109: A courtyard, half a lifetime of leisure

It wasn't until the third day after the video's release that Lin Feng felt his drained soul return to his body.

He slumped in his chair, staring motionlessly out the window at the monotonous subtropical jungle that was so dark green it was almost black; looking at it for too long made one feel uneasy.

Life in the base was like a programmed machine: regular, safe, and as dull as stagnant water.

Over the past few days, he had rejected all invitations for meetings from the higher-ups.

He didn't want to see anyone or say anything right now.

He only compiled a briefing on the potential threats and applications of the "eye of omniscience" technology and sent it to Jiang Wanqing via encrypted email for her to pass along.

The rest of his time was spent staring blankly into space.

His soul seemed to drift in mid-air, looking down at the world he had stirred into a massive wave, yet he felt no sense of reality.

In contrast, Wang Dalong seemed hyperactive, spinning around the room like a top.

Clasping a military tablet, his fingers flew across the screen, constantly refreshing decrypted external network information through special channels, his mouth running at high speed.

"Holy crap! It's crazy, the whole world is fucking crazy! Look at this, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial with a super flashy title—'The Era of New Gods, or the Sword of Damocles??' It says your video didn't just open Pandora's box, it blew it up!"

"And those old European powers are all panicking, issuing some bullshit joint statement demanding the immediate establishment of a 'Global Supernatural Incident Response Council'! To put it bluntly, they just want to jump in and get a piece of the pie. A bunch of old bastards!"

Wang Dalong swiped the screen and suddenly let out a weird cry.

"Oh damn! Brother Feng, look at this, this is the funniest! Over a dozen top Hollywood studios, like Paramount and Warner, sent a joint email to our proxy inbox. They want to buy the movie rights to 'Epic of a Race'! The highest bid is nine figures! In USD!"

As he spoke, Wang Dalong sat down in the chair opposite Lin Feng, the expression on his fat face a mix of crying and laughing, his features twisted together.

"Brother Feng, are we... are we rich enough to rival a nation now?"

He gestured with nine fingers, then let his arms drop dejectedly.

"But what's the use of this money? It's just a bunch of numbers if we can't even go out. I feel like that unlucky prince in the plays, confined in a deep palace, guarding a mountain of gold while eating cornbread. It's so stifling!"

His complaint was like a bolt of lightning, cutting through the chaos in Lin Feng's mind.

It was true.

They couldn't stay here forever.

This sanctuary provided by the country was safe, but it was also like a gilded cage. Outside, that one-eyed snake Osiris was still lurking in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike. The world was turbulent because of them, with countless eyes trying to find their location through the fog.

They needed a place.

A real "safe house" that belonged only to them.

Lin Feng's parched lips moved, his voice sounding a bit raspy.

"Fatty."

"Huh?"

"Weren't you always talking about finding a quiet place to retire?"

"I do! I dream about it!" Wang Dalong perked up instantly, his eyes lighting up. "Find a place by the sea, build a big house, facing the ocean with spring blossoms! Grow some vegetables in the yard, keep a big German Shepherd, and spend my days livestreaming and arguing with netizens. That would be a god-like life!"

Lin Feng pointed at the tablet in his arms.

"Look for it."

"We need a home now."

Wang Dalong was stunned for a moment, then an incredible light burst from his small eyes!

He understood!

He immediately understood what Lin Feng meant!

This was the country's sanctuary, a safe harbor, but it wasn't their home. The feeling of living under someone else's roof was ultimately unsettling.

They needed a base they could fully control, a place to settle down and block out all external prying—a kingdom of their own in every sense!

For the next week, Wang Dalong poured all his energy into the "great cause" of site selection.

He became obsessed, like a real estate tycoon managing billions in investment, pointing at satellite maps every day with huge dark circles under his eyes.

He screened almost every coastal city in the country, filtering them inch by inch from north to south, finally locking onto one city—Quanzhou.

"Brother Feng, look here!"

Wang Dalong excitedly shoved the tablet in front of Lin Feng, showing a high-definition satellite map.

