Chapter 319: What Are They Plotting? |
When he was at Gemini Star in the Kasa Civilization, aside from looting some resources, he also took a trip to the auction house and brought back a few little gadgets.
The Hell Brooch was one of them.
Besides that, the Instant Mecha Armament was another decent little item.
It was a Train Special Skill.
Its effect was very simple.
Upon activating this special skill, the entire train would undergo a rapid transformation, instantly shifting into a giant armored mecha. It retained the train's defensive strength and attack methods, with the locomotive positioned in the chest cavity to serve as the control room.
Very domineering.
And very handsome.
An instant armament.
In reality, looking cool was basically its only effect. There probably wouldn't be many places where this special skill could actually be used. After all, transforming from a train into a mecha fundamentally provided no increase in physical strength. The power remained exactly the same; only the form was different.
Of course.
The last time he was in the Appeasement Civilization, he had seen some kind of "Mecha Pilot Tournament." If he transformed the Stellar Train into a mecha and piloted it into the competition, winning first place would probably be quite easy.
However, he wasn't particularly interested in mechas, so he didn't pay it much mind.
"Not bad,"
Chen Mang muttered, curling his lips. He then stood up and walked into the adjacent shower room. After washing up, he lay back down on his bed, ready to go to sleep. He hadn't slept in a very long time.
The major issues had all been handled.
At this moment, the interior of the Stellar Train could be considered absolutely safe.
Neither the Zerg Civilization nor the Kasa Civilization could easily threaten him now, so he could finally get a peaceful night's rest. Everything else could wait until he woke up.
Kasa Civilization Federation, 27th Galaxy.
The Stellar Train floated slowly through the cosmos. After such a long period of development, the internal layout of the train had undergone significant changes.
For example...
Most of the residents who had followed the Stellar Train from the very beginning, rather than joining in later batches, had basically moved out of the train and relocated to the Water Blue Star. Only a portion of the residents who actually worked on the train continued to live on board.
After all, the living conditions on the Water Blue Star were indeed much better than those on the Stellar Train.
The terraformed Water Blue Star was the most habitable planet in the Kasa Civilization Federation, bar none.
If one had to describe it, other habitable planets were basically like mature, middle-aged women, while the Water Blue Star was a pure maiden fresh in her twenties, radiating a hint of flirtatious charm amidst her innocence, making people unable to resist and utterly intoxicated.
Everyone had also found suitable jobs for themselves.
"Morning!"
"Morning!"
A group of men in work uniforms walked out of the wormhole connecting the Water Blue Star to the Stellar Train, laughing and chatting. Upon boarding, they greeted others as they made their way toward the Cyber Mine.
It seemed quite lively.
Inside the carriages, pedestrians could occasionally be seen walking back and forth.
Today's Stellar Train didn't feel crowded inside at all, as the permanent population wasn't that large.
"Morning, morning everyone!"
In Carriage No. 10, standing at the entrance of the Film and Television Base, Zhang Yiren's face was brimming with an uncontrollable smile, greeting everyone he saw.
"Yo."
Right at that moment...
Lao Zhu walked over from the side, hugging a stack of documents. He looked at Zhang Yiren and laughed, "Looks like the box office did pretty well, huh? You're happy as a clam."
"It's alright, it's alright."
Zhang Yiren grinned widely. "Enough to make a living. It's mostly because Lord Mang steered us in the right direction. Anyway, Captain Zhu, did you come here specifically to look for me?"
"Yeah."
Lao Zhu nodded and handed the stack of documents to Zhang Yiren. "These materials contain some core values we need to promote. Remember to incorporate them when you shoot your next movie. Your influence is quite significant now. A lot of people love watching your films, calling you the strongest director of the new generation after the apocalypse."
"That's too much praise," Zhang Yiren whispered, looking a bit embarrassed. "Up until now, I'm the only director anyway. How could I not be the strongest..."
"Alright now."
Lao Zhu waved his hand without saying much more. Instead, he continued walking toward the rear carriages of the train. He had some business with Li Shu.
Stellar Train, Carriage 4: Premium Female Talent Carriage.
Inside this carriage.
Originally, it housed two women who took care of Lord Mang's physiological needs, Ji Chuchu and Yan Yao.
