"I figured as much."
William looked knowing: "What a pity though - that was Franks, a big shot in the Teutonic Cross. I think even he came out personally, so they must value you highly and offered you good terms. If I had that kind of treatment, I'd definitely accept."
Hearing this, André couldn't help but look at his friend with a strange expression: "This is a gang - do you want to join them? To deal drugs, collect protection money, force women into prostitution, then end up like those guys lying on the ground?"
In the Original Dome Realm, there were things similar to heroin and methamphetamine that André deeply despised.
"But more people get rich."
William shrugged: "If I could get invitations from Storm Angels or Black Prison Skulls like you, why not? Not every gang deals drugs - like 'Storm Angels,' they only make money running entertainment venues and protect the whole neighborhood. Teutonic Cross is similar - they mostly do smuggling business. Mo, you should know that people like me from the lower districts have a hard time getting into good universities without substantial recommendation letters. Even if we're lucky enough to be accepted by those prestigious schools, we're unlikely to get scholarships. I don't want to spend my whole life like my father, working as a garage mechanic or doing odd jobs in restaurants, exhausted like a dog every day without making much money. Anyway, if I can't make anything of myself in comprehensive cold weapon combat and can't get offers from top fifty schools, I'll probably join gangs nine times out of ten."
André fell silent, knowing this was a widespread condition in American society.
"Sometimes I really envy you - not only are your grades good in all subjects, but you're also a third-level magic energy warrior at sixteen. There are few like you in the entire school. I bet you can definitely get into the Ivy League - you really don't need to join gangs."
William looked envious: "Oh right, you still have that house. If you sell it, that's a big sum of money."
Though the house André used to live in had been repossessed by the bank, his parents had bought it many years ago, so presumably most of the mortgage had been paid off. The surplus after auction and loan repayment would still be returned to André.
"Don't think about that - the court has already failed to auction it twice and lowered the starting price again."
André shook his head: "Even if it sells successfully, my parents' small company still has a large debt to repay. Besides, don't forget I still have a sister."
"How could this be?" William's face showed undisguisable disappointment.
André was already too lazy to continue this discussion and suddenly quickened his pace, entering a nearby grocery store.
※※※※
André was preparing food and fruits for the next few days, while also replenishing some daily necessities.
His current residence not only had an empty refrigerator but was also running low on toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and similar items.
This feeling of returning to daily life was quite novel to him. In the Original Dome Realm, he could go a year or two without eating, maintaining his body's needs by absorbing heaven and earth's elemental essence - what immortals called "eating qi." His body was also naturally clean - even if stained with dirt, he could burn it off with true samadhi fire. But after rebirth in this borrowed body, he couldn't avoid worrying about his stomach.
The grocery store André entered was about fifty square meters, with shelves inside and on both sides, separated by a circle of counters outside.
Though the goods inside looked diverse, the variety was actually limited. Besides some daily chemical products, André only bought snacks like crackers and chips.
Then they walked over fifty meters to a bakery to buy bread, cheese, butter, and such.
After that came the fruit store and fresh produce store - fruits, fresh produce, and vegetables were also indispensable.
By the time they had purchased everything, half an hour had passed. Not only was André carrying a pile of items, but William beside him was also helping carry quite a lot.
The latter sighed: "Living alone really isn't easy."
He yearned to be independent from home and have his own place, but seeing André's situation, it felt very tedious.
André looked helpless: "William, doesn't our neighborhood really have grocery stores and bakeries? Do we really have to travel all this way to shop here?"
"How could there be? If our neighborhood had them, wouldn't you have seen them already?"
William shrugged, but then remembering André had only been in their neighborhood for less than four months and was usually either at school or work, he explained: "Just think about it - who would open a store there? They'd be robbed clean by those desperate homeless people. A magic weapon or gun is easy to get. Even if you had a gun for self-defense, you'd be bankrupted by community gangs. Only groups like Blood Fang or Black Prison Skulls might be possible, but why would they bother with that? Even if they opened such stores, they could be smashed by enemies at any time. Some people do retail business in the community, but they only sell to acquaintances. Mo, did your previous neighborhood have them?"
He knew the Carrel Street where André used to live was a real wealthy district with many patrol officers and numerous dignitaries, even two former congressional senators, so security was good and no gangs dared cause trouble there.
"There really were—"
André concentrated on searching the original owner's memories: "But it still wasn't convenient - the grocery store was at one end of the street, the fruit store at the other end. It's better to buy everything at once on Market Street. It would be great if we could buy all these things in one place."
As he said this, his mind suddenly stirred and he fell into contemplation.
In the Original Dome Realm, André's greatest pride in life wasn't his cultivation achievements, but his talent and instinct for business.
Since taking over the Divine Sky Sect, the sect's annual income had grown year after year, increasing threefold.
Though he was mocked by many cultivators in the Original Dome Realm as the "Immortal King who drilled into money holes," the Divine Sky Sect's disciple numbers had expanded by fifty percent during these years. Then each core disciple going out often carried large bags of talismans and pills, no longer worrying about resource shortages. This greatly reduced casualties in the Divine Sky Sect's demon-slaying activities over the past forty years, accumulating sufficient foundation to deal with the demonic calamity.
William looked puzzled: "Buying everything in one place? Isn't that what Market Street is like? What's the point?"
"But what if it's not concentrated on one street, but in one store? If you could buy everything in one shop, conveniently located near our neighborhood, would you shop there, William?"
André smiled: "Super market! Supermarket."