With a smug grin on his face, Jiang Chen left the basement alongside a blushing Sun Jiao.
His cocky attitude had managed to irritate Sun Jiao to no end, and she angrily twisted his waist a few times. However, in her flustered state, Sun Jiao lost her balance and nearly tripped over herself.
"Careful, don't fall!" Jiang Chen quickly caught her, pretending to be clueless, and gave her a playful slap on the backside.
Sun Jiao looked at him through gritted teeth, her face full of embarrassment. Jiang Chen couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at her flustered state.
"You bad guy..." After a long pause, Sun Jiao, who usually had a foul mouth, could only muster this weak protest. Her glare was full of anger, but there was no hiding the affection behind it.
Jiang Chen, being "experienced," wasn't about to let that moment slip by. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then, grinning cheekily, took advantage of her dazed state to slip away before she could react.
"Geez..." Sun Jiao watched his retreating figure, fuming as she stamped her foot. She wanted to chase after him and pinch him, but her legs were weak, so she had to lean against the wall for support.
"Seems like his skills are pretty good after all..." she thought to herself, her face turning even redder. Her knees buckled again, but she quickly caught herself against the wall.
With a scowl, she decided right then and there: This isn't over!
"FU—CK! Just wait for me tonight, you're in for it!" she muttered, her anger turning into resolve.
Upon arriving at the swimming pool, Jiang Chen couldn't help but inhale sharply.
Damn...
There was so much gold, it must weigh over ten tons. A ton of gold only occupies about 0.051 cubic meters, but the pile in the corner of the pool looked like it was half a cubic meter in size. Jiang Chen took out an electronic scale and quickly weighed it in batches.
A total of 12.2 tons of gold, worth at least five hundred million USD!
He was stunned. Though he had expected this, the sight of so much wealth still sent a rush of excitement through him.
After a deep breath, Jiang Chen decided not to move the gold into storage just yet. That could wait. Tomorrow, he still needed to head to the Sixth District, and he would need to clear out some space in his storage for items that were to be traded. The gold would be safe here, and he could deal with it later.
If he left now, he would probably arrive at the Sixth District by nightfall. So, he figured it was better to leave early tomorrow. As for the rest of today, he would prepare for the journey.
With that in mind, Jiang Chen returned to his room, retrieved the long-forgotten PK2000 assault rifle, and climbed up to the wooden lookout tower Sun Jiao had set up along the wall.
The sleek design of the rifle gave him a reassuring feeling, with a futuristic vibe.
He disengaged the safety and pulled back the bolt.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chen aimed through the scope and locked onto a gaunt, hideous face, then pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gun spit fire as a puff of smoke spread in the air.
The bullet hit the zombie in the chest, but it didn't kill it outright. The zombie fell but thrashed about, seemingly waking up, though it couldn't rise to its feet.
Jiang Chen frowned. He had aimed for its head, but somehow, he hit the chest.
With a wry smile, he adjusted his scope and took another shot.
The struggling zombie made noise, attracting more nearby zombies. However, as they lacked the intelligence to track down the source of the attack, they just wandered aimlessly, getting closer in the process.
Adjusting for distance...
Bang!
This time, Jiang Chen didn't miss. The bullet shattered the zombie's head, and black blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.
"The 4x optical sight is good for mid-range combat, but if you insist on using it at this distance..." Sun Jiao's voice came from behind him, tinged with teasing. She had quietly approached without him noticing.
"Uh, where?" Jiang Chen thought back to a game he had played called ArmA 3, where weapons could adjust the sight distance for different ranges.
But in reality, there was no page-up key to press.
"Here," Sun Jiao pointed to the knob on the side of the sight.
Jiang Chen adjusted the distance from 0 to 100 meters. He fired again, and this time, his accuracy was much better.
"For this range, mechanical sights are more than enough," Sun Jiao said as she twisted the scope to the side, revealing the iron sights on top. "Try this."
"Ohh, so that's how it works..." Jiang Chen quickly got the hang of it, though he wasn't sure how good his shooting was since his targets were just sluggish zombies.
Sun Jiao stood silently by his side, occasionally correcting his errors and offering tips on shooting and using cover. Time passed quickly, and soon it was nearly time for dinner.
"That's enough for today," she said, glancing at the pile of dead zombies. "The zombies at night are more dangerous. It's better not to provoke them."
Jiang Chen's performance was decent. He had fired 120 rounds and killed 97 zombies.
Sun Jiao nodded to herself. Though the results weren't exceptional, they were good enough for a beginner. She felt a bit more at ease about Jiang Chen's self-defense skills. After all, if he couldn't fight them off, at least he could run away.
"By the way... heh... are you feeling better?" Jiang Chen cheekily asked as he lowered the rifle and slung it over his back, grinning as if he were asking for trouble.
Sun Jiao froze for a second, her face flushing red.
"Oh!" Jiang Chen yelped as Sun Jiao kicked him hard in the leg. "Ouch, I was just concerned about you!"
