CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 98: OPTIMIZATION ONCE AGAIN

Chen Shouyi returned to the hotel.

He was immediately bombarded with questions from Father Chen, Mrs. Chen, and his sister.

When they heard him say he was now a security consultant at the Lower City Public Security Bureau, enjoying the treatment of an official at the division level, with a relocation allowance of eight million, they couldn’t help but feel delighted.

To avoid worrying his parents, in his account, this security consultant role had entirely turned into an honorary inactive position, requiring no exertion, being entirely risk-free, and offering exceptionally generous compensation, stable and secure.

...

After having lunch early, Mrs. Chen and Father Chen called on the siblings to eagerly go house hunting; they were used to frugality, and these few days staying at the hotel costing five to six hundred every day had undoubtedly caused them great distress.

Then, after spending nearly a whole half-day looking around, although they had visited a few houses, they either felt the locations were too remote or the prices were too high.

Lower city was already considered the city center, with housing prices generally above fifty or forty thousand.

With the parents’ savings, they simply couldn’t afford anything substantial, and it was apparent they didn’t want to spend much of Chen Shouyi’s relocation allowance.

"Mom, forget it, we don’t need to look any further; I think this place is nice." Seeing his parents’ intentions, Chen Shouyi estimated they wouldn’t decide today, so he straightforwardly made the decision.

The real estate agent, initially somewhat dismissive in attitude, perked up and said:

"Mr. Chen has a good eye. The owner has only owned this house for a year, and after redecorating, hasn’t even lived in it. It was originally intended as a marital home, but things changed, and now the owner plans to go abroad, so they’re selling this house."

Chen Shouyi was still wearing a suit, making it difficult to discern his exact age.

"It’s really too expensive; can it be any cheaper?" Mrs. Chen asked with a bit of heartache.

The entire house was on the fifth floor, in an elevator building, with three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom, totaling one hundred and thirty square meters. It also came with a balcony, and the community environment was nice.

Furthermore, it was already decorated, ready for move-in with just the bags, so Mrs. Chen was quite satisfied, only the price was really too high.

"Sister Jiang, fifty-five thousand is already the lowest price in the area. A similar floor house in this community was sold last week for as much as fifty-eight thousand. If the owner weren’t in a hurry to go abroad, they wouldn’t offer it at such a low price." The real estate agent persuaded.

Chen Shouyi shook his head, thinking it’d be better to directly talk to the owner rather than with the agent, so he interrupted: "Isn’t the owner preparing to go abroad? Call them here so we can talk; we’re ready to pay in full!"

The real estate agent realized he misspoke, leading to the client’s distrust. Fortunately, it could still be salvaged, so he hurriedly said: "Sure, once we’re downstairs, I’ll use the public phone to call them!"

...

The owner was evidently eager to leave the country, and the house price was eventually negotiated down to fifty-two thousand.

The next morning, both parties went to the Housing Authority to complete the transfer procedures, rounding off to a total of 6.75 million.

Chen Shouyi insisted on not letting his parents pay, using the relocation allowance that had arrived the previous afternoon.

With the departure of this 6.75 million, his savings rapidly shrank from the original 8.26 million to just 1.51 million.

...

"Finally done!"

Chen Shouyi walked into his own new bedroom.

All day, he had first accompanied Father Chen and Mrs. Chen to the Housing Authority, then spent the afternoon running around various malls, purchasing furniture, appliances, bedding, and living necessities, everything needed.

His body wasn’t tired, but his mind was.

However, looking at the house he bought with his relocation allowance, he still felt a sense of satisfaction.

Chen Shouyi released the Shell Lady.

"Giant, why did you change places?" she asked dejectedly.

Perhaps, to her, the hotel was the ideal place.

"Look at this!" Chen Shouyi hummed, opening the laptop on the desk, pressing the power button.

This laptop was bought in the afternoon along with the appliances; two in total, one for him and one for Chen Xingyue, and they had already set up the internet.

The Shell Lady was initially confused, as the hotel had a desktop computer and she’d never seen a laptop before, but as the familiar startup screen appeared, her face lit up, and she rubbed Chen Shouyi’s hand back ingratiatingly, saying: "Great Giant, it’s glowing, you can watch Prepared inside, right?"

Chen Shouyi glanced at the Shell Lady.

All decency was gone just to watch cartoons.

He purposely ignored her, opened a webpage, and began to check the news.

As soon as he opened it, a sensational news headline caught his attention:

"A giant spatial passage in Tony Country was breached, with the second-largest city, Five Rivers City, falling. The Tony Country government officially requests international military aid."

What’s this about?

A well-guarded passage being breached, how is that possible?

Though Tony Country’s military power is far behind military giants like Great Xia Country, there’s no doubt that the defensive forces on the passage should be more than sufficient.

For the past twenty years, the shadow of war has loomed over Earth. Even the weakest countries have had to scrape the last coin from their treasury to arm themselves as much as possible.

Take Great Xia Country as an example, where the military budget accounts for as much as 7% of GDP each year, having decreased from around ten years ago when it once reached 15%.

Chen Shouyi quickly clicked on the news headline, finding that the disclosure was limited to announcing that Great Xia Country had responded to Tony Country’s request for military aid, dispatching the South Sea Fleet.

The reasons for the fall and the number of casualties, however, were not mentioned, and it seems everything is still unknown.

Chen Shouyi did not give it much importance. After all, it happened in a distant, unfamiliar small country.

"This isn’t interesting." At this point, the Shell Lady jumped onto the keyboard, shouting: "Giant, let’s watch Prepared!"

Chen Shouyi snapped back, picked up the Shell Lady, and helplessly said: "I’ll let you watch it soon!"

He swiftly opened the cartoon, then scooped up the Shell Lady and placed her on the bed, away from the laptop.

...

After settling the Shell Lady, he eagerly opened the attribute panel.

It’s been nearly a month since the last optimization of the Thirty-Six Refinement Styles, and today at noon, the Book of Knowledge’s Energy Accumulation finally reached three points. Had it not been for spending all day outside, he couldn’t have resisted.

Then, without hesitation, he chose the skill of Meditation Refinement for a second optimization.

The dream came over him once again.

In the dream, he sat cross-legged, palms up, repeatedly entering meditation; his heart grew increasingly serene, and his meditation deepened.

Gradually, he sensed an aura of extreme tranquility.

Quiet, very quiet.

It was as if he fell into the deepest layer of serenity, and simultaneously, the network of his body slowly unfurled before his "eyes".

Starting from the fine muscle fibers, it gradually filled out, becoming more detailed and rich, then slowly extending towards the internal organs...

If the earlier scenes and the first optimization of Meditation Refinement were similar, only richer in detail, then this time, Meditation Refinement began to develop in a microscopic direction.

His body seemed to magnify continuously, as if becoming an immense giant, yet his perspective remained a full three hundred sixty-five degrees. In his trance, he seemed to see individual cells making up his body...