1 The Beginning

"Launching in 60 secs." It was Dr. Katie's voice from the small speakers installed inside the mission room.

"Launching in 30 secs."

"Launching in 15 secs."

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…Starting the sequence…"

"See you soon Mike. See you again Ms.Ying."

Ying Yue didn't even say anything, just a nod from her. By this time, all the 3 people were already gone from this futuristic mission room.

10 seconds before the sequence, the room becomes pitch dark. There was a slight movement of wind and electrical surge. Suddenly with a sound wasppp… Zhang Wei, Mike, and Ying Yue were gone from the room.

A moment later.

"Mission launching was a success!" One of the scientists in the control room announced.

Everybody was clapping their hands. Feeling great with their successful mission.

"Good job everybody and thank you." Simple encouragement and appreciation from Dr. Kang, the head scientist.

"We have done the best we can, the 3 of them from now are on their own." Murmured Dr. Kang.

7:35 pm. Earth, Sept 11, 2030.

Zhang Wei was sitting alone in the middle of Xiangmi Lake Park in Shenzhen, China. He felt a bit nauseous after the time travel jump. He calmed himself and looked at his surroundings. It surprised him with the fresh air, it was way different compared to his previous world. It felt fresher and lively. He felt that he could live longer in this world.

Mike and Ying Yue were nowhere near him, it was stated before that all of them will be sent to a different location. So, there is no point in locating them right now, eventually, they will meet again.

"So, this is the earth?" Zhang Wei was talking to himself.

Zhang Wei: Alice, where are we now?

Alice: 7:35 pm. Xiangmi Lake, Shenzhen China.

Alice: First Mission, get at least $100,000 before 11.59 pm Tonight.

Alice: First priority, go to the nearest clothing store.

It must be absurd and impossible for anyone to collect $100,000 (700,000 Yuan) in less than 4 hours starting from zero. However, for Zhang Wei with Alice's help, it is not an impossible task at all.

"Okay." Zhang Wei walked to the nearest clothing store pointed by Alice. He needs to change his attire before mingling with the public. Walking to the nearest store, a few people were giving a weird look and smile at him. Luckily, it was almost 8 pm, so there were a lot fewer people at that moment.

Inside a clothing store.

"Welcome sir, how may I help you?" A little petite girl was welcoming Zhang Wei with her pretty smile. Seems like she used to see people with weird clothing, she didn't ask about Zhang Wei's attire. There were only a few lingering customers inside the store at the moment.

"I would like to buy a T-shirt and Jean." Answered Zhang Wei briefly.

"Please follow me, sir." Zhang Wei followed behind the little petite girl into a male clothing section.

After picking up a cheap white T-shirt and Blue Jean which both cost him around 105 Yuan. Zhang Wei directly went to a changing room and removed his time travel suit.

A few minutes later…

"Do you buy second-hand clothes?" Asked Zhang Wei to the female cashier.

"Yes sir, do you want to sell any?" Asked the female cashier.

"This one, my previous suit." Zhang Wei gave her the time traveler suit. Prior, he had emptied the suit, taking out all the items he brought back to this world.

A while later.

"I can offer you 300 Yuan for this suit, sir." Said the female cashier.

"Okay, I'll take it." Zhang Wei knew the female cashier had been lowballing him. The actual cost price of the suit is US$10,000. However, Zhang Wei didn't want to haggle with such money, he had a better way to earn money.

"Here is your 195 Yuan sir after deducting your T-shirt and Jean price." Said the female cashier politely.

Zhang Wei took the cash and went out. The little petite girl said thank you with a big smile at the door.

Directed by Alice, Zhang Wei went to the nearest Hotel Casino. It took him about 15 minutes to reach the hotel. Entering the hotel lobby, Zhang Wei went straight to the casino floor.

The casino room quite large with a maximum capacity of 3000 customers. Zhang Wei saw many people inside the casino room. The large room was decorated beautifully and injected with "Fake Fresh Air". They continuously injected the "Fake Fresh Air" to make all the visitors happy, even though they were losing badly. This is the reason why so many people are losing badly after a visit to a casino.

After changing his 150 Yuan into three casino chips worth 50 Yuan each, the beautiful young female cashier was giving him a pitying look. She must be thinking of another poor guy trying to win with his last remaining cash. Zhang Wei was smiling thinking about the cashier's expression.

Zhang Wei went to sit at the blackjack table. There was only 1 female player playing against the female dealer. Zhang Wei sat and waited for the next round to start. He put down his 3 chips on the table. The other female player was looking at his chips and smiled. Her face implying "another poor player trying to win with his last remaining chips." The dealer refrained from giving any emotion.

Zhang Wei took a glance at the female player's chips, the smallest chips value at 100 Yuan each, and she had over 50 of the same chips in front of her.

Zhang Wei gave a return smile to the female player. Nobody knows that he will surprise the casino tonight. Everybody assumes that he is a poor fish player.

Author's Note: The ORIGINAL 1st chapter comprised over 2500 words. However, because of some circumstances, over 1500 words were removed. When there is an opportunity, I will share the original chapter in the future.