Young Master in the Apocalypse

"So, what do you all think?"

Viktor was currently asking the others about the new bunker.

Pin-drop silence filled the air for a while. This caused Barry, who did not know what his young master wanted to hear, to be a little nervous to speak.

"I-It's perfect, young master! The place is really nice!" Barry said a little hurriedly.

After a moment of contemplation, the two bodyguards Torri and Boris nodded in agreement. They voiced how they thought that the fact the bunker lied in a secluded area surrounded by a frozen sea and river made it a much safer option than their previous one.

The two also added a few more reasons why the bunker would be a great place to live. Eva, however, remained silent.

Looking at her faintly furrowed brows and how nervous Barry was, Viktor could somewhat guess that those three, having been servants of the family for so long, did not really have the ability to give negative comments.

Even if they absolutely did not like the place, they would not dare say it in front of their master. This made Viktor especially interested in the princess' opinion instead.

"What do you think, Eva?"

Rather than waiting for the girl to speak, Viktor thought that it was better to ask her directly.

However, even after his direct question, the girl was still a little hesitant. In the end, Eva simply responded, "Wherever it is, I will stay with you dear."

Viktor let out a helpless sigh.

"That's not what I'm asking, it's all right to tell me honestly," he said with a smile. He made sure to speak as gently as he could so she would not feel pressured, and as expected, Eva opened up.

"Well... I just feel that it's a little too quiet and gloomy, that's all, dear..."

Viktor looked at the place again upon hearing her words, and it really was as the girl pointed out; although the place seemed much safer, its condition was far from the bright condition their previous bunker had.

It actually felt kind of sad.

He thought about it for a bit. Even though he also did not really like the current atmosphere of this place, safety was still his main priority.

The better option was clear.

"Don't worry, Eva, as long as the place is safe and the generator works, we can add a few things later. We can also visit Arkhangelsk Town whenever we feel bored," Viktor reassuringly said.

"Ah, of course, dear," Eva agreed. Although it was not very obvious, he still noticed that the girl was happier.

Viktor confirmed that all of them were on board with the idea. Of course, 'all of them' referred to everyone except Gucci, the little lemming. He did not really care whether the weird little creature stayed or left. No matter how intelligent it was, a pet did not get to vote.

"All right then, let's try staying here for a few days first. We'll decide after," Viktor concluded their plan for the time being.

With these, the four of them quickly busied themselves with preparing the place. Barry immediately started cleaning the place while the two bodyguards went to check the security perimeter and listed all the supplies they found from the storage.

As for Eva, she had a bright smile on her face. She had been looking forward to a good hot shower for a while, and now that it was finally here, she could not contain herself. The beautiful princess was so happy that she was even willing to let Viktor join the fun.

Viktor could only give a wry smile and politely refuse the offer.

"Your loss then," the girl said a little unhappily.

Viktor really wanted to join, but he knew that if he really did, he would not be able to handle such a situation. Not with his pipe being untreated for almost two weeks now.

Fortunately, Viktor had an alternative way to have fun. With glee, he walked down to the lowest floor and headed toward the big treasure fault.

Using the same metal-bending skill he used to open the main door, he opened the vault door with ease.

Even he was amazed at how much his ability had improved in such a short time, but he did not linger on it for long.

As soon as the large 6-inch door was opened and the vault's emergency lights automatically turned on, a brightly-shining light reflected in Viktor's eyes.

It was a mountain of gold, part of the many Romanov hidden treasures they gathered by taking over the Russian state-owned mines and factories during the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.

The Romanov family built the bunker all over the country to hide the wealth they took from the country, however, it now ended up in his hands.

What laid before him was a mountain of 12.4-kilogram gold bullion. In total, there were at least 100 bars of them, which meant at least 120 kilograms worth of gold. If it were to be estimated, it would roughly be 700 million American dollars' worth of wealth.

He had seen such a view numerous times, but now that he had an important other use for them, it felt a lot more special.

"What do you think, Djinn?" Viktor proudly asked. If there was one thing he was greatly proud of, it was the wealth that allowed him to get anything he wanted.

However, the Djinn's response was nowhere near what he expected.

<Are you trying to gloat? I must tell you, the amount of gold that I have seen is hundreds of times more than this measly amount.>

The Djinn's voice was filled with ridicule. Even so, Viktor did not pay it much heed. Instead, his thoughts immediately shifted to something else when he heard the Djinn's words.

'Could he be talking about the secret treasure cave from the story?'

"Hundreds of times? Really? Huh, I won't believe it until I see it."

<Trying to lure me, are you? Kekeke, it's not going to work on me.>

Unfortunately, the Djinn could read his mind. Well, he really should just focus on what was in front of him.

Thinking about it again, Viktor was filled with excitement. How much metal essence would he get from 100+ kilograms of gold?

He really could not wait.

Viktor happily approached the mountain of gold and warmed up his hands before putting them on top of it. As he laid his eyes on the shining mountain, he could not hold himself back and whispered out of glee.

"I'm borrowing this gold, father. Just count it as part of my inheritance."

Unable to wait any longer, Viktor quickly used his skill.

[Metal Extraction]

Right away, Viktor could feel the pureness of the metal and its content. Just like before, the essence in gold was considered mid-level metal essence.

[10 mid-level metal essence extracted.]

[20…]

[40…]

[100…]

Viktor patiently waited, but the extraction took much longer than he initially thought. After a while, the suffocating pain he previously felt in his chest came back again. He almost reflexively moved his hand to clutch his chest, but thankfully, he managed to resist and kept his hands above the remaining mountain of gold.

He took a deep breath to compose himself before continuing the extraction.

[200…]

[400…]

The amount of gold was already a lot in the first place, so the fact that the metal essence of gold was mid-level certainly played a part in how much time was required to extract it.

15 minutes passed. Viktor managed to extract about half of the initial 120-kilogram gold and turned it into dust, but every second he continued extracting, he felt as if his body was being pierced with thin needles. Soon after, he even felt different parts of his body suddenly turn numb.

This made him feel uneasy, and in turn, ask the Djinn about it.

"What is going on, Djinn? Is something wrong with the process?"

<Hmm... I am not really sure either.>

The Djinn answered after thinking for a while, so Viktor, who had to wait while enduring the pain, became annoyed.

"What the f**k, Djinn? I am in pain here!!"

<Well, you can either stop or try your best.>

Viktor was irritated, but he currently could not do anything but keep it in. This was the second time the all-powerful Djinn had no idea about what was happening.

All-powerful indeed!

After calming himself down, Viktor decided to go a little more slowly, and after a while, the much-awaited notification finally appeared.

[965 mid-level metal essence extracted.]

[Metal forged successfully.]

[Core of Anvil - Stage 3: 100%]

This was certainly a pleasant surprise. It seemed that the extraction process was stopped not because he ran out of gold to extract, but because he had completely filled the stage 3 Core of Anvil.

However, just when he was about to celebrate his new milestone, another string of notifications came into his mind.

[Core upgrade unsuccessful.]

[You do not have sufficient endurance to upgrade.]

"..."

"What the f**k!!?"