Chapter 69: A Bountiful Harvest of Loot, Landlord's Exclusive Skill Unlocked...
Zhou Fangdong, who steps on the clone of the evil god, appears calm and aloof, as if he would remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him... but in reality, he cannot change even if he wanted to.
"System, I can't move. Do you have any ideas?"
[Host, please wait. The system is working to extract the core of the evil god's clone. The shadow puppet cannot be moved during the extraction process.]
"Hey, system, this loading screen lock is such a pain... Even if I can't control the shadow puppet, why can't I even unlock it?"
[The system needs to extract the core using the host as a medium. Because the core of the evil god's clone has been largely corrupted, the extraction speed is slow. Please wait.]
"Hurry up, Tongzi, I can't take it anymore. The people from the Inspection Bureau are about to surround me and I'm still posing here. It's so embarrassing... And what's wrong with those bald guys? They've lost their gods, what are they still worshipping there? I'm speechless."
While Zhou Fangdong remained frozen in place, the inspectors dispersed to other apartment buildings in the community to clean up the mess, while cautiously making their way towards the pavilion.
Because the incident at Penghu Jiayuan occurred in the city center, the head of the Special Investigations Department personally led a team there after the incident. However, like Hong Zhong, who was guarding the vicinity of the community, they were all isolated outside the community by the talisman array.
What's even more unsettling is that, despite the fact that communication wasn't cut off, they were completely unable to contact the investigators stationed in the community.
Just as they were at a loss, the protective array that isolated the community was suddenly torn apart. The inspectors rushed to the location where the supernatural energy fluctuations were strongest, and Hong Zhong immediately spotted that familiar figure.
Before he could even be shocked that the landlord could actually escape from Liwan Apartments, something even more horrifying happened... The terrifying monster summoned by the cultists, which had devoured half of the northern suburbs and thousands of people, was trampled underfoot by the landlord like a lump of mud, without any ability to resist.
The cultists not only did not resist, but they didn't even glance at the monster. Instead, they chose to submit to the landlord of Liwan Apartments, kneeling before him as if they were devoutly worshipping a god.
The mysterious landlord did not flinch, but stood there indifferently, his deep, lifeless eyes revealing no emotion, neither sad nor happy, like a statue sitting on a high platform, long accustomed to the submission and worship of believers.
The monster that the Bureau of Supervision had paid a heavy price to seal away vanished beneath his feet like weathered mud, turning into black ash and dissipating.
Only after the monster had completely disappeared did the captain and Hong Zhongcai cautiously approach with the investigators.
[Extraction complete. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the core of the Evil God's clone (semi-contaminated)]
[This core needs to be purified in the decorative fixtures in the apartment hallway before it can be used.]
Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it's finally over.
Zhou Fangdong casually patted the corner of his clothes. Feeling a bit embarrassed after posing for so long, he quickly left the spot, avoiding the investigators from the Supervisory Bureau who had surrounded him.
The head of the Investigation Department watched as the landlord quickly avoided them, his expressionless and cold demeanor suggesting dissatisfaction that they hadn't heeded his prediction and hadn't sent more people to Penghu Homestead; or perhaps it was because they had arrived too late and couldn't offer any help.
He couldn't help but feel ashamed and even more frightened... Fortunately, the mysterious landlord intervened personally; otherwise, if the monsters summoned by those cultists had been allowed to run rampant, this neighborhood... no, the entire city center would have been in danger.
[The Anomaly Inspection Bureau's overall reputation +100; the Anomaly Inspection Bureau becomes a friendly faction]
Zhou Fangdong paused in his steps, struggling to suppress the urge to turn around and look.
...So it turns out that beating up cult members in front of the supervisory bureau increases your reputation.
Seeing that an investigator had already taken over the case of the four cultists kneeling on the ground, he abandoned the idea of beating the cultists again.
Zhou Fangdong walked to the pavilion and found Hou San and Miao Zheng next to the exercise equipment.
Before he could speak, Hou San pulled a wooden stick from the loose sleeve of his suit and handed it to him respectfully.
Zhou Fangdong took the soul-carrying pole: "Thank you for your hard work."