Now, there were eight more.
They were the fairy maidens cultivated over the years by the eight major factions of the Xuanwu Civilization. Each possessed an absolute zenith of temperament. Whether it was their appearance, aura, or their refinement and moral character, they completely outclassed Ji Chuchu and Yan Yao in almost every aspect.
They belonged to the category of ultimate beauties who were theoretically masters of the bedroom, yet had never actually experienced it.
Especially their temperament.
That innate purity of a cultivator's untainted body was an effect Ji Chuchu couldn't achieve even if she used the Medical Pod countless times. Their fair skin glowed with a rosy, tender hue that seemed ready to drip water, and they exuded a faint, natural fragrance. They were absolute stunners.
Currently, exactly ten people lived in this carriage.
As for those eight new women, they had gone from slight initial resistance to gradually becoming somewhat numb and bewildered.
From a very young age, they knew that their future mission was to be gifted by their sects to a man—a man who could save the Xuanwu Civilization and turn the tide of their fate. The focus of all their hard work had always been mastering the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, and other various arts.
When they were sent to the Stellar Train.
They did feel a hint of resistance in their hearts.
After all, they had never even met the man, nor did they know what he looked like. They only knew he was the unanimous choice of the eight major sects.
He was the destination of their destiny.
But...
Very quickly, they realized something wasn't quite right. They seemed to have been ignored...
That Lord Mang had absolutely no intention of paying any attention to them.
Let alone talking about bearing his children.
He was too lazy to even touch them.
This forced them to doubt their own charm. Over the years, they had specifically sought out female elders from the Joyous Union Sect for secret training. When it came to bedroom affairs, though they hadn't put it into practice, their theoretical knowledge was perfectly mastered!
It just seemed like there was no opportunity to apply it.
"..."
Ji Chuchu sat somewhat dazedly at the edge of the train, gazing out the window at the beautiful scenery. The vast universe always looked stunning. For example, the pale yellow dust clouds in the distance looked incredible. She had no idea how those pale yellow clouds formed.
But they were indeed very beautiful.
She liked them a lot.
Lord Mang hadn't sought her out in a very, very long time.
She felt like she was turning back into a virgin.
The Stellar Train was developing rapidly, but their carriage seemed to have been abandoned, completely ignored by everyone.
She had tried to demonstrate her value through other means, such as finding some kind of job to do. However, when she applied for a position with Lao Zhu, she was directly rejected. His implicit and explicit message was simple: she didn't need to work.
"Um..."
Just then...
One of the eight fairy maidens stood up, walked over to Ji Chuchu, and cautiously asked, "Sister Chuchu, does Lord Mang have... some kind of physical dysfunction? Our sect has prescriptions for that sort of thing."
"No."
Ji Chuchu rolled her eyes at the woman. "You're overthinking it. He's simply too lazy to sleep with you. And even if he did have an issue, the Stellar Train has far more treatment methods for that than your sect, and they work much better."
She had to admit.
The woman in front of her completely crushed her in both temperament and appearance. This left Ji Chuchu without the temper to argue, and she had to accept the very real possibility that she would gradually become invisible on the train. In a few years, she would probably move from this carriage to the Water Blue Star and live out the rest of her life as an ordinary person.
Carriage 2, Armor R&D Center.
Qi Ke Xiu was standing at the experimental workbench, continuously testing various things. He didn't plan on creating a particularly complex train component blueprint right away. He wanted to start with a simple one just to get things rolling. As long as he got off to a good start, everything else would logically fall into place.
Beside him, several robots were assisting in the work.
Various data points scrolled continuously across the screens.
These were all the results of the research chips in operation.
On the Unnamed Planet left behind by the Mechanical Civilization, they had found numerous research chips that drastically accelerated their research progress. Meanwhile, all the computational work was handed over to Xiao Ai, utilizing her absurdly high computing power to run the simulations.
"Simulation failed."
Standing nearby, Xiao Ai shook her head and looked at the red exclamation mark on the screen. "Unable to form a blueprint. Parameter error. Please readjust."
Manufacturing a physical component was simple.
Things like a refrigerator or a bicycle.
