Chapter 125: Triggering the Curse at the Slime Farm, Interviewing a Cleaner...
Zhou Fangdong was teleported to the second floor and entered the hidden room.
After he saw what the room looked like, he wondered if he had come to the wrong place.
This hidden room on the second floor was originally used by the Bone Inheritance Society to torture people and hold rituals; it was completely in a rough cement shell state.
Originally, the entrance led to an open space where mummified statues were placed. Later, the statues were moved to a corner by storage tools and became a place for Zhou Fangdong to store supernatural props.
Directly opposite the door is a row of cell blocks, some containing torture chambers, others spaces with ritualistic markings on the floor. The second to last cell is a portal to the Ghost Market, and the last cell contains Zhou Fangdong's slime body.
However, now, even though the slime's body has been upgraded, the entire layout of the room has also changed.
All the cells had disappeared, and the bare concrete room had been completely renovated. A soft, green shaggy carpet covered the entire room. The wallpaper was light green, which, combined with the green carpet, gave the room a sense of spaciousness, making it look like a vast, endless grassland.
The ceiling was changed to blue and covered with many cloud-shaped decorative stickers.
All the supernatural artifacts that Zhou Fangdong had plundered from the Bone Inheritance Society were now stuck in the ground, like wild, overgrown weeds.
Countless tiny slimes, like sheep on a grassland, are wriggling on a green carpet of wool, occasionally stretching out their bodies to take a bite of the props, looking particularly content.
Looking at the supernatural items that had become slime food, Zhou Fangdong felt no pity. After all, he didn't lack items now, and these items were all stolen from the Bone Heir Society. They had extremely strong side effects and needed to be planted in garden soil for a period of time to purify before they could be used.
What worries Zhou Fangdong is that his slime body has now disappeared.
His slime body not only contains many supernatural gadgets, but also the very useful large cleaver given to him by the butcher shop owner in the ghost market.
Losing other props is fine, but that knife can't be lost.
Zhou Fangdong dispersed his consciousness, attempting to control his slime body.
The next instant, the entire slime meadow began to collapse, the 'blue sky' fell, and the 'grassland' turned black... Zhou Fangdong understood and immediately stopped manipulating his body.
—The entire hidden room was formed from his slime body.
Zhou Fangdong touched the soft green wall and pulled out the machete from inside.
In addition, he can also sense other supernatural items stored inside the slime's body.
Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.
"System, what features does this upgraded slime farm have?"
[The Slime Farm can produce not only evil god derivatives, but also cores.]
Mature small slimes will have an exclamation mark above their heads; killing them will drop Evil God Tokens and Clone Cores.
Slaying immature small slimes will only drop derivatives.
Zhou Fangdong inspected the area and found that only one small slime had matured at the slime farm.
He carried his knife, approached the little slime with an exclamation mark above its head, and slashed it down.
The little slime looked like a bursting water balloon, dropping four derivatives and a core.
Zhou Fangdong was originally worried about how he would obtain the core of the evil god's clone to make the decoration and purification devices for each floor after the clone was gone. Now it seems that he doesn't have to worry about it anymore.
Moreover, previously his slime body could only produce a limited number of derivatives each day, but now with the slime farm, he can come and slaughter anytime he wants derivatives.
Zhou Fangdong stuffed the machete back into the wall, then took out a kerosene lamp and began repairing it, stepping on the lumps of byproducts.
The repair progress of the lumps of derivatives is 5%, and his current repair progress of the kerosene lamp is 80%. These derivatives in front of him are just enough for him to completely repair the kerosene lamp.
[Beep—Congratulations, host, the kerosene lamp has been successfully repaired!]
[Landlord's Exclusive Item - Kerosene Lamp, New Features Unlocked]
Under the light of a kerosene lamp, it becomes clear which collapsed area in the high-rise corridor connects to the main god instance.
Holding a lit kerosene lamp, one can infiltrate the main god instance through the collapsed area.
Using the [Rosewood Memorial Tablet] under the light will cause the status of each floor to appear on the tablet—the floor status refers to the activity status of the external deity projections and ghosts on that floor.
