His plan was actually quite simple.
He intended to find someone short-sighted among the new slaves, preferably someone trying to incite a rebellion, and then, just as the riot began, he and the young fellow beside him would put a stop to it, showcasing his talents so that Master Mang would notice him.
There were indeed a lot of new slaves, but none seemed interested in inciting a rebellion, making him feel a bit awkward. In other carriages, riots would break out from time to time. How come there’s no sign of rebellion here?
Without a riot, how could he stand out?
Talent is like shit; you have to make it noticeable through the ***hole for people to see it and say, "Oh, you have talent!" Otherwise, no one would notice even if you’re full of ****.
Especially in a post-apocalyptic environment, standing out is even harder; you have to strike a balance because standing out too forcefully is dangerous.
The young man scratched his head; he had no better idea. His strategy was to follow Mr. Li. His mind was pretty simple, so he always dealt with problems by following a smart person, letting them solve it while he would just hang around for the scraps.
Mining is hard labor.
Chit-chatting can pass a lot of time.
"Mr. Li, have you ever been with a virgin?"
Mr. Li gave the young man a blank stare, saying nothing as he continued swinging his pickaxe at his work.
The young man didn’t mind; he just swung his pickaxe as well, muttering to himself, "Before the doomsday, I actually had a strong fixation on virginity. Every time I went on a blind date, I would ask if the girl was a virgin, but I would always be called a pervert."
"As if it were such an offensive question."
"It’s not like I’m discriminating against non-virgins. Can’t I just screen in advance? When they ask if I own a car or a house, isn’t that screening too?"
"I refused to give in. I always wanted a purely clean relationship, but... even as doomsday came, I never found one."
"After doomsday hit, finding a virgin became even more impossible, Mr. Li. Do you think I might never find a virgin in my life?"
Mr. Li sighed softly before speaking tiredly, "It’s not about being offensive or not, but about having no emotional intelligence, like when you did badly in an exam as a child, and relatives ask how much you scored—would you feel happy?"
"Furthermore, as a middle-aged man, my advice for you is this."
"Love shouldn’t be clean."
"A clean thing getting a speck of dust is extremely glaring, but if something is already somewhat tainted, even a little stain won’t matter much. Who can guarantee they will be clean all their life?"
"Might as well find something a bit tainted, so even if something happens in the end, it won’t be that painful."
"As for the virginity fixation..."
"I lost that after the age of 16."
The young man’s eyes showed a hint of confusion, "Was there a trick to it?"
Mr. Li shook his head, "It’s from realizing that none of the girls I liked were virgins, so I accepted it. Nowadays, finding a virgin is an exceedingly rare thing."
"If I can’t change the world, I’ll have to change myself."
Their conversation was interrupted by a woman standing behind them, carrying a pickaxe, standing at an impressive height of over 1.8 meters, with robust muscles, who excitedly pushed her face between them, blushing with bashful excitement, "You both got me so excited..."
"Hey, young man, how about I give you my virginity?"
The young man stared in shock at the heavily muscular woman beside him, muttering dazedly, "Such... such a strong woman."
"Miss, I have a pickaxe here; how about you borrow it to use?"
"My mom says I’m not old enough for romance, could you not come closer..."
"Oh." The middle-aged man glanced nonchalantly at the woman behind him, "If it’s her, then it wouldn’t be surprising."
As soon as he said that.
The woman, who was blushing and shy just moments ago, instantly turned grim-faced. She stood up and, like picking up a little chick, lifted the middle-aged man into the air with one hand, saying word by word, "Explain, what do you mean by the hell not surprising?"
A flicker of panic crossed the middle-aged man’s eyes; his limbs flailed helplessly in the air. He wanted to say something, but the collar around his neck was too tight for him to speak.
"What do you think you’re doing!"
Seeing this, the young man’s expression shifted as he stood up and tried to pull the woman’s right hand down, but after a few attempts, he realized he couldn’t budge it, so he wrapped both his arms around it and hung in the air, trying to use his body weight to pull her hand down.
After trying a few more times to no avail, the young man gave up and used the woman’s thick right arm as a barbell, doing three pull-ups on the spot before standing on the ground, dusting himself off, and letting out a long sigh.
"Mr. Li, I did my best."
Right at that moment—
Biaozi, who was patrolling nearby, noticed the scene, his face darkening as he immediately chambered his Soaring Dragon Assault Rifle, aiming at the woman’s head, raspily commanding, "Let go."
The woman dared not ignore Biaozi’s warning, immediately letting Mr. Li down onto the ground, whispering with some grievance, "He said no one wants me."
Biaozi couldn’t be bothered with these slave disputes. He merely cast a cold glance at the woman.
"If there’s a next time, pick a comfortable way to die."
He then strode away. However, a hint of shock flashed in his eyes as he turned. Wasn’t this woman’s strength a bit too damn exaggerated? In peaceful times, it seemed she could easily take on three grown men with no problem.
The woman, somewhat displeased, shot Mr. Li a glance before picking up her pickaxe and continuing her mining with impressive energy, her efficiency even surpassing many men. As she worked, she was muttering under her breath.
"One piece of meat, two pieces of meat, three pieces of meat."
Inside the Constant Star Train.
Chen Mang, lying on a seat, was engrossed in watching a movie when a knock came to his ears, causing his brows to slightly furrow as he spoke in a deep voice, "Enter."
Old Pig entered, his face filled with respect, whispering, "Hei Hao told me something, and I thought it necessary to report to you in a timely manner, Master Mang, and see how you’d like to handle it."
"Hei Hao, go ahead and tell Master Mang."
The next to enter behind Old Pig was Hei Hao, who first laughed awkwardly with a face full of smiles, before quickly speaking, "Master Mang, you may not know, but Biaozi has actually served as a Train Captain several times, with his highest position being the 2nd-level Train Captain."
"The first time he went on an external mission, he handed over that Train Order merely to let you, Master Mang, think he had no intentions of assuming command himself."
"Over these days, I’ve developed deep feelings for the Constant Star Train."
"Biaozi will surely rebel in the future, Master Mang, because having served as a Train Captain several times, he definitely won’t resign to always being under someone else."
Hei Hao clutched his clothes tightly with sweaty palms, his anxious breathing and the pounding of his fast-beating heart loud in his ears.
For a moment, no one spoke.
It was unclear how long it took.
Lying on the seat, Chen Mang suddenly shouted in satisfaction, looking at the movie playing on the screen, leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette with a smile, "Awesome, that’s how zombies should be killed—exciting and satisfying."
"Makes my hands itch; I’ll go zombie-slaughtering in a few days too."
Then Chen Mang glanced at the standing Old Pig and Hei Hao, casually waving his hand, "Have Biaozi come to see me."
Old Pig, lowering his head, was just about to speak when Hei Hao beside him already responded excitedly. Old Pig’s brow furrowed slightly, but he said nothing, just acknowledged again and led Hei Hao out of the train compartment.