Jiang Chen didn’t want to remember what happened that day in the sewerage system.
He only remembered that he threw up, consistently. Yao Yao comforted him and helped him change into clean clothes. She felt terrible inside too, but since she survived in the apocalypse for a long time, death was a not an unfamiliar sight.
In the end, Jiang Chen shot the natural gas canister in the room.
He watched the fire cleanse the filth in the room without saying a word.
He held onto the quivering Yao Yao and stepped over a countless number of bodies. He left this terrifying place.
Sun Jiao’s wound scabbed already. After Jiang Chen came back, she could even walk by herself. Three bullets hit her in the stomach, and one in the shoulder. After he had heard Sun Jiao taking out the bullets by herself, he was only a little surprised. This brave girl always surprised him.
After they had returned to the mansion, he got drunk. He finished all the beers he brought. Because of Sun Jiao's injury, she slept early and Yao Yao took care of him for the night.
She was incredibly understanding. She also felt the agony and pain. The scene almost shattered any courage she had built up, but she knew that Jiang Chen needed to be taken care of right now.
This compassionate man was almost like someone who had just left a survival base. She remembered the first time she saw a pile of dead bodies, and she almost immediately fainted. However, as soon as she realized that even in survival camp, death was only a routine, she became desensitized.
Compassion was rare in this world, so wasting it would be considered a sin. In the apocalypse, it was foolish, but incredible at the same time.
She heard about the cannibals. They hid within the shadows, under the filthy sewages. They worshiped a distorted religion which prided the act of feasting on the bodies of the same race. Every single one of them was the enemy of any human force. Even the anti-human neo-human group was disgusted by them. Praised for their freedom, Sixth Street outlawed any cannibals from approaching the area.
She placed a warm towel on Jiang Chen’s forehead, Yao Yao looked at Jiang Chen’s face full of sorrow and then she silently left the room.
"Did he fall asleep?"
Yao Yao paused slightly. Sun Jiao was awake; she had a perplexed look on her face.
"Mhmm, weren’t you asleep as well?"
"Yes, but I can’t fall asleep. Never mind, I’ll talk to him tomorrow." Sun Jiao turned around.
"You, how are you feeling?" Yao Yao looked at the bandage around Sun Jiao’s waist. That question almost took all of her courage.
"It’s not a big deal. I am quite confident about my healing ability," Sun Jiao forced a smile as she answered weakly. "By the way."
"Mhmm?" Yao Yao stopped, just as she was about to turn around. Yao Yao was puzzled.
"… Thanks."
In the dim light Yao Yao couldn’t make out Sun Jiao’s facial expression, and Sun Jiao went into her room right after. Yao Yao grinned. Although she was not used to dealing with the bold female master, she was a nice person after all.
The next morning.
Jiang Chen sat on the soft bed as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. The sunshine cast through the window was bright.
The radiation cloud finally scattered. The temperature was about to go up; it was the midst of summer in the modern world.
The door slowly opened, Yao Yao’s tiny body squeezed into the room.
"Hmm, let me help you wash your face," Yao Yao said gently as she placed a bowl of water onto the head dresser.
He looked at the cute face. A delighted smile melted from his sore face and he touched Yao Yao's forehead. "Don’t worry. I can do it. What time is it?"
"It’s nine. Let me do it." She wetted the tower and gently rubbed Jiang Chen’s face.
It felt nice, so Jiang Chen didn’t resist.
"Does it feel better now?"
"Much better. Yao Yao is very caring." His muscle still felt sore, but he was capable of moving around.
Maybe because she received a compliment, but a delighted smile appeared on her face.
"You, are you feeling better?" Sun Jiao also came into the room after she heard some noises. She stared at Jiang Chen worriedly from the door.
"I am okay, but you, are your injuries okay?"
"I am fine; I need to explain something to you." Her face suddenly turned serious which made Jiang Chen tense up as well.
Although Sun Jiao loved to joke around, she always treated things seriously when it was necessary.
Just as the mood was about to tense up, Sun Jiao all of a sudden laughed. From Jiang Chen’s shocked look, she turned around.
"Let’s eat breakfast first."
The breakfast was very delicious, to the apocalypse standard.
There were toast and ketchup.
For some reason, ketchup made Jiang Chen’s stomach feel quite upset.
Sun Jiao looked at Jiang Chen who held onto his stomach nervously; she sighed before taking away the ketchup.
Sun Jiao has a passion for food, but all of the sudden she had no appetite.
