The moment Xia Mu appeared in the Apocalypse, she hurried downstairs from the attic and saw Shang Xinglan standing in the living room.
Dressed in a white T shirt and black pants, he stood tall and straight as he studied the rental information and the Interstellar Federation Credits exchange screen.
Her steps paused for a moment before she quickly said to System 003, “003, I’ll leave building the rooms to you.”
System 003 acknowledged the order and immediately began constructing the new rooms.
Xia Mu put on a bright smile and walked down gracefully.
“Is there something you need, sir?”
Hearing her voice, Shang Xinglan turned around.
He saw a young woman with a radiant smile, fair skin, rosy lips, and lively, crystal clear eyes that sparkled with energy.
Her voice was light and cheerful. Whatever had made her so happy, it seemed as though even the air around her was filled with joy.
“Shang Xinglan,” he said. “That’s my name.”
Xia Mu was briefly stunned before her smile grew even brighter.
“Hello, Mr. Shang. My name is Xia Mu. I’m the landlady here.”
Shang Xinglan nodded, withdrew his gaze, and walked over to the exchange machine, studying it silently.
Xia Mu jogged over to him.
“Mr. Shang, would you like to exchange some Interstellar Federation Credits?”
Shang Xinglan glanced at the exchange screen before looking at the young woman, who only reached his shoulder. She was tilting her face up at him with an expression full of anticipation.
What exactly was she expecting?
Was she hoping he would exchange some Interstellar Federation Credits?
His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly before he answered calmly, “I’d like to get a black card.”
Xia Mu’s eyes lit up even more.
“There’ll be single rooms available soon. Once you have your card, you can rent another room immediately. The five of you are really squeezing into one room. You’ll have no privacy at all.”
Shang Xinglan noticed how enthusiastically Xia Mu was promoting the single rooms.
Everything about this suddenly appearing young woman and these mysterious rental houses intrigued him.
More importantly, once they entered this rental house, none of them could use their abilities.
Inside this place, they became nothing more than ordinary humans.
That made it all the more interesting.
Instead of answering her immediately, Shang Xinglan rested his right hand against his chin as though thinking, while his eyes remained fixed on every subtle change in Xia Mu’s expression.
Xia Mu began feeling anxious and worked even harder to persuade him.
“Mr. Shang, the rooms here are really excellent. You’ve already experienced them yourself. Renting another room will give you much more privacy and let you rest more comfortably. Besides, this place is absolutely safe. No zombies can come anywhere near here.”
She spoke until her mouth felt dry, but the handsome man before her remained completely silent.
He’s so good looking…
Why is he so impossible to convince?
Just as Xia Mu began feeling discouraged, Shang Xinglan took out a crimson zombie crystal.
It was as large as a walnut, glowing with a dazzling red light, even larger and brighter than the one Rong Yulong had produced earlier.
Xia Mu’s eyes widened.
Shang Xinglan noticed that her eyes had grown even rounder than a rabbit’s, and then he saw her eyes gradually redden.
He frowned slightly, thinking she was about to cry, and was just about to withdraw the crystal when a pair of soft, warm hands gently grabbed him.
Both of them froze. Their eyes met.
Xia Mu instantly realized what she had done and awkwardly blushed.
“Hehe… um… Mr. Shang, would you like to have the crystal’s purity tested? I can help you.”
Shang Xinglan’s Adam’s apple moved slightly.
He released the crystal into her soft, fair palm.
The bright scarlet zombie crystal resting against her snowy white hand created a striking contrast.
As he withdrew his hand, he unconsciously rubbed his thumb against his forefinger, recalling the delicate touch from moments before.
Xia Mu no longer had the time to dwell on the awkwardness.
She quickly placed the zombie crystal onto the tray.
The infrared scanner swept across it.
A mechanical voice immediately announced, “Level 7 Fire Type zombie crystal. Excellent purity! Exchange value: 999,999,999 Interstellar Federation Credits. Proceed with the exchange?”
“Level 7?!”
Xia Mu cried out in shock.
