William shrugged. “If I could get an invitation from Storm Angels or Black Prison Skulls like you, why wouldn’t I? Not every gang deals drugs. Take the ‘Storm Angels’—they make money just by running all kinds of entertainment venues and shelter the whole neighborhood. The Teutonic Order is about the same; they mostly do smuggling. Ethan, you know, for someone like me from the lower city, it’s really hard to get into a good university without enough strong recommendation letters. Even if we’re lucky enough to get accepted by those prestigious schools, it’s unlikely we’ll get a scholarship. I don’t want to spend my whole life like my father, working as a mechanic or doing odd jobs in a restaurant, exhausted every day like a dog and barely making any money. In short, if I can’t make a name for myself in comprehensive cold weapon combat, and can’t get an offer from a top 50 university, then ninety-nine percent I’ll end up joining a gang.”

　　Ethan Thompson fell silent; he knew this was a common situation in American society.

　　“Sometimes I really envy you—not only are your grades great in every subject, you’re also a level-three magenergy warrior at sixteen. There are only a few like you in the whole school. I bet you’ll definitely get into the Ivy League, so you really don’t need to mess with gangs.”

　　William looked on with envy. “Oh right, your family still has that house. If you sell it, that’s a lot of money too.”

　　The house Ethan Thompson used to live in had already been repossessed by the bank. But it was bought by Ethan Thompson’s parents many years ago, so most of the mortgage must have been paid off. After the auction, any surplus from repaying the loan would still go to Ethan Thompson.

　　“There’s no point thinking about that. The court has already had two failed auctions, and they’ve lowered the starting price again.”

　　Ethan Thompson shook his head. “Even if it does sell, my parents’ small business still has a huge debt to pay off. And don’t forget, I have an older sister.”

　　“How could it be like this?” William’s face was full of undisguised disappointment.

　　Ethan Thompson couldn’t be bothered to argue with him anymore. He suddenly quickened his pace and walked into a nearby grocery store.

　　……

　　Ethan Thompson was there to prepare food, fruit, and other daily necessities for the next few days.

　　Where he lived now, not only was the fridge empty, but even things like toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap were running low.

　　This feeling of returning to ordinary life was quite novel for him. In the Original Vault Realm, he could go a year or two without eating, just absorbing the world’s spiritual energy to sustain his body—what immortals called ‘breathing qi’. His body would also stay naturally clean, and even if he got dirty, a burst of Samadhi True Fire would clean it right off. But after being reborn in this body, he couldn’t help but worry about his own physical needs.

　　The grocery store Ethan Thompson entered was about fifty square meters, with shelves inside and on both sides, separated from the outside by a counter.

　　The goods looked plentiful, but in reality, the selection was limited. Besides some daily necessities, Ethan Thompson only bought some snacks like biscuits and chips.

　　Then they walked another fifty meters to a bakery, where they bought bread, cheese, butter, and so on.

　　Next was the fruit shop and the fresh food store—fruits and fresh vegetables were also essential.

　　By the time they’d bought everything, half an hour had passed. Not only was Ethan Thompson carrying a pile of stuff, but William beside him was also helping with quite a bit.

　　The latter sighed, “Living alone really isn’t easy.”

　　He longed to move out and have a place of his own, but seeing Ethan Thompson like this, he realized it was a hassle.

　　Ethan Thompson said helplessly, “William, don’t we have any grocery stores or bakeries in our neighborhood? Do we really have to come all the way out here to shop?”

　　“How could there be? If there were, wouldn’t you have seen them already?”

　　William shrugged, but then remembered that Ethan Thompson had only been in their neighborhood for less than four months, and was either at school or working most of the time, so he explained, “Just think about it—who would open a store there? The homeless, desperate for money, would rob it clean. A magenergy weapon or a handgun is easy to get. Even if you have a gun for self-defense, the local gangs would bankrupt you. Only Bloodfang or Black Prison Skulls might be able to do it, but they don’t care about that. Even if they did open a store, it could get smashed up by enemies at any time. Some people do small retail business in the community, but they only sell to people they know. Ethan, did your old neighborhood have stores like that?”

　　He knew that Jane Thompson used to live on Carriel Street, a real rich neighborhood. There were lots of patrols, many powerful people lived there, and even two former senators, so security was excellent and no gangs dared cause trouble.

　　“There really were—”

　　Ethan Thompson searched the original owner’s memories. “But it still wasn’t convenient. The grocery store was at one end of the street, the fruit shop at the other. It’s actually easier to buy everything at once here on Market Street. If only all the things you need could be bought in one place.”

　　As he said this, he suddenly felt a stir in his heart and fell into deep thought.