[[Cursed Item - Soul-Picking Pole] detected. The system will automatically reclaim it. After the host dispels the shadow puppet, this item will automatically merge with [Cursed Item - Human Skin Shadow Puppet Show]].
Hearing Zhou Fangdong say this, Hou San was flattered: "It's no trouble at all, it's all what we should do."
His eyes were filled with undisguised fervor and admiration. After witnessing what had just happened, Hou San's respect for this landlord had reached its peak.
[It has been detected that Hou San, the tenant of room 2x03, has reached 100% favorability. Please claim your favorability reward promptly.]
Zhou Fangdong closed the system pop-up, intending to check it together when he got back.
He then checked on Miao Zheng's condition.
Miao Zheng had recovered and was stretching his body. There were no external injuries on his body, which relieved Zhou Fangdong.
But then, he remembered something and quickly called out to the system in his mind: "System, Miao Zheng came into close contact with that evil god's clone. Shouldn't he go to the Taoist temple to have the Taoist priest purify it?"
[No longer necessary. The apartment's purification system has been unlocked. Once the tenant returns to the apartment, the system will automatically purify her of the evil spirit's contamination.]
Now Zhou Fangdong was completely relieved.
After glancing around and seeing several more investigators approaching, he simply stopped using the shadow puppets.
He was afraid that the inspectors would ask him for the cursed prop, the Soul-Picking Pole, used by cultists, since all the paranormal events in the neighborhood were caused by this prop.
But this item was a trophy from his operation, and it could also upgrade his shadow puppet show, so Zhou Fangdong didn't want to hand it over.
The captain brought Hong Zhong over, and just as he was about to express his gratitude to the landlord of Liwan Apartment, he saw that the landlord's figure suddenly disappeared.
A small black paper figure floated down from mid-air, and then a deformed, bluish-purple ghost hand appeared out of thin air and grabbed the falling black shadow puppet.
Hou San tucked the small black paper figure into his sleeve, turned around, and smiled as he blocked the investigators' prying eyes.
Miao Zheng is a paranormal news anchor under the Supervision Bureau. She can't ignore the investigators who surround her like Hou San did.
Therefore, before Hong Zhong and the others got close, she took the initiative to go over and tell him the whole story.
After hearing her words, Hong Zhong nodded solemnly: "I understand. I will take Zhu Di and Su Wan to the Supervision Bureau for protection."
*
After learning that the Penghu Homeland Action had failed, a rather somber atmosphere prevailed in a residential building in the city center, the core stronghold of the Bone Inheritance Association.
The followers dared not even breathe too loudly, for fear of angering the gloomy-faced priest.
Unexpectedly, the missions failed one after another, but the high priest neither lost his temper nor killed anyone. After a long silence, he simply said calmly, "Those two men we captured yesterday, the two who were extracting souls, have their bodies been disposed of?"
The bald man who was in charge of extracting the soul yesterday stepped forward tremblingly and replied, "High Priest, we haven't had time to deal with it yet, because we need to prepare for Penghu..." He realized he had misspoke halfway through his sentence and almost bit his tongue. He quickly corrected himself, "I'll go and deal with it right away, and I'll make sure it's done cleanly."
"It's alright, don't bother with it." The middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat was surprisingly kind. "Bring me the one from those two corpses whose head is more intact."
"yes."
The man in the melon-shaped hat waved his hand irritably: "You can all leave now, don't get in my way."
After the ordinary believers left, only the middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat and another thin young man remained in the room.
Unlike other members of the Bone Society, this young man actually had hair.
"High Priest, I still have one core that I haven't used yet. Why don't we summon another divine avatar while the Bureau of Surveillance is all gathered at Penghu Homestead, and let them know the price of angering our Bone Inheritance Society?"
The middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat shook his head. "We can't summon the divine avatars in the city center anymore. Those things have no reason and no restraint. The gods haven't officially returned yet. If all the humans are devoured by the avatars and there aren't enough offerings to the gods, what kind of situation is that?"
"So, you want that corpse because you want to..."
