Chapter 132
“Your bank’s loan services… are they still available?” One official slipped silently into Lu Chuan’s tent.
And just before his arrival, another official had quietly stepped out.
“Of course,” Lu Chuan smiled. “But tell me—are you looking to buy people, or…”
“I don’t need to buy anyone—I just want to borrow some value in advance. Your bank should be able to handle that, right? As for interest, I’ll pay it back later,” the official hurriedly said.
“How much value would you like to borrow?” Lu Chuan asked. “Since you’re a new customer, there’s a limit to the amount.”
“I’ll take the maximum!” the official replied at once.
“Alright.” Lu Chuan smiled. “Here’s our loan contract. I can lend you about the value of two people, but the interest is quite high. If you pay in installments over a year, you’ll owe about four people’s value. Are you sure you want the loan?”
“That’s fine, I’ll take it.” Afraid Lu Chuan might change his mind, the official hurried to sign. “Will you transfer the value to me through a magic circle, or some other method?”
“After you finish work, we’ll conduct the transfer under the witness of the gods,” Lu Chuan answered with a smile.
“Great, I’ll come after work.” The official left happily.
Another one sent off.
Lu Chuan chuckled, tossing the signed contract aside.
“These officials really take me for a fool,” he scoffed. “Each one trying to get a bargain. Even after I doubled the interest, they didn’t care. They don’t even read the later clauses—if they can’t repay within a year, the interest will snowball.”
Such blatantly one-sided usury, and they all signed anyway. In truth, they intended never to repay.
Obviously, they knew that after certain events, everyone in the City of Immortality except themselves would be destroyed. That’s why they dared to do business so recklessly. Once Lu Chuan died and the creditor disappeared, their debts would vanish too. The value they borrowed would be free.
Too bad for them—they happened to meet Lu Chuan, and would pay dearly for their moment of greed.
[Host, make them cry when they have to repay!] #888 waved an imaginary flag. After all, in this infinite world, no one had ever taken advantage of its host.
“Another sucker,” Lu Chuan muttered as he sat back down, pretending to wait seriously for the next customer.
Another official approached, but this one looked a little different.
Unlike the others, who looked at Lu Chuan as if he were a fat sheep ready for slaughter, this man scrutinized him up and down, as though trying to see something hidden.
“Sir, are you here to handle business?” Lu Chuan, unnerved by the stare, couldn’t help but ask. “We offer all kinds of loans. Quite a few of your colleagues have already done business here. We’re fair and honest—absolutely…”
“How much did they borrow?” the newcomer interrupted.
“The value of two people—the maximum within their limits,” Lu Chuan replied.
“Heh, so they’re confident,” said the “official,” who was none other than Starry Ming, now inhabiting a different soul.
He had discovered a way to swap bodies, though each exchange cost him, so his uses were limited. But to clear the dungeon, it was necessary. Using this ability, Starry Ming had begun building his own power base and even recouped the soul-costs he’d paid earlier.
This time, sensing strange behavior among the city hall officials and finding the information too vague, Starry Ming came in person. After switching bodies, he saw a crowd of officials rushing toward this tent—all for loans.
When the banker mentioned they’d all borrowed up to their limits, Starry Ming immediately grasped the key and confirmed the rumors he’d heard.
Main Quest 3 mentioned experiencing a complete cycle of a city’s rise and fall—apparently triggered by these officials.
Starry Ming knew far more than Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan had been focused on running the bank, so he’d fallen behind in gathering intel.
Starry Ming had learned, for instance, that the city lord and officials were once followers of the God of Exchange. This city was originally a gathering place for Its believers, meant to collect offerings for the deity.
The god had many followers, with few restrictions: as long as they were willing to trade, they could gain power. Devotees were everywhere.
The most powerful among them founded the Extreme Evil Loan Company, a giant organization trading between players and NPCs. It was recognized by the God of Exchange as the de facto church headquarters. Every agent of that company was regarded as a priest.
The rest of the followers had their own methods—this City of Immortality was one.
They used rumors of immortality to lure people in and pen them up.
Upon entering, each newcomer had to trade part of their soul with the God of Exchange. Once inside, they could deal with the god more often and more easily. When their soul’s value was drained, they became lifeless husks.
Still, people feared death. Some clung to their last scraps of value, unwilling to trade further. But expanding the city’s reach risked drawing attention from the Main System and rival gods’ followers, so the officials planned regular “cleansings.” From time to time, they sacrificed the city’s nearly-spent residents to the god, then brought in new stock from outside.
That was how they lured in and culled humans, batch after batch.
To harvest the remaining value, they first had to prepare: provide housing, a lifestyle, make people sign papers—secure their consent—so the god would recognize these residents as the officials’ property and approve the exchange.
After entering this dungeon, Starry Ming had gathered plenty of intel.
Unfortunately, he was still a bit late.
