MDT Chapter 236 (Patreon)

Chapter 236: "Mang"

The number of trains within Search Radar range gradually increased.

The first few stopped about a thousand meters from the Stellar—a safe distance. They didn't approach closer, just observed from the sidelines, waiting for something.

As more arrived, the Stellar became completely surrounded.

A dozen trains had parked around it, each maintaining distance from the others. Occasionally, trains that knew each other would cluster together.

"There's this kind of move?"

Inside the control car, Chen Mang wasn't concerned about being surrounded. According to Search Radar data, none of these trains posed a threat. The highest-level weapon among them: a Level 12 Comet Main Cannon.

Still couldn't break his defense.

He had Level 12 Armor.

Many of these trains still used Chaebol Energy Shields, clearly unable to afford upgrading to Star Ring Energy Shields. This made him pessimistic about the upcoming trade. Everyone seemed... quite poor.

Could they even afford his iron ore?

His expectation: sell one Level 1 iron mine for 2 million units.

Two million for an S-rank unknown reward wasn't a loss, right?

But now... it felt like these people couldn't even scrape together 2 million. They were all pinching pennies. Was the Star Ring Energy Shield really that expensive?

"Xiao Ai."

"Here."

"Calculate the cost of upgrading Star Ring Energy Shield from Level 1 to Level 12 for ten carriages."

"320 million units of iron ore."

"Never mind."

Chen Mang silently lit a cigarette and turned to look out the window at the distant trains. Second time he'd seen this unit of measurement, and the number was absurd enough to startle him.

320 million...

And that was for ten carriages. Twenty carriages would cost 600 million.

He finally understood why these trains had become so short and compact. Many had only four or five carriages. Trains with more than twelve? You could count them on one hand.

This meant... if there was only one locomotive, upgrading Star Ring Energy Shield to Level 12 would cost 32 million.

Equivalent to mining four Level 4 iron mines.

Much more expensive than his Armor.

Back when he'd used Mofei Stones to upgrade the Traveling Frog Train's armor to Level 9, it had only cost a few million units. Even reaching Level 12 would probably be under ten million, or just over.

After all, the Level 10 Advanced Effect reduced upgrade costs by 50%.

When he'd upgraded the Stellar's armor from Level 10 to Level 12 in one go, it had only cost about 20 million.

No wonder not a single Level 12 Star Ring Energy Shield was visible. Very few trains even had Star Ring Energy Shields at all. Many still used Chaebol Energy Shields.

Some hadn't even fully upgraded their Chaebol Energy Shields—several sat at Level 7.

"Sigh."

Chen Mang let out a light sigh. He didn't usually interact much with other trains, so he hadn't realized how hard their lives were. He'd always felt that upgrading defensive accessories already consumed massive resources.

Many times, the pressure had been suffocating.

He'd never expected... other trains could still survive under these circumstances. It really wasn't easy.

Especially that one with the Level 7 Chaebol Energy Shield. How they'd survived in Crisis Valley, he had no idea. If he only had Level 7 armor, forget Crisis Valley—he wouldn't even want to visit Zombie Basin.

He'd always believed defensive accessories should match the region's level restrictions.

Whatever the highest-level monster that could appear, your defensive accessory should match that level. Only then could you have any sense of security.

But others didn't think that way.

He noticed many trains carried numerous acceleration accessories. Their strategy was clear: as long as they could outrun danger, winning fights didn't matter.

Normally, this worked fine.

But if they encountered a regional crisis like Zombie Volcano, these trains would be completely wiped out. Nowhere to run. Though in Crisis Valley, they could still flee—it connected to other Blue Zones, offering plenty of room to maneuver.

Basically, all the trains outside had been expanded.

Expansion was much cheaper than upgrading energy shields.

Once a train was expanded, theoretically one carriage could fit more accessories. Fewer carriages are needed, making energy shield construction more cost-effective.

Slaves and production lines could naturally be stored in the Spatial Gate.

But some accessories requiring mounting on the train needed the train to be large enough, or to have sufficient carriages.

"..."

Sitting in the control car, Chen Mang continued waiting patiently. Not enough trains had arrived yet, and the main character hadn't appeared. He glanced at the train's screen. For some reason, after arriving in the Blue Zone, all leaderboards had vanished.

The Power Value leaderboard, the Advanced Effect Quantity leaderboard—all gone.

The feeling was like... it was more real.

…..

"Fifteen carriages, no expansion. This guy's a damn fool."

Inside the Level 12 mechanical train Steel Dragon, a middle-aged man stood in the control car, using binoculars to carefully observe the Stellar's configuration. He sighed in frustration. "Damn, what a wasted trip!"

He'd originally had high expectations for the Stellar.

It had remote trading and could pin messages on Train Radio. Its tone seemed quite tough.

On Train Radio, its prefix read: "S-rank Potential Train."

He'd felt the Stellar must have something special.

Not an ordinary train.

He didn't need the Level 1 iron mine at all—he'd completed that encounter mission long ago. He was just curious about the Stellar and came to look. But the result...

Fifteen carriages.

How many materials would upgrading that energy shield take? Enough to bankrupt three Level 12 trains.

Why were there so few Flesh Trains in this area?

Because there were too few monsters. That group of Flesh Trains was almost starving to death and had long since fled to other regions.

"Eh?"

Just then—

The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed. He noticed a crimson-red mechanical train slowly approaching in the distance. He recognized this train. Lord Shen!

A notorious train in Crisis Valley.

Rumor said he used to play tricks and cheat at gatherings in low-level regions, then got chased into Crisis Valley. By some stroke of luck, he'd managed to establish himself.

And had already upgraded to a Level 12 mechanical train with a Level 10 Star Ring Energy Shield.

In Crisis Valley, he ranked among the top-tier trains.

