Chapter 54: Lanting Waterside Villa

On the way, Jiang Chen used his wristband to check the regulations for the Safe Zone.

[Housing Guide for Safe Zones]

[Traffic Rules in Safe Zones]

[Functional Features of Safe Zone Equipment]

[Roles of Various Robots in the Safe Zone]

[Code of Conduct for Safe Zone Citizens]

…

After browsing for a while, Jiang Chen had a general understanding of the situation.

In the Safe Zone, those who had not purchased housing could stay in alliance-designated residential areas using their residence permit, but these areas were guarded. One had to apply to the Alliance for permission before leaving the premises for errands.

The other option was to purchase property.

Doing so granted permanent usage rights until the residency permit expired. During that period, one could move about freely—provided they followed the behavioral norms.

Self-cooking was forbidden in the Safe Zone. All food had to be bought from designated service centers or delivered by official providers.

It was also prohibited to grow vegetables, plant trees, or carry out any similar activity without authorization.

These were just a few examples among many prohibitions.

In addition, residents were required to pay a monthly energy fee, since energy in the Safe Zone was not provided for free.

The energy cost in a Tier-3 Safe Zone was: 100,000 Yuan per month.

Dozens of people were heading to Jiangnan City’s No. 6 Safe Zone with Jiang Chen, and they were all reading the Safe Zone regulations.

When they saw the monthly fee of 100,000, the group erupted in commotion.

“No way, they’re charging us more money?”

“Yeah, I barely scraped together the 3 million, how am I supposed to afford this energy fee?”

“This Safe Zone is a scam! If we can’t pay the fee, we get kicked out after three months. What the hell?”

“Damn it! With 3 million, I could’ve lived like a king in the slums. I’m not going anymore! Give me a refund! A refund!”

“Calm down, bro. This is an Alliance aircraft. If you cause too much trouble, they’ll shoot you on the spot.”

People all around were sighing. For them, 100,000 per month wasn’t a small sum. If they couldn’t find a job in the Safe Zone, their 3 million investment might just go up in smoke.

Jiang Chen hadn’t known about this either, but fortunately, he didn’t need to worry about money now.

He topped up 1 million into his energy account, then turned his attention to house purchasing.

He filled out his basic requirements: standalone villa, under 40 million, available for rent or purchase, ready for immediate move-in.

All information in the Safe Zone was controlled by the World Alliance. To access national databases required the consent of that specific country’s branch.

In such a framework of semi-autonomous authority, it was difficult to investigate minor matters.

Therefore, Jiang Chen wasn’t worried that renting a house would attract trouble.

Very soon, a huge list of options appeared.

After filtering through the list, Jiang Chen found a villa he liked:

Villa No. 001 in Lanting Waterside Neighborhood. Price: 40 million.

Rental price: 500,000/month.

He brought up the 3D holographic model of the villa.

The villa had three floors and a total area of 780 square meters—averaging 260 square meters per floor, which was decent for a villa.

The first floor had a reception hall, dining area, and servant’s room. There was no kitchen because cooking was prohibited.

The second floor included a study, game room, gym, and guest room.

The third floor had the master bedroom and another study.

The fourth floor was the rooftop, which featured a custom-designed swimming pool.

The interior was fully furnished. It was a new but unsold property.

Because of the high 40 million price tag, very few people in Tier-3 Safe Zones could afford it.

People with that kind of money usually opted for Tier-2 Safe Zones instead, so this villa had remained unsold.

Jiang Chen was quite satisfied with it—mainly because it was available for rent.

Rental villas were rare in the Safe Zones, and standalone ones were even rarer.

He opened the payment platform and rented the villa for one year, spending 6 million.

With that settled, Jiang Chen entered another online store.

He filled in his requirements: physical enhancement, nutritional supplement.

Soon, product info popped up:

[Level 1 Alliance Enhancement Serum] Price: 50 million

Effect: Enhances physical constitution.

Note: Suitable for individuals who’ve taken nutritional serums for at least one month.

[Level 1 Alliance Nutritional Serum] Price: 1 million

Effect: Replenishes nutrition, nourishes the body.

Note: Suitable for all individuals.

So expensive!

The Level 1 enhancement serum actually cost 50 million—Jiang Chen was shocked.

Even the nutritional serum cost 1 million. At this rate, even his several tens of millions wouldn’t last long.

But improving his physical condition was essential.

Without hesitation, Jiang Chen ordered 30 vials of nutritional serum.

Only one could be used per day, so this would last him exactly one month.

By then, the sale of the Guild Founding Token would bring in enough money for the enhancement serum.

…

Soon, Jiang Chen arrived at Jiangnan City’s No. 6 Safe Zone.

Everything before him was orderly, luxurious, and beyond comparison to the slums.

Without lingering, Jiang Chen went straight to the villa district he had just rented: Lanting Waterside.

The villa came with two high-intelligence housekeeping robots to help manage the property—saving him a lot of time.

It also had all the basic necessities, so he could move in immediately.

Looking at the splendid, exquisitely designed house before him, Jiang Chen was overwhelmed with emotion.

He never imagined this day would truly come.

Back in the slums, he used to dream of entering a Safe Zone, owning a villa—quiet and safe, free from constant anxiety.

After touring his new ‘home’, Jiang Chen checked the time—it was already 3 PM.

While waiting for his meal, Jiang Chen used his wristband to open the in-game forum to check for news.

On the front page was a post that had received tens of millions of upvotes:

“Unstoppable Momentum: The Lone Walker Clears the Dungeon in 30 Minutes!”

Opening it, the comment section was filled with player check-ins, trolls, and irrelevant chatter—not worth mentioning.

Next on the pinned list was naturally the upcoming auction—The first ever Guild Founding Token had caused a huge stir.

This wasn’t surprising. What caught Jiang Chen’s attention were the pet-related threads that followed.

“Hero’s Tomb Successfully Captures First In-Game Pet!”

“Canglan Guild Captures Strongest Pet for This Stage!”

“Recruitment Drive: Join Our Guild as an Elite and Get a Top-Grade Pet!”

…

Many guilds were using the pet craze as an excuse to promote themselves.

99% of them were just boasting or trying to recruit members.

After glancing at the pet index, Jiang Chen noticed that all the pets were low-grade and ordinary—none even reached the Elite tier.

Compared to Xiao Rongyan, these were all trash not even worthy of attention.

But to regular players, they were extremely enticing and had massive popularity.

If he posted the Lava King’s index…

He wondered what kind of reaction they would have—

A faint smile curled on Jiang Chen’s lips.