This raffle was indeed quite unexpected. Let’s set aside that big pile of Star Dust for now; I thought the most useful would be the Gold Conversion, but it turned out to be a worthless skill. Contrarily, the inconspicuous Constitution Enhancement turned out to be a real Divine Skill.
Zhang Xiaoman tested out the changes brought by the 20-point boost in his constitution for an hour, and after getting somewhat accustomed to it, he activated his Infinite Teleportation Skill and returned.
A ringing phone woke up Zhang Xiaoman, who was still in his dreams. He picked up his phone and checked the caller ID, recognizing the number.
"Hmm... isn’t this... Brother Hero?" he stared blankly at his phone screen, taking a long while to snap out of his just-awoken daze.
As he answered the call, Brother Hero’s familiar voice came through immediately.
"Oh? It connected? Zhang Xiaoman, you’re back?"
Zhang Xiaoman rubbed his still-sleepy eyes and responded, "Yeah, I just got back not long ago. What made you call me? Are you not working today?"
Brother Hero knew he had gone out to sea for a while. Zhang Xiaoman had informed a few familiar people before he left to avoid them not being able to find him if they needed something.
"Hey, what about working? The company is gone, and I’ve been unemployed at home for over ten days," Brother Hero replied despondently.
Zhang Xiaoman was stunned. The company was gone? What did that mean? Could it be that Brother Hero’s company had closed down in just half a month?
"What happened? Weren’t you just promoted to team leader? How can the company just disappear? Or was it because of that incident in the underground parking garage last time, and the building got sealed by the government?"
He blurted out all the doubts and speculations in his mind.
"No, no, it’s a long story. Actually, it’s not just our company; all the businesses in the East District Industrial Park have been shut down and relocated, even the station has temporarily moved..."
Brother Hero explained the situation there, but the content of his words was even more surprising.
"Everything moved? Even the station changed locations!?"
Zhang Xiaoman repeated, somewhat surprised. That place had at least a hundred large and small enterprises and a bus station. How could they have moved so suddenly?
"Yeah, I was puzzled too. I was doing well there, but then they moved the company to a branch in the northwest, over 50 kilometers away. I surely couldn’t commute that far every day, so I just resigned."
"But from what I’ve heard, the entire relocation of the East District Industrial Park might be related to those Transcendent events. Many people around here are saying that, and even the military has gone there..."
"The military has gone there too!?"
Zhang Xiaoman was shocked.
"What’s going on? Even the military went over there? That’s so extreme. Tell me what’s really happening..."
He thought for a moment, then changed his mind, saying, "Never mind, it’s not convenient discussing this over the phone. Where are you now? How about I come over to see you? We haven’t seen each other for days, and we can go out for lunch together. By the way, did you call me just to talk about this?"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then suddenly the tone of voice quickened, "Oh dear, look at me getting all distracted, I forgot the main issue. Xiao Man, you might really need to come over today..."
"You might not believe it, but I just killed a monster!"
Brother Hero astonishingly revealed.
Zhang Xiaoman was stunned.
"What? You said you killed a monster!?"
On the other end of the phone, Brother Hero responded very seriously. To prevent any mishaps, Zhang Xiaoman decided to go there directly, asking the other party to wait for his arrival, and then he hastily hung up the call.
After getting out of bed and preparing himself, Zhang Xiaoman checked his equipment and eventually took a cloak, Purple Cloud Divine Sword, and Water Bullet Gun.
Speaking of the Water Bullet Gun, he had already switched to a new model this time. The ten guns he had custom-ordered over the phone from Xibebi Toy Factory had been delivered, and both in terms of appearance and performance, they were far superior to the "Earth Defense Army" model he had used before.
The Water Bullet Gun he now held had reverted to a more common design, not only much smaller but also with an increased range of 25 meters. The loading capacity was still ten shots; although the overall improvement in specifications wasn’t significant, it was still progress.
Looking at the anti-gravity car parked in the room, Zhang Xiaoman thought about it and decided to forego driving it over, as finding an inconspicuous place to park in a residential area would be somewhat difficult.
Half an hour later, at Shouyu District.
This was a residential area built more than a decade ago, not too far from Zhang Xiaoman’s home, just under 5 kilometers away.
Although there’s only a one-letter difference between this place and Fat Fish District, the overall standard of the two could not be more different. One was a renowned scenic villa area, while the other was a resettlement area built after demolitions. Brother Hero had even daydreamed several times about using correction fluid to remove a letter from his property deed.
Of course, it was possible to make such a change, but the cost of the correction fluid would probably be quite high.
When Zhang Xiaoman arrived, it was nearly noon. He was still very familiar with the location of his childhood friend Brother Hero’s home and got there effortlessly.
The doorbell was answered by Mrs. Hero, a somewhat plump woman whose appearance was not particularly striking. She and Brother Hero had known each other since graduation and had since married and had children.
"Xiao Man, you’re here. Come in and take a seat; I’ll get you some water."
Zhang Xiaoman leaned on the doorframe and peeked inside, replying, "Sister-in-law, no need to bother, where’s Brother Hero? Isn’t he at home?"
"He just went out with a big piece of old curtain, not sure what for. He said to wait for him if you came..."
Before she finished speaking, footsteps could already be heard from the stairs, accompanied by Brother Hero’s heavy breathing.
"Huh? Xiao Man, you’re here! I was just about to call you." Brother Hero looked up and saw Zhang Xiaoman standing outside.
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t delay and quickly asked, "Hero, where did you just go? That monster... that thing, where is it? Show me."
"Ah? Oh, oh! It’s in the garage! Come on, follow me."
Brother Hero was wearing a blue coat typical of online taxi drivers. While he had just run upstairs and hadn’t yet steadied himself, he turned and headed back down, not forgetting to instruct his wife at the door:
"Wife, Xiao Man and I will step out for a bit, we won’t be back for lunch. Take good care of the kid, and don’t miss me too much! Love you, mua~"
"Mua~ Husband, I love you too, come back early~"
Zhang Xiaoman, about to head down the stairs, was forcefully fed a mouthful of ’dog food’ (excessive public affection), stumbled, and nearly fell.
Although he had witnessed Brother Hero’s public displays of affection countless times before, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of goosebumps each time.