In the next moment—
"Roar!"
Countless monsters surged out from the Mechanical City below, their howls echoing. The once-deafening sounds of gunfire and artillery from above the city had faded away, leaving only sporadic shots ringing out.
The hundreds of robots standing here seemed to be the last soldiers of this mechanical city.
"Charge!"
A cold, emotionless mechanical voice came from one of the robots. Despite the suicidal nature of the charge, there was no hint of passion or fear in its tone. It was as if they were simply executing a command.
Immediately after.
Hundreds of battered robots, armed with weapons, launched their final charge against the thousands of monsters that vastly outnumbered them.
Chen Mang silently piloted the Train into the massive elevator surrounded by glass panels on both sides.
As the elevator doors closed, he saw countless parts flying through the air, and the robots were no longer visible.
In the next moment—
The elevator began to ascend rapidly, its speed increasing steadily. The Mechanical City below, shrouded in thick black smoke, quickly shrank in size. Countless howling monsters climbed up the steel framework beneath the elevator.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Explosions erupted one after another. The steel framework beneath the elevator began to blow up, cutting off the monsters' path of ascent.
The elevator's speed continued to accelerate.
The elevator was large enough to accommodate a Train with up to thirty carriages.
Yet, it was also small enough to hold only one Train.
The Mechanical City below had completely fallen to the monsters. Only one Train had escaped—the Stellar Train, the sole survivor and the last hope of everyone in the Mechanical City.
This elevator.
It was the only escape route during the city's final moments of destruction.
As the speed increased, the elevator pierced through the clouds, and the Mechanical City disappeared from view. The scenery outside the elevator quickly blurred, and black flickers of light appeared, as if traversing a wormhole.
"Screech!"
A sharp sound suddenly rang in his ears.
Everything around him fell silent.
The Stellar Train reappeared on the floating plaza high in the sky, as if it had never moved. A new light screen appeared in front of the Train.
"Level 4, successfully cleared."
"Reward: A random yellow-grade Accessory Blueprint. Randomizing... Randomized to the yellow-grade Vehicle Component Blueprint 'Super-Energy Tailjet.' The fifth level will begin in thirty minutes."
"PS: All Accessory Blueprints obtained in this Fortuitous Encounter map can only be acquired within the Tower of Heaven Fortuitous Encounter map."
"Phew."
Chen Mang, sitting in the control room, let out a long sigh. He felt a sticky sensation on his back. After lowering the window, he lit a cigarette and looked at the data displayed on the control panel.
Energy Stone consumption: unchanged.
Copper ore consumption: unchanged.
In other words—
Everything that had happened in the fourth level wasn't real. The resources he had consumed in the third level weren't actually reflected on the Train Panel. It was just... the aftermath felt intense.
It was like watching a cutscene from a AAA game.
"Stellar Train."
He muttered the name absentmindedly.
He knew that the name was based on his Train's title. What he had experienced in the fourth level was likely similar to a Combat Training Virtual Space—a technology that immersed one in a near-realistic world.
But that scene must have truly happened.
A long time ago.
Perhaps even longer. Back then, the Mechanical City had faced such a disaster, and only one Train had escaped through the "Train Elevator." He didn't know the name of that Train—maybe it was Train One or Two, or perhaps Three or Four.
He only knew one thing.
The elevator had remained open, allowing any Train to enter and escape. But everyone had silently agreed to sacrifice themselves, ensuring that his Train was the one to escape. This meant that the Train that had fled in the fourth level must have been special.
It must have carried the hopes of many.
Saying "people" might not be accurate. He hadn't seen a single person, only robots. But those robots seemed to possess intelligence.
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent, looking down at the slowly burning cigarette between his fingers. The thick, gray ash was gradually building up, much like the Doomsday Abyss that was slowly consuming all hope.
"Xiao Ai."
"I'm here."
"Do you have anything to say?"
After a long silence, Xiao Ai, standing in the corner, finally spoke in a mechanical voice: "I feel a bit sad, but also a bit proud."
"Proud?"
"Yes. Everyone was willing to die for the hope they believed in. If one day the Stellar Train is in a situation where I need to sacrifice myself, I would do so with pride. It would be my honor."
"You feel that strongly about the Stellar Train?"
"No, it's about you, Train Conductor."
"Sigh."
Chen Mang sighed softly, flicking the cigarette ash out the window and avoiding Xiao Ai's gaze. "Don't say such sentimental things. Your main body is the Train Auxiliary AI, embedded in the control panel. It's not your turn to sacrifice yourself. If your main body is destroyed, I'll probably be dead too."
"But it seems..."
"This apocalypse didn't just start a year ago. It's been going on for a long time."
He fell silent again.
He was human.
A human made of flesh and blood. Logically, he shouldn't empathize with robots made of wires and energy. But... that scene had left him feeling a heaviness in his chest.
The Mechanical City, now completely devoid of life, had reappeared in the green zone of this planet, the Shahe Plain, after who knows how many years.
Perhaps.
Trains, Vehicle Components—these methods were very similar to those of the Mechanical Civilization. Maybe the Train that had escaped back then had survived and spread these methods to other planets attacked by those monsters?
He thought back to the message he had seen in the Doomsday Abyss.
Who had written that message?
Unconsciously, he had been lost in thought. When a sharp pain came from his fingertips, Chen Mang was startled. He tossed the burnt-out cigarette out the window and looked up at the countdown on the light screen.
The countdown for the previous levels had been ten minutes.
Only the fourth level had a thirty-minute countdown.
Perhaps even the Fortuitous Encounter map, the Tower of Heaven, felt that the fourth level had left a strong impact and needed more time for people to recover.
He couldn't figure it out.
There were many things he couldn't understand, but that was because he was standing too low. When in a low position, one shouldn't think too far ahead. It would distract from the rocks beneath one's feet.
