The Girls' Opening Gift

Emily's earnest manner made Li Ziran feel as if he were seeing a money-grubber trying to sell him a product. This dilapidated two-story building in front of him would cost less than 30 silver coins if it were located in the East Wasteland.

Now, it costs 3 gold coins a year, which is equivalent to 300 silver coins, a tenfold increase.

Silently, I realized the prices in Hippo Ancient City were absolutely outrageous.

The thought that future organ transplants and research on the Devouring Curse would all be conducted in this small building made her feel it wasn't worth it. However, Emily wasn't a con artist. If he found out that the other party had taken a kickback in this deal, she would definitely kick him out without hesitation.

Aside from being able to keep Mermaid girls captive, Li Ziran couldn't see a single redeeming quality about this place.

The transaction was completed quickly. Li Ziran paid the gold coins, and the landlord received a lease agreement from an institution called the Slave Trust Office on Ninth Street. The house transaction was completed in the presence of a Gray Dwarves.

Li Ziran understood why the rent was so expensive. After the transaction was completed, the Dwarf took two coins directly. This was clearly not a commission; it was as if he was the real owner.

Emily once said that this place was controlled by the Dark Council, which I didn't believe before, but now it seems that the Dark Council has infiltrated this very bottom level.

"I wonder which legislator is in charge?"

Li Ziran asked softly, "Those who can control Slave Street must hold a high position in the Dark Council."

If you want to do business here, it's best to get connected with this congressman; that will ensure smooth sailing.

This is a little trick for doing business: once you establish a chain of interests with the controller, you'll have many unique opportunities.

This method never fails.

However, at this moment, that congressman probably wouldn't even give him a second glance.

There are thousands of small buildings like Li Ziran's on Ninth Street. If 3 gold coins is the normal price, the rent alone would be tens of thousands of gold coins a year.

This is just the income from one street. The further in you go, the higher the rent becomes. If you calculate carefully, in the case of Hippo Ancient City, the annual income from rent alone is 100,000 gold coins.

Goodness, that's terrifying!

"Sigh, I'm overthinking it!" With a wry smile, Li Ziran quickly returned to reality. Even if the rent in Hippo Ancient City was exorbitant, not a single copper coin would end up in his pocket. Now, he should settle down properly, work hard to earn money, and accumulate funds for his research.

As for what kind of business to do, Li Ziran hadn't given it much thought.

Following the tradition of Ninth Street, he naturally engaged in slave wholesale. Since he could modify organs, he could buy up those crippled slaves, repair them, and then resell them to make a profit.

However, we need to consider the Fishman girl's feelings in this matter; a bloody scene might make her think we're cult members.

More importantly, it's about getting the girls involved in the business and, ideally, letting them experience the profits firsthand.

Making money is a very interesting thing, but once you get into it, you can quickly lose yourself.

Secondly, the Demon cannot be spared; that's where his main profit lies.

It's unrealistic for him to acquire a vast number of Magic Organ on his own. Only the Demon race can provide him with countless materials for his organ research and enrich his organ theory.

The Mermaid girl inexplicably Judgment someone else's squad leader, and to reconnect, she needs Sandrew. It's unclear what the Demon's attitude is; hopefully, they won't ruin the Elder Demon cultivation project because of a single squad leader.

Fortunately, that mysterious operating room took away the unfinished product.

After that, there was also business with the Ogre. They had pre-ordered a Mighty Demon Embryo and paid the Shadow Point in advance. Li Ziran had to secure this kind of loyal business. Once the shop was stable, he would start working on this deal.

Moreover, he didn't know if Wood in the Inquisition was dead or not, and he still had to find out the location of the Inquisition prison and find this mentor who had extensive experience in the field of organ harvesting.

Upon closer examination, Li Ziran realized that he had a lot to do and not as much time as he had thought.

After the handover of the house was completed, the remaining task was to arrange accommodations. In accordance with the principle of gender separation, the two small rooms on the second floor were naturally separated. Emily offered to share a room with Li Ziran, citing the cramped conditions, but Old Li still refused, adhering to his principles.

His main concern was the three Mermaid girls. He worried that if they became careless and did something reckless, all their efforts might be in vain.

Emily's unique life experiences can also influence the three girls.

Everyone spent the morning cleaning the room. The huge exhibition booth on the first floor was cleaned spotlessly. According to Emily, this would be their exhibition and sales booth in the future, where all the best goods would be displayed.

As for the second floor, Li Ziran wasn't too busy. As a man, he simply ordered two clothes racks for hanging Frog and bought some posters and books about snakes from the market. He planned to take Snake Transformation to the next level here.

However, the girls were not so simple. They borrowed 15 silver coins from Li Ziran and gave him a complete makeover.

