Ghost Island
In the afternoon, the curtains were drawn open, and golden sunlight came in. An Rou squinted her eyes.
"Yan Shou, let me sell my house, or you sell yours. I heard that house prices have been falling. If you sell it too late, it will be worthless... Hey, are you listening?
"I only have one semester left before the college entrance exam. If I sell my house, I can still go to college... I don't know which school I'll get into. Hey, if I get into a university out of town, I'll leave you all alone at home!"
"...Hehe, I'm just kidding. I'm only applying to Yong'an University. You can't stay home all alone. When we sell our house, we can rent a small studio apartment near the university. I won't live on campus anymore. How about that?"
“…Life is so good, this world is so beautiful!
"Yan Shou! Did you hear that? Did you fall asleep again? Turn around and look at me. Three, two, one!"
The thin and silent figure moved and slowly turned his head.
An Rou suddenly woke up.
She sat up from the bed, looked around hurriedly, and after a moment, she slowly exhaled.
It wasn't a vision of the nightmare tree, it was just a dream—a dream I hadn't had in years.
Fortunately, the person in the dream did not turn around.
Fortunately, she woke up in time.
An Rou didn't want to see that face again, even if it was just a dream or a memory.
He was her nightmare, the nightmare that shattered her world.
It had been a long time since she broke free and she didn't want to go back in at all.
It was still dark and the room was dim. An Rou stared at the wall clock for a while and suddenly remembered that clocks don't move at night.
The ghostly art of getting rich quick, "Night Walk," is like an isolated space where time stops. For this reason, the first thing Paopao does every day when he logs in is tell the residents the current time so they can adjust their clocks.
An Rou emptied her mind and connected with the consciousness of getting rich quickly.
[So hungry——]
[So—cold—]
The familiar background sound in the valley of consciousness quickly calmed An Rou's mood. Then, she heard some rustling noises and the crisp sound of gold coins colliding.
"Who is it? Baobao, take me there."
An Rou got out of bed, wrapped herself in a windbreaker, and stepped into the crack in the floor.
Her sudden wealth brought her to the edge of the farm wall.
"Run?" An Rou recognized the familiar figure. "Why are you online in the middle of the night?"
"Why isn't the boss sleeping yet? Is he suffering from insomnia too?" Paopao walked over quickly.
Suffering from insomnia at a young age?
An Rou gave him a strange look, then looked at the wall and back at the quiet, lighted street. "No, I remember the wall wasn't this far away... Did you move it out?"
"I don't have that ability. It's Brother Baofu who's helping me. It knew as soon as I came online."
If you become rich overnight, you can move buildings on the farm at will.
The wall was expanded outward, and the original length was not enough, so Paopao simply used the reshaping skill to repair it.
An Rou smiled and said, "You two can communicate without any obstacles now."
Paopao scratched his head: "It's not that I'm awesome, it's that Brother Baofu seems to be more humane recently. Don't you feel it, boss?"
Although he had entered the void inside Bao Fu's body, he had only entered the shallowest part and had not gone deep enough to the end, so naturally he had never seen Bao Fu's soul.
There are too many mysteries and unsolved issues in the soul of a rich man. If you need help, Paopao is undoubtedly the most suitable person.
An Rou couldn't help but start to weigh whether or not to tell Paopao about the existence of the soul of Baofu.
But Paopao changed the subject.
"Boss, let's move the new residents out tomorrow so the courtyard won't be so crowded."
An Rou was stunned and looked to the side, and the dilapidated buildings disappeared.
Only then did she realize that there was another row of buildings behind Yongnian Street, with lights on, but the lights were much dimmer than those on the other two streets.
"You remodeled all those houses? With your own money?"
Paopao scratched his head again: "4 million gold can't build a very good house, but it should be enough for people to live in. Let's sell some props and then do a better job. Boss, don't use the reserve money in the warehouse for now, it can be used in case of emergency."
Seeing that An Rou didn't say anything, he quickly added: "I am willing to spend this money. If the boss refuses again, he will treat me as an outsider!"
An Rou smiled and tapped his forehead: "You are very cunning, okay, I will increase your dividend to 10% in the future."
"Uh... Boss, that's not what I meant..."
"That's what I mean." An Rou didn't give him room to refuse. "Since you also have insomnia, I have something to ask you. Let's just chat."
She sat down on the spot.
