MDT Chapter 284 Part 2

Chapter 284 Part 2: Why Discriminate Against Flesh Trains!

"Up, up... down, down..."

A Level 17 Flesh Train was stopped inside a cage, its walls embedded with hundreds of thousands of human faces. Two giant tentacles extending from the Flesh Train were rapidly scanning each face.

"Nine 'up,' three 'down.'"

"And the ground is engraved with 1892, which means the correct sound frequency should be 11352."

The young boy sitting in the control car chuckled.

"Not too difficult. A bit too easy, even."

He felt he was definitely the fastest, no competition. It seemed heading to the third level was a sure thing. He just didn't know if he was first or fifth.

Only the top five could enter the third level.

The next moment—

Beep, beep, beep.

As his Flesh Train let out a piercing sound, all the faces embedded in the wall closed their eyes, and the front wall slowly opened, revealing a train tunnel.

The train drove into the tunnel. As it exited, it saw an abandoned factory.

A light screen appeared in front of it.

[Congratulations, Pioneer. Making it this far is proof of your strength.]

[But—]

[A train is a team. If only the Train Captain is putting in the effort, the train won't have much potential. Stockpiling talent is an anti-human thing to do in the apocalypse, but it's also something that must be done.]

[What comes next will be very fun.]

[You.]

[.]

[In this level, the Train Captain must remain in the train and cannot go to the factory.]

[In fifteen minutes, the first zombie horde will arrive.]

Seeing this light screen, the smile on the young boy's face gradually froze. His gaze focused on that small line of text.

[The Train Captain must remain in the train and cannot go to the factory.]

He glanced at his train's crew list: 0. He was the only one on the train. How could a Flesh Train have residents?

After a long moment, he finally tried, his voice hoarse, "Hello? I'm a Flesh Train. If you don't let me get off the train, how am I supposed to pass this level? Didn't you make any adjustments for Flesh Trains?"

"Hello, hello, can you hear me? I said I'm a Flesh Train. There are no residents in the train at all. Didn't you consider Flesh Trains when you designed this Encounter Map?"

"Are Flesh Trains the unloved stepchildren?"

He didn't know who he was talking to.

He didn't know if anyone could hear him.

But he still wanted to struggle as much as possible. After all, he had passed the first two levels so quickly and so well. They couldn't just get him stuck here, right?

He repeated it many times, pleaded many times, and waited for fifteen minutes.

He didn't get a response.

But he did get the first wave of the attacking zombie horde.

"I'm fucking talking to you!!!"

The boy completely ignored the attacking zombie horde, his expression agitated as he roared, "If you don't let me off the train, how am I supposed to pass this level? Huh? You tell me!"

"Did that damn princess Tuo Tuo of yours not even consider Flesh Trains when designing the Encounter Map?"

"Aren't Flesh Trains people?"

"The train specialization didn't say Flesh Trains aren't people! Why, when we're all trains, do we Flesh Trains have to suffer such unfair treatment?"

"Including that damn Neon City Encounter Map! Why can't Corpse Flesh be exchanged for Stellar Vouchers? Where am I supposed to dig up Iron Ore?"

"Since you're targeting Flesh Trains so much, why don't you just delete the Flesh Train specialization completely!!"

Still, no one responded.

The cold shoulder always hurts the most.

Even if this light screen had just cursed him, he would have felt better.

Every punch he threw landed on soft cotton. That feeling of powerlessness pushed him to the brink of emotional collapse. He didn't care anymore, jumping directly off the train and forcing his way into the mechanical factory.

However, the moment his left foot crossed the threshold—

[Because the Train Captain has entered the mechanical abandoned factory, violating the rules, the mission automatically fails.]

[In ten seconds, a portal will open. The portal will close in one minute. Please leave as soon as possible to avoid any unknown accidents.]

"..."

The boy stood at the factory entrance, his steps halted. He turned to look at the zombie horde that was already rapidly retreating, his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness. Why? Why?

This is discrimination.

Why discriminate against Flesh Trains?

If he had known this would happen, he would have rather not passed the first level. The feeling he had now was like going to take the college entrance exam, knowing every question, his pen flying across the paper, the answers clear in his mind. His pen even had ink. Everything was perfect.

As long as he turned in his paper, he would be the top scorer. His life would be set from then on.

But..

When he was about to write his name on the test paper, he was told that because of his status, he couldn't write his name on the paper. Who could he complain to about this?

He really wanted to cry.

He really, really wanted to cry.

…

"...Everyone's holding steady."

In the first level's plaza, a man sitting in his control car looked at the 19 unmoving trains around him and snorted coldly. "Since no one's in a hurry, let's all just wait. Let's see who gets anxious first."

There was a 48-hour time limit to pass.

Three or four hours had already passed.