[The kerosene lamp in its exploding state greatly increases skill amplification. Under this amplification, [Soul Drain] can devour Outer God projections and high-level ghosts on the rooftop.]
After seeing the kerosene lamp's newly unlocked skills, Zhou Fangdong nodded in satisfaction.
Now that the tide has turned, it's time to deal with those despicable Outer God projections.
[Soul Absorption] is indeed a powerful skill. Even before upgrading, it can devour the projection of the Outer God with the amplification of the kerosene lamp. It will definitely be even stronger after upgrading.
Zhou Fangdong decided to upgrade the [Soul Absorption] skill first after accumulating 15 skill points, and postpone the [Half-Body Shrine] skill.
As Zhou Fangdong turned off the kerosene lamp effect pop-up, he was about to go back to the fifth-floor corridor to try out the new kerosene lamp effect when another familiar system pop-up appeared.
[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Demons (6 Days to Go)]
Daylight broke, so it seemed the experiment with the kerosene lamp's effects would have to be postponed.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the clone core on the ground and remembered that he still had the unused corpse of the pregnant ghost in room 401 in his decoration interface warehouse.
When the apartment was being renovated using the corpses of ghosts, the renovation of the fourth floor was not possible because there was no purification device installed there, so the corpses of the pregnant ghosts were temporarily put on hold.
"System, use this core to install the air purification device on the fourth floor."
Okay, the air purification system is being installed on the fourth floor. Please check back later.
While the system was installing renovation equipment, Zhou Fangdong teleported to the apartment garden.
He first collected the ghost coins produced by the garbage station that day, and then went to the planting area to check on the growth of the supernatural props.
Judging from how well those supernatural props are growing, they should be ready to be harvested tonight or tomorrow morning.
After inspecting the planting area, Zhou Fangdong returned to the third floor.
He opened the rental preview page and found that Lu Mingbian in room 301 was already up and making breakfast.
Xiong Lei from room 302 also got up early and was having breakfast.
Zhou Fangdong stood in the corridor and waited until all the pixelated figures in the two rooms had finished breakfast before he came to room 301.
Upon learning that Zhou Fangdong wanted to ask him to take a tenant to visit a nursing home in the city center before going to work, Lu Mingbian agreed without hesitation.
Lu Mingbian was very grateful to this mysterious landlord, who not only reunited her with her mother and provided her with a safe place to live, but also helped catch the human traffickers who had kidnapped her.
For the past two days, she had been trying to do something to repay the landlord's kindness, but the landlord was probably too busy, and Lu Mingbian also needed to go to work early and return late every day, so she hadn't been able to run into him at the apartment.
Now that the landlord has taken the initiative to visit and ask for help, even if Lu Mingbian is not available, she will ask the law firm for leave and make time for him.
Seeing that Lu Mingbian had agreed, Zhou Fangdong gave her a general overview of Xiong Lei's situation, explaining that Xiong Lei had been living in a confined space for many years, which had led to some cognitive problems. He hoped that if Lu Mingbian had time, while visiting the nursing home in the city center, she could also give Xiong Lei a general introduction to how society works and the monetary value system.
Otherwise, Zhou Fangdong was really afraid that after Xiong Lei paid the rent with the gold bars, he would actually think the gold was worth 30 yuan and then take the gold bars to the supermarket to buy bottled water.
Afterwards, Zhou Fangdong asked Lu Mingbian to wait for him in the corridor for a while, and then he went into room 302 and brought Xiong Lei out.
Lu Mingbian looked at the fair-skinned, chubby boy who was carrying a small teddy bear, with clear, innocent eyes and a mind that seemed somewhat inconsistent with his appearance, and his gaze suddenly softened.
Because their law firm often organizes employees to do charity work in impoverished mountainous areas or welfare homes, Lu Mingbian has seen many children who have closed themselves off due to parental abuse or external stimuli.
In addition, Zhou Fangdong had given her a heads-up beforehand, so she assumed that he was a good kid who, despite having experienced great trauma, still wanted to volunteer at the nursing home.
