A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

The sun shines brightly on the earth in the early morning; it's a rare sunny day.

Zhang Xi stormed out of Gao Longzhi's lab, cursing and swearing. That sleazy, ugly, and incredibly stingy old man had only given Zhang Xi a small bag of elemental energy crystals! Gao Longzhi's small storeroom was piled up with half a room full of elemental energy crystals! That amount was far beyond what Li Xianda's temporary storeroom could hold!

When Zhang Xi saw the mountain-like pile of elemental energy crystals, his eyes were immediately filled with their luster. What a fortune this was! He wished he could transform into a giant dragon guarding the treasure so he could lie on top of that dazzling pile and take a nap!

The ideal was lofty, but reality was harsh. Gao Longzhi ultimately dismissed Zhang Xi with a small bag of elemental energy crystals, even though the latter had a commendation order personally signed by Huo Mingde. Zhang Xi even suspected that if it weren't for Huo Mingde's signature, he might not have been able to get a single elemental energy crystal out of the old miser's mouth.

However, Gao Longzhi can't be entirely blamed, because Zhang Xi's previous statement about placing Yuan Energy Crystals on the navel to increase strength had encountered some minor issues. The reason was simple: Zhang Xi was telling the truth; it could indeed increase strength, but the increase was rather ridiculous.

After receiving this information, Gao Longzhi quickly selected a group of soldiers with excellent physical fitness from the army to participate in the experiment. After nearly three months, the physical fitness of all the participants did improve, but the overall fitness that improved the most was only 15 percent! The average fitness of all participants improved by 8 percent.

This achievement would have caused a sensation in the past, but now it's practically worthless. It's worth noting that those troops who didn't participate in this experiment but were fighting on the front lines saw their average physical fitness improve by six percent during this period. Among them, a number of individuals like Zhang Xi and Xu Liang achieved breakthroughs in specific physical attributes.

Gao Longzhi immediately felt cheated, but strictly speaking, Zhang Xi hadn't lied to him, so his cold attitude towards the latter was understandable. Zhang Xi also knew that this was probably the reason, but that didn't stop him from cursing the old man for all the bad luck in the world.

And so, muttering to himself, he climbed onto the troop transport vehicle heading to the city.

……

In Mingyue Residential Area, Huang Lin's villa had been completely transformed. The exterior walls were covered with electric fences and surveillance cameras, and the interior was guarded by numerous sentry posts, layer upon layer. Huang Lin's bedroom had also been renovated; the windows had been replaced with bulletproof glass, and the doors had been reinforced with steel plates. Zhang Xi looked on in astonishment, feeling as if he had learned something new.

He wasn't surprised by Huang Lin's fear of death; he had already learned this from their several encounters. What surprised him was Huang Lin's wealth; turning his villa into a prison was a considerable expense. So this is how profitable being a charlatan was! Zhang Xi gained a new understanding of the charlatan profession.

So he decided to continue developing his charlatan business. At this moment, he was still wearing that black robe covering his face, sitting on the sofa in the living room, and was satisfied with counting the troll heart and other ingredients that Huang Lin had collected once again. This time the quantity was still not much, because there were not many trolls invading Earth to begin with, and it was rare for Huang Lin to be so dedicated.

Huang Lin stood respectfully to one side, while he ushered his bodyguards into the courtyard.

"Your security measures are quite good! For us cultivators, being afraid of death is not a good thing!" Zhang Xi teased Huang Lin.

Upon hearing this, Huang Lin immediately knelt down again and said, "Immortal, since I took the elixir you bestowed upon me, I have indeed become much younger and my health has improved significantly. However, I currently possess no magical power whatsoever. Therefore, I have no choice but to gather more people. These are not bodyguards; they are my disciples and also your grand-disciples!"

Zhang Xi ignored Huang Lin's probing. He took out a printed flyer from his sleeve, handed it to Huang Lin, and said, "Could you make copies of these flyers for me and distribute them? The wider the distribution, the better!"