But compressing it into a Primordial Blueprint and gaining the acknowledgment of the universe's rules was quite troublesome. It required constant parameter adjustments and endless calculations.
The entire process could roughly be understood like this:
It was like taking an irregular octagonal prism and adjusting its angle until it perfectly fit into a corresponding groove. Once it was smoothly inserted, the Primordial Blueprint for that component was successfully created.
Generally speaking.
This insertion process wasn't too difficult.
The truly difficult part was figuring out how to manufacture a genuinely useful component in the first place, like the Doppelganger Radar. If you wanted to create a Primordial Blueprint for such an item, you first had to build the actual component, and building that wasn't easy. Another example was the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon—those were massive undertakings.
But...
Building something like a bicycle was much simpler.
They had already built the bicycle; they were just stuck on the insertion phase. This phase was easy for civilizations with a deep foundation, but for a newly established civilization starting from scratch like theirs, it required an enormous amount of experimentation.
Only when they managed to experiment and discover the corresponding parameters for inserting different grades of components into their respective grooves would they truly possess their own foundational technology.
In the future, they would no longer be stumped by this step.
The beginning of anything was always the hardest.
"Oh?"
Xiao Ai, standing to the side, suddenly paused. She turned and walked toward the exterior of the Space Portal. "The dark side of Mining Star No. 1 has finally been completely excavated. You keep busy here; I'm going to bring that batch of ore out."
This Ore Star was the very first mining planet they had encountered after leaving the Water Blue Star.
It also provided the first massive windfall of resources that allowed the Stellar Train to venture deeper into the cosmos.
At the time, the dark side couldn't be mined due to the extremely harsh environment. Lord Mang had placed it inside the Space Portal, using the Stellar Cabin to alter its conditions until it met the mining requirements. They had been slowly extracting resources from it right inside the Stellar Train.
So much time had passed.
With a significant increase in the number of mining robots, it had finally been fully stripped bare.
One had to marvel at their luck.
For a newly emerging civilization, if they hadn't encountered such an Ore Star right after leaving the Water Blue Star, it would have been nearly impossible for them to begin their interstellar journey. They simply wouldn't have had enough resources to support travel to other destinations.
The universe was immense.
Even if you traveled forward through space for thousands or tens of thousands of years, you wouldn't see the edge of the universe.
And that was assuming you had enough resources.
If resources were lacking.
Moving even an inch in the cosmos would be a monumental struggle. You would be trapped on your own planet, forever unable to step into the interstellar age.
A few hours later.
Chen Mang woke up. In the dim lighting of the train cabin, he sat up in bed and gazed at the distant, twinkling stars out the window. Surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, the cabin offered an incredibly clear view of the cosmos.
"Phew..."
He exhaled softly before quickly washing up. Sitting back in his chair, he lit a cigarette and began flipping through the train logs.
This was a habit he had developed a long time ago.
Although the train logs rarely contained any crucial information anymore—after all, it was highly unlikely that monsters would attack his train while he slept—the habit remained. In addition to the logs, he also browsed the Kasa Daily, as well as the daily newspapers of several major civilizations in the 27th Galaxy.
It helped him stay informed about what was happening in this region of space.
Propping his feet up on the control console, Chen Mang leaned back in his chair. Holding a remote control, he rapidly scrolled through today's news on the large screen nearby.
A lot of the news was just chaotic nonsense.
For example...
"The stunning Empress Gao Yali officially announced her marriage to the 78-year-old kung fu superstar Zhang Qida yesterday. This has left countless fans puzzled. Why would the Empress marry an elderly man in the prime of her life? Could this truly be love?"
It was entertainment news.
Even interstellar civilizations couldn't do without the existence of the entertainment industry. After all, actors and performers had been an indispensable part of human society since ancient times.
It was just that...
In modern times, their status had been elevated.
Many people who obsessively chased celebrities weren't actually going crazy. Although they would often find plenty of excuses for themselves—like "my favorite idol works so hard," "he is truly amazing," or "he is incredibly talented."
Fundamentally, it was a lack of internal fulfillment. They needed to believe in something to complete their own inner selves.
And so, they began idolizing stars.
They weren't chasing the star, but rather the idealized version of themselves in their own hearts.
