Chapter 3  : I Need Gold

 xujin-t-t, _Min_  Editor: xujin-e-x, Lis_The next morning, Sun Jiao was delegated by Jiang Chen to explore the commercial banking building near Qingpu. Sun Jiao was curious as to what was at the bank, and Jiang Chen answered with a direct response.

“I need the gold from there.”

The world here was full of treasure. Any of the civilian products could easily out tech the prototypes in the science labs back in the modern world. But, it was impractical to sell it there. Therefore, a highly valuable commodity that exchanged smoothly would be gold.

Jiang Chen guessed that in a structureless apocalyptic world, gold had no practical value. In a place where everyone starved, no one would trade food for some shiny metal.

He was absolutely correct.

Sun Jiao wanted to know what gold was good for, but Jiang Chen did not want to share. So, she stopped being persistent about the question.

A small incident also happened in the morning.

After she opened her eyes, Jiang Chen placed a piece of bread in front of Sun Jiao. Sun Jiao snagged the toast as she looked at Jiang Chen cautiously.

“Speak your mind, what do you want?”

“Want? Didn’t you say I have to take care of your meals?” Jiang Chen rolled his eyes up. He was not that desperate to sleep with someone that could bite his dick off. Once he had the money in the modern world, girls would follow.

She was shocked for a brief moment before she realized it was part of the compensation package.

“This is breakfast. Three meals a day, but you probably have to eat outside for lunch. Let me grab a can for you.” Even if this girl completely looted the bag, there was still food in the storage dimension. There was plenty of energy left to grab a can.

Sun Jiao was genuinely surprised. Her eyes felt watery. She saw too many tragedies and deaths over food, but this was the first time someone was afraid that she would go hungry.

She grabbed the canned food. Sun Jiao didn’t want to look Jiang Chen in the eyes. She had the intention of robbing this guy and using him as a hostage in exchange for food from his partner.

Even though she immediately rejected that thought, the idea still indeed existed. She felt a profound sense of guilt.

“Breakfast… What is breakfast?” Sun Jiao feasted on the bread with her mouth full of food. She looked quite barbaric, but it was a rather amusing sight to see.

“If you don’t eat breakfast, it may increase your chance of getting stomach diseases.” Jiang Chen muttered as he almost ignored that this was a different world. Most of the people were used to the uncertainty of food. “If you eat food in the morning, it would make you more energetic.”

“Thank … you.”

“Huh?” The voice was so faint that he couldn’t entirely make out what she said.

“Nothing.” Sun Jiao licked the crumbs off of her lips as she savored the last piece of the bread. She looked at her rather greasy hands but resisted the temptation to lick her fingers. It was the first time she had the strange desire to save her face. She didn’t want someone to think she was barbaric, although that wasn’t necessarily the right way to put it either.

“I will do my best to find the gold in the bank’s vault… but it would be much harder to move them back here. ”

Yes, this deserted city was full of abandoned vehicles. The EMP created by the nuclear weapon had destroyed the majority of the electronics in this city. Advanced technology became an obstacle to survival as the cars on the street were all products of the advancement. Even the internal combustion cars were integrated with high tech parts. Therefore, these cars were completely useless.

Without the proper maintenance and replacement by a professional, it was almost impossible to find a drivable car.

“Be careful. The goal is to understand the area. I want to know the surroundings and the exact location of the gold. That should be all. Try to come back before it gets dark.”

“Ok, I know.” Sun Jiao waved her hand as she inspected her equipment one last time. “Wanghai City’s night is full of danger. These zombies are much more intelligent without sunlight.”

“Oh, can I see your EP status?” As Sun Jiao was about to depart, Jiang Chen opened his mouth and asked all of a sudden. He was curious as to what kind of ridiculous stats this girl had to beat him in one move.

Surprised, Sun Jiao immediately waved her EP. Jiang Chen was stunned.

****

User Name: Sun Jiao

Muscle Strength: 44

Bone Strength: 61

Reflex: 40

Brain Cell Strength: 13

Note: Level C Repair Vaccine, T-Virus Vaccine.

****

Jiang Chen never imagined that her delicate arms could exert three times his strength. Was that even humanly possible?!

After he made sure Sun Jiao left, Jiang Chen immediately traveled back to the modern world.

