Zuo Lin'an was stunned. A name?
Xu Youyou looked at him.
“According to the plot, you and your specter body must be descendants of Yao Qianhe's family. That means you need to choose two names that fit the family lineage.”
The two walked outside the house, returning to where the table and chairs had been set up earlier, and sat down casually.
Zuo Lin'an thought for a moment.
“Following traditional naming conventions, my brother and I would definitely have the surname Yao. As for our given names...”
“Yao Qianhe himself was a scholar who secured an official post by passing the imperial examinations.”
“Since this lineage has been passed down, they would be considered a family of scholars. So, our names should definitely reflect that background.”
“Let's use the generation name 'Wen.' And since we're twins, we can use a two-character word split between us for the final characters.”
“How about 'Liyue'—rites and music?”
“Yao Wenli and Yao Wenle.”
Xu Youyou's eyes were blank. He was clearly unfamiliar with such things.
Families of scholars, generational naming conventions, rites and music—he understood none of it.
Even so, he thought the two names sounded quite nice.
“So, do you still need to hire other NPCs?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head.
“Of course not. Having Feng Xingyun with me is more than enough.”
“After all, I'm returning to my ancestral home specifically to kill my brother. I definitely wouldn't want too many people knowing about it. Bringing a single trusted butler is already stretching it, which also fits the plot.”
“That great then,” Xu Youyou said. “You can save a massive sum of money!”
Then, he pointed toward Xuan Jiu, who was standing with Feng Xingyun in the distance.
“How about I lend him to you? I don't have any use for him at the moment anyway.”
Zuo Lin'an glanced at Xuan Jiu from afar and shook his head.
“No need. It's awkward using someone who isn't mine.”
Xu Youyou nodded. “True. Never mind then.”
Zuo Lin'an took out his work phone and opened the system's mall. He searched and found an item called 【Construction Team】.
“Price negotiable...”
He checked his Contribution points. He had nineteen points left.
If converted to cash, that would be nineteen million.
Would that be enough to build an ancient-style manor deep in the mountains?
Xu Youyou seemed to notice Zuo Lin'an's hesitation.
“Sorry, Brother An. I need to save my own Contribution points, so I can't lend you any right now. But nineteen million should be more than enough to build an old manor.”
“Even though items in the system's mall are quite a bit more expensive than on the outside, it shouldn't be too ridiculous. By the way, how many points do you have left?”
Zuo Lin'an sighed. “Nineteen Contribution points.”
Xu Youyou's eyes darted around.
“Although one Contribution point can be exchanged for one million in cash, I've heard that if you trade directly using Contribution points, the value is much higher than paying with cash.”
“For example, a direct trade of one Contribution point might be worth the equivalent of two million in cash.”
Zuo Lin'an found this somewhat strange.
“Is that so? Then why doesn't the exchange rate between Contribution points and cash in the system's mall just change to one to two million...”
Before he could finish his sentence, Zuo Lin'an realized the catch.
The reason was simple: Contribution points were incredibly precious, especially for Human-Specter Symbionts like them who could continuously increase their strength.
Exchanging one point for one million cash was merely the baseline price set by the system's mall.
It was only meant to help new dungeon bosses transition through their early stages. Once a dungeon boss understood how precious Contribution points truly were, they would never directly exchange them for cash in the system's mall.
Instead, they would trade them directly, maximizing the value of their Contribution points.
“That makes sense.”
“No wonder the price is negotiable. Without negotiation, the other party probably wouldn't have a chance to obtain Contribution points directly.”
“In that case, let's give it a try.”
He clicked directly on the 【Construction Team】 item, which promptly provided him with a phone number.
Zuo Lin'an took out his phone and dialed.
The call was answered almost immediately.
“Hello! How may I help you? What kind of commission do you have for us?”
The voice on the other end was a very gentle woman's voice, soothing just to listen to.
“Yes, I need to set up a building inside a dungeon.”
“Understood. May I ask if you are a newly promoted Two-Star dungeon boss?”
Zuo Lin'an got the impression that the woman on the other end was an experienced veteran.
“Yes. We'll need to discuss the details face-to-face.”
“Certainly, sir! No problem at all. I will dispatch a professional to your location immediately. May I ask where you are located?”
Zuo Lin'an thought for a moment.
“Withered Forest and Barren Mountains, Zone Two.”
“Understood. When would you be free, sir?”
“I'm free anytime. Your people can come over whenever.”
“In that case, would thirty minutes from now work for you?”
“That works.”
“Excellent...”
Zuo Lin'an hung up the phone.
“They said they'll be here in half an hour.”
Xu Youyou unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth.
“By the way, now that it's a Two-Star dungeon, won't the area covered by the white mist in your inner ring double in size?”
Zuo Lin'an thought about it.
“Yes, I can indeed expand it.”
Originally, the One-Star dungeon only covered the central seven or eight mountains, but now...
He closed his eyes and sensed his domain carefully.
He discovered that he could now expand the white mist of the inner ring to cover twenty-three mountains!
That was an increase of fifteen whole mountains!
“No, wait.”
It wasn't that he was forced to cover twenty-three mountains, but rather that twenty-three was his maximum limit. He could adjust the actual size himself.
However, the adjustable range was strictly limited to between eight and twenty-three mountains.
“Given the current situation, the area covered by the original One-Star dungeon is actually enough.”
Xu Youyou was somewhat surprised to see him muttering to himself.
“What's wrong?”
Zuo Lin'an explained the potential size of the white mist's coverage to him.
Xu Youyou scratched his head.
“I see. Expanding to twenty-three mountains all at once is indeed too massive. The main issue is that you don't have enough money to build up such a large area.”
“In that case, let's keep the dungeon size as it is for now. You can expand your territory later once you've earned more Contribution points.”
Half an hour later.
The two of them heard the sound of a helicopter and looked up into the distance.
Sure enough, they saw a helicopter flying toward them from afar, eventually hovering directly above them.
Immediately after, a person slid down a rope.
Once the person was confirmed to have landed safely, the helicopter flew away.
Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou exchanged a look.
To be honest, neither of them had expected the construction team's representative to make such an entrance.
The visitor, likely accustomed to such reactions, offered a brief explanation.
“No need to be surprised, gentlemen. Our construction team frequently does business with dungeon bosses, and traveling by specter bus is simply too expensive!”
“So, we simply bought land in areas with a high density of dungeons and built transit stations.”
“Coincidentally, about ten kilometers from here, there's one of our construction team's transit stations. Once we sign the contract, all the building materials and other supplies will be transported over from there.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded, asking no further questions.
Rate on N.U.