More than nine hundred million Interstellar Federation Credits!
These people were unbelievably rich.
And the man standing before her was even richer.
Her sparkling eyes looked at Shang Xinglan with complete admiration.
Amazing! He was simply incredible.
It was the first time Shang Xinglan had ever been looked at by a young woman with such open admiration.
Her gaze was clean, sincere, and utterly free of ulterior motives.
Feeling strangely uncomfortable, he looked away.
The tips of his ears turned red before he realized it.
He coughed lightly.
“It’s only Level 7. Although they’re rare, it’s not as though Level 7 zombies never appear.”
Even as he said it, he realized it sounded a little too much like showing off.
The truth was, he still had two Level 8 zombie crystals in his possession.
He also owned eight Level 7 zombie crystals in total, one of which had been compensation from his father.
The reason he had taken out a Level 7 zombie crystal was simply because he wanted to further test this mysterious rental house.
Nothing more! He had originally intended to tell the young woman not to overthink it.
His lips twitched slightly before he ultimately said nothing.
Xia Mu admired the zombie crystal for another moment before hurriedly calling out, “003, quickly! Display the shop for Shang Xinglan.”
System 003 had also seen the enormous exchange amount.
The excited little system practically trembled with excitement.
It immediately projected the shop interface onto the last empty wall while muttering,
“Mu Mu, once we have enough money, let’s build a supermarket. Then we won’t have to go through all this trouble anymore. They can just go shopping by themselves.”
“I want to have money too, but let’s take it one step at a time.”
Xia Mu sighed helplessly.
Right now, all she wanted was to restore her parents’ health.
Shang Xinglan noticed another screen appearing on the opposite wall.
At the top were the words: Shopping Mall.
Countless categories filled the screen, dazzling the eye.
His attention was immediately drawn toward it.
Walking over, he began browsing.
Standing beside him, Xia Mu explained, “You can simply tap whatever you’d like to look at.”
Shang Xinglan immediately selected the weapons category.
As he read the descriptions and watched the demonstration videos, his icy blue eyes darkened.
Then he looked at the prices.
He fell silent once more.
Even the cheapest weapon cost over a million Interstellar Federation Credits.
The ones that had caught his interest required several billion, or even tens of billions.
After a moment, he exited the category and opened the spacecraft section instead.
Small spacecraft capable of traveling through space cost several billion.
The larger ones exceeded ten billion.
He left that section as well and continued browsing.
This time, he opened the medicine category.
The prices ranged from several hundred to several thousand, and even tens of thousands of Interstellar Federation Credits.
Still, he couldn’t find what he was actually looking for.
His brows slowly knitted together.
Xia Mu had been watching her wealthy patron’s every reaction.
Seeing that he seemed to be searching for something, she carefully asked, “Mr. Shang, is there anything I can help you with?”
Shang Xinglan glanced at her.
After a brief moment of thought, he asked calmly, “I noticed that Rong Yulong’s information listed another ability marked as ‘New Ability Awaiting Development.’ What does that mean?”
Xia Mu blinked. She had absolutely no idea.
So she immediately asked System 003.
System 003 explained, “Host, here’s how it works. That scanning machine can detect abilities that may exist within an ability user’s body, but to awaken them, they have to enter our Interstellar Federation’s virtual city and perform labor intensive training to stimulate both their physique and mental strength. Only then can the awakened abilities evolve with greater purity and become much stronger.”
“Building the virtual city requires 60,000 Interstellar Federation Credits, so we can’t afford it yet. There’s also a special requirement. You must have at least one thousand tenants before it can be constructed.”
After listening to System 003’s explanation, Xia Mu met Shang Xinglan’s icy blue eyes again.
She suddenly felt a little guilty.
Stammering awkwardly, she replied, “Well… the machine can detect additional abilities hidden inside your bodies, but if you want to awaken them… you’ll have to wait a little longer. I still need more time.”
Shang Xinglan fixed her with a sharp, penetrating gaze.
His deep, icy eyes seemed to look straight through her.