The sky was nearing dusk, painted in cool blue tones with clouds still clearly visible.
Above the Stellar Train.
A massive character composed of flames and black smoke—
「Wild」.
Left all the Train Conductors present utterly dumbfounded. For a moment, no one even voiced their thoughts over the Train Radio, only staring blankly and dazedly at the enormous character in the sky.
"Have I been working too much lately?"
One Train Conductor muttered in bewilderment at the sight. "Am I hallucinating? No, how can a missile write a character in the sky? Since when can missiles do that?"
"And such a complex character too—'Wild.'"
"How is this even possible?"
It wasn't just these Trains that were stunned—even the Iron Dragon Train was frozen in place, more baffled than anyone else!
The others didn't have missile components, so they had no idea how this part was supposed to function. They were just confused, maybe even assuming this was its intended use.
But he knew better. He was a Mechanical Train with S-Class Potential.
Originally the only one in Crisis Valley.
Now one of two.
With the addition of the Stellar.
Whether there was a third, he didn't know. The Blue Zone no longer had rankings. If another S-Class Potential Train existed but never spoke on the Train Radio, he wouldn't be aware of it.
He recognized this component.
「Ground Burst Missile」.
When he ascended to S-Class Potential, he had also randomly obtained this component. He had used it before, and he knew better than anyone else—this component—
Was! Not! Supposed! To! Fly! Like! That! In! The! Sky!
It's a missile!
What do you think it is?
Your calligraphy brush? Is this a Chen Mang missile or something?
Inside the Stellar Train.
The scenes outside were transmitted via the Mechanical Eye to screens visible to all residents. Everyone watched with bated breath—so many Trains, none of which seemed particularly friendly toward the Stellar.
"One against many!"
In the classroom, Teacher Qiu was explaining the unfolding events to the children through the screen. "On the path forward, there are always obstacles. Today, the Stellar once again finds itself in crisis, surrounded by dozens of hostile Trains. Lord Mang..."
Meanwhile, in the residential area.
The novelist clutching his computer also clenched his fists excitedly, roaring hoarsely.
"The Stellar declares war on the Iron Dragon Train!"
"The Stellar declares war on the Deity Train!"
"The Stellar declares war on the Lone Wolf Train!"
"The Stellar declares war on—"
Even Lao Zhu, inside the Guardian Carriage, was rapidly documenting while watching the scene.
「Train Development History.」
「Today, under the siege of numerous Trains, Lord Mang wielded missiles as his brush, fury as his ink, and the heavens as his canvas, formally announcing his name to the world—Wild!」
「Henceforth, the Wild Era officially begins. Today marks the first day of the Wild Era—」
"Hmm."
Lao Zhu paused in thought, then crossed out the last line on his draft. That was a bit too exaggerated. A little embellishment was fine, but this was over the top.
The entire event lasted only an instant.
The character 「Wild」 still hung in the sky, not yet dissipated.
The ten Level 20 Doomsday Cannons atop the Stellar Train's carriages had already locked onto the crimson train in the distance. With an ear-splitting roar, countless shells enveloped the scarlet train's locomotive like a steel storm in an instant!
The overwhelming barrage of shells instantly drew everyone's attention back.
This was the Stellar's counterattack.
One wondered how Shen Ye would handle this.
"Finally fighting back, are they?"
Inside the train compartment, Shen Ye glanced at the overwhelming artillery fire and casually checked the control panel screen before activating the "Star Ring Energy Shield." He had tested them once, and they'd survived. Now it was their turn to test him.
Fair enough. This was his first time engaging in such an evenly matched duel, and he liked it.
Inside the train compartment.
A piercing alarm blared urgently as red warning lights flashed incessantly.
"Wait!"
Shen Ye suddenly realized something and jerked his head back toward the control panel screen!-
"Detected incoming firepower attack. Estimated arrival in two seconds."
"Attack intensity: Level 13."
"Recommended course of action... TOO LATE!!!"
-
"Level 13???"
