Chapter 116 - 90: Moving, Pioneer’s Exclusive Community

Chapter 116: Chapter 90: Moving, Pioneer’s Exclusive Community

"Shen Xing, get up! We’ve got something big to do today!" Qin Lang shouted excitedly over the phone.

"Something big?" Shen Xing replied, his voice thick with sleep. "What is it?"

"Remember how you asked me to help you look for a house? I’ve been searching for days based on your requirements, and I finally found the perfect one!"

Qin Lang said, "The place is amazing. You’re absolutely going to love it!"

Hearing this, Shen Xing perked up. "Alright, I’m getting up now."

He then asked, "By the way, did you tell Jiayi?"

"I did. I’m going to pick her up first, then I’ll come get you."

"Sounds good."

Shen Xing hung up, feeling a small thrill of excitement himself.

After all, this would be the first house he’d ever bought in his life!

He sprang out of bed, quickly washed up, and got himself ready.

At 8:30 a.m., Qin Lang sent a text saying he was already waiting downstairs.

Shen Xing got into his wheelchair and took the elevator down.

Outside, a fine, gray drizzle was still falling, and the sky was overcast and dreary.

After three or four straight days of rain, the air was thick with the damp smell of soil.

Qin Lang stood waiting by the car, holding a large umbrella.

Xu Jiayi rolled down the car window and waved at him.

Qin Lang lifted him into the passenger seat before folding his umbrella and sliding into the driver’s seat.

BEEP—

The car pulled away from the old residential complex, speeding through the curtain of rain.

They crossed several main roads and soon arrived in downtown Jiang City.

They then turned onto an old street lined with plane trees and drove straight along the riverside boulevard.

"What are we doing by the river?" Shen Xing asked, gazing at the unfamiliar scenery outside the window.

"Looking at the house, of course. What else would we be doing?" Qin Lang chuckled. "After all, finding a place that meets your criteria wasn’t easy."

"But after asking around a bit, I actually managed to find one."

His voice held a hint of pride as he explained, "There’s a residential community up ahead called Jiangxin Yipin."

"It might sound like any other ordinary community, but most of the residents there are Pioneers."

"That means you can summon your Soldier Types here without any fear of being seen by others."

A flicker of surprise crossed Shen Xing’s face. He’d had no idea there was a residential community in Jiang City made up entirely of Pioneers.

Suppressing his curiosity, he turned his attention back to the scenery outside the window.

The car turned onto a quiet side road. Rows of detached villas began to appear, each separated by dense greenbelts, ensuring excellent privacy.

Soon, they pulled up in front of a detached villa nestled against a low hill and facing the river.

It had off-white exterior walls and a yard enclosed by a black iron fence. Inside stood a three-story, modern-style villa.

Although he couldn’t see what the inside was like, judging by its location and size alone, it was clearly an exceptional property.

"So, what do you think of this place? Private, and a great view, right?"

Qin Lang asked with a smile, parking the car in an adjacent spot.

Shen Xing nodded. "It’s definitely very nice."

"But are you sure this place can be had for a budget of two million?"

"Haha, of course not." Qin Lang laughed. "The price of this house is about ten times that."

Shen Xing: "?"

"Twenty million? Are you crazy? I don’t have that kind of money."

Shen Xing shot him an irritated look.

Qin Lang chuckled. "Don’t worry. The house is listed for twenty million, but it won’t actually cost that much."

"This is a community built by the Jiang City government specifically for Pioneers. Players get a discount when they buy a place here."

"That’s especially true for us, since we placed in the top three of the Foggy Void Realm. We’re considered priority support targets."

"I asked Captain Zhou about it. We can get it for half price, minimum."

"Half price?" Shen Xing mused for a moment. "That’s still ten million. I don’t think it’s necessary."

To be fair, buying a house of this size and in this location for ten million was an incredible deal.

But he felt it was just a place to live; there was no need to invest so much in it.

With that kind of money, he could buy another piece of Advancement Material.

Qin Lang shook his head. "Don’t worry about the money."

"Jiayi and I talked it over. We’re planning to pool our money and buy this house together."

Xu Jiayi, sitting in the back, spoke up as well. "I came to look at this community before. It has a huge basement where we can summon Soldier Types and train."

"From now on, this can be our base of operations. We can train together and plan things out."

"Besides, you have to move eventually anyway. You might as well go all in and upgrade to a better living environment."

After a pause, she added, "Qin Lang and I probably won’t be staying here most of the time, so we won’t disturb you."

That wasn’t what Shen Xing was worried about. After all, he was used to living in a rental where dozens of families shared the same building.

This house was so large that they could each take a floor and never get in each other’s way.

"Come on, come on, let’s not just stand around out here," Qin Lang urged. "Let’s go check out the house first."

Shen Xing nodded, deciding to see it first before making a decision.

Qin Lang drove straight into the front yard. As they neared the garage, the iron gate rose automatically.

After parking the car, Qin Lang opened a large umbrella and began pushing Shen Xing’s wheelchair around the yard for a tour.

