Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Incomplete Electromagnetic Rice Cooker Technology

Lu Feng looked at the astonished expressions on the faces of Lin Jiao and the other three, then said, "Go ahead and wash all of this."

"Boss, I can lend a hand," Lin Jiao suddenly offered, a look of eagerness on her face.

Lu Feng was in a good mood, so when Lin Jiao offered, he nodded.

Without hesitation, Lin Jiao carried the bags, big and small, over to the makeshift stove inside the vault.

The tree she had shot down earlier could now serve as fuel.

"Xu Bin, you and the other two, come wash these things," Lin Jiao instructed.

Xu Bin and the other two were obviously very motivated when it came to food.

This was the first time they had seen such lavish food since the apocalypse began. They immediately went out, found a bucket of water, and began washing the vegetables.

Fortunately, the bank’s water supply was still functional; the Salvation Army must have specifically repaired it.

Before long, Lin Jiao had a fire going.

Lu Feng walked over to the stove as well. Once Xu Bin and the others finished washing the vegetables and brought them over, he started cooking, stir-frying the first dish.

He added water and seasonings, and before long, the first dish was ready.

Then he began to cook the second dish, then the third...

Lu Feng cooked with practiced ease. Next, he took the fish, planning to make red-braised fish.

Lin Jiao waited by the makeshift stove, watching Lu Feng cook. Every time he finished a dish, she would eagerly carry it over to a nearby table.

In no time, Lu Feng had transformed the fish, duck, chicken, and vegetables they brought in into a spread of delicious dishes on the table.

Staring at the table full of dishes, Lin Jiao and the other three suddenly felt as if they were in another world, transported back to the time before the apocalypse.

Only before the apocalypse could they have had such a luxurious meal.

They had almost forgotten what such a sight was like.

"Go on, eat!" Lu Feng could more or less understand how the four of them felt. ’This is the apocalypse, after all.’

At Lu Feng’s words, Lin Jiao and the other three cast aside all courtesy and dug in.

This was, without a doubt, the best meal the four of them had eaten since the apocalypse began. It also made them feel that following this boss was a truly excellent decision.

In the real world, a single meal like this would hardly be enough to win the loyalty of four employees. But this was the apocalypse, and it was by far the best way to win people over.

As the meal came to an end, Lin Jiao suddenly asked Lu Feng, "Boss, I remember you saying that you needed technology in addition to gold bars, right?"

Lu Feng nodded. "Yes, if there’s technology available, I need it."

He knew perfectly well that while this game world had a lot of Gold, the ton he had was just a tiny fraction. However, if he kept taking Gold out, large quantities would inevitably attract more and more attention.

If he could get his hands on the technology from this game world, the value it could create would be no less than that of Gold. It could even serve as the perfect cover for the Gold’s origin.

Lin Jiao immediately said, "Boss, this bank has some technical blueprints that companies used as collateral. They might be what you’re looking for."

"Take me to them," Lu Feng said, his eyes lighting up.

In the real world, some companies pledge their technology to banks as collateral to secure development funds.

And compared to less concrete forms of collateral, technology was undoubtedly something banks welcomed.

After all, as long as the technology was good enough, the bank could recoup its losses by selling it, even if the company defaulted on the loan.

Sometimes, banks could even use the technology to start their own company.

This has actually happened in the real world.

A company would fail with a certain technology they’d put up as collateral, only for the bank to acquire it and turn it into a huge success.

’Since banks in the real world can accept technology as collateral, it’s not surprising that banks in this game world can do the same.’

Lin Jiao immediately led Lu Feng to the second floor, to a different records vault.

The vault downstairs was for cash and gold bars, but a bank has more than just one strongroom; it has other storage areas as well.

For example, property deeds for mortgages had to be stored in a dedicated vault, and the same went for technical documents held as collateral.

This bank’s records vault was a specially constructed room at the end of the hall on the second floor.

However, the vault had been converted into a dormitory by the Salvation Army.

As for the property deeds and other documents held by the bank, they had been stacked, bundled, and laid out to create makeshift beds.

’Perhaps whoever did this wanted to know what it felt like to sleep on a pile of property deeds.’

Soon, Lin Jiao hauled out a large stack of documents from a corner. "Boss, I think these are all the technical documents that were used as collateral."

Lu Feng’s eyes lit up as he looked at the stack of documents.

Deep Micro-engraving Technology!

Special Projection Technology!

EDP Component Manufacturing Technology.

...

Lu Feng scanned the titles. He found that many of the technologies were extremely complex and, needless to say, far surpassed their real-world counterparts.

’Otherwise, there would have been no reason for them to be put up as collateral.’

Lu Feng looked through the documents and found one technology that was the easiest to implement and had great potential: an electromagnetic rice cooker technology.

Lu Feng immediately used his Prospecting function to examine the technical documents for the electromagnetic rice cooker, but his brows furrowed at what he saw:

[This is a special electromagnetic rice cooker technology, but unfortunately, the blueprints for two parts are missing, making the technology incomplete. A rice cooker built with the complete technology would use special electromagnetic fermentation, producing rice with: Sweetness +1, Texture +1, Soft and Chewy +1!]

Lu Feng grew frustrated seeing this description.

The information from his Prospecting ability indicated that if he could sell this electromagnetic rice cooker, it would be a massive success.

’Using the same rice, but your cooker makes it Sweetness +1, Texture +1, and Soft and Chewy +1... wouldn’t that be unbeatable?’

But of course, the technical blueprints had to be incomplete.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Lu Feng used his Prospecting ability on the other documents and found that, to his dismay, nearly every set was missing multiple parts. This was clearly the work of the Salvation Army members.

’What a pain in the ass.’

These technologies were already far ahead of the real world; replicating them for actual production would have been difficult enough. With missing parts, it was now even harder.

’Besides, even if I found someone in the real world to fix them, they would easily get suspicious. They might even claim the tech for themselves. If they managed to complete it and file a patent first, that would be an even bigger nightmare.’

"Boss, what’s wrong?" Lin Jiao asked, noticing his strange expression.

Lu Feng frowned. "These technical documents are incomplete. I need the complete technology. If it’s not complete, the technology is useless."

"Boss, let’s search again, more carefully," Lin Jiao said, immediately beginning to search the vault. She focused specifically on looking for the missing parts of the electromagnetic rice cooker schematics, to see if they’d missed anything.

Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, Lin Jiao came up empty-handed.

Seeing that the search was futile, Lu Feng thought of something and asked Lin Jiao, "By the way, is there any way to find an expert who can restore these incomplete technologies?"

’According to the background lore for this game, *After the Apocalypse*, there are many talented survivors in the cities. People who were brilliant and incredibly successful before the apocalypse often lacked basic survival skills, and some even starved to death.’

’Even top-tier experts are paid as little as two steamed buns a day.’

’That’s nothing.’

If someone could help him complete the electromagnetic rice cooker technology, paying them two steamed buns a day would be nothing to him.

What he needed to know now was if he could find such a person.

Lin Jiao suggested, "Boss, if you’re looking for someone like that, you could try the City East Alliance. Most of the survivors have gathered there, so there’s bound to be someone who understands this kind of technology."

"Besides," she added, "there are a lot of people like that. Their skills are useless in the apocalypse, so their hiring price should be very low. A little bit of food should be enough."