He lit a cigarette, stuck his fingers into the socket, and Jason Carter quietly waited for the energy to fill up. After all, it was only 10 kilowatt-hours; going out to steal electricity for just 10 kilowatt-hours really wasn’t worth it. It would harm others and wasn’t safe—cough, cough.

To pass the time, Jason Carter started fiddling with the wrist computer on his left arm.

That radiation level still made Jason Carter a bit concerned. He didn’t want to end up with some illness from radiation exposure. He gently tapped the help option about radiation levels, and after reading carefully, Jason Carter couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.

【...When the radiation level reaches the threshold of 50, it will affect the user's health. We sincerely recommend that you store a certain amount of iodine in the EP to control the user's internal radiation level...】

Swallowing, Jason Carter tapped the button to extract iodine, and a thin needle popped out from the side of the EP. After hesitating for a moment, Jason Carter picked up the iodine tincture from the coffee table and tentatively inserted the needle into it.

The color of the iodine tincture gradually faded, eventually becoming colorless.

Watching the iodine progress bar slowly fill up and the radiation level steadily drop, Jason Carter was overjoyed. The problem that had been troubling him was solved so easily.

With this, as long as he bought some iodine tablets from the pharmacy, the radiation problem would be solved.

After charging up, Jason Carter stretched lazily, then walked into the kitchen, took out ingredients from the fridge, and made a fragrant bowl of tomato and egg stir-fry and shredded pork with green peppers. After bringing the dishes to the table, Jason Carter also took a can of beer from the fridge.

Quietly enjoying this simple yet delicious lunch, Jason Carter took a gulp of cold beer and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

This meal—if it were in the apocalypse, who knows how many kilos of gold it could be traded for, or maybe even tons? After all, in that chaotic world, gold wasn’t worth more than rocks. From the look of pure happiness and satisfaction on Grace Bennett’s face when she swallowed that cold can of food, Jason Carter had already guessed how precious food was in that world.

Jason Carter even believed that if he took out a can of food in that so-called Liuding Town, countless beautiful women would be willing to sleep with him.

Sending the last grain of rice into his mouth, Jason Carter chewed slowly, his thoughts drifting far away.

If... in the not-so-distant future, a third world war broke out in this world, and everything that happened in the apocalypse replayed itself here...

Jason Carter shivered, not daring to think further about it.

“Heh, why am I starting to think about such nonsense? I should just focus on living my own life.” Jason Carter laughed at himself, shook his head, and tossed the empty beer can into the trash.

In short, first get the gold, then exchange it for money... and then, live the life of a rich man for a while before thinking about anything else.

First, I need to buy a villa. Hmm... and a car, too.

A girlfriend? ...With money, is that even a concern?

After washing the dishes and putting them away, Jason Carter went to the living room and shouldered his heavy backpack.

Time to travel... Wait.

As if he’d thought of something, Jason Carter hesitated and stopped the time travel he was about to begin.

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

Time to begin the journey.

Chapter 4: Bank Gold Bars

When his feet landed on that dust-covered, luxurious wooden floor, for Jason Carter it was just a split second.

He checked the energy bar on his wrist and was a bit surprised—this time, the energy consumed by the time travel was only 40%.

Does the energy bar’s capacity increase with the number of charges?

Jason Carter shook his head. This was undoubtedly good news, but with his knowledge, he definitely couldn’t explain this phenomenon. He’d just accept it as it was.

Sitting quietly on the high-end sofa, Jason Carter enjoyed the kind of luxury that was hard to come by in the present world, lit a cigarette, and waited for time to pass.

Through the moldy wooden window, Jason Carter vaguely saw the figure of Grace Bennett walking down the street. After confirming with the binoculars he had set aside, Jason Carter got up, went downstairs, and opened the villa door to let Grace Bennett in.

“The gold you wanted.” Taking the bag Grace Bennett tossed over, Jason Carter felt its weight in his hands and was secretly delighted—this was no small amount, probably several kilograms. Yet this woman had tossed several kilos of gold as easily as a wad of paper; her strength was honestly a bit frightening.

Jason Carter glanced at her arm—the slender lines showed almost no trace of muscle.

“I’m exhausted. The bank lobby was crawling with zombies. I nearly emptied two batteries’ worth of ammo just to clear out those disgusting things. The bank vault was sealed with thick steel plates—I couldn’t open it. These gold bars I found in a room called the VIP room.”

Grace Bennett wiped the sweat from her forehead, then casually tossed her backpack aside. Don’t be fooled by how little gold there was—it still weighed several kilos, and with all the weapons, gear, and supplies she was carrying, Grace Bennett had basically trekked a long distance with a 20-kilo load. The bank was still some distance from here.

“Catch.”

“Huh? What’s this...” Grace Bennett caught the can of cola Jason Carter tossed over and stared at it in a daze.