3: Chapter 3: The Empress is Starving? Half a Bun for a Golden Belt

The gold belt lay quietly on the table, refracting a breathtaking, hazy luster under the dim light bulb.

This thing was heavy, feeling like holding a brick in his hand.

Jiang Chen swallowed, his heart beating as if it were going to shatter his ribcage.

He tremblingly pulled a cheap, disposable lighter from his pocket, flicked it on with a "click," and the faint blue flame licked the edge of the belt.

"True gold fears no fire; the ancestors' words shouldn't be wrong, right?"

The flame burned for a long time, but the gold color didn't turn black; instead, it became even more dazzling, revealing an even purer reddish-gold luster.

He picked up the remaining half bottle of mineral water, poured it onto his sleeve, and scrubbed hard at the dark red stain on the belt.

It was blood.

The dried bloodstain was blurred by the water, and in this narrow, cramped rental apartment, a faint metallic smell permeated the air.

"It's real... It's all f*cking real!"

Jiang Chen pressed the belt against his chest, collapsing onto the broken chair as if all his strength had been drained, then immediately sprang up like a spring.

Crazy.

This world was simply crazy.

Half a steamed bun for over two jin of gold?

The calculator in Jiang Chen's mind spun rapidly: the current gold price was about 600 per gram, so 1200 grams would be... 720,000!

720,000!

How much did half a steamed bun cost? Fifty cents?

This wasn't some cross-dimensional trade; this was clearly using a money printer to rob a bank!

"This isn't raising an Empress; this is raising a Goddess of Wealth!"

Jiang Chen was so excited he paced around the room twice, almost knocking over the instant noodle cup on the floor. He stared fixedly at the phone, his eyes even more fervent than when he looked at the gold.

On the screen, the Q-version silver-haired little figure was kneeling obediently on the ground, with little bubbles of happiness popping up above her head.

Who could have imagined that this half of a dry steamed bun, which not even a dog would eat on Blue Star, would become a life-saving holy relic in that Wasteland world?

"Phew... Calm down, calm down first."

Jiang Chen took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to detach from this ecstasy.

He had the money, but it hadn't been cashed out yet.

In this real world, no matter how valuable gold was, it was a hard currency; he couldn't take it directly to the hospital to pay the fees, nor could he toss it at that bloodsucker Zhao Tianba.

It had to be sold.

And fast!

Tomorrow was the deadline given by Zhao Tianba. If he couldn't pay the money back, those animals really might drag Qianqian out of school. Remembering his sister's terrified crying on the phone, the frenzy in Jiang Chen's eyes instantly cooled, replaced by a cold, ruthless determination.

"Change clothes, go out."

He dug a black backpack out from under the bed, carefully stuffed the gold belt into the innermost compartment, and found a few dirty clothes to cover it.

After thinking, he fished out a baseball cap and put it on his head; he had bought it to hide from debts before, never expecting it to come in handy like this.

Before leaving, Jiang Chen looked in the mirror. The person in the mirror had stubble, dark circles under his eyes, and was wearing a faded hoodie—the spitting image of a down-and-out member of the social underclass.

"With this appearance, if I take two jin of gold to sell, everyone will think I'm fencing stolen goods, right?"

Jiang Chen smiled self-deprecatingly and grabbed a disposable mask to put on. "Can't worry about that much. As long as I can get money, never mind fencing stolen goods, even if it means poking a hole in the sky, I have to do it."

Pushing the door open, the morning sun made him squint.

The streets of Tianhai City had already awakened; breakfast stalls were steaming, sanitation workers were sweeping fallen leaves, and office workers were hurrying along.

This ordinary world full of the hustle and bustle of life was the polar opposite of the desperate Wasteland on his phone.

Jiang Chen held his backpack tightly in his arms, as if he were holding his own life.

He walked quickly, scanning his surroundings vigilantly. When he passed by the old man selling jianbing guozi, the old man greeted him warmly: "Little Jiang, so early today? Want a jianbing?"

"Not today, sir, I have something urgent."

Jiang Chen responded vaguely and hurried away.

Now he found everyone suspicious, always feeling that the passersby's gazes were drifting toward his bag. This was the typical "guilty of possessing a treasure" mentality; even though the bag's zipper was pulled tight, he still felt as if the golden light could shine through.

After walking about three streets, there was a bustling commercial district ahead.

Under a huge billboard was a grandly decorated jewelry store— "Jin Dafu."

This was a time-honored national chain with a decent reputation. Most importantly, such a large store had sufficient cash flow to handle big items.

"This is the one."

Jiang Chen lowered the brim of his hat, took a deep breath at the entrance, and steadied his breathing.

He pushed the door open and entered.

The air conditioning hit his face, mixed with a faint scent of high-end aromatherapy.

There were no customers in the store. A few saleswomen in uniforms were chatting behind the counter. When they saw Jiang Chen enter, the professional fake smiles on their faces instantly froze.

One couldn't blame them for being snobbish.

Jiang Chen's attire was simply too shabby, and coupled with that washed-out black backpack, he didn't look like someone here to buy gold jewelry at all; he looked more like someone here to mooch off the air conditioning or sell insurance.

"Sir, is there anything you need?"

A younger saleswoman walked over. Although her tone was polite, her eyes clearly carried a hint of perfunctoriness and vigilance, and her body even subconsciously blocked the gold chains in the counter.

Jiang Chen didn't mind her attitude.

He walked straight to the counter and placed the tattered backpack on the glass surface, making a dull "thud."

"Do you buy gold?"

Jiang Chen's voice was a bit hoarse; his throat was tight from nervousness and excitement.

The saleswoman was stunned for a moment, looked him up and down, and a flash of disdain crossed her eyes: "We do buy, but we only accept gold from legitimate channels, and we require a personal ID, as well as an invoice..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Chen had already unzipped the backpack.

He didn't waste words, reached directly into the bag, and felt the cold metallic touch.

"Clatter."

He grabbed the extravagantly shaped gold belt and slammed it onto the counter.

The brilliant golden light instantly exploded outward. The heavy, rich texture unique to high-purity gold, under the illumination of the spotlights, was enough to blind anyone.

Especially the few red diamonds embedded in the belt; although Jiang Chen didn't know if they were real, their deep luster was definitely not something that could be compared to street-stall goods.

The saleswomen who had been chatting instantly fell silent, and the entire store was deathly quiet.

The saleswoman who had greeted him had her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg, her eyes staring straight at the belt, her breathing halted.

This gold... This is too big!

And this shape, it didn't look like a modern craft at all. Those intricate patterns and strange geometric lines exuded an indescribable sense of antiquity and mystery.

What was even more fatal was that on the inside of the belt, there remained a smear of uncleaned dark red blood, which looked particularly jarring.

The saleswoman tremblingly raised her head and looked at Jiang Chen, who was wrapped up tightly. The disdain in her eyes instantly turned into terror.

This person... Could he have just robbed a museum or killed someone to steal the goods?

Just then, a middle-aged fat man wearing a suit and gold-rimmed glasses walked out from the back room. He was the store manager, and hearing that the commotion outside wasn't right, he came out to check the situation.

One glance. He only took one glance at the item on the counter, and the fat manager's face instantly turned deathly pale. His legs went weak, and he almost failed to hold onto the door frame.

He had been in this business for twenty years, and his eye for quality was incredibly sharp.

The purity of this gold was absolutely the top of the top! It was what they called "the highest grade of pure gold"!

But this shape, and the blood on it...

The fat manager swallowed, his hand quietly reaching for the alarm button under the counter, and he forced a smile that looked worse than crying: "This young brother... where did you get this thing?"