It was not because of the cannibals. This was the first time she saw something so gruesome. She was worried about Jiang Chen as it was his first time witnessing the cruelty of the apocalypse. That was only the tip of the iceberg.
"I… I need to go out. I’ll probably be back in a month's time. There’s not a lot of food left in storage." If he stayed here any longer, he would break down mentally.
He made up an excuse because the idea of interdimensional travel was too complicated to explain.
"Ok, come back as early as you can." Sun Jiao wanted to say something, but only those words left her mouth.
"Let’s eat." Jiang Chen gave her a weak smile. He knew that he looked terrible, but he couldn't be brave at this moment.
He was fatigued physically and mentally.
Sun Jiao carefully chewed on the toast and explained to Jiang Chen what happened to his body yesterday. Gene vaccine, theoretically, only slightly improved the human regenerative cell function which would improve the human muscle strength, bone strength, reflex and survivor ability. Jiang Chen opened his EP and saw his improvements in the past three days.
****
User Name: Jiang Chen
Muscle Strength: 24
Bone Strength: 25
Reflex: 28
Brain Cell Strength: 14
****
All three basic abilities almost doubled. By modern world standards, Jiang Chen could be described as superhuman.
"Yesterday, because of your anger, you entered fury mode." She remembered Jiang Chen was furious because of her which made her blush a little. "Normally, gene vaccine will only improve the three basic functions. However, because it changed some DNA in the body, some unpredictability does exist. Someone even grew two heads."
"What? The thing you injected into me was something this dangerous?" Jiang Chen dropped the toast onto the ground.
"Some probability, almost negligible." She didn’t want to admit her mistake and chose to change the topic.
"But for some people, the mutations are beneficial, so they received useful abilities. For me, my ability is tenacious." Sun Jiao stood up and unzipped her clothes.
"Ahem, what are you doing?" Surprised by her actions, Jiang Chen was slightly confused. However, when he saw the flawless waist, he was shocked. "What happened to your scar?" Only three faint white dots were left on the lightly tanned skin. This was the new skin she grew. In a couple of days, he wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference.
"Tenacious’s ability is to increase cell regenerative speed for the non-fatal wound. After the usage of the ability, the body will be frail. Constant usage will also result in cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest.
"Your ability is the same. You have to remember you are exchanging your life for power. Therefore, you shouldn’t use it as much. According to EP, it is called Fury right?"
"Yes." Jiang Chen nodded. He checked the EP yesterday, and it showed "Special Ability: Fury."
"Clinically, anyone with this ability will be triggered by strong emotional stimulants. The body’s cell will enter a rapid stage of regeneration. In macro terms, it’s an increase in strength and reflex. The specifics are person-dependent. You can find information related to your usage on your EP.
Jiang Chen was surprised by the EP’s function. Under Sun Jiao’s guidance, he found the document.
Hidden Gene Ability:
Fury
Muscle Strength +20
Reflex + 19
Brain Cell Strength +17
Special effect: Killer instinct, use any of the five human sense to identify the location of the opponent's heart.
Maximum effective duration: Thirty minutes
The fury ability could increase brain cell strength? Make me Smarter? Jiang Chen was quite bewildered.
"I caution you against using the ability too much." Sun Jiao noticed Jiang Chen’s surprised expression, and she sighed.
"Why?"
"Did you forget the effect of the ability?"
He remembered he fainted that day and only regained consciousness after a long time.
"If it’s in a safe environment, then it is okay. But in the midst of the battle, no one can predict the outcome. If you met someone you cannot take care of while using the ability, then there is only one ending for you."
Sweat began to roll down Jiang Chen’s forehead as Sun Jiao explained. If Yao Yao didn’t get there in time, he would be a headless body by now.
"But you don’t have to worry; these abilities are often controllable. You can use special medicine to active and terminate the ability. It will make your ability much more useful. With practice, you can even use your mental strength to control the ability. Like me, I don’t need the assistance of medicine anymore." Sun Jiao passed on two plastic tubes to Jiang Chen. "Put this inside your EP and match the corresponding color. If you need to active fury, you just need to press a button. The EP will use the micro-needle to inject the medicine into your body. However, my recommendation is still to not over-rely on this ability."
"Ok." Jiang Chen carefully nodded.
After breakfast, he packed up his bag filled the gold. The two girls followed him into the living room to say goodbye. Although Jiang Chen reassured them that he would be back soon, Sun Jiao and Yao Yao insisted.
