1: Singapore dollar

New Era Year 385.

With heavy steps, Ye Yang returned to a five-story building located in the South City of the Base City. This was his home, though not the entire building, but a two-bedroom apartment of just fifty square meters on the third floor.

It was constructed from reinforced concrete, and the walls were thick.

Fortunately, in this world, housing area is calculated by usable space, not construction area, otherwise the usable space would be half as small.

The small building was built facing the street, so there were naturally no community facilities. There were quite a few green plants, however, and they were exceptionally lush, not bare, making it look less like a commoner's district.

In reality, this was indeed a commoner's district.

It wasn't close to the tall, thick city walls, but closer to the Inner City's perimeter wall. Almost everyone living in this area had a certain income.

But no one bought them, because it wasn't cost-effective. The Lord's Mansion wouldn't sell them; it only rented them out.

The reason for this was not that the Lord's Mansion was bad at business, but because this world was too dangerous, and it was too difficult to earn a high income, especially for commoners in the Outer City.

In the first year of the New Era, a passage to the Other World suddenly opened, and spiritual energy poured in, causing the entire Blue Star to expand several times over.

It was thought that a prosperous age had arrived, but unexpectedly, along with the spiritual energy came ferocious beasts from the Other World, and the animals and plants on Blue Star also evolved simultaneously.

Then, the evolved animals and plants competed with humans for living space.

The ferocious beasts from the Other World competed with animals, plants, and humans for living space.

Various modern weapons became ineffective. The initial Evolvers, gathered together, fended off the first wave of attacks, but paid a heavy price.

After several hundred years of development, humanity built Base Cities across the planet and formed a systematic cultivation system. Even the most mysterious Elementalist among the superhumans had systematic cultivation methods.

However, not everyone could cultivate. Even among the superhumans, the lowest-ranked martial artists still required certain aptitudes and talents to cultivate.

Since not everyone could cultivate, naturally, there were commoners who couldn't cultivate, and they made up the majority.

Ye Yang was one of this majority.

When his root bone was tested at age twelve, it was the lowest ninth-grade root bone. Cultivation was possible, but becoming a high-level Martial Apprentice in his entire life would be a fluke; he might even remain a low-level Martial Apprentice forever.

A low-level Martial Apprentice was equivalent in strength to a strong, uncultivated adult in this world, which meant being utterly useless in battle.

Fortunately, the Lord's Mansion was benevolent.

The apartment his parents lived in before they died was not reclaimed; instead, he and his sister, Ye Xinxin, were allowed to live there for free until they turned sixteen.

Once they turned sixteen, they either had to join the reclamation teams outside the city, or pay a large sum of martial coins each month to continue living in the apartment.

Oh, right, Ye Xinxin is only eleven this year, and she might also live there until she's sixteen.

However, once Ye Yang turned sixteen and couldn't pay the rent, the siblings would be separated. Ye Yang would be driven out, and Ye Xinxin would be sent to a foster family or a specialized orphanage.

The New Era World had warmth, but more often, it was cruel.

Before the age of sixteen, it was a protected age; this applied to high officials and nobles, as well as ordinary commoners, with no distinction.

Aside from living expenses, accommodation was not a concern, and the conditions were good, even in orphanages.

But once one turned sixteen, if their cultivation aptitude was insufficient to enter an academy, the cruelty of this world would suddenly appear before them, without even time to react.

Countless people died between the ages of sixteen and seventeen.

Ye Yang had transmigrated three years ago.

The original owner, unable to accept the root bone test result, died of anger, and his body was taken over by him, who came from Earth.

At that time, he still thought this world was wonderful, but only after understanding it later did he learn the truth of the world.

Fortunately, Ye Yang was an optimist in his previous life. Even here, despite the countless potential dangers in the future, he always greeted people with a smile.

And because of his warm smile, he found a job.

It was precisely because of this job that he could support his sister's current cultivation.

Once the martial artist cultivation system was formed, the basic body tempering method was widely spread, almost everyone had a copy, and it was free.

