MDT Chapter 142 Part 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 142 Part 1: Choices and Discoveries

In the silent space, a group of train residents swung their pickaxes, constantly smashing them against the Level 3 iron mine. Everyone was very invested.

After all, they didn't get to mine every day. When there was no mine, they couldn't earn Stellar Vouchers. Especially these two days, with free cola, they could constantly restore their stamina. After two days, they could have a good sleep and recover.

"Huh?"

A middle-aged man, in a moment of distraction, accidentally smashed his pickaxe on the ground beside him. Just as he was about to swing it again, he suddenly felt that the impact wasn’t right. He subconsciously crouched down, turned over the soil, and saw a Train Token that he had dug out.

Shock flashed across the middle-aged man's eyes. Almost immediately, he bent down and picked up the Train Token, gripping it tightly in his hand. His palm began to sweat profusely, his eyes full of struggle.

Although life on the Stellar was good—much better than on other trains before—if he could also have his own train, he could enjoy a life like Master Mang's. That kind of life was better.

It was just... just...After half a minute, the middle-aged man gradually calmed down and let out a long sigh. Still gripping the Train Token, he strode toward a nearby guard. The moment he made his decision, the weight lifted from his chest, and he instantly felt less nervous, his whole body relaxing.

In that half-minute, he had thought a lot. He'd thought about how to start after escaping the Stellar and building his own train, how to search for slaves, how to compete with other trains in this area for mines, how a Level 1 train should face those monsters, and how to face the Stellar's counterattack...

He'd thought a lot, and in the end, there was only one conclusion: certain death.

And if he didn't turn it in promptly and was found to be hiding a Train Token, according to the train's rules, it was still a dead end. Although he also wanted to be the master, after careful consideration, he felt that he still didn't have the ability to be one.

Building a train only required one Train Token, but to make the train survive, what was needed was not just a Train Token.

He should just work hard to save money and buy a refrigerator. That would make him feel more at ease.

"A Train Token?"

Shanmaozi took the item from the train resident in front of him, then looked him up and down. "I'll report this to Brother Biao. What's your resident number? The reward will be directly deposited into your account. You can check the change in your Stellar Vouchers on your Iris Chip."

"Resident number 891."

The middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief and said the number with a smile.

He felt much more relaxed after turning it in. Sure enough, he wasn't suitable to be a master. Just thinking about it had made his back drenched in sweat.

…….

"Damn it..."

In the Kunlun Mountains region, Erdan, sitting at the control console of the "Azure Dragon," was anxiously typing a series of messages in the chat box with Chen Mang on the train radio.

He couldn't contact Chen Mang at all. He didn't know what he was doing.

Could he be sleeping during the day? Even if he was, wouldn't the AI wake him up for something this urgent? Unless... maybe Chen Mang was such a light sleeper that he'd programmed the AI never to disturb him, no matter what.

After trying for a full dozen minutes with no response, Erdan slumped back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

"Damn it, brother," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I thought of you first when I found something good, but I can't even reach you. Don't blame me for this..."

He stared at the silent radio, frustration building. "This is the apocalypse, for crying out loud. Where the hell are you if not in the train? You're not out there swinging a pickaxe yourself, are you?"

After so long without any response, there was only one explanation: Chen Mang wasn't in the train. Wherever he was, he definitely couldn't hear the radio—otherwise, he would have heard Erdan's increasingly hoarse shouting by now.

Erdan turned his attention back to the opening in front of him.

He was deep underground, following his obsession with hidden maps. When he'd learned that all the monsters in the Kunlun Mountains had mysteriously vanished, his instincts told him something big was about to open—some kind of trial map. Mass monster disappearances didn't just happen randomly.

So he'd come to investigate.

Hours of aerial scouting had finally paid off when he spotted a valley that looked completely wrong—scarred and blasted as if it had been hit by devastating firepower. He'd brought his train underground to investigate further.

That's when he'd hit the wall—literally. An incredibly hard barrier of flesh and blood that his drill couldn't even scratch.

His experience told him what lay behind such barriers: hidden maps. So he'd begun methodically exploring around the fleshy wall, probing for an entrance or weakness.

Finally, he found what he was looking for—a breach that looked like it had been forcibly punched through by a drill, just wide enough for a train to squeeze through.

This should have been Chen Mang's moment too. They should have been exploring this together. But with no response from his friend, Erdan had no choice but to go in alone.

He took a deep breath and eased the train forward, carefully navigating through the opening. The Azure Dragon pushed through several meters of thick, fleshy wall before finally breaking into the cavern beyond.

His headlights blazed to life, revealing the scene inside.

Two massive worm monsters loomed before him.

A tortured voice roared in his ear: "Run... run... run quickly..."

Text materialized on his screen: This is the Flesh Train exclusive encounter map, 'Arsenal.'

His breath caught in his throat, heart hammering against his ribs. He slammed the controls, desperate to escape.

In his final glimpse before fleeing, he saw countless flesh spiders scuttling across the cavern ceiling like mechanical repair drones, fixing something. Even as he retreated through the opening, more spiders were already working frantically to seal the breach behind him.

……

Erdan didn't stop scrambling until he reached the Sand River Plains, where he finally caught his breath.

Those two giant worm monsters…

One look told him they were high-level. His train was no match for them.

His guess had been right—it was an encounter map, just one meant for "Flesh Trains."

"But how can it be a Flesh Train encounter map?"

Once he was sure he was safe, Erdan recalled the scene with a baffled expression. He'd seen Flesh Train-exclusive encounter maps before, but Mechanical Trains were never able to enter them.

The hole he'd seen had clearly been made by a "Drill."

Obviously the work of some Mechanical Train.

That was the basis for his assumption that this was a Mechanical Train encounter map. After all, what the hell would a Mechanical Train be doing, going to all that trouble to get into a Flesh Train's encounter map?

Wait…

His expression gradually turned strange. His Level 3 drill wouldn't have made a dent in that flesh wall; you'd need at least a Level 10 drill. And on the Sand River Plains, the only one with a Level 10 drill was probably that guy, right?

Could that hole have been made by him?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"Whew…"

Erdan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a sigh of relief. Good thing he hadn't been able to contact the guy. If he had come rushing over, all excited, only to find that the "encounter map" Erdan was talking about was the one he had just drilled out of, his face would have probably turned black on the spot.

That guy, really.

Was it necessary to upgrade a drill accessory to Level 10?

But he had to admit, the guy leveled up fast. He had just checked the "Sand River Plains Regional Leaderboard," and the guy was already Level 5. His rank had jumped from 34th to 12th.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he reached the top.

It was truly outrageous. A Level 5 train ranked higher than his Level 6 train. So embarrassing.

"Forget it!"

Erdan refocused, his expression serious as he looked at the information on the control console screen. In the green zone "Snowy World," beyond the Kunlun Mountains, a blizzard was raging. It was said that after an avalanche on a high mountain, a giant arm had been exposed at the peak.

He was going to check it out.

Not every train could fly. Meeting the flight conditions required more than just the "Bunny Cloud" accessory; you needed many other acceleration accessories as well.

And that arm was at an altitude of 2,000 meters.

Besides him, few people could get a close look.

"Let's go!"

Erdan took a deep breath, then piloted his train back into the Kunlun Mountains, preparing to cross the region to reach the "Snowy World" green zone. As for the yellow zone beyond the Kunlun Mountains, he had no intention of going there. He planned to wait until Chen Mang reached Level 6 and go with him. It would be safer.

Maybe he could get a mech blueprint.

It had been so long, and he hadn't found a single mech blueprint. Was this thing really that hard to get?

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