"Quanzhou! The starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. This place has an incredibly deep historical background, a perfect match for the vibe of our explorations!"

He drew a circle on the map with his finger.

"The key is here! In the suburbs of Quanzhou, by the sea, there's a large area of connected old overseas Chinese residences. These houses were built by people who went to Southeast Asia decades or a century ago. Their descendants are scattered all over the world, and the houses have been empty for a long time, falling into ruin. I checked the local policies; because they're classified as dangerous buildings, individuals are allowed to buy them in bulk and then demolish and rebuild!"

On the map, the area was backed by mountains and faced a blue bay, connected to the outside world only by a winding path; it was an existence almost forgotten in a corner by the rapidly developing modern city.

But for Lin Feng and Wang Dalong, this location was a godsend!

Close enough to the bustle to blend in, yet secluded enough to be cut off from the world!

"This is it."

Lin Feng only looked for a few seconds before making the final decision.

Once the decision was made, the efficiency of execution was terrifyingly high.

Jiang Wanqing's influence was beyond their imagination. Through her connections, they contacted a top lawyer whose name alone would make the entire legal world tremble.

This famous lawyer, over fifty and long since successful, became as excited as a fan meeting their idol upon learning his new client was "the wind speaker." Without a word, he dropped all his lucrative cases and personally led his ace team to Quanzhou on a chartered flight that same day.

Throughout the entire acquisition process, Lin Feng and Wang Dalong never showed their faces once.

But the name "the wind speaker" was more effective than any ID or bank draft in the world.

Local authorities gave them the green light all the way, with incredible efficiency.

When the lawyer contacted the overseas owners of those old houses and they heard the buyer was the mysterious streamer "the wind speaker" who had uncovered the Qinling Underground Palace and the Caribbean pirate treasure, they were surprisingly unanimous and cooperative.

Some even joked that if Mr. "the wind speaker" wanted it, they'd give it for free as long as he signed the deed as a souvenir.

In less than a month.

It was so fast it felt like a dream to Wang Dalong.

All the paperwork was completed.

Using the staggering amount of money in his bank account—including royalties from the Qinling video, the finder's fee for William Kidd's treasure, and the astronomical livestream earnings from the past two months—Lin Feng easily bought fifteen connected old courtyards in that area.

The total area exceeded twenty thousand square meters.

When the final encrypted electronic deed was sent to Lin Feng's private email, Wang Dalong's hands shook as he looked at the huge area highlighted in red on the digital map.

"B-Brother Feng! W-We have our own territory! A real territory!"

He excitedly grabbed the tablet and started planning animatedly:

"First, we'll surround the whole place with high walls and top them with electric fences! Then we'll get a set of military-grade infrared sensors and automated sentry guns from the black market! Use iris and genetic dual-verification for the entrance! Hollow out the underground to build a super data center, a top-tier media room, an indoor shooting range, a gym... Holy shit! This will be our 'Hive'! Our secret base!"

Lin Feng looked at the futuristic sketches he was drawing and just shook his head.

He took the tablet and closed the design drawings.

He zoomed in on the map, looking at the blue coastline next to the land and the hazy outline of the ancient city in the distance. A thought slowly took shape in his mind, becoming crystal clear.

"Fatty."

"Huh?" Wang Dalong was still immersed in his role as the "Chief Base Designer."

"We're not building a base."

Lin Feng's fingers slid across the screen, and beautiful images replaced the map.

They showed the refined elegance of the Humble Administrator's Garden, the grand atmosphere of the Summer Palace, and the winding paths of Yu Garden.

Pavilions, small bridges over flowing water, rockeries, and lush greenery.

Looking at the stunned Wang Dalong, he calmly dropped a real bombshell.

"We're building a garden."

Wang Dalong stared at the ancient-style buildings and the ornate carvings on the screen, completely dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

"A... A garden? A Chinese garden?"

"Yes."

Lin Feng nodded, his expression filled with an unprecedented level of seriousness and certainty.

"A Suzhou-style garden where we can truly settle down."