Shen Ye bolted up from his chair in disbelief, shouting: "That—"
But now...
There was no time for words.
He knew perfectly well—a Level 13 attack was something the train could never withstand.
Almost instantly, he grabbed the Special Item beside him and slammed his fist onto the "Immediate Ejection" button on the control panel. The skylight above the compartment opened swiftly, and just before the train was engulfed by countless shells, he was catapulted out.
In an instant, he was flung thousands of meters into the air.
As his parachute deployed,
Shen Ye gazed despairingly at the train below, now shrouded in flames. It seemed all was lost... Though he was alive for now, he probably wouldn't last long. Without the train, he could only...
"Get in here."
Before he could react, he saw two large mechas—each carrying a refrigerator—had somehow flown up beside him.
He felt himself, parachute and all, being roughly stuffed into a refrigerator like a dumpling filling, and then everything went dark.
"Bro, why'd you have to be so quick?"
"I flew faster, so I got him first. What's the problem?"
"Then why do you think Lord Mang sent both of us? If you could handle it alone, why not just send you?"
"You cover me."
"Cover my ass."
"Isn't Mom your mom too?"
"..."
Zhang Er sat angrily inside the "Thunder" mech, watching his elder brother fly away. He'd never caught anything flying in the sky before—he wanted to know how it felt.
He also wanted to grab that guy and shove him into a refrigerator.
But he wasn't as fast as his brother, so all he'd done was take a stroll around without even getting a chance to help.
He glanced down at the refrigerator in his arms.
If only the refrigerator were bigger.
He could chase after his brother right now and stuff him inside.
Infuriating.
Zhang Er scanned the surrounding trains, pulled out a Roujiamo from his pocket, and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth, chewing vigorously to vent his frustration.
The door to Carriage No. 7, the Guard car of the Stellar Train, had already opened.
Led by Biao Zi, several men were rapidly approaching the dilapidated train on their off-road motorcycles, intending to eliminate any resistance and bring back the train's original inhabitants.
They completely ignored the surrounding trains.
The entire process took no more than the blink of an eye.
"Now then..."
The man's voice echoed once more in everyone's ears. The door of the Stellar Train's conductor compartment slid open, and a figure clad in a yellow sweater stepped out, leaning on a cane as he surveyed the assembled trains with a light chuckle.
"The clowns have been dealt with. I believe we can now proceed with a pleasant transaction."
"..."
The conductors of the surrounding trains stood in silence. Before arriving, they had envisioned many possibilities—including the likelihood of the Stellar Train making a forceful stand—but none had anticipated it would end so swiftly.
Instant annihilation.
Chen Mang's act of stepping off the train was also a gesture of sincerity. It was common knowledge that a conductor's greatest source of confidence lay in their train. Voluntarily leaving it meant relinquishing control—at least temporarily.
Just then—
A train abruptly sounded its horn before slowly pulling forward, stopping about a hundred meters from the Stellar. A middle-aged man emerged from the middle carriage and began walking toward the Stellar alone.
Soon after,
More trains began sounding their horns in succession.
This was the signal for a Convocation.
By convention,
Convocations were typically attended by deputy conductors or thug leaders. Though there was an unspoken rule against violence during such gatherings, most preferred to send subordinates as a precaution, remotely directing them via radio.
Many had even given the practice a rather poetic name:
Kings Do Not Meet.
A fine notion.
Better yet, let "generals not meet generals" and "soldiers not meet soldiers"—then the world would know peace.
Thus began a Convocation initiated by the Stellar.
However, the primary objective for many remained the Level 1 Iron Ore. Clearly, the Stellar had proven its right to sit at the table—not just as a participant, but as the one serving the meal. Now, it was time for fair trade.
"You are Lord Mang?"
"I am."
The middle-aged man's expression stiffened slightly, his eyelid twitching imperceptibly. He clasped his fists in salute before rasping, "For a conductor to personally leave his train and preside over this Convocation—that's no small risk."
"Rules exist precisely so they can be broken."
"Not everyone adheres to them absolutely."
