Chapter 52: One Ton of Gold!

Lu Feng was once again astonished by the immense power of the laser rifle, which was a capability modern rifles simply could not match.

However, from what Lin Jiao had mentioned, these laser guns were advanced weapons newly developed just before the apocalypse, making them extremely scarce. Moreover, after the apocalypse, without a specialized power source to recharge them, these weapons were essentially reduced to scrap metal, as crystal sources were not something just anyone could acquire.

With a single thought, Lu Feng stored the laser pistol in his backpack space. Keeping this item might prove useful at a crucial moment. Besides, as his first time handling a gun—even if it was a laser weapon—he definitely wanted to keep it. Furthermore, judging by its sheer destructive power, this laser rifle could undoubtedly deal with mutated beasts, right?

"Boss, here you are." Lin Jiao handed the crystal source back to Lu Feng. At the same time, she nonchalantly slung the rifle over her back.

Xu Bin, Chen Tao, and Chen Hao looked on with undisguised envy. After all, a laser rifle with a functioning power source was entirely different from one that was depleted.

After taking the crystal source and placing it into his backpack space, Lu Feng heard Lin Jiao report with a cheerful smile, "Boss, inside is the bank vault, and there is still a significant amount of gold left."

Hearing this, Lu Feng hurriedly walked toward the vault in the inner chamber. Bank vaults typically featured heavy, specialized locking mechanisms and exceptionally high defensive capabilities. However, the door to this vault had already been forced open. The locking mechanism was obviously completely destroyed and stripped of its original function—most likely the work of that Salvation Army faction.

Stepping inside the vault, one could see that the interior space had been remodeled. Offices, chairs, and even various office supplies had been moved in. The vault had clearly been converted into a command office.

Soon, Lu Feng spotted the gold Lin Jiao had mentioned. It consisted of gold bars scattered haphazardly in a corner, treated as if they were utterly worthless.

The sight of these gold bars made Lu Feng's eyes light up brilliantly. While these items were worthless in the post-apocalyptic world, they were exceptionally valuable in reality. He immediately picked up a gold bar to inspect it. Each bar weighed 1,000 grams, equivalent to two jin. This weight was noticeably heavier than most standard gold bars found in the real world.

"Count them and see exactly how many gold bars there are," Lu Feng promptly instructed the four of them.

Lin Jiao, Xu Bin, Chen Tao, and Chen Hao nodded immediately, began sorting the gold bars, and started counting.

Before long, Lin Jiao reported to Lu Feng, "Boss, there are a total of 1,032 gold bars."

This quantity was somewhat lower than expected, amounting to just over a ton. The vault of a large bank in a tier-one city should theoretically store much more than a ton of gold.

Unfortunately, even after Lu Feng had the four of them conduct a thorough search—checking the second, third, and fourth-floor office areas as well—no additional gold could be found. Furthermore, the office spaces on the upper floors had all been converted into segregated dormitory compartments, presumably where the members of the Salvation Army faction used to live.

Realizing that this was all the gold available, Lu Feng had to be satisfied. After all, one ton of gold was by no means a small amount. One must remember that a ton equals one million grams. With the current average price of gold at 420 yuan per gram, selling a ton of gold at a jewelry store would equate to roughly 420 million yuan.

However, he also knew it would be impossible to sell these gold bars for that full amount. While his cousin and Chen Bo had been able to quickly dispose of smaller quantities of gold in the past, unloading an entire ton of gold all at once would likely challenge even Chen Bo's channels for rapid liquidation, given the sheer volume.

There was also a more crucial issue: these gold bars had to be processed first. After all, they were engraved with the logo of Shenhua Bank, along with specialized steel stamps and patterns—and crucially, those steel stamps were identical to the ones in the real world.

That was a headache. With those stamps present, who would dare to accept them? Even gray-market channels would be wary. Even if Shenhua Bank did not exist in reality, people would worry it belonged to some private, official-backed minor bank they had never heard of.

