Zhou Yi sat up from his bed and stretched lazily.
He walked to the living room in his slippers, grabbed a bottle of coconut juice from the drink rack, and started his breakfast with a small bun.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the Sun had already risen.
The entire beach area was covered in white snow.
Above the warm white mist of the sea, a battle furiously raged on.
A massive C-class entity, the "Red Monster," was fiercely fighting a group of D-class "thorny birds."
Zhou Yi was already used to such sights.
Winter was the fighting season, with a free show of battles every morning, each day offering something different.
The Red Monster was a giant ape-like creature with long hair and a reddish body that stood over 5 meters tall. Its eyes gleaming wickedly white, it bellowed excitedly from a mouth with protruding canine teeth. This pure brawling type from the Guangna Species was thick-skinned and ferociously powerful, with both its strength and vitality rated as C.
Its broad and long arms swung at high speeds to capture the circling birds attacking it, occasionally managing to shove one into its mouth, resulting in a bloody mess.
Zhou Yi had seen such creatures at the sea floor.
Normally, the Red Monster's true form resembled a small, seemingly dumb monkey with large eyes and a small mouth, often laying on various human structures with a blank expression. Most of the time, it sat alone in a daze.
But when disturbed into a combative state, its body would abruptly enlarge, turning into a large monster covered in red hair.
The thorny birds it was hunting were new to Zhou Yi.
They were a flying Guangna Species that Sea commonly found. Both their upper and lower sharp beaks could detach.
When encountering a formidable enemy, the thorny birds would embed their serrated beaks deep into their opponent, keeping the wounds bleeding and torn. However, they would temporarily lose their ability to attack and need some time to regenerate their beaks.
Currently, the Red Monster's body was full of sharp beaks, bleeding profusely, but its thick skin and flesh seemed not to be greatly affected.
Both parties were in a frenzy.
However, Zhou Yi did not have time to enjoy the morning fight today.
He gulped down his last sip of drink, "Drive them away, don't disturb everyone's sleep."
Beside Jade City, a pile of ammunition rooms took off one by one, emitting red light in the air. With just that action, the previously intensely fighting Red Monster and thorny birds regained clarity in their eyes and turned to flee deep into the Dead Sea.
Outside the window, tranquility returned.
Only the snowflakes continued to drift slowly.
Zhou Yi carried his bag and took the elevator down. As he stepped out of the elevator, he saw people lying all over the corridor from Mao Valley Town.
Initially, they had been sleeping outside, leaning on Jade City. However, as the heavy snow continued, the temporary shelters made of branches frequently collapsed under the weight of the snow, plus with relentless wind, the conditions were quite harsh.
Consequently, Zhou Yi had let them into Jade City to temporarily reside inside the hallways and stairs on the first and second floors.
It was warmer and safer inside, providing shelter from the wind and rain.
But now a problem had arisen.
The problem of the people of Mao Valley Town had been solved, but many of them did not want to return.
In Jade City, they did not need to light a fire; the interior was naturally warm and dry, free from bugs and sand rats meddling, and they had access to water without stepping outside, stable and reliable—it offered everything they longed for. The residents, through Gong Zheng and Ajin, expressed their strong desire to live here, saying they were willing to do anything it took.
This was all within Zhou Yi's expectations.
Having lived in a modern residence with floor heating and running water, they obviously found it hard to return to caves.
Having desires and needs was a good thing.
Zhou Yi had also been considering an important issue: how to utilize the labor force of Mao Valley Town's residents?
Initially, he thought farming would be suitable, but it turned out, farming during the Wasteland Era was a high-level skill, and no one from here seemed to grasp it.
Sending them to the Agricultural Machinery Brothers would just cause more confusion. Follow current novᴇls on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Now, Zhou Yi's preliminary plan was to have these people help Nemo, and the electromechanical mouse could teach them the skills to dig and repair pipes.
Once the townspeople mastered the basics, they could also give back to Nemo. After all, although the sand rat group had developed some intelligence, their physiological structure and life spans limited their ability to engage in prolonged learning and accumulation.
Nemo also indicated that the language barrier between humans and mice meant that coordinated labor would require a process, needing a gradual approach.
Although it was a good idea, it was not something that could be achieved in a short time.
A shadow flitted in front of Zhou Yi's eyes.
"Good day, Chairman!"
Ye Zhao crouched on the ground, posture upright.
Zhou Yi asked him, "Where is Gong Zheng?"
"He's resting in the stairwell on the second floor."
Ye Zhao explained, "To ensure the townspeople follow the rules, he sleeps with them and also better understands their situation."
"Alright, call him over."
Soon, Gong Zheng, leaning on a cane, hurried over.
His face was worn and extremely tired. The new human employees within the company generally still maintained the tradition of working at night and sleeping during the day.
"There's an important matter today that needs your opinion."
Zhou Yi handed him a bottle of Red Bull, "Drink this to keep going, and rest after you're done."
Under the strong stimulation of the energy drink, he slightly regained some spirit, washed his face with snow, and instantly felt much more awake.
