It lasted for only a brief moment before Shang Xinglan’s expression returned to its usual calm. Meanwhile, Xia Mu, who had lowered her head and was stammering nervously, had no idea she had just brushed past danger.
After finishing her explanation, she realized he hadn’t responded. Unable to resist, she looked up, only to find that Shang Xinglan hadn’t been listening to her at all. Instead, he had already walked over to the exchange machine.
He entered his personal information and collected his card.
A Level 7 zombie crystal vanished just like that.
In its place, a black and gold card emerged. It looked even more prestigious than Rong Yulong’s.
System 003 exclaimed, “That black gold card can be upgraded! It can purchase even more items.”
Xia Mu’s lips parted slightly as her heart pounded.
The zombie crystals obtained from killing zombies were worth so much money.
As for what System 003 had said about the black gold card, she asked, “Can you upgrade it as long as you have enough money?”
System 003 answered proudly, “Of course you can.”
“Then isn’t it all the same?”
System 003 fell silent.
“…It is.”
Xia Mu immediately lost interest.
“Can I still rent a single room? I’d like to rent one for three months.”
As Shang Xinglan spoke, he looked at the information displayed on his black gold card. Seeing that he really did have an unawakened ability, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Xia Mu nodded.
By now, all the single rooms should have been completed and fully furnished.
“003, are the single rooms finished yet?”
System 003 replied cheerfully, “Yes, Host! They’re all finished.”
After receiving confirmation, Xia Mu smiled brightly once again.
“Mr. Shang, please come with me. The single rooms are ready.”
Shang Xinglan glanced at her smiling face before nodding.
Xia Mu led the way.
They headed in the same direction as before. The newly built single room stood beside the one Rong Yulong had rented.
Apart from the completed room itself, which could be seen and touched, everything beyond it remained shrouded in white mist.
Shang Xinglan merely glanced around before taking out his black gold card and swiping it against the door.
The card automatically displayed the available rental periods.
He selected the quarterly rental option.
In an instant, 2,500 Interstellar Federation Credits were deducted from his balance.
The door opened automatically.
The interior was decorated exactly the same as Rong Yulong’s room.
As soon as Shang Xinglan stepped inside, the door closed behind him automatically.
Xia Mu blinked helplessly before turning back on her own.
Once she returned to the living room, she immediately had System 003 display her current balance.
There were now 3,580 Interstellar Federation Credits in the account.
That was enough to build another two single rooms.
She said, “Let’s build two more single rooms. There are still three people on their side without private rooms.”
System 003 happily ran off to start construction once more.
By the time Ye Lixuan and the others woke up, they learned that Shang Xinglan already had his own single room.
He had even exchanged a Level 7 zombie crystal.
Although everyone was shocked that Shang Xinglan had casually exchanged such a valuable crystal, Ye Lixuan, who still didn’t have a room of his own, didn’t waste any time.
He immediately went over to Xia Mu, filled in his information, collected his black card, and rushed off to claim a room.
Who wouldn’t want a private room?
Besides, he had noticed there were only two newly built single rooms.
He wanted to secure one before anyone else did.
After him, Zhao Wenkang and Fu Honghui also came over to register their information.
Xia Mu thoughtfully reminded them, “The new single rooms will be finished very soon. Everyone will have one.”
The two men glanced at her before simultaneously dashing toward the courtyard, each determined to claim a room first.
When they arrived, they saw dust billowing beside one of the single rooms marked with a green sign.
Yet the dust remained confined to that area.
Not a single speck drifted elsewhere.
It was completely silent as well, producing no noise whatsoever.
The technology was unbelievably advanced.
While Zhao Wenkang stood there in amazement, Fu Honghui seized the opportunity to swipe his card and enter the room first.
By the time Zhao Wenkang came to his senses, he was so annoyed he nearly exploded.
Fortunately, twenty minutes later, the new room was completed.
He was finally able to swipe his card and move in.
Ye Lixuan was the sort of person who could never sit still.
After taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, he immediately started fiddling with the television.
Instead of a program, however, the screen displayed four large words: Paid Viewing.
Ten Interstellar Federation Credits per hour.
