Chapter 3

The next morning, Sun Jiao was dispatched by Jiang Chen to explore the commercial bank building in Qingpu. When Sun Jiao asked what there was to investigate in a bank, Jiang Chen gave a straightforward answer.

"I need the gold there."

In this world, treasures were everywhere, and any piece of high-tech civilian equipment could likely outperform the gadgets still in the labs of the present world. However, it was clearly impractical to directly sell these high-tech products in the present world. Therefore, the only thing of high value and easy to convert into cash was gold!

Jiang Chen speculated that in this lawless post-apocalyptic world, gold should have no value at all. In a situation where everyone was struggling to get enough food, no one would trade their food for those shiny objects.

Clearly, he was right.

Although Sun Jiao was very curious about what use gold could have, Jiang Chen clearly had no intention of revealing anything, so she gave up on pressing the issue.

A small incident occurred in the morning.

After getting up, when Jiang Chen handed a piece of bread to Sun Jiao, she quickly grabbed it and stared at Jiang Chen's eyes with a wary look.

"Speak up, what are you up to?"

"Up to? Didn't you say you wanted me to provide food?" Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. It was a joke to think he was so infatuated that he would sleep with her. With money, he could sleep with ten models in the present world. Anyone willing to sleep with a tigress who might bite off his manhood was definitely out of their mind.

"Provide food?" Sun Jiao was momentarily confused, but then suddenly remembered the agreed-upon compensation from the previous day.

"Breakfast. Three meals a day, but you'll probably have to eat lunch outside. I'll give you a can of food." Although the backpack had been thoroughly searched by this woman, there was still some reserve food in the storage space. Taking out a can or two was still manageable with the current energy.

Sun Jiao was stunned, and for some reason, her eyes felt inexplicably warm. In the wasteland, she had seen many thugs kill their fellow humans for food and even cannibals who wanted to cook her. But this was the first time she had encountered someone who was worried about her being hungry...

She quickly grabbed the can and looked away, her eyes flickering. To be honest, she had even planned to rob this guy and hold him hostage to exchange for food from his "partners."

Although the thought was fleeting, it had existed, and now it brought her a strong sense of guilt.

"Breakfast... what is that?" Sun Jiao chewed the bread roughly, her words muffled.

Her behavior was somewhat rude, but watching a beautiful woman wolf down her food was a unique pleasure.

"Eating breakfast can prevent stomach problems," Jiang Chen muttered, almost forgetting that this was the post-apocalyptic world where most people lived from meal to meal, "Ahem, in short, eating something in the morning will also make you more energetic."

"Th... thank you."

"What?" Because her voice was too low, Jiang Chen didn't hear clearly what she said.

"Nothing." After finishing the bread, Sun Jiao licked her red lips, which were still sticky with bread crumbs, and looked at her greasy hands. For some reason, she restrained the urge to lick her fingers. In her life, she had never felt such a strange sense of "dignity."

How to describe it? Not wanting someone to see her ungraceful behavior? It didn't quite fit.

"I'll do my best to find the gold in the bank's vault... but moving it will probably be more difficult than finding it."

Yes, this dead city was full of abandoned cars, but the EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) from the nuclear war had already disabled most of the electronic devices in the city. The advancement of technology had become a constraint on the survivors' survival. Every car on the streets was a product of high technology, even the internal combustion engine cars were equipped with high-tech components. Because of the high technology, these things had completely broken down.

Unless a professional was found to repair them, finding a working car in the wasteland was almost like a dream.

"Don't force yourself, focus on reconnaissance. I need to know the terrain, the level of danger, and the exact location of the gold... that's all. Try to be back before dark."

"Okay, I know," Sun Jiao waved her hand, checking her equipment one last time, "The nights in Wanghai City are dangerous, full of zombies. Those zombies become much smarter at night."

"By the way, can I see your EP status?" Just as Sun Jiao was about to leave, Jiang Chen suddenly asked. He was still curious about the woman who could subdue him with one move.

Sun Jiao was taken aback, then she cheerfully shook her EP, leaving Jiang Chen speechless.

***

Username: Sun Jiao

***

Muscle Strength: 44

Bone Strength: 61

Reflexes: 40

Brain Cell Activity: 13

Note: C-level tissue repair vaccine. T-virus vaccine.

...

***

No matter how Jiang Chen tried, he couldn't imagine that the strength of those slender arms was more than three times his own...

Is this even human?!

While Sun Jiao went to explore the Pudong bank, Jiang Chen didn't idle. After confirming that Sun Jiao had gone far enough, he immediately returned to the present world.

Time flowed parallel in both worlds, with no faster time passage on either side, leaving Jiang Chen with ample time.

Charging couldn't be done in the rental apartment, as the household circuit would take forever to charge 100 kWh. If Sun Jiao returned and found no one, it would be troublesome. Therefore, to complete the charging quickly, Jiang Chen shamefully went to steal electricity from elsewhere.

