Unexpected Change

Cain returned to his room, locked the door, and began to inspect his newly acquired assets.

By then, the old man had already reached the door and was pounding on it furiously.

"You ungrateful brat, come out here! Your parents' bones are barely cold!"

The old man was shouting with all his might.

Cain remained completely indifferent. Fortunately, he had the keys in his room, and he confidently opened the two property certificates.

You caused me so much misery in my previous life; letting you shout for a while in this one won't hurt you.

One property was a 120-square-meter apartment in the city center of Ecruteak City, which was the very apartment he was living in now.

The other was a lakeside villa in Hearthome City.

Cain nodded in satisfaction; it seemed his parents had done well in their business. He knew that housing prices in this world were high up until the 700th year of the alliance.

Wild Pokémon would occasionally raid villages, stealing food, destroying crops, and even injuring people.

Cities had guardians who could easily deal with any non-massive Pokémon uprisings, so many people chose to buy houses in cities to seek a comfortable life. This led to persistently high urban housing prices, which kept climbing year by year.

In his previous life, he had never seen these assets. No wonder the people at the orphanage had encouraged him to enter. They must have had their eyes on these properties all along.

However, he planned to sell both properties entirely in the year 699, as housing prices would reach an all-time high then.

A major reform in the 700th year of the alliance led to a gradual decline in housing prices.

In this life, his plan had to take the 700th year of the alliance as the watershed, which was when he turned 23.

Before then, he had to accumulate enough funds and more importantly, power. High risk meant high return. In his previous life, he had 20 years of experience as a Pokémon hunter, so he knew the ropes in this one.

Prior to the 700th year, the alliance turned a blind eye to Pokémon hunters, happy for them to eliminate large, ferocious Pokémon in the wild to make it safer for their own trainers.

However, being a Pokémon hunter wasn't an easy job. Without sufficient strength and planning, venturing into forests and mountains would only lead to death. There were countless skeletons in every forest during this era.

But the sweeping event in the 700th year of the alliance made the wilderness relatively safer. Afterward, the alliance ruthlessly suppressed Pokémon hunters. In his previous life, he had wandered aimlessly and had nearly lost his life to the alliance's search officers on numerous occasions.

This was the dark side of the world's alliance. They ignored you when they needed you but ruthlessly suppressed you when they didn't.

Therefore, he had only 13 years, and there was no room for error!

Then there were the two bank cards. He didn't know the passwords or the amount of money in them, so it seemed he would have to engage in a battle of attrition with the old man.

The available assets now directly determined his plans and his Pokémon training plans.

Cain hid everything securely on his person.

Focused entirely on these assets, Cain completely ignored the situation outside the door, and the old man's knocking had already stopped.

"Finally, the old man has stopped making a fuss."

Cain snorted coldly, fearing that the old man was deliberately trying to lure him out.

Having planned his escape route, Cain suddenly opened the door and prepared to rush towards the entrance.

Upon opening the door, he was startled to find the old man lying limp on the ground, his eyes glazed over.

Cain was somewhat alarmed and kicked the old man with his foot, "Hey, don't scare me."

He kicked him five or six times, each time harder than the last, but the old man still showed no response.

A terrible thought crossed Cain's mind – could he be dead?

It shouldn't be; the old man was supposed to have another year to live, and Cain hadn't expected him to die now.

Cain couldn't believe it, he checked for breathing – it stopped!

He felt for a pulse – stopped too!

He pressed on the chest – no response!

"Damn it, I completely forgot he had heart disease."

Cain now wished he could slap himself twice.

Although the old man had wronged him, he really couldn't die now.

The old man's death would bring Cain immense trouble.

Firstly, there were the passwords for the two bank cards. Although he could go to the bank counter to apply for unlocking the passwords, it would require a lot of paperwork and waste time.

The key issue was exposing his wealth. Did he think banks were really such safe places to keep secrets?

Naive! A child holding so much wealth would inevitably attract attention and become a topic of discussion among bank employees. News would spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and eventually reach those with ill intentions.

His past life's experiences shaped Cain's current cautious and discreet personality because only by making fewer mistakes could he move forward.

As a seven-year-old child, if many people knew about the wealth he held, it would be inevitable that some would harbor malicious thoughts.

Although scams and deception weren't much of a concern for Cain, what if someone took an extreme approach?

So, he wouldn't go to the bank counter to unlock the passwords unless it was absolutely necessary.

Moreover, the old man died so quickly, and Cain was not prepared at all.

If the news of the old man's death spread, it couldn't be hidden.

The orphanage staff would soon come knocking. Just for this house, those bastards would run faster than dogs. However, Cain hadn't yet obtained a work permit, so he would have no choice but to enter the orphanage.

Unless he became an undocumented person and left this place, but that would have a significant impact on his future plans. The bank cards and assets would be temporarily frozen. Besides, with his limited strength, it would be too dangerous to live in the wild, so it wouldn't be much better than entering the orphanage.

"No, I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Cain calmed himself down and began to think of a plan. He genuinely didn't want him to die, but...

Now, he had to seize the time to find a job and get a work permit.

Fortunately, he lived in the city where he didn't know his neighbors, so he could keep his grandfather's death a secret for a couple of days.

At most, he had three days. After that, it would undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of the coroner, and to make matters worse, it was summer, and the body would decay and smell more easily.

So, he had only three days.

It was still unsafe outside, so Cain hid the property deeds and bank cards in his room, took five thousand Pokedollars in cash, and his ID and household registration before leaving.

His past experiences had become intangible wealth, allowing him to handle such a massive change in an orderly manner, and he didn't forget anything he needed to take with him.

Fortunately, he still had a brand-name bicycle, so speed was guaranteed.

Cain tried hard to remember the kind people in Ecruteak City, even the extremely kind ones. He was now desperate and shameless, and he would beg for a job permit even if it meant working as a free volunteer.

The first stop was Ecruteak Gym.