Free Web NovelChapter 512: Chapter 129: The Encounter of Zhao and Qian
(Disclaimer: The monetary figures mentioned in this Chapter are considerably exaggerated. I also researched topics like the total amount of money in the world, but since the numbers weren’t shocking enough, I’ve added some wealth to this world in the form of legislation that would likely only appear in a cyberpunk universe. There’s no need to take it too seriously. If you do, consider yourself the winner.)
A massive Hei Wu surged into view, as if the dark clouds in the sky were plummeting vertically downward.
It was as if those pitch-black mountains began closing in like a tide.
Beneath the Hei Wu, countless Evil Fallen were ceaselessly pouring into the city.
Just fighting these Evil Fallen required Nie Chongshan to expend a considerable amount of his strength.
And it was hard to guarantee that, during the fusion process, a few powerful fused beings wouldn’t emerge.
Most crucially, that gigantic hand instilled fear in Nie Chongshan.
How brave Nie Chongshan was now.
But looking at that hand with mouths all over it, dripping with green viscous fluid, he felt an evil presence that chilled him to the bone.
Unlike all previous monsters, this aura came with an overwhelming sense of oppression.
The gigantic hand drew nearer continually, its other end submerged in the Hei Wu, making it impossible to discern the true form hidden within the mist.
"What kind of monster is this? Can I really stop it?"
Even before the battle had begun, he already harbored a strong sense of self-doubt.
This was after merging with Liu Mu; if it had been the Nie Chongshan from before, would he have been utterly overawed?
Off in the distance, faint voices could be heard, seemingly emanating from the many mouths on that colossal hand.
Merely hearing these feeble voices made Nie Chongshan’s body resist.
"Their objective in heading to this city... must be to destroy the High Tower."
"I should cut them off."
With the wings of a demon fluttering, Nie Chongshan summoned his spirits and took up a battle stance.
A surge of ferocious battle intent emerged as he stood like a lone boat beneath the dark and towering waves.
It was as if he was about to sail against the tide and confront that vast hand.
But just as he prepared to charge at the enemy, his innate talent as a top-tier combat Evil Fallen made him realize how foolish it would be.
An intense sense of crisis hit him like a sledgehammer, cooling Nie Chongshan’s ardor instantly.
It wasn’t that he was afraid to fight; rather, in the moment he had been poised to sprint, he felt as if he had already seen himself dying in battle.
"Stay calm..."
"Death comes so easily, and although dying in battle is not shameful..."
"But now, I... have yet to fulfill Liu Mu’s entrustment."
Just minutes before, Nie Chongshan would never have imagined that the sudden Hei Wu and that monstrous hand could cause him to fall into such a maelstrom of self-doubt.
The battle hadn’t even started, but he was already feeling fear.
He still had the will to fight, but through experience, Nie Chongshan could feel an insurmountable gap between himself and the monster.
Although he longed to fight against such a powerful adversary, though he craved a peak-level showdown—
But now, Nie Chongshan was acutely aware that a glorious death would still mean failing Liu Mu.
"I cannot die here... This enemy’s strength is beyond imagination, and rather than dying a meaningless death here, I should try to save as many people as possible before I die."
Nie Chongshan recalled Liu Mu’s words—be like a shield, standing in front of Wu Jiu.
And as he remembered the scene of his last fist bump with Liu Mu, Nie Chongshan gritted his teeth:
"At the very least, I must relay the intelligence!"
As the immense oppressive feeling closed in, Nie Chongshan made up his mind. Faced with this unknown monstrous hand and the multiple terrors of the Hei Wu, he made a decision that went against his character—
Retreat.
Before the great fear reached the High Tower, he had to tell everything he saw to Bai Wu and the others.
Although Nie Chongshan didn’t believe—it was an adversary humanity could face.
He spread his wings, the black rock-like bone wings flapped, and his figure sped towards the High Tower.
The next second, the spot where Nie Chongshan had been was engulfed in Hei Wu.
He did not know what this signified, but he was very clear that if he had hesitated, he might not even have been able to convey the intelligence.
...
...
In the World Beyond the Mist, an unknown land.
Deep underground, in the Zhao Family sanctuary, a new guest had arrived.
The guest’s head shone brightly as if he were a lightbulb. Dressed in a suit and exuding an Assassin’s presence, he gave Elder Zhao the impression of someone not to be trifled with.
The enormous sanctuary spanned thousands of square meters and housed abundant supplies.
It was the Zhao Family’s crystallized wisdom of seven hundred years, prepared for the apocalypse.
Capable of blocking biological senses, creating chaotic magnetic fields, and spacious enough.
The interior environment could even support a pseudo ecosystem.