From the beginning, all the trains had just sat here, unmoving. Although he couldn't see the expressions of the other Train Captains in their control cars, he knew what everyone was thinking. They were just waiting for someone bold enough to fly to the opposite cliff and check out the situation.

He certainly wasn't going to be that sucker.

So just keep waiting.

Anyway, only the first five to pass could enter the third level. Since everyone was here, what was he so anxious about? Drag it out to the bitter end.

…

"One hour left."

Inside the Stellar's control car, Chen Mang looked at the control console panel and said softly. It had already been five hours since this mission began. A new wave of zombies had arrived. All 41 Viper Unmanned Fighters were circling in the air, unleashing a crazy bombardment on 1,000 Level 16 zombies.

The zombies appearing now were already Level 16.

The train could hold out for another hour at most. That was the absolute limit. After that, it would be very difficult to hold on; they simply didn't have enough ammunition.

He looked at the screen showing Lao Zhu and the others exploring.

In this level, he had to remain in the control car. The requirement was "The Train Captain must remain in the train." It didn't explicitly say whether he could command, but he didn't want to push his luck. Biaozi and the others were doing very well; they didn't need his command.

From beginning to end, apart from that one time he reminded Xiao Ai to take the zombie corpse, he hadn't interfered once.

And at this moment—

There were still three tasks left.

Three tasks in one hour. It seemed like enough time. After all, they had completed six tasks in just half an hour at the beginning. That progress was extremely fast, a perfect start.

However.

The reality was, it had been two hours since they were down to the last three tasks. An hour had passed, and there was no change in progress. For one task, they had no clues at all. The remaining two tasks—they hadn't even found where they were.

Yes, they couldn't even find where the tasks were.

The entire abandoned factory had been searched from top to bottom, but they still couldn't find them. Even all the secret rooms in the 3D map Xiao Ai had drawn had been checked. They just couldn't find where the remaining two tasks were hidden.

"Come on, guys..."

All Chen Mang could do now was cheer silently. He had already pictured the celebration scene, and also the scene of comforting everyone if they failed. He didn't know which one would come. He could only say he'd done his best.

He also had no idea where the last two tasks were hidden.

He turned his head to look outside the train, refocusing on the enemy. The monster levels were gradually rising. He couldn't let the train auto-pilot anymore; he needed to take manual, precise control. The rest was up to Biaozi and the others. Whether a miracle would happen or not, it was all up to fate.

Time to pray to the Heaven above.

…

Inside the abandoned factory.

Lao Zhu and Biaozi met in the factory's core area. They looked at the several giant gear sets in front of them, then at each other with grim expressions, both shaking their heads. They still had three tasks left.

For one task, they had no clues at all.

That task was on the giant gear sets in the factory's center. On the steel surface of one of the gear sets, there was a faint yellow question mark.

What was the clue? No idea.

They had no idea what they were supposed to do.

As for the remaining two tasks, they were completely missing.

"One hour left."

Biaozi's voice was hoarse, his face ugly. "Not enough time. Why don't we tell Boss Mang to let all the train residents come in and look for clues? There shouldn't be any clues left to destroy now."

At the beginning, they hadn't let so many people in precisely because they were worried they would destroy clues, like the coins. With so many people, one kick here, one kick there—who knows where that thing would end up.

"No."

Lao Zhu shook his head. "Haven't you noticed? These 36 tasks are all linked. If we let the train residents in, we'll have to re-explain the whole story to them. With so many people swarming into the factory, they'll definitely destroy some clues."

"Let's look again. We only have three tasks left. There must be some clues we haven't found yet."

Just then—

“Li Shiji found an announcement from the director in the archive room, looking for his lost password-locked diary. It was the latest announcement, which basically means it was the last one issued before the factory fell. Everyone, look for clues related to the diary.”

"A diary?"

Biaozi was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at the giant gear set beside him, his voice rising. "Right! Didn't they say the director often deliberately damaged the giant gear set? If this thing was damaged too badly, the factory would shut down, causing huge losses."

"If it was damaged too lightly, the factory's on-staff repairmen could handle it; there'd be no need to call Lao Zhang."

"So there must be a way to damage this giant gear set just right, and that method is very likely written in the director's diary."

"As long as we find the diary, we'll complete this task!"

They looked at each other, both seeing the excitement and renewed hope in each other's eyes. They quickly strode out of the core area.

"Would he record that in his diary? Does anyone really write their true thoughts in a diary?" Lao Zhu asked hurriedly.

"Isn't it a password-locked notebook? It's locked."

"Who would have stolen it?!"

"It must be Lao Zhang."

"We already searched Lao Zhang's body. Didn't find any diary."

"He must have given the diary to someone else. For example, if he wanted to pull the director's wife into his plan, he'd need some evidence, right? Evidence to convince the director's wife that her husband was really cheating. This diary is most likely that evidence. The director recorded his dirty deeds in the diary, so this diary must be with the director's wife."

