Chapter 141: The Underworld General Assembly (Part III)

As the middle-aged man sat down amid profuse expressions of gratitude, another bespectacled teenager stood up, so excited that he stammered: "M-My Lord! What about the e-sports industry then? Will games from the realm of the living be introduced to the underworld? Will national e-sports tournaments be organized? Will we be able to see our favorite current pro players?"

Qin Ye was utterly speechless and replied truthfully, "Rest assured... when those current gaming giants of China pass away, they will surely arrive here. Just wait..."

Wait for the days when you couldn't play without topping up your account...

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Just as Qin Ye breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave, an uncalled elderly man grew anxious, suddenly sprang to his feet, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "My Lord... will future residential communities be like this? As magnificent as Phase One of Qin Garden?"

Not just him, but several other elderly men stood up as well, staring intently at Qin Ye with burning eyes.

Qin Ye thought for a moment and answered, "No. Phase One of Qin Garden is a benchmark project; future ones will just be standard residential housing."

"I see..." The old man let out a sigh of relief. Just when Qin Ye thought he was going to sit back down, the man suddenly spread his hands. "Two million."

"RMB. Currency from the realm of the living. I want Room 111 on the first floor."

What the hell?!

The entire venue fell silent. Qin Ye stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.

Is that even an operation?!

Probably none of them expected this. The seven department heads were dumbfounded, and Anubis blinked. Dead silence hung over the scene.

Was this... the rhythm of touching off a buying frenzy right after listing?

Wait... the Underworld doesn't encourage speculative real estate syndicates... You can't just drive housing prices up like this... Who knows, there might be some departed souls among us who jumped to their deaths because they couldn't afford a house; see if they don't come back up here and tear you a new one...

"Who are you..." Qin Ye was blooming with joy on the inside. Was this heaven sending a pillow just as he was dozing off?

Indeed, the momentum had started, but goodness knows how much subsequent investment would be required. A residential community required capital in the hundreds of millions; his mere two million wouldn't even make a ripple. There were countless things yet to be introduced. Too few machinery units, right? Tents were needed too, weren't they? You couldn't just expect people to go out and pack up equipment in the rain, could you?

And all kinds of building materials, timber... If you draw big blueprints too happily now, you'd better watch out for the reckoning later. In a few months, when everyone sees that it's still just these few machines puttering around the site, no amount of grand visions will save you!

Therefore... Qin Broke-as-a-Church-Mouse Ye even busted out honorifics.

"Just running a small business, that's all." Facing the gazes coming from all directions, the old man wisely explained, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's not that I don't want to follow the rules, but... isn't the vast majority of people here elderly?"

"Among these tens of thousands of ghostly citizens, at least two-thirds are seniors. We lived to ripe old ages, so how can we possibly compare our physical strength with the young ghostly citizens? I'd love to go to the Underworld Construction Department, but firstly, I don't understand the construction industry, and secondly, would anyone there even want me?"

He bowed repeatedly with clasped hands. "I'm sure you've all noticed by now that our current physical condition is closely tied to the mortal realm. We seniors won't die, but we don't have much strength left either. We can't carry heavy loads on our shoulders, which means we can only be ranked at the very end, doesn't it?"

"Fortunately, this old man has been dead for decades, passing away before the Cultural Revolution. I have some small savings left at home that were never unearthed. When My Lord manages affairs in the mortal realm, surely you need money? I say, those with strength contribute strength, and those with money contribute money. That is the only way for both sides to benefit."

"Allow us to discuss this." Before the other spirits could speak, Anubis frantically signaled to Qin Ye with her eyes. Just as Qin Ye was about to reply, a soft voice suddenly echoed in his ear: "Agree to him! Never mind that two million is a small sum; this money... doesn't come easy."

"It really is too little." Qin Ye frowned slightly. "By market value, that property would sell for at least seven or eight million upwards."

"You also know that's the market price!" Anubis said swiftly. "This is the underworld; how many people can bring mortal currency down with them? Such people are rare—every single one counts! The underworld RMB cannot be calculated using mortal exchange rates!"

However, before they could finish discussing, another voice piped up: "Room 111... That's the room facing the pond, right? Perfect, this old man has taken a fancy to that pond as well."

It was time for the delightful, wallet-crushing display of the ultra-wealthy. As the crowd parted, an elderly man with a glowing, ruddy complexion that made him look anything but dead strode forward while twirling two walnuts in his hand. "Ten million RMB. I want two rooms—leaving one for my future old lady."

As soon as this person appeared, the eyes of the seven department heads lit up. Song Ming immediately rushed over to Qin Ye's side and lowered his voice: "The Glass King! Huang Liangchuan, the man who single-handedly built half of China's glass industry! He grew a tiny window-film shop into a current listed conglomerate with massive overseas markets! A native of Daishan City, Anhui Province, he was among the first batch to dive into the market wave, possessing razor-sharp commercial instincts. All of our families source glass from his company!"

"On last year's China Rich List, he ranked 148th. This is a... billionaire! A genuine tycoon!"

Qin Ye's heart suddenly tumbled into chaos.

Many things are only realized when you do them yourself: Ah, so it could be done this way? Ah, what on earth was I doing earlier?!

Right now, he wanted to slap himself hard across the face.

Why didn't he ask Anubis to paint a traditional ink scroll earlier?! This was an investment! Did these people lack vision? Who couldn't see that Phase One of Qin Garden was a benchmark? Who couldn't see its true significance?

Putting everything else aside, would the Underworld Construction Department not want to live there? Would Anubis not want to live there? Would Lord Qin not want to live there?

Where would they live?

Naturally, Phase One of Qin Garden!