When Paopao wanted to ask about Long Yan's whereabouts, she immediately said, "My brother didn't come back again last night. I went to the holographic command center, but this time I was stopped at the gate and couldn't get in. I guess he's in the game..."
An Rou nodded and smiled, "I didn't want to ask that."
"What does the boss want to ask?"
An Rou pondered, "The youngest person I've seen in Zhongxu Town... is probably Baozi, fourteen. I've never seen a child younger than him. Don't NPCs in games have children?"
"Boss, do you think the Meng brothers and sisters are too young?"
Paopao understood and explained, "Of course NPCs also give birth to children, but they can't just give birth whenever they want. The decision is in the hands of big data."
“Big data?”
"It's the game system. After Soul Song launched, the first batch of NPCs appeared in the game. As the number of players skyrocketed, the number of NPCs also needed to increase accordingly. NPCs like Heng Bobao, who is only 18 years old, are actually the children born to this first batch of NPCs."
The pause in running made An Rou smile silently.
She is 23 years old in real life, but in the game she is the same age as Heng Bobao, only 18 years old.
Since Heng Bobao is the child born by an NPC, then she is naturally one too.
When an NPC dies, it dissipates into a cloud of data, leaving behind no corpse. However, birth, on the other hand, is just like in real life: after ten months of pregnancy, the baby is born.
An Rou couldn't help but think of An Younian's honest smile, and the face of her mother before she turned into a ghoul in her memory... It felt a little strange.
"Go on."
"...Oh. There's a balance between the number of NPCs and the number of players, but I'm not sure what that balance is. Anyway, taking Zhongsu Town as an example, the number of NPCs in the town is replenished in two ways: one is newborns, and the other is the influx of NPCs from outside.
"The two methods coexist. When there were many players, there were also many children in the game."
As more and more people lost their qualifications, the number of online players decreased year by year, and the number of NPCs exceeded it, making newborns a rare sight.
"I read an analysis article that said the balance between NPCs and players isn't server-wide, but regional.
"Let's take Zhongsu Town as an example. Let's assume Zhongsu Town is a relatively closed town with little population mobility, resulting in too few NPCs and insufficient influx of outsiders. In this case, newborns will appear in the town. Of course, who will give birth to the child should be random."
An Rou nodded: "So Meng Ziyu and his sister were born in a remote and isolated place, District 3?"
I don’t know even Paopao.
But there is no point in finding out where the siblings were born.
Paopao suddenly remembered something: "That article also said that the four major factions in the game, Lengbing City, Spirit Realm, and Ghost Island, are not very closed, so newborns are rare. But the Empty Valley is a very closed dungeon, small in size and crowded with players, so there are quite a few children there."
An Rou: "I heard that even players can't leave the valley?"
"Yes, the Konggu Guild is extremely strict in controlling its members, and they're eager to split off and turn it into a separate game."
Paopao said, "Boss, we can't go to the Empty Valley no matter where we go. The farm is so big, we can't hide there, and we'll be targeted by the guild there as soon as we get there."
An Rou agreed.
"Boss, are we going to Ghost Island next?"
An Rou sighed, "I haven't thought about it yet. One thing is certain, we can't stay in the Land of No Life for long. We need to find a place to replenish our supplies."
There are less than 9 million gold left in the warehouse, and various potions are about to run out.
Although we have temporarily escaped from the joint group, we don’t know when we will meet again, so we have to prepare bullets in advance.
Paopao frowned. "After I log off, I can actually sell items on the dark web. The price is probably 20% to 30% higher than at the pawnshop. But private transactions are small, and I have to go online to meet in person. Oh, and if I sell too frequently, I'll be targeted by the guilds... I can only go to the official store."
An Rou also thinks that dark web transactions are not acceptable.
"I can't go back to Lengbing City. The official stores of other factions..." Paopao paused for a moment and stood up. "Boss, I don't know much about other factions. I'll go offline and check the information right away."
"Why bother?" Jie Xin appeared out of nowhere next to Paopao, startling him.
Xie Xin smiled and looked down at An Rou. "Doesn't the farmer often ask me questions? It's rather awkward for him to go to such great lengths for such a trivial matter. Is it not too much for me to bear the title of Soul Realm Know-it-all?"
Know-it-all?
Paopao couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Zhan Xingce, you are just a gold like me, aren't you too arrogant?"
Xie Xin: "What did you call me?"
