Chapter 97

"What do we do now?" After being kicked out of the landlord's house, Peach Eyes looked at the janitor.

"How are the houses in the neighborhood sold?" The janitor frowned and, looking at the buildings not far away, asked.

Building houses in the game was much faster than in reality. Especially after some player experimented with a quick-setting agent, which could make concrete set completely within half an hour, significantly speeding up the construction of houses. A 20-story building could be fully completed in just three to four days, including simple interior decoration, plumbing, and electrical work, allowing people to move in directly.

"This neighborhood has just been planned. Half of the houses are for relocated residents, and the other half are for sale. A three-bedroom, two-living room, one-kitchen, one-bathroom house, 120 square meters, is priced at 2.4 million, 2.4 million gold coins, not points." Peach Eyes took out a computer and retrieved the information about the neighborhood.

"How much money do we have left?" A virtual property priced at over 2 million was beyond the janitor's expectations. But upon reflection, it made sense. This neighborhood was located in a prime area close to the city center.

Players could earn tens of thousands of points a day by killing monsters, which was equivalent to earning a few hundred yuan a day in real life. For someone like the janitor, who could solo dungeons and even crush elite monsters, earning a few million points a day was not difficult. Adding the money from selling materials and equipment, the janitor could earn tens of thousands of yuan a day. A 2.4 million house would only take a few months of effort, which, when compared to his real-life earnings, was not expensive at all. This game provided many people with opportunities.

"1.2 million. We're still short by half. Besides, we're not suitable for living in a neighborhood. Not to mention Trigger's experiments, just the loot we gather each time we return needs a yard to sort. With Big Fur around, we need to bring back some food for it. Living on the 5th or even the 10th floor of a neighborhood would be very inconvenient."

"Let's go back and sort out our things. See what we can take and find a temporary place to settle down. Sang Sang should be fine staying with Yuan Shenping for a day or two. We need to plan a place of our own. We also need to gather some people. Our online and offline times are too fixed, and if we all log out, no one will be watching the place. We can't rely on the police for security; we need our own protection force." The janitor frowned and said.

After notifying Lei Gong, Lei Gong went to buy some food for Sang Sang and Big Fur, telling them to stay in Yuan Shenping's house and not come out. Yuan Shenping lived in a campus area where many teachers resided, and there were many children around Sang Sang's age, so her presence wasn't too noticeable.

Back at their place, after sorting out some useful items, Peach Eyes brought up the map of the entire safe base. The areas that had already been planned were also simulated, making it easier for the group to choose.

"This is what the safe base looks like after the first phase of planning. The red areas are already sold, the blue areas are where we bought, and the green areas are unclaimed and available for us to choose. In my opinion, we should choose a place in the suburbs. Based on the current population of the safe base, after all the planning, the new Hope City should be this big, and this area is considered the suburbs."

Peach Eyes quickly typed on the keyboard, drawing a red line to outline the size of the future Hope City. This area was about ten times the current size of Hope City, but much of the designated area was still occupied by monsters. The suburbs outside the designated area were even more of a monster haven.

"Monsters in the game have migratory habits. If too many are killed in one place, the spawn points will disappear or move to another place, similar to what happens in real life when animals are overhunted. To establish ourselves in the wild without the protection of the safe base, we need some manpower." The janitor frowned.

"We lack manpower. For example, here, the end of Blue Bay River is a large river with abundant water resources. The gamblers chose to build a water treatment plant here. They have already bought this area under the pretext of building a water treatment plant and a hydroelectric station." Peach Eyes drew the area where the gamblers had settled.

"This area is at least 10 square kilometers. Did the safe base really agree to them buying such a large area?" Kan Tu asked in surprise.

"This area is currently occupied by monsters. Moreover, there are water monsters near the river that are hard for players to deal with. They didn't apply to the safe base for military protection to clear the monsters or maintain security. They had to pay for it themselves. The safe base just designated this monster-occupied area, and in return, they get a water treatment plant and a lot of tax revenue. If I were them, I would also agree to this profitable deal." Kan Tu negotiated with the gamblers, but the follow-up was handled by Peach Eyes, so he was more familiar with the information about the water treatment plant.

"How should we choose?" Lei Gong asked.

"That depends on how many reliable people we can gather. Whether it's Trigger's experiments, our early purchase of prime locations, or Sang Sang and Big Fur, we can't let these secrets out. The people we gather should be known and trusted in real life." Peach Eyes looked at the janitor.

"I don't have many friends in real life." The janitor said.

"Don't look at me. From our interactions, you should know that I only know people in the computer field. To establish ourselves in the wild, we need people with combat skills." Peach Eyes shrugged.

