A third-tier water deity

Listening to the system notifications that rang out intermittently in his ears, Zeng Mo suddenly felt enlightened.

An idea blossomed in his mind!

Why didn't I think of this yesterday?

I could take the city buses and make a quick circuit of the whole city, visiting all the areas where I could earn survival points for the first time.

It's only been about twenty minutes.

I've already visited two areas with third-tier deities, plus another area occupied by intelligent races.

That's another three thousand survival points in one go. Enough for another ten-pull!

A faint smile tugged at Zeng Mo's lips. Delighted, he looked forward to making another ten-pull when he got home tonight.

After all, not far ahead stood the largest building in Jinhai City—the Trade Building.

The Trade Building covered an enormous area and stood over a hundred stories tall.

The first three floors housed shops, the fourth and fifth were dining areas, and the sixth through eighth offered entertainment. Above those, apart from residential apartments, many businesses of varying sizes, private organizations, and foreign companies had established offices or branch offices in the building.

[Warning! Warning! The host is about to enter the Trade Building. Dozens of deities lurk within this building, including fourth-tier deities who have established their own faiths and received worship for extended periods. Given the host's strength, discovery by these deities may result in being reduced to a puppet. Please leave immediately.]

Just as he drove toward the entrance to the Trade Building's underground parking garage, Zeng Mo heard the urgent warning in his ears.

Dozens of deities existed inside the building.

He was not surprised.

After all, the Trade Building was enormous. The people who worked there were, for the most part, among the city's rare elites and talented professionals.

With their intelligence and methods, these people were naturally far more likely than ordinary people to survive the disaster three years later.

After finding a space in the underground garage and parking the car, he got out.

Zeng Mo picked up the backpack containing the rough jade stones and slung it over his back. Yu Lin held his arm as they took the elevator straight to the twentieth floor of the Trade Building.

There was a ding.

The elevator doors opened.

Just as Zeng Mo and Yu Lin stepped out, a familiar, urgent voice quickly rang out in his mind.

At the same time—

A purple panel appeared before him in an instant, its color so deep it was nearly black. Only he could see it.

[Warning! Warning! A third-tier water deity is staying on this floor. Given the host's current strength, discovery may result in enslavement and the draining of the divine energy within the host's body. Please flee immediately.]

There's actually a third-tier deity here? Which room are they in?

Zeng Mo murmured to himself and stopped, looking down the corridors on either side of the floor.

The twentieth floor of the Trade Building housed offices belonging to ten different companies and organizations.

Zeng Mo knew it would not be easy to find that deity among all these offices.

So he quickly abandoned the idea. With Yu Lin beside him, he headed down the corridor to the left, straight toward the office at the very end.

As they walked, Yu Lin said, "My uncle's name is Shi Minghong. He got his start designing jewelry for other people years ago. These days, he also does some jade trading. Room 2020, right at the end, is his jewelry design company."

"Then your uncle built his business from nothing," Zeng Mo said casually.

Yu Lin nodded. "If you don't count the few million my dad invested in him back then, I suppose you could say that."

"Heh." Zeng Mo laughed. "Looks like my future father-in-law is even richer than I imagined."

At that, Yu Lin stopped and looked at him. After a brief silence, she asked, "Honey, do you want to know?"

"No."

Zeng Mo answered with a smile without even thinking. He put his arm around Yu Lin's slender waist and headed toward room 2020.

In truth, Zeng Mo had never cared how wealthy this father-in-law he had yet to meet might be.

That was not because he knew an apocalyptic disaster would arrive in three years.

Rather, his attitude toward money had always been that, if he had enough to spend, he would grow some fruit and vegetables at home, keep a few animals and fish, and enjoy a leisurely rural life instead of frequenting lavish entertainment venues.

And if he had no money to spend, he would simply work a little harder and make the most of the present.

So when it came to money, Zeng Mo had always accepted what he had without becoming overly obsessed with it.

Of course, his plan to make money from jade this time was not really meant to fund a pastoral life of growing fruit and vegetables.

Instead, while money still had value, he wanted to use its power to earn more survival points faster and thereby improve his strength.

