Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 493: I Don't Want to Leave

Regardless, this wasn't a decision Zhou Liao felt qualified to make on his own.

"Let me ask some of the other leaders what they think about this information. However, I'm telling you this now—regardless of what they choose to do, I'm not going to leave! If I desert you just because of an impending disaster, I would be far too ashamed to ever show my face in front of you again."

Zhang Lie nodded, smiling in gratitude. He then sought out Yu Huantian, who lived in a tall watchtower overlooking all of Renhuang. By the western quarter of Renhuang, the humans and rock spirits had pooled together their resources to destroy the buildings that had once been there and replace them with tower after tall tower in order to give the crag eagles a place to live.

The rock spires that the rock spirits had created were a decent temporary measure, but the crag eagles ultimately found them somewhat uncomfortable. They preferred to roost in tall towers like the watchtowers that the rock spirits had subsequently built, instead. Yu Huantian had personally gone to Chu Feng to speak to him about this.

According to Chu Feng, each watchtower could house seven or eight crag eagles, and these towers were very space-efficient.

During the seven-kingdom coalition, the crag eagles had played an important role in scouting, and Yu Huantian had managed to claim full rights over a patch of land as the eagles' share.

Zhang Lie was impressed by their choice. Either by acumen or sheer luck, they had chosen an investment that would keep appreciating over time. Based on Renhuang's current rate of growth, it was likely that land prices would continue to rise and rise.

Now that they had their own territory, it remained for them to get their own towers. The crag eagles had been making use of their ability to control avian lifeforms of lesser strength to capture regular- and mutated-grade lifeforms alive as a guild worker.

Every crag eagle was saving up to purchase their own high-rises.

Chu Feng smiled deviously as he approached them. "You can always pay in installments, you know."

The crag eagles cocked their heads. "What do you mean, installments?"

"To put it simply, we'll construct your towers for you immediately. You'll pay the cost back to the city over a certain period of time, and you'll be charged interest on the balance. Once you pay it all off, you'll own whatever you bought."

Yu Huantian asked, "Won't our towers belong to us before we finish repaying the loan?"

"You'll be allowed to live in it and to sell it, but it won't, strictly speaking, belong to you before you finish paying off the loan. If you don't pay off enough interest for five continuous months, Renhuang will confiscate your house."

Seeing how flummoxed the crag eagles seemed to be, Chu Feng continued explaining, "To put it simply, you can sell the house or continue living in it, but you can't destroy or otherwise damage it. In addition, you'll have to keep paying off your interest on a monthly basis until the entire balance is accounted for."

Yu Huantian was naturally wary of this offer, but Chu Feng, who was well-versed in negotiation and bartering, was easily able to convince the naive eagles.

Chu Feng leaned into Yu Huantian's ear and whispered, "If you're willing to make your purchase now, I'll talk to the governor and see if we can get you a 20% discount. As a fighter who participated in the defense of Renhuang, you can get an additional 10% discount, for a 30% discount in all! On the other hand, I won't be able to offer you any discount of the sort if you want to save up until you can afford it in one fell swoop."

Yu Huantian was sorely tempted.

Chu Feng continued, "The earlier you have these houses built, the earlier you can start staying in them! Given how much money all of you are making, you'll surely have enough to afford building a few watchtowers. You aren't comfortable living on the rock spires, are you?"

If they had been content with their living conditions, they wouldn't have wanted to build these watchtowers.

"Wouldn't it be much more convenient and comfortable to have these watchtowers immediately?"

The other crag eagles, fully convinced by Chu Feng's words, all demanded to buy a place in their respective watchtowers in installments.

The rock spirits were able to effect the construction of the watchtowers in almost no time at all. For their labor, the rock spirits were paid in rare minerals, ores, and gems sourced from Xuechi, which were of such high quality that the rock spirits were all very pleased with their compensation.

Ever since then, the crag eagles of Renhuang had been saddled with debt from their mortgages.

When Zhang Lie found out about the news, he was dumbfounded. No matter what, however, the crag eagles were a clan that Zhang Lie had brought back with him, and he didn't intend to extort them with Chu Feng's housing plans.

Indeed, after learning more about the situation, he believed that it was in both parties' best interests.

The crag eagles were very popular within Renhuang because they were particularly efficient scouts that could provide both mobility and aerial support.

Although they were saddled with debts that shouldn't have existed in the second realm, the crag eagles' living conditions had improved dramatically. With their talent of being able to control avian lifeforms of lesser strength, their debt wasn't particularly crippling, and they would easily be able to repay it within three years.

"I need your help to scout the area," Zhang Lie told Yu Huantian.

Yu Huantian's strength and position among his clan had allowed him to claim the top floor of one of the watchtowers, and he was among the most relaxed members of the clan. He asked curiously, "Are there more sura on the way?"

"Yes, I've just received news. Please have a look."

"I'll be back soon!" Yu Huantian spread his wings and flew out of the watchtower.

After Zhang Lie and Zhou Liao split up, Zhou Liao gathered the human forces for an important announcement. In a strident voice, he yelled out, "I have urgent news for everyone!"

"Are we preparing to leave?" One of the hunters stepped forward. "I don't intend on leaving. After discussing the issue with a few of my friends, we've decided to stay in Renhuang. Being able to employ the services of these alien races with just a few soulshards has been a godsend, and there are countless herbs, plants, and potions not available elsewhere. We'll surely be able to develop much more quickly here."

A large fraction of the hunters concurred; overall, over 80% of the hunters had chosen to remain in Renhuang. Only those hunters who had witnessed Renhuang for themselves realized just how amazing of a city it was.

The remaining 20% either had important responsibilities in their home city or friends and family in their home city that they couldn't leave behind.

For instance, quite a few people were intending to become traveling merchants that transported goods back and forth between Renhuang and their original cities.

"I've pooled resources with some of my friends, and we're intending to issue a quest in the guild hall to secure some mercenaries to hunt down superior-grade lifeforms. I can't believe how convenient it is to acquire gene fragments in Renhuang—information about genetic lifeforms is publicly available, and you can easily purchase it with just a small amount of coin! You can even learn about the habits and territory of these lifeforms, and if you have access to unrecorded information, that can be exchanged for money too."

Sun Mengmeng had recorded all the information from Xuechi's journal, save that involving peak-grade lifeforms, into the guild database. Those who wanted to learn about the restricted peak-grade information would have to amass enough guild reputation by accepting and completing quests, issuing quests, or selling information.

"You're only realizing that now? I made a lot of money by selling information about the lifeforms that I know of around my home city!"

"Really?!"

Quite a few hunters' eyes lit up as they rushed off into the distance, eager to sell their information before any other hunter around them could do so.