The time in both worlds was parallel. Therefore, it flowed at the same rate.

The battery, of course, cannot be charged in the apartment. As it would take who knows how long to charge 100 volts there. If Sun Jiao did not find him after she came back, there would be a lot of trouble. Thus, to charge, he had to steal electricity from elsewhere.

He sneaked into a small power substation in a neighboring community. With a profound sense of guilt, he cut open the rubber that transported electricity. He then sighed deeply, as he placed his right hand onto the wire.

The open current caused a flurry of sparks. The energy bar on his wrist was charged almost immediately. But of course, the entire community’s power jumped.

“Dammit, what’s wrong with the electricity company? Why did the power jump again? My ranked game…”

“Why do we have no power again? I am pissed…”

Waves of roars emerged from the neighboring community as residents searched for the cause. Without even closing the lid to the power substation, Jiang Chen immediately snuck away. He chose this place because it lacked surveillance.

Full of guilt, Jiang Chen escaped back into his rented apartment. “It looks like the power issue is an immediate concern. Should I ask someone to upgrade the circuit? But it would be difficult to explain the situation without causing suspicion. Should I move to another place? Or rent somewhere that can sustain large voltage machinery? Dammit, it would be better if I could replace electricity as the source of power.”

To better visualize the remaining battery, Jiang Chen used a ruler to mark the energy bar with small increments.

Jiang Chen packed the food into his backpack as he envisioned his life in the future. At the same time, he ordered boxes of canned food, instant noodles and bread from Taobao. Jiang Chen looked at his near zero bank account balance, but he was not upset at all. He understood that very soon, the money he just spent would be pocket change for him in the future.

The entire bank’s gold! That would be a lot of money.

The only thing close to resembling his feeling was winning the lottery.

He also brought bandages, medicine, and other medical supplies. He estimated that he would spend quite some time in the post-apocalyptic world. He then spent 10% of the energy to pack two boxes of canned food and four boxes of instant noodle into the storage dimension. Although it took energy to store, it was better to be prepared.

He lit up a cigarette, as he placed his finger into the electrical socket. He waited as the battery charged. It would be a hassle to steal electricity again.

To pass the time, he played with the computer folded around his left arm.

The radiation level concerned Jiang Chen. He did not want to be exposed to possible diseases caused by radiation. He opened the help manual for radiation levels and studied through the notes. To his surprise, once the radiation level surpassed level 50, the user’s health would be affected. It was recommended to store some iodine in the EP to reduce radiation exposure.

He pressed the iodine extraction button as a thin needle appeared from the side of the EP. He had studied it before he placed the needle into the iodine alcohol on the counter.

The color of the iodine alcohol began fading, as it slowly turned colorless.

He stared at the slow moving iodine meter and the reduced radiation level. Surprised by the outcome, the problem that bothered him was easily solved.

In this case, he only needed to purchase some iodine pills from the pharmacy to resolve the radiation problem.

The fully charged Jiang Chen stretched his arms. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few ingredients from the fridge. He cooked tomato fried eggs and pepper roasted meat, and sat down to enjoy his lunch with a cold beer. He gulped down the beer and let out an emotional sigh.

This simple meal would cost countless amounts of gold in the apocalypse. In that troubled world, gold would not be more valuable than rock. From Sun Jiao’s pure joy and satisfaction in devouring that can of food, Jiang Chen knew how important food must be in that world.

Jiang Chen imagined taking out a can of food at Liuding Town, and the countless attractive women that would sleep with him.

He finished the last bite of rice. He chewed on it carefully, as his mind wandered elsewhere.

[If world war three broke out in this world, what happened in the apocalyptic world would be repeated.]

He shivered at the thought and was afraid to think further.

“Haha, why did I start to think about these weird questions? I need to figure my life out first,” he mocked at himself as he shook his head.

The first important step was to get the gold and then convert it into currency. Then, spend some time enjoying the life of a millionaire.

The first step would be to buy a mansion. A car would be necessary too.

Girlfriend? Why worry about that when there’s so much money?

Jiang Chen washed the dishes before putting them away neatly. He then picked up his heavy backpack.

Time travel. Wait.

He seemed to have thought of something. He opened the fridge and grabbed a can of coke.

Time travel initiated.