"Zhan Xingce, the second headquarters of Lingyu Longyan!"
Paopao was confident, "Let me tell you, your identity has been seen through long ago!"
Jie Xin chuckled and looked at An Rou.
An Rou was afraid that he would directly say that he was the Ghost King, so she hurriedly said, "Then please, Mr. Jie. Run, sit down."
He ran around and sat back in his original position, waiting for "Zhan Xingce" to start showing off.
Xie Xin shook his head helplessly and continued, "The props in the hands of the farmers are all ill-gotten gains. Selling them to the official store is the wisest choice..."
The first sentence angered Paopao.
An Rou had anticipated this and pressed down on the back of Paopao's hand in time.
As the Ghost King, Jie Xin is indeed well aware of the four major camps.
The reason why it was wise for An Rou to sell her items at the official store was because the official store never asked about the provenance of items and would only take whatever they had. Furthermore, there was no need to worry about hidden traps or robbery.
The official store of each camp is different. Lengbing City is a pawnshop, Lingyu is Wanwufang, Konggu is the sky store, and Guidao is the black market.
The first three are shops opened in public places. There are no scams inside the shops, but there are scams outside the shops.
Many small guilds and daring wild men would secretly wait outside the store. Anyone who stayed in the store for too long would be easily robbed when they came out.
An Rou was not afraid of being robbed, but even if the other party failed to rob her, it would be easy to leave clues and attract the Long Yan Gar joint team.
Only the black market on Onigashima doesn't have this concern.
There are a total of 678 islands in Onigashima, with only 8 black markets, which change their locations along with the archipelago.
Because the number is small and it is only open at night, there are many players going to the island to trade every night, so the black market is very large.
Each black market occupies an entire island.
On the black market island, you can not only trade with the official, but also with other players.
Generally speaking, private transactions between players are prioritized over official transactions. After all, the official buying low and selling high is too shameful.
Therefore, An Rou wanted to sell a large number of items, so that she could sell them to players at a higher price and then sell the remaining items that could not be negotiated to the official at once. This would maximize the amount of funds she could recoup from the same batch of goods.
In addition, because the black market is only open at night, she can minimize the risk of exposing her tracks.
Xie Xin spoke clearly and An Rou listened carefully. She had to admit that his suggestion was correct.
The Onigashima Black Market is the best place to sell items in large quantities.
Paopao's tone was a little sour: "How come you, a Spirit Realm player, know so much about other factions? Oh, that's right, you spend all day wandering around instead of completing quests."
An Rou opened her mouth.
Does it mean that Jie Xin doesn't want to do the mission, or does it mean that everyone wants to do his mission?
She asked Xie Xin: "Mr. Xie knows a lot about Ghost Island. Does he happen to have a map of Ghost Island?"
Xie Xin indeed exists.
"The Ghost Island map not only marks the Black Market Island, but also shows the daily traffic routes of the Black Market Island. I can give it to you."
Xie Xin changed his tone and said with a smile, "However, the farmer is a businessman, he certainly won't take it for nothing, right?"
"What are Mr. Xie's conditions?"
It’s definitely not money. Why would the Ghost King need money? The whole game belongs to him.
Although Jie Xinti’s conditions were not money, they were not much different.
"I haven't paid the 10,000 yuan consumption fee from yesterday yet, so I'll use it to offset it. Of course, considering the current value of the Ghost Island map to farmers, it can't be offset for just one day."
"how long?"
Xie Xin pretended to think for a moment and said, "Until I get tired of staying here?"
"Deal." An Rou said decisively.
Even though she was short of money, she looked down on Jie Xin's daily spending of 10,000 gold.
After sending Jie Xin away, Paopao immediately said, "Boss, that guy definitely has bad intentions!"
An Rou agreed with his judgment: "I know that he gave this map away for free in a roundabout way."
"So we must not go to Ghost Island!"
"Do you have any better suggestions?"
"I'll log off immediately to check the information!"
Before seven in the morning, Paopao came online again before dawn, looking depressed.
He spent half the night searching through all the available information. It turned out that what Xie Xin said was true, and his advice was the most reasonable.
An Rou was selecting props for sale in the warehouse. Seeing his expression, she knew what was going on.
She laughed and said, "He hasn't offended you, so why are you so repulsive? Even if he could stay on the farm for ten years, he can't compare to you. After all, he's an outsider."
