CH 1.1

Bai Jing opened his eyes abruptly, rolled over and stood up. His long fingers gripping the energy gun at his waist, his beautiful teal eyes instantly became sharp as he looked around warily.

He found himself in an abandoned area, with low, rudimentary houses lined up in disrepair, and a large, smelly garbage dump not far away.

Not noticing any danger, Bai Jing’s heart slightly relaxed. He raised his hand to touch the neck, but his hand wasn’t stained with blood and he didn’t feel a trace of pain either.

? He was bitten by a level 5 zombie and he could still smell the fishy scent and the phantom pain of the sharp teeth piercing his neck.

Bai Jing closed his eyes then looked around again. He realized that this wasn’t the environment he was familiar with because although it was simple and shabby like a slum, there was no overwhelming zombies and strong smell of blood.

What the hell was going on?

A familiar feeling of hunger came from the pit of his stomach, Bai Jing quickly took out the only compressed cookie in his pocket and ripped open the bag with great force.

No matter where this place was, the first priority was to find food and water as soon as possible, nothing is more important than staying alive.

His trench coat was already stained with the foul stench of zombie liquid, so Bai Jing took it off casually to reveal a light blue shirt that was a little faded.

With straight legs wrapped in black trousers and a pair of hiking shoes, his body was long and perfectly proportioned and he would have looked like a high school student if not for his stern eyes and quick movements.

His face was very fine, with long, brown-black hair covering his starry, teal eyes, but a closer look revealed a straight nose and a well-defined profile underneath.

Unfortunately, his sharp jaw and thin, yellowish face detracted from this beauty, as was the case for most people who were chronically malnourished in the post-apocalyptic world of scarcity.

Bai Jing made a quick tour of the place and it became clear that there was no food, even the smelly garbage dump had been turned upside down.

When he looked at the locals who were going through the garbage, they looked at him warily, not wanting to be robbed of their spoils.

Bai Jing lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. He was new to the area and unfamiliar with the situation, so he didn’t want to start a fight. He would rather look elsewhere.

After about half an hour, he saw a view so different from the slums that it was like he had wandered into another world.

Countless skyscrapers rose from the ground, and huge holographic screens were set on the surfaces of the buildings, showing new products never seen before. Spiraling rails crisscrossed the sky, and an elaborate hover car passed through the sky as if it were in outer space.

Bai Jing’s normally cold eyes flashed with shock as he guessed that he might have arrived in a time in the future that seemed to be free of zombies, but he was still alert to his surroundings, not daring to take things lightly.

The clean, tidy roads were wide and lined with tall buildings, mirror-like and cold, and not a single person was seen on them. There wasn’t even a supermarket or a convenience store in sight.

Bai Jing lifted his hand and touched his lips which were slightly chapped. He needed to speed up a little more.

Finally, in front of a luxurious hemispherical building about three stories high, he heard the sound of people he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Without hesitation, he walked in, the only place he could find anyone after walking for so long.

The hall was full of people, the floor was shiny, the dome was gorgeous like a European palace, and the lights were dazzling. The floor was filled with people in a low-to-high ring of seats and there were many others standing in the front room in the dark.

In the centre of the hall were two enormous holographic screens, 360 degrees in front of the crowd, each showing a man and several displays of stones, seemingly in competition.

Bai Jing looked away for a moment and then withdrew his gaze, the hunger in his stomach returning with a twinge of pain.

With a slightly pale face, he walked quickly to the edge of the crowd and tapped a man on the shoulder: “Excuse me, but do you know where they sell food?”

“Are you sick? The betting is over in 10 minutes or so, I need to see which pieces I’m betting on, get out of here.”

The man glared at him then hurried back to continue the discussion with his friend.

“Number 3 is good, it should come out green.”

“No. 3 is good, but I think No. 8 will do better. I’m betting on it going up.”

“Uh, I think number 5 is more likely to–“

With a cold look in his eyes, Bai Jing looked down and quickly glanced around. Noticing that there were fully equipped guards all over the hall, he slowly lowered his hand on his energy gun.

This place wasn’t as chaotic as the end times, and the guards weren’t weak, so he will never be able to get out in one piece.

“Little brother, are you having any difficulties?

Just as he was about to ask a few more questions, a middle-aged man with an innocent and simple face approached him with a gentle and very affable voice.

“Yes, do you know where they sell food?” Bai Jing secretly assessed his strength, made sure there was no danger, and allowed him to approach him.

“Sigh, it costs a lot of money to buy natural food these days, and it’s all ordered by lightbrain, so you can’t do it without one.”

The middle-aged man smiled warmly: “Let me introduce myself, my name is Jiao Gui, you can call me Jiao Ge. Look at you, little brother, you’re not wearing a light brain, that’s a problem.”

As soon as he saw what the young man was wearing and how empty his wrists were, he knew he was a slum-dweller who didn’t like the status quo.

Bai Jing looked up: “Excuse me, how do I get a light brain?”

Distracted by his beautiful teal eyes, Jiao Gui said after a moment, “You can buy them here at the Gu’s Gambling House, but you need at least 3,000 stars to buy a one……”

Seeing him fall silent, a glint passed through Jiao Gui’s eyes and he sighed: “Ai, I too am from the slums. I know it’s hard for people like us to get out of the slums and it was only after I got into gambling by mistake that I got better, haha, and now I have a small fortune.

Seeing as how we’ve hit it off, why don’t you try your hand at betting on stones too? If you win, you get the star coins; if you lose, I’ll pay for it, how’s that sound?”

“How do I bet?” Bai Jing’s brow furrowed slightly, his voice dry from the lack of water.

Jiao Gui laughed in his heart, he was hooked.

“It’s easy. See the two men on the platform, both of them are gamblers. Each of them will pick five pieces of rough stones to gamble with, making a total of ten pieces numbered 1-10.

Which of these ten pieces do you think will produce jadeite?

Each piece has its own odds, and if you’re lucky, you can triple, quadruple or even multiply your capital!

When Bai Jing didn’t answer, Jiao Gui continued to tempt him, “A thousand star coins is a lot of money, but if you win, you can get more than 10,000 star coins…

Little brother, don’t worry, it’s okay if you lose, I Jiao Gui am a man of my word, I’ll take care of this game’s star coins!”