“Yes, I plan to personally perform a blessing ceremony, asking the gods to grant a wisp of their spirit to revive that corpse.” The middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat spoke solemnly. “When the talisman array was torn apart, I seemed to sense the terrifying aura that accompanied the anomaly that occurred in the apartment back then…”
“I suspect there’s something wrong with the Liwan Apartments again. The apartment’s sealing capabilities may have weakened. First, that human skin actor escaped from the apartment, and then today there was a suspected aura from the crack on the top floor of the apartment building that appeared in that community… I suspect the apartment’s power has been exhausted and it can no longer suppress that crack, and it’s very likely that it can no longer contain the ghost inside.”
Hearing this, the young man gasped and stood up in terror: "We can't let all the ghosts in the apartment come out! If all the ghosts come out, then we—"
"There's no need to panic, it's just a guess." The middle-aged man in the melon-shaped hat patted his shoulder and pressed him back into his chair.
“Our church has suffered heavy losses in manpower, and we can’t waste any more time on investigating the apartment… So please ask the gods to help us go and take a look.”
"If the body can be brought back safely, then it proves that the changes to the apartment are insignificant."
"If even the intelligence can't be sent back, that would be the worst outcome... We need to speed up the process of summoning the deity."
*
After putting away the shadow puppets, Zhou Fangdong found a comfortable spot on the bed and began to look through his spoils.
The inspectors have arrived; leaving the cleanup to them should be fine.
Such a big thing happened in the downtown neighborhood, they will definitely check every inch of land around this neighborhood and tear down those cult strongholds.
Moreover, with Miao Zheng and Hong Zhong there, and knowing the whole story, the two girls targeted by the cult members will definitely be well protected.
This operation not only garnered goodwill from many tenants but also boosted the reputation of the Control Bureau. The Control Bureau is now a friendly force, and they will likely be more attentive to future requests for assistance, similar to those for the Penghu Homestead.
Zhou Fangdong opened his inventory and took out the human skin shadow puppet and the soul-picking rod.
[Cursed Item: Human Skin Shadow Play] and [Cursed Item: Soul-Picking Pole] detected. Items are being fused and upgraded...
[Fusion successful. The [Spirits/Shadow Spirits] sealed within the Soul-Picking Rod have automatically transformed into Ghost Tenant/Shadow Spirits.]
[The [Ghost Tenant - Shadow Phantom] character has been unlocked in the character encyclopedia. Please check the encyclopedia for unlock rewards.]
[The host has already acquired [Ghost Tenant - Shadow Phantom]. The necessary conditions for crafting the Lamp Oil Worker have been unlocked. You can now craft the Lamp Oil Worker.]
The [Special Item - Shadow Soul Contract], resulting from the fusion of shadow puppetry and the Soul-Picking Pole, is directly upgraded and transformed into a landlord-exclusive skill.
[Liwan Apartment Landlord's Exclusive Skill: Shadow Soul Contract]
Skill Description: This skill is exclusive to landlords of Liwan Apartments and requires an apartment contract to use.
How to use: ① [Perfect Replacement]: Using Shadow Soul Contract, you can completely become another person.
After using the Shadow Soul Contract on someone, the target will completely disappear from this world, and the target's soul and body will become the user's property.
Cost: You will inherit all of the target's memories completely. If you use it too often, you may become lost in these foreign memories, or your memories may become confused, turning you into an irrational madman, or you may develop a split personality, becoming a vessel for these memories.
②[Ghost Servant Creation]: By using the apartment contract, you can grant ghosts power and create ghost servants who are completely loyal to you.
After using this skill, you can terminate the life of the ghost servant at any time, gain the right to use the ghost servant's body at any time, and control all the ghost servant's actions at any time.
Using it comes at no cost; this is an exclusive skill of the landlords at Liwan Apartments.
[Currently available ghost servants: Ghost Tenant Mu Yuechan, Zombie Taoist Priest Zhang Zhiwu, Home Furnishing Store Manager Mo Ming, Delicious Slaughterhouse Manager Sun Dali, Ghost Tenant Keyan, Ghost Tenant Yingmei...]