For a billionaire, ten million truly wasn't much for such a close-to-the-water-gets-the-moon opportunity!

Song Ming continued, "I heard some time ago that he fell gravely ill and the Huang family's stock hit its limit-down for days. No wonder they didn't dare announce his passing; they must have been worried the stock would crash completely... My Lord, this is an opportunity. Ten million can at least purchase a lot more equipment!"

Qin Ye nodded, having already made up his mind, but he couldn't agree right away.

According to government bureaucracy, one must "take it under advisement."

And then deliberate further.

Finally, with great reluctance and cold, aloof condescension, agree to the request, implying: I am doing you a favor, do not make this a habit.

"Besides." Qin Ye looked at the somewhat chaotic crowd, feeling a major headache coming on. Right now, they completely lacked a public security brigade... He could still suppress them with his own martial might, but where was the manpower to handle these tasks? All the able-bodied folks were at the Underworld Construction Department—were they supposed to let a bunch of grannies and grandpas manage public security?

Well... the aging population of the underworld was indeed an issue. Things couldn't go on like this; these elderly folks had to be made to unleash their remaining heat, because after all... they could keep glowing with "remaining heat" forever...

It was a chilling thought to dwell upon...

As the closing announcement of the assembly echoed, Qin Ye immediately retreated to the side hall. He needed to properly sort out the events of today.

Anubis and the other seven department heads were there as well, every single one of their faces beaming with irrepressible excitement.

This was the feeling of holding real power.

"Everyone, calm down." Qin Ye continued to maintain his aloof and cool persona, smiling faintly, "The first step for the underworld went quite well, but moving forward, we still face too many problems."

"Anubis and I have discussed it. To put it concretely, we are facing the following issues."

"First, community management." Qin Ye raised a finger. "Once a community is established, it will inevitably burst at the seams. Everyone has seen how explosive the real estate industry is in the mortal realm; there's no need to worry about ghostly occupants. We also need recreation rooms and the like. I plan to purchase some entertainment equipment from the mortal realm. After all... elderly ghostly citizens have far too much free time."

Everyone nodded, their excitement subsiding. Zhao Guangliang thought for a moment and said, "Not only that, but a financial system should be established as soon as possible. We cannot play the philanthropist for free; the old underworld of the past must have had some kind of financial system."

"And security work," Qian Tianyi added. "A community of tens of thousands of ghostly citizens cannot lack security. To prevent ghostly citizens like Gao Dahu from popping up again, it is necessary for us to establish an armed force under your control and guidance. After all... political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

"Note that down," Qin Ye turned to say to the record-keeper behind him, then pondered aloud, "We should make thorough inquiries and establish various clubs on a regular basis. That is the only way to stabilize the excessively large yet undying population of elderly ghostly citizens... Cough... I don't mean to look down on them, I'm merely stating a fact..."

He continued, "Once the hobbies of all the elderly ghostly citizens are registered, community management can assign these idle personnel, seeing as they cannot participate in urban construction work. As for the financial system... Minister Anubis, do you have anything to add?"

Anubis was dressed very formally today.

Aside from previously revealing her true form with her tongue dragging on the ground, she was now encased in a flawless, seamless silicone suit, coupled with a form-fitting professional OL outfit. It looked extremely... well... capable.

"A financial system isn't needed at the village level. In fact, only at the county level can the underworld qi reserves accommodate the physical entities of the financial system's unique establishments, like the Heaven and Earth Bank," she thought for a moment and said. "Only with this can a society be normalized. Furthermore, electricity, water, and media propaganda outlets—all of these must wait until the financial system appears before they can be arranged. The underworld qi reserves at the village and town levels are far too sparse to support this kind of century-long project that impacts the entire underworld administration."

"Wait..." Qin Ye thought he had misheard. "Electricity? Water? Are you certain they used those before?"

Anubis gave him a sideways glance. "What's so strange about that? The Underworld administration must also keep pace with the times. The Candle Dragon holding a torch in its mouth is a story from several millennia ago. When the underworld collapsed, Lord Candle Dragon's title was 'Chairman of the Underworld Electric Power Corporation,' abbreviated as Under-Power Corp. The head of the Under-Water Corp was the 3,242nd direct descendant of Goddess Houtu—a nepotistic company that was almost squeezed out of existence by other pure-water commercial chambers. If not for King Yama remembering Goddess Houtu's magnificent feat of transforming herself into the Six Paths, the Under-Water Corp wouldn't even exist anymore."

Good grief...

Everyone stared at each other with wide eyes, holding only those two words in their minds.

The old underworld... was a bit too progressive with the times...

"With the development of the underworld, major chambers of commerce and corporations will appear sooner or later. You can think of it as a carbon copy of mortal society, except that the old underworld perished before it reached the internet stage... Why are you all looking at me like that? Several members of the team that built the internet back when the first-generation Chinese internet godfather was around were brought down here long ago to enjoy their retirement. They were kept on high salaries just waiting for network fiber-optic positioning and trench digging, only for Lord Ksitigarbha to suddenly attain Buddhahood... They never got to enjoy it..."

No one spoke.

Very well, very underworld-like.

Why did he feel such an overwhelming urge to air out his complaints...

Mom, the underworld is somewhat different from what I imagined. What should I do?

Just then, Su Dongxue suddenly entered from the doorway, bowing gracefully, "My Lord, an organization calling itself the 'Setting Sun Mutual Aid Association'—a group of five people—is sitting in a sit-in protest at the entrance, demanding to see you."

"What the hell..." Qin Ye felt a sharp pain in his brain. What kind of nonsense is this... a mutual aid association has already popped up? How many minutes and seconds has it been... And what does a sit-in mean? They've even learned to demonstrate?

You guys think you're pretty capable now, huh?