“Okay.”

The NPC saleswoman at the sales office gave a sweet smile, revealing six teeth. Her fingers tapped on the desk, and a virtual projection of the plaza immediately appeared in mid-air. “May I ask what location and size of land you are looking to purchase?”

Li Ang circled the blue, semi-transparent virtual projection. Plots with buildings already constructed were marked in red, while those sold but not yet under construction were marked in orange.

“If I wanted to buy these plots,”

Li Ang pointed to the occupied orange plots and said to the NPC saleswoman, “Could the sales office provide me with the contact information of the current landowners?”

The NPC saleswoman shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s prohibited.”

“Alright, understandable. Gotta prevent endless harassment, after all.”

Li Ang nodded, looking at the map projection again, silently thinking, “The Global Supernatural Alliance is at the three o’clock position in the plaza, the Special Affairs Bureau is below it, and Jingge, Zhonglou, and the Knights Templar are at the six o’clock position.

“Tanhua, the League of Demon Scientists, and the Witches’ Alliance are at the nine o’clock position.

“Prometheus Labs, along with companies launched by other financial groups, are at the twelve o’clock position.

“The first and second rings of the plaza are dominated by large organizations.

“The third and fourth rings are either occupied by small to medium-sized guilds or secret societies,

“Or bought up by real estate speculators, listed on the forums with exorbitant prices...”

Li Ang glanced at his game currency balance in the personal panel and wisely refrained from choosing a plot in the third or fourth rings.

“If the modification service is competitive enough, it doesn’t matter if the shop is in a remote location. It’s not some trendy milk tea shop that needs a prime location.”

With that in mind, Li Ang directly asked the customer service to filter out unoccupied, low-priced land. He finally selected a forty-square-meter plot located in the southeastern direction of the outer ring of the plaza.

He spent 8,000 game coins to buy the land ownership and received a land deed.

Turning around, he walked out of the sales office and headed southeast.

It had to be said, the location was indeed very remote.

The road was lined with unoccupied, gray-white buildings, and there weren’t many players to be seen.

A desolate and cold atmosphere permeated the air.

Li Ang didn’t feel anything about it. He stood in front of his 40-square-meter plot of land, touched the land deed with his mind, and the land immediately bloomed with a dim light,

No longer a monotonous gray-white, it regained its original colors.

“If I’m just opening a shop... building a small clinic-style bungalow should be enough, right?”

Li Ang muttered to himself, activating the online store’s construction mode in his mind. He spent another 700 game coins to have the land generate a building skeleton.

The online store’s construction mode was a huge rip-off, forcibly requiring players to purchase building skeletons,

And the bricks, tiles, doors, and windows on the exterior of the building also had to be purchased—only the furniture inside the house could be moved in by the players themselves from the real world.

Li Ang’s money wasn’t free-flowing, and with his pragmatic (stingy) spirit,

He decisively chose the simplest style—a small bungalow, with the cheapest wooden door and two cross windows.

Simple and monotonous,

Very much like the character “囧” (jiǒng), or the dilapidated temple that Sun Wukong transformed into.

These were all minor issues. He could always spend money to upgrade the building’s exterior if he wasn’t satisfied later.

Li Ang nodded in satisfaction, walked into the house, and immediately heard a system notification reminding him of the permissions he had as the landowner.

In this house, he could freely use player skills, equipment, and items, but he couldn’t stand inside and harm passing players.

In addition, the homeowner had the right to expel other players who trespassed into the house. If the latter refused to leave or was preparing to cause trouble, the homeowner could also call the plaza guards to uphold justice.

If the homeowner wanted to operate this house as a shop, they would have to spend money to apply for a business license and operating permit,

And be subject to plaza supervision throughout the process.

Regardless of the type of service provided, they couldn’t harm the consumers.

Li Ang carefully read through the business operation rules before closing the door and pouring a large pile of dirt from his inventory, and taking out the furniture he had already made.

Tables, chairs, benches, a front desk cash register, air conditioner, refrigerator, operating table, generator...

This furniture was all made by him using alchemy, with the dirt from the breeding box as the material—the alchemy skill was simply too convenient in daily life. As long as you understood the material structure, you could directly create whatever you wanted from the dirt.

Li Ang quickly arranged the interior decorations.

To prevent running out of materials later,

He deliberately left a pile of dirt on the wooden floor in the corner of the shop.

“Next...”

Li Ang sat on a wooden stool in the center of the room and sent a message to Mule, 【You there?】

Since the last cooperation on the Netherworld quest, Li Ang and Mule’s contact had become much closer. The latter implicitly acknowledged during the conversation that he was the employer that time.

Li Ang had also mentioned to Mule about opening a shop this time,

And agreed that Mule would come over around this time today to offer free advice and opinions as an all-knowing person and friend.

【There.】

Mule’s response was quick. 【I’m at the plaza. Send me your location.】

Li Ang sent the shop coordinates. Not long after, a figure wearing a BoJack Horseman head walked closer to the shop, revealing their player nickname from a distance.

(Players can choose to only show player information to friends, to confirm the other party’s identity)

“Morning.”

Li Ang waved at Mule from afar, walking out of the shop, and they both sized each other up.

This was the first time the two had made substantive contact. Mule’s build was thinner and shorter than Li Ang had imagined, and their voice sounded somewhat hoarse and rather androgynous.

Coupled with the BoJack Horseman head that was full of things to make fun of, it was impossible to tell their gender or age.

Similarly, Mule was also sizing up Li Ang.

A blue shirt inside, a white coat outside, black jeans, no-name sneakers, rubber gloves on his hands, and a helmet on his head as well.

“Um… why are you wearing such a big dragon head?”

After hesitating for a moment, Mule couldn’t help but complain.

That’s right, the headgear Li Ang was wearing now was a dragon head,

Antlers, green scales, a blood-red mane, and long dragon whiskers moving without wind. The overall shape was majestic, cool, and domineering.

The only problem was that this dragon head was too big, almost as wide as a normal person’s shoulders.

As Li Ang moved, the dragon head would wobble unstably back and forth and left and right,

Looking silly and comical, extremely funny.

“Because I want to be the top dog in the industry,”

Li Ang put his hands on his hips, swaying the dragon head back and forth, and said as a matter of course, “Naturally, I have to get a big, top-dog dragon head first to match my status and position.

“This thing not only looks cool, but there are also mechanisms hidden in the dragon whiskers on both sides of the nose.

“Pull the left whisker, and the dragon head can spray sulfuric acid.

“Pull the right whisker, and it can spray flames.

“A sudden attack on the battlefield can completely catch the enemy off guard and hit them immediately.

“It’s really a must-have for home travel and assassinations.

“This is the first product in my shop. What do you think?”

...You're going to play assassin with such a big dragon head on your head? You'll be caught and have your legs broken in minutes, okay?!

Mule swallowed, not knowing how to comment.