Even without stockpiled food, it was sustainable for four people for decades.
Of course, there were plenty of supplies here initially.
Elder Zhao, Jiang Ling, Tang Jing, and Xu Ling had intended to just stay in the sanctuary, relying on these supplies to wait out the apocalypse.
They had done all they could.
But faced with the apocalypse, a top billionaire, a card-drawing Sequencer, a farm’s reject, and a computer genius could not achieve more.
Now, all they could do was wait.
However, not long ago, because of a phone call, the shelter abandoned four-fifths of its supplies.
In the shortest time, using the relationships of Jiang Ling and Zero, they utilized all resources to search and collect cash.
Today, the person in charge of accepting that cash had arrived.
This bald man with an Assassin’s demeanor, standing in the Zhao family’s underground shelter’s hall, was none other than the piece in Bai Wu’s eyes that might be useful; but it wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t—
the aptly named Qian Yixin.
Elder Zhao wasn’t clear at first why Bai Wu wanted him to collect cash.
In the post-apocalyptic world, what meaning did money have?
Even when Qian Yixin arrived, Elder Zhao was still unclear.
Especially since... although money had lost its meaning, the idea of transferring all the cash at present to Qian Yixin still caused him great pain.
But Bai Wu’s vast supernatural powers ultimately convinced Elder Zhao.
He decided to go wild with Bai Wu.
To trade with the Evil Fallen, proving one’s assets to them was quite troublesome; it was necessary for Qian Yixin to have an identity recognized by a judicial system.
Fortunately, for Jiang Ling and Zero, this was very simple.
Now, the only thing left was the final contract.
Following the process of the perfect-level Mutation Entry "Spirit of Contract," they established a new contract, and Qian Yixin would become the richest man.
However, Elder Zhao didn’t know about these, so he was very curious:
"The money has been prepared. The question is, how are you going to take away this money?"
Elder Zhao looked towards Qian Yixin.
This question also troubled Tang Jing, Xu Ling, Jiang Ling, and others.
Because the amount of money was truly astonishing.
The wealth Elder Zhao collected, compared to what Zero had helped Elder Zhao gather, was really insignificant. But even so, the currency and cash in the shelter were almost impossible to be physically transported away by people.
Qian Yixin’s heart pounded.
He tried hard to maintain his cool Assassin demeanor, not wanting to seem too excited.
Although as a top Assassin, he was immune to a considerable amount of money.
But from this super standard shelter, he could see the generosity of this young master Zhao in front of him.
"Cough, cough... I... cough, cough..."
Too excited, he suddenly felt phlegm in his throat. After clearing his throat, Qian Yixin said:
"May I ask first, how much money have you prepared?"
Elder Zhao nodded, he was much calmer than Qian Yixin.
"According to your boss’s instructions, he asked me to collect as much cash as possible."
"However, the concept of cash is very broad because of some acts."
"Despite limited time, there wasn’t much cash collected on land, but according to big data analysis, the apocalypse came suddenly."
"In the data era, most people’s money is in various banks’ vaults. Using some of Zhao family’s methods, we analyzed and started investigating a few of the biggest banks with the largest cash business ranked in the top six."
"With Zero’s help, everything went smoothly, and the vault blasting operation encountered no obstacles."
Vault blasting?
My goodness, Qian Yixin inwardly exclaimed. His heartbeat quickened even more.
"But unfortunately, due to the very limited time, the money mobilized isn’t much. After all, it’s only been little more than a day since your boss notified us."
"We utilized all the Zhao family’s available gathering equipment. What we managed to gather was still very little. However, it’s worth mentioning that, under the effects of the acts I mentioned earlier, those ’broadly defined’ cash, Zero did manage to gather quite a bit for us."
Elder Zhao paused for a moment, then with a strange expression said:
"Around the 1960s last century, many countries passed the ’New International Trade Act’ to facilitate better trade and to avoid inflation and extensive currency, paper money transactions."
"Its main content was to commoditize some state-owned things, which could directly replace monetary transactions under the agreement of various countries and major enterprises, like land, aircraft carriers, and satellites. Of course, there’s more than just these things."
"In short, the rule of bartering has led us to not having much currency on hand. But if tangible goods can count as cash as your boss said, then we do have a significant amount of cash."
"This is also the reason why the Zhao family was able to acquire so many satellites."
"And as the Mechanical Descending God completed by Zero, countries reassessed the value of some high-tech products a few months ago, which also caused the Zhao family’s wealth to increase a lot."
"As for how much exactly—"
Elder Zhao fell into thought and then, frowning, said:
"Forget it, just assume I’m at a loss for words. I can’t describe the quantity of money."