At the reception desk in room 2020—

A young woman who looked to be an intern, dressed in a neat work uniform, stood up as soon as she saw Zeng Mo and Yu Lin enter. "Hello, do you have..."

"I'm Yu Lin."

"Oh, you're Miss Yu Lin! Mr. Shi is waiting for you in his office at the very end. You can go straight in," the receptionist said.

"All right, thank you."

Yu Lin replied politely, then took Zeng Mo's hand and walked farther inside with him.

There were quite a few offices in the jewelry design company.

Yu Lin seemed to have visited often.

As they passed each office, she introduced it to Zeng Mo. "This is the design department. They designed all the jewelry I wear. This is finance, and this is sales..."

Soon—

As Yu Lin continued her introductions, Zeng Mo arrived at a door bearing a general manager's office sign. Yu Lin knocked lightly twice, and a middle-aged man's voice came from within.

"Come in."

Yu Lin pushed the door open and entered. Just as Zeng Mo was about to follow, an urgent voice suddenly rang in his ears.

[Danger! Danger! The host is about to encounter a third-tier water deity staying here. Please leave immediately.]

Huh? That third-tier water deity couldn't be Yu Lin's uncle, could it?

Hearing the system's abrupt warning, Zeng Mo felt a flicker of astonishment.

He immediately looked into the office.

The office was even larger than his living room. Aside from the middle-aged man sitting behind the desk, a woman dressed like an attractive young married woman was also present.

The woman had a lovely face. A white blouse hugged her alluring curves, with a fitted women's suit jacket worn over it. Beneath the jacket was a hip-hugging skirt, and her long, beautiful legs were clad in seductive black stockings. She was quite enticing.

After only a brief glance at the attractive woman, Zeng Mo shifted his gaze to an exquisite box placed in front of her.

Inside the box was a fist-sized stone. One corner had been cut open, revealing a streak of green jade.

Entering the office, Yu Lin greeted the middle-aged man behind the desk. "Uncle Shi, we're not interrupting, are we?"

"Not at all. Lin, sit on the sofa over there and have something to eat. I just need to chat with this lady for a little longer," the middle-aged man said, gesturing for Yu Lin to sit on the nearby sofa.

"Okay."

Yu Lin nodded and pulled Zeng Mo in from the doorway, then sat down on the sofa with him.

Quite a few of Yu Lin's favorite nuts had been set out on the sofa, as though they had been prepared especially for her.

Once seated, Yu Lin helped herself without ceremony. She picked up two packets of nuts, keeping one and giving the other to Zeng Mo, then introduced her uncle.

"That's my uncle, Shi Minghong. Just call him what I do."

Zeng Mo nodded. His gaze lingered briefly on Shi Minghong before returning to the stone in the woman's box, and he listened to their conversation with curiosity.

The woman sitting opposite Shi Minghong glanced at Zeng Mo and Yu Lin. Seemingly unconcerned by their presence, she said to Shi Minghong,

"Mr. Shi, if you still want to work together, I can have your company handle the cutting, design, and auction of this rough jade stone containing imperial jade. But you'll have to sign an advance payment agreement for thirty million with me. Otherwise, I'll go upstairs and find your competitor."

"Ms. Shi, I know your company urgently needs an injection of cash to stay afloat. I can sign an advance payment agreement with you, but we'll have to wait until your rough jade stone has been cut and its value reassessed before we sign."

Shi Minghong's voice was steady and firm. After a pause, he continued,

"And you know as well as I do—

"Without fully cutting this rough stone open, it would be unreasonable to judge how much imperial jade it contains based solely on this tiny opening.

"If there's only that little bit exposed by the cut, then even after the whole stone has been worked, it might be worth no more than ten million, not thirty million. Wouldn't that mean I'd be giving you another twenty million for nothing?"

Shi Minghong spoke slowly.

The attractive woman closed the box and stood. "In that case, let's discuss it another day."

"You're welcome to come back anytime," Shi Minghong said, rising.

At his words, the woman turned and walked out of the office.

She headed straight up to the twenty-first floor.

[The host's fortune is unparalleled. The host shared a room with a third-tier water deity and emerged unharmed. Survival points +1,000.]