Chapter 176 Night Raid by a Hundred Demons: Preparations Before the Battle, the Supreme God Appears...
After chatting with the coffin shop owner, Zhou Fangdong prepared to go to other shops in the ghost market to collect ghost coins.
Actually, after listening to the coffin shop owner's explanation, Zhou Fangdong felt a sense of relief, but his heart was not greatly disturbed.
...After all, the conversation had gotten so far that it touched on the topic of gods undergoing tribulations and reshaping their divine status. Moreover, it involved sacrificing oneself to repair the world and undergoing tribulations to become a new ancient god. It was all so amazing and magnificent that it didn't feel real to listen to; it felt like listening to someone else's story.
Moreover, no matter how powerful he was in the past, it wouldn't help his current situation. Life goes on, and there are still a lot of things to deal with.
The problem of the main god is urgent and must be dealt with before the night of the hundred demons' attack.
By the way, the system mentioned that tenants would be in great danger outside the apartment during the Night of a Hundred Demons.
After the new building for the Supervision Bureau is completed, we need to call back the investigators, led by Hong Zhong. They've been working overtime these past two days, and we can't let them stay out any longer tonight.
Before Zhou Fangdong left the coffin shop, the shop owner packed him a bag of food, all of which smelled so good they would make him feel full.
They were rather old-fashioned pastries, tea, steamed buns, and other similar foods. Judging from the packaging, they must have been preserved for a long time. Zhou Fangdong was a little touched.
It feels like before leaving home, parents are worried that their children won't have enough good food while traveling, so they fill their suitcases with local specialties.
Zhou Fangdong put the food into his inventory, intending to eat it after the battle was won and the rewards were distributed.
Because the coffin shop was closest to the paper offering shop, just across the street, he first went to the paper offering shop to get 30,000 ghost coins, and then headed towards the ghost market auction.
Upon entering the small building where the auction house was located, Zhou Fangdong was surprised to find that the fleshy mountain demon at the auction house had actually gained weight again.
He came to the auction yesterday and collected half of the proceeds. He earned so much in just one day?
Zhou Fangdong checked the auction records and found that all the negative and supernatural props he had put up for auction yesterday had been sold.
I can't believe there are actually suckers willing to buy this. These few items sold for over 60,000 Ghost Coins. That's a huge profit.
Ignoring the desperate expression on the face of the flesh mountain ghost, Zhou Fangdong took out another 80,000 ghost coins, leaving the remaining 50,000 ghost coins at the auction house to maintain normal operations.
He currently has 150,000 Ghost Coins in hand, which should be enough to build a training center building for the Supervision Bureau, as long as he doesn't pursue overly luxurious decorations.
While conceiving the design, Zhou Fangdong didn't want to be disturbed, so he teleported back to his apartment room.
The cloth bag containing the information of fifteen players was still on the table. Zhou Fangdong picked up the bag, placed it on the bookshelf in front of him, and then opened the floor plan of the Supervision Bureau on the system page.
Since his privileges were upgraded, he now has a lot more freedom when it comes to decorating, without having to spend time and effort searching through the system's decoration interface. Basically, whenever he has a decoration idea, the feasibility and the required Ghost Coins will appear in his mind, which is especially convenient.
More than 600 players were undergoing social responsibility training. To facilitate management, their accommodation, meals, and training all had to be held in the same building...
Zhou Fangdong took a look and found that the tallest building in the Supervision Bureau was only ten stories high, which seemed to be the investigators' dormitory.
It's not easy to renovate it. If we take over this building, the investigators won't have anywhere to live.
There's still some empty space nearby, so let's build a building next to this dormitory building. If there's a countdown, then so be it. Anyway, those players aren't coming right away; the earliest they'll arrive is tomorrow.
Building the tower and adding its protective features requires 100,000 Ghost Coins, which is within my budget. However, once it's built, the cost of interior decoration will be a bit tight.
Although the building would come with basic interior decoration upon completion, Zhou Fangdong felt that as a gathering place for retired players of the Infinite Flow genre, using only ordinary decoration seemed a bit out of place.
He only has 50,000 ghost coins left, and with renovations going on floor by floor, the money definitely won't be enough.
