Chapter 82: I Found 20,000 Tons of Gold
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Flight No. 9 had a very rapid speed. It was hovering above the capital, Donuit City, after only two hours. Moreover, the plane had a powerful directional communications system. Even from a distance of over 2,000 kilometers, it could still maintain a digital communication of 256 kb with the signal tower in the Base of Operations. It could send a high definition image back to the tower every few seconds. Also, it could maintain voice communication with the robots at any time.
The communication quality would rapidly drop to 126 kb and below if the distance between the plane and the signal tower was over 3,000 kilometers. If Chen Jin did not make use of a relay transmitter, it would be difficult to control the plane remotely. He would have to command the robots to operate the plane on their own in their explorations.
However, with a search radius of 3,000 kilometers and an area coverage of 2,826 square kilometers, it should be sufficient to encompa.s.s the entire country of Melica inside its range. Hence, Chen Jin planned to start from the North Melica continent. He would scour and pick clean this huge area before making further plans.
…
The plane arrived in the sky above Donuit City. From its aerial view, it took many high definition photos and sent them back to the Base, one after another.
It was as Chen Jin expected. A wasteland. A vast and expansive wasteland. The capital had also suffered a nuclear bomb attack. And it was not only one bomb! The enemy country had launched at least hundreds of nuclear bombs towards this city in a bid to annihilate Donuit City.
The missile defense system had intercepted a lot of bombs, but there were about 33 that still managed to land successfully. Hence, the current state of Donuit city was a city of 33 craters. Besides the 33 craters, there was not one building or any kind of infrastructure remaining. The entire population, in the number of tens of millions, had all been killed. Logically, there should not be anything of value left to be scoured in Donuit City. It seemed that Flight No. 9 had made a wasted trip.
However, Chen Jin was not so sure that was the case! He ordered the smart operation system of the plane to open the X-band terrain detector radar that was joined to the underside of the wing unit. The radar would scan the ground of Donuit City!
After opening the radar, the underground structure of Donuit city was clearly presented to Chen Jin. The underground composition of this city had not been totally destroyed by the nuclear bomb. There were intersecting underground train systems, dense city pipelines, and sewage systems. Using the mostly undamaged and complete underground train system as a frame of reference for comparison with the pre-war images of the city, Chen Jin slowly locked down on the location of a particular inst.i.tution.
The headquarters of Melica’s Central Savings Bank! It was the largest bank in this world and had the authority to issue and circulate the country’s currency. Every generation of the central bank’s president possessed great power. More importantly, there were large amounts of gold stored in the underground vault of the central bank’s headquarters. This was to ensure the stability of the money market in this world. Not only was all of the country’s gold stored in this vault, the gold reserves of more than 60 other small to mid-sized countries were also all stored there.
The amount of gold stored in this vault was 40% of all of the gold reserves in this world! This underground vault was located hundreds of meters deep underground and built under granitic layers. It was also isolated via a metal door that was more than two meters thick. The durability of this vault would ensure that it would not come to harm even if the likes of a million atomic bombs were dropped directly above it.
Hence, Chen Jin was certain that the underground vault still existed! The smart system reported, “Reporting; A large underground structure has been detected in the scan of the central bank’s surroundings.”
“Ok!” Chen Jin shuddered with delight and ordered Flight No. 9 to land in the vicinity of the bank. The hatch was opened and the gangway was lowered. The robots walked out successively. In their hands were various tools. So, for the next three days, the exploration squad used all their might to dig deep into the ground. There was no sleep or rest.
On the morning of the fourth day, after cleaving through the concrete body of the wall, a great rumble could be heard. A deep, silent, and pitch-black vertical pa.s.sageway appeared in the digital vision of the robots. It was an elevator shaft. The elevator had been damaged. The robots could only turn on the lights, and using the ladder on the side of the shaft, they descended to the bottom. Then, they walked through a cylinder-shaped corridor and cut apart two one-meter thick metal doors using the laser machines.
There was no need to cut through the final metal door that was two meters thick. A hole had already been made in the door. Through the hole, the inside of the vault could be seen. The team leader of the robots reported, “15 bodies have been found inside the vault. There are dressed in uniforms, so they should be the bank staff. After the destructive war erupted, the vault door automatically closed. When the oxygen was exhausted, they died inside.”
Chen Jin breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh…” When the team leader of the robots reported that there were bodies inside, he had thought that other powers had already encroached on the riches inside the vault. He quickly asked, “Is the gold still inside the vault?”
“Yes, Master, they are still there.”
“Quickly, send some photos to me!”
…
After five minutes, a total of 10 high definition images were sent to Chen Jin. Chen Jin’s jaw dropped, and his eyes were filled with a golden light, reflecting his obsession.
Gold. Countless amounts of gold. They were all in the shape of trapezoid bars. Each bullion weighed 40 pounds. The bullions were laid out in rows and columns on thousands of shelves in a neat arrangement. A rough estimation showed a minimum count in the hundreds of thousands. Taking in the full view, the room was filled with a golden light. It was like something out of a dream; one could get lost in its thrall. An infinitely large wave of desire rose in his heart.
A phrase kept replaying in Chen Jin’s mind. I’ve struck it rich, struck it rich, struck it rich…..
“Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!” Suddenly, he threw his head back and cackled with laughter. He seemed to have been possessed or gone insane. “Mine, mine! All of this gold is mine! Hahaha, you were all racing to grab and fight over the land, riches, power and whatever else that had value! You fought and killed each other. In the process, you launched all the nuclear bombs! You’ve used the very last bomb and killed the very last human. And then, it was done. All the conflicts were resolved and all the hatred had disappeared. It became clean, peaceful and tranquil. This world was finally at peace. So, all the remaining lands and riches…. They all belong to me now. Including the gold bullions in this vault; they are mine too. I did not steal or rob. n.o.body stepped out to claim them or raised any suspicions…. There’s no argument that these gold bullions belong to me! Hahaha! This is funny. This planet is really too hilarious!” Chen Jin hugged his stomach as he laughed. He was almost crying from laughing so hard. He felt that with his current life experience, it would be impossible to experience something more ridiculous than this even if he lived for another 100 years.
In other words, he felt that ever since the interdimensional portal had appeared in his toilet, he had found the planet of Haierfa to be filled with the absurd and the comic. He always felt like laughing, especially during the times when he found some good treasures. He could not help but laugh!
After his emotions had calmed down from his laughing fit, Chen Jin ordered the leader of the team of robots to take inventory of the vault and calculate the exact quant.i.ties of gold and their weight. 30 minutes pa.s.sed very quickly. The exact quant.i.ties of the various types of gold had been calculated.
Gold bullion: 1,111,275 pieces.
Weight of one bullion: 40 pounds (equivalent to about 18 kilograms).
The total weight of the gold was…. 20,162,634 kilograms. To sum up the gains reaped from this underground vault in a simple phrase —— He had found 20,000 tons of gold!