"I'm good at plastering, is that useful?"
"Next."
"I used to be a lawyer."
"What is Article 150 of the Federal Marriage Law?"
"Uh, I mainly focused on criminal law."
"What is Article 236 of the Federal Criminal Law?"
"We lawyers can't remember all the articles, we look them up on the spot."
"It's the article on rape, idiot. Next."
"I'm an e-commerce assistant, responsible for shouting '3, 2, 1, link up!' I have a loud voice and can bring the energy."
"Next."
"I used to swing a hammer at construction sites."
"Professionally matched. Next."
"I used to be a bureau chief, with management experience..."
"Wait—"
Lao Zhu suddenly paused slightly, looking at the middle-aged man with a big belly in front of him. He stood up and grinned, extending his hands: "Isn't this Bureau Chief Zhu? It's me, Lao Zhu. Remember me? I worked under you for three years."
"Train Conductor Zhu," the middle-aged man said, his eyes dodging, a bit awkwardly. "About the past... I owe you an apology."
"It's fine."
Lao Zhu waved his hand cheerfully and sat back down: "The past is over. The apocalypse has come, we're all just barely surviving. What's the point of talking about the past?"
"You make it sound like I'm the kind of person who holds grudges. You know what kind of person I am."
"Xiao Li, take note."
"This man, he'll be mining until he dies."
"Next."
"..."
The young man who had been following Uncle Li all this time looked at Lao Zhu sitting at the table, his eyes filled with shock. After a long while, he murmured: "Uncle Li, this Train Conductor Zhu knows everything from astronomy to geography?"
"Isn't the breadth of his knowledge a bit too wide?"
"He's not a lawyer, why is he so familiar with the Federal Criminal Law?"
Uncle Li shook his head with a complicated expression. He had thought that with his own management experience, if he were the deputy conductor, he might not do worse than Lao Zhu. Now it seemed he had underestimated Lao Zhu and overestimated himself.
He wasn't surprised that Lao Zhu knew criminal law, as he had some exposure to it.
But Lao Zhu even knew about otaku songs?
That was just absurd.
He didn't even know that song was an otaku song. Logically speaking, given Lao Zhu's job, he should have no exposure to otaku songs. The breadth of his knowledge was just too wide.
"Uncle Li, with so many more people on the Train now, the competition for good positions is probably going to get fiercer."
"Yeah."
Uncle Li sighed deeply and nodded. If these people were represented by data, it would just be a little over 1,900 people, not a huge number.
But their professions before the apocalypse were almost all over the place.
Involving all walks of life.
There were people from every field.
Inside the Stellar Train, everyone was working in their positions.
Guard Team Two was responsible for monitoring the situation outside the Train and supervising the residents' mining, preventing violent incidents. Guard Team Three was responsible for maintaining order inside the Train.
Guard Team One was fully immersed in the Combat Training Virtual Space, continuing their training.
In Carriage 11, there was a refrigerator with a red cloth hung over it.
Known jokingly by the residents as the Red House.
Inside the refrigerator were several single beds, each with curtains rolled up around them. When there were customers, the curtains were drawn down to provide a relatively private environment. When there were no customers, the curtains were rolled up.
At this moment.
There were about thirty girls inside, gathered together, laughing and playing.
No customers.
The residents were all outside mining. It was only after they finished work in the evening that customers would start coming in.
"Sister Qiu Mei."
A girl lay on a single bed, bare feet dangling in the air, her eyes filled with a hint of helplessness as she whispered: "Could you keep the noise down while playing cards? It's really noisy."
"You guys scream during the day, and scream at night. I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown."
"Listen to you."
Qiu Mei, sitting on the floor, had a hair clip on her head to keep her wavy hair in place, and a cigarette dangling from her mouth. She spoke carelessly: "You should be grateful for the chance to scream. When you're on your deathbed, your biggest regret will be not having talked more."
"Besides, aren't you about to leave soon? Why do you care about us?"
"You're about to move into a big house with your little lover."
As soon as she finished speaking.
