As for the new "Immediate Ejection" button, its purpose was simple.
In the face of an overwhelming crisis, pressing it would launch the captain’s seat high into the air. Whether there was a parachute—or how one was supposed to survive the apocalypse without a train, even if there was one—those concerns were none of the button’s business.
Its only job was to eject. Everything else was outside its jurisdiction.
Once ejected, the train would automatically trigger an irreversible ten-second self-destruct countdown.
Cordless high-altitude bungee jumping before death—now that could be interesting, Chen Mang mused. He was fairly certain that ninety percent of the people in this world had never tried such a niche extreme sport.
If nothing else, it would be a life well-lived.
"Phew..."
That, in essence, summed up all the changes and new functions that came with upgrading the Stellar to Level 3.
Chen Mang let out a long breath and sank back into his reclining chair, exhausted. He hadn’t done any hard labor, but reviewing every accessory, brainstorming possible uses, and meticulously checking the control console for even the smallest changes was draining work.
It wasn’t physical fatigue.It was mental exhaustion.
He lit a cigarette, letting it dangle from his lips. After a moment of thought, he decided he needed a distraction. Picking up the walkie-talkie, he said, “Send Ji Chuchu in.”
Before long—
“Boss Mang.”
The control car door creaked open, and a pitiful-looking Ji Chuchu stepped inside. She moved meekly, then knelt on the floor with practiced ease, awaiting his command.
“Hm?”
Chen Mang frowned as his gaze swept over her. She hadn’t been wearing that last time. Today, she was dressed in a low-cut, white spaghetti-strap dress, with nothing underneath. The outfit lent her an air of fragile purity, like some untouchable fairy.
A sharp contrast to her obedient, kneeling posture.
“Where did you get the new clothes?”
I’ve been wearing the same damn thing for days, and you—a slave—have already changed outfits? Are your living conditions better than mine?
“Why?”
“I was worried you’d grown tired of me. I thought a change of clothes might make things… fresher.”
“...”
Chen Mang fell silent, giving only a slight nod. Her reasoning was sound, and he noted the effort. His gaze swept over her once more before he crooked a finger.
“Come here.”
Ji Chuchu, ever obedient, crawled forward and knelt before him again, arms resting neatly on her legs as she waited.
“Mm.”
Chen Mang hooked a leg around her, pulling her beneath the control console. Leaning back in his chair, he patted her head.
“Begin.”
Three minutes later.
Chen Mang’s brow furrowed, and his eyes snapped open. Something was missing.
He fiddled with the control console for a moment, pulled up the variety show Ji Chuchu had once starred in, and pressed play.
Nodding, satisfied, he leaned back in his chair.
That was more like it.
On the screen, Ji Chuchu was the very picture of a goddess. When she covered her mouth to laugh, her eyes sparkled—she seemed truly untouchable.
And yet, beneath the console, she revealed a completely different side.
That was the contrast he savored.
He’d been through a lot in his past life, enough that ordinary things barely registered anymore.
This kind of sharp contrast—that was what kept him interested.
It was this—this sharp clash between image and reality—that he found exhilarating.
Fifteen minutes later.
Chen Mang rested his feet on Ji Chuchu’s shoulders as she knelt obediently beside him. Lighting a cigarette, completely relaxed, he chuckled.
“Alright, what do you want as a reward?”
“Boss Mang.”
Ji Chuchu’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz as she gently massaged his calves. “I’m already a Tier-1 slave. I don’t have to work.
“And you, Boss Mang, are the strongest and most charismatic Train Captain I’ve ever met. Since the apocalypse began, I’ve never felt as safe as I do on this train.
“I’m already very content.
“If…”
“If it’s possible, I have a close friend, another celebrity, named Yan Yao.
“She’s even more beautiful than I am, and she’s still a virgin. We lost contact not long after the apocalypse started. The last time I heard from her, she was hiding in the safe room of her villa in Sand River City, in the Sand River Plains. Her food and water should be running low by now.
“If you met her, Boss Mang, you would like her.”
“...”
The smile on Chen Mang’s face slowly faded. He looked at Ji Chuchu, expression calm. After a long moment, he exhaled a thin stream of pale-blue smoke into her face and said softly,
“You want me to go all that way to save someone?”
The Sand River Plains were a green zone. It bordered the Ironridge Wasteland, but only at its northern edge—about an hour’s journey north of the Apocalypse Abyss.
