The first phase of the building renovation project went smoothly. The children managed to identify almost all the suspicious figures. Their keen eyes made it impossible for anyone to escape their notice when they were alert.
Even professional killers had to come in advance to scout the location. But the kids here could identify every stranger that appeared. An alarm was immediately raised if any were spotted, whether hiding by the wall roots, inside the cabinets, or even under the manhole covers, there were eyes on them.
The children may not be physically strong, but they were numerous. If they worked together, even the careless mob members could trip over.
Although the three major streets were to be renovated into a single building, the construction process did not begin with laying the foundation simultaneously. Instead, one building was built first, then the subsequent ones, which were all connected later.
By sheer coincidence, with absolutely no hint of a conspiracy, the majority of the children were intended to reside in the first completed building.
The construction of this building proceeded very rapidly, even faster than Jason heard from the mob leader from Elizabeth Street. In little over a month, the building was ready.
Many details were still to be perfected, such as the exterior decoration of the building and the landscaping. But it was already habitable.
Every day, the children would squat by the construction site with their heads raised and watch the building slowly take shape. From the glow in their eyes, you could tell that many of them may choose this career path in the future, because they saw their dreams of a comfortable life in the construction industry.
Seeing a towering building slowly rising, becoming a home for countless people, was very exciting. But there were many things that the children couldn't understand.
It wasn't their first time seeing a building being constructed. However, from the materials used in the building to the final decoration components, there were many things they had never seen before. These things appeared to be alien to them.
After the finishing touches to the building, Wayne Enterprises set up a house delivery location on the first floor. All the people on the resettlement list could go there to get a house.
At first, the children were scared to go in, but led by Jason, they walked into the spacious hall, and the staff at the house delivery location greeted them with a smile.
Sitting at the desk, he said to Jason: "Hello, sir, in order to ensure that the list of resettled personnel matches the name list of those received a house, please say your name and stretch your arm into the window."
Jason looked down and saw a round hole beneath the glass window. He'd never done anything like this before, so he didn't know what the hole was for, but he did as instructed and stretched his arm in.
The staff member pulled up a weird machine, aimed at his hand, and scanned it. The machine hummed and then said: "Fingerprint identification complete. Identity: Jason Todd, serial number 30701132..."
The staff member then moved the machine away and asked Jason to stand straight and stare at a black dot behind the desk. After a while, the machine issued a series of sounds, basically saying that they had confirmed Jason's identity.
Then, the staff member brought another machine, which wrapped around Jason's arm. Jason didn't feel any pain, but soon, the staff member looked at the information on the screen and said: "Gene collection complete. The next step is to implant a chip. Let me see… Alright, Mr. Jason, you can withdraw your arm."
"Gene collection? What chip?" Jason was a bit confused. He looked at the staff member and asked, "What did you do to me?"
"Nothing much, we just left a mark on your body. This will be your key to the door in the future. You don't need to do anything, but only you will be able to open your own door. No one else can open this door unless you bring them here for authorization."
Jason somewhat understood, but the other kids were still confused. They gathered around Jason, chirping, "What did those machines do to you? Does it hurt? Do you need injections? Where is the key?"
Jason shook his head and said, "No, it doesn't hurt. Just follow what the staff member said to you, and the key will be hidden in your body. That way, no one will be able to open your door."
"Really? That's amazing?"
"What if someone forces me to open the door?"
"What if I want to invite my friends over?"
At this point, an older staff member came out, clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, and said:
"I suppose everyone is a bit curious about this novel method of receiving your housing. I will answer all your questions. Go ahead, you can ask first…"
"Um… Will this harm us in any way? Will it hurt?"
"No, it won't. We are just collecting personal information and uploading it to the system. This way, the building will recognize you, and only those who the building recognizes can enter. Otherwise, you'll be incapacitated by the Intelligent Defense System outside the door."
All the children turned to look at where the staff member was pointing. Outside the building, there was a yard that was not yet finished. On the already completed courtyard wall, a variety of weapons they had never seen before were installed. They looked a bit like floating cannons, but they were smaller and more covert.
"So we don't have to worry about thieves?" a child asked.
"That's right, thieves, robbers, and unidentified persons won't be able to enter. Plus, you don't need to do any extra operations; everything is intelligently recognized."
