Yan Fei harbored dreams of being a hero, fantasizing about eradicating evil and protecting the innocent. Unfortunately, due to the late hour, the park was deserted, preventing his hero dreams from coming to fruition.
Thus, Yan Fei controlled his Drone Avatar as it flew over the park and toward the adjacent street. The circular sphere in the middle of the drone rotated 360 degrees, providing a 360-degree view without any blind spots. He then spotted a pitiful stray dog searching for food in a pile of garbage under the street lamp in the distance, surrounded by three large stray dogs that had appeared from nowhere.
The three large dogs encircled the stray dog, growling softly and baring their teeth before beginning their attack. The stray dog, skinny and malnourished, had woefully low combat power and, in the blink of an eye, was howling and bleeding profusely as the three large dogs bit it.
Yan Fei's Drone Avatar flew over, swiveling the Pea Machine Gun and unleashing a hail of Pea Bullets at the three large dogs. Despite their large size and fur protection, the potency of the hard peas was not to be underestimated; the pain of being struck was intense. The large dogs were sent hopping and yelping around, the bullets causing them to howl in pain. They turned their heads to the drone in the sky, their eyes reflecting a vicious light as they roared loudly at the unmanned aircraft.
Yan Fei swiveled the gun barrel and fired several more rounds of Pea Bullets, hitting the three large dogs squarely. The dogs wailed pitifully and, no longer daring to bark, they exchanged glances and, with tails tucked, scampered away.
The stray dog eyed the drone above with a frightened look, hesitated for a moment without tending to its wounds, and then ran off as well.
Yan Fei chuckled wryly to himself, thinking that he might count as a chivalrous person after all. His first act of heroism had been breaking up a couple flirting, and his second was helping a dog, which he seemed to have scared. He wondered how many people in the world would go to such lengths to be a chivalrous person.
Yan Fei checked the data and saw that the Merit Points of his Drone Avatar had increased to 4. Clearly, those three large dogs had contributed 3 Merit Points. Only, the Pea Bullets had been used up quite a bit; only 110 remained, and there were only 15 Energy Points left, enough for 15-30 more minutes of flight.
The Drone Avatar continued to fly, its flight trajectory covering a radius of one square kilometer from Yan Fei's actual location. Due to the late hour, there were hardly any people on the street, nor were there opportunities for Yan Fei to act the hero.
When the Drone Avatar's Energy Points dropped to 10, Yan Fei spotted a petty thief trying to steal cured meat hanging from a second-floor window with a long pole. Assailed by Pea Bullets, the thief thought he had encountered a ghost and fled in terror, even abandoning his long pole in the process. As a result, the Merit Points of the Drone Avatar successfully increased to 5.
After scaring away the petty thief, Yan Fei felt somewhat proud, thinking that he was starting to resemble a hero. Just then, a black dot from the sky suddenly shot downwards, targeting his Drone Avatar. Because of the 360-degree view from the Drone Avatar's Surveillance Camera, Yan Fei immediately spotted the object diving down. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was an eagle. The eagle, hunting at night, had mistaken Yan Fei's Drone for its prey.
With a thought, Yan Fei swiftly flipped the drone, its four rotors turned downwards, and rotated in the opposite direction, causing the entire body to hover in midair. The Pea Shooter's gun barrel rotated swiftly, targeting the eagle above, before firing off Pea Bullets.
The eagle, diving toward the drone, was struck by the Pea Bullets and experienced intense pain. More Pea Bullets hit the eagle in succession, causing it to screech and lose some feathers. Realizing it was outmatched, the eagle cried out sharply, abandoned its attack on the Drone, and fled.
Yan Fei righted the drone, feeling quite smug, but then he noticed an issue: the Merit Points remained at 5. In other words, his encounter with the eagle had not yielded any Merit Points. The Pea Bullets had hit the eagle and caused it harm, but why hadn't he received any Merit Points?
Curious about the criteria for Merit Points, Yan Fei began to experiment. He chased away a snake near a stream, saving a frog, but did not receive any Merit Points. He also scared away an owl in the forest, rescuing a mouse, but again, he gained no Merit Points.
So, Yan Fei came to an initial conclusion: only attacking humans and significantly large animals would yield Merit Points. His earlier idea of using animals to farm Merit Points was naïve.
The Drone Avatar continued to fly but did not encounter any situations needing intervention. Finally, when the Energy Points ran out, the Drone Avatar returned to Yan Fei's side and went into standby mode, no longer able to move.
His night of adventurous heroism was over, and it was now 2 a.m. However, the experiences of the night left Yan Fei too excited to sleep. He tossed and turned in bed until just before dawn when he finally fell into a deep slumber. When he woke up the next day, it was already eleven in the morning. The Drone Avatar was still in standby mode, with zero Energy Points, 59 Pea Bullets remaining, and 5 Merit Points.
Since the Drone Avatar couldn't be activated, Yan Fei decided to exercise his body instead. After all, "The body is the capital of revolution"; without a good physique, everything else is meaningless. Thus, Yan Fei went to the workout room again to get familiar with his body's strength.
Two hours later, Yan Fei was exhausted but felt closer to fully mastering the power within his body. However, his appetite remained large. After finishing his own cooked food and still feeling hungry, he went to the Bun Shop on the street and bought more than ten meat buns before finally feeling full.
