Soon, every slave held a Level 2 pickaxe. Perhaps because the mine was open-air and the train captain was personally supervising, every slave worked with ferocious intensity. They rolled up their sleeves, swinging with all their might, and brought the pickaxes crashing down on the protruding iron ore.
For a time, the darkness was filled with the heavy, ragged breathing of the slaves.
The next moment, Chen Mang, standing at the console, cranked the external speakers to maximum volume. A heart-pounding DJ track blasted through the abyss, deafeningly loud in every slave's ears. Then, a woman appeared on top of a slave carriage, her body swaying to the rhythm under the dim lights.
The lighting was too faint to make out her features clearly, but it was precisely this hazy ambiguity that, in the lonely darkness, created a uniquely absurd and desolate beauty.
"See that hen up there?!" Chen Mang grinned, standing in the control car and roaring into a walkie-talkie. "After we've mined out both of these deposits, we'll stew it up! You'll all get meat and soup! Meat for everyone, soup for everyone!"
"You want to dip your steamed buns in meat broth or not?"
As his voice fell, the slaves looked up at their train captain, framed in the window of the control car. Their minds involuntarily conjured the taste of buns soaked in savory broth. They licked their lips, throats bobbing, and roared back with eyes full of anticipation: "YES!"
The veins on Chen Mang's neck bulged as he clutched the walkie-talkie, his voice raw with passion. "See this woman dancing? Is she pretty? Let me tell you, if you work hard, a woman of this quality is nothing!"
"I went to the gathering yesterday and saw the famous star, Ji Chuchu!""Do you all know who the hell Ji Chuchu is?!"
"Work hard, and I'll go snatch that star for you!"
"Tell me, do you want her or not?!"
"DOES ANYONE WANT HER?!"
That did it.
The slaves, already brimming with energy, completely erupted. They glanced at each other in the darkness, then raised their pickaxes, their eyes wild with excitement as they screamed at the top of their lungs: "YES!"
"I never thought I'd get a chance like this in my lifetime!"
"Is this even being a slave? Before the apocalypse, I never had a shot at something like this either!"
"Boss Mang, don't you worry! We'll work our asses off! If anyone dares to slack off, we'll be the first to deal with them!"
"Boss Mang, are you for real? Do we have a chance?"
"Heh." Chen Mang smiled, raising the walkie-talkie again. "I, Chen Mang, have never broken my word! Once we've cleared out the iron and copper mines, I'll go get Ji Chuchu as a reward for all of you!"
"Everyone gets a share."
"Even as slaves, you are my slaves. How can Chen Mang's slaves be on the same level as anyone else's?"
"The things other train masters can't even dream of touching, I'll let you have until you're sick of them."
"As long as you follow me and work hard, you'll live better than you ever did before the apocalypse!"
"Now, GET TO WORK!"
The thunderous DJ music once again assaulted their senses, stimulating every nerve. After that shot of adrenaline, their motivation soared to new heights.
Chen Mang stood at the window of the control car, watching the slaves swinging their pickaxes relentlessly in the dark. He rubbed his raw throat and chuckled softly to himself.
The A-list superstar, Ji Chuchu.
He wanted her, too. He'd never been with an A-list star before.
But… compared to paying 50,000 units of iron ore, he much preferred the idea of taking a fully-equipped Level 2 train and snatching her.
Trading was merely a means to build his arsenal, and that arsenal was meant for taking what he needed. If he still had to haggle after acquiring power, then what was the actual purpose of those arsenals? Was he just toiling away in the Apocalypse Abyss, digging for iron and copper, only to keep haggling for scraps?
"What a beautiful sound," Chen Mang murmured, a slight smile playing on his lips as he listened to the crisp, rhythmic clang of pickaxes striking ore. The cup of water in his hand might as well have been a glass of fine red wine. His grand vision for his train was officially beginning here.
One day, his train would become the most terrifying existence in the wasteland.
Among the slaves, a dust-covered, middle-aged man was also smiling, swinging his pickaxe with renewed vigor. He was clearly in high spirits.
"Uncle Li," a young man next to him panted, sidling closer with a teasing glint in his eye. "Looks like you're looking forward to this, Ji Chuchu. What's with the big smile?"
Over the past few days, he'd learned the name of this man who had been middle-class before the apocalypse, but he preferred to call him Uncle Li.
"Ji Chuchu?" Uncle Li shook his head with a smile. "It's the apocalypse—I won't hide it from you. If there's a chance to have some fun, who wouldn't want it? But that's not the real reason I'm happy."
"It's…" he paused. "Haven't you noticed? Besides our Stellar, there are no other trains here."
"Last night, our train drove straight down a vertical cliff."
"The resources here are completely untouched. There's no one here to compete with us."
"This means our train captain possesses a unique and rare capability."
"That's what truly makes me happy. With all these resources and the captain's abilities, the train is bound to develop into something formidable. Our safety will be much more secure. In the apocalypse, survival always comes first."
"Who wouldn't want to follow a leader who's powerful enough?"
"Who doesn't want to feel a sense of security?"
"And this train captain—his willingness to offer up the hen, and even Ji Chuchu, for us to enjoy… that shows two things."
"First, he's generous. He's willing to share the profits with those below him."
"Second, he doesn't place much value on these things. Even Ji Chuchu, who's incredibly rare in the eyes of others, is just 'whatever' to Boss Mang. His ambitions are much, much bigger."
"Those two points are what make me happy."
"And…"
"We are now Level 2 slaves, and the new batch is Level 3. Given Boss Mang's nature, he's bound to capture more slaves in the future. This means that as long as the train develops smoothly and more slaves join, there's a very real possibility that we could shed our slave status."
"As the longest-serving members, we would become the lower-level managers overseeing the other slaves."
"A train with such a clear future, a generous leader, and a defined path for promotion… shouldn't we be happy that we were lucky enough to be among the first?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, then murmured in a daze, "Uncle Li, you think so deeply. My mind was just full of Ji Chuchu—I didn't think about any of that."
"Let's get back to work." Uncle Li smiled and patted the young man's shoulder. He had a clear goal for himself. With his past management experience, he believed that as the train grew, he had a high chance of becoming one of the grassroots managers.
He hadn't had this thought originally because he believed someone always had to be a slave, but when this new batch of slaves joined, he suddenly realized: yes, someone always had to be a slave, but Boss Mang would just keep capturing more slaves.
This young man was a subordinate he was already grooming. By cultivating him now, he wouldn't be without a trusted aide when he eventually rose through the ranks.
Though he wasn't the train master, he believed that while the train's beginnings were crude, it would eventually evolve into a small-scale society. Everyone would have to demonstrate their value within that society in exchange for the train's protection.
He just needed to find an opportunity during the train's development to get Boss Mang to notice him, and he could rise above the other slaves.
One day in the future, he might even become the second vice-captain.
There could only be one train captain. But as the train grew and the population increased, there was no way there would only be one vice-captain.