Not only did they order a custom-made wardrobe and a double bed, and hang magical fairy lights at the door, but what left Li Ziran speechless was that they also hired two Mantis Race painters to paint their little house pink and draw a sweet heart in the center.

If it were just a simple painting, Li Ziran have nothing to say. But the three of them specifically bought deformable teapots, wine glasses, knives, bowls and plates, and a sofa chair that could rotate automatically from a witch's shop. This sofa chair could even sing.

Li Ziran wanted to ask, "Don't they know that these things were all transformed from those adorable little children?"

Perhaps they really don't know.

Li Ziran truly couldn't point it out.

The girls' antics exceeded expectations; they practically treated the silver coins as money, spending all 15 coins in just one hour.

Li Ziran wasn't worried about money; on the contrary, the more money the girl could lend him, the better. Money was definitely a more binding thing than a slave contract.

To avoid being provoked by these spendthrift sons, Li Ziran focused all his energy on cleaning the basement.

Don't be fooled by the small size of the two-story building; the basement is quite large, spanning three levels and roughly the size of three small buildings.

Since the goal is to reform slaves, there naturally needs to be a reformation room.

He had a preference for white, so he specially commissioned the Mantis Race painter to paint the walls white and cover them with small tiles. At the entrance to the stairs, he separated a simple reception room for the Mermaid girls.

Next to the reception room was an examination room with tables, chairs, and sofas for customers to rest, along with some simple drinks. This was the bare minimum; there was no way he could afford to add a transforming teapot like the girls did.

The decoration is simple and practical.

Of course, these are all public matters. Li Ziran transformed the second basement level into a warehouse to store slaves, and also separated a snake shed and a frog pond to improve his proficiency with the Transformation Spell.

His research lab was located on the very bottom floor.

This place is used for various organ transplants, as well as for performing various biological dissections, thus broadening one's knowledge.

The basement in front of us is very simple, far inferior to the pond in Blackwind Pass, but though small, it has everything it needs and can basically meet the requirements for business and research.

With everything prepared, it was already getting dark. Li Ziran came out of the basement. On the roof were two special heart-shaped sparkling stones. The group of girls had deliberately drawn a little man with his belly sticking out in front of their house. A pink ray of urine came out and landed right in the little fist of the girl in the doorway of another house.

"What a waste of money!"

Li Ziran was speechless. This kind of useless decoration was a complete waste of money, at least he wouldn't do it.

I went up the stairs to the second floor. After a whole day of renovations, I was starving. With the opening just around the corner, I planned to treat the girls to a meal.

This is his teacher; he should be treated with more respect.

I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. The room was brightly lit, but the door was locked.

"Still have money!" Li Ziran chuckled. He figured the money had probably been squandered somewhere again. Looking at the gradually quieting Ninth Street outside, he took a rare moment to calmly examine this city-state that was slowly being swallowed by darkness.

The weather is getting colder, it feels a bit like late autumn.

This must be his fifth autumn here. He wandered around aimlessly and inexplicably ended up in Hippo Ancient City, and now he's settled down here.

"Li, come and help me?" A moment later, Emily and three girls appeared in the room, carrying a small wooden cabinet and calling out from a distance.

Li Ziran chuckled inwardly. This little wooden cabinet was completely useless; the room was almost full, and it was just another piece of unnecessary junk. He quickly ran down the stairs, took Emily's hand, and immediately sensed something was wrong.

This cabinet is a bit heavy!

Forcibly suppressing her doubts, she smiled and said, "This kind of heavy work can be done by someone else, why do you have to do it yourselves? It won't cost much."

"This is what we prepared for you, hmph, it's for storing money, it's a money box, understand!" Ivy rolled her eyes and didn't carry it upstairs, but went straight into the basement.

Upon entering the basement, Li Ziran's face instantly turned cold. He pulled out a cabinet and saw the waiter from the Black-Red Slave Shop that morning lying in the middle of the cabinet, bound hand and foot. The waiter cried out in a low voice the moment he saw Li Ziran.

A thought instantly crossed my mind: this is Seventh Street, how did the girls manage to catch them?

How did you catch him?

The three women all looked at Emily, Emily slightly pulled down her skirt over her thigh. "Oh, it's here. It's not me, it's Ivy. You know, when that Demon saw Ivy's thighs, his eyes widened. Hehe, the four of us found a corner and caught him."

Li Ziran speechless. How could Ivy have learned such a trick in just a few hours?

"Why arrest him? He's a man, are you going to sell him off?"

Ailey whispered in Li Ziran's ear, "This is a gift from us sisters, a purebred Demon cultist. Today is your opening day, so we should prepare an opening gift, right? How about we celebrate with this little Demon?" As she spoke, she took out her personal essential oil, dabbed some on her hand, and applied it to the waiter's face.

Ivy took out a brand new flint and looked at Li Ziran, who was still somewhat confused.