Chapter 13: Treasures Beneath the Ice
"The weather here is still brutal."
After spending Saturday and Sunday with Mia, Jake bundled up in his gear and returned to The Day After Tomorrow world.
His relationship with the future princess had made significant progress. Mia was the classic ugly duckling type, and with Jake's warm, attentive, and confident approach, he was now practically on the verge of winning her heart.
While happy about that, he didn't forget his primary goal: treasure!
He reappeared in the same spot where he'd left this world last time, not far from the library. Walking back toward it, he even spotted the frozen gray wolf corpse near the cargo ship.
After carefully searching the library, Jake was certain that Sam and the others had been rescued and evacuated.
"Guess I'll never see them again." Once he had enough money, Jake was certain he would never return to this frozen hellscape.
After leaving the library, Jake randomly chose a direction and started exploring. As the world's most prosperous city, New York contained wealth in every building and storefront.
With an ice pick in hand, he began his treasure hunt.
Soon he arrived at a jewelry district in Manhattan.
Everything more than ten feet above ground level was frozen solid, containing many treasures that Jake could only look at but not reach. He simply didn't have the ability to dig down ten feet through solid ice.
Bank vaults undoubtedly held massive amounts of gold and cash, which would be ideal if he could access them. However, Jake abandoned this idea when passing a Bank of America branch completely buried beneath the ice—he could only look but not touch.
Casually picking up jewelry from street-level stores would be a much faster way to make money anyway.
Holding a flashlight and smashing through a window, Jake finally managed to infiltrate a large department store.
Everything above ten feet was completely frozen and inaccessible. The jewelry department was only on the ground floor; the second floor had just ordinary clothing and electronics stores. The Day After Tomorrow was set in 2004, and computer specs from that era were laughable compared to modern standards. Even if he managed to grab some, how much could he realistically sell them for?
Jake grabbed a luxury watch as a consolation prize and had to leave the store to continue his search.
His treasure hunt was far from satisfying. Half a day passed with frequent stops and starts, and he'd only managed to collect just over a pound of jewelry.
There were seven or eight three-carat diamond rings, estimated to be worth several hundred thousand dollars. There were also platinum necklaces in pristine gift boxes. Even someone like Jake, who wasn't exactly a jewelry expert, could tell from the craftsmanship that these necklaces were more valuable than the rings; any one of them would easily cost six figures.
In nearly five hours, Jake had only managed to acquire a backpack full of gold and silver jewelry from several stores. But that was enough to make risking his life in this apocalyptic world worthwhile.
After 3 PM, the temperature started dropping dangerously, and for safety reasons, Jake had to leave.
"Whatever, these things don't have legs and can't run away. I'd better head back and rest first."
Carrying a large bag of treasures, Jake teleported back to the real world.
A worn-out camping backpack, covered in grime and frost, looked like something a homeless person would carry. Who would have thought this bag contained a fortune worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Returning from the frozen world, a hot shower was absolutely necessary. Once he was refreshed and back in his tiny studio apartment, he realized, "I should definitely move."
Living in this cramped efficiency, constantly coming and going at odd hours would attract attention, and any unusual activity would be immediately noticed by nosy neighbors.
For his safety and privacy, he needed to find another place. Of course, he also had another thought: he was now sitting on a fortune; why should he keep living in this dump?
That afternoon, he went to a jewelry store in a upscale shopping district.
"Sir, don't you have the original receipt from when the ring was purchased?"
"A friend bought it in New York back in 2004. How could I possibly still have a receipt after all this time?" Looking at the smiling sales associate, Jake helplessly shrugged, indicating there was nothing he could do.
"She got divorced and said seeing this thing annoyed her, asked me to get rid of it. Plus she desperately needs the cash, otherwise I wouldn't be selling it. This ring is three carats, and it's custom-made."
"That's precisely why it's difficult to resell," the associate smiled politely.
"So you're not interested?" Jake said, putting the ring away and standing up to leave.
"Wait just a moment, sir..." Sure enough, before he'd even fully stood up, the associate called him back.
"Yes?" Jake sat back down, but kept the ring in his hand.
"Because you don't have documentation for this ring, and it's custom-made, our buyback price will be discounted..." Before she could finish, Jake waved his hand to interrupt. "Just tell me—how much?" He'd survived a frozen apocalypse; what was a little price negotiation with a regular merchant?
"We can offer about eight thousand dollars," the associate smiled and gave her opening price.
"Oh, eight thousand," Jake nodded, then stood up and walked out. "Well then, have a nice day."
Eight thousand for a top-quality three-carat diamond ring? Do you think I'm an idiot?
"Sir, please wait..."
Finally, after some back-and-forth negotiation and signing a stack of documents, Jake sold the ring for thirty-five thousand dollars.
Once his bank account showed the deposit had cleared, Jake left immediately. Playing games with salespeople was too time-consuming and exhausting.
Next, Jake immediately started house hunting. He found a nice three-bedroom house with a yard and finished basement in a quiet suburban neighborhood. The down payment alone was thirty thousand, and he finally experienced the feeling of spending serious money.
After walking through the house twice, taking in his new space, Jake finally relaxed. When he moved in, apart from the phone that allowed him to travel through worlds, he didn't bring any of his old belongings.
He called his landlord, broke his lease with a penalty payment, and Jake finally began living comfortably.
"The treasures in The Day After Tomorrow world haven't been fully collected yet, but I have enough cash for now, and I still have many necklaces and diamonds to sell." Late that night, Jake sat at his new desk with a notebook, sketching out his plans step by step.
"Frequently selling diamond rings and necklaces will definitely raise red flags; this method won't work long-term." He frowned, then suddenly seemed to have an idea. "However, if the real world doesn't work, I can always sell stuff in other movie worlds. There are so many movie worlds; even if I get on someone's radar, so what?"
Ultimately, the real world was his home base, and he didn't want to complicate things here. Movie worlds, on the other hand, were countless, and new ones appeared every year. He had no qualms about causing trouble there; after all, these movies were already far removed from his reality.
"But wasting too much time on money isn't the best strategy either. The progress bar is already at 90%. As long as I keep following plot points, I'll definitely reach 100%, and that's what really matters."
"The side effects of NZT-48 haven't been resolved yet, which is a potential problem." Thinking of the drug, Jake felt a slight headache coming on; this was a symptom that appeared after taking it, and if he continued using it, the symptoms might worsen significantly.
Suddenly, an idea struck him: "If I could enter the world of Limitless, I could solve both the drug's side effects and my financial problems simultaneously, and most importantly, it wouldn't waste much time."
To make this happen, he had to return to the world that had given him the opportunity to change everything in the first place.
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