Stealthily prying open a distribution box in a nearby neighborhood, he felt guilty as he cut a slit in the insulation of the power cable with a knife. Jiang Chen took a deep breath and gripped it with his right hand.

A massive current sparked, and the energy bar on his wrist quickly filled up.

In return, the entire building lost power...

"Damn, damn power company, why is there another blackout! My ranking match, damn it!"

"Oppa, oppa, why is there a blackout! I'm so angry..."

Rage-filled roars came from upstairs, and many residents opened their windows to check the situation. Without even closing the box, Jiang Chen slunk away. He chose this old neighborhood for charging because it had no cameras.

Feeling guilty, Jiang Chen slunk back to his rented apartment.

"Ah, I need to find a way to solve the charging problem. Hire someone to modify the wiring?... Hard to explain the power usage, and if the authorities investigate, it will be troublesome. Move to a new place? Or rent a commercial warehouse that can handle high-power output?... Damn, if only there was something to replace electricity as an energy source."

To measure the remaining energy, Jiang Chen used a ruler and a marker to make small marks on the energy bar as a scale.

Humming a tune and fantasizing about his future happy life, Jiang Chen packed food into his backpack and ordered several boxes of canned food, instant noodles, and bread on Taobao. Looking at the nearly depleted account balance, Jiang Chen felt no discouragement. He knew that the money he was spending now would be just a small fraction of his future account.

All the gold in the bank's vault! What a fortune!

Even though the money hadn't arrived yet, cough.

Becoming rich overnight, that was the only word to describe his current mood.

In addition to food, Jiang Chen also prepared some medical supplies like bandages and antibiotics. Considering he might have to stay in the post-apocalyptic world for a while, he spent 10% of his energy to store two boxes of canned food and four boxes of instant noodles in the storage space. Although storing and retrieving items required energy, it was better to be prepared.

Lighting a cigarette and plugging his finger into the socket, Jiang Chen waited quietly for the energy to charge. After all, it was only 10 kWh, and going out to steal electricity for just 10 kWh was not worth it. It was harmful and unsafe, cough.

To pass the time, Jiang Chen started fiddling with the wrist-mounted computer on his left arm.

The radiation level still concerned Jiang Chen. He didn't want to get sick from radiation. He lightly tapped the help option for radiation levels and read it carefully, feeling relieved.

"...When the radiation level reaches 50, it will affect the user's health. We sincerely recommend storing a certain amount of iodine in the EP to control the user's radiation level..."

Swallowing, Jiang Chen tapped the button to extract iodine, and a small syringe popped out from the side of the EP. After a moment's hesitation, he took some iodine tincture from the coffee table and inserted the syringe into it experimentally.

The color of the iodine tincture gradually faded and eventually turned clear.

Watching the iodine progress bar fill up and the radiation level drop, Jiang Chen felt a surge of joy. The problem that had been troubling him was so easily solved.

This way, he could solve the radiation problem by buying some iodine tablets from the pharmacy.

After recharging, Jiang Chen stretched and walked into the kitchen, taking out ingredients from the fridge to make a fragrant tomato and egg stir-fry and green pepper and meat strips. After setting the dishes on the table, he also took a can of beer from the fridge.

Enjoying this simple yet delicious lunch quietly, Jiang Chen took a sip of cold beer and sighed with a sense of satisfaction.

This meal, in the post-apocalyptic world, could probably be exchanged for many pounds, or even tons, of gold. After all, in that chaotic world, gold was no more valuable than a stone. From the look of pure happiness and satisfaction on Sun Jiao's face when she ate the cold canned food, Jiang Chen had already guessed how precious food was in that world.

Jiang Chen even believed that if he took a can of food to that Luting Town, countless attractive women would be willing to sleep with him.

Putting the last grain of rice in his mouth, Jiang Chen chewed it slowly, his thoughts drifting far away.

If... in the near future, a third world war broke out in this world, and everything that happened in the post-apocalyptic world were to be replayed here...

Jiang Chen shivered, not daring to continue thinking about it.

"Ha, why am I thinking about these nonsense issues? I should focus on my own life first." Jiang Chen laughed at himself, shook his head, and threw the empty beer can into the trash.

In short, get the gold first, then convert it into money... and then, live a life of luxury for a while before thinking about the future.

First, buy a villa, um... and a car.

Girlfriend?... With money, there's no need to worry about that.

After washing the dishes and putting them away, Jiang Chen walked to the living room and picked up the heavy backpack.

Travel... wait.

Seemingly thinking of something, Jiang Chen hesitated and stopped the travel he was about to start.

Returning to the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out a can of cola.

Travel began.

(As a new author, I seek your support! If you've read up to this chapter, please give me a hand. If you think this book is good, please take a moment to add it to your favorites. Of course, if you have recommendation tickets, that would be even better!

Your support is the motivation for me to finish the remaining two million words!

Chenxing thanks you!)

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