A Place to Call Home

"How do you like this house?" asked a suited man at Lu Zhiyu's side, smiling warmly.

Lu Zhiyu stood in front of a villa, looking it over from every angle before walking around its spacious courtyard. It was a townhouse in London's Kensington district, with over three hundred square meters of living space spread across six floors, including the basement. Kensington was an affluent area with excellent security, convenient transportation, and all the necessary amenities nearby.

The decor was predominantly white, with great attention to detail and an elegant, refined European style. The interior furnishings were modern and high-tech, and the courtyard was spacious enough to relax in, sunbathe, or play around.

Lu Zhiyu nodded. "How much?"

The man's smile grew even warmer. "The asking price for this villa was originally 9.3 million pounds, but since Miss Sharp referred you, and the owner is a friend of hers, they said you could have it for nine million."

Lu Zhiyu did the math. It came to nearly 80 million yuan. This was a real mansion, and it certainly wasn't cheap. Still, he liked it quite a bit. And, honestly, he didn't care about money as much as he used to. He'd won ten million dollars in Las Vegas, so he might as well use it to buy a villa!

Lu Zhiyu nodded. "All right, I'll take it. When can I move in?"

The man bent almost in half. "You can move in whenever you like. The furniture and facilities are all in place. If you need any services, just contact me, and I'll make all the arrangements!"

Having money really was great. He could buy whatever he wanted and get whatever he needed. After Lu Zhiyu paid nine million pounds, the house belonged to him. From the living room, he could see the bright floor-to-ceiling windows. The living room and second floor opened into one another, creating a wonderfully high, spacious area, with a staircase in the middle leading up to the second floor.

A deer's head hung above the fireplace, and the walls were adorned with large abstract paintings and built-in bookshelves. The place had real character. Lu Zhiyu had only just sat down when the doorbell rang. He looked over and saw Zoe Sharp standing by the car in a black, mid-length dress. She looked poised and alluring. Lu Zhiyu went to welcome her inside.

As he traveled around the world, Lu Zhiyu had also recorded a number of commonly used languages in his language database through the Sub-Brain. With the Sub-Brain's instruction and prompts, he learned them very quickly. "How did you find out so soon that I'd picked this place? I see that someone at the real estate agency is your spy!"

Zoe replied at once, "Oh, I came to bring you some information. I asked a shipyard about it, and this is the model they recommended. Take a look!"

Lu Zhiyu took the information and thanked Zoe. He didn't have many friends here, and without her help, he would probably have run into a lot more trouble.

Zoe had some interest in Lu Zhiyu, but she wasn't the forward, passionate type. Besides, Lu Zhiyu didn't want to get involved with a woman like her, who came from a powerful family and brought plenty of trouble with her. He always kept his distance. After they looked around the house and chatted for a bit, he saw her off.

"This one seems a little small!"

"This one won't do!"

"This one looks pretty good!"

Since Lu Zhiyu had very little spiritual power and deified blood at his disposal, he decided to try a different approach. To experiment with and examine the traits of deified creatures, he planned to transform the soul of the Tree of Life into a deified creature.

Because this life-form was so dangerous, and the Space Castle didn't have enough room, Lu Zhiyu decided to conduct the experiment at sea in the Maria World. But he needed a yacht to make it easier to go out to sea and conduct experiments there. He couldn't keep using his spiritual power to stay on the surface while working, and he also needed to observe the creatures at close range underwater!

Lu Zhiyu also used another identity to order a batch of professional medical equipment from Paul Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.

Since he had used up a lot of medical supplies in the past, Lu Zhiyu had always tried to save money and buy the cheapest options. This time, he planned to get the best of everything. He had also discussed how to make nutrient and hibernation pods with people online. Those devices would be extremely helpful for modifying and synthesizing life, and were essential for his work.

He wasn't sure whether he could actually build them. For now, he had ordered various materials from Paul Medical Equipment and several other companies to see if he could put them together himself.

The hardest things to make were the nutrient solution and the restorative fluid. But those were already taken care of. When Lu Zhiyu had modified his own body, he had thought about this, and both of his transformations had involved nutrient solution. That gave him some confidence that he could build nutrient and hibernation pods, despite how high-tech they seemed!

He had placed the orders, but the supplies would take some time to arrive. Overseas shipping was nowhere near as developed as it was back home, and it was much slower. In the meantime, Lu Zhiyu decided to pick out a boat.

Buying a yacht wasn't simple. The manufacturer would help handle various procedures when you placed your order, but you also needed a certificate of competency for yacht crew and had to rent a berth.

More importantly, when Lu Zhiyu looked through the listings, he found that most yachts weren't in stock. From ordering to delivery, it could take anywhere from six months to a year. He really couldn't wait that long!

"Forget it. Rather than waste time on this, I might as well go to the docks and pick one out to take with me. It's not like I'm going to sail it in this world anyway!"

Lu Zhiyu decided to go to the coast and pick a boat he liked. But he didn't know much about boats or how to operate them, so he decided to look online for some information first.

Lu Zhiyu read up on different kinds of boats and what to watch out for when operating them. He looked at the differences between models and sizes, and the things to keep in mind when sailing each one. He realized that it was all quite complicated—not something he could learn from just one or two books. Large vessels especially weren't something a single person could operate!

As he browsed online, Lu Zhiyu unexpectedly came across a target that made his heart leap. The moment he saw it, his eyes seemed to light up.

"Wow, now that's impressive. If I could get my hands on one of these, that'd be amazing!"

Lu Zhiyu clicked around with his mouse, staring at the image on the screen. It clearly showed an aircraft carrier, with the Stars and Stripes flying overhead: a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Lu Zhiyu felt that this was the true romance between a man and the sea!

But if he stole one, the whole world would probably go into an uproar. Lu Zhiyu rubbed his chin and seriously considered whether he should do it. Even if he couldn't operate it, it would make a great offshore base and research lab. He could study the ship, too. He was fascinated by things like this, especially nuclear-powered ones!

"Should I do it?"