NOVPUBChapter 86: Chapter 86 The Duration of Space is Up
Chapter 86 -86 The Duration of Space is Up
Back at the main entrance, they called their people to quickly evacuate. They stopped at a more distant dilapidated house, then Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng told everyone about the situation. They planned to give up this area because those people might be around here recently, so it wasn’t necessary to engage in battle. It was better to head back and discuss what to do next.
Once home, they held a small meeting and decided to drive out the next evening to search. They still had some gasoline. As long as they hid the car a bit farther away in the future, it wouldn’t arouse suspicion. After all, cars could now be heard on the streets; some people had obtained gasoline earlier, so it was normal to have a car. But they needed to keep this car safe; finding another undamaged one would also be troublesome. This one was just right for them.
After discussing, everyone went back to their homes to rest.
When they got home, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng began to share their thoughts.
“Ruisheng, I think we should go out again. That manor must have some treasures; those people just didn’t find them,” Gu Pan also felt that in such a big place, it was impossible not to have anything valuable. Antiques, gold, if there was nothing at all, then it was very likely there was a secret chamber or something like a basement.
“I had the same idea. Let’s go now. Aren’t those people just about to head to the next place? Now is a good time for us to go and take a look,” Lu Ruisheng said.
Gu Pan nodded: “Let’s go.”
The two quietly left through the back door, exited the community, took out the car from Space, and drove straight to the manor.
As they approached the manor, they turned off the ignition, then switched to a small electric bike and rode to the entrance of the manor.
Gu Pan stored away the electric bike, and the two entered the manor again.
Just as they passed through the main gate, those people were leaving in a noisy crowd. Gu Pan immediately pulled Lu Ruisheng into Space—why hide outside when it’s safer inside Space?
After listening to those people leave, the two emerged from Space and proceeded cautiously, uncertain whether the enemy had left sentries inside.
Once inside and assured it was clear, they went in.
The villa was enormous, a four-story circular building.
Gu Pan had always thought that she and Lu Ruisheng had seen quite a few luxury houses since they were in the renovation business, but seeing this one still astounded her—having money was different indeed.
After they entered, the two took out emergency flashlights.
Lu Ruisheng was very experienced in finding secret rooms; he specialized in this area when he was in the special forces. That’s also one reason why he wanted to come back and search again—he was more professional than the others.
Gu Pan, following what she had seen on TV dramas, tried twisting handrails and such but found no reaction.
Then she checked whether there were secret compartments in the bookshelves and wardrobes.
Lu Ruisheng was different. He walked around the rooms on the second floor twice, went to the first floor, and then asked for a calculator from Gu Pan. He calculated the area upstairs and downstairs, comparing it to the lengths of the walls in another room.
It took a while before he said, “There should be a secret room here. The areas on the upper and lower floors should be the same, but the upper floor is missing eight square meters.”
Gu Pan admired Lu Ruisheng: “Professional knowledge still requires professionals.”
Lu Ruisheng chuckled and tapped her head: “Put away the calculator. I’ll find us a way in.”
Gu Pan put the calculator back into Space and watched Lu Ruisheng search for the entrance. She really couldn’t help but followed along to learn.
Soon, Lu Ruisheng found the door, not on the same floor—something Lu Ruisheng hadn’t anticipated before. They had to enter through the ceiling of the first floor. It seemed this place must hold precious items; otherwise, they wouldn’t have hidden it so well.
This was because the ladder in the study on the first floor reminded Lu Ruisheng. It was not unusual for tall villas to have a ladder in the study, but this one was notably too high, which led to his realization.
The two entered the second-floor secret chamber through the ceiling and were amazed upon entering. There were antiques, calligraphy, paintings, gold and silver jewelry, and all sorts of valuable items. If they weren’t mistaken, these must be auction house goods.
Lu Ruisheng said, “Let’s stow it in Space first, we’ll study it back home.”
Gu Pan nodded, quickly stowing what they saw into Space, including the antique shelf and several safes, which they took in directly. They’d figure out how to open them later; now wasn’t the time.
There was also no time to open and inspect each item; that was for when they got back home.
There was no need to check other things; the people before them had rummaged through and found nothing, so after ensuring that all items from the secret room were taken, they hurried home, admittedly curious about what was inside.
Upon arriving home, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng eagerly entered Space, only to see a message on the display screen that took them by surprise: “Space usage duration has reached its limit. Injecting Gold can increase the usable area. The current area is 8,120 square meters.”
This message made Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng exclaim in disbelief. This was something they had never anticipated. But this was just like hitting the jackpot—if the area became large enough, they could put in cruise ships and airplanes, and if it got even larger, there were endless possibilities. The only question was whether there was an upper limit. If there were, would the area unlock new features upon reaching full capacity, or would Space become infinitely large? This remained unknown.
For now, all they could do was speculate, but they couldn’t be too greedy. They always maintained this mindset. It was already quite good as it was—if there were more surprises, it would just be icing on the cake.
Of course, their excited hearts could barely contain the thrill.
Gu Pan commented, “This person really hid a lot of hard currency. That gold wasn’t a small amount; it topped up the duration just like that.”
They looked again at Space—the previously empty areas seemed to have expanded somewhat. The contraption was quite intelligent, not adding area from the edges, but expanding from where there had been emptiness, which also made it more convenient to use.
Lu Ruisheng thought for a moment, “The initial area was a bit larger than a standard soccer field, which is 7,140 square meters. I guess the starting area was about 8,000 square meters—after all, the initial value should be a whole number, right? Of course, that’s an assumption. In the future, we’ll inject more gold to see how the area changes to confirm this.”
Gu Pan nodded: “That means today’s gold expanded it by another 120 square meters. Speaking of which, this family really was rich. These must be preparations made before the apocalypse. Let’s see if there’s anything else.”
They weren’t too interested in the items on the antique shelf, as all were clearly visible. Instead, they were excited about the boxes—it’s the joy of opening blind boxes, who would understand?
When they opened a moisture-proof box, they got a shock. Inside were large denominations of US Dollars, three boxes full to the brim. This confirmed even more that these preparations were made before the apocalypse; after the apocalypse, those dollars would be less precious than toilet paper.
Then Gu Pan opened another box, which was empty: “This one couldn’t have been for storing gold, could it? The gold was absorbed by Space in exchange for time and area.”
Lu Ruisheng also wasn’t sure: “Maybe. Let’s look at the others.” He opened another box, which contained small boxes.
Opening one, Gu Pan felt awkward—a bunch of jade jewelry accessories, “Now with the gold inlaid jade, only jade remains and the gold’s been swallowed by Space. It’s a shame, not knowing if these were designed by some master.”
Lu Ruisheng laughed: “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. We’ve done well enough. Let’s see what else there is.”
