Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Before it got dark, Gu Lang drove away from Renjiang City.

The road ahead begins to fork.

Heading southwest on the G4512 expressway will take you south to Qiqihar.

Heading southeast on the G1213 expressway will take you to Yichun.

No matter which route you take, you will eventually reach Harbin, the capital of Wulongjiang Province.

Continuing south, the road network becomes extensive and interconnected.

According to the FM radio broadcast, all toll booths have been shut down.

All highways are currently open to the public free of charge.

Gulang ultimately chose the G4512 expressway in the southwest direction.

This route is fully enclosed, with four lanes in both directions, and the road conditions are better.

A "putt-putt-putt" noise came from the rear cargo compartment.

A diesel generator is fixed to the floor of the carriage and is running continuously.

It continuously provides power to the bread truck as it moves.

The sliding door was left slightly ajar for ventilation and wiring.

Two barrels of diesel fuel are enough to support a range of about 500 kilometers.

These things were naturally obtained through a trade with Huang Mao.

In addition, Gu Lang also obtained a gas mask and a set of gold-melting tools.

He sold all the supplies he didn't need to the other party.

First are machetes and Japanese swords.

Gu Lang had a serious surplus of weapons and didn't need swords.

Especially Japanese swords, which are considered "crafts," are incredibly difficult to use and prone to rusting.

Only teenagers with delusions of grandeur like to use it to show off.

The previous owner had been killed by a spear.

Secondly, he sold all the silver jewelry.

Unlike gold, which can be used as a general equivalent.

Silver is also a symbol of wealth.

It served as currency for a very long period of time in history.

Now, however, it has no ability to retain its value.

The Dragon Kingdom has very few native silver mines, and the output is low.

However, it has abundant reserves of non-ferrous metals such as lead, zinc, and copper.

Silver, as a byproduct of these metal smelting processes, has an astonishing annual output.

The total amount exceeded 1.6 tons, which is approximately 4.5 million taels.

After paying the Boxer Indemnity, there was still a little left.

If it weren't for the rise of the photovoltaic industry and new energy vehicles, which consume a large amount of silver every year...

Silver prices have long been unsustainable.

In recent years, whenever someone tries to manipulate the price of silver...

They will all be submerged by the massive amounts of silver in the warehouses of non-ferrous metal smelters.

After losing everything, he left the stage in disgrace.

Finally, there's the entire Guozi brand electronic product bundle.

Although the price is high, Gu Lang considers it extremely hot to handle.

These items all have serial numbers, so you can easily check them.

It requires an internet connection to activate, and will automatically locate itself upon activation.

In the news, it was even reported that after a theft, the authorities could remotely lock the device.

In the end, we could only leave it to the experts in Huaqiangbei to handle.

However, all of this will happen after power and internet are restored.

Now they're no different from scrap metal.

Based on pre-disaster prices, Huang Mao made a huge profit from this deal.

However, Gu Lang didn't feel like he had lost out.

Labor is the original source of wealth.

These illusory possessions are merely a medium of exchange.

The value of labor is essentially human time.

Everyone is selling their own time in exchange for someone else's time.

Once time is used up, it can never be taken back.

A person's life is very short, mostly only a few decades.

The world before birth and after death has no meaning for the individual.

Eliminate the childhood stage where one has no control and the old age stage where one is willing but unable to make decisions.

The amount of time a person can afford to squander is pitifully short.

The average life expectancy of citizens of the Dragon Kingdom is 78 years.

However, the average age of death at crematoriums is only 67, with women at 75 and men as low as 63.

Life is full of surprises, and not everyone can die a natural death.

The poor, however, often sell their time cheaply under various forms of discipline.

After realizing this principle on the factory assembly line, Gu Lang could no longer stand going to work.

Living freely, living authentically, and living a long life became his philosophy of life.

As long as he can save time, he won't be blinded by wealth.

After passing a service area, Gulang stopped to rest.

From what we can see, the further south you go, the better the recovery of supplies is.

On the highway, a long line of military green trucks stretched out.

As time goes on, the troops are rapidly taking over various key nodes.

In the areas under military control, order has improved significantly.

Various red and green vests and peaked caps have reappeared.

Gu Lang dismantled the boar-hunting spear and replaced his self-defense weapon with a cement tamping stick.

All sorts of discordant elements were stuffed under the car and hidden away.

We were still 200 kilometers away from Qiqihar, and the sky was gradually darkening.

Having temporarily escaped the deadly threat, Gu Lang parked the car in a secluded, deserted corner.

The decision was made to prepare before moving on to the next city.

He picked up a heavy gold bracelet and cut it off forcefully with pliers.

After some effort, all the gold jewelry was cut into small pieces.

Gu Lang weighed out 30 grams of gold and dropped it into a small white bowl.

The quartz crucible for melting gold can withstand temperatures up to 1700 degrees Celsius.

It is far higher than the melting point of gold, which is 1064 degrees Celsius.

Then he took out a propane gas canister and tightened the high-temperature spray gun.

These gas canisters are very common; portable portable gas stoves use them as fuel.

When used with an oxygen cylinder, the theoretical maximum temperature can approach 2000 degrees Celsius.

The spray gun in Gu Lang's hand wasn't very powerful; it looked like it came from a barbecue restaurant.

The actual maximum temperature is around 1400 degrees Celsius, which is more than enough.

With a soft "click," the ignition switch was pressed.

A sharp blue tongue of fire suddenly shot out from the nozzle of the flamethrower, making a hissing sound.

Gu Lang aimed the tip of the flame at the gold nugget at the bottom of the crucible.

Gold is an excellent conductor of heat, licked by blue flames.

In just a few seconds, the area was directly engulfed by flames.

It quickly turned from gold to dark red.

Then it softens and collapses like melted grease.

Gu Lang moved the flames away and picked up the borax.

A few tiny white powder particles were sprinkled evenly onto the boiling gold liquid, like snowflakes.

When borax powder comes into contact with the molten gold surface, it immediately emits a slight "crackling" sound.

It melts rapidly, forming a thin, flowing, glassy slag layer.

Floating on the surface of viscous, hot, bright gold liquid.

Continue heating, and a wisp of pungent white smoke with a slightly sweet smell rises up.

Even through the gas mask, you could still smell a faint chemical odor.

Borax decomposes into sodium borate glass at high temperatures.

It encapsulates the gold to form a liquid protective layer.

This reduces heat loss, allowing gold to reach its melting point more quickly.

It can also effectively dissolve oxides, oil stains, dust, and welding residues that may be present on the surface of gold jewelry.

Impurities are separated from the gold, forming a slag that is easy to remove.

Ensure that the final gold nuggets are as pure as possible.

After cooling for a few minutes, Gu Lang dropped a golden bean into the water.

With a "hiss," the gold cooled down rapidly.

When placed on an electronic scale, it showed a weight of 30.2 grams.

Gu Lang picked up a small hammer and tapped the surface lightly, causing the glassy borax residue to fall off.

Soak in white vinegar for 3 minutes to remove any residue.

The weight of the golden beans was reduced to 30 grams.

Gu Lang repeated these steps.

The once elaborate jewelry has been transformed into 30 simple gold beads.

Destroying the source information also facilitates subsequent transactions.

Gold has a very high density; if all of these were melted together, they would only be about the size of a lipstick.

Gu Lang hid all the gold in a small medicine bottle.

He stuffed the money, which he considered his most precious possession, into his pocket.