"No matter."
Chen Mang remained where he stood, cane in hand, his three teams arrayed behind him as he smiled at the middle-aged man and the others approaching. "We'll talk once everyone has arrived."
Yet his grip on the cane never loosened.
With the cane in hand,
And the Powerful Magnet at his disposal—not to mention his train at his back—he could afford to take this gamble.
Just then—
Two Level 12 Mechanical Trains rolled into view, pulling up beside the Iron Dragon. A man inside one of them lowered his window, frowning at the crimson train billowing black smoke in the distance before addressing the middle-aged man in the Iron Dragon.
"What's the situation?"
"Is Shen Ye dead?"
"Not yet. But he's close."
The train conductor of the Iron Dragon had a complicated expression as he spoke: "You're a bit late. Shen Ye has already been dealt with, so we're not needed anymore. The situation is a bit complicated—how should I put it?"
"Generally speaking, everyone has high attack but low defense."
"That's why people don't engage in firefights lightly—it's a lose-lose situation."
"A big part of Shen Ye's advantage was his speed, but he didn't utilize his train's speed at all. Who knows what he was thinking? Maybe he underestimated the Stellar, a train that just entered Crisis Valley."
"Like the gangsters of old, standing in the street, you slash me, I slash you."
"He slashed the Stellar first, and the Stellar took it."
"Then the Stellar slashed back, and now he's like this."
"..."
The man who had come to support fell silent for a long time before finally saying, "So I came for nothing?"
"Not exactly. Even though we can't surround Shen Ye anymore... there's a convocation organized by Lord Mang. I think it's quite interesting—we could go check it out."
"What level is Lord Mang's train's energy shield?"
"Don't know. He didn't activate his energy shield earlier—he tanked it with armor. Level 10 armor."
"Level 10 armor?"
"Yeah."
"How much Murphy Stone would that take?"
"No idea. Probably stumbled upon some opportunity, earned forty or fifty Murphy Stones, and dumped them all into upgrading his armor."
"That's such a waste. Upgrading the Doomsday Cannon would've been way more cost-effective."
"True. Let's go take a look."
"Wait, you mean the three of us—train conductors—are going personally?"
"Yeah. The convocation over there is hosted by Lord Mang himself. I want to get to know him."
"Bit risky, isn't it?"
"Bring more thugs. Lord Mang probably won't say anything. Sometimes, no matter how much you chat over the train radio, nothing beats talking face-to-face."
"Alright, you call the shots."
Perhaps because these three conductors of level 12 mechanical trains took the lead, more and more conductors—who knows what they were thinking—also stepped off their trains.
"Everyone."
Near the Stellar Train, in a convocation venue hastily set up by hundreds of residents, Chen Mang, seated at the highest position, looked seriously at the crowd below:
"Many of you here are conductors in person. I can assure you all—in this convocation I've organized, everyone's safety is my responsibility."
"Let that put your minds at ease first."
"I didn't plan to hold a convocation initially—I just wanted to sell some things. But though things have developed differently from what I expected, it's still a good direction. Since it's a convocation, you can start displaying your goods and needs. I have level 1 iron ore here—anyone interested can come to me directly for pricing."
As his words fell, the gathered conductors and thugs didn't hesitate to start mingling with those around them. Though they hadn't come for the convocation originally, well—they were already here. Might as well.
PS: Deleted yesterday's single chapter. Woke up to find it had spread and become a joke. Didn't expect it to spread like that. I don't like being talked about—I prefer writing quietly, earning quietly, living a plain and steady life.
The Author just wants to focus on writing a book for readers. While secluded in the wilderness during an intensive writing period, all emotions are channeled into the story, and there's little desire to be disturbed by trivial matters.
Diligent writing brings heavenly rewards.
I will put serious effort into writing this book, constantly learning and striving to make each new work better than the last. Thank you for your support. Let's consider this matter concluded for now. If there are any developments, I'll keep everyone informed and learn from this experience.
Typos will be corrected after initial posting.
-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!