It didn’t take long for Renn to finish sorting through their supplies.
One Inventory slot was dedicated to Clear Cube Fragments.
Twenty-two slots were filled with food of all kinds—fruit, biscuits, bread, canned goods, and more.
There was enough to feed the two of them for an entire month.
The remaining seventeen slots contained the more valuable luxury goods Renn had collected.
Once everything had been sorted, the supplies in front of them were divided into two piles.
One pile contained only two items.
Both gave off faint traces of Nen and had been collected by Machi.
The other pile wasn’t very large either.
It consisted of luxury goods that were relatively less valuable.
There was also some food.
There weren’t enough identical items of those types to stack them in the Inventory, so Renn took them out to serve as their food for the day.
“Disassembler!”
The two Nen-infused items were a ceramic jar and a wooden Buddha statue.
Without hesitation, Renn tossed both into the Disassembler.
“Disassembly successful. EXP gained: 64.”
“Disassembler level increased. Current level: Lv. 2, Oil-Stained Disassembler.”
Renn noticed that the Disassembler in front of him had changed slightly as well.
It looked more advanced than before.
According to the system’s mechanics, as a Disassembler’s level increased, both the success rate and efficiency of the Disassembler would improve.
“Pottery Fundamentals acquired: 3. Current progress: 3%.”
“Woodcarving Fundamentals acquired: 4. Current progress: 4%.”
“Nen Mastery acquired: 0.2. Current progress: 3.2%.”
More than a dozen Clear Cube Fragments appeared at the same time.
With a thought, Renn made the Disassembler disappear.
“Now that my Nen has reached the mastery level, increasing its progress has become much slower. At a rough estimate, it probably requires ten times—maybe even dozens of times—as much as it did at the fundamentals level.”
Machi brought over her wooden chest and packed the remaining luxury goods inside.
As for the food beside them, the two divided it up and finished everything.
The next day, Renn carried the chest while Machi followed behind him.
“Let’s go.”
Machi glanced back at the wooden hut, a trace of reluctance in her eyes.
But when she thought about the new life awaiting them, that reluctance quickly turned into anticipation.
Two guards blocked the entrance to the residential district.
“I’m here to rent a house.”
The guards immediately became somewhat more polite.
For the Shark Gang, rent from the residential district was one of their main sources of income.
It was somewhat similar to companies outside Meteor City that specialized in long-term apartment rentals, except the prices here were much higher.
Of course, “expensive” was relative to the income levels of Meteor City.
“Follow this road for a hundred meters. You’ll reach the registration office.”
“Don’t wander around. If you do, you’ll bear the consequences.”
“Thanks.”
Not far away, several people watched Renn and Machi enter the residential district, envy written across their faces.
The two reached the registration office and pushed open the door.
An old man looked up at them and nodded, though his attitude could hardly be called friendly.
“What kind of house do you want to rent?”
“What types do you have? Can we see all the options?”
“They’re on the wall. Look for yourselves.”
Renn raised his head.
There were only two types.
The first was an apartment with two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
The second was a detached house with its own small courtyard.
Machi stepped forward and stood beside Renn.
“Renn, the first type should be enough for us, right?”
“No. We’ll take the second type.”
“But the second type must be expensive.”
Renn smiled.
“It’ll also be much more convenient for us.”
“Especially since you’re going to learn Nen.”
Renn walked over to the old man.
“Which detached houses are still available, and how much do they cost?”
Only after hearing that did the old man’s eyes brighten.
He gave Renn a more careful look.
“There are still more than a dozen detached houses available. They’re concentrated in the southwest section. They come with basically everything you’ll need, the surroundings are quiet, and security is quite good. Members of the Shark Gang patrol the area regularly.”
“The only problem is that they’re a little expensive.”
“And the minimum lease is six months.”
Renn nodded.
“Can we go take a look?”
The old man stared at Renn for a moment, his eyes shifting thoughtfully.
“Bruce, take these two guests to see the detached houses in the southwest section.”
“Yes.”
A boy who looked about thirteen or fourteen emerged from the back.
“Hello. I’m Bruce.”
“I’m Renn.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Renn. Please follow me.”
Along the way, Machi kept looking around in a daze.
The residential district looked completely different from the Meteor City outside.
It was practically another world.
Renn, on the other hand, understood.
No matter how impoverished a region was, there would always be poor districts and wealthy districts.
Besides, Meteor City wasn’t truly poor.
It was simply chaotic, with relatively weak social order and massive amounts of garbage everywhere.
Meteor City wasn’t nearly as terrible as outsiders imagined.
The places where the Elders lived, in particular, could practically be called palaces.
“Mr. Renn, we’re here.”
“Okay.”
Renn looked at the houses in front of him.
Just as the old man had said, they were all fairly similar.
After hesitating briefly, Renn walked toward one of the more secluded houses.
“Machi, do you like it?”
“I do.”
Machi answered instinctively before quickly adding, “But this place must be expensive. We should just rent the first type instead.”
“No need. We’ll take this one.”
Renn turned toward Bruce.
“Take us back. I’ll rent this house.”
“Of course, Mr. Renn.”
Bruce smiled.
Now that Renn had decided to rent the house he had shown them, Bruce would receive a commission.