New York, Queens.
A young man sat on the edge of a seven-story building, overlooking the street. The brilliant sunset cast a golden glow over him, and a gentle breeze played with his black hair, revealing a pair of brown eyes.
The setting sun gradually dipped below the horizon, and the bright moon ascended into the sky.
Under the cold, ethereal light, a soft sigh drifted across the rooftop.
One month.
He'd been here for a full month. Though Hong Fei didn't know why he'd transmigrated, he'd finally figured out the cards he held.
He'd inherited many of the protagonist's abilities from the game "Red Dead Redemption 2," which he'd finished right before transmigrating, though there were some changes.
The combination of reality and the game had created a special ability with a sense of conflict.
Doing good deeds could improve his physical fitness, while doing "bad deeds" would increase that special energy within him.
The only purpose of that energy was to activate the "Eyes of Death."
Eyes of Death: Slows down the passage of time; reduces damage taken; automatically marks any body part of an enemy as a target after aiming; and possesses additional abilities such as night vision and tracking.
That was all the information Hong Fei had grasped so far.
This summary hadn't come easily; after all, he didn't have a system in his head that could spout snarky remarks or list data.
"Sir! I'm here!"
A childish shout from downstairs caught Hong Fei's attention. Looking down, he saw a little boy who looked only six or seven years old.
Hong Fei gestured and turned to go downstairs.
This building was his.
Strictly speaking, he'd inherited it from his predecessor, who in turn had inherited it from his deceased parents. According to his memories, to inherit this building, the former Hong Fei had practically sold everything he owned to pay the exorbitant inheritance tax.
From this, it was evident that Hong Fei wasn't just a yellow-skinned foreigner here, but also had no relatives or friends.
Taking the elevator to the first floor, his eyes were met with a dazzling array of books, and even the air was filled with the scent of real books.
Don't get him wrong, Hong Fei didn't consider himself a scholar.
The real scholar had probably gone to another world to live for him. Thinking of how the other person, with a gentle and refined soul, had to face those challengers coming one after another, Master Hong smiled rather unkindly.
"Sir, what are you smiling at?"
Looking down, the boy was tightly clutching a yellow lunch box in his arms. He blinked curiously at Hong Fei, with a lively light seemingly flickering in his eyes.
Hong Fei took the lunch box and rubbed his head. "Nothing, Peter. What's for dinner today?"
Peter immediately and enthusiastically listed the dishes for Hong Fei.
The dinner was, of course, prepared by Aunt Mei. Peter Parker's Aunt Mei was already a pitiful widow.
But don't get the wrong idea; Hong Fei had only met Aunt Mei once, but he did hit it off with six or seven-year-old Peter.
That was over half a month ago. Hong Fei had been out on the streets, looking for targets to verify his hypothesis, and he'd casually chased away a few kids who were pestering Peter with snide remarks.
A child who had lost both parents would always encounter those unpleasant classmates at school.
Plus, Hong Fei's bookstore was on Peter's way home, so they got to know each other over time. Every Friday night, Peter would pack a portion of his family's dinner and bring it to Hong Fei. After this happened a few times, Aunt Mei, as his guardian, had even visited the bookstore alone, but Hong Fei just pretended not to recognize her.
Sitting behind the counter, Peter watched quietly as Hong Fei polished off all the food, a happy smile on his face.
Getting up to wash the lunch box, Hong Fei said, "Let's go. I'll walk you home."
"Okay!"
Closing the shop door and hanging up the sign, the two walked forward together. Peter's hand suddenly slipped quietly into Hong Fei's.
Sensing the difference, Hong Fei raised an eyebrow, then immediately gripped Peter's small hand and led him all the way home. Peter happily shook his head, his steps suddenly becoming much lighter.
Ten minutes later, they arrived downstairs.
"Peter, you don't need to come over next week; I might be going abroad for a while."
Peter said in surprise, "Sir, where are you going?"
Hong Fei laughed, "Traveling. Going wherever I end up."
"Oh, okay, I understand." Peter was a bit disappointed. "Then, can you let me know when you get back?"
"Of course. Don't you pass by the bookstore every day?"
"Oh, right! Well, I hope you have a safe trip, Sir!"
Waving goodbye, Hong Fei watched Peter walk into the elevator. As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of Aunt Mei in one of the building's windows.
On his way back, while still some distance from the bookstore, Hong Fei already saw some uninvited guests gathered at the entrance.
As he gradually approached, a young man in a suit with slicked-back hair stepped out from the group of thugs.
