My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 152 - 127: Base Expansion, Special Vice President

Fang Zhen walked to his front door and opened it, just in time to see a young woman in a small blue blazer and white shirt standing at the entrance to the apartment across the hall. Inside, four or five people who looked like a family were arguing loudly.

The apartment across the hall, which had been vacant for a long time, now had its door open. The sounds were coming from the people inside: a young man and woman who looked like a couple, a middle-aged woman over fifty, and a man in his forties wearing a tank top and shorts. 'It was an odd family dynamic.'

Inside the room, Fang Zhen could see another woman in her forties, dressed in the same blue blazer and white shirt as the young woman outside, explaining something.

Fang Zhen took one look and understood what was happening.

'Real estate agents. They're selling the place.'

He frowned slightly.

His apartment complex was designed with two units per elevator lobby. However, he had never once seen the neighbor across the hall. They were supposedly a business person who had bought the apartment not to live in, but as an investment.

So, Fang Zhen had effectively had a private elevator lobby all to himself.

Now that the apartment across the hall was for sale, Fang Zhen sensed that he might face a lot of awkward situations.

For one thing, if he opened his door while his new neighbors were outside, they would see all the stuff in his living room, including the motorcycle. They would definitely be suspicious, and a nosy one might even start spreading rumors.

If they accidentally saw the Light Gate, the situation would become unmanageable.

Fang Zhen let out a soft breath and decided to feel out the situation.

He stepped out of his apartment, smiled, and asked the younger-looking agent at the door, "Is this apartment for sale?"

"Yes, it is," the agent replied, seeing that Fang Zhen had a friendly demeanor.

"It must be hard to sell apartments right now, huh? The market isn't great," Fang Zhen remarked.

The agent immediately felt a sense of camaraderie. She nodded repeatedly and said, "You can say that again. It's not even that people are unhappy with the apartments anymore; we just aren't getting any clients at all. The owner has wanted to sell this place for a while, and this is the first time anyone has been willing to come see it."

Just as Fang Zhen was about to say something, it sounded like the negotiations inside had broken down. There were some unpleasant voices, and then the family that had been viewing the apartment all came out.

Fang Zhen stepped to the side to give them some room.

"In this economy? And they're still asking for such a high price! Plus, they won't allow a mortgage—they want the full amount in cash. I'm not buying it!"

"I'll just wait. Give it another year, and the price of this place will drop even more."

The middle-aged woman from the group said loudly as she walked out, her voice booming and tinged with arrogance.

The family acted as if they didn't even see anyone else outside. They called the elevator, walked in without waiting for the agent inside the apartment, and the doors closed as it descended.

Fang Zhen glanced at the young agent by the door, who wore a look of innocent helplessness.

Just then, the older agent came out of the room, shaking her head repeatedly.

"That family had no intention of buying. They were here to rob us blind! No matter how you look at it, a 148-square-meter apartment in this complex could never sell for 1.3 million, no matter how cheap it gets. What do they think they're buying, cabbage?" the older agent complained.

Fang Zhen raised an eyebrow.

He had bought his own apartment relatively early, so the price had been comparatively cheap.

The apartment across the hall was worth around 2.3 million at the peak of the housing market.

Back then, this was one of the best residential complexes in Xiahai, and it was still quite good now.

Housing prices in Xiahai were actually reasonable. The area had seen good development, but prices had been kept in check, so there wasn't much of a bubble. Now, with the overall market performing poorly, prices in Xiahai hadn't dropped by much.

Since Fang Zhen had bought early, he hadn't lost any money on his investment yet.

Now, hearing the agent say that the family had only offered 1.3 million, an idea began to form in his mind.

It wasn't that he was worried about falling property values; he suddenly realized that if the market was bad, maybe he could take this opportunity to buy the apartment across the hall himself.

Doing so would significantly reduce the chance of his secrets being discovered.

That way, the entire seventh floor would truly be his, with a private elevator lobby. He could then install an internal lock on the security door or even knock down a non-load-bearing wall to connect the two units. The usable space would increase dramatically.

Fang Zhen was already feeling like his apartment was running out of space. His living room was crammed full with the Jue Ying motorcycle and various weapons and equipment, making it difficult to move around.

He could foresee bringing a lot more things in in the future.

These would be equipment, trophies, and some borderline contraband. In the future, there might even be firearms and armor.

Fang Zhen didn't feel safe leaving these things in a warehouse or factory; he needed to keep them under his nose.

Buying the neighbor's apartment seemed like an excellent option.

"Have prices really dropped that much? What's the owner's asking price?" Fang Zhen asked.

Seeing that Fang Zhen lived across the hall, the older agent didn't think much of his question, assuming he was just concerned about whether his own property had lost value. She said, "This is a 148-square-meter, three-bedroom apartment. The owner bought it for 2.3 million, then spent nearly another 300,000 on renovations. He's never lived in it for a single day."

"The owner is a businessman who's short on cash for his operations right now, so he's willing to sell it cheap. The list price is 1.85 million, but he requires the full amount in cash—no mortgages."

"He's in a hurry to sell, says he needs the money urgently and has to offload it within fifteen days no matter what. This is already a fire-sale price. And I think he'd be willing to go even lower. But even so, trying to buy it for 1.3 million is just unreasonable."

Fang Zhen narrowed his eyes. After a moment, he asked, "If he's really serious about selling, make him a counteroffer for me: 1.6 million. If he accepts, I'll sign the contract with him and schedule the online registration tomorrow."