“…”
Even so, considering it was the Apocalypse and he could still watch television, spending ten Interstellar Federation Credits hardly mattered.
After all, he had already exchanged a Level 4 zombie crystal.
He scanned his black card.
The television immediately began playing.
There were no channels to choose from.
Whatever program happened to be showing was the only thing you could watch.
Ye Lixuan’s program happened to be a variety show.
It was an escape room competition featuring real zombies.
Although ability users working as staff would step in to rescue the participants whenever necessary, the whole thing still looked incredibly dangerous.
If the staff arrived even a second too late, wouldn’t the contestants be eaten alive?
Ye Lixuan frowned. He didn’t like this sort of program, but since changing channels wasn’t an option, he could only force himself to keep watching.
As soon as the hour ended, he immediately went to find Shang Xinglan.
To his surprise, everyone else had already gathered inside Shang Xinglan’s room.
“Why are all of you here with the boss?”
Zhao Wenkang shot back, “What about you?”
Ye Lixuan replied, “I just watched some TV, so I came over to see what the TV is showing in the boss’s room.”
Zhao Wenkang chuckled.
“Don’t bother. Every single room has a different program. Mine was a TV drama about a human falling in love with a zombie. Rong Yulong’s was an ancient setting drama where a zombie fell in love with a human. Fu Honghui’s was a spy drama about humans fighting zombies. As for the boss’s room, it’s a dating variety show where zombies and humans fall in love.”
Ye Lixuan’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t there a single normal TV show?”
Zhao Wenkang shook his head.
“Who knows? Anyway, let’s go get something to eat. Isn’t there a shopping mall? Let’s see what food they have.”
At this moment, Xia Mu had already returned to her home on Earth.
There was no need for her to remain in the Apocalypse. Shang Xinglan’s group had more or less figured out how all the facilities in her rental house worked.
So she stayed home chatting with her parents.
System 003 had told her that if she urgently needed money on Earth, she could withdraw Interstellar Federation Credits from the rental house.
One Interstellar Federation Credit was worth ten yuan.
If she withdrew just one hundred credits, she would receive one thousand yuan.
That meant with her current balance of four thousand Interstellar Federation Credits…
Didn’t that mean she already had forty thousand yuan?
Xia Mu was overjoyed.
However, System 003’s next sentence immediately calmed her down.
For the first three months, the system would not charge any service fees or maintenance costs for the rental house.
After those three months, however, it would begin charging a 0.1% service fee along with maintenance expenses.
The same fees would apply to all future sales.
Looking at her balance, Xia Mu still felt that simply collecting rent wouldn’t earn enough money to buy medicine for her parents anytime soon.
She still had to kill zombies.
And to kill zombies, she first needed to strengthen her body.
She couldn’t afford to become lazy anymore.
She had to keep exercising.
After chatting with her parents for a while longer, she used her part time job as an excuse and returned to the attic.
When she arrived in the Apocalypse once again, the living room was empty.
The only evidence anyone had been there was several instant noodle containers and barbecue skewers in the trash bin.
“003, did they buy food?”
System 003 checked the surveillance records and happily replied, “Yes! They spent 256 Interstellar Federation Credits, and the money has already been deposited into the account.”
Xia Mu was delighted as well.
Unfortunately, her balance still hadn’t reached 6,000 Interstellar Federation Credits.
She still needed to hunt zombies and collect zombie crystals to buy the medicine.
Picking up her equipment once again, she set off with Brother Ba.
It was now six in the evening.
The Apocalypse was gradually growing dark, though visibility remained.
Only her rental house and the five rental rooms behind it were brightly lit.
“This time, I’m definitely going to kill a Level 1 zombie. I know I can do it.”
Xia Mu encouraged herself.
Brother Ba barked enthusiastically in response.
System 003 cheered her on as well.
The rental house had excellent soundproofing.
No matter how loudly Brother Ba barked, it couldn’t disturb anyone resting inside.
Only Shang Xinglan seemed to sense something.
He walked out of his room, entered the living room, and looked outside.
In the darkness, he saw a slender figure.
Beside her stood a dog, barking with astonishing ferocity.