Chapter 200 - 153: Expensive Is Fine, But the Price Must Be Justified

"Alright, I won’t peek."

Fu Yuan felt utterly helpless.

’If she’s so worried about me peeking, why did she strip everyone naked without a second thought?’

’That was his Barrier, and his Divine Sense was active the entire time. He had to tread on eggshells, carefully avoiding the sight of anything inappropriate.’

He completed the tasks she had given him in less than three minutes.

"I’ve altered their memories and deleted all the videos of your sister. But that... Princess Tianyin, she’s already forwarded it to a lot of people. For the copies that were sent out, unless we can find every single person, there’s nothing I can do."

"Forget it. There’s nothing we can do about that. This world is very open-minded; no one besides the people involved will care about something like this. How about this: alter Tangtang’s memory so she forgets what just happened."

’As long as she forgets the terrible experience of being stripped and filmed, she won’t have to suffer.’

’As for everything else, time will wash it all away.’

"Alright."

Fu Yuan closed his eyes. His consciousness entered Jiang Tang’s mind and quickly erased the memories.

Her memory now stopped at the moment she was about to leave to meet Jiang Yunnuan, right before those people intercepted and dragged her away.

Under the cover of the Invisibility Technique, they swaggered away and returned to the car, where Jiang Yunnuan continued to hold Jiang Tang.

Fu Yuan looked at her, hesitating to speak.

Jiang Yunnuan had been patient the entire ride, but she finally couldn’t stand it anymore. "Doesn’t it kill you to hold it in the whole time? Just say what’s on your mind."

"Er, I was just wondering... you’re not planning on having her live with us, are you?"

"What? Are you saying she’s not welcome?"

Jiang Yunnuan’s eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief.

’Even though she had no intention of bringing Jiang Tang home, his question really annoyed her.’

"Of course not!"

Fu Yuan immediately shot back, his explanation brimming with self-preservation.

"Don’t be mad, just hear me out. Si Xie could come out of seclusion any day now. At home, it’s me and Si Xie—two grown men. Your sister is unmarried; it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to live with us, right? What if something were to happen?"

In the Empire, it was unheard of for an unmarried girl to live with a married female relative.

Even a family’s own daughter would be sent to a rearing center or another nearby residence at the age of nine or ten.

A household could have anywhere from four or five to more than a dozen Beastmen, and any one of them could potentially go berserk. That’s an extremely dangerous situation.

There absolutely could not be any women in the home other than one’s partner.

It was for this very reason that Jiang Yunnuan had never taken Jiang Tang out of the rearing center.

"I know, don’t worry. I’m not bringing Tangtang home. Fu Yuan, get on the network right now and help me buy another house near ours. Star Coins aren’t an issue. Oh, and put it in Tangtang’s name."

"Alright."

In the age of the Star Network, everything was about efficiency.

It only took Fu Yuan a little over ten minutes to pick out a small villa in a neighborhood similar to theirs. The only drawback was the rather high price.

Their own villa had only cost thirty million Star Coins when they bought it. He, Jun Yao, Si Xie, and Ming Ye had all pitched in, and the property was registered under Jiang Yunnuan’s name.

But this one was listed for fifty million. The price was absurd.

Jiang Yunnuan’s brow furrowed when she heard the price.

"Contact the seller and ask why it’s so expensive. We have money, but we’re not suckers. I’m fine with expensive, but there has to be a good reason for the price."

"Fine, I’ll ask."

A few minutes later, Fu Yuan turned off his Light Brain and reported back to her.

"The seller said the villa’s defense system is state-of-the-art. It can withstand a forced entry from anyone below the level of a Half-step Ultimate Venerable. It also comes with a complimentary All-Purpose Robot."

"When you put it that way, fifty million doesn’t seem so expensive after all."

’It can withstand a forced entry from anyone below a Half-step Ultimate Venerable, which means the defense system must be extremely strong. It’s perfect for a girl like Jiang Tang who doesn’t have a Contractor.’

’Besides, the All-Purpose Robot isn’t just for show. True to its name, it can do housework, has offensive capabilities to act as a bodyguard, and even comes with a sexual function system to... engage in those kinds of activities with its owner.’

’These robots have customizable height and appearance, with synthetic skin that makes them almost indistinguishable from a real person. They aren’t cheap to build.’

"Let’s go take a look. The other features don’t have to be perfect, but I want you to properly test the defense system. Control your power and give it a thorough check."

’She can’t protect Jiang Tang forever, and Jiang Tang has no fighting ability to speak of. More than anything else, the defense system is what matters most.’

"Mm, alright."

The house was just across the street from their villa, only a few minutes away on foot.

After parking the car, Jiang Yunnuan left the unconscious Jiang Tang behind and went with Fu Yuan to see the house.

The villas on this street had all been commissioned by the Fifth Star Zone’s administrative bureau, so the layout, neighborhood, and lot size were all more or less the same as her own home.

The interior was impeccable, so Jiang Yunnuan gestured for Fu Yuan to test the defense system.

After confirming with the seller one last time, Fu Yuan calibrated his power to the First Rank of the Returning Origin Stage. If the system held, he would gradually increase the intensity.

The test was over in three minutes.

Fu Yuan withdrew his power and walked over to Jiang Yunnuan, lowering his voice to give her an update.

"This defense system can withstand up to about the Eighth Rank of the Returning Origin Stage. It definitely won’t hold against the Ninth Rank. The seller was exaggerating. So, what’s the verdict? Are we still buying it?"

"Yes, of course we’re buying it. Think about it: how many Eighth-Rank Returning Origin Stage experts are there in the entire Central City? The seller might have exaggerated a bit, but this result is still fantastic. It’s much better than I expected."

Although the difference of a single rank was like night and day, in Jiang Yunnuan’s eyes, it wasn’t an issue at all. She hardly even considered it an exaggeration.

Ninth-Rank Returning Origin Stage experts were either prominent figures within the Empire, bound by their status and unlikely to forcibly break into a private residence...

...or they were fugitives outside its borders, completely unable to enter Imperial territory and endanger its citizens.

In other words, the villa would be incredibly safe for Jiang Tang.

"Alright, let’s buy it then. We can handle the ownership transfer directly online. The house has been sitting empty, so we don’t need to wait for anyone to pack up and move out. Once the transfer is done and we change the information and passwords, your sister can move in right away."

"Mm, that’s perfect."

’If she can move in today, it’ll save me the trouble of finding a short-term rental.’

Since Jiang Yunnuan planned to register the ownership transfer under Jiang Tang’s name, Jiang Tang herself needed to be present.

With that, she returned to the car to wake Jiang Tang.

"You... who are you...?"

With part of her memory erased, Jiang Tang’s head throbbed in confusion. She opened her eyes to see a face that was almost unfairly beautiful.

She instinctively felt the face was very familiar, yet she couldn’t quite place it.

"Don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Jiang Yunnuan. Did you sleep so hard you made yourself silly?"

Jiang Yunnuan smiled and gently flicked her on the forehead.