Chapter 669 – Dreamweaver World 7

The next morning, “Sina” walked into the Canaan City new district housing rental center with the 35,000 federal coins she’d earned from “selling scrap.”

In the Great Hall, projected housing listings scrolled across a large screen while round, white robots shuttled about.

After Mo Lan scanned her identity credentials, one of the round robots rolled up to her.

“Good morning, young lady!”

An exaggerated smiley face appeared on the robot’s display screen. “I’m your dedicated rental consultant, Unit 117. What kind of housing are you looking for?”

“I’d like to rent a small, secure apartment. My budget is around fifteen hundred,” Mo Lan said.

The robot immediately pulled up a series of options on its screen. “These properties all match your requirements! Please have a seat, and I’ll introduce them one by one!”

Mo Lan had spent so long staking out Colt’s place that she’d become quite familiar with his neighborhood. The location was convenient, the environment comfortable, and the value for money was high. After looking through everything, the apartments there still suited her best.

Living there would also make it convenient for her to check in with Colt from time to time to see if anyone had been looking into “Sina’s” identity file.

“I’ll take the top floor of Building 13 in Dream Fulfillment Community!” She pointed at the unit with a small balcony on the robot’s screen, then added, “But I don’t need a housekeeping robot.”

The robot’s display immediately switched to a calculation interface. “The monthly rent for the top floor of Building 13, Dream Fulfillment Community, is 1,500 federal coins, which includes a 200 federal coin service and maintenance fee for the housekeeping robot.”

It announced in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone, “Since you don’t need a housekeeping robot, you only need to pay 1,300 federal coins per month!”

Mo Lan was about to nod when the robot suddenly played a grating notification chime. “Friendly reminder~ All units in Dream Fulfillment Community require one year’s deposit plus one year’s rent upfront!”

A number that made Mo Lan’s pupils contract appeared on the display. “That’s one year of rent plus a deposit equal to one year’s rent, totaling 33,800 federal coins~ Would you like to confirm the rental of this unit?”

Mo Lan nearly laughed in exasperation at this outrageous payment scheme. A year in the Dreamweaver World was thirteen months, so this so-called “one deposit, one payment” actually required prepaying twenty-six months of rent.

Who on earth calculates deposit-plus-rent on a yearly basis!

She silently congratulated herself for squeezing an extra five thousand federal coins out of Old Rolf. Otherwise, her account wouldn’t have had nearly enough.

At least once she entered the dream realm, making money would be much easier.

“I’ll take it,” she said through gritted teeth, already scheming about what specialty materials she could gather in the dream realm to feed to her Book of Cards, materialize the cards into reality, and earn federal coins.

The little bubble robot immediately played a festive jingle. “Wonderful~ Please scan your chip to make payment!”

A payment terminal glowing with blue light popped out of its round body.

Mo Lan pressed her left wrist against the cold scanning area, and her account information instantly appeared on the screen.

As her fingertip swiped to confirm payment, her account balance plummeted from 35,000 federal coins to 1,200.

The number made her temples throb. In Canaan City’s new district, that amount could only buy an outdated secondhand communication watch.

“Payment complete!” A burst of virtual confetti exploded across the robot’s display. “Your identity information has been registered with the Dream Fulfillment Community’s access system. Just scan your chip and you can move right in!”

It performed a comical bowing motion. “Would you like Bubble to recommend furniture rental services and moving services? New dream realm residents get 30% off!”

“No thanks.” Mo Lan turned briskly toward the exit. If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she’d lose the willpower to resist going back to Old Rolf to sell more dreamstones.

“Transaction complete!”

The robot zipped over to the exit in a flash, its display suddenly switching to a rating interface. “Were you satisfied with Unit 117’s service?”

Five blank stars blinked eagerly on the screen. “If you’re satisfied, please give me a five-star review!”

Mo Lan stared at the round little robot, then finally reached out and tapped the screen five times in quick succession.

With each tap, the robot chimed a crisp “ding,” and when all five stars lit up, a huge smiley face appeared on its screen. “Thank you for your rating! Wishing you a wonderful day!”

The robot spun in happy circles as it glided back to the center of the hall. Mo Lan pushed open the door and walked out without looking back.

But in her mind, she was thinking: “Before I leave the Dreamweaver World, I absolutely must buy one of every electrical technology creation from this reality world and feed them all to my Book of Cards as materials!”

In her view, these electric robots were in some ways even more convenient than Alchemy golems.

“Oh right! And electric stones!”

She mentally catalogued the specialties of the Dreamweaver World’s reality as she headed toward the nearest secondhand electronics shop.

With the apartment going over budget, Mo Lan had no choice but to cut her communication watch fund.

She’d originally hoped to buy the latest model, but now she could only afford a secondhand one.

With a communication watch, she could access the Dreamweaver World’s network.

Online shopping, digital payments, researching information, online transactions — none of it was possible without one.

With a creak, Mo Lan pushed open the wooden door of the secondhand watch shop and stepped inside.

The shop’s interior was cramped, with all manner of secondhand electronic devices piled high on metal shelving. The air reeked of cheap cleaning solution mixed with the burnt smell of circuit boards.

A bald old man wearing magnifying lenses looked up from behind the counter, the lenses reflecting the flickering light strips on the ceiling.

“Whaddya want?” The old man’s voice was as rough as sandpaper scraping together, his fingers tapping away at a holographic keyboard projected by his watch.

Mo Lan’s gaze swept over the various communication watches hanging on the wall.

The latest model, the “Dream X-7,” was priced at 9,800 federal coins — five hundred less than the price on the roadside billboards — but she still couldn’t afford it.

She looked at the shop owner. “Secondhand communication watches, ones that can go online — what’s the cheapest you’ve got?”

The old man scoffed, then pulled out a basket from under the counter. Inside was a jumbled pile of over a dozen old watches in various styles.

“These all work,” he said, his stubby fingers rummaging through them. “Five hundred to a thousand federal coins, depending on the model.”

Some had screens cracked into spiderweb patterns, while others had bands covered in grime.

Mo Lan picked through them for quite a while before finally selecting a silver communication watch that looked reasonably intact.

The Headmistress at the orphanage used this exact model. She remembered it was called the “Phantom Dream 3rd Generation” — a mid-range model from three years ago. A bit outdated, but its specs were still decent, with all the essential functions.

“How much for this one?”

The old man glanced at it. “A thousand. Non-negotiable.”

“Deal! I’ll take it!” Mo Lan said. “But I need to check that all its functions are working first.”

She wasn’t planning to use it for long anyway, and after buying it she’d still have two hundred left for network fees.

“Check away,” the old man said.

Following the memories from the orphanage Headmistress, Mo Lan strapped the watch onto her left wrist.

After pressing the power button on the side, the watch automatically detected her identity chip and completed the login to her network account.