Chapter 10: The Two-Bedroom Duplex and the Ruthless Landlord

The landlady's blind box burst forth with dazzling light, and under Qiao Jia's calm, unwavering gaze, a building model appeared before her eyes!

[Duplex apartment for two (stackable): Floor height 6.0 meters, two bedrooms, one living room, fully furnished, exquisitely decorated, country-style, …]

It was an apartment.

But a duplex apartment for two meant Qiao Jia could fit even more people inside. If she later drew more apartment-type buildings, she could stack and combine them, piecing together a towering high-rise!

Of course, she didn’t have to stack them. The property belonged to her, and she could choose as she liked.

She lifted her eyelids lazily and swiftly posted the rental information for the two-person apartment.

This apartment could easily accommodate ten or so people. Since it was fully furnished and exquisitely decorated, Qiao Jia felt justified in raising the price.

It certainly couldn’t be as cheap as the single-person cabins at ten points per person per night.

For this, surely the price could be ten times higher at least?

Survivors who could afford such a refined apartment wouldn’t lack crystal cores.

So, one person per day would cost a second-tier crystal core.

Of course, she still had to consider reality. Early survivors didn’t have many crystal cores, but she could raise the price later.

"Duplex apartment for two, fifty first-tier crystal cores per person per day?"

The fox-faced man behind the cold-faced leader stroked his chin and read out the information. Wasn’t this tailored for them?

Such a high price, probably only they could afford it.

"Boss?"

The fox-faced man glanced at the cold-faced leader with a flirtatious smile.

Back at the Beichen Base, they’d lived in similar apartments—though perhaps not even as nice as this landlord's.

"Yes," the cold-faced man replied without expression, nodding.

"Fantastic, boss!" Third’s excitement erupted as he shadow-boxed the air.

Their leader was finally ready to leave the wolf’s den that was Beichen Base. All thanks to this landlord!

"Landlord, what’s the price if we rent the whole place?"

"Probably not many survivors can afford this kind of apartment now, right?"

The fox-faced man winked at Qiao Jia, his charming eyes shimmering with warmth.

Qiao Jia said nothing, simply raised a wooden sign.

[Anyone who attempts to harass the landlord or her little dog will be charged an extra 100%.]

The fox-faced man’s flirtation was abruptly cut short by Qiao Jia’s sign.

"Ha ha ha—Little Second, you finally got what’s coming!" The two standing with Third doubled over with laughter, mercilessly mocking the fox-faced man’s failed attempt.

"Sorry, sorry, landlord," the fox-faced man quickly knelt and apologized to Qiao Jia under threat of the penalty.

"Is there a discount for renting the whole place?"

"One week, three thousand five hundred. Half a month, six thousand. One month, ten thousand crystal cores. Utilities and waste disposal not included."

Whether those fees existed or not, she declared them boldly.

If they were renting the whole place, it saved Qiao Jia trouble, so she didn’t mind letting them have it cheaper.

A blind box costing two thousand five hundred would pay for itself in a week.

Renting truly was a lucrative business.

Qiao Jia mused silently.

But the crystal cores these halo characters had collected had all been used to open landlady blind boxes, so Qiao Jia had yet to see new points come in.

To open the next blind box, she’d have to sell them honestly.

So expensive.

The fox-faced man dared not complain about Qiao Jia’s prices aloud, only muttering inwardly.

Ten thousand crystal cores meant they’d have to kill a hundred second-tier zombies, or ten thousand first-tier zombies.

Not impossible.

But for the same price at Beichen Base, one could live in far more luxurious accommodations.

However, Qiao Jia’s place had advantages Beichen Base couldn’t match—for example, absolute safety inside the apartments, and unlimited utilities as long as you had crystal cores.

Qiao Jia’s town didn’t have a power or water plant yet, so she needed to purchase these from the system and supply her survivor tenants.

As a shrewd landlady, Qiao Jia naturally intended to profit from this.

"We’ll stay," the cold-faced man decided. The crystal cores they’d brought from Beichen Base were enough for a month’s rent.

Qiao Jia’s advantages were unmatched, the only drawback being the consumption of crystal cores.

But that was their problem, not hers.

Clearly, they understood the value here.

"Staying here will make trips to Giant Tree City much easier," Third said, draping an arm over Fourth’s shoulder, his goofy smile barely masking a hint of worry in his eyes.

Inside Giant Tree City, there were many survivors, but the number of zombies and other monsters was enormous!

Some among them still had family trapped in Giant Tree City.

Their leader’s younger brother was at Giant Tree University, and they’d tried many times to enter the city, but failed.

The head of Beichen Base had used this as leverage, promising to send people to rescue those in Giant Tree City, to keep their leader obedient.

"Keys, passwords—can be fingerprint or face scan," Qiao Jia, colder than the cold-faced man himself, handed over the keys and a slip of paper with the password.

"Rent will be automatically deducted from your crystal core prepay card, as will utilities."

"If crystal cores run low, I’ll notify you in advance."

Qiao Jia, the true landlady, handed the blind box to the system and led the group across the bridge into the woods.

She’d already chosen a suitable spot to place the duplex apartment.

"Little dog, give me ten food blind boxes, ten drink blind boxes, and ten low-durability weapon blind boxes," Third demanded forcefully, addressing the system.

The system, disgruntled, glared at Third with its beady eyes.

But as a host, it couldn’t refuse, so with a pout, it counted out the required number of blind boxes and handed them over.

"Boss, wait for me!" clutching an armful of blind boxes, Third ran after Qiao Jia and the others, shouting loudly.

Qiao Jia didn’t wait, striding ahead and explaining precautions as she went.

The duplex apartment was near the cabins, so Shen Tong had naturally noticed it. She came out to see, and immediately spotted Qiao Jia leading the five newcomers.

"Landlord, what’s this?" Shen Tong asked, pointing at the suddenly appeared duplex apartment.

"Duplex apartment. They’re new tenants," Qiao Jia explained briefly.

"Would you like to come see?"

The fox-faced man smiled, inviting her.

He knew Shen Tong—the woman who’d drawn the one and only hidden weapon.

"…Sorry for the trouble," Shen Tong hesitated, but curiosity won out and she joined them at the apartment door.

Was this the landlord’s new trick?

After Qiao Jia’s earlier display annihilating zombies, all the survivors were thoroughly intimidated.

Now, whatever she did, none of them found it strange.