As Biao Zi's voice fell, a disheveled woman among the container crowd, whose eyes had already lost their light, suddenly flickered with a glimmer of hope. Trembling, she stood up and pointed to a man with a face full of rough features in the crowd.
"Those two men just now were his thugs. They've been abusing us women since the apocalypse began."
"You don't know what we've been through these days—"
Biao Zi, looking somewhat impatient, glared at the disheveled woman. "Everyone, get up and follow me out of the container now. One more word, and you'll be the first to die."
The woman froze, the glimmer of hope in her eyes extinguished as quickly as it had appeared. After a moment, she lowered her head and murmured, "I thought you were here to save us."
Biao Zi didn't bother to say more, just waved his hand. Under the cold stares of the thugs, all the survivors timidly emerged from the corners and began to walk out of the container, following the path toward the outside.
Shan Mao Zi, standing to the side, scanned the faces of all the women, growing slightly anxious when he didn't see a familiar figure. He was about to say something when a rough hand pressed down on his shoulder.
Biao Zi patted Shan Mao Zi's shoulder, not speaking, but his lips twitched slightly as he shook his head.
Shan Mao Zi was momentarily stunned but quickly understood. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
Under the armed escort of Biao Zi and his men, the survivors left the container and stepped into the open. The survivors, who hadn't seen sunlight in a long time, immediately closed their eyes tightly upon stepping out, huddling together, uncertain of what would happen next.
The burly man with the rough face, who had initially been holding a flashlight, knelt on the ground with his eyes closed, his voice filled with fear as he shouted, "Don't listen to that bitch! These days, it's been me and my brothers who've been out there risking our lives to find supplies."
"The canned food they eat, the blankets they sleep on, the water they drink—all of it was brought back by us, risking our lives!"
"We even lost a few brothers in the process."
"Isn't it fair that I get to sleep with them? Besides, I never forced them! They came to me willingly for the food!"
Another woman, her voice trembling with a mix of desperation and tears, cried out, "If we didn't sleep with you, you wouldn't give us food! Do you think we wanted to sleep with you?"
"To hell with your 'willingness'!"
The burly man, now furious, roared back, "Do you think I wanted the apocalypse to happen? Why don't you go out and find your own food? Did I stop you?"
"If you were willing to give me food without any conditions, then that would be kindness, something worth talking about."
"To hell with your kindness!"
Biao Zi didn't speak, nor did he bother to pay attention to the drama. He had always held the belief that no one who survived the apocalypse was a good person. The good ones had died long ago.
No need to argue over who was worse.
He simply lit a cigarette, glanced up at the glaring sun, and waited patiently. Soon, the sound of engines rumbled in the distance, growing louder as they approached.
A pitch-black train, covered in heavy armor and supported by dozens of mechanical legs, emerged from the city ruins and slowly came to a halt on the open ground of the container factory.
A young man, leaning on a cane, descended from the ladder extended from the front of the train. With each step he took, the barrels of the heavy machine guns and rocket launchers mounted on the train's roof rotated slightly.
By the time the man reached the ground, the barrels of the heavy machine guns and rocket launchers were fully aimed at the survivors.
The scene fell into an eerie silence.
The man and woman who had been arguing moments ago now stood with their mouths agape, struggling to open their eyes in disbelief, their faces filled with shock and horror.
At that moment, Chen Mang's voice echoed from the train's external sound system.
"Everyone, head to the last slave carriage."
This eleventh carriage was something he had hastily constructed, using 100 units of iron ore per carriage, to temporarily house these survivors.
Chen Mang stood on the open ground, looking at the group of ragged survivors with a smile. With the Targeting Radar, finding slaves had become much easier. No matter how well they hid, he could find them.
He needed more slaves.
When he found the next mine, he would need a higher production efficiency.
No one would complain about having too many slaves, and he could afford to keep as many as he wanted.
Though they looked weak, once they were back on the train, they could be nourished and restored. This batch of survivors still had no elderly or children. In the apocalypse, the elderly and children were rare, especially since a year had already passed since the apocalypse began. Surviving this long was no easy feat.
After a moment, he returned to the front of the train.
His goal this time was to rescue 1,000 survivors.
With the Targeting Radar, the Hive Mind, and Biao Zi's thugs riding their off-road vehicles, finding survivors had become an incredibly simple task.
Then, he returned to the front of the train. He wasn't planning to give any speeches. He would address the survivors once they were all gathered. The reason he had come down was simply to admire his first batch of spoils.
The woman who had been accusing the man of his countless crimes now stood with her mouth slightly open, unable to speak upon seeing Chen Mang.
For some reason, the man with the gun, who had killed two people in front of them and seemed so cold, was someone she had dared to cry out to. But the young man who had descended from the train, with a smile on his face, was someone she couldn't bring herself to speak to.
For a moment, the survivors remained silent, obediently following Biao Zi's instructions as they headed toward the last carriage, appearing remarkably docile.
Biao Zi couldn't help but rub the back of his head, clicking his tongue. "These people really know how to read the room. Why didn't they shout a few words when Lord Mang came down? Do I really look that easy to bully?"
He pulled out a Train Blade Fragment from his pocket, looking at his stubbled face in the reflection. He made a fierce expression, then turned to Hei Hao with a puzzled look.
"Don't I look intimidating?"
"Then why don't they seem afraid of me?"
"Maybe they thought you were here to save them, to be the good guy."
"What about Lord Mang?"
"Lord Mang doesn't look like a good guy."
"Hei Hao, just a reminder, you're still connected to the Hive Mind."
"...He does. I misspoke earlier. Lord Mang looks full of righteousness, especially with those four 40-barrel rocket launchers. They look absolutely just."
Inside the front of the train, Chen Mang looked at the Targeting Radar, zooming in on the location of another group of survivors. When he magnified the details of each survivor, he was momentarily stunned, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
There was a familiar face.
Among this batch of survivors, one of the women was none other than Ji Chuchu.
Wasn't Ji Chuchu a slave on another train? How did she end up here?
--Support me in for more chapters 35+ chapters in there