In that case, let's renovate the overall exterior of the building.
First, to highlight the importance and danger of these players, the building's exterior must be conspicuous...
Zhou Fangdong discovered that the decoration effects he came up with all exceeded his Ghost Coin balance. Helpless, he could only open the system decoration page and look for a good and inexpensive appearance.
This leopard print paint job looks great; it's artistic and inexpensive.
Changing the exterior of the Liwan Apartments costs at least 300,000 Ghost Coins, but changing the exterior of the Supervision Bureau building only costs 30,000 Ghost Coins to paint the entire building leopard print. It's such a great deal.
Before construction began, Zhou Fangdong notified the director of the supervisory bureau in advance to avoid causing panic. He also asked the director to inform Hong Zhong and the others, instructing the investigators to finish their work as soon as possible and return to their apartments.
After finishing the renovation of the Supervision Bureau building, Zhou Fangdong was just about to check the renovation status of his own apartment when a system pop-up appeared:
[All collapsed areas on all floors inside the apartment building have been repaired, achievement achieved: [Impregnable]]
[[Impregnable]: The overall protection of the apartment's interior has been greatly improved. There will be no more collapses or cracks within the apartment, and the main god dungeon cannot penetrate the apartment's interior.]
[The total value of the apartment renovations has been detected to exceed 6,000, unlocking the landlord achievement title: [Renovation Master]]
[Decoration Master]: Wearing this title permanently reduces the Ghost Coins required for all renovations, including those to the apartment and surrounding facilities, by 50%.
Seeing the effect of the title "[Decoration Master]", Zhou Fangdong felt a little sorry for the ghost coins he had just spent decorating the Supervision Bureau building.
I should have waited a while before doing the renovation; it cost me half again as much.
Now that all the collapsed areas in the apartment have been repaired, there's no need to wear the title of "[Disaster Reconstruction Pioneer]" for speeding up the repair of collapsed areas.
However, he will definitely need to renovate the apartment frequently in the future... Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong switched his title from "[Post-Disaster Reconstruction Worker]" to "[Renovation Master]".
I'll save up some more money in a couple of days and renovate the exterior of the Liwan Apartment building. With this title, the Ghost Coins required to change the apartment's appearance have dropped from 300,000 to 150,000, which suddenly feels so cheap.
The collapsed areas on all floors of the apartment building have now been repaired, and there is no longer any need to worry about the main deity invading the apartment building through the collapsed areas.
It's time to begin the God-Capturing Plan.
Zhou Fangdong teleported to the second floor, went to the slime farm to kill a few baby slimes, and then went to the basement to make five [God's Trappers].
To deal with the main god, you need to use the [True Form Shrine]. The system has said that the higher your reputation in the apartment, the stronger this skill will be.
After completing the [God's Trap], Zhou Fangdong opened the City God Temple page and began collecting rent.
The City God Temple is really great; my incense points have reached 12,000, which can be exchanged for 1,200 reputation points.
Then there's the Jingmiao Temple. The Jingmiao Temple where Grandpa Chen works earned the most incense points, which he exchanged for 200 reputation points.
Although the other nine temples were only activated for one day and were all located in relatively remote suburbs, their incense offerings added up to 100 reputation points. Most of these were contributed by worshippers of Chuyun Temple, thanks to the promotion by those who had previously been protected by the temple.
All the patients at Liwan Hospital have been discharged, and I have gained 500 reputation points.
Not long ago, after using the Ghost Domain to cover the entire city and deal with six players, the Supervisory Bureau held a press conference, Miao Zheng broadcast it live, and Bai Mingdan helped write the press release... The three parties worked together to increase the reputation of Liwan Apartment by 300.
Next is the sales of a new batch of [Lamp Oil Pendants]. Because priority was given to purchases from suburban delivery addresses, the reputation gain returned to its original state, earning 300 reputation points.
Zhou Fangdong collected a total of 2600 reputation points and extracted them all.
The moment the reputation was credited, the previously scarlet -999 reputation on the system page finally changed, turning into a normal black color, and the number became a positive number—101.
It's been a long time coming; the reputation of Liwan Apartments has finally turned positive.
Next, we can work on the main god.
Before starting, Zhou Fangdong checked the status of his tenants.