Paopao thought about it and it made sense. His mood turned from gloomy to sunny. He scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly: "Boss, how could I worry about this..."
The smile stopped abruptly.
An Rou: "What's wrong?"
Paopao hesitated: "Heng Bobao is out..."
He vaguely heard the sounds outside.
As soon as the sound faded away, the two men immediately walked out of the warehouse.
At daybreak, they saw Heng Bobao walking by the pond.
The little girl's left hand hung straight down, and her right arm went around her waist, grabbing her left forearm - a standard gesture of modesty for a girl.
But she was not too reserved in her words, and she chirped around Jie Xin, like an early-rising, joyful bird.
"……stop!"
An Rou was startled by Paopao's sudden loud shout.
Paopao was already a high-level gold player. He rushed to Heng Bobao with a few taps of his toes, deliberately ignoring Jie Xin.
"Heng Bobao, you're still under house arrest, why did you come out without permission?!"
Although Heng Bobao was locked up for a few days, he was always well fed and well fed, and his little face was as rosy and cute as ever.
Hearing the question, her eyes widened: "Nothing special, I can go wherever I want, why do you care! Brother Jie, let's go and ignore him."
On one side is the harsh "ordinary", and on the other side is the intimate and ambiguous "Brother Jie".
Paopao was so angry that he stretched out his arms to block the way.
He suppressed his anger and looked at Jie Xin coldly: "Zhan Xingce, Heng Bobao is a farm employee. He failed to complete the boss's order, so he was grounded. You are an outsider, so you can't disrupt the rules of the farm, right?"
Heng Bobao was unhappy and pushed him: "What outsider? You are the outsider! Brother Jie already lives on the farm, he is one of us!"
"Ms. Heng, don't be angry."
Xie Xin's simple words made Heng Bobao stop and walk back to him obediently.
Xie Xin looked at Paopao with interest. "The order you're talking about is reciting the employee code of conduct, right? Miss Heng already knows how to recite it."
Paopao: "I don't believe it, Heng Bobao, recite it to me."
Heng Bobao: "Humph, why should I recite it to you? I'm only reciting it for An Rou!"
Paopao: “The boss is right here!”
Heng Bobao turned around and saw An Rou walking towards him. His face wrinkled and he became even angrier.
She always treated An Rou as a friend, but An Rou locked her up for several days!
However, the entire farm now belonged to An Rou, and Heng Bobao had no choice but to put on a stern face and recite the rules.
"You heard it clearly, not one word off! Humph! Brother Jie, let's continue our walk!"
An Rou smiled helplessly, while Paopao looked stunned.
Whenever he had free time, he would go to persuade Heng Bobao to memorize the code of conduct. Heng Bobao often gave him a cold shoulder and even tore up countless pieces of paper with the employee code of conduct written on it.
How come... I can recite it suddenly?
And he did it so skillfully, without pausing at all.
Xie Xin deliberately fanned the flames: "Miss Heng worked up half the night last night to achieve such an achievement. Shouldn't you two give her some praise?"
An Rou was speechless.
Are you, a ghost king, so idle? If you have nothing to do, you can summon some ghouls from the land of no life. You will get a reward for killing one!
Paopao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly raised his voice: "You two are staying together so late at night?!"
My voice almost broke.
Heng Bobao: "Humph, what do you care?"
He took Jie Xin away.
After being speechless, An Rou just felt funny.
Paopao's temper rarely lost control like this. His jealousy was enough to fill a pond.
An Rou patted Paopao on the back: "Don't worry, nothing happened between them."
Paopao was about to cry: "How did you know..."
An Rou: "...Even if something happened, there would be no result. Jie Xin is deliberately trying to piss you off."
Paopao was furious: "You mean he's playing with Bo Bao?!"
An Rou shut her mouth.
Well, I can’t persuade him.
But Paopao wouldn't let her go.
"Boss, can't you see through the light screen? What's Heng Bobao's favorability towards him? Isn't it enough to form a bond?"
An Rou was speechless.
Where did the Ghost King get the light screen... No, this nonsensical question reminded her.
Like the ghoul, Jie Xin is also an NPC to some extent, right?
Is there a favorability setting between NPCs?
Heng Batong once hated her and wanted to kill her, while An Yongnian, as her father, doted on her from beginning to end.
How different are the relationships between NPCs and people in the real world?
It’s just that there is no intuitive favorability notification like the players.
