Under a sky full of stars.
In the deep pit of the valley, a strong smell of gunpowder lingered in the air. The slightly scorching temperature and the pungent scent of blood served as constant reminders that, just minutes ago, countless monsters had been hiding here.
Biao Zi walked at the forefront, his face alert as he swept the surroundings with a flashlight, his body tense and ready to respond to any crisis.
He suddenly saw a... partially scattered remains of a Flesh Train not far ahead, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Director Ai had told him that all the monster flesh had already been absorbed into the Train by Lord Mang.
But soon, he realized what it was. It must be the Flesh Train Lord Mang had mentioned before their departure.
Twenty minutes later.
Three Guardian squads met at the bottom of the valley, exchanging glances and shaking their heads. There was nothing unusual—just a valley that had been bombed by missiles. Everything seemed normal.
Biao Zi scanned the area reluctantly, hoping to find some minor detail. How could there be no anomaly?
A sound resembling the turning of gears slowly rose from beneath their feet. The ground beneath them instantly turned into a bottomless abyss, followed by a strong sense of weightlessness.
An unknown fear instantly enveloped everyone.
But having survived in the apocalypse for so long, and having trained in the Combat Training Virtual Space for some time, their mental resilience was strong enough not to panic in the face of sudden events.
Almost simultaneously, everyone tore off the Train Tickets that had been attached to their sleeves and ripped them apart!
With several flashes of white light.
All the Guardians disappeared from their spots, returning to the interior of the Train under the effect of the Train Tickets.
One person hadn't torn their ticket.
Biao Zi, clutching the ticket tightly in his hand, watched his expression shift rapidly, and a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and stuffed the ticket back into his coat pocket, letting his body plummet into the unknown abyss.
He was going to take a gamble.
The moment he lost his balance, he caught a glimpse of moonlight at the bottom of the abyss. Although it was extremely faint, he had noticed it. This meant there was water below, and as long as the height wasn't too great, he wouldn't die upon impact.
He wanted to gather more information below before crushing the ticket and returning to the Train.
It was time to make a contribution!
There were more and more talented individuals on the Train. If he didn't find a way to make some contributions, his seniority alone wouldn't be enough to secure his position. As for the risk of death... well, death was death. In this damned apocalypse, who could guarantee they'd live forever?
His thoughts raced through his mind. Two seconds later, Biao Zi, who had curled up into a ball with his arms around his head, slammed heavily onto the water's surface. An intense chest tightness and pain instantly overwhelmed him. Without time to think, he immediately surfaced, pulled out a flashlight, and swept it around before swimming toward the nearest shore.
As he climbed onto the shore, he first clutched the Soaring Dragon Assault Rifle in his arms, bit the flashlight in his mouth, and glanced around. Then, he focused his gaze on the scene before him, his body stiffening as an overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief gradually filled his eyes. His body even began to tremble uncontrollably.
What the hell is this situation!
"All Guardian members except Biao Zi have returned safely. The valley floor suddenly collapsed, and there were sounds of gears. We don't know what's below."
Chen Mang nodded, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the green dot that had just disappeared from the Train's control panel screen. When Biao Zi fell into the abyss, and when the valley floor closed again, the Targeting Radar could no longer detect Biao Zi's signal.
It was as if the signal had been instantly cut off.
But on the control panel's "Train Crew" display, he could clearly see the life status of all Train members. Biao Zi wasn't dead—he was still alive, but his signal couldn't be detected, just like how he hadn't been able to detect the monsters in the valley earlier.
After a pause, he spoke: "It's just that we can't detect him anymore. It's not like he's been transported to another space. The current distance is still within the range of the Train Ticket's teleportation. Even if he fell into the abyss, as long as he tears the ticket, he can still return to the Train, right?"
"Theoretically, yes."
Xiao Ai, standing beside him, nodded: "The Hive Mind has also been disconnected. I can't contact him through the Iris Chip either. Biao Zi is completely out of contact with the Stellar Train."
Chen Mang fell silent for a moment before nodding: "Let's wait and see."
In complete darkness, with only the faint light from his flashlight, Biao Zi stood on the shore, staring at the scene before him. A trace of fear flashed in his eyes as he uncontrollably gasped for air. It was already winter, and the lake water had been bone-chillingly cold. Now that he had climbed onto the shore, he felt even colder.
Even though his combat suit, which came from the Stellar Train, had a Temperature Lock feature, he still felt as if the icy water had seeped into his bones.
A massive worm, over ten meters long, lay motionless on the ground, as if in a deep sleep.
Around it, hundreds of half-meter-tall Mantis-like Monsters were busy embedding pieces of flesh onto the worm, as if assembling building blocks—constantly cutting, piecing, and stitching.
Even though he was standing on the shore.
The hundreds of Mantis-like Monsters didn't even glance at him, continuing their work in the darkness.
Biao Zi's body trembled slightly, his breathing growing more erratic as he tried to calm himself. He held the Train Ticket in his hand, ready to escape at any moment. The enormous worm left an indelible impression on him.
Its body was covered in sticky, foul-smelling liquid, and its head had no mouth or nose—just a massive maw with hundreds of fangs embedded around it. Inside its mouth, it was wrinkled like a birth canal.
It was the Worm Monster he had seen in the Mechanical City!
It seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Biao Zi looked at the hundreds of Mantis-like Monsters busily working and tried to contact Director Ai through the Hive Mind. When he received no response, he slowly began to move toward the other side. Below was a massive cavern, dozens of meters high, like a gigantic secret space.
