Seeing Chu Xiaodie's increasingly panicked expression, Lin Shi, who had only been 50% sure before, was now 100% certain. "Four security guards were killed, and the bank lost over 25 million. I wonder how many years the leaker will be imprisoned," he said with a malicious smile, turning to leave.
No wonder the bank robbery that didn't happen in his previous life occurred this time; it was clearly due to the butterfly effect caused by his decision to buy gold bars. Li Changbin glared at Lin Shi's retreating figure and shouted, "Stop!!"
Seeing that Lin Shi continued to walk away, Li Changbin grabbed Chu Xiaodie's arm tightly. "What's going on?!"
He had come to negotiate with Lin Shi under the assumption that the bank wasn't fully responsible. He never expected that the robbers were brought in by one of their own. What was the point of negotiating now?
"It wasn't me!!" Chu Xiaodie screamed.
Li Changbin saw her guilty look and realized that Lin Shi was right; the leaker was indeed Chu Xiaodie. Now that Lin Shi had already contacted the media, he needed to resolve this before it became public. Without another glance at Chu Xiaodie, Li Changbin walked away, leaving her slumped on the floor, muttering, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me..."
Yesterday, after receiving Lin Shi's call about purchasing 25 million worth of gold, Chu Xiaodie had been delighted. During dinner with her boyfriend, she had boasted about the client who was buying 25 million in gold. She had bragged about big deposits before, but she had never mentioned any names. How could this be considered leaking client information? Yet, sometimes things just happen. The two robbers sitting behind her in the restaurant overheard her conversation. As the saying goes, if you walk down a dark road often enough, you're bound to run into a ghost.
...
By the time Lin Shi left the police station, it was already evening. He found his car and drove to the warehouse he had rented. Soon, he received several more calls—this time from advertising partners. Checking his phone, Lin Shi realized he had become famous. There were numerous messages from university classmates, high school friends, and even elementary school acquaintances. He cleared all the messages. He didn't want to be in the spotlight. If he didn't know that the apocalypse was coming in three months, he might have used this wave of popularity to make some money through short videos and advertisements. But with the end of the world looming, he didn't have the time or energy for that. Netizens could be too relentless, and if they dug up any clues, he would be in trouble.
After tidying up the warehouse, he ate some bread from his space and went to sleep. After a day of intense mental and physical exertion, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
The next morning, Lin Shi woke up feeling refreshed. After his morning exercise and breakfast, he received a call from the bank. "Mr. Lin, your gold transaction from yesterday is still pending. When can you come to collect the gold?"
Lin Shi raised an eyebrow. So quickly? He had planned to use the incident with Chu Xiaodie and his newfound online fame to pressure the bank into completing the interrupted transaction. He hadn't expected the bank to react so fast. "Thirty minutes," he replied.
After breakfast, Lin Shi went to the bank. He thought he would need to argue, but everything went smoothly. The bank manager personally greeted him, apologized sincerely, and handed him the gold bars. They even gave him some gifts, calling them compensation for the inconvenience. Lin Shi, in return, agreed to take a photo with the gold bars and the bank staff, posing with a cheerful smile.
As Lin Shi left, the bank staff and security personnel helped him carry the items and escorted him to his car, waving until his vehicle disappeared from sight. This scene was captured by journalists who had been following the bank's activities. The photos quickly appeared on news websites, and netizens praised the bank's service. But this was no longer Lin Shi's concern.
Originally, he had planned to give an interview and expose the deputy manager's recording and Chu Xiaodie's involvement. Now that he had achieved his goal in the shortest time, he could skip these time-consuming tasks. Whether he would survive in three months was uncertain, so why waste time on people who were doomed?
Lin Shi's focus was now on the gold bars. In the small, ten-square-meter room, two piles of gleaming gold bars were neatly stacked. One pile was from today's withdrawal, and the other was from the robbers. There were also three smaller bars left from before. A total of 50 million worth of gold!
Thinking about the possibility of doubling this to 100 million, Lin Shi's heart raced. He couldn't hold 120 kilograms of gold in his hands like before. He placed both hands on the gold bars and said, "Item duplication."
A brilliant golden light filled the small room, and gold bars began to materialize in the air, landing on the bed with a series of thuds. The metal frame of the bed creaked under the weight, but Lin Shi didn't care if he had to sleep on the floor. He counted 123 bars, 120 of which were 1000g each, and three were 500g. Not a single bar was missing. He breathed a sigh of relief, a look of elation spreading across his face. Turning 25 million into 100 million in two days would make anyone ecstatic. Initially, he wasn't sure if it would work. What if there was a limit to the number of duplications, or if he could only duplicate what he touched, or if there were other restrictions? But fortunately, his concerns were unfounded. The item duplication function was even more powerful than he had imagined.
The interface of the Treasure Pot had also changed:
Treasure Pot
Function: Storage Space 6x6x6
Upgrade Cost: 2000 Money Points
Function: Item Duplication *1
Upgrade Cost: 10000 Money Points
He only had one duplication left. He wondered if the number would change after an upgrade. Lin Shi first organized the gold bars. Each bar from the bank had a serial number. He separated the 60 duplicated bars from today's withdrawal and set them aside. These were to be sold back to the bank. He then placed the other 63 duplicates on the other side. These could be melted down and sold through different channels.
Lin Shi picked up two original 1000g gold bars and mentally commanded, "Space Upgrade!"