When he upgraded the Train to level 10 or even level 20, and one day reached the highest region of this planet, facing the most terrifying monsters, perhaps many things would become clear.
No matter how this world had changed.
One thing remained constant.
Make yourself strong enough, make the Train strong enough, have enough trump cards, and build a solid foundation. Only then could one survive in this apocalypse.
This wasn't just the apocalypse of this planet.
Perhaps it was the apocalypse of the entire universe.
At that moment—
"Brother, brother!"
Er Dan's urgent and anxious voice came through the Train Radio: "How are you? What's going on? Are you alive? Are you dead?"
"Still alive. Just cleared the level."
Er Dan's voice no longer trembled. He glanced down at the Train on the plaza below, which had indeed been successfully unfrozen.
"Phew."
Er Dan sighed in relief over the Train Radio, then added with a hint of fear: "You scared me. An hour ago, all the searchlights on the rooftops of the Mechanical City suddenly turned toward your plaza."
"It looked quite spectacular."
"Then there was no movement. I didn't dare disturb you at first. I didn't know what the fourth level was about, but after more than forty minutes passed and you still hadn't moved, I couldn't help but call you a few times. There was no response, so I thought something had happened."
"It's fine. By the way, what was the fourth level about? Why did your Train stay in place?"
Chen Mang remained silent for a moment before softly saying, "I watched an animation. It was quite good, similar to a Combat Training Virtual Space. Let me ask you something—during the first level, what was the name of the mech chasing you? Was it the Azure Dragon?"
"No, it was the Stellar. I thought it was strange at the time—the name was exactly the same as your Train's. Quite a coincidence."
"..."
Chen Mang didn't speak further. He looked up at the five-minute countdown, calmly lit another cigarette, and patiently waited for the fifth and final level to begin.
The fourth level wasn't particularly difficult.
Although it was A-grade difficulty, it was essentially just watching an animation. The only challenges were overcome with the Spider Jump and the Supermodel Effect of the Nitrogen Tailjet.
Now it seemed...
The first three levels were more like screenings.
The first level tested speed, the second tested memory, and the third tested flight capabilities.
Only by meeting these three criteria could one smoothly pass the fourth level and watch that animation.
The "Train Auxiliary AI," before having a robot body, observed the outside world through the "Targeting Radar" and the "Resource Detection Radar." It was a non-human perspective, more like a god's-eye view of partial information.
Only after obtaining the robot body could it truly observe the world from a human perspective. However, due to the low-quality imaging equipment of the robot, it couldn't quickly absorb information.
But with the reward from the third level—the "Mechanical Eye" Accessory Blueprint—this issue would no longer exist. This accessory was specifically designed for AI use.
"Wait..."
Chen Mang suddenly frowned. The speed from the first level and the flight capabilities from the third level were what determined whether one could pass the fourth level. What role did the memory from the second level play in the fourth level?
Perhaps there were hidden details in that story that needed to be remembered?
He had watched carefully.
But he was, after all, a normal person and couldn't possibly remember every anomaly.
Fortunately, there was an abnormal person on the Train.
The AI, connected to Li Shiji through the Hive Mind, quickly provided an answer.
"Li Shiji says he remembers about 70% of what he saw."
"Tell him to keep reviewing it and not forget."
"Okay."
At that moment, the countdown for the fifth level was about to end. This would be the final level, the highest difficulty at S-grade.
Chen Mang took a deep breath, his expression serious as he looked at the countdown on the light screen. He set aside his thoughts and prepared to fully focus on this level, which also offered the most generous rewards.
As the countdown ended.
A new light screen appeared.
"Level 5, S-grade difficulty: Last Words."
"Please repeat the farewell words spoken to you by everyone before their deaths in the fourth level. The Train Auxiliary AI will be temporarily disabled during the time limit."
"Time limit: one minute."
"Run, Stellar. Survive."
"You must—you must—you must let them know."
"This hatred will never die."
"Not even in a hundred million years."
"..."
"Run."
Upon seeing this light screen, Chen Mang didn't hesitate. He quickly repeated every word spoken to him by those who had died in the fourth level, word for word. He didn't even need Li Shiji's help.
Perhaps he had been too immersed, or the sense of immersion was too strong.
He clearly remembered every word they had said before their deaths.
A few seconds after he finished.
The light screen began to change.
"Level 5, successfully cleared."
"Reward: Special Item 'Mechanical Heart.' The Fortuitous Encounter map, the Tower of Heaven, will close within ten minutes."
The highest difficulty, S-grade, had been cleared so easily.
The plaza, which had been floating high in the air, slowly descended. The vents around the plaza, which had been continuously releasing cold air, retracted once more. As the plaza rotated, it positioned the Train's head directly facing a street.
Driving out of this street would lead to the elevator entrance.
Through the elevator, they could leave this Fortuitous Encounter map.
"Boom, boom..."
In the distance, the high-rise buildings began to collapse one after another, from the inside out. Clearly, these ten minutes were for them to evacuate. After ten minutes, the Mechanical City would completely collapse and vanish from the world.
Chen Mang, now back on the ground, glanced at the Azure Dragon Train parked nearby and waved, signaling they would talk later.
Soon—
The two Trains drove side by side through the streets of the Mechanical City, while behind them, skyscrapers made of mechanical parts collapsed one after another.
When they boarded the elevator again and slowly descended to the ground.
The Mechanical City atop the Tower of Heaven had completely turned to ruins.
Inside the Tower of Heaven, the gears that had been continuously rotating slowly came to a halt. At the same time, a light screen, similar to the one at the regional border, appeared in the air.
"Ahead is a restricted area, the Tower of Heaven."
"Staying longer than ten seconds will result in severe attacks."
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