Volume 1: The Wheel of Fate Chapter 1: A Small Figure Crosses Over

  When Li Ang heard that his variant golden gecko could only be sold for 3 taels, he wasn't surprised. After all, the skin had been shot by his Beretta 470 over-under shotgun to the point where it could only be used as a fishing net. Old Zhang was willing to take it simply because no one had seen what a real golden gecko looked like in a long time. As for what it could do, Li Ang himself didn't dare think about it.

  After getting three bottle caps from Old Zhang, who collected scrap metal, he walked away with a sullen face. A week's hard work was only worth three bottle caps, and Li Ang himself felt ridiculous. This damn place was messed up in every way, actually using bottle caps as currency for circulation. If he only ate roasted mutant rats, it should be enough to last him three days; it seemed that this time he could only hunt nearby and accumulate some money by catching ordinary mutant lizards.

  This time on the distant hunt, he staked all his savings, but the harvest was barely satisfactory. After pushing away the blind prostitutes at the street corner, Li Ang arrived at the cripple's equipment shop.

  It's been three months since he arrived here, and Li Ang has quickly changed roles from being confused to being lost and then integrating into this world. Wherever he goes, he can't help but feel alive. Originally, Li Ang was a person without great ambitions, and even in his previous life, he didn't live a very satisfactory life. After graduating from college, he kept trying various jobs, but his lazy personality made it difficult for him to stay in one place for long. He was fired by bosses, and also fired bosses. He was dumped by women, and also dumped women. Over the years, he achieved nothing, and only when he saw that his former classmates were all married with children and successful did he truly begin to reflect on himself.

  This is still the result of him being unemployed again and being dumped by his current girlfriend at the same time. He objectively and seriously gave himself an evaluation. Li Ang, male, 24 years old. A third-rate university graduate from a third-rate university, even if I use multiplication to look at myself, I am also a sixth-rate talent, why is there no suitable space for me?

  I want to stand out, I want wealth and beauty. Just as Li Ang let out a mournful cry, made a great vow to fight this evil and corrupt world to the end, and complete his own legendary ambition, he inexplicably crossed over.

  So what was originally a motivational book about city life fell into a common cliché. As for Li Ang, the protagonist of this time-traveling story, he thought it was absolutely ridiculous and absurd when he was wearing his only suit to go to an interview at a company with a military background, but that damned elevator sent him directly here instead.

  "I want to sue them, I want them to compensate me, let them compensate until they go bankrupt." Li Ang still held on to this hope when he returned, and this was his greatest spiritual support.

  The moment the elevator door opened, Li Ang thought that this company was indeed creative, and it was no wonder that it had a military background. The large hall was decorated in a post-apocalyptic style. From the entrance, he could see that all around were ruins of buildings buried in sand, with tall buildings slanted and severely weathered, their steel frames exposed. It was very much like the style of Beidou Divine Fist, Li Ang thought to himself. All of this was probably created using holographic digital technology, but it didn't have to be so realistic, he thought. The dry air filled with a thick, fishy smell made Li Ang feel very uncomfortable.

  Even for a large company, the air conditioner doesn't need to be turned on so big, although the invention of nuclear fusion batteries has made energy no longer so tight, after all, this is also a loss. Li Ang immediately classified this serious waste problem into the suggestions he would give to the interviewer later. Suddenly coming from the cold winter to an environment like a tropical desert, this made Li Ang sweat immediately, and he couldn't help but scold in his heart, what's going on, such an environment will make people dehydrate quickly, so he listed it as the second item of rationalization suggestions.

  Until he had looked around and still hadn't seen a single receptionist, Li Ang began to panic. When he returned to the elevator entrance, he was shocked to discover that this elevator didn't seem like the one he had taken earlier.

  After repeatedly confirming the surroundings, Li Ang determined one thing: he was likely to spend the night here. The calories from the bowl of ramen noodles he had eaten in the morning had been consumed by his earlier search efforts. As the sun began to set in the west, Li Ang still hadn't found the elevator he had arrived in. This single elevator probably wouldn't be operational for many years, and Li Ang didn't dare try to make it move carelessly. He was currently on the rooftop of a city buried in the desert, specifically on the 23rd floor. If he messed up, he could cause this ancient elevator, which seemed to have no energy left and had been corroded by time, to plummet directly down, sending him straight to hell.

  It might be a TV prank, Li Ang started searching for possible filming locations with a glimmer of hope. But as the sun set, he finally realized his situation, he had crossed over.

  After carefully checking the surrounding environment for two days, Li Ang realized that he had to leave this place, or else he would definitely starve to death. Of course, these two days of searching were not completely without results, at least he had some understanding of the situation. He should be in a desolate city ruins, where desertification was very severe. However, it used to be very prosperous, and from the remaining words, it seemed that this world still used Chinese characters, but with many characters that Li Ang did not recognize mixed in. Moreover, the humans living here seemed to be walking around anxiously, and many buildings could still find some daily necessities, only they were already completely unusable due to their age. During this process, Li Ang also encountered the first species he had met since coming to this world - several mutated golden geckos. This was a nocturnal animal that emitted brilliant light, simply a giant version of a firefly's gecko version. Such an obvious target could still survive, and Li Ang couldn't help but wonder. But his body didn't hesitate, immediately chasing after them - he was too hungry. Fortunately, the golden geckos were very timid, and when they saw Li Ang rushing over, they scattered and fled.