Qian Yixin’s throat was parched, suppressing a sentence, but listening to Elder Zhao’s endless talk, it wasn’t appropriate for him to interrupt.
Thus Elder Zhao talked about another type of currency:
"Next is gold. As early as seven hundred years ago, my Zhao family was already one of the world’s leading wealthy families. So together with many families, we passed the ’New Gold Act’. Of course, it’s now called the ’United Gold Act’."
"You come from Inside the Mist, so you aren’t familiar with the meaning of this act. Simply put, this act is very beneficial to my Zhao family."
"It complements the ’International Trade Act’ mentioned earlier. Essentially, it allows many goods to be converted directly into gold, eventually facilitating barter trade between countries. The difference is that these goods are often more valuable and aren’t easily devalued by inflation."
"And most of the gold in the market... is basically owned by my Zhao family."
"This was also one of the early confidences of the Zhao family."
"So by contract, I can transfer all of them to you, not just from here, but all of the Zhao family’s assets in other banks as well."
Zhao fell silent, his expression one of pain that was almost tangible.
Under Zero’s decryption, he now effectively owned all the wealth in the world.
Not just in currency, gold.
The two acts Zhao mentioned—the New International Trade Act and the United Gold Act—
had also made land, technology patents, various buildings, various weapons... in short, everything on earth was priced and regarded as equivalent to cash.
These acts, too, were promoted by the Zhao family, but the value of the acts wasn’t significant at the time.
Countries passed these acts back then just to facilitate transactions, to barter goods.
But their use was extremely limited.
After all, even if a missile were clearly priced, ordinary people couldn’t afford it, nor would they dare to buy it.
And those who could afford it and actually went to buy it would have other regulations and safety provisions force them to spit it out.
So the acts were merely for the convenience of transactions at the national level.
But no one expected that these acts, in a world with no government, only Evil Fallen and humans, would benefit Qian Yixin.
Because now... the upper echelons of various countries simply don’t care about the numbers in the treasury, and all kinds of human governments are effectively defunct.
Now, Zhao was like someone who had put a price tag on the whole world and then handed it over to the bald man in front of him.
After hearing such a nearly thousand-word description about the property, Qian Yixin felt the amount of money was truly terrifying and asked subconsciously,
"Just tell me, converted into the common currency of Sheng Country seven hundred years ago, about how many ten thousands is it?"
Zhao, Jiang Ling, Tang Jing, and Xu Ling all looked at Qian Yixin simultaneously upon hearing this.
They looked at him as if he were a country bumpkin, which made Qian Yixin pause:
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Even seven hundred years ago in Sheng Country, units wouldn’t be measured in ten thousands, right? Change the unit," said Zhao, obviously annoyed.
Qian Yixin’s hands trembled slightly:
"How many billions?"
Zhao suddenly felt a bit disappointed. If the other party only aimed for billions, then why was he taking it so seriously?
He guessed that perhaps this person could demonstrate an unusual use for money, but what could be achieved with money in billions?
Seeing Zhao’s expression, Qian Yixin swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed:
"How much exactly is it?"
Zhao glanced at Jiang Ling:
"I’ll leave the math to you."
Jiang Ling nodded, "I did a rough calculation. At that time, Sheng Country’s currency wasn’t worth much. If converted to the purchasing power of one Sheng Country currency unit at that time, the amount we’ve collected, if we round down the fractions, is approximately 1,426 quintillion."
"Mr. Qian Yixin, let’s just sign the contract, shall we? This money belongs to you, but how do you plan to take it away?"
Qian Yixin’s mind went blank, only seeing Jiang Ling and Zhao talking endlessly about something.
But he couldn’t hear their voices; he heard a ringing in his ears, and the enormous figure echoed in his mind.
1,426 quintillion.
What was this unit again?
He vaguely remembered it being an astronomical unit.
A unit used in either the micro or macro fields.
In that instant, a long string of numbers popped into Qian Yixin’s head.
Some time later, Qian Yixin came to:
"Mr. Qian?"
"Mr. Qian, are you okay?" Tang Jing shook Qian Yixin’s hand.
Qian Yixin suddenly widened his eyes:
"Great! Unprecedentedly great!"
Qian Yixin slapped his face with his hand, his expression excited as he spoke loudly,
"As long as it’s my property, that’s fine... but we must sign a contract. My ability, the more money I get, the stronger the power I gain when I fulfill this contract!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao suddenly came to a realization.
So that’s why Bai Wu required the collection of money?
The abilities of these Evil Fallen or Sequencers were indeed bizarre...
But to what extent could this ability be used?
Qian Yixin was overjoyed.
Perfect level Mutation Entry, Spirit of Contract.