"Huh?" The agent's face was a mask of astonishment.

...

Two hours later, Fang Zhen met with the owner of the apartment across the hall, and they settled on a price.

The process was incredibly fast.

The final price was negotiated to 1.67 million.

The owner was truly desperate. After confirming it was an all-cash offer, he made a token counteroffer of 1.77 million. Fang Zhen added 70,000 to his initial offer, and after a moment's thought, the man agreed.

The owner was probably in a tight spot with his cash flow and felt cornered. On top of that, with many inquiries but few viewings these past few days, his psychological bottom line had been shattered.

The two of them signed the contract and paid the deposit on the spot.

The process after signing involved review, online registration, funding, tax payment and transfer, and finally, receiving the property ownership certificate. Fang Zhen had been through it once before, so he was very familiar with it.

The owner was also very reasonable. Knowing that Fang Zhen was the neighbor from across the hall, he gave him the keys right away, allowing him to enter and inspect the apartment as he pleased over the next few days.

As Fang Zhen was leaving, the agent, Sister Cao, remarked with a sigh, "Brother, I've been a real estate agent for many years, and this has been the smoothest transaction I've ever seen. If everyone bought and sold property like you two, I'd have been rich long ago."

Fang Zhen just smiled.

By the time he finished with everything, it was already seven or eight in the evening.

After returning home, Fang Zhen had just sat down on the sofa when he received a reply from Jian Wu.

Jian Wu: "I asked about the plate armor for you. You're in luck. The Russian Armor Craftsman has a finished set that's an extremely close match for your measurements. Do you want it?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Jian Wu: [Image] [Image]

Fang Zhen tapped the images to enlarge them. It was a finished set of full plate armor. It looked pretty good.

"How was that so fast? Isn't plate armor custom-made? Why would he have one in stock?" he typed in reply.

Jian Wu: "It was a custom order for someone, but after they paid the deposit and the armor was finished, the client disappeared. The Armor Craftsman wants to sell it."

"What happened to the client?" Fang Zhen typed back casually.

Jian Wu: "He was sent to the front lines. It's been over half a year, and there's been no word from him since."

Fang Zhen: "..."

'Okay, a Russian sent to the front lines, no word for over six months... he's probably a goner.'

He shook his head and typed, "How much?"

Jian Wu: "8,000 US Dollars for the full set, free shipping."

Jian Wu: "This set is made of titanium alloy. The original owner's height is only one centimeter off from yours, and the weight difference is just two kilograms. With a few minor adjustments, it'll fit you."

Jian Wu: "I've sent you the chat log. Take a look yourself."

Jian Wu: [Image]

Fang Zhen looked at the screenshot. The chat app was the one with the little blue paper airplane icon, and the text was all in Russian. He used his chat app's built-in translation feature to scan it, and it confirmed what Jian Wu had just told him.

Only after scanning it did he realize he could have just used his Mysticism talent to understand it directly. That was pure muscle memory from his fingers.

He thought for a second and made his decision.

"Okay, can it be delivered within twenty days?" Fang Zhen asked.

Jian Wu: "Should be able to."

Fang Zhen: "I'll take it. I'll send you my address. How do I pay?"

Jian Wu: "He accepts USDT. And there's a trustworthy domestic agent. I just contacted him through that agent. If you don't trust it, I can tell the agent to have the goods shipped from Russia to him first. The agent isn't far from your place; he can drive it over. This is how others have done it in the past."

"But if you go through the agent, he charges a 10% channeling fee. It's up to you."

"Fine," Fang Zhen finalized the deal.

Not long after, Jian Wu messaged him again. The agent had confirmed everything. The plate armor would arrive in the country within half a month, and they could complete the transaction in person then.

With that matter handled, Fang Zhen felt a sense of relief.

The plate armor needed for Act Two of the Curse Seal World hadn't arrived yet, but it felt like one less thing to worry about.

His mood lightened a bit.

And after such a long day, he was feeling rather tired.

He went into his bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. His body and Spirit relaxed completely, and before long, he was fast asleep.

When Fang Zhen woke up, he fumbled for his phone and glanced at it. He was surprised to see it was already almost ten in the morning the next day.

He had actually slept for a full thirteen or fourteen hours.

It was clear that his body and Spirit had been wound incredibly tight yesterday. This time, his body had overcompensated, and it took this long sleep to fully recover.

Now, Fang Zhen felt refreshed and clear-headed, though his stomach was starting to growl.

He got up, found two pork floss pastries on the table to tide himself over, and then checked his messages.

Sister Cao, the agent, had messaged to tell Fang Zhen to come for the online contract signing in a few days.

Wang Donglai had sent a message asking if he was free for lunch.

Now fully awake, Fang Zhen replied and booked a table at a restaurant.

After replying, he sent another message:

"I'm looking to get my trading company operational soon, and I need a capable vice president. You're well-connected, so do you know anyone you could recommend? The requirements are that they have to be competent, a bit of a hustler but still law-abiding, and able to handle things like selling that Cinnabar Ore last time, all within the legal framework."

Wang Donglai replied quickly: "I actually do know someone who fits your description."

"But his background is a bit... unique. Would you dare to hire him?"

"What kind of background?" Fang Zhen asked.

"A top student from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, but he also did a 'stint' at Tilanqiao," Wang Donglai replied.