After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret-Chapter 56: Chelsea Walsh’s Discovery
"I thought we would’ve made it to the shelter before noon."
Leo Hale checked the time. They had barely covered a third of the distance, yet most of the day was already gone.
"It can’t be helped. We took the long way around from the start."
Nina Jacobs’s car was now at the head of the convoy.
If they had followed the route Chester Pearson gave them, they definitely wouldn’t have reached the shelter today.
Before long, they arrived at the intersection Nina Jacobs had mentioned.
There weren’t many zombies around because the intersection was obstructed, so no one had noticed the side road even when they passed by earlier.
"So this road really does exist."
Chester Pearson got out of his car. A short way down the road, there was, in fact, a small supermarket.
And it looked like the supermarket hadn’t been contaminated by the acid rain.
"Holt Tate, you all stand guard,"
"I’ll take some people to collect supplies."
Chester Pearson ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
Holt Tate was instantly on high alert.
Watching Chester Pearson lead Ian Chandler and the others into the supermarket, Nina Jacobs activated her Five Senses Enhancement.
After confirming there were no obvious dangers nearby, she used the excuse of needing the restroom and ducked into a shop on the side of the street.
It was a jewelry store, and not a small one.
The shop was a mess. The rows of glass display cases had long since been smashed to pieces, and all the gold and silver jewelry inside had been looted.
’Just as I expected, it’s all gone.’
Nina Jacobs was a little disappointed. This jewelry must have been targeted during the acid rain period.
She headed further inside and, sure enough, found a stockroom.
But the stockroom door was wide open.
Just as she thought the room had been cleared out, she was surprised to find several massive, freestanding metal safes.
Each of these safes weighed thousands of pounds and was secured by a combination lock. The looters couldn’t open them or carry them away, which turned out to be a stroke of luck for her.
Nina Jacobs collected all the safes into her system’s storage slots.
’I just don’t know if there’s any gold inside.’
No sooner had Nina Jacobs spoken than a system notification sounded:
[Congratulations to the host for successfully collecting 1,190 pounds of Gold. You have triggered the "Doomsday Gold Digger" title and have been awarded 5 system storage slots!]
’1,190 pounds of gold?’
’It seems the safes really did contain gold.’
Nina Jacobs remembered this was the second time she had triggered the "Doomsday Gold Digger" title.
’But what’s the trigger for this title?’
[Aside from the first activation, which has no prerequisite, the "Doomsday Gold Digger" title is triggered for every 1,100 pounds of Gold collected.]
The system answered Nina Jacobs’s question.
"So that’s how it works."
Nina Jacobs hadn’t expected such a windfall.
Gold was a currency in the apocalypse. In her past life, as long as you had enough gold, you could rent the best houses in any of the bases.
Gold could even be exchanged for survival supplies.
The old saying about gold being king in times of chaos was certainly true.
Plus, she had unexpectedly received a reward of five storage slots.
Not long after Nina Jacobs returned to her car, Chester Pearson came out with Ian Chandler and three other Space Superpower Users.
The obstacles at the intersection had been cleared, but a group of people were gathered around Leo Hale and Chelsea Walsh, talking animatedly.
"What’s going on?"
Chester Pearson asked.
His own soldiers seemed to be in a heated discussion with Leo Hale and Chelsea Walsh, the very people who had called him crazy that morning.
"Rep... Report!
We’re learning zombie-killing techniques from Mr. Hale and Miss Walsh!"
Holt Tate stood up straight and answered loudly.
"Zombie-killing techniques?"
Chester Pearson found it amusing.
’The soldiers he brought with him were nearly all ex-special forces. After all their training, did they really need to learn how to kill zombies from outsiders?’
"Reporting, sir! Techniques for killing zombies with Superpowers!"
Holt Tate answered again.
It turned out that just moments before, Leo Hale and Chelsea Walsh had coordinated their Superpowers to kill a few zombies.
After clearing the surrounding zombies, the few Superpower Users in the team couldn’t resist their curiosity and came to ask for advice.
"Let’s save it for later."
Hearing it was about Superpowers, Chester Pearson didn’t object further, but they still needed to get back on the road.
After getting in the car, Leo Hale was still a bit confused.
"That Captain Pearson seems really keen on Superpowers. Why is he all talk and no action?"
"Because at this stage, the fastest way to kill zombies is still with weapons,"
Nina Jacobs said as she drove the car onto the side road.
"That makes sense."
Leo Hale fell silent.
Drakonia seemed to be mobilizing the entire nation’s resources to save survivors.
But Superpowers required time to adapt to and practice, and the team members busy with rescue missions didn’t have time to develop their powers right now.
"So that’s why he wanted to ask Nina Jacobs for advice? It makes sense, but his character is a bit lacking,"
Chelsea Walsh said.
She took out a small bag of cleaned Crystal Cores.
Just like Ian Chandler, she had collected them only because Nina Jacobs had said they looked nice.
So they had picked some up along the way, and Vera Coleman had even helped them wash them clean.
"I have a feeling these glass-like cores aren’t actually glass. Glass is mainly composed of silicon dioxide, which should theoretically react with strong acids and bases, but nothing happened when I put one in acid rainwater."
Chelsea Walsh picked up a Crystal Core to examine it.
For some reason, she felt like something was circulating inside the glass-like core, but when she looked closer, the feeling was completely gone.
Then, Nina Jacobs heard Chelsea Walsh’s sudden gasp.
"What’s happening? It’s melting!"
"Melting?" Leo Hale was also surprised. The glass-like core was slowly shrinking in Chelsea Walsh’s hand.
"Is it possible you’re absorbing it?"
Nina Jacobs tried to guide her.
’Perhaps Chelsea Walsh can be the first to discover what Crystal Cores are for.’
"You’re right! But this came from inside a zombie. I’m not going to turn into a zombie, am I?"
Chelsea Walsh was extremely worried, but she didn’t feel anything bad happening.
On the contrary, she felt her Superpower being replenished.
"Maybe it can replenish Superpowers!"
Chelsea Walsh was thrilled with this discovery.
"That’s possible, but it still came from a zombie. It’s better if you don’t absorb too many for now."
Seeing Chelsea Walsh take out another Crystal Core to try, Nina Jacobs advised her against it.
Research from her past life had shown that it wasn’t a good thing for Superpower Users to absorb a large number of Crystal Cores too early on.
"Nina Jacobs is right. Let’s wait until we get to the shelter to study these things. Someone there might know about them. Don’t experiment for now."
Leo Hale was also worried that Chelsea Walsh’s experimenting might cause problems.
"Alright then. I hope we get to the shelter soon."
Chelsea Walsh was eager to reach the shelter quickly, as it meant she might be able to see her older brother, Forrest Walsh, sooner.
"Let’s hope so."
Nina Jacobs hoped so too, but she knew the journey was bound to be anything but smooth.
Chester Pearson discovered that the route Nina Jacobs had chosen was indeed much safer.
Most of the areas they passed through were industrial districts, and the factories had been empty when the zombie virus broke out.
So they encountered very few zombies along this stretch.
But the road was about to end.
Chester Pearson turned on his walkie-talkie and asked, "Nina Jacobs, are there any better routes ahead?"
’It would be great if there were a few more safe and clear side roads like this one.’
"Yes, but I’m not sure if there will be zombies. If you trust me, Captain Pearson, I can keep leading."
Nina Jacobs replied.
’The system map always shows the optimal route.’
’She had learned that much over the past few days.’