The surrounding girls burst into silver-bell-like laughter.
The woman didn't say anything more, just continued lying on the bed, a hint of longing in her eyes. From the first day she stepped into the Red House, her first customer was a middle-aged man.
Perhaps it was fate, but they fell in love at first sight.
The man didn't allow her to take any more customers, saying he would work hard to earn Stellar Coupons so they could both live in the refrigerator.
She believed him.
Since then, she hadn't taken any more customers. Every night, she would draw the curtains and curl up in bed to sleep, waiting for the middle-aged man to come. During the day, she would clean the Train to earn today's food and a few meager Stellar Coupons. In fact, she could leave the Red House since she wasn't taking customers anymore.
But if she left the Red House, there was nowhere else with such comfortable living conditions.
So she stayed.
It was a loophole in the Train's management, but the Train was developing too fast, and no one noticed this small role. Every night, she and her lover would sleep on this single bed, living quite well.
At this moment—
"Damn it, I'm exhausted."
A middle-aged man walked into the Red House, cursing.
The girls who had been playing cards immediately stood up, their expressions fearful and respectful as they whispered: "Train Conductor Zhu."
"Yeah."
Lao Zhu casually glanced at everyone, then his gaze lingered on the girl lying on the bed, a hint of confusion in his eyes: "I don't think I've seen you before. You're the one today."
With that, he strode to the girl's bed and started taking off his shoes.
"What are you waiting for? Draw the curtains."
"Huh?" The girl froze in place, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes. She instinctively took a step back. She wanted to refuse, but she didn't dare say anything to Train Conductor Zhu. And if it was exposed, her man wouldn't be able to sleep with her on this bed at night anymore, and would have to go back to the crowded dormitory.
"Train Conductor Zhu..."
At this moment, Qiu Mei stepped forward, her face full of smiles as she approached Lao Zhu, leaning against him, her eyes full of charm: "What, don't you like me today? She's just a little girl, she doesn't know anything. Why bother with her?"
"Heh."
Lao Zhu looked at the two of them, then chuckled before putting his shoes back on and standing casually: "Just say it, don't wait for me to find out. If I find out, you're both dead."
The smile on Qiu Mei's face instantly froze. After a long while, she whispered: "She has a lover. Although she lives in the Red House, she doesn't take customers."
Five minutes later.
After understanding the situation, Lao Zhu left the Red House. The mood he had wanted to relax was gone. Since the girl had a lover and didn't take customers, he naturally wouldn't do anything.
But this was a clear management loophole.
He had to go back and fix it.
Damn it.
Couldn't he just take a break? He was so tired! And these damn residents, could they stop finding loopholes all the time? It's so annoying!
Inside the Combat Training Virtual Space.
Biao Zi lay on the roof, holding a dagger, his breathing steady and slow, blending into the night like a seasoned assassin!
This was a new map.
"Dragon Fortress."
He had tried it several times, each time ending in death. This was his ninth attempt. Like the Biohazard map, completing this map would also reward him with an increase in his Physical Fitness Index.
It was a castle map.
The castle was filled with dragon-like monsters. In the center of the castle was a dragon egg. He needed to sneak into the castle, steal the egg, and then leave the castle safely to complete the mission.
His only weapon was the dagger in his hand.
At first, his plan was to sneak in without alerting any of the monsters, but he quickly realized that was impossible. He had to kill the monsters patrolling the key routes.
But as soon as he killed any monster, its roar would summon all the other monsters.
He had to be precise, swift, and deadly, making sure the monster died without making a sound, so he could sneak in successfully.
There was no time limit on this map.
The roof was the starting point. He had been lying on the roof for fifteen minutes now. All the experiences of his life were flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern. He was reminiscing about his life.
This might be the last time he could think in his life.
He felt a bit nostalgic.
He had thought that the life during the apocalypse had made him unafraid of death. After all, in the apocalypse, death could hardly be said to be a good or bad thing. No one would miss this terrible post-apocalyptic world.
But now—
He found that he still felt nostalgic.