[Host detected to have unlocked [Landlord Exclusive Skill - Shadow Soul Contract], the ghost bus driver is awakening...]
[Congratulations, host, on regaining your ghost servant, Ghost Bus Driver Wang Yongshun]
The Ghost Bus has officially awakened and can now filter passengers. The system is automatically set to prohibit members of the Bone Inheritance Society from boarding, but the host can change or add to the Ghost Bus's boarding settings.
After reading the skill descriptions, especially the long list of ghost servants, Zhou Fangdong was so shocked that he was speechless.
What an overbearing skill.
Do these creepy tenants in the apartment know what kind of unfair contract they signed? Did they even hand over their lives after signing the lease...?
However, with this skill, it seems he can now freely summon ghosts from the back building. There's no stronger way to suppress them, so even if the ghosts in the back building are dangerous, it's no problem.
And from now on, he can leave his apartment room at night.
The fact that he could completely control the ghost tenants meant that he could also control the irrational zombies at night.
In other words, when he goes out at night, he can have a zombie-themed Taoist priest as his bodyguard, so what is he afraid of...? He is still a little afraid of elevators.
Last night, that Taoist priest was killing corpses like crazy next to the elevator, and the elevator didn't even react. But when he went out that night, the elevator just fell from the top floor. This means that ghosts that use elevators to go up and down floors must have sensed his presence before coming down.
Although Master X was very strong, he didn't dare to gamble on what would happen if the Master X clashed with the things in the elevator, so he decided to leave the room at night for later.
"System, which room did you put that ghost tenant, Shadow Phantom, in?"
The tenant is currently in the apartment basement, at the lamp oil production site; it does not require the host to provide an additional room.
"Oh right, and the ghost bus driver... System, do I need to provide a room for Ghost Bus Driver Wang Yongshun?"
[No need, the ghost bus is his residence.]
Great, no need to figure out how to clean the room anymore, these two ghost tenants are very convenient.
As for the passenger screening settings of this ghost bus... the system's rule of 'not allowing members of the Bone Inheritance Society to board the ghost bus' does not need to be changed.
The roads leading to Liwan Apartments are now completely blocked by the Inspection Bureau; the only way to reach the apartments is by taking the "ghost bus." With this rule in place, he no longer worries about cultists like the couple in Room 103 raiding the apartments and harming his tenants.
After closing the system pop-up, Zhou Fangdong let out a soft sigh of relief, feeling a sense of satisfaction, like he had just had a big meal at a buffet.
The takeout delivered by that group of cultists was far too lavish. Not only did he gain a core of an evil god's clone and win the favor of many tenants, but he also acquired two new ghost tenants, unlocked the necessary conditions for creating lamp oil workers, and obtained an important skill that allowed him to completely control the ghost tenants...
These bald men are as generous as God.
After closing the system pop-up, Zhou Fangdong opened the lamp oil manufacturing page and teleported directly to the basement.
He wanted to see his new ghost tenant, Shadow Phantom.
After being teleported to the basement, a familiar figure was seen standing in front of an ice coffin in a brightly lit room, seemingly looking at the corpse inside.
Hearing the sound of Zhou Fangdong appearing out of thin air in the room, it looked in the direction of the sound.
...This person looks exactly like him.
Zhou Fangdong quickly realized that it must be the ghost tenant, Shadow Phantom.
Seeing Yingmei staring at him with a blank, somewhat dazed look on her face, Zhou Fangdong couldn't bear to look and covered his eyes: "Can you change your face?"
But the guy seemed not to understand, and didn't change at all. He just covered his eyes like Zhou Fangdong did.
...Compared to the other ghost tenants, this ghost tenant seems to have a lower intelligence.
Zhou Fangdong recalled the system pop-up he had just seen. The system said that this ghost tenant was once '[Spirits·Shadow Spirits] sealed in the Soul-Picking Pole]. As for spirits, they should be similar to cat ghosts and blood shadow pouches. Compared to ghost tenants who were alive in life, it is normal for them to be a little slow to react.
Zhou Fangdong sighed, feeling that he couldn't force it.