  When facing unknown dangers, one must be fully prepared. Fortunately, Li Ang had been preparing for this moment. For the past two days, he had been using a sharp spiral steel rod as a makeshift spear and crowbar. He had been carrying it with him everywhere, using it to pry open boxes, cabinets, and anything else that could be pried open in each house he entered. Hunger made Li Ang very brave, but unfortunately, the speed of these animals was not something he could catch up to. His thrown spears also had terrible accuracy, almost hitting himself when they bounced back. It seemed like heaven still gave him some care, as a fleeing lizard dropped its food, a giant scorpion. A hungry person is easily satisfied, and after starting a fire with some rags, the scorpion was roasted. Li Ang thought that the scorpion's meat tasted absolutely comparable to lobster, although he wasn't familiar with the taste of lobster. This didn't affect his reckless judgment when eating food in this world for the first time. The only drawback was that Li Ang paid a price for this delicious meal - he got paralyzed by the scorpion's venom and could only lie on the ground for several hours. Although he had carefully removed the few sections of the scorpion's body connected to its tail, it seemed that the scorpion's shell couldn't be eaten like lobster. This became Li Ang's first common sense in this world.

  Because he had been holding onto the hope of finding a way back home, Li Ang infiltrated the underground buildings for two whole days. Unfortunately, he still didn't find any clues. The scarcity of food forced him to decide to leave this place, and the only thing that excited him was finding a well-preserved Beretta 470 over-and-under shotgun and a box of No. 12 steel shot in a deeply buried house's warehouse. As a military enthusiast, he immediately recognized the Beretta 470, but this discovery confused Li Ang - it seemed he was still on Earth, yet this city was not any place he was familiar with.

  The scorching environment had long since caused Li Ang to discard his suit, and he was only wearing a long-sleeved undershirt because he was afraid of getting sunburned. His original trousers had been transformed into a simple double-shoulder backpack by Li Ang. Inside were the useful things he had found over the past two days: a flashlight powered by a nuclear fusion battery, a dagger without a handle, a large stainless steel water bottle, and two cans of beef that had been stored for an unknown amount of time. Originally, Li Ang had also wanted to take away the refrigerator that held the cans and water bottle, but he was unable to move it, so he could only bring away the battery that provided power. In addition to his original equipment - a steel spear with a threaded tip - and the lighter he had brought with him when he arrived, Li Ang set off into the world fearlessly.

  When God closes a door, He opens another. For someone with no wilderness survival experience at all, such an adventure is undoubtedly going to be fatal. But Li Ang's luck was obviously good this time. Just when he had used up his bullets, drunk all the water, found that the canned beef was inedible, and discovered that he wasn't a match for the mutated scorpions, he ran into a merchant caravan.

  The boss of this merchant group was a cripple, and when Li Ang saw the cripple, he was sitting in a dilapidated Hummer. If it weren't for seeing that the car could move, Li Ang would have thought it was just a pile of scrap metal in the shape of a Hummer. The roof of the Hummer had disappeared, and the originally spacious vehicle was crowded with people carrying guns, making it look cramped. When they saw Li Ang running over excitedly, everyone immediately pointed their guns at him, each with a tense expression, and at that time, the only person who remained calm was the cripple sitting in the passenger seat.

  The bodyguards who followed Li Ang afterwards all said that he was lucky, as the bandit camp was nearby. If he had been discovered by the bandits, it was highly likely that he would have been raised as a human cow and become someone else's food.

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  "I want that 14-step rifle, and 50 rounds of .303 ammunition." Li Ang said to the cripple who was eating roasted lizard meat as soon as he entered the store.

  "Adding the bullets from last time, two hundred should be enough." The cripple used a small file to trim his fingernails and heard Li Ang speaking but didn't raise his head, continuing with his work.

  "It's all accounted for, I'll pay you back when I get the golden lizard skin." Li Ang said while taking down the rifle hanging on the wall and playing with it.

  "You said the same thing last time, and look how that turned out. You took a bullet for me, kid. I'm not going to let you do it again." The cripple blew on his fingernails, speaking with an air of nonchalance.

  "It's not like I owe you, HP bullets are actually filled with magnesium particles. Look, a good gecko was beaten into a sieve. I told you that apart from here, I don't know anywhere else, where can I run to?" Li Ang took out another golden gecko skin full of holes from his backpack and unfolded it while speaking.

  "Now Old Zhang is willing to pay 500 yuan for a golden lizard, as long as you are willing to lend me the gun and bullets, I will return double the price when I come back." Seeing that Lamei was unmoved, Li Ang immediately tempted him with benefits. This point about gentlemen valuing righteousness and petty men valuing profit was still clear to Li Ang.

  "Why bother looking for the lizard? The lizard will eventually be killed by you, I have a living thing here that is very suitable for you." The cripple raised his head and smiled evilly at Li Ang.