Ji Chuchu didn’t dare meet his gaze. She lowered her head, slipping off his shoes and socks, and continued massaging his calves.
Chen Mang said nothing for a while. Then, casually,
“Is there anyone that… clean… in the entertainment industry?”
“Every time an investor came looking for her, I would take her place.”
“You’re that noble?”
“She came from a good family; I came from a poor one. She helped me a lot in the past. What’s the difference between one drop of ink on a piece of paper and a whole patch of it?”
“So she’s not as… skilled… as you?”
“I’ll teach her.”
“How?”
Ji Chuchu looked up, meeting Chen Mang’s eyes. She slowly took his toe into her mouth, her voice muffled as she whispered,
“Like this. Will that do?”
“Has she been on any variety shows?”
“She has.”
“Mm.”
Chen Mang nodded, leaning back in his chair. He waved a tired hand.
“You can go. If I have a chance to head toward the Sand River Plains, I’ll consider making a trip to Sand River City.”
—-
In Guards’ Carriage #5.
Lao Zhu, who had been whispering with Biaozi, immediately coughed and turned to stare out the window, putting on an air of seriousness when Ji Chuchu returned.
Only after she had walked to her hard-sleeper bed at the rear of the carriage did the two men exchange another look, their eyes full of worry.
“What do we do now?”
Biaozi’s expression was complicated as he glanced at Lao Zhu. “Boss Mang called Ji Chuchu over again. This is the second time. How do we handle her?”
“Weren’t you the one who claimed to be an expert at solving these kinds of problems?”
“You come up with a plan.”
He had been ready to make a move last time. But Ji Chuchu had been too… full, so he hadn’t. Since then, no one on the Stellar had touched her.
“Hah…”
Lao Zhu took a deep breath, brow furrowed. His voice was low and raspy. “Let’s break it down. Boss Mang has called her in twice now. It’s obvious he’s satisfied with her… services.
“At this point, you and I definitely can’t touch her.
“To share a woman with a superior, even unofficially, is a huge taboo. If Boss Mang were done with her, that would be one thing. But he’s called for her again. It’s not appropriate.”
“But Boss Mang promised the slaves.”
“It’s very likely Boss Mang is in a bind right now. He likes Ji Chuchu’s services, but he made a public promise. If he goes back on it, he’ll lose face.
“But since he likes her, there’s no way he’ll let the slaves below touch her.”
“So…”
“So just say it,” Biaozi said impatiently. “What’s the solution?”
“I don’t know!”
Lao Zhu ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “The real problem is, I can’t figure out what Boss Mang is thinking! Maybe he doesn’t care at all, and we’re just tying ourselves in knots.”
“Should we go ask him?”
“Are you crazy? If you ask him, even if he is in a bind, is he going to admit it?”
“Alright.”
Lao Zhu took another deep breath, finally forcing a decision. “If we let Ji Chuchu go to the slaves and we’ve misread Boss Mang’s intentions, he’ll be furious.
“But if he has no such thoughts and we act on our own, he’ll just be annoyed when he finds out.
“Of two evils, choose the lesser.
“The reprimand for the second option would be lighter. So, we stick with the second assumption. We definitely can’t let her go to the slaves. In fact, we couldn’t even if we wanted to.”
“Boss Mang promised that whoever mined the most would get her. But the top hundred miners are all those goblins. They don’t care about women—mining’s all they know. They wouldn’t even give Ji Chuchu a second glance.
“Fortunately, that’s a perfect solution.”
“This is the best I can come up with.”
“What do you think?”
Biaozi threw up his hands. “Chief Zhu, I’m an enforcer. You’re the Vice-Captain. Of course, you’re the one to take the lead on this.”
“Fine.”
Jaw tight, Lao Zhu steeled himself. “I’ll take the fall. If Boss Mang asks, I’ll take the blame. We’ll do it this way.”
He watched Biaozi’s retreating, then let out a long breath, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. Slumping back into his seat, he sighed.
Being a Vice-Captain wasn’t easy.
Especially when…
He couldn’t figure out what Boss Mang was thinking.
He wasn’t usually one to overthink a superior’s intentions, but he could at least sense where they stood. With Boss Mang, though, he was completely in the dark.
He genuinely had no idea what the man was thinking.
As second-in-command, a large part of the job was reading the room—doing the things a superior couldn’t say out loud.
Holding onto the number-two spot for long wasn’t easy. When things went wrong, the blame almost always landed squarely on the second-in-command’s head.