He hugged Sun Jiao as she kissed him without a slight hesitation. The passionate and wetness of the kiss would not be dull even after a million times.
"The food is in the fridge. There is enough in there to last half a year. Remember to eat the fresh vegetable first; canned foods are not that healthy."
"Ok honey, can you say something romantic right now. " Sun Jiao rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen, but her eyes were filled with longing.
After Sun Jiao, Jiang Chen also hugged Yao Yao. "Remember to take care of your body; I want to see a healthy Yao Yao after I come back."
"Mhmm!" Yao Yao nodded her head.
He felt her pointy chin on his shoulder before he placed her down.
"First, you have to come back." She asked him with a plea.
Jiang Chen gave her a sincere smile to assure all of her concerns. "Of course I will be back."
Jiang Chen was about to leave, but he felt a weak resistive force from his waist. He looked at Yao Yao confusedly as she held onto him and just as he was about to ask her why.
Her lips covered his.
There was an elegant fragrance; it tasted like lavender. Yao Yao pecked him on the lips and ran away.
He touched his lips still stunned by what happened; he then saw Sun Jiao’s deadly stare.
"You can’t blame me for this."
Sun Jiao sighed as Jiang Chen tried to explain. She hugged him again and whispered, "don’t say anything, come back soon."
"Mhmm." Jiang Chen opened his mouth, but he only left a simple response.
She stared at his shadow with a perplexed look. The woman was a sensitive creature. She could guess that Jiang Chen was from a country before the war. Only in a structured society would gold have any value. From her knowledge, there was no place in this world where gold has any value left.
Will he come back to this world? She didn’t know.
If it was before, she might choose to keep him here. It was typical for people in the apocalypse. But she didn't choose this option.
She saw the fearlessness in his eyes since the beginning. Even if he was tied down with a gun pointed at his head, he was afraid, but he never feared. The companions were all lies; the organization was also a story he created. She didn’t know what he hid.
It was not a stupid fearlessness, but it a was calculated risk. Sun Jiao had the feeling that at Sixth Street if he wanted to leave, no one in this world could stop him. He would also do it with less effort than her.
She even had the idea of hiding the gold to control Jiang Chen, but she restrained the idea to her head.
She chose to trust him.
He will not leave me here. He will be back. Sun Jiao believed him. Although if she followed him, she would find out his secret. But, she didn’t do it.
It was odd because this was the first she trusted the idea of a relationship in the apocalypse.
Although Yao Yao didn’t know Jiang Chen’s secret, as witty as she was, she was smart enough to see a slight hesitation in his eyes. She didn’t know from where this hesitation came. Maybe it was because of the conflict with the Huizhong Mercenaries, or maybe it was because of the mental image left behind at the cannibals’ camp.
She saw the hesitation in him. Maybe it was because of this uncertainty that made him postpone the vault idea and leave for a period.
This choice made Yao Yao quite relieved. Though it was a gloomy feeling, she felt that if Jiang Chen got the gold from the vault, then he would not be back for a long time.
If Jiang Chen disappeared, she would feel despair. She didn’t want to feel that way.
So in the last moment, she followed her heart, and she kissed Jiang Chen.
For the same reason, Sun Jiao didn’t stop her despite Sun Jiao's possessiveness. In the end, he needed some attachment in his heart. So, the more, the better.
Then, he would come back.
Jiang Chen almost cried as he took in a deep breath of the familiar smoggy scent.
The clock on the wall pointed at 11 o’clock, the time in the apocalypse was synced with the modern world. When he left, it was also 11.
He rubbed his temple and slowly took another deep breath. If he stayed there a second longer, he would go insane. He thought his mental fortitude was strong, but he apparently overestimated himself when faced with waves of machine gun bullets and body parts. He didn’t quiver at that moment, but he was as traumatized as Yao Yao, if not more.
The familiar noise outside of the window made him calm. Even if the noise bothered him before, it reminded him of the place called home.
Thank god for world peace!
Jiang Chen wanted to scream out these words, but he only stretched his arms and didn’t let it out. The constraining force of the civilized society made him hold back. He didn’t want to be considered as a lunatic.
He felt the heavy metal behind his back. It made his heart pump a little faster. Gold! He is rich now! He placed the backpack onto a scale and saw the needle pointed at seven kilograms. His heart pounded furiously. That’s mother fucking one million dollars! He didn’t know the exact exchange rate, but it was around 200 to 300 dollars per gram which would add up to 1.4 million dollars.