Therefore, to dispose of this batch of gold bars, they had to be melted down first. This would eliminate a multitude of potential problems. Melting gold was not particularly difficult; it required a gold-melting torch, graphite crucibles to hold the molten gold, and graphite molds for cooling.

With this in mind, Lu Feng retreated from the game world with a single thought.

The four subordinates were already accustomed to this. After Lu Feng left, they set about organizing and arranging the surrounding area. If they intended to use this location as their current stronghold, certain preparations had to be made.

Upon returning to his apartment, Lu Feng called his cousin. As soon as the call connected, he said, "Cousin, help me find a gold-melting torch, a complete set of matching containers, and a sufficient amount of gasoline."

"Alright, Chen Bo should have those kinds of things on hand. I'll go get a set from him," Yang Ming replied immediately. A gold-melting torch was certainly a common tool for someone engaged in the private gold trade. Hanging up the phone, he quickly went to find Chen Bo. Since his cousin needed these items, it undoubtedly related to a new source of gold, so he naturally dared not delay.

After ending the call, Lu Feng also took a trip to the teahouse.

Dafei happened to be at the teahouse and reported to him upon his arrival, "Boss Feng, the tea factory is already in full production. Furthermore, Lin Qian and Chen Hai have gone out into the city to pitch our business. Given the superior quality of our Qingfeng Tea, it shouldn't be difficult to market."

"Good!" Lu Feng nodded and asked, "Dafei, have you ever considered selling tea online? Getting influencers to promote it? We're in the internet age now, and everyone is eyeing online channels."

Dafei frowned and replied, "Boss Feng, I thought about that long ago, but it's not reliable. People don't care much about low-end tea; they just buy it without fussing over authenticity. But our Qingfeng Tea has a wholesale cost of 7,500 yuan. To sell it online, the price would have to be even higher. Would you spend that much money on tea online, especially from an unknown brand with no guarantees?"

Lu Feng shook his head. Are you kidding? He might buy something costing dozens or a couple of hundred yuan, but anything over 5,000 yuan? No matter how eloquently an influencer hyped it up, he would never buy it. If he wouldn't believe it, wealthy consumers shouldn't be assumed to be fools either. Anyone thinking the internet was full of gullible spenders was mistaken; after all, people who could afford this tier of tea were usually business owners—would they act like fools?

Dafei continued, "Besides, it's not a question of whether people would buy it; some people have already tried hiring influencers to promote high-end tea online, and they didn't even make back their placement fees. True tea enthusiasts usually visit physical teahouses when they want good tea. That's why physical retail stores are said to be struggling, yet thousands of teahouses across the country continue to thrive—there's a reason for it."

Seeing that Dafei had made up his mind, Lu Feng dropped the subject. After all, he was an outsider to the industry and had no real understanding of whether it could work, so there was no need for a layman to direct professionals.

Before long, Lu Feng received a call from Yang Ming stating that the gold-melting torch and accessory kit had been acquired.

Equipped with the gold-melting torch and its accompanying tools, Lu Feng returned to his apartment immediately and re-entered the game world with a single thought.

The four subordinates looked on with curiosity when Lu Feng brought the gold-melting torch inside. When they saw him approach the stack of gold bars, place one into a graphite crucible, and ignite the torch, they instantly understood what he was doing.

However, the four of them could not figure out why their boss wanted to melt the gold bars all over again. In their minds, it was completely unnecessary and merely a waste of time.

The melting point of gold reaches 1,063 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature of the torch Lu Feng brought in could reach 1,500 degrees, making the melting process entirely feasible. Still, it would consume a considerable amount of time. At that temperature, it took a full five minutes to successfully melt a single gold bar.

Consequently, processing over a thousand gold bars completely would be a massive undertaking.

Once the first gold bar was completely melted, Lu Feng immediately poured the liquid metal into a strip-shaped graphite mold. After cooling, it would form a brand-new gold bar.