Huang Lin took the flyer and looked at it for a while. The more he looked, the more alarmed he became. He dared not doubt the 'immortal's' words, but he still asked incredulously, "Are you trying to create chaos? Or is it really going to happen?"

"Whether it's true or not, you don't need to care. Just spread this message quietly!" Zhang Xi said sternly. "I've calculated that you will face a great calamity in May, that you will die without a proper burial, that your soul will not find peace, and that your body will become food for strange beasts!"

Zhang Xi only had a middle school education, and not even in the humanities. He didn't know if his classical Chinese explanations had any flaws. Fortunately, Huang Lin was terrified and panicked. He immediately kowtowed repeatedly, crying and begging for a solution.

Seeing that he was frightened enough, Zhang Xi said, "You should set off for Tianjing City on the last day of April to avert this calamity! But before that, you must complete the tasks I have entrusted to you!"

There was a knock at the door, followed by a sweet female voice: "Master, the tea is ready." Huang Lin hurriedly ran out, carrying a teapot and a whole tea set. Zhang Xi saw that they were all high-end antique items. This tea set could definitely be exchanged for several houses in Pingyuan City. This Huang Lin is quite refined!

Zhang Xi stood up, took out a bottle of blue Hardman Potion, and asked Huang Lin, "Your strength is weak, so it's indeed not safe. I have a potion here that can make you a match for a hundred men! However, taking it will cause severe pain and there is a risk of death. Do you want it?" Huang Lin hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he did not reach out to take the Hardman Potion.

Zhang Xi didn't have time to accompany Huang Lin to enjoy tea. He took a quick sip, experiencing the luxurious life of the wealthy, gave Huang Lin some instructions, and promised to provide him with better, side-effect-free elixirs upon arriving in Tianjing City before leaving.

……

Compared to Huang Lin, who was hiding in the villa, Wang Ruilong was much harder to find. Zhang Xi finally found Wang Ruilong at a training ground, where he was leading a group of boys of similar age in practicing with cold weapons. The movements were very simple: horizontal slashes, vertical hacks, parries, and thrusts—a few simple movements practiced repeatedly. This was the advice Zhang Xi had given Wang Ruilong before returning to the army. Only someone who had been reborn understood the trend of historical development: firearms would ultimately become secondary.

Zhang Xi called Wang Ruilong into the lounge, handed him the last bottle of purple strength potion, and said, "Little Fatty, I told you I'd give you a gift. Here, take this! Drink it tonight!"

"What is this? You can't just drink anything, Xi'er!" Wang Ruilong said worriedly, looking at the potion that was glowing with a faint purple light.

"Do you trust me? If you do, I'll drink it. Besides, I need your help with something!" Zhang Xi looked around to make sure no one was watching, then took out the same flyer he had given Huang Lin and handed it to Wang Ruilong.

Wang Ruilong looked at the information on the flyer, his face filled with disbelief: "Is this true? How did you know about such a confidential matter?"

“Would you believe me if I said it was a dream I had a year ago that gave me these insights? Some of the information in my dream has been verified one by one over the past six months. In short, Pingyuan City is no longer safe. You must lead your people to Tianjing before May!” Zhang Xi glanced outside the lounge; seeing no one approaching, he continued, “I’m entrusting my parents to you. They will be ready to go to Tianjing with you when the time comes!”

"Of course I believe you, but why don't you come to Tianjing with us?" Wang Ruilong asked, puzzled. "It's too dangerous to stay here!"

“I have my own plan to implement!” Zhang Xi said, “Little Fatty, times have changed. We need to continuously improve our strength. It’s not that everything will be alright just because we escaped to Tianjing. Getting there will only be the beginning!”

"I understand!" Wang Ruilong looked into Zhang Xi's eyes and nodded.

(P.S.: Please vote for this book! My collection and votes have increased recently, thank you everyone. However, compared to many other books, I still don't have enough votes. Please vote for this book!)

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