"How much do you need?"

Chen Mang looked at the private message from "Bloodthirsty Bull Train" and did some quick mental math. To get the "Spider Legs" to Level 13, which would allow them to travel on ninety-degree slopes, he would need a total of...

8,100 units of Level 1 Fine Spider Silk.

After he sent the number, there was a long pause from the other side. A moment later, a new message arrived.

Bloodthirsty Bull Train: "I don't have that much. I've only got 1,500 units of Level 1 Fine Spider Silk, all from killing Cannibalistic Spiders. But a few days ago, some trains went to Taiping City to hunt the spiderlings. They should have some silk on them, too. Let's meet at the gathering. What are you planning to trade with?"

...

Chen Mang glanced at his train's status panel. He didn't seem to have much of anything to trade. He was unwilling to part with his slaves, and he was short on resources himself. The only thing he could offer was the Carriage Blade fragments.

Strapped to a pickaxe, those things were close-combat weapons capable of breaking through the defenses of Level 3 or even Level 4 monsters.

While they could only break through defenses—their actual damage was another story—they were still ridiculously overpowered.

But he didn't want to bring them out. It would reveal too much.

For a moment, he realized he truly had nothing good to trade. After a brief hesitation, he replied, saying they could discuss it when they met at the gathering. Perhaps the spare Train Token could be used for an exchange, but he'd have to get a sense of its market price at the gathering first.

The night was deep and quiet.

Chen Mang paid no more attention to the Train Radio. They would have to camp out here for the night. He wondered where that Level 2 train blasting DJ music had gotten its headlights; they weren't listed among the twelve craftable vehicle accessories.

He currently had 1,230 units of iron ore on the train.

He already had a plan for how to spend it.

First, he would craft all the basic accessories the train needed, then he would slowly upgrade them based on his priorities.

Since he had decided to go to the gathering in seven days, he needed to craft a few "Tripod-Mounted Heavy Machine Guns" and mount them on top of the carriages. It didn't matter if he had bullets or not; outsiders wouldn't know how many rounds he had stockpiled.

At the very least, having a few of those things would be a major deterrent and hopefully ward off any opportunists.

Just crafting the production line for heavy machine gun ammunition required 500 units of copper ore. He only had 10 units on hand, which was nowhere near enough.

As for tonight...

He spent a total of 1,100 units of iron ore to craft three accessories:

The "Train Auxiliary AI," the "Resource Detection Radar," and a "Simple Medical Kit."

The first two were green-grade accessories, while the last one was white-grade.

After crafting the Train Auxiliary AI, another screen appeared on the control console. This AI would assist while traveling and camping, such as determining the angle of an upcoming slope, performing real-time diagnostics on the damage levels of various components, and providing precise information on monsters within radar range.

A very useful accessory.

The "Resource Detection Radar," like the Search Radar, had a detection radius of one thousand meters at Level 1. It would emit a notification sound and display any resource points on the screen when detected. Currently, there were none nearby.

The "Simple Medical Kit" only cost 100 units of iron ore.

It was a single-use item.

Inside were some basic bandages, disinfectant, medical spray, a suture kit for stitching wounds, and other items primarily for treating external injuries. There were also some painkillers and fever reducers.

It wasn't much, probably enough to treat three people.

He would go tend to Biao Zi's wound in a bit. It was a good way to show some care and concern as the Train Captain. Although the temperature this season made infections less likely, it was always better to take precautions when possible.

Finally—

He used his last 100 units of wood to craft a new accessory, the "Custom Clothing Production Line."

This was all the wood he had on the train.

His clothes were starting to smell. He hadn't had any clean clothes to change into. After crafting the production line, he placed it in cargo car #2.

This production line could create perfectly tailored clothes based on an individual's body type. There were over a dozen styles to choose from, all at a standard price: 10 units of wood per set of clothes.

But since he was completely out of wood now, he had to shelve that plan for the time being.

He'd have to make do with what he was wearing for the next few days. He could wash his clothes the night before the gathering; they should dry after a day of being hung outside.

It didn't matter how he dressed when he was on his own, but when going out, it was important to be presentable.

In a post-apocalyptic environment, having a decent set of clothes was, in itself, a testament to a person's strength.

After getting all this done, Chen Mang picked up the medical kit and walked through cargo car #2 to living quarters #3. Inside, Biao Zi was in a push-up contest with another young man.

The other guards were gathered around, hollering and cheering them on.

When they saw Chen Mang walk in, the noise instantly died down. Biao Zi scrambled up from the floor, looking a little embarrassed, and whispered, "Boss Mang."

"Mm."

Chen Mang waved his hand, signaling for everyone to relax, then walked over to Biao Zi with the medical kit. "Roll up your sleeve. Let me put some medicine on that wound so it doesn't get infected."

"This..."

Biao Zi's mouth twitched. He glanced over at Shanmaozi, feeling a bit awkward. He really wanted to say that his wound had already scabbed over, so what was the damn point of putting medicine on it?

If he rolled up his sleeve now, wouldn't the cat be out of the bag?

But he couldn't disobey Boss Mang's order. He could only grit his teeth, slowly roll up his sleeve, and tear off the bandage.

...

Chen Mang looked, his face devoid of expression, at the neat, already-scabbed wound on Biao Zi's left arm. He then glanced at the man who had originally challenged Biao Zi's authority, who was now getting along quite well with the group. In that instant, he understood everything.

He took out the disinfectant spray from the medical kit, gave the wound a symbolic spritz, and wrapped it with a fresh roll of bandages. Then he patted Biao Zi's shoulder and said softly, "Be more careful when you're on missions from now on."

"Alright, you guys carry on."

With that, he returned to his cabin.

A wound that clean couldn't have been made by a creature like a Zombie Wolf. It looked more like it was inflicted with a Carriage Blade fragment. He didn't have a strong opinion about it.

There wasn't much entertainment out in the wasteland.

Back in his room, Chen Mang had nothing else to do. He had long since memorized the information in the newbie guide. Just as a wave of drowsiness hit him, he fell onto the bed and drifted off to sleep.

If one had to talk about entertainment, perhaps the only real fun was the adrenaline rush of narrowly escaping from the jaws of a monster.

In a daze, he suddenly remembered something. Had he paid his respects to Boss Kun yet? Boss Kun was a good man; he'd left him such a huge newbie gift package. He really ought to thank him.

Ah,whatever, he thought. I'm too tired today. I'll get to it tomorrow.