How to put it.
After failing eight times in a row, after eight consecutive attempts of intense focus, he was already mentally drained. Before starting the ninth attempt, he accidentally selected "Extreme Difficulty."
Yeah, that's how it was.
He had failed eight times on normal difficulty, and on the ninth attempt, he accidentally chose extreme difficulty.
If he died in the map, he would also die in the real world.
In extreme difficulty, the monsters' attack power was even stronger.
Under these circumstances.
"..."
Biao Zi lay on the roof, holding the dagger close to his chest, trying to keep his breathing steady. But as he looked up at the starry sky above, a hint of despair and unwillingness flashed in his eyes.
He... how could he have chosen wrong?!
Can't there be an exit option?
He's still at the starting point, he hasn't done anything extra, can't he just quit now?
If the outside world cuts off the power supply to the Combat Training Virtual Space, would it count as a win, a forced exit, or would he just die?
If he brain-deads, can the Medical Pod save him?
Could it be that he's just too tired and this is all a dream? When he opens his eyes again, he'll be in Guard Car 7.
Biao Zi tightly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them again.
Good.
It seems it's not a dream.
He slightly raised his head to look at the dagger in his arms, then tilted his head to look at the monsters patrolling inside the castle, feeling like crying but having no tears. He really wanted to have a good cry right now.
He didn't dare make any move.
He hadn't even passed normal difficulty, how could he possibly pass extreme difficulty?
Lord Mang!
Can you see me? Can you find a way to save me?
Inside the Train, Chen Mang looked at the screen showing Biao Zi lying motionless on the roof for almost 20 minutes. After a long silence, he softly said: "Xiao Ai, I don't think Biao Zi is trying to challenge his limits."
"Is it possible that he accidentally selected extreme difficulty?"
"Unlikely," Xiao Ai said. "When selecting extreme difficulty, there's another prompt asking if you're sure. It's not likely to accidentally select it twice."
"..."
Chen Mang thought for a while, then nodded in agreement. How could anyone be so careless? It's like a Train Conductor accidentally opening the cover for "Immediate Self-Destruct," then accidentally pressing it, and then accidentally confirming it on the screen.
That's impossible.
But he didn't remember putting any pressure on Biao Zi. How had Biao Zi pushed himself to the brink of seeking a breakthrough before death?
His trusted subordinate couldn't just die in the map, could he?
"If we cut the power, would he die?"
"Yes, it would be an immediate death."
"Brain death can't be cured by the Medical Pod, right?"
"No."
"Good," Chen Mang nodded silently, feeling slightly tired as he let out a light sigh. After a long silence, he secretly decided to make Shan Mao Zi the captain of Guard Team One. He wasn't sure if Shan Mao Zi could handle the responsibility.
"Biao Ge... Biao Ge is really going all out."
At this moment, all the members of Guard Team One had left the Combat Training Virtual Space, gathered around the machine Biao Zi had entered, looking at each other in confusion. On the machine, which resembled a cyber coffin.
Two large words were displayed.
"Dragon Fortress."
And the words were blood-red, the indicator lights on the machine were also red, meaning Biao Ge was challenging the "Extreme Difficulty" Dragon Fortress map. But they all knew Biao Ge hadn't even passed the normal difficulty Dragon Fortress yet.
How had he jumped straight to extreme difficulty?
"Biao Ge is fighting for his life..."
Shan Mao Zi gritted his teeth and said word by word: "Biao Ge once told me, for us ordinary people to become stronger, we have to put in more effort and more sweat!"
"Either we pass and become the first on the Train to complete the Extreme Difficulty Dragon Fortress map, earning the Pioneer's reward."
"Or we die!"
"I've decided—"
"If I want to follow in Biao Ge's footsteps, I must have the courage to face death and fight for survival."
"I'm going in too!"
With that, Shan Mao Zi strode towards another Combat Training Virtual Space. Before anyone could react, four large words appeared on the machine Shan Mao Zi had just entered.
"Biohazard."
(End of Chapter)