"Fuck! That makes so much sense! The logic is flawless. And it fits the clues. Biaozi, how did you suddenly have this epiphany?"

"Epiphany isn't cheating."

"But the director's wife doesn't live in the employee dorms. Where could she hide the diary? She couldn't have hidden it at home, right? We can't get to her house. This is the only factory in the area."

"It must be in the factory, but it must be in a hidden corner, and it must be hidden in a place no one can find—a place the director would never go. Let me think... could it be in the Processing Department?"

"The Processing Department?"

"When I met Li Shiji in the archive room, I briefly scanned the files and noticed one piece of information. It said that before the director was promoted, he was an employee in the Processing Department and was constantly bullied. So after he took office, he always made things difficult for the old employees in the Processing Department and was unwilling to set foot in there."

"Biaozi."

"Yeah?"

"You've really transformed. I'm starting to see you in a new light."

"It's alright, I guess. I don't know why, but I used to be afraid to voice my conjectures. Now I feel more and more confident, and I dare to say what I'm thinking. Before, I was always worried I'd make a fool of myself in all four directions."

"It's 'make a fool of oneself in front of experts.'"

"Oh. I like 'all four directions' better."

…

Abandoned Factory, Processing Department.

Inside a factory shed, numerous automated assembly line machines were piled up. At this time, most of the group was gathered here, having turned the place upside down.

This place had already been searched many times.

But under a carpet search, they really did find a password-locked diary inside one of the machines.

It was marked with a pale-yellow question mark.

"Found it!"

Biaozi took a deep breath. "But obviously, this diary can't be opened directly. We need to enter a password. Do you guys have any clues?"

"Try 72290427," Li Shiji said.

"That's the mistress's birthday. It was already used to crack the secret room's password lock. It's impossible for the diary to have the same password." Biaozi tried entering the string of numbers. As expected, it prompted that the password was incorrect. Four more attempts allowed.

"Only four chances left."

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "First, this diary must have been stolen by Lao Zhang. After Lao Zhang read the diary's contents, he gave it to the director's wife."

"And this diary shows no signs of being forcibly opened."

"In other words—"

"This password must be one that Lao Zhang could guess."

"So as long as we review Lao Zhang's character bio, I think we can start from there."

He glanced at the countdown. Only 50 minutes left. The sound of cannon fire and zombie roars from outside the factory made him slightly anxious. "Not enough time. Only fifty minutes left."

"As long as we crack this diary's password, we'll only have one task left!"

"A password Lao Zhang could guess..."

The captain of Team Three repeated it softly, then spoke up. "Could it be the director's birthday or something?"

"I think it might be the day the director was promoted."

Lao Zhu said softly. "Before this director married into wealth and was promoted, he was just a low-level employee in the factory. So I think the day he soared to success should be more memorable to him."

"Possible. Let's try both."

After entering both of these passwords, the diary flashed red twice in a row, meaning both passwords were wrong.

"Only two chances left."

Biaozi shook his head, his face ugly. "Everyone, if we fail this mission, we'll have no face to go back and see Boss Mang. We just had a banquet in Neon City the day before yesterday. If we fail the mission today, it will be a huge embarrassment for everyone."

"It couldn't be..."

Zhang Yi, standing in the corner, looked like he wanted to say something, but when he saw everyone looking at him, he shrank back and said softly, "I'm just talking nonsense, you guys keep thinking. It definitely isn't the password I'm thinking of..."

Originally, Zhang Yi and Zhang Er weren't responsible for exploring.

But a few hours ago, there were many heavy objects in the factory that needed to be moved, so Zhang Yi and Zhang Er were sent in.

"Finish what you were saying."

Lao Zhu looked at Zhang Yi seriously. "This is a critical moment. Any idea, whether right or wrong, can give us inspiration."

"Well..."

Zhang Yi hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Well, I saw the wifi password written on the factory wall was 8 eights. I was thinking, could 8 eights be the password for this diary?"

"And this director didn't get to the top on his own merits; he married into it. Generally, people who rely on luck to get ahead tend to believe in luck more. The number 8 is also auspicious. His office also has a lot of lucky cats and money trees. I think the diary password might really be eight eights."

"Of course, the probability is too small. I know it's unlikely. I'm just talking nonsense."

"Don't take it seriously."

"..."

Biaozi was silent, turning his head to look at the blurry notice on a nearby wall.

[Wifi Password: 88888888].

Not very conspicuous.

But.

Would the director really publicize his diary's password like this?

Two chances left. If this one failed, there would only be one last chance. That chance would decide their fate.

He couldn't make this decision.

"Let's try it," Lao Zhu said softly. "I think what Zhang Yi said is quite possible."

"Alright."

Since everyone was in agreement, Biaozi didn't say anything more. He just held the diary nervously in his arms and carefully entered 8 eights as the password.

The next moment—

Clang.

With a crisp sound, the diary opened.

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