So Lu Mingbian changed her mind and decided to ask the law firm for leave to spend a day with Xiong Lei. She was a little worried about letting him go to the nursing home alone.
After watching the two tenants enter the elevator, Zhou Fangdong teleported to the basement.
A new batch of lamp oil pendants had been completed and should have been listed on the online store yesterday. However, when he was about to go to the basement yesterday, an incident suddenly occurred at Liwan Hospital. This interruption delayed the replenishment of the lamp oil pendant inventory for the online store.
In the basement, Shadow Phantom didn't create any strange shapes this time; she simply hung herself up with ropes.
It looked bored, its hands gripping the rope around its neck, its body swinging back and forth like a rotating fan blade.
Upon seeing Zhou Fangdong appear, its eyes lit up immediately. Completely disregarding the fact that its head was still stuck in the hanging rope, it desperately reached towards Zhou Fangdong.
As a result, its neck grew longer and longer. Although its arms and legs were wrapped around Zhou Fangdong, its head remained inside the rope loop, making it look like a screaming chicken with an extended neck.
Zhou Fangdong sighed, unable to bear seeing his face contorted in the rope loop into the image of the famous painting "The Scream." He carried Yingmei's body to the bottom of the hanging rope, lifted its body high, and freed its head from the knot.
But the Shadow Demon's elongated neck, like a spring stretched to its limit and losing its elasticity, remained long and thin, its head and neck tilting back strangely, drooping all the way to its heels. Even so, it still grinned foolishly at Zhou Fangdong without a care in the world.
Zhou Fangdong reluctantly placed the strangely shaped lump aside and then went to the workbench for making lamp oil pendants.
This time, he only collected ninety lamp oil pendants to put on the online store, and prepared to leave the remaining ten in stock for the supervisory bureau.
After opening the Liwan Apartment online store, Zhou Fangdong discovered that the purchase conditions from the Supervision Bureau had changed.
One of the conditions for purchasing the video, besides requiring ten cult members' corpses, is that a video be posted on the official account of the Supervision Bureau to change the public's impression of Liwan Apartment. There are no restrictions on the number of likes and views, but the video must be public and cannot be set to private.
Another condition for purchasing is that the cultist's corpse is not required, but a video related to the Liwan Apartment with over 300,000 views and over 150,000 likes is needed.
The original requirement for the seal to be used for purchasing the property has been replaced by the release of videos related to the Liwan Apartments.
Since the Bureau of Inspection became an absolutely friendly faction, and the system can freely take sealed items from the warehouse, it seems to look down on the sealed items that the Bureau of Inspection provides.
However, the Bureau of Supervision has many paranormal livestreamers under its jurisdiction who are skilled at making videos, so making a video with 300,000 views shouldn't be too difficult.
Zhou Fangdong skillfully operated the lamp oil making page, instructing the corpse workers to continue making lamp oil and lamp oil pendants. Then he opened the cleaner recruitment page, preparing to interview the three newly recruited elderly, weak, sick and disabled cleaners.
Zhou Fangdong clicked on "[On-site Interview for Employees]" below the advertisement on the recruitment page. As he did so, three figures of varying heights appeared in the third-floor corridor.
After seeing the three cleaners in person, Zhou Fangdong realized he had misjudged the pixelated graphics on the system page.
Although the pixelated figures are drawn in a very general way, their essential features are still clear and distinct, so one shouldn't have any expectations.
The ghost baby wasn't even as tall as his calf, and it wasn't just a matter of height; the half of its umbilical cord was still dripping blood.
As soon as the ghost with only half a body appeared, a clear bloodstain appeared on the ground, and blood began to seep out from the corners of the walls and the ground near it.
Even the big match head in the wheelchair was part of the pollution in the corridor. The black ash on its body fell down like snowflakes, and the seemingly clean basement floor was quickly covered with a layer of black ash.
Moreover, the bloodstains or black ash pollution caused by these three ghosts are not just simple yin energy; they can solidify and pollute reality.