Zhou Yi led him toward a group of buildings formed by ammunition rooms, located near the west but surrounded and covered by various risky buildings.
The risky buildings slowly parted to the sides, revealing a brand-new 11-story building inside.
Gong Zheng seemed to think of something and his face brightened with happiness, "Chairman, is this... Jade City has produced a young Alien?"
Zhou Yi's smile stiffened.
He explained to him, "This is not a young Alien, but a part of Jade City. Jade City has not yet reached its true complete form, this is just a part of its body, which is now perfected."
Gong Zheng listened with some surprise, "Jade City is still in its growth phase and already possesses such power; it's really exciting to anticipate seeing it in its complete state."
Zhou Yi said, "I brought you here today to show you the Jade City Second Building."
The two walked into the apartment building.
Compared to the patched-up Jade City First Building, the Second Building had a brighter and cleaner color—although it was the natural yellowish-brown of sand and mud, the new building naturally had an appealing quality.
The basic facilities such as water, heating, and doors and windows in the building were all completed.
The only difference was that here, the elevator was an escalator, not a lift.
"This... moving staircase?"
Gong Zheng was somewhat uncertain and unsure of how to go up.
Zhou Yi gave him a demonstration.
He simply stood on the first step at the entrance of the building, and then the sand-like staircase slowly moved upwards.
This was an improvement in Jade City because they lacked the main structure and materials for a lift; the old-style neighborhood had no elevator. Hence, they made this modification: two staircases, one for going up and one for coming down, triggered to move only when someone stepped on them.
Gong Zheng, following Zhou Yi's lead, stepped onto the staircase, tightly gripping the handrails with both hands, his slight nervousness and unease quickly turning into surprise and excitement.
"This is really good, really good."
"Compared to that enclosed elevator, this is more spacious and reassuring."
Zhou Yi looked at him, "To business, how do you think we should utilize this place?"
That made Gong Zheng furrow his brows.
"Chairman, in my opinion, this could be a super warehouse, capable of storing a huge amount of valuable materials, such as monster materials, rhombic stones, and precious metals. The security of Jade City could make this place extremely secure, greatly expanding the company's storage capacity."
Zhou Yi shook his head, "That would be a waste. Even the best house only realizes its value when it's inhabited."
Gong Zheng looked puzzled.
Zhou Yi asked again, "Do you think, if the price is very low, people would be willing to live here over the winter?"
Gong Zheng's eyes suddenly widened, "You want to open up the Second Building to the public?"
"If we don't let a portion of the people have the chance to move in first, then the outside world won't know just how good the residences in Jade City are and what makes them so."
Zhou Yi said earnestly, "So, my idea is to let the people of Mao Valley Town all move in for the winter. With over a hundred people, this place would be more than sufficient."
The Second Building had two units per floor, for a total of 22 apartments, each apartment was a four-bedroom unit of 160 square meters. Following a dormitory-style assignment of two people per room, each apartment could house 8 people, accommodating a total of 176 people, enough to cover the entire Mao Valley Town.
They would just be residents, not owners.
Most importantly... a new situation had just arisen on the side of Jade City; maintaining a high occupancy rate was of great significance to it; now, even if it meant no cost, they needed to get people to move in as quickly as possible.
Zhou Yi thought so, but said aloud, "We'll need to do promotions in Chicken Head Town and even beyond in the Sand Port Region."
Gong Zheng asked, "What will you promote?"
"Of course, our company's Third Building, although it is only being built now, it will be finished within a week at the latest. I've even thought of the slogan—'Buy with confidence, rent with ease. Move in this winter, first come first served.'"
After thinking hard for a while, Gong Zheng finally relaxed his brow, "I understand. Through this method, we'll make the company's name known to the Sand Port Region. A residence in Jade City that can guarantee absolute safety will attract many people once confirmed!"
Seeing that he understood, Zhou Yi was relieved, "I haven't decided yet how to price it. What do you think?"
"Indeed, too low a price might be suspected as a scam, too high would keep people away."
Gong Zheng thought for a moment and then said, "How about this? Let's say we are in a trial living phase, needing a large amount of various plant or crop seeds to improve the living environment, which could be used to pay for the rent."
Zhou Yi thought this was a good idea.
"Then leave this to you."
Gong Zheng suddenly looked troubled again, "But there are just a few of us in the company, even if we all ran out shouting, it wouldn't be enough, everyone has their own tasks. Ajin needs to go treasure hunting, A Feng tends to the Armored Mites, Yuan Tong is researching tools made from monster materials..."
"I'm not asking you few to go."
Zhou Yi said with a smile, "I'm asking the townspeople of Mao Valley to go. They've been everywhere shouting; you're responsible for training them, teaching them how to distribute flyers, how to shout, how to explain. I'll tell you the core points, the key is simple and easy to understand, ideally some catchy slogans..."
He assigned the townspeople their first task, which anyone with hands could do.
And that was distributing flyers.
What grand opening of a real estate doesn't involve distributing flyers?