This entry hadn’t exhibited its expected power because the money Qian Yixin received was always limited.
The content of the entry was to establish a contract first, and he must fulfill this contract.
As for the money, it could bring him a power boost during the duration of the contract, in the execution process—without any upper limit. frёewebnoѵēl.com
The money required must be cash that is recognized in the market.
Bai Wu thought that cash meant currency and gold, but with these world acts, coupled with the special times, and with the help of Zero—
Qian Yixin held an astonishing amount of cash in his hands.
Without these acts to support him, or even if they did exist but the apocalypse had not yet descended and the governments of various countries had not gone into exile, Zhao would never have been able to amass so much money.
But now, Zhao held the world in his hands.
This was also the reason why Zhao felt the pain.
Of course, if it were Bai Wu or Zero to whom this money was given, Zhao would have felt much more relaxed.
He knew the capabilities of Bai Wu and Zero.
But looking at the bald man in front of him, who at first seemed reliable, Zhao now felt uncertain as he watched his excitement, placing a question mark in his heart.
Only Qian Yixin understood what this meant.
"So what kind of contract do you want to establish?"
"Since it’s about guarding the High Tower, then let the content of the contract be to successfully guard the High Tower and defeat all invaders."
Qian Yixin had made up his mind.
Although these words sounded rather fantastic—
For some reason, Tang Jing actually felt the rise of something miraculous.
This bald brother seemed as if he really could accomplish this feat.
In Tang Jing’s past experiences, he had gone through such a phase in a game—becoming a Hero, climbing the Magic Tower, but ultimately being defeated by the Demon King.
Afterward, Tang Jing re-evaluated the game, found the real Hero, and realized he was just a collector.
His goal was merely to bring various equipment, awaken the real Hero, then pass everything on to the true Heroes.
At that moment, Tang Jing felt a sense of loss, as if he was preparing a wedding dress for someone else.
Later, he thought he was that collector, and his master was the true Hero.
His own existence meant bringing his master from Inside the Mist to the World Beyond the Mist.
But at this moment, Tang Jing suddenly changed his mind.
How similar was everything before him to the revelations in the game?
The Zhao Family, under the guidance of a certain hero, had strived to accumulate wealth for seven hundred years.
During this period, the passage of various acts had made the Zhao Family wealthy enough to rival countries.
In the end, when the Demon King arrived, Zhao had gathered all the wealth, only to find that wealth was utterly useless against this Demon King.
However, Qian Yixin was like the true Hero; those things that had become pointless for Zhao now... at this moment... they exerted a different effect coming from Zhao.
Perhaps it wasn’t the influential figures who would save the world, but the overlooked little people... It remained to be seen.
Just at that moment, the computer in Jiang Ling’s hands sounded a notification, and Jiang Ling said:
"Your real-world identity has been completely established, all procedures are finished, Mr. Qian... boss, you are now the richest man in the world!"
"Right now, in terms of wealth... no, from the perspective of trading, you are this world!"
Qian Yixin could no longer hear what the others were saying.
It was like a vampire that had been dried up for a thousand years suddenly falling into a pool of blood.
Like the dry riverbed suddenly welcoming the collapse of the heavenly river.
And like a faint flame suddenly encountering an infinite sea of oil!
Qian Yixin’s power expanded from a speck of dust suddenly inflating to an entire universe!
He let out painful screams that lasted for over ten seconds without pause!
But during this process, golden light enveloped Qian Yixin; he blazed brilliantly like the sun itself!
Tang Jing, Zhao, Xu Ling, and Jiang Ling all instinctively closed their eyes.
Their consciousness was filled with blood-red vision... They dared not open their eyes for a long time.
Until suddenly, the screaming stopped.
When only darkness remained in their eyes, the four of them slowly opened their eyes.
Qian Yixin was gone. It was as if a sun had suddenly appeared beside them and then broke through the confines of space, heading towards an unknown distance.
"He disappeared?"
"Where did he go?"
"I don’t know..."
"He seemed to be in a lot of pain just now; could he be alright?"
The four looked at each other, not knowing what to say. freēwēbnovel.com
In the end, Zhao spoke up:
"Tang Jing, do you think our efforts will bear fruit?"
Zhao was actually very puzzled.
Seven hundred years ago, someone told his ancestor to keep accumulating wealth; for seven hundred years, though the Zhao Family had its troubles, they ultimately became the richest in the world.
Now... everything was gone.
To say it wasn’t painful would be a lie.
"A good businessman is one who gets a huge return for every penny spent. We, as little people, will also play a role in this war!"
Tang Jing’s eyes sparkled:
"Don’t worry, Mr. Zhao. I believe in Qian Yixin, he..."
"Will certainly not let us down!"
