Apocalypse: My Apartment Has Traits

Chapter 154: Chapter 136: “Rule” Reward (4k Combined)_2

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. Even with her small mind, she knew that the idea of using yards to divide paths would cause a huge stir if it reached the Upper-level Camp.

This is exploiting the rules like a glitch!

“There’s no need to be so extreme, concentrating everything in the main yard will cause excess firepower,” Su Lin felt a thrill, pointing to the entrance at the end of the passage connecting to the main yard, “some traps should be placed on both sides, but concentrating power in the main yard also…”

He was about to continue talking about the ideas in his mind when his gaze suddenly froze, and his words stopped abruptly.

Above his head, the House Title Deed that was supposed to be done with its job still hovered in the air, emitting a gentle silver glow, not falling back into place as usual.

It floated quietly, its pages slightly opening and closing, as if it were lost in deep thought, or communicating silently with some unseen presence.

“Brother Lin, why didn’t you bring it down?” Song Yiyi noticed the anomaly and asked with confusion.

“I confirmed that the renovation was complete.” Su Lin frowned slightly, trying to call back the House Title Deed with his mind, but found it unresponsive, like a stone sinking into the sea.

For the first time, a strange feeling enveloped his heart, and the House Title Deed seemed temporarily out of his control.

Su Tongxi gazed up at the mysterious book glowing in the sky and hesitantly guessed:

“Brother Kirin… could it be… that even the rules are hesitating?”

“The rules are hesitating?” Song Yiyi tilted her head, puzzled.

But as if to confirm Su Tongxi’s guess, the suspended House Title Deed suddenly underwent a dramatic change!

The once stable silver glow began to flicker violently, like a star breathing rapidly.

The runes on the pages stopped flowing and began to dance and reorganize frantically, at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch, the emitted light became chaotic and grand, with a faint rhythm.

The entire courtyard, and even the surrounding air, seemed to tremble slightly with the flickering rhythm, an indescribable pressure spreading.

The three of them held their breath, their hearts in their throats, staring unwaveringly at this unprecedented scene.

Time seemed to stretch, each second filled with heavy unknowns.

Finally, this peculiar “communication” seemed to reach a conclusion.

The flickering silver glow gradually calmed, returning to a stable and gentle state.

The House Title Deed, as if it had completed a major mission, slowly descended from the air toward Su Lin’s outstretched palm.

However, just as the book was about to land in his palm, it suddenly flipped on its own with a “whirr” in Su Lin’s hand!

The pages flew by quickly, finally stopping at a previously blank page.

Under the astonished gaze of the three, silver light on the blank page gathered and flowed like living ink, slowly outlining a line of clear, icy, yet authoritative text:

[The main yard may not have more than thirty percent of the total number of mechanisms]

The handwriting was unlike the usual function descriptions of the House Title Deed, filled with an ancient and majestic air.

A newly born prohibition specifically for this new layout!?

Clearly, although Su Lin’s exploit was allowed, it was immediately detected by the post-apocalyptic rules and restricted.

The main yard, as the final convergence point, has its defensive power limited and cannot become an independent mechanism center.

This prevents others from mimicking Su Lin’s layout to build frivolous outer yards while turning the main yard into a mechanism-heavy site.

“The rules… really responded! And set new rules!” Song Yiyi’s voice trembled with disbelief, completely overturning her understanding of reality.

Su Tongxi clung tightly to Su Lin’s arm, her small hand icy.

However, the changes in the House Title Deed weren’t over!

Beneath the prohibition text, silver light surged again, and a new line of text emerged, carrying a rhythm almost like praise:

[As the instigator of rule change and creator of the new safe house layout, you are hereby rewarded with ’a permanent increase of thirty percent in mechanism limit.’]

“…”

The courtyard fell into a dead silence.

Su Tongxi and Song Yiyi were completely petrified, their minds blank, forgetting even to breathe.

Song Yiyi acted as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt, her pupils dilated to the extreme, her jaw almost dislocating as she pointed at the text, making a hoarse sound as if she had seen a ghost:

“The… the rules’… rew…reward?!!”

She finally found her voice, sharp to the point of breaking, each word filled with extreme shock and absurdity.

“My god! This… this isn’t a function of the House Title Deed! This is the apocalypse rules themselves giving you a gift?! A permanent thirty percent increase in mechanism limit?!!”

She suddenly grabbed Su Lin’s other arm, shaking it vigorously, excitedly jabbering:

“The rules can reward people?! I’ve never heard of such a thing! Brother Lin, you’ve really hit the jackpot! A permanent thirty percent increase in mechanisms?! Others have twelve mechanism slots at level four, and you have sixteen?! What about level five? Level six?! From now on, our safe house will always be stronger than others!”

Su Lin stared blankly at those two lines on the page.

One line was a cold restriction, the other a generous reward.

The restriction defined boundaries, while the reward acknowledged his groundbreaking thinking.

But…

The post-apocalyptic rules.

What exactly are they?

Do they have their own consciousness?

Su Lin felt a sudden chill, goosebumps rising on his arms.

“Brother Kirin, aren’t you happy?” Su Tongxi saw him lost in thought and asked softly.

“How could I not be happy?” Su Lin exhaled, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and a smile spread across his face, “That’s a permanent thirty percent increase in mechanism limit! An extra four mechanism slots out of thin air!”

Forgetting, for now, all those mystical things.

A permanent thirty percent increase in total mechanism limit is an incredibly huge enhancement for any safe house!

He felt a rush of happy regret.

If he’d known this would happen, he should have adjusted the upgrade plan to his more refined five-level layout idea.

Now with sixteen mechanism slots, subtracting the one occupied by the Giant Beast Hunting Beehive, he still has fifteen slots. Figuring out the precise arrangement will require considerable thought.

…

The first light of dawn filtered through the window lattice.

Last night, Song Yiyi couldn’t contain her excitement and messed around with Su Tongxi in Su Lin’s room until late at night before sleeping soundly.

The three were still in a deep sleep when a rapid “bang bang bang” of knocking suddenly exploded!

Su Lin awoke with a jolt.

Su Tongxi rubbed her drowsy eyes, looked at the sky outside the window, and mumbled:

“Who is it… so early?”

“Bang bang bang!”

The knocking continued persistently.

Song Yiyi irritably pulled up the quilt and covered her head:

“It’s so noisy!”

Su Lin frowned, could something have happened?

He quickly got up, threw on his clothes, and went downstairs.

“Coming, coming!” he said as he unlatched the heavy iron doors one by one.

When the main door opened, Su Lin was instantly stunned.

The entrance was packed with people!

Leading them was his second uncle, Su Qi.

However, the shock on Su Qi’s face was even greater than his!

As soon as the door opened, Su Qi rushed forward, grabbing Su Lin’s shoulders and shaking him vigorously:

“Boy! You’ve really done something earth-shattering again! That yard… that yard can form a separate path?! Doesn’t that mean the two paths can be defended as one?!”

His tone was filled with excitement.

Clearly.

His initial reaction was exactly like Song Yiyi’s last night.

The crowd behind him instantly erupted into a clamor, chattering:

“Su Lin! I’m just planning to upgrade to a Level 4 Safe House, help me with this new layout of yours!”

“Su Lin! You’re really a smart one! A new trick with every level? Help me design it, just as a favor for all the times I’ve cooked meat for you!”

“Young Master Lin, we may be new here in the third team, but you can’t favor one over the other, right?!”

Su Lin looked closely and was astounded to find that the entire Hunting Group’s captains and vice-captains squeezed outside the door, even Ye Xin’an, who was heavily injured yesterday, wrapped in bandages amongst the crowd.