The house was, indeed, massive.

The first thing they saw was a spacious front yard, at least a hundred square meters, with an artificial fountain in the middle.

A small bluestone path stretched out, flanked by neatly trimmed lawns.

They entered the house from the front yard and then explored the backyard.

Finally, Qin Lang led Shen Xing down to the house’s basement.

A spacious, brightly lit hall with a ceiling five or six meters high now lay before them.

Several thick, load-bearing pillars stood in the four corners, their surfaces glowing with faint Blue energy patterns.

"This basement is huge," Shen Xing marveled.

"Haha, I wasn’t lying, was I?" Qin Lang said with a laugh. "These basements are specially reinforced. The pillars are engraved with energy patterns, allowing them to withstand Extraordinary Level impacts without collapsing."

"The walls are also soundproofed. The effect is excellent."

Shen Xing nodded, genuinely pleased with the layout.

But he still felt some hesitation, as the house was considerably over his budget.

Xu Jiayi seemed to read his mind. Leaning against the wall, she said, "Don’t worry. Between all of us, we have over six million in cash already."

"With your current strength, you’re worried you can’t earn the other four million?"

"Exactly," Qin Lang chimed in. "It’s only four million. One good drop of an Extraordinary Advancement Material and you’ll have it all."

Hearing this, Shen Xing thought for just a second before nodding decisively. "Alright. We’ll take it."

He wasn’t the type to be indecisive. Since he liked it, he might as well go all in.

"Decisive," Qin Lang praised. "Then it’s settled. You can start living here today. Someone will come by tomorrow for you to sign the contract."

"Oh, right. Give me the key to your rental. I’ll get a moving company to bring all your stuff over."

"Alright." Shen Xing didn’t waste any time and handed him the key.

For most people, moving was a major event that required days of preparation in advance.

But Shen Xing was on his own, and aside from a pair of crutches, he had nothing of value in his rental apartment.

So for him, moving was no different than checking into a new hotel.

"You guys go on upstairs and relax for a bit. I’ll be right back."

Qin Lang, ever the man of action, took the key and headed out the door.

He drove his dad’s SUV out of the yard, speeding through the curtain of rain.

Xu Jiayi, meanwhile, pushed him into the first-floor living room and sat down on the sofa across from him.

This was, in fact, the first time the two of them had been alone together like this.

The resident homebody wasn’t in her pajamas today, but she was only wearing a loose black T-shirt and a pair of casual sweatpants.

Right now, she was lounging lazily on the sofa, holding her phone up with both hands and giggling to herself.

And it was precisely this movement of raising her arms that caused her loose T-shirt to ride up, revealing a sliver of her slender waist.

Looking higher, he could even faintly make out the outline of her ribs.

’This woman is way too skinny,’ Shen Xing couldn’t help but think to himself.

And this was an improvement. She used to be even more extreme—truly just skin and bones.

If she hadn’t eaten those few fruits recently, which had significantly improved her Constitution, a strong gust of wind could have blown her away.

What was strange, however, was that Xu Jiayi’s stomach seemed slightly rounded.

While it wasn’t a large bulge, it looked somewhat incongruous with her otherwise slender frame.

"By the way, Shen Xing, have you noticed? The weather’s been a little strange lately," Xu Jiayi said, putting down her phone.

"You mean this rain?" Shen Xing replied, averting his gaze.

"Yeah." Xu Jiayi nodded. "A few days ago, widespread rainfall started in the Land of Mist."

"Right after that, it started raining here in Jiang City, and then it gradually spread to over a dozen cities nationwide."

"Now, even many countries overseas are being covered by the rain."

After a pause, her expression grew serious. "Also, I’ve been scrolling through short-form videos the last few days, and I’ve seen quite a few people who’ve filmed monsters from the game appearing in the real world."

"The comments all say they’re AI-generated, but I can tell they’re real."

Hearing this, Shen Xing’s expression turned pensive. He took out his phone and checked the weather.

On the satellite cloud map, he could see that more than half the country was shrouded in rain clouds, and several typhoons were even forming over the ocean.

’This rain really isn’t normal.’

He had sensed something was off a few days ago, and this now confirmed his suspicions.

"Have the higher-ups made any announcements, or taken any action?" Shen Xing asked.

"No. This is the first time something like this has happened in decades."

Xu Jiayi shook her head. "Lots of players on the forums are speculating too. They think it might be some kind of large-scale event covering the entire country, or even the whole world."

"But no one knows what’s actually going to happen."

Shen Xing nodded and didn’t press the matter.

Afterward, they both went back to scrolling on their phones, checking the forums for news or related reports.

But just as Xu Jiayi had said, no one knew what was happening. Everyone was just speculating, and opinions varied wildly.

Time trickled by, and several hours passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, the two of them started to get hungry. Xu Jiayi’s stomach even started to RUMBLE.

"Shen Xing, I’ll go make you some noodles," the homebody girl said suddenly.