Buy a Villa for a Thousand

"Phew—"

Jiang Qiao picked up his Happy Water,

gulped down more than half the bottle, and let out a long breath.

This simulation had actually lasted forty-seven days, and the Simulator's cooldown had reached an astonishing ninety-four minutes!

By the time he could start the next one, it would practically be lunchtime.

That left Jiang Qiao both pleased and worried.

He was pleased because his survival time was getting longer and longer, which meant his strength was steadily increasing.

But he was worried because one run already took over ninety minutes. What about later?

The Simulator strictly followed the 996 Work Rule,

working only twelve hours a day.

He even wondered whether he could gather three high-tier talents during the final two days.

With a sigh, Jiang Qiao tossed the unfinished cola into the trash and headed for the milk tea shop next door.

"No matter what, the gains this time were huge."

"I never expected Bin City's final boss to be the Braided Girl. The figure I saw through the Paper Person in South City District before was probably her too."

"Had she been staying in South City District all that time, developing like the Pregnant Female Ghost?"

Jiang Qiao frowned deeply. This Braided Girl was utterly absurd.

She could fight alone, take on groups, and even cast curses.

She was a complete all-rounder!

If strength were divided into ranks, ordinary Vicious Ghosts were First Order. The undeveloped Pregnant Female Ghost should have been Second Tier, while her completed form might have been Third Tier.

The Human Head Lanterns should have been around mid-level Second Tier. They were numerous, though, so their actual combat strength was no weaker than Peak Second Order.

Ordinary Paper People and hearses were First Order. The Paper Person wearing the Floral Cotton Jacket should have just entered Second Tier, while those paper animals were around mid-level Second Tier.

As for the Paper Tiger, he had possessed Second Tier Dual Pupils, Second Tier Invincible Body, and Third Tier Lightning Thunder Fist at the time. His overall strength should have just entered Third Tier. It had heavily injured him in a sneak attack, so it was at least Peak Second Order, only a step away from Third Tier.

So what rank was the Braided Girl?

He had possessed Third Tier Invincible Body and Fourth Order Lightning Thunder Fist at the end, yet she had killed him instantly.

Did that not mean she started at Peak Fourth Order at the very least?

Hiss—

Damn it!

How the hell was he supposed to fight that?!

Jiang Qiao felt utterly speechless and nearly cursed out loud.

And he had discovered another very important problem.

If he went to An City, he would be safe early on, but because there were not many Vicious Ghosts, his strength would definitely grow more slowly.

And Vicious Ghosts grew stronger over time!

Once An City came under attack too, he would probably be dead meat.

He could not place his hopes on the Vicious Ghosts never attacking the city, or on some powerhouse suddenly appearing in An City and slaughtering every Vicious Ghost, could he?

His fate could only be held in his own hands!

If he stayed in Bin City, though, his strength would soar during the early stages.

But on the forty-seventh day, the Braided Girl would appear.

In the end, that might be worse than going to An City. At least there, he could live a little longer.

So the ideal plan might be to stay in Bin City at first, then leave for An City around the fortieth day.

Jiang Qiao remembered that on the forty-second day, the number of Vicious Ghosts in the city had suddenly begun to decrease.

Perhaps that had been a signal!

He should have immediately left with Shen Yingning then.

Holding his newly bought milk tea, Jiang Qiao began forming some initial plans for the future.

As for the rest, he decided to permanently fix the talent Mad Scientist Tales first.

This talent's supportive effects were outstanding. With its help, his strength had clearly improved much faster.

Not only that, it could create all kinds of items!

Jiang Qiao had already secretly manifested the pocket made from a Skin Ghost.

It was about the size of a leather messenger bag.

Holding it in his hand, he could sense a sizable space inside, enough to store at least twenty tons of supplies.

From now on, Jiang Qiao could carry everything with him, greatly increasing his strategic mobility!

[Do you wish to permanently fix the talent "Mad Scientist" (SSR)?]

"Yes!"

[Fixing—]

[Fixation successful!]

This time, he felt nothing in his body when fixing the talent. It was completely different from the previous times.

Yet his mind was suddenly filled with all kinds of strange knowledge, most of it research results from the simulations.

For example, methods of absorbing Ghost Qi, the Ghost Infant Potion formula, how to sew a Skin Ghost Pocket, the forging of the Ghost-Slaying Saber, the production of Talisman Shells... and so on.

And according to the system prompt, any new knowledge acquired in future simulations would likewise enter his mind directly after the simulation ended!

That was comfortable.

If he had possessed a Simulator back in school, he would not have had to write so many self-criticism letters for failing classes.

With an hour and a half of cooldown remaining, Jiang Qiao decided to wander around.

Since he had decided to remain in Bin City temporarily after the Supernatural Revival, he needed to sort out his living arrangements.

The area around the small hotel was not suitable for life in the apocalypse.

Not because of Vicious Ghosts, but because the population there was too dense.

Once the Supernatural Revival began and the city became paralyzed, the previously clean and orderly streets would run with sewage, while the entire neighborhood reeked.

Garbage would be everywhere, left uncollected, along with the nauseating stench of rotting corpses.

In short, it would be completely uninhabitable!

Taking out his phone, Jiang Qiao began searching for listings on a real estate app.

He had bought an unregistered phone card from the roadside last night. This world was not particularly strict about identity verification, sparing him plenty of trouble.

After browsing a large number of housing listings and making several calls to inquire,

Jiang Qiao finally settled on a target.

[Blue Harbor Villa: Fully furnished detached villa, six bedrooms, three living rooms, five bathrooms, three floors plus basement, private yard, floor area: 850 square meters.]

The villa was neither too large nor too small. Although it stood on the sparsely populated edge of the city, transportation was convenient.

More importantly, the rent was incredibly cheap—only seven thousand yuan a month!

After speaking with the real estate consultant on the phone, Jiang Qiao learned that a Murder Case had occurred in the villa.

The previous owner's entire family had suffered Family Annihilation, and even the male owner's head had never been found.

The villa had sat vacant for over two years. Who with money to buy a villa would buy something like that?

What if they found a human head while cleaning? That would be terrifying.

The current owner was a relative of the original owner. Putting it up for rent was purely a matter of trying his luck.

If someone was willing to rent it because of the low price, then after enough time passed, its Haunted House reputation would naturally fade.

But to Jiang Qiao, this was a bargain!

A Haunted House was a joke to him. He was not afraid at all.

And once the Supernatural Revival began five days later, no one would come reclaim the house.

Seven thousand yuan for a villa—was that not wonderful?

After arranging an afternoon viewing with the real estate consultant, Jiang Qiao looked up several strange phone numbers and called them.

After filtering out a pile of scammers, he finally bought a pickup truck with over fifty traffic violations that had gone two years without inspection.

The vehicle had also been used by someone else to settle a debt with the owner, and its ownership had never even been transferred.

The owner no longer wanted it and sold it to Jiang Qiao for ten thousand yuan.

After the apocalypse, roads in the city might be blocked, making driving impossible. But the suburbs would not have that problem.

Jiang Qiao also planned to buy an untraceable motorcycle for use within the city.

And if one asked about fuel?

In the apocalypse, roadside gas stations and cars everywhere would all be sources of fuel!

And it would all be free.

Just then, Jiang Qiao noticed a new friend request in his social app's contacts.

The other party's nickname was "Happy."

Jiang Qiao found it strange. He had only transmigrated yesterday and had just registered for the social app.

He had only given his new number to the hotel front desk.

Why would someone add him?

Looking at the profile, the gender was even listed as "female."

Oh? Could it be that auntie from last night?

He ignored it outright.