After three years, combined with his previous accumulation, Ye Yang was only a low-level Martial Apprentice equivalent to an adult, while his sister, Ye Xinxin, had already entered the ranks of low-level Martial Apprentice.

A comparison immediately showed how poor Ye Yang's talent was. Oh, correspondingly, Ye Xinxin's talent was quite good, and she might even be able to enter an academy to study and cultivate.

Thinking of this, Ye Yang, who had worked all day, smiled.

Click, the door opened.

"Xin Xin, big brother is home!" A loud voice rang out as Ye Yang called out while changing his shoes.

Tap, tap, tap, hurried footsteps sounded, and a fair-skinned, pretty little girl ran over. A cloud of unresolved worry, however, hung over her yet-to-mature brows.

"Big brother," Ye Xinxin called out, her voice clear and pleasant.

After Ye Yang finished changing his shoes, she pulled his arm to inspect him. Only after checking and seeing no injuries did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Big brother works in the city, and he only helps the boss calculate accounts and occasionally lifts things. How could he get hurt?"

Every time he came home, his sister would check him. Ye Yang didn't find it annoying; instead, his heart felt warm. He knew she was worried about his safety.

His sister was his only family in this world, and his only bond… "Xin Xin, guess what good stuff big brother brought back today?" Ye Yang had a brilliant smile on his face.

"What is it?" A faint smile also appeared on Ye Xinxin's face.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding…" Humming a melody, Ye Yang opened the beast skin bag he was carrying, revealing its contents.

"Wow, meat!"

Seeing a large piece of fresh beast meat, about two catties, Ye Xinxin was also happy, a joy that came from the heart.

"Quick, Xin Xin, go stew the meat. We'll have a good meal tonight."

"Okay, I'll go stew it." Ye Xinxin smiled as she took the beast skin bag, muttering as she walked towards the kitchen, "This is two catties. We'll eat one catty tonight, and tomorrow…"

"Xin Xin, don't save it, stew it all!" Ye Yang seemed to know his sister's plan and called out loudly.

"But big brother, if we eat it all at once…"

"It's fine, there will be more later. I can't say we'll eat it every day, but at least once every seven days is not a problem. Oh, and big brother got a raise."

Ye Yang's words did not make Ye Xinxin happy. Instead, her face showed solemnity, and her small face became stern as she looked at him intently.

Stared at by his sister, the smile on Ye Yang's face slowly faded, eventually turning into an embarrassed grin.

"Big brother, what are you trying to do? Are you going out of the city?" As she spoke, tears welled up in Ye Xinxin's eyes.

Salaries for jobs in the city were fixed.

After all, working here was very safe, but safety also meant very low income.

Outside the city, there were Evolved Beasts and ferocious beasts everywhere. Evolved Beasts were local Blue Star animals, plants, etc., that had evolved. Ferocious beasts came through the Other World passage.

There were no ferocious beasts around the Base City, but there were quite a few Evolved Beasts.

Evolved Beasts were very valuable. Even the lowest-level Evolved Beast, the Iron Tooth Rabbit, could sell for over a thousand martial coins for a whole one.

But similarly, high returns came with high risks. Even an Iron Tooth Rabbit was not an opponent for an ordinary person empty-handed. At least a mid-to-high-level Martial Apprentice, or someone with weapons and teamwork, was needed to kill it.

Even a cornered rabbit would bite, let alone an evolved rabbit. Moreover, these rabbits were not just one, but a whole nest.

For a low-level Martial Apprentice like Ye Yang, going out of the city alone would be suicide.

But for survival, many low-level martial artists and ordinary people would form Hunting Groups, taking purchased weapons out of the city to hunt for higher income.

Ye Yang's and his sister's parents were hunters previously, and they unfortunately died in the wilderness outside the city.

However, they didn't die at the hands of Evolved Beasts, but at the hands of other Hunting Groups.

In the wilderness, dangers came not only from Evolved Beasts.