"Hong, have you considered it?"
The other party was named Hall, an impatient young man. Since the day before yesterday, he had been negotiating with Hong Fei about acquiring this building, including the land, as a representative of Fisk Industries.
However, the price he offered was clearly not enough to satisfy Hong Fei; to be precise, Hong Fei had no intention of selling at all.
Seeing that Hong Fei remained silent, Hall added, "I can increase yesterday's price by another 5%. I've brought the agreement, and we can sign it tonight. You'll see the money in your account immediately, and I can even give you a generous signing bonus!"
Hong Fei's reaction was no reaction.
Hall clearly understood that Hong Fei had no intention of selling, but he pretended not to hear. He was convinced Hong Fei was just holding out for a higher price, and he might even have thought Hong Fei was being ungrateful.
Yesterday Hall had come alone, but today he brought a group of thugs with him; the intent to threaten was obvious.
Hong Fei walked past Hall without stopping, then casually strolled through the menacing crowd. Only after taking out his key and opening the shop door did he turn around and smile. "Mr. Hall, I heard you're not a real lawyer yet. How about..."
Hong Fei's gaze swept over the group behind him. "Let your boss send someone more professional?"
"You..."
Before Hall's anger could be vented, Hong Fei slammed the door shut with a bang.
An African-American man with dreadlocks squeezed in front of Hall. He shook the baseball bat in his hand and said eagerly, "Sir, should we...?"
Hall stared at the tightly closed door, breathing heavily, as if he were about to order the group to rush in at any moment.
But after a rapid change of expression, he suddenly turned around, hurried into the sports car parked on the street, and sped away, leaving a group of thugs staring at each other in confusion.
In the speeding sports car, Hall gripped the steering wheel with a fierce look in his eyes, muttering to himself, "When Mr. Wilson Fisk returns, I will personally throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"
Inside the shop, Master Hong, who had just stretched his muscles, couldn't help but laugh. He turned and took the elevator straight to the top floor.
This seven-story building was, of course, not lived in by him alone. Besides the bookstore on the first floor and his own residence on the seventh, the middle five floors had been converted into apartments and rented out.
Turning on the TV, the talk show host shouted in an exaggerated voice, "I seriously suspect that the owner of Maxim magazine also participated in gambling; otherwise, why would they have looked for a pair of twin sisters to be the cover girls last December? He just wanted to round up twelve women for Stark within a year! God, I was so angry I almost jumped off a building! I heard that recently there's another peak award that's in the bag for Stark again; I have friends who have already seen him in Las Vegas."
Hong Fei turned down the TV volume significantly and then walked into the bathroom.
Previously, the seventh floor was the residence of Hong Fei's family, and the six floors below were all the bookstore.
The current Hong Fei found it hard to imagine just how much his parents loved reading!
Until they passed away at a young age, Hong Fei, who had sold everything to pay the inheritance tax, had to grit his teeth and take out another loan from the bank to renovate the middle five floors in order to recover and survive. From this point of view, he was indeed quite bold.
Such a change was clearly worth it. It not only allowed him to pay off the loan quickly, but later, just by collecting rent, he could live the life that most people in this city dreamed of.
Five floors, three rooms per floor, a total of fifteen rooms. Some were one-bedroom apartments, some two-bedroom. Fifteen portions of rent—he earned more than some people working fifteen jobs.
Besides, if the current Hong Fei weren't Master Hong, he might have already sold this old building, along with the land, to the boss behind that Hall.
The other party's offer was not cheap; it was a figure Hong Fei wouldn't be able to earn even in a hundred years of collecting rent.
The reason he didn't sell wasn't because he was waiting for a better price, but because the actual value of this land was already much higher.
Not to mention the appreciation after development and construction... Hong Fei currently had no such intention, nor did he have the capital to do so.
But!
The things buried under this land couldn't be measured by money at all.
After showering and sitting down in the living room, a rich red glow suddenly surged deep within Hong Fei's dark brown pupils; this was the manifestation of the activation of the Eyes of Death.
The moment his eyes turned deep red, all the noisy sounds in his ears instantly disappeared.
In his field of vision, the originally colorful and vibrant World instantly lost all its color. In the black-and-white vision, the images playing on the TV began to jump frame by frame.
In addition, he could also see a mass of swirling golden airflow rising through the floor, almost enveloping the entire building.
What was even more miraculous was that, amidst the surging golden airflow, Hong Fei could occasionally see an illusory miniature giant dragon soaring within it.