The battlefield is right next to the apartment. If the tenant happens to return while he is fighting with the main god, it would be bad if they were caught in the crossfire.
After checking the status of all the rooms, Zhou Fangdong discovered that all of his investigator tenants had returned, and Hong Zhong and his group not only returned on their own, but also brought back all the other tenants who were working outside.
It was probably because he had mentioned to the director that it would be dangerous for the tenants to be outside today, so Hong Zhong took the initiative and found other tenants to bring back to the apartment.
Having tenants like Hong Zhong is so reassuring; he doesn't have to notify each one individually.
Everything is ready; it's time to get started.
Zhou Fangdong placed the [God's Entangling Device] on the open space next to the apartment, and then manipulated his slime body to launch from the apartment onto that open space.
After leaving the apartment, the black slime's body seemed to break free of its restraints, instantly disintegrating into a runaway, viscous sludge wave that enveloped the entire abandoned building next to the apartment in the blink of an eye and continued to spread outwards, soon turning half the street around the apartment into a swamp of sludge.
After the diffusion stopped, countless pebble-like eyeballs appeared on the surface of the silt, bubbling like bubbles. These eyeballs rolled around, their cold gazes observing everything around them...
The slime's body is useful because it can change its shape at will. Zhou Fangdong used this eyeball, which occupied half the street, to observe the surrounding environment from all angles, trying to spot any signs of the main god's appearance as soon as possible.
His slime body is also an apartment tenant, officially named [Demon Tenant - Evil God Disguised as Human], so he can also use this body to [Descend in His True Form].
Whenever the main god appears, he will descend directly in his true form and then use the [True Form Shrine].
This is his strongest attack skill. Even before it was upgraded, it could handle evil gods. Now that it has been upgraded to the highest level, dealing with the main god will definitely be a piece of cake.
However, a few hours later...
All the [God's Trappers] have been used up, but the God still hasn't shown up.
After waiting for so long, Zhou Fangdong went from being completely focused on observing the surroundings to becoming increasingly relaxed, and finally started idly pinching the slime's face.
Looking at the darkening sky, Zhou Fangdong sighed and called out to the system in his mind: "System, is the [God-Trapping Device] failing? Or is my clone's evil god aura not strong enough... Wait a minute, last time in the Mirror World, I also used this clone to lure out the God, so why doesn't it work this time?"
The system has confirmed that the [God-Slaying Trapper] has not malfunctioned...
The electronic voice paused for a moment, then continued:
[Could it be that the evil god you created is too terrifying, and the main god is a little scared?]
"No way, I think the evil god looks way more disgusting than the one I made. Mine may have a lot of faces too, but at least they're all sunny and cheerful smiling faces."
The system looked at the current evil god clone through Zhou Fangdong's eyes and fell silent.
Now, on the surface of the silt that has swallowed half the street, besides eyeballs, many distorted human faces with frozen smiles have emerged. These faces have slowly evolved from their initial abstractness into rudimentary human forms. The colors of their faces and hair have also become increasingly creative, transforming from pure red, blue, and green into more imaginative color combinations.
The gaps between the faces were filled with lifeless, pale eyeballs. With these faces and eyeballs as decoration, the mud was no longer its original black color, but had turned into a colorful carpet of human faces, like a rainbow.
Fortunately, the area around Liwan Apartments is under lockdown, so there are no pedestrians passing by.
After a moment of silence, the system simply said:
[Maybe we should just go home; the Night Attack by a Hundred Demons is about to begin.]
I never expected that even the evil god's close-range attacks couldn't lure the main god over... Zhou Fangdong sighed silently, somewhat disappointed.
The system is right, the Night Raid of a Hundred Demons is about to begin. Let's focus on this for now and deal with the matter of the main god tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I'll make a few more [God's Trappers] to try one last time. If that still doesn't work, I'll have to make a few more [Lamp Oil Hand Creams], secretly transfer the God's energy to the players in the God's Space a few times, and then pull all those players back in one go.
While this approach may not completely eradicate the problem, it should still allow for the recovery of a significant amount of resources.
Zhou Fangdong ignored his slime's body and simply turned his attention back to letting it continue lying outside the apartment.
