Buying a House

After returning home to Clem District, both Rosalie and Mark let out heavy sighs of relief, their hearts filled with a sense of safety.

"Ms. Payne, this house isn't safe. There's a risk of intrusion!"

After Faith and her team inspected the entire property, she spoke up with a warning.

"Huh? Security in this neighborhood is very good. No one has ever broken in here before!"

Rosalie looked confused.

"Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't happen in the future! Every risk must be eliminated. That's our responsibility."

Faith spoke with a serious expression.

"Alright, then what should we do?"

Since the other party was the professional security team, Rosalie naturally chose to listen to her advice.

"First, the yard's fence should be replaced with a solid concrete wall. Surveillance cameras should be installed on top, along with inward-slanting anti-climb spikes, an electronic pulse fence..."

"Stop, stop!"

Before Faith could finish, Rosalie interrupted her with a wry smile. "We're renting this house. The owner would never agree to such extensive renovations."

"This..."

Faith frowned as well.

Without a full overhaul, the house would always pose security risks in her eyes.

"Mom, maybe we can buy this house."

Mark made a suggestion at that moment.

"Huh? This house is near Hollywood. It probably isn't cheap, right?"

Rosalie said in surprise.

She clearly had never considered buying a house before.

"It's just an ordinary home in a middle-class neighborhood. I estimate we can get it for under a million dollars."

Mark had checked his bank balance again earlier and found that it had reached 2.89 million dollars.

Stardew Valley's fame was no longer limited to major gaming forums.

Major download websites and PC software-sharing platforms had also placed the game on their homepages and were promoting it for free.

This caused the number of players downloading and installing Stardew Valley to surge.

And among those who tried the game, more than 80 percent chose to buy it.

The number of people who bought the game today had already exceeded thirty thousand, and Mark estimated there would be another wave of explosive growth soon.

Therefore, spending a million dollars to buy this house was nothing to Mark now.

"This..."

Hearing Mark speak so generously, Rosalie looked dazed for a moment.

Only then did she realize that, because of Mark, their family's circumstances had changed.

She no longer had to work hard as an extra every day just to barely support the family.

But when she thought of using Mark's money to buy a house, Rosalie still felt uncomfortable. As his mother, she felt a little ashamed.

"Mom, you should have the landlord's number, right? Call him now and ask about the price!"

Mark did not think too much about it and spoke directly.

"Uh, alright!"

Rosalie temporarily set aside her inner conflict, took out her phone, and called the landlord.

"Hello, Mr. Smith. I'm Rosalie Payne, the tenant renting your house! I'd like to ask whether you're willing to sell it."

"What, 1.1 million? I don't think your house is worth that price at all! If you sincerely want to sell it, I can offer 850,000. We can also hire a third-party appraisal company to assess the value..."

Rosalie engaged in an intense round of bargaining with him over the phone and eventually negotiated the price down to 950,000.

"Alright, Mom. Let's go with that price. Tell him to contact a real estate agent and complete the deal as soon as possible!"

Mark could accept that price, so he immediately told Rosalie.

The transaction went smoothly.

After both agents verified the property rights, they signed the contract under a lawyer's witness that very day, then went to the housing authority to complete the transfer.

"So this house is ours now?"

Holding the deed as she returned home, Rosalie still could not quite believe it. It felt like she was dreaming.

Although she had lived in Hollywood for eight years, it was only now, after owning a house of her own, that she felt she had truly settled down here.

After the surrounding neighbors learned that Rosalie had bought the Smiths' house, they all came over to visit.

"Congratulations, Rosalie!"

"Rosalie, Mark, you're both welcome to visit my house anytime in the future."

"..."

Everyone offered Rosalie their congratulations, and their attitudes were obviously warmer than before.

Although these neighbors had been friendly toward Rosalie and Mark in the past, it had really only been superficial.

After all, they were only tenants and could move away at any time.

Now that Rosalie had truly bought the house, they might remain neighbors for decades to come, and even their children could continue interacting with one another.

Naturally, that kind of relationship was different from before.

Rosalie could clearly feel the change, and it made the image-conscious woman feel incomparably pleased.

She then enthusiastically invited everyone to a gathering.

"This Saturday at two in the afternoon, three days from now, I'll be hosting a party at my house. Everyone is welcome to come!"

"Great! Clem District hasn't held a party in a long time."

"Rosalie, I'll definitely be there!"

"..."

The neighbors immediately cheered.