In an interstellar civilization, the status of celebrities didn't seem low either, and they could still garner the adoration of many. It was just that, looking at the headline, Chen Mang felt the journalist still needed a lot more practice.
In the eyes of the journalists from his previous world, this news headline was completely amateurish.
For example:
"Shocking! 28-Year-Old Stunning Empress Marries 78-Year-Old Kung Fu Emperor! Late-Night Secret Photos Leaked—You'll Go Weak at the Knees by the 4th Picture!"
"The Truth Behind Marrying a Veteran Actor 50 Years Her Senior! Gao Yali's Best Friend Spills the Beans Drunk: He's Even Better in Bed!"
"'Does She Like Him Old? Does She Like Him Ugly?' The Whole Internet Slams the Empress for Throwing Herself at an Old Megastar! One Photo from the Wedding Exposes a Heaven-Shaking Secret!"
"Empress Gao Yali Announces Marriage! The Groom is Actually Bedridden? Insider Reveals She Bet Her Career on True Love!"
Pull out any one of those headlines.
Wouldn't it instantly slaughter the original one?
They didn't even know the three essential elements of journalism yet still worked in the industry. The professional standards of the news personnel in the Kasa Civilization Federation were simply too poor.
Exposure, controversy, and engagement.
They didn't even know how to take things out of context, rearrange facts, and stir up emotions, yet they dared to call themselves journalists.
However...
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly. Hidden among several mundane articles, one piece of news caught his attention.
"An apocalyptic planet has been discovered at the end of Wormhole No. 2719, drawing numerous explorers to the site."
An apocalyptic planet?
It was just like when the Water Blue Star was experiencing its apocalypse. In the eyes of these civilized federations, planets undergoing an apocalypse often contained massive amounts of wealth. For example, Murphy Stones. A planet in the throes of an apocalypse would yield quite a few of them.
Or perhaps some special items.
These kinds of things were produced in much higher quantities on an apocalyptic planet.
And most importantly... a galaxy map.
Some apocalyptic planets housed vast legacies left behind by the Mechanical Civilization. Among them, the 'Galaxy Map' fetched the highest price. If one could get their hands on it, they would become instantly rich beyond their wildest dreams. That was no exaggeration.
As long as you found a famous and powerful enough auction house to sell it, the profits would be more than enough to ensure you'd never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of your life, with plenty to spare.
That was a rare two-way wormhole.
Among the many wormholes that the Kasa Civilization had opened for free this time, the vast majority were one-way—you could go, but you couldn't return. Everyone was expected to come back together once the war ended. Only a tiny fraction were two-way wormholes.
This Wormhole No. 2719 just so happened to be one of them.
"..."
Chen Mang continuously swiped across the screen. The newspaper even attached several photos showing train captains beaming with wide smiles after securing their loot.
Very quickly.
He made up his mind to join in on the fun.
To go take a look.
Wormhole No. 2719 was located next to the mother planet of the Coriander Civilization in the 27th Galaxy.
He shook his head, helplessly locked onto the coordinates, and pushed the control lever to head toward the Coriander Civilization. How could there be a civilization with such a ridiculous name?
The Coriander Civilization.
The Great Onion Civilization.
Tomorrow he'd probably find a Sichuan Peppercorn Civilization. Group them all together, and they'd make a complete Hotpot Civilization.
Before long.
The Stellar Train was already closing in on the Coriander Civilization. But just as Chen Mang prepared to keep moving toward the wormhole entrance, he suddenly paused. The Doppelganger Radar screen displayed something unexpected:
Down below, within the Coriander Civilization, there was a massive number of people from the Great Onion Civilization.
After hesitating for a moment, he changed direction, deciding to make a pit stop at the Coriander Civilization first. He knew the Great Onion Civilization had been wiped out, and Young Master Li was lucky to be alive. If he could bring back this large group of survivors, the Great Onion Civilization might have a chance to rebuild in the future, preventing their complete extinction in the universe.
Although Young Master Li hadn't shown much usefulness on the train so far.
He was still following him.
And he was, after all, the master of Xiao Lu's little underling.