Just as Yan Fei returned home, he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he was greeted by two lively young girls. The one with large eyes said crisply, "Little boss, we've come to pay the rent!"
Yan Fei's parents had passed away, leaving behind a five-story building in the Suburbs of the City. The property used to be on the outskirts, but with the city's rapid expansion, it had become prosperous. Hence, Yan Fei decided to rent out the rooms in his family's five-story building. Each floor had five rooms, and with the exception of reserving the entire fifth floor for himself, all the other 20 rooms were for rent.
Yes, Yan Fei was a Landlord. Including the ground-floor retail space, Yan Fei's monthly rental income amounted to sixty thousand yuan. With this money, Yan Fei's life was comfortable, which was one reason he hadn't sought work since graduating.
The big-eyed girl in front of him was Lü Yangyang, one of Yan Fei's tenants. The other girl, who had a good figure, was called Su Yan, and she shared the rental with Lü Yangyang. Usually, Lü Yangyang was the one to communicate with Yan Fei, as Su Yan seldom interacted with him.
Yan Fei curiously asked, "Isn't your rent not due for another half a month? Why are you paying now? People usually have to be chased down for rent. I've never seen someone eager to pay it early."
Lü Yangyang's eyes flickered as she said, "Isn't it great to meet good tenants like us?"
Yan Fei stepped aside, saying, "Come in and talk."
Lü Yangyang pulled Su Yan in, and Yan Fei said, "Take a seat first, I'll go make some tea for you."
Su Yan had never been to Yan Fei's room before. Noticing several group photos hanging on the wall, she asked curiously, "Little Boss, you actually graduated from Zhendan University? That's amazing!"
Lü Yangyang proudly said, "Yanyan, you don't know, but Little Boss is a true high-achiever, a genius. He knows way more than you can imagine."
Yan Fei humbly replied, "Not at all, I'm quite ordinary, not a genius by any means. My classmates are the real geniuses. Compared to them, I sometimes doubt my own life choices."
Su Yan whispered, "Little Boss is too modest."
Suddenly, Lü Yangyang let out a "huh" and said, "Little Boss, it seems like you've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you."
Yan Fei gave a bitter smile. His body had been transformed by a mysterious power, and someone attentive had spotted the change in his physique. Fortunately, he didn't meet Lü Yangyang often, so she couldn't be certain that he had grown stronger in a short period. He responded, "You know I enjoy working out, and I've made some progress recently, so I look a bit more robust."
Lü Yangyang voiced her belief in Yan Fei's words with an "oh." She glanced at Su Yan and asked, "Little Boss, how many years has it been since you graduated from Zhendan University?"
Yan Fei answered, "Three years now. Why do you ask?"
Lü Yangyang replied casually, "Just curious, that's all. By the way, you're not even 25 this year, right?"
Yan Fei said, "I'm only 23."
Lü Yangyang stuck out her tongue at Su Yan and said to Yan Fei, "Little Boss, you're incredible, only 23 and it's been three years since you graduated from such a prestigious university."
Yan Fei didn't pick up on Lü Yangyang's line. Instead, he placed the freshly brewed tea in front of them and said, "Let's get to the point, the real reason why you're here today."
Su Yan said softly, "Little Boss, the thing is, we heard that this neighborhood might be demolished. We're not sure if it's true, and if it is, whether it will affect our building."
Yan Fei stroked his chin and said, "Correct, I have been notified that our area will soon be demolished for the construction of a Commercial Center. But it will be several months at the least before the demolition terms are negotiated. I had been meaning to find time to discuss it with you, but you've come to me with this question instead."
Lü Yangyang said with a hint of sadness, "So we'll have to move out? I've lived here for a year."
Yan Fei replied, "There's nothing I can do; I can't stop such a big event. But until the demolition starts, you still can live here."
Lü Yangyang said, "Having to find a new place to live in a few months is hard to accept. You're the best landlord I've ever met."
Yan Fei laughed, "I'm not as good as you say; I'll evict someone who doesn't pay rent just the same. By the way, because of the situation, I've decided to offer a 30% discount on the rent from now on, and you can pay monthly instead of quarterly."
Lü Yangyang and Su Yan were thrilled, realizing they could save several hundred yuan each month. They heaped praise on Yan Fei, who found this both amusing and somewhat sad. For young women struggling in Shanghai, rent was indeed a heavy burden.
After gathering their intelligence, Lü Yangyang and Su Yan left. As they were leaving, Yan Fei heard Lü Yangyang whisper to Su Yan, "See, Little Boss is such a catch, tall and handsome, looks slim in clothes but muscled without. Plus, he's a highly educated graduate from a key university with lots of property. Once the demolition goes through, he's sure to be a bona fide billionaire! If you hooked up with him, you wouldn't have to worry about a thing. And did you notice he kept stealing glances at you? That means he's interested in you. What's more, I'm sure he doesn't have a girlfriend since he's always alone..."
After his transformation by a mysterious power, Yan Fei's hearing had become much sharper, allowing him to hear the girls talking softly but clearly. He couldn't help but wryly smile; these girls were cute but not his type at all...
In the evening, Yan Fei kept his eyes fixed on the virtual screen of his Drone Avatar. As the clock struck midnight, the Virtual Operating Screen refreshed rapidly. The Drone restarted, its Energy Points restored to 30, and the Pea Bullets refilled to 200. He checked his surroundings, saw nothing unusual, opened the window, switched view, and sent the Drone flying once again.