"You're all saying I'm a rich second generation, so don't look at me." Kan Tu raised his hand.

"I only do research." Trigger expressed his opinion.

"I know a few retired soldiers, some of whom are my former comrades. Their reliability is not a problem, but they are around 30 years old. Some are unmarried and need to take care of their parents, so I can't guarantee they will come to 'Fate'." Everyone looked at Lei Gong, who then spoke.

"Let's gather as many people as we can. The number doesn't matter as long as they are reliable. It's almost morning, so you should go offline and contact them. Determine the number, and if they are in Shanghai, it would be best to meet them in person."

"Is the captain also in Shanghai?" Kan Tu asked in surprise.

"Are you also in Shanghai?" Seeing Peach Eyes' surprised look, the janitor asked, then everyone looked at Trigger, who nodded.

"Entering the game and being randomly assigned to a location in the ruins is probably related to the location where we log in in real life." Peach Eyes analyzed, and everyone nodded, estimating that the players of Hope City lived relatively close to each other in real life, even though the assignment was random but within a certain area.

"Let's find a time to meet in real life. We'll decide on a place to live after Lei Gong determines how many people we can gather. For now, we need to investigate this Hongxing." The janitor's expression turned grim.

If they hadn't found Yuan Shenping, Sang Bo would be in trouble, and Sang Sang and Big Fur might have been exposed. The janitor had a feeling that Sang Sang was hiding something important for the future, and he needed to protect her. The fact that they almost exposed her and attacked Trigger couldn't be left unaddressed.

Fortunately, during the conflict, Big Fur was restrained and didn't transform into a werewolf, or the previous cover would have been completely blown.

"Ask the gamblers. We are all lone wolves and don't pay much attention to the power dynamics in Hope City. We need to ask someone who knows." Peach Eyes said.

"I'll ask." The janitor sent a message to the gamblers.

Two minutes later, the janitor ended the call with the gamblers. After declining their help, he shared the information about Hongxing. Everyone fell silent.

"He said we need to pay 100,000 gold coins in compensation. Did he say where to hand it over?" The janitor looked at Trigger. Hongxing was the name of a security company. The safe base did not recognize any illegal organizations, such as families or guilds, so most of the current factions had formed security companies. For example, the gamblers belonged to the Spiked Security Company, one of the three major security companies in the safe base.

Hongxing was one of many security companies, with about 500 members. This number was small compared to the 3 million players in Hope City, but for the janitor's team of five, it was a formidable force.

"No, they just said to prepare the 100,000 gold coins in compensation. They didn't say how to hand it over." Trigger shook his head.

"It's Saturday today. We don't have much to do during the day. Lei Gong, go offline and contact people. Fatso and Trigger, stay at Yuan Shenping's place and look after Sang Sang. Sort out Trigger's experimental data and see if anything is missing. Kan Tu and I will go to the place where the monk often levels up." The janitor thought for a moment and said.

Driving back to Yuan Shenping's place, Yuan Shenping wasn't home yet, but he had given the janitor the key before leaving, so they wouldn't be locked out.

"How long will it take to repair?" In Yuan Shenping's house, Lei Gong logged out, and the janitor released the headless werewolf mech from the mech space.

"Many components and coils inside the mech were damaged by the high temperature. It will take at least three days to repair." After checking the mech, Trigger said.

"Can it be faster? We need to take action against Hongxing in the next few days." The janitor frowned.

"Buy the mech parts from the market and assemble one. If you're used to the werewolf mech, there are many werewolf mech parts available on the market. Assembling one with all the parts should take only one or two hours."

"Let's assemble one then. Fatso, come with me to the market. Kan Tu, come too; we need to restock." The janitor called out to Peach Eyes first, then to Kan Tu, realizing he had nothing left to restock at home.

"This is really expensive. This grenade has an explosion power of only 300, which is almost half the 500 damage of Trigger's enhanced version. It costs 1000 points each, which is like being robbed." Kan Tu counted the supplies he had bought, shaking his head and looking very unhappy. Used to getting good deals, he was now forced to buy expensive and inferior items, which even a rich second generation like him found frustrating.

"If you convert 1000 points to 10 yuan, in real life, 10 yuan can only buy a toy grenade, but you can buy a real grenade that can kill. So you're actually getting a great deal." Peach Eyes chuckled, clearly feeling very satisfied. After a round of haggling, the frustration of following the janitor and his team to kill monsters for days was alleviated, making him feel light and refreshed.

"Uh... that does make some sense." Peach Eyes' words made Kan Tu pause and nod, but he still felt something was off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. (To be continued)