Chapter 57: Residence Upgrade

“Whoa, is what Big Brother Fang said true? How did he get that information?”
“Fallen Ones? What Fallen Ones? I only saw a bunch of cave creatures, and a gun was enough to deal with them. How strong can these Fallen Ones be?”
“Is Fang the Skinner about to unveil a new weapon again? Trying to open up new sales channels?”
“What new weapon? If it’s better than the AKM, I’ll buy it. If not, forget it.”
“Fang the Skinner and Liu the Scavenger, what a pair! Why don’t you two just team up? Come all the way down to the caves just to play at being capitalists?”
Xie Ling: “Hey, if you can’t say anything nice, just keep quiet, okay? Big Brother Fang is actually a good person!”

...

Fang Tang’s intelligence caused an uproar in the public channel.

The news was simply unbelievable, like something out of a fairy tale.

Some people even suspected that Fang Tang had acquired more advanced weaponry and was deliberately fabricating rumors to boost his sales.

Well, there was a bit of truth to that.

Seeing Xie Ling speak up for him, Fang Tang smiled knowingly.

He edited three messages and sent them to the public channel: “While exploring the ninety-ninth cave, I encountered a Fallen One. Luckily, I had bought some intel from the Level 2 shop in advance, or I wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

“That Fallen One was only at Tier Two, but incredibly fast. Even AKM bullets couldn’t hit it. I paid a steep price to take it down.”

“After killing the Fallen One, I received a reward—I became an Evolver. As the old saying goes, Fortune and misfortune are intertwined. If you want to evolve, first you have to survive. Hoarders only end up dead.”

Public Channel:

“No way, you’re not actually believing what Fang the Skinner says, are you?”

“Evolver… yeah right. If killing monsters could turn you into an Evolver, I’d be a god by now.”

“Didn’t you notice what Big Brother Fang said? The ninety-ninth cave… My god, I’ve only cleared thirty-something.”

“Fallen Ones might actually exist. I found two mummies in a sand-filled cave. They could control sand! I almost died there, barely escaped with my life.”

“...Dude, you’re not making this up, are you?”

“Damn, I thought I was the only one. I found a cave full of water, with mermaids inside. They didn’t attack me, but their singing gave me a splitting headache. I dug a hole and ran for it.”

...

Fang Tang read through the messages, a little surprised.

There were actually people who managed to escape from those special environment caves.

It seemed they weren’t completely useless.

But he’d put the word out—those who believed him might survive this disaster.

The rest were as good as dead.

Kind words can’t save a doomed soul.

The good news was, more and more people were sending him private messages.

In the blink of an eye, he’d passed the five hundred mark.

There were still people who wanted to live.

While Fang Tang was handling orders, Tu Jiawen came downstairs.

She set a throwing knife in front of him and handed over a piece of paper.

“What’s this about?” Fang Tang picked up the paper. Neat handwriting described the knife’s ability: when thrown, it has a chance to strike the enemy’s weak point.

Tu Jiawen handed him a newspaper as well, saying, “This is a spirit-bound item. That throwing knife could save your life at a critical moment.”

Fang Tang paused, surprised, and looked at her.

“You’re giving this to me?”

Tu Jiawen nodded slightly.

Fang Tang smiled. “Spirit-bound items are rare. You don’t have many yourself, do you?”

She said nothing, which was as good as confirmation.

Fang Tang went on, “I have spirit-bound items too. You should keep the throwing knife. If you want to thank me for saving your life, why not make me dinner instead? I might need to stay here tonight. Do you mind?”

He had a lot of orders—over two hundred now.

It would take quite some time to process them all.

Once he completed those orders, his wealth would soar to a new height, and all his recent expenses would be recouped in an instant.

Tu Jiawen stared blankly at Fang Tang, a strange light flashing in her beautiful eyes.

This guy really had no shame. Did he have to push his luck like this?

But when she saw Fang Tang cranking out Level 2 weapons and exchanging them for elemental stones, she was shocked.

“So this is how you earn elemental stones?”

Fang Tang glanced at Tu Jiawen’s message and nodded slightly. “There’s strength in numbers. How many caves can I explore alone? Doing business is the only way to accumulate wealth quickly.”

Then he looked at her, puzzled. “You guys never did this before?”

Tu Jiawen typed: “We’ve tried, but didn’t realize we could make so much. Elemental stones are limited, and our blueprints were all about the same level. None of us had a stash of high-level weapons like you.”

Fang Tang flashed a mysterious smile.

All of this was thanks to his eye.

Come to think of it, why had it gone quiet?

Tu Jiawen had a graceful figure—the exact type his eye liked. Why wasn’t it howling now?

He blinked, trying to call his eye.

[Didn’t you tell me to shut up?]

Fang Tang: “Oh? So you actually listen when I tell you to shut up? Were you just now staring at Tu Jiawen?”

[I was not, don’t make things up. I’m not that kind of eye. Besides, you’re not looking at her figure, so what can I see?]

Subtitles appeared, and Fang Tang couldn’t help but laugh.

Well, that made sense. After all, he was the one with priority since it was his eye.

Tu Jiawen watched Fang Tang’s series of actions, confused. Why was he blinking at her? Was he trying to flirt?

Coming back to his senses, Fang Tang shamelessly asked, “Can I stay here? Or could you help me upgrade my residence to level six?”

He patted the wooden box at his waist, his eyes full of hope.

Tu Jiawen typed: “I don’t have a level six blueprint. A former teammate helped me upgrade… but he’s dead now. Anyway, don’t you have your own place?”

Fang Tang: “…My mistake.”

There was no way to upgrade to level six, but level five was possible.

Both that man and Tu Jiawen had blueprints for a level five residence.

Level Five Residence: Iron Ingots ×300, Copper Ingots ×50, Silver Ingots ×50, Glass ×20, Bluewater Stone ×1.

The materials weren’t too demanding, and the supplies he got from the man were more than enough.

While the residence was being upgraded, Fang Tang looked at Tu Jiawen with a warm smile.

“I don’t have anywhere to stay. Can I live here?”

Tu Jiawen: “…”

She glared at him but typed: “You can only stay downstairs.”

Fang Tang shrugged. “Whatever, this sofa is actually pretty comfortable.”

Thick-skinned, Fang Tang settled into Tu Jiawen’s villa and kept working on orders all afternoon.

One had to admit, Tu Jiawen seemed aloof and untouched by the mundane world, but when it came to cooking, she was truly skilled.

Fang Tang even contributed some ingredients.

During dinner, golden subtitles unfurled before his eyes.

[Tsk tsk, I was so absorbed I almost forgot to show you Tu Jiawen’s talent sequence.

Evolution Level: Tier Two, Stage Seven. Sequence Talents: Sequence 488, Heart Like Still Water; Sequence 523, Iron Armament.]

“Two sequences?”