Since Shadow Demon lacks human thought processes, it probably wouldn't have any desire to leave the room. In that case, it doesn't matter; it's in the basement anyway, and no one but him can see its dazed state.
Zhou Fangdong opened the basement door and moved the two corpses that the cleaner had piled up on top into the basement.
Yingmei curiously approached, pushing Zhou Fangdong aside, and squatted down, staring intently at the two corpses.
As I watched, its face melted rapidly, like ice cream under the scorching sun, and then automatically reshaped itself back into the shape of a corpse on the ground.
After a moment of silence, perhaps finding the mummy corpse unattractive, it transformed back into Zhou Fangdong's appearance.
Zhou Fangdong ignored what the shadowy figure was doing; he was checking the lamp oil worker's interface.
The crafting page says that in addition to unlocking [Ghost Tenant - Shadow], the worker who makes the lamp oil also needs a [corpse in the back of the apartment building], a [worker's uniform made by the Ghost Tailor], and a pair of [silversmith's shackles].
The body is now available; all that's missing are the workers' uniforms and shackles.
I have to go to the ghost market again tonight.
Oh right, I haven't claimed the tenant profile reward for unlocking the Ghost Tenant's Shadow yet.
Zhou Fangdong closed the lamp oil worker's interface and opened the tenant profile.
【Ghost Tenant - Shadow Phantom】
Illustrated description: An old object that has come to life. It is a shadowless figure derived from shadow puppetry, without independent thought, and acts entirely according to its owner's commands.
Characteristics: Difficult to detect; it exists wherever there is a reflection. It likes to imitate living people and control their bodies, just like humans manipulate shadow puppets.
Ability: [Create Shadow Slaves]
The Shadow Phantom will actively create a dim environment conducive to its activities and lurk in shadows, reflections, or reflections on mirrored screens.
The initial sign of being targeted by a Shadow Spirit is a change in one's shadow. After being observed and imitated by the Shadow Spirit three times, the Shadow Spirit's connection with the living deepens, allowing it to replace the living person with their shadow, creating a Shadow Slave completely obedient to it.
If a living person is replaced by a shadow for more than seven days, they will completely become a shadow and disappear forever.
If you want to control a corpse with a shadow spirit, you only need to make it send a small portion of its shadow to the corpse.
[Shadow Phantom Compendium Unlock Reward: Key to the Hidden Room on the Second Floor]
After Zhou Fangdong received the reward, a shiny key fell out and merged directly with the [Landlord's Key].
The hidden room on the second floor... is it the room where Qian Duolai, Quan Wuming, and the other three were tortured by cultists before their deaths?
Go check the second floor, and while you're at it, go purify the semi-contaminated evil god's core at the renovation fixtures in the second-floor corridor.
Zhou Fangdong left the basement and went to the second-floor corridor of the apartment.
Just like the first floor, this place has no doors or windows.
However, Zhou Fangdong spent a long time searching the wall with [Ghost Eye] but still couldn't find the entrance to the hidden room.
He remembered that in Qian Duolai's memories before his death, the hidden room was nearby... Zhou Fangdong frowned and walked around the corridor again.
After another fruitless search, Zhou Fangdong suspected that only Qian Duolai and his group could open this hidden room.
Let's go purify the core of the evil god first, and then go find those cleaners to open the door later.
Zhou Fangdong gave up blindly searching the hallway and went to the corridor where the tenant's room was located.
At the end of this corridor, there is a large metal cabinet on the wall; this cabinet is the physical embodiment of the air purification device.
"System, give me the core of the evil god, I'll put it in to purify it."
[The host only needs to place their hand on the cabinet door, and the system will automatically place the core inside.]
Following the instructions of the system, Zhou Fangdong placed his hand on the cabinet door.
[The core of the semi-corrupted evil god's clone has been placed and is currently undergoing purification...]
[Estimated purification time: 3 hours]
Zhou Fangdong patted non-existent dust off his hands, crossed his arms, looked at the large iron cabinet for a while, and then turned his gaze to the remaining uncleaned rooms on the second floor.
Since it's still early, let's clean up another room while the device is purifying.
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong walked to the door of room 205 and opened it.
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