In terms of reason and emotion, if he could casually help one of his subordinates, he wouldn't refuse. Not to mention, he easily possessed the power to do so now.
Half an hour later.
The Stellar Train gently descended upon the Coriander Civilization and slowly drove toward a massive manor situated on a grassy plain.
"Young Master Li,"
Chen Mang said casually from his chair, "There are quite a few of your people from the Great Onion Civilization in that manor up ahead. I checked, and there are roughly three thousand of them. With a group that size, your civilization might just have a chance to rebuild in the future."
"Take some men and go negotiate."
"See if you can keep a low profile and buy them back with money."
"If that doesn't work,"
"Then just use force."
"That's probably unlikely." Young Master Li shook his head, his expression looking rather ugly. "The Coriander Civilization and the Great Onion Civilization have been mortal enemies since ancient times. We don't eat coriander, and they don't eat green onions. What's more, both sides absolutely detest the smell of the other's crop."
"Under such irreconcilable differences, the relationship between our two civilizations is terrible."
"The other side must have seen that the Great Onion Civilization was destroyed and took advantage of the situation, gathering a large number of our people to serve as their slaves, using this method to exact their revenge."
"Let's go take a look first."
Young Master Li didn't say anything more. With a tall green onion sticking straight up from his head, he immediately led a squad of armed robots and slowly approached the manor. His eyes burned with wrath and indignation. The Great Onion Civilization had already been destroyed, yet the people of the Coriander Civilization were still humiliating their surviving kin like this. How could he not be furious?
There were absolutely no obstacles along the way.
They smoothly entered the manor.
Even the main gates were left wide open.
Just as Young Master Li was wondering why a manor's defenses would be so terrible, an old man leaning on a cane slowly walked out from the depths of the estate, flanked by a group of attendants.
"Fei Lao?"
Young Master Li paused slightly, a flash of admiration crossing his eyes, but he still forcefully suppressed his anger and said hoarsely, "Fei Lao, the Great Onion Civilization is gone. Thank you for taking in my people. I want to take them away. Name your price."
He had only ever seen this old man on television before. He was the previous leader of the Coriander Civilization; the current leader was his son.
He was a very capable old man.
Even though their two civilizations had irreconcilable differences, he had to admit that this old man was truly formidable. If nothing else, this elder had single-handedly transformed the Coriander Civilization into a tourism powerhouse.
The Great Onion Civilization possessed two habitable planets—one was their mother planet, and the other was solely for planting green onions.
The Coriander Civilization was exactly the same—one mother planet, and one for planting coriander.
Fei Lao capitalized on the internet debate over whether or not people ate coriander to successfully turn their coriander-covered planet into a viral tourist hotspot. He drew in countless people to visit, snap a photo, and post it to their social media feeds with captions like, "Finally planted the whole world with coriander."
For a long time, Fei Lao had been the role model he aspired to emulate.
He also wanted to be like Fei Lao and turn the Great Onion Civilization's planet into a tourist destination. That was precisely why he had teamed up with the Jimei Tourism Company. However, just as he was starting to make progress, disaster struck.
An unforeseen calamity directly destroyed his planet.
"..."
Fei Lao didn't speak. He simply stood there with a somewhat dazed expression, looking at Young Master Li as the sprig of coriander on his head fluttered in the wind. After a long while, he finally murmured, "I know you. You are the eldest son of the Li family. When I was younger and had a meeting with your father, he brought you along. I even held you back then."
"Have you grown this big in the blink of an eye?"
"What a pity."
"Your father was a good man."
After a long silence, he gently waved his hand. "The Great Onion Civilization has fallen, and your father is dead. You must now shoulder the responsibilities of a civilization's leader. This position represents not only power but also obligation. Rights and duties are forever bound together."
"No one can solely enjoy the privileges without fulfilling the obligations."
"I wasn't happy when the Great Onion Civilization fell. We both understand the principle of Cold Teeth without Lips. The strength of our civilizations was roughly equal. Although we had our conflicts over the years, they were mostly clashes of values. We never engaged in all-out war, and there were no casualties."
"It's just that the core value of our Coriander Civilization is that we find it difficult to accept people who don't eat coriander."
