My Apocalypse Train

Translator: Anubis Translations

There are four main factors that affect a train's speed:

External acceleration accessories.Different types of wheels.The train's own weight.The train's Tier.

The Stellaris train currently uses Tier 1 Windfire Wheels. These wheels excel at maintaining the fastest speed possible in the wasteland, adding a 30 km/h boost to the maximum speed.

Originally, the train's base maximum speed was 100 km/h.

After upgrading to a Tier 2 train, the base maximum speed increased to 130 km/h.

Taking into account the Windfire Wheels and the train's own weight:

156 km/h

"..."

Chen Mang stared at the maximum speed displayed on the control panel screen. After a deep breath, he quickly calmed down, countless combinations flashing through his mind. Now, there were only two ways to increase the speed.

He definitely didn't have any external acceleration accessories, leaving only two options: upgrading the Windfire Wheels or disconnecting all the carriages.

But...

Upgrading the Windfire Wheels from Tier 1 to Tier 2 required a damn 1000 units of iron ore, and he currently only had 913 units, far from enough. He could, however, throw all those guns and other metal items into the Geothermal Core Furnace, which should yield the remaining 87 units of iron ore.

Climbing from the skylight to the locomotive and tossing the firearms into the Geothermal Core Furnace—though risky, it was feasible.

If that unknown entity behind us was truly closing in...

This was our only option.

"Still..."

Chen Mang gazed at the empty night through the locomotive's rearview mirror. This speed should be enough, right? he thought. No monster could possibly outrun this on foot. Even zombies couldn't hope to keep up!

"Master Lu."

Inside the train, which still had eight carriages remaining, a burly man with a Guanyin tattoo shook his head and glanced up at the dwarf man seated at the control panel. He whispered, "That train doesn't have a Train Radio. We can't contact them."

"Sigh."

The dwarf man at the control panel let out a soft sigh, shaking his head with regret. "What a pity. If the people on that train had abandoned it and fled into the mine earlier, they might have escaped."

"They panicked when they saw us fleeing and followed suit."

"That train won't be able to outrun that thing for long."

"This bastard..."

"Taiping City has been in a killing frenzy these past few days. Did he really keep mining here all this time? Damn, he actually had the nerve to keep digging!"

He remembered this train.

A few days earlier, when he had enthusiastically stormed Taiping City, this train had been mining here. The area had been in chaos for days, but when he escaped, he discovered the train was still here, mining away.

Impressive.

Ignoring the raging floodwaters of the world, you just focus on developing yourself, huh?

It seemed they'd been quite successful, as the locomotive now even had armor.

Having risen from weakness himself, he could empathize with this unseen train conductor. Still, he felt a twinge of pity. After mining for days, they'd essentially dug their own grave. He hoped there were ores to mine in hell too.

If hell had ores, they'd undoubtedly be rare, perhaps even enough to forge a "Hell Train" or something.

As he sped away, the train quickly vanished from sight. He fiddled with the Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist, closed his eyes, and muttered, "My kindness must mean I'm destined for heaven. Maybe I'll build a 'Heavenly Train' there."

That man-eating spider was a Tier 3 monster.

Their train's Heavy Machine Guns and cannons were only Tier 2—useless against the Boss. They could barely handle cubs, let alone a formidable boss.

When a monster's Tier far surpasses that of an offensive vehicle component, the component is unable to inflict any damage. The monster simply ignores the attacks, making it difficult to even scratch its skin.

Even a red-grade component, such as a Tier 2 Seat Defense Cannon, cannot harm a Tier 3 Zombie.

The power of an offensive vehicle component is determined by both its grade and Tier.

However, whether it can penetrate a monster's defenses depends solely on its Tier.

Upgrading an offensive vehicle component not only increases its power but also allows it to deal effective damage to higher-Tier monsters.

Of course, Tier 1 components are an exception.

Tier 1 monsters are the most basic, and even ordinary weapons like fire axes can harm them. After the apocalypse, all firearms ceased to function. To obtain firearms capable of dealing sufficient damage to monsters, they had to be crafted using the train's production line.

This is why:

The train is the only dominant force in this world.

Originally, their several trains had been provoking the edges. When the Tier 3 Man-Eating Spider moved to one end, the trains on the other end would seize the opportunity to kill the spider's cubs, thereby obtaining the rare resources and component blueprints that might drop after killing the spider cubs.

But who could have known? After so many cubs were killed, the Ogre Spider Boss went berserk. Abandoning its own young, it began relentlessly pursuing their trains with frenzied intensity.

All they could do was flee for their lives. There was no room for anger.

Initially, they scattered in different directions, but the Boss soon spewed Spider Silk, sealing off all other escape routes. Forced into a single path, they raced across the wasteland. With no more twists and turns to navigate, they could simply rev their engines to full throttle and race for speed. Their trains were still slightly faster.

"What a pity," the Dwarf Man sighed, sitting at the control panel. He gazed wistfully at the endless yellow sand behind them. The rare resources they'd gathered from killing the Ogre Spider cubs over the past few days had been quite substantial, enough to compensate for their losses. If they could have taken down the Boss itself, the rewards would have been even richer.

But...

Only Tier 3 or higher Offensive Vehicle Components could inflict damage on the Ogre Spider Boss.

Whether it was the Green Grade Heavy Machine Gun or the Blue-grade cannon, upgrading either to Tier 3 required a significant amount of Iron Ore. He hadn't prioritized upgrading these weapons, since they rarely encountered Tier 3 monsters in the wasteland. Instead, he'd invested in the Tier 3 Soaring Dragon Assault Rifle Production Line.

But the bullets fired from a Tier 3 rifle, given its caliber, might as well have been tickling the man-eating spider.

They could penetrate its armor, but it was utterly useless.

White-grade Offensive Vehicle Components didn't cost much to upgrade, but White Vehicle Accessories couldn't even reach Tier 3.

So they had no choice but to flee.

Meanwhile, inside the Stellaris train—

Chen Mang, seated at the control panel in the locomotive cabin, suddenly felt the ground tremble. He instinctively glanced at the train's rearview mirror, and the sight made his breath catch in his throat.

In the distance, a spider the size of a ten-story building charged toward him at breakneck speed.

At first glance, it looked like a mountain hurtling toward him.

"..."

Chen Mang took a deep breath, his face paling. He felt as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head, his adrenaline surging. For the first time, he realized he might have arachnophobia.

He wasn't particularly afraid of spiders, but seeing one this colossal was genuinely overwhelming.

(End of the Chapter)

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