgrades."
"You just have to focus on exploring adventure maps; it’s exactly what you’re skilled at and find enjoyable. You also don’t need to worry about train development, and the gains from exploring adventure maps would be mine."
"In equivalent..."
"Subordinate Train."
"Of course, I’m not forcing you, just suggesting; think it over."
Just as he finished speaking.
"No problem!"
Er Dan solemnly nodded with a serious expression: "Master Mang, I think your proposal is excellent; like this, I can continue staying with my mom, fully dedicate myself to exploring adventure maps, without having to worry about iron ores."
"I find this train development model very fitting for me."