"These survivors from the Great Onion Civilization are simply people I temporarily took in. Since you're here, just take them all away. There is no price. I am not selling slaves."
"..."
Young Master Li's lips parted slightly a few times. He bowed slightly, his eyes red. "Thank you."
He hesitated, clearly torn on whether to speak, but after struggling for a while, he finally voiced his thoughts.
"This is the biggest difference between the Great Onion Civilization and the Coriander Civilization. Even though we love eating green onions, we don't demand that everyone else eats them. But your Coriander Civilization wants to force everyone in the world to eat coriander."
"What else?"
The old man's expression remained perfectly calm. "If the Coriander Civilization were a Level 3 Civilization, then every civilization—including the Zerg Civilization—would be forced to eat coriander. Anyone who refused would be detained for 15 days."
"Alright, go on now."
"The train behind you looks quite formidable. It seems you've found an opportunity of your own. This world is getting increasingly chaotic. It's a world for you young people now. We old folks can no longer keep up."
This brief interlude ended quickly.
No conflict broke out between the two sides.
It was even quite harmonious.
Young Master Li brought the 3,000-plus surviving members of the Great Onion Civilization back to the Stellar Train, temporarily settling them on the Water Blue Star. When Young Master Li looked at his people, each with a green onion atop their heads, his eyes grew wet and red.
He finally felt like he had a home again.
He had thought he would be utterly alone in this vast universe.
"Captain Zhu, please pass on my gratitude to Lord Mang."
Young Master Li knelt on the ground, turning his head to look at Lao Zhu with bloodshot eyes and a hoarse voice.
"Yeah, get up."
Lao Zhu helped Young Master Li to his feet, sighing emotionally at the scene before him. "I really want to bring in some folks from the Coriander Civilization in the future. I feel like sooner or later, the Stellar Train will successfully collect the entire Hotpot Civilization."
"That would be great."
"Hey, Young Master Li, tell me. Even though the Great Onion Civilization and the Coriander Civilization have different physical traits, you're all fundamentally human. Could you intermarry? Would that produce a human with both coriander and a green onion on their head?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Young Master Li looked a bit embarrassed and whispered, "The green onions on the heads of our Great Onion Civilization people are sensitive organs. They are an unskippable part of foreplay. But the people of the Coriander Civilization... don't eat green onions. The same goes for their coriander, and we don't eat coriander."
"..."
Lao Zhu looked up at the stiff, straight green onion standing tall on Young Master Li's head. He remained completely silent. It took him a long while to finally say, "Actually, I don't eat green onions either."
"I know, Captain Zhu. You don't need to explain."
"I really don't eat them."
"I really know."
"Even if I ate them before, I definitely won't ever eat them again."
"Uh..."
Standing to the side, Doba, Pluplu, and the others watched the scene and couldn't help but sigh. Only those who had experienced the extermination of their own civilization could truly understand how it felt to find their kin in the vast expanse of the universe.
Pluplu, in particular, felt this the most deeply.
He was willing to abandon the Philia Pirate Group he had run for so long just to join the Stellar Train, all because his people were on board.
It gave him the feeling that he was no longer alone.
Even though every day was far more exhausting than before.
The feeling of building a city that belonged to their own civilization still made him incredibly happy. The only thing he was dissatisfied with was...
"Doba, isn't this the city of our Goblin Civilization? Why are the people of the Great Onion Civilization being housed here with us?"
"Captain Zhu said it's a temporary arrangement, and they'll be moving out soon."
"You need to tactfully bring this up with Captain Zhu and have them move out as quickly as possible. The proud Goblin Civilization will absolutely not share a city with the foolish Great Onion Civilization."
"I know. Also, I expect you to call me Chief from now on."
"Understood, Chief."
Although they felt deeply sympathetic toward the plight of the Great Onion Civilization, sympathy was one thing, and living in their city was another entirely. He had worked painstakingly to build so many new houses; those were for the future newborns of the Goblin Civilization, not for these Great Onion people.
With this minor episode resolved, the Stellar Train set off once again. It didn't take long for them to travel through Wormhole No. 2719, arriving 3,000 light-years away.
This location was still tens of thousands of light-years away from the Zerg Civilization's territory.
It belonged to the buffer zone between the two civilizations.
