Chapter 3

"Forget it, let's do the main thing first."

Victor didn't pay too much attention to the mining area. He ran back to the heavy-duty truck and took out all the mousetraps.

Why did he get so many mousetraps?

Because after the mechanical apocalypse, most creatures on Earth would become mechanized, including rats.

Once a creature was mechanized, it would generate a Source Crystal.

Ordinary Source Crystals weren't as valuable as high-grade ones, but they could be used to increase the mecha's evolution progress, so the more the better.

"If I catch a thousand rats, it should be enough for the first evolution, right? Wait, I'm still missing something."

Victor slapped his forehead.

The rats were small now, but after mechanization, they would grow to a meter long and half a meter tall.

Mousetraps couldn't restrain those big creatures.

Victor pondered for a moment before calling the welding shop boss.

When the call connected, the cheerful voice of the welding shop boss came through. "Bro, is there a problem with the items?"

"No, I need some other things."

"What do you need?"

Hearing this, the welding shop boss immediately stood up in excitement. He could tell another big order was coming. Not many customers paid so generously.

"I need some metal chains, about as thick as the thumb and two meters long," Victor stated his requirements.

"Alright, bro, how many do you need?"

"A thousand."

Sure enough, another big order.

"This isn't the first time we're doing business, so you know I won't rip you off. How about 8 dollars a chain?"

"Deal!"

Victor did not bother to haggle. Money would become useless soon, too rough to even wipe your butt with.

"But you have to deliver them to New Wind Mountain, okay?"

"For my favorite customer, that's not a problem. Actually, I have the chains ready. When do you want them delivered?"

Victor thought for a moment and said, "There's no rush. Tomorrow's fine. Oh, right, I need a metal ring on both ends of the chain that the chain can pass through. The rings should be about as thick as the pinky."

"That's..."

"For a thousand chains, I'll pay $2,000 extra."

"No problem."

The welding shop boss' mouth split open with joy.

Two thousand metal rings for $2,000?

The welding shop boss wished Victor would live a long, healthy life.

Such a generous sucker was a rare find in today’s world.

"That's it then."

"Okay, I'll have them delivered tomorrow morning."

Victor hung up and started placing the mousetraps.

After working for most of the day, Victor ordered takeout with his phone.

Victor planned to stay on New Wind Mountain for the next four days until the apocalypse.

Some delivery guys would probably make a fortune over the next few days thanks to Victor.

Delivery to the mountain was very expensive, but Victor didn't care.

That night, after a meal, Victor got into the heavy-duty truck's cab and slept soundly.

The next day, near noon, the welding shop boss personally led his workers to New Wind Mountain.

When they reached the peak, they were dumbfounded.

They saw Victor fiddling with the rats caught by the mousetraps with a smile on his face.

"Do you guys think he's..." The welding shop boss swirled a finger next to his forehead.

The people who came with him nodded.

The guy drove such a big truck up the mountain only to catch rats.

Now, the question was, what was he going to use the thick chains for?

"Oh, you're here?" Victor turned to them and greeted enthusiastically.

"Yeah, bro. Your chains are all here, do you want to inspect them?" the welding shop boss answered, panicking a little.

Nowadays, mentally-ill people could kill without going to prison. This guy...

"No need, I trust you, just unload them." Victor waved his hand indifferently.

"Okay, unload the truck."

While the workers were unloading the truck, Victor transferred $10,000 to the boss.

After that, the welding shop boss intentionally distanced himself from Victor.

Victor could sense it, but he just smiled.

They laughed at his madness, but he chuckled at their ignorance.

It made him feel pretty good.

After unloading, the welding shop boss took his people and left in a hurry, not even staying to see what Victor was going to use the chains for.

The chains were, of course, for tying up the rats.

There were a lot of rats on the mountain. Maybe because no one bothered going up the mountain to catch rats, the rats on the mountain weren't very smart.

Victor caught hundreds of rats in one night.

"These are all Source Crystals."

Victor walked towards the caught rats with a smile on his face, holding the chains.

With each chain, he passed the chain through the metal rings to form a buckle on both ends. He then wrapped the chain around the rat's neck and fixed the buckle with thin metal wire.

The rats couldn't break free with their current strength, but when they become mechanized, they would be able to break the metal wire.

Tying one rat at each end of the chain created a pair of mechanized rats bound together. They would become hurdles for each other, ensuring none could escape.

Victor gave himself a thumbs up for the genius idea, then went to work.

Putting neck collars on rats turned out to be quite tedious.

While Victor was busy doing that, Stanley found the welding shop. He had been tracking Victor for several days.

Originally, Stanley didn’t have this much motivation, but when he learned that Victor had mortgaged his house to a loan shark, his motivation soared.

Victor now had a lot of money, and as his close friend, of course Stanley had to help him spend it.

"Susan, just pretend to be his girlfriend for now. Knowing Victor, he'll buy you anything you want. That guy has over a hundred thousand dollars right now."

A beautiful young woman dressed in stylish and somewhat revealing clothes stood next to Stanley.

Victor had good taste. Susan was definitely way above average in looks.

Plus, Susan dressed boldly, so she could easily catch the eyes of young men.

"I know. You've said it a million times now. Don't worry."

Although Susan was only twenty years old, she was very experienced with men, so it was easy for her to manipulate young men like Victor.

She had recently taken a fancy to a bag, and it was time to find a sucker.

"Okay. I heard that guy came here. I'll go in and ask."

Stanley happily went into the welding shop.

"Boss, did my friend Victor Wild buy something from you?" Stanley immediately asked with an air of arrogance after entering the shop.

He looked down on the people working there.

"Victor Wild?"

"That boy."

"Oh. If they're friends, this guy's probably not right in the head either."

"I'll go get the boss."

The worker immediately went to inform the boss. No one dared to talk to Stanley. What kind of person would be friends with a lunatic?

Stanley got accurate information about Victor from the shop owner. Hearing that Victor was spending money lavishly, Stanley took Susan to buy a heavy motorcycle worth thousands before going to New Wind Mountain.

When Victor heard the roar of the heavy motorcycle, he turned around. He saw two faces that almost made him lose control of his emotions.

"Victor, I brought my sister to see you. You sure have a lot of free time, huh? Check out my new motorcycle. Isn't it cool?"

Stanley already started shouting before the bike came to a stop. He wanted Victor to pay the remnant cost of the bike.

Stanley bought a motorcycle?

Did his rebirth cause a butterfly effect?

They were in the remote wilderness. Should he just kill the two scumbags?