After finishing the meat preparation, Sang Chu took over the cooking so Lu Minfeng could eat something as well.
While grilling the meat, she cut open a watermelon and handed slices to them. The moment Lin Muxue saw it, her eyes lit up.
“Sang Xiaochu, you are too wonderful, I love you to death!”
She made a heart with her hands and stuffed watermelon into her mouth, eating messily. Watching her, Tu You suddenly recalled how Sang Chu used to eat when she was starving and couldn’t help thinking:
【Ah Chu, you were all so pitiful…】
【It’s over now. Good days are just beginning.】
Once full, the three of them sprawled across the sofa. Sang Chu was still energetic—at least she hadn’t starved in the Monster Mutation World—while Lin Muxue and Lu Minfeng were so full they could barely move.
Seeing this, Sang Chu sat beside them and spoke:
“Muxue, Lu Minfeng, I bought hovercars for you both. I also have a construction device. We could find a place and build a base of our own. However, I may not be able to stay with you. I need to search for gold, silver, and jade items to exchange for money.”
While hunting for treasure, she would also search for her older brother. But she didn’t know whether he was still alive. She kept that part silent—looking for someone during the apocalypse was like searching for a needle in the ocean.
Muxue nodded. “Right, you said that Otherworld Train forces people to board and that you need to buy a ticket, right?”
“Yes.”
Lu Minfeng, who had only heard bits of this, still found it incredible. “What happens if you don’t have enough money to buy a ticket?”
“You die,” Sang Chu answered helplessly. “Most of the money I earned in the other world has already been exchanged into supplies. It should be enough for you to live on for a long time. Everything with soil can regenerate. You don’t have to worry about starving later.”
Muxue jumped up. “What?! You can die from not having enough money?! What are we supposed to do?! All that’s left in the apocalypse is scrap iron! Where are we supposed to find treasure?!”
Lu Minfeng thought for a moment. “Ah Chu, does your system spirit have a treasure map or something like that?”
Sang Chu froze. Why didn’t she think of that? She quickly asked Tu You.
【There is one, but it costs money. Not expensive—just a little over a hundred.】
【Buy it!】
After purchase, the map was imported into her smart-brain. With a few taps, Sang Chu projected it into the air.
“I just exchanged for this from the system spirit.”
Muxue’s eyes widened. She slapped Lu Minfeng’s arm. “It really exists! You’re so smart!”
Lu Minfeng shook his head. “I just thought that if the train accepts treasure, they must have some way for people to find it. It was a guess.”
“It’s still smarter than Sang Xiaochu! Are we going treasure hunting?”
Both of them looked at Sang Chu with excited, sparkling eyes. She almost flinched.
“I can go alone. It’s too dangerous.”
Muxue sat up, offended. “The whole apocalypse is dangerous! Besides, you fed us and gave us supplies. Why shouldn’t we help you treasure hunt?”
Lu Minfeng nodded. “I won’t be polite about taking the supplies. I awakened a level-two ability. My invisibility is only level one, but enough to help.”
Muxue narrowed her eyes at Sang Chu. “Sang Xiaochu… are you disliking me for dragging you down?”
Although she said it playfully, her expression clearly said: If you dare say yes, I bite.
“…No. I’m grateful you’re willing to help.”
“That’s more like it! Now, let’s see where the first treasure is. I can’t read maps—I get lost in a straight line!”
Sang Chu: “…”
Lu Minfeng zoomed in and frowned. “The nearest point… Looks like it’s at the base of a mountain?”
Muxue was confused. “Why would treasure be under a mountain?”
Sang Chu hesitated. “Could it be… a tomb?”
They exchanged looks. None of them had tomb raiding experience.
Sang Chu took out her weapons. “These are laser guns—cold-light and flame types. High offensive power. Here are light-energy batteries. If the smart-brain flashes red or orange, recharge immediately by plugging it in.”
Each of them received several guns, one energy battery, a hovercar, and synchronized access to the treasure map.
“Our smart-brains are linked. If something happens, contact through it. If we get separated, get inside the hovercar immediately—it has a strong defense system. I’ll teach you how to use it. All hovercars operate the same.”
Muxue, who secretly loved adventure, was inwardly thrilled. Zombies she had already seen—what was a tomb compared to that? If a corpse popped up, she’d just blast it back to the afterlife.
Had she said this aloud, Sang Chu would have reconsidered bringing her.
Lu Minfeng asked, “Can the smart-brain be used as a light source?”
“Yes. Treat it like a mobile phone that doesn’t need the internet.”
“Good. Then after you teach us how to pilot the hovercar, let’s rest and head out tomorrow. We won’t go deep at first. If it’s dangerous, we leave. There are plenty of treasure locations—we don’t need to die for one.”
Muxue raised her hand. “Agreed!”
“I agree too,” Sang Chu smiled. “I’ll teach you now.”
She took them to the control pod. It was fully automated.
Muxue blinked. “No way I’m learning this. I can’t even ride a bicycle.”
“You don’t need to. You just need your mouth.”
She pointed to a series of letters. “That’s the hovercar AI code. Just call it. Watch—”
“Little A, open the route I transmitted. Take us to the nearest marked red point.”
A calm female voice replied:
“Route calculated. Preparing navigation.”
A map appeared and plotted the course.
“Correct. Adjust temperature to optimal sleep setting. After arriving, find a safe parking spot and activate defense mode.”
(End of Chapter)