What were Quan Wuming and the others trying to do by recommending these three ghosts to him...? Did they think he didn't have enough cleaning work to do?
Zhou Fangdong squatted down, staring directly at the ghost baby's wrinkled, bluish-purple face, and said in a low voice, "You started working before you were even a month old. Do your family know?"
The ghost baby dared not meet Zhou Fangdong's gaze. With its head down, it trembled as it clutched its umbilical cord, emitting a weak, meow-like voice: "I... I came out to work to rescue my family. The fourth-floor corridor is occupied by a terrifying ghost. Only by holding an apartment cleaner's work permit can I remain unaffected by it and bring my family out."
Zhou Fangdong paused for a moment, recalling the scene he had seen when he went to the fourth floor to find the pregnant ghost in room 401.
...The corridor was bathed in blue light, corpses lay scattered on the ground, and faceless ghosts stood upright like illusory projections.
Because he was in a hurry to unlock the pregnant ghost in room 401 and take it to the mirror world to find a body, Zhou Fangdong didn't take it seriously even though he felt the corridor was a bit strange, since the faceless ghosts didn't attack him.
Now that the ghost baby had brought it up, Zhou Fangdong recalled what had happened in the fourth-floor corridor.
...According to the ghost baby, that strange phenomenon was because a ghost occupied the fourth-floor corridor?
That won't do. The room is the ghost's private territory, but the corridor is a public area shared by all ghosts. It's too domineering for one ghost to occupy the entire corridor.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the ghost infant and continued to ask, "You were originally a ghost on the fourth floor? How did you get to know Quan Wuming and the others?"
The ghost baby felt even more aggrieved, its already wrinkled little face scrunched up completely, and it said in a defiant tone, "They went to the fourth floor to slack off, looking for some snacks to eat. They thought I was a mindless snack, so they stole me and were going to eat me. But after I left the fourth floor, I regained consciousness... They were afraid of being scolded by you, so they gave up on eating me and even recommended me to be a cleaner, in exchange for not telling on me."
Zhou Fangdong looked at the half-ghost and the wheelchair ghost: "Were you also stolen from the fourth floor by the cleaners, just like this ghost baby?"
The two ghosts nodded silently.
Good heavens, so the only legitimate cleaner recommended for the job is Gap Ghost. The other three were just people Quan Wuming and his group put into the job postings knowing they were in the wrong. No wonder they're three old, weak, sick, or disabled.
Zhou Fangdong decided it was time to teach these guys a lesson... He asked them to recommend cleaners, but they used the job openings as a bargaining chip to prevent the ghost from complaining.
"System, is there a penalty for cleaners who always slack off?"
[It was detected that the two cleaners, Quan Wuming and Ming Wuqian, were frequently slacking off during work hours. A week's wages will be deducted, and their cleaning duties in the apartment garden will be increased.]
There is a ditch in the apartment garden that obstructs the passage of tenants. Should the task of filling it in be assigned to these two cleaners?
"Yes. Have them fill the soil in a more level way."
After communicating with the system in his mind, Zhou Fangdong said to the three ghosts in front of him, who were old, weak, sick and disabled, "You can stay anywhere on the first to third floors. I will handle the matter in the corridor on the fourth floor."
As he spoke, he rejected the three ghosts' applications on the cleaner job posting page.
The three ghosts nodded obediently and left the basement.
Just as Zhou Fangdong was about to go to the fourth floor to take a look, two pop-up windows suddenly appeared on the special tenant watchlist:
[Tenant in Room 301 is cursed; death countdown: 3 days]
[Tenant in Room 302 is cursed; death countdown: 3 days]
Looking at the two pop-up windows, Zhou Fangdong sighed softly.
He was probably used to the fact that tenants' activities outside would inevitably trigger some abnormal events, so he was not surprised at all when he saw the pop-up window about Lu Mingbian and Xiong Lei being cursed.
Lu Mingbian and Xiong Lei must have just left... Judging by the speed of the ghost bus, the two of them should have just arrived at the first nursing home.
It's unclear whether this inexplicable curse is caused by an evil god or the supreme deity.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com