It was basically devoid of danger.
The main combat zone at present was still within the Zerg Civilization's territory. How exactly the war was progressing remained unknown for now. The daily newspapers only reported that the war had begun, without detailing any concrete outcomes.
However, he could roughly deduce a thing or two via the Doppelganger Radar.
Both sides were still in the probing phase.
And it was very obvious.
The Zerg Civilization was indeed waging war against another civilization on a different front. For the time being, they were thrown into a bit of a panic, unable to properly defend both their front and rear simultaneously.
This place served as a logistics transit station.
That apocalyptic planet shouldn't have been discovered by anyone.
But a significant number of people from the Kasa Civilization Federation had signed up for the free army. Half of them went into the one-way wormholes, while the other half chose the two-way wormholes. This second group didn't bother jumping further, nor did they head to the battlefield. They simply loitered around the end of the two-way wormholes, trying their luck to see if they could stumble upon any fortuitous encounters.
And they actually did.
That was exactly how this apocalyptic planet was discovered.
"..."
The Stellar Train drilled out of the wormhole, locked onto a direction, and sped away. At a glance, a massive number of trains formed a torrent of steel rushing forward. An impressive number of people had come, yet it didn't feel crowded in the slightest.
The universe, after all, was simply too vast.
"What a pitiful civilization."
Chen Mang sighed softly. This civilization was already suffering through an apocalypse. After undergoing this fresh baptism of chaos, it was hard to say how many people would actually survive. If he had faced something like this during his own apocalypse, he would have been completely helpless.
The lowest-level trains here possessed roughly the same strength he had when he was on the Water Blue Star.
Those who dared to come exploring.
How could any of them be mediocre?
Anyone coming here to pan for gold definitely had a few tricks up their sleeve.
He didn't drive too fast.
After all, he wasn't planning on harvesting anything. Things like Murphy Stones or galaxy maps were of little use to him. Even if there were Murphy Stones, there wouldn't be many. There was only one galaxy map, and he didn't believe he had the luck to obtain it. Besides, he already had one and didn't feel any pressing need for another. Its only real use would be selling it for a large haul of iron ore.
About seven hours later.
The Stellar Train successfully arrived at the apocalyptic planet.
It was a pitiful little planet orbiting its host star.
At this moment, countless trains were already parked outside the planet, nearly completely surrounding it.
"Let me see..."
Chen Mang looked at the information on the Target-Acquisition Radar. The strongest train on this apocalyptic planet was only level 17, which meant the apocalypse hadn't started that long ago. For checking train component levels and such, the Target-Acquisition Radar was much more professional.
As for the other trains in the vicinity.
They were mostly average.
Nothing too powerful.
When a train's level was around 20, it was still easy to gauge its combat power. However, once it reached level 27, judging its exact strength became extremely difficult.
For instance:
The Stellar Train was currently at level 27.
It hadn't leveled up to 28 yet.
It had been a long time since its last upgrade. If judged solely by level, there were quite a few trains in the area that were higher-level than him. But in terms of actual combat power, even if every train here banded together, they wouldn't be enough to scratch him.
-
[Upgrade Requirements]: Consume 200,000 units of Level 3 Iron Ore; have a train survivor population exceeding 5,000; total component level must exceed 550; at least one Pink or Prismatic-grade component must be above Level 50; and must leave the current planet.
-
"..."
Chen Mang glanced at the upgrade conditions. He planned to wait until this matter was resolved, and then he would upgrade the train in one go until it could be upgraded no further. He estimated that reaching level 35 shouldn't be a problem. He wanted to see if it would unlock any new functions, or perhaps new component blueprints and the like.
Just at that moment...
Chen Mang froze slightly, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. Suddenly, something felt wrong. Why did all the survivors on this planet give off such an incredibly bizarre vibe?
He switched the screen to the Doppelganger Radar, selected a survivor settlement, and continuously zoomed in on the image.
This was a human planet.
The human on the screen gradually expanded to fill the entire display, to the point where even their blood vessels were distinctly visible. He could clearly see that this human's eyes were dull and lifeless. Sitting on a stool like a walking corpse, the veins bulged thickly beneath their skin, horrifyingly clear.
