"Impressive," was Chen Mang's only comment after witnessing the transformation.
On the control console's screen, several lines of scarlet text flashed.
[Beep! Beep! Level 3 Zombie detected. May pose a significant threat to the train.]
[Level 5 Tripod-Mounted Heavy Machine Gun has locked onto the target and is ready to fire. Awaiting the captain's command.]
"Fire," he ordered without hesitation.
The next second, the heavy machine gun mounted on the roof of Carriage #2 swiveled and locked onto the giant zombie. A red light flashed from the muzzle.
DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA!
He had fired first. The deafening, heavy report of the machine gun echoed across the night wasteland. A stream of bullets flew in a straight line toward the Level 3 zombie's head.
The zombie reacted with astonishing speed. In an instant, it raised its hands to block its face. The bullets slammed into its palms. By the time the gunfire ceased, the zombie's arms had been completely shredded.It was now an armless zombie.
"Not bad," Chen Mang muttered, impressed by the weapon's power. But he quickly noticed the machine gun had gone silent. A thought struck him, and he glanced at the train's panel. As he suspected, the 200 Level 3 rounds he had just crafted were already gone.
And now, the enraged, armless Level 3 zombie was charging straight for him.
His lip twitched. Those 200 rounds had cost him 2,000 units of copper ore. And they were gone just like that?
He didn't dare linger, immediately maneuvering the train to dodge the zombie boss's attack. But the train's acceleration was slow.
BOOM!
He wasn't fast enough. The ten-meter-tall zombie was already upon them. With a ferocious expression, it kicked the train like a soccer player, producing a massive crash and a pained, piercing shriek.
Its foot had connected squarely with the high-speed spinning Carriage Blades.
A huge gash appeared on the zombie's foot. In agony, it began to kick the train frantically. After several more kicks, its right foot was completely ruined. It lost its balance and collapsed to the ground.
Inside the command car, Chen Mang watched the scene unfold. After receiving a report from Lao Zhu that none of the slaves were injured, he breathed a sigh of relief. The kicks had been so powerful that they had shoved his train sideways by several meters. The force of it was incredible. Although his armor had completely withstood the attack, the vibrations were unavoidable. The impacts had left his chest feeling tight and heavy.
The zombie was now on the ground, roaring in pain, clearly unable to attack for the time being. It was his turn.
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed. He steered the train toward the fallen zombie, ramming it repeatedly, using the Carriage Blades on both sides to slice the Zombie commander to pieces.
Ten minutes later, the battle was over. The Level 3 zombie was practically dismembered, its head and torso lying separately on the wasteland. It had been much faster than killing the Level 3 Cannibalistic Spider. This was mainly thanks to his Level 3 armor, which allowed him to ram it without fear, and the fact that the zombie was smaller than the spider.
Under the night sky, Chen Mang walked out of the train alone, leaning on his cane. The air was thick with the smell of blood. As far as he could see, there wasn't a single living creature left. He was alone, standing. During the fight, the Level 3 zombie had devoured the remaining few hundred zombies to try and heal its wounds, but it had been futile.
"It still comes down to the Carriage Blades," Chen Mang sighed, glancing at the spent bullet casings scattered on the ground. The heavy machine gun with Level 3 rounds was powerful, no doubt, but the cost was staggering. Two thousand units of copper ore, gone in the blink of an eye. Who could afford that?
The Carriage Blades were better. They only consumed a little energy from the Energy Stone, which was practically nothing. An Energy Stone only cost 500 iron ore to make.
He finally understood why the train captain on the Train Radio, who had a Level 3 heavy machine gun, had chosen to flee from the Level 3 Cannibalistic Spider despite having the ability to kill it. The cost of copper ore would have been immense. Making back the investment was a complete unknown. If you had a chance to escape, you took it. The precious stock of Level 3 bullets was for saving your own life in a critical moment, not for killing bosses for loot.
In this world, the level system was absolute. If your level was lower, you couldn't break through the enemy's defense, let alone deal any real damage. A Level 1 Carriage Blade, for example, couldn't even scratch a Level 2 zombie. Only when your level was equal to or higher could you break their defense. After that, the amount of damage you dealt depended on the accessory itself.
The Carriage Blades were good, but they were still a white-grade accessory. They were melee-only, with limited attack patterns. If only he could find a white-grade ranged weapon accessory. White-grade accessories were generally very resource-efficient.
Also, despite both being Level 3 bosses, this Zombie Commander felt far less threatening than the Cannibalistic Spider. He knew why. This Level 2 zombie had only managed to evolve into a Level 3 Zombie Commander by consuming the flesh of the horde. He had killed nearly ninety percent of that horde on his way here. Lacking so much raw material, the promoted Zombie Commander was not at its full strength. A Level 3 zombie could consume other zombies to heal itself, but the few hundred that had made it this far weren't nearly enough.
Through a stroke of luck, he had increased his chances of winning. He was glad he had crafted those Level 3 bullets. If he hadn't blown off the Zombie Commander's arms, he was pretty sure it would have picked up the Stellar and smashed it against the ground like a whip. The train might have been able to take it, but the people inside certainly couldn't.
He still needed to keep developing. The Stellar had many shortcomings. He also now understood why the zombie hordes on the wasteland had been so frantic these past few days: they were collecting flesh to prepare for their king's ascension.
This boss wasn't a first-kill; if it had been, a corresponding message would have appeared on the control console.
The night wind blew. Standing alone on the wasteland, Chen Mang tightened his coat, turned, and walked back to the train. It was time to see what loot the Zombie Commander had dropped, and then head back to the Apocalypse Abyss to continue mining.
Although he hadn't found a new boss monster this time, he hadn't expected to. The rewards from this trip were enough. It was time to get back to mining.
If only... if only he could find a Level 2 copper mine. If he could stock up on ten thousand Level 3 bullets, he could slaughter every boss in the Ironridge Wasteland. But Level 3 bullets were already this expensive; in higher-level regions, Level 4 and 5 bullets would be even more astronomical.
He still had to rely on white-grade offensive accessories. He'd have to see if he could find any good blueprints at the next gathering.
Just then, inside Carriage #2, Chen Mang looked down at the accessory blueprint that had dropped from the zombie king and froze.
"Speak of the devil," he murmured in disbelief.