He truly hit the jackpot. He didn’t even make 3000 per month back then. He only imagined this in his dreams, but now the gold was right in front of him.
The contrast also made him ponder about his next step. Buy a car? He had plenty of money to do so. Buy an apartment? Pretty close. No no no, he wanted a mansion.
Yes! The vault at the bank!
But when he thought about it, his face immediately dimmed. He hesitated about the idea. He must go back to that place. The apocalyptic world where even the air made you feel suffocated by the cruelty. However, as he was contemplating, a graceful figure appeared in his head.
"I also believe you."
"Don’t say anything, come back soon."
"Sun Jiao." Jiang Chen mumbled the name as he touched his lip subconsciously.
Her warm kiss remained on his lip. Another timid character flashed into Jiang Chen’s head.
"I, I will be very obedient. If you want to do anything, I will not resist."
"I don’t mind having such a sympathetic master. Yao Yao is very grateful; I hope you don’t abandon me."
"Yao Yao." Jiang Chen repeated the other familiar name. The fresh scent of the kiss, although unexpected, kissed straight to his heart.
All the sudden, Jiang Chen burst out in laughter and let go of all his troubled thoughts.
"What am I even thinking? I don’t like little girls." He jumped off the bed.
First, it’s time to make lunch. Then, cash out on the gold.
As to the car and house, he wants the fastest convertible and the fanciest mansion. At least it has to be better than his place in the apocalypse.
The entire vault will all belong to me.
As to this money. It’s time to enjoy and relax a little.
He walked into the familiar Kitchen and picked up the already dusty knife. He made up his mind. First, he will spend every penny he has. Or else it would be difficult to gather the courage to go back.
It would take some time to get used to it.
Along with the gold, he also took the full-sensory computer and pistol. Although he didn’t want to bring the pistol back as it was outlawed in his society because he didn’t want to make too much of a commotion, his goal was to be rich here.
He brought the computer so that he could watch movies. The store owner promised him that all 100 terabytes were quality movies. He was excited to experience it like never before.
He immediately opened it. The intricate computer projected a rectangular prism made out of arrays of light particles. The interface looked even more advanced than Sun Jiao’s computer.
The already excited Jiang Chen immediately opened the folder titled <movie>. He selected the first one from the list.
But the picture that projected completely shocked him.
"Yes, Yes, go harder!"
The arousing sexual scene projected straight into the middle of the room. It was almost as if the action was happening in his room. He immediately closed the computer as the neighbors probably all heard the noise.
He reopened the computer again, this time carefully scrolling through. He finally saw the names of the movie.
<16 times in the office straight!>
<Secret teaching of a female teacher>
What are these? These are all porn. Jiang Chen finally understood why the store owner made such a perverted face when he sold it to him.
If it was before, he would probably have masturbated to it. But now, things were different. After the countless number of romances with Sun Jiao, he was no longer interested in the one-person activity anymore.
He threw the computer on the ground and carried the hefty backpack. He was hesitant about carrying a pistol. Yao Yao gave him the pistol that saved his life. After a brief pause, he suddenly remembered the storage dimension he had and put everything in there.
Except for the slow activation and power cost of the storage dimension, it was quite convenient. Jiang Chen also didn’t lack energy crystal anymore. It only took ten crystal energy to charge the power of the bracelet completely.
He also didn’t take off the EP. The design of the EP matched the aerodynamics of the human body. Therefore it looked completely hidden inside his sleeves.
He locked the door of the gloomy apartments behind him. He paused for a second before stepping into the lively and vibrant metropolitan.
The shadow of leaves scattered across the rocky road. It was June in Wanghai City. The symphony of chattering birds echoed through his ear. He stood in the middle of the crowded street and pondered before finally recollecting his thoughts.
Everything was surreal. The chaotic apocalypse contrasted with the serenity of the modern world. Although he only stayed for a few days in the other world, everything there has been engraved into Jiang Chen’s mind and memory. The cracked concrete was replaced by a rocky trail. The tree’s scattered shadow replaced the reflection of a few branches sticking out of the tree. He held his head high again and took a deep breath. He tried to get the unhealthy feeling out of his skull.
He needed a couple of days to relax. It wouldn’t be long before he went insane.
With the back of his eye, he saw a cicada between the tree branches. He didn’t see cicadas in the apocalypse, but the cockroaches were as big as a Shepard.