The Mantis-like Monsters continuously and neatly sliced the flesh on the ground into pieces, then assembled them like armor onto the Worm Monster.
The horrifying worm wasn't naturally formed—it was being constructed!
He saw another Worm Monster surrounded by hundreds of Mantis-like Monsters. However... this Worm Monster seemed to be in the early stages of construction. The Mantis-like Monsters were stuffing flesh onto a Train-like skeleton.
Biao Zi suddenly realized—it was a Flesh Train! When he aimed his flashlight at the Train's cabin, he saw a person sitting in the chair.
To be precise, only a head remained, fixed to the chair.
A voice suddenly echoed from the Flesh Train, so loud it seemed to be coming from an External Loudspeaker. But there was no static—instead, it was a mournful, monster-like wail.
"Run... run... hurry..."
The words were extremely blurred, but it was unmistakably a human voice.
Biao Zi's expression changed. Of course, he knew this place was dangerous! Did they need to remind him so loudly? All the monsters would be alerted!
But soon, he noticed that the Mantis-like Monsters paid no attention to him, not even glancing his way.
He looked around again.
He decided it was time to return. He had gathered enough information. What to do next would be up to Lord Mang.
He immediately crushed the Train Ticket in his hand. In the next moment, his body turned into a flash of white light and vanished from the spot.
"The Worm Monster is built around the skeleton of a Flesh Train?"
After receiving the information Biao Zi had brought back, Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowed in deep thought.
When the Train reached Level 3, there were two career paths: "Mechanical Train" and "Flesh Train."
The "Flesh Train," while having a simpler and more straightforward development path and generally easier tasks compared to the Mechanical Train, might actually be a trap?
Chen Mang didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately took control of the Stellar Train, extended the high-speed rotating Drill Bit, and plunged straight into the mountain, heading directly for the depths of the valley. At his speed underground, even if he encountered danger, he could still escape in time.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
The Drill Bit, which had always been extremely effective, suddenly met resistance when the Stellar Train reached the depths of the valley—a wall of flesh blocked its path.
Sparks flew, and the surface of the flesh wall even emitted a burnt smell.
But after drilling for a full minute, not even a hole had been made.
Chen Mang glanced at the Train's control panel screen, which showed no information, as if the flesh wall didn't exist at all.
He immediately spent 125,000 units of Iron Ore to upgrade the Drill Bit to Level 50.
While the improvements from upgrading white-grade components weren't as dramatic as those from high-grade components—for example, the red-grade "Ground Burst Missile" at Level 6 was significantly more powerful than at Level 1—the white-grade "Repeating Ballista" at Level 6 only showed a slight increase compared to Level 1.
When the "Drill Bit," a common white-grade component, reached Level 50, it turned a deep crimson, with more threads, faster rotation, and increased hardness.
The effect was remarkable.
The seemingly indestructible flesh wall gradually gave way as the Drill Bit carved out a large hole. The Train began to push forward again. The flesh wall was thicker than he had imagined—a full two meters thick.
Finally, three minutes later, the Stellar Train broke through the flesh wall and entered the cavernous space at the bottom of the valley.
With the headlights on, the entire cavern was illuminated brightly. Chen Mang saw the two Worm Monsters Biao Zi had mentioned—still under construction.
He glanced at the Targeting Radar, which showed no red dots.
Only a line of text appeared on the screen.
"This is the exclusive Fortuitous Encounter map for the Flesh Train, the 'Armory.'"
Chen Mang looked ahead at the two Worm Monsters being constructed. His Train's movements were loud, but the Mantis-like Monsters around the Flesh Train didn't even glance back at him.
He thought of something and experimentally raised the Repeating Ballista, firing a volley at the monsters.
The sharp sound of arrows echoed through the cavern.
As expected, the arrows passed right through the Mantis-like Monsters without hitting anything. This scene wasn't real—it was like the "realistic animation" he had seen in the Mechanical City.
The sound of gears turning echoed again. The mechanism above the cavern opened once more, then quickly closed again, as if... experiencing a mechanical malfunction.
"Run... run... hurry..."
The shrill voice echoed again from the Worm Monster built around the Flesh Train's skeleton.
Chen Mang's mouth twitched as he looked at the scene before him. He even saw a line of crimson text on the nearly completed Worm Monster.
"Stellar Gen 3 Worm."
The mech in the Mechanical City was called the "Stellar Gen 3 Mech."
"Stellar" might be a title for a certain level?
He finally understood what was happening here. This was a special Fortuitous Encounter map—the "Armory," paired with the "Tower of Heaven" storyline. One was an exclusive map for the Mechanical Train, the other for the Flesh Train.
This Fortuitous Encounter map was hidden at the bottom of the valley.
Then, the original entrance, which had been hit by his perfect missile strike, had its gear mechanism damaged, causing the entrance to occasionally open and close automatically.
Biao Zi had fallen in during one of these openings.
This Fortuitous Encounter map was extremely well-hidden. Even with a "Drill Bit," trying to enter from deep underground would be blocked by the flesh wall. Normally, the "Drill Bit" could only be upgraded to Level 3, making it impossible to break through the flesh wall.
But... there's always someone stubborn enough.
He hadn't been too concerned about what was at the bottom of the valley, but when he saw how sturdy the flesh wall was, he couldn't resist the urge to take a look, forcing his way in.
He had already found fragments of a Flesh Train on the valley floor—likely from the "Ziyun." How could he find the Ziyun's Flesh Train again at the bottom of the valley? That Flesh Train was an illusion, not real.