The gathering has already begun.

This is the first gathering organized by Chen Mang. Many Train Captains have already started to chat familiarly with each other, as everyone has hosted many gatherings before and are quite familiar with one another.

Zhang Yi and Zhang Er, wearing sunglasses they found from who knows where, stood with their arms crossed in front, flanking Chen Mang on both sides.

Their expressions were cold.

They resembled professional bodyguards.

They were even holding briefcases.

Meanwhile, Chen Mang furrowed his brows slightly as he looked towards the Constant Star Train behind him. Just a moment ago, he suddenly noticed a problem, a problem he usually wouldn't have paid attention to.

The Constant Star Train consists of 14 carriages and one train head.

Although there's a "15th breeding carriage," that's because there's no carriage number 1; number 1 is the train head.

Even counting the train head, the entire Constant Star Train only has 15 carriages in total!

But—

Over these days, all the armor upgrades were based on "15 carriages" + "1 train head," meaning he had a misconception, but why was the train armor upgraded as if there were 16 carriages?

Where did the extra money he spent go?

"Ai, it seems the train has another bug, could you check where the extra carriage has gone?"

"Okay."

This is the second bug with the train.

The first bug happened in the "Tieling Wasteland" when the train's Energy Stone would inexplicably lose capacity now and then. At that time, he sought help through the Train Radio and was told it might have been contaminated with "Cannibal Spider" liquid.

The liquid from Cannibal Spiders has an energy-draining effect.

But this bug is much more serious than the last one. Over these days, he spent quite a few units of iron ore on that non-existent 16th carriage.

The missing 16th carriage.

Headache.

Chen Mang wearily rubbed his temples, wondering why everything seemed to have a bug these days.

Just then—

Three middle-aged men strode up to him, with the leading man showing off a black dragon tattoo on his arm, laughing heartily, "Master Mang, impressive!"

"You might not be aware, but that guy known as Master Shen has been causing trouble in Crisis Valley for quite a while. Originally, these two brothers behind me were called here temporarily to deal with Master Shen, but Master Mang, you dealt with him so swiftly."

"You've indeed removed a threat from Crisis Valley."

"..."

Chen Mang didn't speak but just looked at the black dragon tattoo exposed on the middle-aged man's arm.

"Uh..."

The middle-aged man noticed Chen Mang's gaze and hesitated slightly before saying hesitantly, "Master Mang seems to have some bias against tattoos? In reality... Even with tattoos, one isn't necessarily unforgivable; these were made when we were young and naive."

"We used to be mixed up in the past."

"However, I see you, Master Mang, have the character 'Mang' tattooed on your hand, too."

"Me?"

Chen Mang looked down at the 'Mang' character on his left hand, shook his head, and laughed, "This isn't a tattoo. It's a birthmark; I've had it since birth. I don't have any bias against people with tattoos; I'm just curious, aren't you cold wearing a short sleeve in the winter?"

"Oh, that." The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh, "Master Mang, you are indeed humorous. Actually, it's a bit cold, but I enjoy this chilly feeling. The three of us are Train Captains of 12-level Mechanical Trains, and we came here this time hoping to make your acquaintance and understand the price of that 1-level iron ore..."

"Sit, I just have some questions to discuss with you all as well."

...

The four immediately sat around a round table.

These four essentially represented the top forces of Crisis Valley, yet subtly, Chen Mang seemed to be the leading figure. After all, even among the top, there are differences, and the thugs of each person stood behind them, respectively.

It seemed like a four-way conference.

The leading middle-aged man glanced somewhat awkwardly at the two hefty men standing behind Chen Mang: "Master Mang, your two subordinates are quite sturdy. If this were ancient times, they'd be at the level of a one-man army."

Originally, he thought that since there were three of them, clearly as a group and each bringing thugs, it would inevitably give an oppressive feeling.

So along the way, he was contemplating how they could interact with Chen Mang without appearing threatening, as leaving the thugs behind wasn't an option; he'd feel unsafe that way.

However...

Once they actually sat down, he realized it was them who felt pressured.

Chen Mang alone outweighed the three of them.

Especially those two burly men with sunglasses, cold expressions, cigars clamped between their lips, and briefcases in their hands, over two meters tall, exuding a menacing aura...

"Just about adequate."

Chen Mang smiled, waving it off. Fang, beside him, also smiled, bringing over a plate of nuts, cigars, and snacks to the table before retreating again.

Her legs didn't falter, her hands didn't shake.

Only when she turned to leave did her face suddenly express a "narrowly survived a disaster" look. This was outside the train, you never know when they might fire at will. There's no train protection here, and it could be fatal.

Although she was afraid, she couldn't display any fear throughout, or it would embarrass Master Mang.

The performance of subordinates often reflects the capability of their leaders.

...

And at this moment—

Zhang Yi and Zhang Er were rapidly communicating in Cluster Thinking.

"What do you think? I told you holding a cigar makes us look imposing, didn't I?"

"It does feel different, but big brother, I don't know how to smoke."

"No need to actually smoke, I asked Biao about it, just hold it in your mouth, take a puff occasionally, and then blow it out."

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