He shooked his head to get the odd idea out of his head and waved down a taxi to go cash out his gold.
The bank was not an option. There was no way to prove his ownership, so the bank would not accept it and probably call the cops. Respectable gold shops were a good option since they have the capability and would be relatively trouble free. It would only take some discounting on the price to make the deal happen. After all, it didn’t cost him anything to get it.
He stepped in front of Goldlion. He chose it purely because of the name.
"Hello Sir, are you picking out a ring for your significant other? We have…" As soon as Jiang Chen stepped inside, the sales lady welcomed him warmly. Although Jiang Chen looked rather dull, maybe he was rich. Her years of sales experience signaled her that Jiang Chen was unique.
"Do you guys exchange gold here?" Jiang Chen signaled the sales lady to stop talking and stated his intention.
She paused and suddenly lost all her interest. She still replied respectably.
"Yes we do, but we only accept gold with high purity. If you have any needs, sir…"
"Get your manager here. You can’t decide this deal." Jiang Chen interrupted her. The sales lady could not make a decision on this amount of gold.
She looked rather unhappy but remained professional. She didn’t believe that a guy dressed so poorly with a backpack could talk about the deal here. She could almost foresee the look of despair after the guard threw him out of the store.
After he had looked at the gold from Jiang Chen’s backpack, Liu Anshan gasped.
He worked for Goldlion for almost twenty years. He has seen plenty of people exchange gold, but this was the first time he saw someone do it with a backpack.
Seven kilograms of gold. After the examiner had nodded, Liu Anshan coughed and displayed the most pleasant smile he had.
"It’s 7122 grams. The purity is flawless. Do you have proof of ownership for the gold sir?"
"No." Jiang Chen stared at Liu Anshan’s eyes and answered decisively.
Liu Anshan momentarily gave a though before he motioned the examiner to leave. Only two of them remained in the room.
"Let me be honest with you. Mr. Jiang’s gold comes from somewhere unusual." Liu Anshan’s eyes flashed with intelligence before fading away. The gold’s purity was identical to a bank's. However, gold from the bank usually has a receipt, but Jiang Chen's didn’t. The origin of the gold was questionable.
"Don’t worry. There are no criminal records on these. The gold is my salary." Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and answered without too much emotion. He didn’t lie; it was his salary from the apocalypse.
Liu Anshan was also experienced in these matters. Jiang Chen’s vibe made him feel quite uncertain. Gold as salary? Could he be a mercenary? That’s stretching it too far.
Jiang Chen left Liu Anshan guessing as he didn’t explain further. He looked at Liu Anshan and asked, "Boss, do you have any interest in this deal?"
"Yes, of course, Mr. Jiang." Liu Anshan smiled. "But since you don’t have any proof of ownership, it's quite difficult for us to…"
"7122 grams of gold. I’ll sell every gram for 220 dollars which come out to be 1566840 dollars. I’ll round it 1.5 million. The rest is your tip. The gold is currently trading at 270 dollars per gram. There is no way you would lose in this deal." Jiang Chen suggested.
Jiang Chen didn’t believe someone like Liu Anshan had no way of getting rid of the gold in the black market,
"Haha, Mr. Jiang. Then I must kindly accept this offer." Liu Anshan was shocked by the price he was offered. He would make 100 thousand instantly if he took the deal. "Would you prefer cash or transfer?"
"Transfer." Jiang Chen gave out his account number. After he had received the confirmation, it was a successful deal.
After Jiang Chen had left the VIP room, the sales lady looked hysterically as her boss personally sent the poor looking man to the door.
"Mr. Jiang, this is my business card. If you have any more business for me in the future, please don’t forget me." Liu Anshan looked euphoric as he just made 100 thousand in a couple of minutes. Jiang Chen was right; it was easy to get rid of the gold through other channels.
The purity of gold was flawless without the need for further purification. Liu Anshan was only required to document the gold before it could be sold on the exchange. Also, apart from the gold itself, Liu Anshan was investing in a long term relationship. He was respectable to Jiang Chen because of the very reason. At least on the surface.
Jiang Chen accepted the card without saying much. He took a taxi and left right away.
Liu Anshan gazed at the direction of the departing taxi.
He was deciding if it was necessary to have someone follow Jiang Chen. He had a feeling that for someone who sold the gold without a blink of an eye, he must have even more.
[If I can find the source of the gold.]
A flame of greed ignited in his eyes before he extinguished it. He decided to be vigilant about the situation.
Life is more important than money after all.
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