"Wait for me tonight!" Sun Jiao grabbed Jiang Chen by the collar and left him with a threatening line before letting go and jumping down from the tower, stomping off in mock anger.
Jiang Chen shivered. This little girl... she's not planning to get into some S&M roleplay again, is she?
Rubbing his leg, he sighed, his face turning to one of frustration.
Should I stay with Yao Yao tonight instead?
Cough, in the end, Jiang Chen chose to face reality head-on.
After a night of being thoroughly "taught a lesson" by Miss Sun Jiao, Jiang Chen dragged his "exhausted" body back to his room the next morning.
"Damn it, why can't I control my own feet..."
Jiang Chen really wanted to slap himself. Last night, he had basically walked right into the trap...
After packing up his gear and putting the canned food and energy biscuits he was going to trade into his storage space, Jiang Chen walked to the door of the living room.
"Are you leaving now, big brother?" Yao Yao, rubbing her sleepy eyes, stood at the top of the stairs and drowsily asked.
"Yeah. I need to make a trip to District 6. I'll be back in a few days." Jiang Chen smiled at the soft little loli and double-checked his equipment before preparing to leave.
"Here, take this." Yao Yao, holding the handrail, slowly descended the stairs and walked up to him, handing him a waist pouch.
"What's this?" Jiang Chen looked at the waist pouch, puzzled.
"It's something I designed for you. It has a drone inside. Once connected to your EP, it can scout in any terrain within a 1,000-meter range. Hehe... I hope it helps you, big brother." After saying that, Yao Yao yawned, rubbed her eyes, and waddled back to the sofa, curling up and falling back to sleep.
"This little thing… doesn't she worry about catching a cold?" Jiang Chen chuckled, shaking his head. He strapped the waist pouch to his waist and then went over to the sofa.
With both hands, he gently lifted Yao Yao by sliding one under her knees and the other behind her shoulders.
She's so light… so soft, and she even smells faintly like baby lotion.
After carrying Yao Yao back to her room on the second floor, Jiang Chen went back downstairs and left the villa.
The area filled with zombies that Jiang Chen had killed the previous day was now just stained with blood. It was said that, by nightfall, the zombies that became active would consume their fallen kin in order to absorb organic matter. Once they'd ingested enough, they would slowly begin to evolve. The "meat mountain" he'd encountered at the entrance to District 6, for instance, was said to have evolved from normal zombies. These evolved creatures were commonly seen in the city center, which was why most survivor bases were built around the outskirts.
Jiang Chen lifted the manhole cover, shined his flashlight down to check for safety, and without hesitation, jumped in.
Walking alone in such a place was unnerving. Though the greatest threats had been dealt with, and this wasn't his first time down here, Jiang Chen didn't show any fear. With his rifle slung around his waist, he moved slowly towards District 6.
When passing by the cannibal tribe's former lair, Jiang Chen instinctively grimaced with disgust. However, the cave had been completely burned down, leaving no traces behind.
This was important because the stench of death could attract mutated rats or other monsters. A single rat wasn't dangerous, but encountering a whole swarm was another matter...
The journey was uneventful but somewhat dull.
Five hours later, when Jiang Chen pushed the manhole cover aside and saw the sunlight again, he sighed in relief.
"Ah..." He took a deep breath of fresh air and marked the location as safe on his holographic map before stowing the pen back into his pocket.
Although the underground tunnels of the apocalypse were a relatively quick way to travel, their labyrinthine structure meant they could be full of dangers. You could never know what was hiding in the dark corners—perhaps a nest of deathclaws or a cannibal tribe's lair?
Along the way, Jiang Chen stuck to the route he and Sun Jiao had previously taken. When he reached an unexplored section, his nerves were on high alert.
When he finally exited the sewers, Jiang Chen cautiously pulled up his hood. He wasn't sure whether the Gray Gu Mercenary Corps still had him in their sights. He wouldn't feel safe until he passed through that door.
Without further delay, he walked toward the gates of District 6.
Same old routine.
A soldier dressed in black combat gear stepped up to Jiang Chen, signaling for him to show his ID on the EP. After checking for any criminal records, the soldier quickly let Jiang Chen pass.
The scene before him was still the same—a dilapidated slum with listless refugees. However, Jiang Chen didn't immediately go to the gate to buy people like he usually did. He already knew the rules of population trade here—only criminals or those who had lost their value as labor were up for sale.
Jiang Chen wasn't interested in either. What he wanted were people who were still relatively clean, at least decent enough to be useful. Moreover, he intended to make a bulk purchase, so he needed to find another way to acquire them.
This time, Jiang Chen didn't head to the market. Instead, he rented a warehouse near the industrial district and stored the canned meats and compressed biscuits in there. After that, he made his way toward the inner checkpoint.
Since this was a "bulk commodity" transaction, he needed to find someone capable of handling large orders. Furthermore, apart from people, Jiang Chen was also planning to purchase some rare goods that were generally unavailable in the market.