"And another thing!" A child raised his hand and asked, "What if someone forces me to open the door for him? Or what if they grab me and use me as a key?"
"Members who have keys can grant each other permissions, but people who do not have keys cannot enter no matter what. The intelligent defense system will accurately attack them without hurting you. They can't even get into the building, so how can they force you to open the door?"
"What if I want to rent out my house?" A larger child asked, "I want to live with someone else and rent out my own house. Is that not allowed?"
"Of course it is. But, anyone who wants to rent your house must also pass an identity verification, be granted a key, only then can you give them permission and they can rent your house."
The other children began to chatter. After a while, a little girl finally stepped forward and said, "I'll go second, you bunch of wimps. Isn't it just extending a hand? I'll do it!"
After she finished speaking, she walked over. Although her words were tough, her arm trembled when she extended it. The staff smiled at her and completed the handover process just like they had for Jason.
The little girl twisted her arm to examine it, "It really doesn't hurt, and there are no marks. It's completely invisible. You guys can give it a try, I wouldn't lie."
The other children hesitated for a moment, then began to line up. Some tried to squeeze forward, and Jason had to maintain order.
At that moment, two mob members burst into the yard. They said, "What are you doing here? What are you doing on our turf? Didn't you know our boss just took over this place?"
Jason elbowed Six-fingered Sister who was standing next to him. "Is he from the Blue Jacket Gang?"
"I'm afraid so. I've seen them before, they dress like this. Look at their boots. They're for riding motorcycles. There are about twenty motorcycles in their gang..."
All the children started to push back in alarm, but the staff remained calm. The senior staff member walked to the entrance and said loudly, "Hello gentlemen, this is Wayne Enterprises' sale department for this reconstruction project. If you have a placement slot, you can go and queue in the back..."
"Sale department?! Did you get permission from our boss?! You're setting up a sale department on this street without talking to our boss first?!"
Suddenly, the sound of motorcycles. Many motorcycles drove over. The mobsters were carrying guns, about to enter when the old staff member picked up the intercom and said, "We are experiencing an invasion at the sale apartment, requesting the defense system to initiate, cancelling the security agreement...3...2...1..."
The floating cannons shot up into the sky instantly, emitting a few lasers that gave off dazzling lights. Jason shielded his eyes. When he opened them again, the strong smell of blood hit him. The mobsters were lying on the ground in a chaotic mess. All the children screamed in shock.
"Rest assured, no one can break in here as long as you stay. The defense system covers all areas of this building. When the renovation plan is fully completed, the defense area will be even larger." The old staff member said with a smile.
"Alright, line up to get your keys, then let's see the houses."
Upon hearing this, the children, despite being a little scared, were clamoring for the keys. After all, nothing was more enticing than a house.
When all the children had put their arms through the window to get their keys, they followed the senior staff through a walkway to the elevator.
What they could see was that the protective film inside the elevator hadn't been torn off yet. But the smooth metal and complex patterns had all the children wide-eyed.
Jason noticed that the elevator was very similar to the one at Sokolov's Grand Hotel; it was luxurious and beautiful, although it looked a bit hard to clean. So he asked, "Sir, who will take care of the cleaning here, do we have to clean it ourselves?"
"No need, we will hire a batch of professional cleaners, and have cleaning machines too. For example, these intricate patterns that are difficult to clean, they will be cleaned by machines."
"By the way, if you know someone or if your parents are here, they can come and apply for janitorial jobs here. The pay is high, and the work is not tiring, although they also need verification."
In an instant, the children exploded into chatter. Many of them, although they mostly did not have parents, did know people, or had only one parent, or were living with relatives, there were always suitable candidates they could suggest.
With a "ding", the elevator door opened. What appeared in front of the children was an incredibly wide corridor, not crowded at all, much wider than Living Hell.
All the children stood jaw-dropped in place, then a heated discussion broke out.
"Oh my god! How is this place so big?! I've never seen such a wide corridor, what is this floor made of? Tiles? It can reflect light!"
"I've been to the Living Hell, the corridors there are not this good. Could it be that this place is better than Living Hell? Then the rent here will definitely skyrocket!"
"I feel like this place is more like a hotel? I've been to a hotel before when I was delivering things, this place is really similar to the Wayne Hotel..."
"Where are our rooms? Where are the rooms? I'm already getting impatient!"