She can read the memories of An Yongnian and Meng Zisha, but not the memories of others... Perhaps this invisible favorability is a prerequisite?
No, it’s not just about favorability, it’s not just about whether others like her or not, there is another prerequisite: ghoul.
The memories she read from An Yongnian and Zisha both contained ghouls!
The former is a living dead man in a coal shop, and the latter is Meng Ziyu who was possessed by a ghoul.
Therefore, An Yongnian's memory consists of only very brief fragments, while Zisha's memory is intermittent, like a piece of paper with many holes punched in it, complete and broken.
"Boss, did you see it?"
The sound of running interrupted An Rou's thoughts.
His head and shoulders slumped at the same time. "Boss, just tell me, has Bo Bao's affection for him reached... infatuation?"
The word "infatuation" is very difficult to say.
"What are you thinking about? Do you look down on yourself or Heng Bobao?"
An Rou smiled, thought for a moment, and randomly made up a value, "It's only 70%, a friendly state."
Seeing that Paopao didn't believe her, An Rou pointed at the two people in the distance with her chin.
"We haven't even held hands, how high can our affection be?"
Paopao didn't cry, but his expression was almost the same as if he had burst into laughter.
Including the new residents from the Trial Town, the number of farm NPCs has reached nearly 200.
No matter how big the dining hall in the villa is, it can’t accommodate everyone. The dining tables are set up all the way from the dining hall to the front yard. Every meal is like a buffet, spectacular and lively.
Among these people, only a few old residents like Meihong and Leng Hanli know that every bite of food they eat costs money.
After leaving Zhongsu Town, the farm was rebuilt not long ago. No matter how powerful the reconstruction skills are, crops cannot be planted early and mature late.
Most of the grains, meat and vegetables are copied by spending a lot of money.
After the farm was connected to electricity, An Rou asked him to rebuild the only refrigerator.
Hundreds of years ago, refrigerators were small and bulky. It cost 5 million gold to reshape it to a hundred times its size. It was hidden under the kitchen and became part of the cellar - the cold storage.
The decision to uproot the mayor's house was definitely the right one. Heng Batong was a man who knew how to enjoy life, and his family had enough food to open a buffet.
There was no shortage of beef, mutton, pork, or poultry, and not to mention vegetables, grains, and fruits. You didn't even need to buy seeds; you could just clone them and plant them in the ground.
If each crop were grown separately, the farm's existing hundred acres of land would not be enough.
The importance of gold coins became even more apparent after losing all the account balances.
Before breakfast in the morning, An Rou called everyone to the gate of the villa.
Tian Rui brought a wooden box with a note written on it.
New and old residents are combined, and each person draws lots to decide where to live.
Of course, An Rou didn't expect absolute fairness, so she eliminated some people and didn't need to draw lots.
For example, An Yongnian and Qiaojie naturally lived in the other courtyard; Leng Hanli, as the housekeeper, also lived in the other courtyard with her daughter; Manager Liang, Xiang Sao, and Li Xiang, who had previously been in charge of the bathhouse, returned to the bathhouse; Meihong, An Rou returned the small western-style house to her...
Under Leng Hanli's organization, both new and old residents drew lots. Those who had served as security guards also took off their uniforms and joined in.
Some people are good friends with each other, and after seeing each other's residences, they have already started to discuss exchanging them in a low voice.
An Rou didn't stop her. She had to give him this freedom on the premise of obedience.
In addition to deciding on accommodation, we also have to assign work. We can't just let them sit around and eat.
Human beings, once they have too much free time, will become mischievous.
The division of labor cannot be forced. It should be done after breakfast based on each person's wishes and expertise.
Everyone sat down to have breakfast, it was lively and cheerful.
An Rou walked into the dining hall and instead of going to the main table, she sat down at a small table in the corner.
Sitting there were Heng Bobao and Jie Xin.
Heng Bobao was chattering with Jie Xin. He glanced at An Rou and immediately looked away. Unexpectedly, he saw another person.
Zhang Da also sat down opposite her.
Many people say that Zhang Da is a cannibal and is taciturn. Although Heng Bobao is not afraid of him, he is still a little scared of him.
Heng Bobao looked back at An Rou: "An Rou, is there something wrong?"
Being polite after being angry.
An Rou smiled slightly and thought: Let’s test the favorability.
Now that I've discovered I have the ability to read memories, I have to figure out how to use it, right?
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