Moreover...
It wasn't just one person. As he constantly switched the feed to different feeds, he saw that every single survivor looked exactly like this.
He fell into a heavy silence, not saying a word.
Could these even still be called human?
They looked like a bunch of zombies. It didn't seem like there was a single living soul left on this planet. It appeared that the other trains were completely unaware of this, which meant the explorers weren't the ones responsible for this state.
Perhaps...
A sudden possibility flashed through his mind.
How were apocalypses formed?
They were caused by the fallout from the Zerg Civilization. The Zerg cast massive amounts of eggs into the universe, and whenever these eggs landed on a planet, that world would face an apocalypse. If the planet also received the gifts of the Mechanical Civilization, its people would gain the means to build trains and seal the monsters in distinct zones, giving their civilization a fighting chance to survive.
But if a civilization did not receive the Mechanical Civilization's gifts, it was practically doomed to extinction.
The Zerg Civilization had many objectives behind this behavior.
One of them was prospecting for resource mines.
If there were high-level resource mines nearby that made a trip worthwhile, the Zerg Civilization would use the coordinates of these eggs to open wormholes and dispatch their armies. In other words, every apocalyptic planet was actually a potential wormhole opening point for the Zerg.
And the humans on this planet...
Gave him the distinct impression that they had failed to survive the apocalypse and had gone extinct long ago. The Zerg Civilization had carefully disguised the planet, leaked the news to attract a massive swarm of explorers, and was preparing to open a wormhole to send their army over.
The very instant this thought crossed his mind.
Chen Mang didn't hesitate for a split second. He immediately turned the train around and shot off into the distance, completely losing any desire to explore. He had absolutely no intention of getting dragged into the war in such a manner. With the power of the Stellar Train, he was fully capable of intervening in the war.
But he wanted to intervene on his own terms.
Not be forced into it.
To him, there was a stark difference.
It was just that...
He couldn't understand. The people who came were merely explorers. Did the Zerg Civilization really expend so much effort just to slaughter some independent adventurers?
That didn't add up, did it?
What were they plotting?
And the most baffling part was, did the Zerg Broodmother possess enough intelligence to lay such a trap? He had always thought the Zerg Civilization was just a horde of monsters acting purely on instinct.
In just a few minutes.
Sprinting at full speed, the Stellar Train had already dashed a tremendous distance away.
But right at that moment...
A wormhole suddenly materialized directly in front of the Stellar Train. No, it wasn't just one. Dozens of wormholes appeared simultaneously in its path! Traveling at such high speed, there was absolutely no time to evade, and the Stellar Train plunged headfirst right into one!
The moment they smashed into it, Chen Mang's expression shifted slightly.
It was over.
This was a fucking two-way wormhole!
The train careened rapidly through the wormhole. There was no turning back now. Even in a two-way wormhole, it was impossible to pull off a U-turn midway through. He could even clearly see massive Zerg motherships brushing past him in the opposite direction.
Although there was no communication between the two sides.
He could practically sense the sheer bewilderment radiating from those Zerg motherships.
Good heavens.
He had never imagined that he would enter the Zerg Civilization's territory in such a ridiculous manner.
Soon enough...
The wormhole reached its end. Like a great mechanical dragon, the Stellar Train burst out of the tunnel and emerged into an unfamiliar stretch of space. The area was surrounded by numerous planets, and the void was swarming with countless Zerg motherships.
For a lone Mechanical Train to abruptly appear here... it was incredibly conspicuous.
This was...
The Zerg Brood Hive.
A place Commander Li hadn't even managed to reach, yet here he was.
The absolute heart of the Zerg's territory.
"..."
The corners of Chen Mang's mouth twitched. Taking advantage of the fact that all the Zerg motherships and the massive swarm of monsters floating in space were still in a state of utter stupefaction, he didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately whipped the train around and dived straight back into the wormhole behind him.
He moved incredibly fast.
So fast that absolutely no one had time to react.
Only when he embarked on the return journey through the wormhole did he let out a tiny sigh of relief. What the hell was all this...
How did they run into each other so quickly?
However, right before he left, while the Zerg were still too stunned to react, he casually tossed a few refrigerators out of the train.