After seeing the neighbors off, Rosalie picked up her phone and sent invitations to Daphne and several friends she had met while working as an extra, asking them to come to the gathering.

Watching Rosalie busily make call after call, Mark could feel how happy she was.

Mark turned and returned to his room.

He placed the five Electric Shock Guns, high-energy batteries, and other items he had ordered online while in New York onto the table in front of him.

Using his tools to dismantle all the Electric Shock Guns, Mark began modifying them.

After returning to this familiar place, Mark did indeed feel much safer, but he did not relax his vigilance because of it.

This was the Marvel Universe, after all. Danger was everywhere.

Therefore, Mark had to create more powerful weapons to protect himself and his family.

Using the knowledge of electricity he had learned online during this time, Mark quickly made a voltage booster, increasing the Electric Shock Gun's original fifty-thousand-volt output to a terrifying four hundred thousand volts!

He then replaced the battery cells with larger-capacity ones, increasing the Electric Shock Gun's current output to one thousand milliamps.

The Electric Shock Gun that had discharged five hundred milliamps had been enough to instantly kill the Mutant who kidnapped him.

Now that the current had been increased to one thousand milliamps, its power was naturally even more terrifying.

The original batteries could no longer support such enormous power consumption.

Mark connected two high-energy power sources produced by Stark Industries in parallel and inserted them into the battery compartment.

Next, he modified the Electric Shock Gun's liquid nitrogen spray device, increasing its range from just over ten meters to around fifty meters.

Mark put on insulated gloves and picked up the modified Electric Shock Gun from the table.

The Electric Shock Gun, which had originally looked like a plastic toy, now looked full of technological sophistication after the modifications. It was deadlier and more dangerous!

Holding the modified Electric Shock Gun, Mark walked over to a cage he had prepared beforehand containing a white mouse.

Mark pulled the trigger, and the electric projectile struck the white mouse inside the cage.

"Bzz..."

A flash of electricity erupted, and the white mouse instantly turned to ash.

"This power really is terrifying!"

Looking at the black ash covering the entire cage, Mark marveled inwardly.

Only with such a powerful weapon did he finally feel a trace of genuine security.

Mark then repeated the process and finished modifying the remaining Electric Shock Guns.

"Mark, someone's here to see you!"

At that moment, Mark heard Rosalie calling from the yard.

Mark put down the Electric Shock Gun in his hand and walked into the yard, where he saw a gentle-looking middle-aged white woman standing beside Rosalie.

She walked over, crouched in front of Mark, and spoke softly. "Child, I'm Natalie Russell, a child psychology specialist from the community. I was invited by the New York Police Department to talk with you."

Mark's face fell as he realized trouble had arrived.

The New York police had already determined that Mark had illegally modified the Electric Shock Gun and used it to kill that Mutant.

Although he would not bear legal responsibility because he was so young, he would definitely have to undergo psychological counseling for a while afterward.

In truth, Natalie did not do anything special. She merely chatted with Mark about some relaxed topics.

For example, what games he liked to play, what hobbies he had, and whether he had any friends.

Mark could only pretend to be an innocent child and give the answers a normal child should give.

Otherwise, was he supposed to tell Natalie that his hobby was modifying weapons to make them more powerful?

Natalie occasionally picked up the paper and pen she carried with her and scribbled something down, though Mark had no idea what she was recording.

About an hour later, Natalie said goodbye and left Mark's home.

"Whew... she's finally gone!"

Mark could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

He did not dislike Natalie.

She had spoken gently the whole time and had not condescendingly put on the airs of an adult. Instead, she interacted with him like a friend.

But constantly speaking in the tone of a child had been genuinely exhausting for Mark.

Still, Mark knew he had to get through this hurdle.

Otherwise, if Natalie reported to the police that he had psychological problems, he would inevitably face stronger police intervention.

Over the next three days, Rosalie kept preparing ingredients, alcohol, and drinks to entertain the neighbors and friends who would be attending the gathering.

As for Mark, aside from dealing with Natalie, the child psychology specialist, he spent his usual time basking in the sun to collect Sunlight Value and learning more knowledge from various subjects online.

Although he possessed the Super Brain, he still had to keep learning before he could truly make that knowledge his own.

For knowledge he had never encountered, he still would not know it. He could not simply master it out of thin air.

However, Mark learned very quickly.

As long as he spent several months studying attentively, the depth of his knowledge could surpass the results others achieved after a lifetime of painstaking research.