Crisis Valley had only one train that was entirely crimson-red. Customizing carriage color was a function available from Level 2 trains onward. You could also print the train's name on carriages, but generally, no one did that.

One reason: they didn't want to waste resources on meaningless things.

The other: it was too high-profile and ostentatious.

"Hmph."

The middle-aged man snorted coldly. This train had a terrible reputation in Crisis Valley, but its strength and speed were formidable, so no one dared provoke it. Probably up to no good this time. But...

His eyes narrowed, cold light flashing within them as he quickly sent a private message via Train Radio to his acquaintances.

In Crisis Valley, Lord Shen wasn't the only strong one. This train usually acted arrogantly because of its extreme speed—no one could catch it. Now that it was here, if they could form an encirclement, perhaps they could take him out today.

At this moment—

On the wasteland, the number of trains surrounding the Stellar had reached over twenty.

Sitting in the control car, Chen Mang silently examined the accessory information of each train. He really should communicate more with other trains. His information was too outdated.

Worst case, he'd build a dedicated information train.

Responsible for going out and gathering intelligence on other trains.

He'd always thought he wasn't very strong.

But... after comparing himself with other trains, he realized he was ridiculously powerful. To put it bluntly, if he had more copper ore, he felt he could take on all the trains in Crisis Valley alone.

One against a horde.

Just then—

A private message came through Train Radio.

"Brother, I'm here. Where's the Level 1 iron mine? I don't see it. Are you messing with me, Lord Shen?"

Immediately after, the train's control console began flashing red, followed by a warning sound.

[Detecting incoming firepower attack. Estimated time of arrival: two seconds. Attack intensity: Level 10. Suggested response: Ignore.]

The next moment—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hundreds of shells shot from the autocannons atop the crimson-red train in the distance, instantly engulfing the Stellar. Massive amounts of smoke and fire swallowed it whole.

In an instant, the captains of all surrounding trains were stunned.

When the Stellar announced it had occupied three Level 1 iron mines and sent its coordinates, everyone understood one thing: a Level 10 mechanical train had no right to sell this mine.

Snatching it was the quickest and most convenient method.

But no one wanted to be the first to stick their neck out. After all, if someone dared to sell it, they couldn't be a fool. They must have the confidence to handle the situation.

Especially posting coordinates on the public channel—no matter how you looked at it, that didn't seem like someone lacking confidence.

Though they'd arrived early, they were still waiting... waiting for someone to make the first move.

The first bird had arrived.

And this bird was quite large. The Level 12 mechanical train Lord Shen was very strong.

The first round of probing: a Level 10 Doomsday Autocannon. Normal. Just as they were about to see if the Stellar would fight back, or if it had a Level 10 energy shield, or some special Train Specialty—

The battle was over.

There was nothing.

The Stellar seemed asleep, sitting there quietly, allowing itself to be swallowed by flames.

"Huh?"

Sitting in his control car, Lord Shen was also dumbfounded as he looked at the scene before him. He didn't press the button he'd been about to press. The energy shield should have automatically activated when detecting an attack.

Where was their energy shield?

Why didn't even the energy shield activate?

He was just probing, but he'd one-shot them?

He was ready to deal with a counterattack, but they just fizzled out like that?

Just then—

The fire and smoke gradually dissipated, and the Stellar, sitting in its original spot, reappeared in everyone's sight. It looked completely undamaged, as if it hadn't been attacked at all.

The previously calm Train Radio suddenly erupted into chaos.

The surrounding train captains quickly began expressing their confusion and bewilderment. What was going on?

"Level 10 Armor?"

Inside the Steel Dragon, the middle-aged man looked thoughtfully at the unscathed Stellar. He'd noticed its armor looked quite different from his train's armor. He hadn't thought about it before, but now it seemed all the armor on this train should be Level 10.

This... how many Mofei Stones would that require?

Wouldn't it be better to use that many Mofei Stones to upgrade the Doomsday Autocannon?

But, it had to be said, if it was Level 10 Armor, it did have the qualifications to sit at the table.

"Sigh."

Sitting in the Stellar's control car, Chen Mang sighed helplessly. His original idea was to deter everyone, then establish absolute control over the trade, but the enemies he'd expected weren't this weak...

He even wanted to pay out of pocket to upgrade these people's Search Radars.

Please, he was begging them.

Look at his accessory levels. Why couldn't they even see other trains' accessory levels?

Immediately, he decided not to waste any more time.

A Level 12 mechanical train wasn't bad. Time to end this quickly and get to the trading process. He wanted to expand his train.

The next moment—

Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!

A rumbling sound erupted from the Stellar's Carriage #14. Fire burst forth, and a missile was raised and launched into the sky.

"It's a missile!"

The captains of the surrounding trains' expressions changed slightly as they tried their best to move away from Lord Shen, avoiding the blast radius. But only Lord Shen remained stunned in place. He'd almost forgotten what he'd come here for. Why was everything he encountered so strange?

His train screen displayed:

[Attack Intensity: Level 1.]

Level 1?

Was the screen broken and missing a zero?

However, immediately after, a man's voice was transmitted clearly from the Stellar's external speakers. For some reason, this guy's speakers were exceptionally loud. Even from this distance and inside their control cars, they could hear it clearly.

"Everyone, let me introduce myself."

"My name is Chen Mang, captain of the Stellar. It was I who invited you all here to trade."

"We have fine wine for friends, and shotguns for jackals."

"To facilitate our smooth transaction later, I will first help you clean up some of the clowns."

The next moment—

People finally saw the missile's trajectory.

The missile didn't fly toward Lord Shen's train. Instead, it traced an extremely strange arc through the air, rotating rapidly in place until it formed a large character made of black smoke.

Mang.

[TN: "莽" (Mang) means "reckless" or "bold".]

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