Chapter 50:

A cigarette burned out. The scarlet glow vanished over the Desolate Wilderness, like a shooting star across the sky, or a young man’s restrained affection, gone in an instant, unnoticed by anyone. "..." Chen Mang walked into the train compartment, sat at the control console, and pressed a red button on it. Accompanied by the clunking sound of gears turning, mechanical limbs like spider legs extended from the bottom of the carriage, replacing the Wind-Fire Wheel. The entire Constant Star Train instantly transformed into a giant centipede-like creature. "Huh..." He exhaled lightly, a hint of determination in his eyes. The Desolate Wilderness was almost entirely flat, with no bumps, giving him no place to experiment, although this Accessory Effect allowed free driving on a ninety-degree cross-section, he had never truly experienced it. He slowly pressed the gas pedal. The train began inching forward toward the edge of the cliff. Meanwhile, the "Train Assistance AI" in the console scrolled several information streams on the screen. - "The slope ahead is downward 90 degrees, normal driving possible." - When the first mechanical limb at the forefront of the train touched the cliff face, Chen Mang only felt a clunk inside the train, and then the entire train truly drove as steadily on the cliff face as a centipede. There were no headlights. In the darkness of the night, the abyss below was extremely dark, like the Gate of Hell, captivating and unnerving. The intense feeling of weightlessness made Chen Mang’s chest feel a bit tight. The seatbelt held him firmly in the seat, but others in the carriage weren’t as fortunate. He had sent out a warning in advance; there were no seatbelts or anything to secure them, so they had to maintain a good posture and all squeeze together on one side of the carriage. Although there was no life-threatening danger, it certainly wasn’t comfortable. To prevent his slaves from suffocating as the train descended the cliff like a centipede, he opened all the doors at the rear half of the carriage to keep the air as oxygenated as possible inside. ... Ten minutes later. There was no light visible anymore. The pitch-black abyss enveloped the entire train, with only the dim lights inside the carriage, like fighters in the tidal wave of history, burning their limited life to resist the encroaching darkness. Visibility was almost zero. Chen Mang couldn’t see anything ahead, relying entirely on the "Train Assistance AI" accessory to confirm that it was safe to continue driving. He had descended 2000 meters. He tried to maintain a relatively steady speed because descending too quickly might cause discomfort for the slaves. Finally— after thirty minutes. Upon the "Train Assistance AI" alert indicating the approaching bottom, accompanying another clunk, the train had come to a steady stop at the bottom of the cliff. ... "..." Chen Mang jumped out of the train compartment, standing in the pitch-black abyss, looking up at the starry sky through a slit, feeling a sense of trance. It was his first time in such an environment, like standing in mud yet still gazing at the stars, full of a unique sense of solitary romance. And the "Resource Detection Radar" beeped as well. Indicating an unmined Level 2 iron mine within 800 meters nearby. He had been monitoring the Target Detection Radar the whole way, and from the start to the touch-down, not a single red dot appeared on it. This place was a natural barrier, no creature could get here. Perhaps if there were flying creatures, they might reach this place, but so far he hadn’t seen any flying creatures. Old Pig had already finished counting and came running over. "Master Mang, no slave casualties; just some bruises, nothing that would affect their work." "Hmm." Chen Mang nodded and softly said, "Everyone rest here overnight and start working at dawn." "Understood." After Old Pig left, Chen Mang looked at the spider-like mechanical limbs under the train. He had spent a total of 8100 units of Spider Silk to upgrade the "Spider Foot" accessory from Level 4 to Level 13. Upon reaching Level 5, the first Supermodel Effect was unlocked. "Spider Foot Level 5 Supermodel Effect": Can switch to spider-walk mode, reducing movement noise by 100%. Upon reaching Level 10, the second Supermodel Effect was unlocked. "Spider Foot Level 10 Supermodel Effect": The spider foot can spray two strands of Spider Silk up to 100 meters long lasting for an hour in front, allowing the train to drive steadily on the silk, consuming 100 units of Level 1 Spider Silk for every 100 meters sprayed. "..." He stood calmly with a cane at the abyss bottom, looked at these two Supermodel Effects. The first Supermodel Effect was somewhat average; the train’s movement noise was not only from the wheels but also included engine roars, carriage hinge collisions, etc., unless other accessories could reduce these noises as well. Plus ignoring radar, and even spatial distortion techniques. Then, the whole train would glide in the dark, silently like a ghost. The second Supermodel Effect had numerous use cases. For instance, if he wanted to get to the other side of the Doomsday Abyss, with this effect, he wouldn’t need to detour, only need to spray Spider Silk onto the other side of the cliff, allowing the train to travel freely on it, spanning the chasm like walking a tightrope. Or in the city, with this effect and the inherent Spider Foot effect, he could control the train to roam freely on the skyline. Whether for escape or resource scavenging, it’s very useful. "Quite good." After laughing softly, Chen Mang returned inside the train, ready to work tomorrow morning. ... A few hours later. It was dawn. The train had stopped by the Level 2 iron mine, an open-air mine, not underground, skipping many steps, significantly improving mining efficiency. Looking up, he could see sunlight like a ray of heaven. However, sunlight barely reached the abyss bottom, it was still relatively dark below, only by looking up could one see the faint sunlight, accompanied by a breeze sweeping across everyone. Every slave received a bowl of hot water and several warm steamed buns, with one pack of pickled vegetables shared among ten people. Of course, when referring to slaves here, it meant the former Level 2 train slaves. The newly received batch of Level 3 slaves received sliced bread. Today’s food standard for everyone rose by one level, typically steamed buns were only for the thugs and Train Captain to eat. To drive out the cold. Last night, Chen Mang consumed 100 units of iron ore to upgrade the "Pickaxe Production Line" to Level 2, now producing pickaxes capable of mining Level 2 resources, though crafting a Level 2 pickaxe required 10 units of iron ore. He only had 70 units of iron ore left, enough to make 7 Level 2 pickaxes. But that’s not a big deal. There’s a Level 2 iron mine nearby, just a bit of random digging would extract enough iron ore to craft Level 2 pickaxes. The Constant Star Train’s door was open and parked nearby, providing a faint light source with its dim lighting. This was the best resource these slaves had enjoyed in recent days. And the best the train could offer to the slaves for now. All for one reason— This Level 2 iron mine.