Then he said to the system, "System, the Night Raid of a Hundred Demons is about to begin. Can you explain the mission mechanics now?"
As soon as the words were spoken, a pop-up window filled with text appeared:
[After the Hundred Ghosts Night Attack event begins, the apartment will be temporarily unsealed, actively dispersing the yin energy within the apartment rooms, opening all apartment exits, and once again attracting all wandering ghosts and monsters, gathering them into the apartment.]
When the apartment is locked down, no ghosts or monsters can leave; the only way for outside ghosts or monsters to enter is through the main door.
When the apartment is unsealed, not only the main entrance but also the elevator doors on each floor become entrances to the outside world. Evil spirits from outside can then invade the apartment through the elevators and fight for the rooms.
During the event, all tenants will be marked, and any ghosts attracted to the apartment's eerie atmosphere will prioritize killing the tenants. Please warn tenants not to leave the apartment unnecessarily.
[Condition to end the Night Attack by a Hundred Demons: Devour or seal all the demons that have invaded the apartment]
[Note: Due to the host's rapid progress in completing the task, the difficulty of the Night Raid by a Hundred Ghosts event has increased. Many of the ghosts attacking the apartment are vengeful spirits from the rifts, corrupted by the power of the void. It is recommended that the host stand on the rooftop of the apartment building to await the arrival of the event.]
After reading all the mission descriptions, Zhou Fangdong vaguely guessed the true nature of the Hundred Ghosts Night Attack incident.
—The world consciousness is bringing the paranormal outbreak to a close.
This should be the third time the world consciousness has saved itself. The first time was by trapping all the external god projections in the apartment, the second time was by trapping all the ghosts in the apartment, and the third time is by beginning to retrieve the vengeful spirits that escaped from the apartment.
"But why should I go to the rooftop? Aren't those ghosts invading the apartment from the elevators on each floor?"
Standing on the rooftop, you can directly control the void rift at the top floor and use [Dead Zone Invasion] to control all the vengeful spirits in the Blood River to capture those spirits that have invaded the apartment.
The rift opened by the [Dead Zone Invasion] skill is the rift on the roof of the apartment building. With your current assimilation progress and your body's repair progress, you can directly control the evil spirits in the Blood River.
Good heavens, ever since he listened to the coffin shop owner explain the game's background this afternoon, the system has completely stopped acting up and is now revealing the method to clear the Hundred Ghosts Night Raid.
With a more convenient way to pass the level, Zhou Fangdong certainly wouldn't refuse... He decisively teleported to the rooftop of the apartment.
Standing on the rooftop of the apartment building, you can't see the city lights or the night sky; all you can see is a huge tear in space.
The crack is now closed, blocking the entire view from the top floor. Overall, it resembles a giant fissure suspended in the air, a fusion of various distorted architectural projections and black mist.
This is the scar left by the world being torn apart, a huge scab formed by the solidification of chaotic yin energy and barely stitched together.
Zhou Fangdong sensed it and found that he could easily control the opening and closing of the huge crack, and could also sense the blood river in the crack, as well as the numb, docile, and drifting evil spirits in the blood river.
He was completely relieved and stood on the rooftop, waiting for the night attack of a hundred ghosts to begin.
Just after midnight, a faint blue light appeared on the horizon.
As the gloomy atmosphere spread from the apartment, a very familiar aura slowly appeared from the distant horizon.
Zhou Fangdong realized something and immediately shared his perspective of the slime lying on the street.
Through those densely packed eyes, he clearly saw that above the apartment, the phantom of a pale blue sphere was gradually emerging.
—The Lord God has arrived.
Could this guy have known about his existence all along, and thus remained hidden in the shadows while he was being lured away by the slime's body?
And now that he's noticed the changes in the apartment, he's waiting for him to be distracted while dealing with the vengeful ghost that invaded the apartment, so he can come out and cause trouble again... How sinister.
Unfortunately, the Blood River's henchmen helped him handle the Night Raid of a Hundred Demons, so he only needed to focus on dealing with the main god.
Upon noticing the appearance of the main god, the system became excited, and its electronic voice became unusually loud:
[The Supreme God has appeared! Host! Use [True Form Shrine] on it!]
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