According to the main quest, players had to endure a full cycle of the city’s rise and fall. When the story demanded it, they couldn’t stop the officials from offering up others. The question was: what about the later-arriving players? If they could free themselves from childlike forms and avoid relying on the officials for food and shelter, they wouldn’t count as property—but otherwise, they would.
And only a few players so far had shed their child forms. If they couldn’t return to adult states before the final “trade,” they’d be doomed.
Though Starry Ming wished Lu Chuan would just die in this Divine Challenge dungeon, he knew Lu Chuan wouldn’t sit idle.
His earlier scrutiny of Lu Chuan showed he suspected his identity.
Still, the man before him didn’t look like Lu Chuan—it could be a disguise, but rash action might alert him.
Besides, Starry Ming wasn’t using his own body, so even if it was Lu Chuan, he might not recognize him.
With that thought, Starry Ming adopted a sincere expression.
“I’m a player—and so are you, right? Don’t bother denying it, I’ve already checked. There was no bank in this city before; it only appeared after players arrived.”
“How do you know I wasn’t hired?” Lu Chuan didn’t confirm, but didn’t deny either.
“The officials at city hall are suspicious. When you need information, nothing’s safer than asking another player.” Starry Ming smiled and extended a hand. “I’m Ran Hua, from the Abyss Guild. And you?”
“I’m Jin Ze, from the Resurrection Guild,” Lu Chuan replied, shaking his hand.
“Ah, so you’re from Resurrection Guild—no wonder.” Starry Ming feigned surprise. “How’d you end up in this dungeon?”
“Ugh, don’t mention it. My teammates and I were in an S-rank instance last time. Near the end, something went wrong—the boss attacked. I had to use an escape item, and now here I am.” Lu Chuan casually explained. “And you?”
“Pretty much the same.” Starry Ming sighed. “I’ve met other players, all quite strong—the weakest is A-rank. At first, we thought this was an ordinary S-rank dungeon, but later we learned it might be a God-Challenge Instance from one of the leaderboard experts. If that’s true, we can’t rely on skill alone—we’ll have to cooperate.”
“Exactly. A leaderboard player’s Divine Challenge won’t be easy. And since the system didn’t divide us into factions, that means the god here is powerful. Cooperation is our only chance.” Lu Chuan nodded. “Too bad I’ve run this bank for so long and no players have come—brother, you’re the first. You’re clearly capable. If we clear this, how about joining the Resurrection Guild? I can introduce you.”
“We’ll see. I’m quite attached to my guild.” Starry Ming smiled.
For a moment, their conversation was pleasant, as if they weren’t meeting for the first time.
[Wow, Host, is this guy going to be our temporary ally? He seems pretty reliable.] #888 said with interest. [At least he’s an S-rank player.]
“Bullshit, that guy’s lies are endless, not a single word of his is believable.” Lu Chuan didn’t hesitate to tell #888, “Keep a close eye on him, I suspect he might be [Greedy Wolf Star].”
[Huh? Host, how do you know he’s lying, and how do you know who he is?] #888 was a little shocked. The game system shouldn’t have given players the right to view other players’ information yet.
“I don’t know who he is, but as for whether he’s lying—I can tell the moment I hear it.” Lu Chuan said angrily. “I lie in dungeons every single day, so I don’t need evidence to know when others are lying. My instincts tell me right away.”
Huh?
That… really was an irrefutable reason.
Thinking back to all the people and NPCs Lu Chuan had tricked before, #888 had plenty of faith in Lu Chuan’s instincts.
[Then how do you know he might be Greedy Wolf Star?]
“My speed’s already this fast. If Loan Bro hadn’t tipped me off, I wouldn’t have come to the City Lord’s Mansion this quickly to ask around. Even though I’ve been running my bank-lending business all this time, I’ve dealt with so many clients and none of them sensed anything off here. Yet this guy—he changes into an official’s clothes right away and comes talking to me. Do you think any random member of the Abyss Guild could be this strong?”
A little elimination and the answer was clear.
The only one who could keep up with Lu Chuan’s pace was another master-rank player.
And in this God Challenge dungeon, besides [Greedy Wolf Star] Starry Ming, who else would doggedly chase Lu Chuan here? Shen Li and the others had already been shoved aside by Lu Chuan.
“He’s probably suspicious of me too, but neither of us has proof. Plus, with the main storyline quest looming, we both have to pretend not to know for now. Still, I bet he’ll stab me in the back at a critical moment, so I’d better be cautious.” Lu Chuan didn’t believe the man in front of him at all, but he couldn’t show it, so for now he had to play along.
Sure enough, the same went for the other side.
Starry Ming, of course, also suspected the player in front of him was Lu Chuan, but just like Lu Chuan, he had no proof and could only play it step by step.
Wait—there was a way.
After thinking it over, Starry Ming pretended to pull out a heavy bag of gold ingots from his pocket (actually from his system space) and handed it to Lu Chuan. “Since it’s our first meeting, and we’ll be clearing this dungeon together, I don’t have any real gift for you. Take this bag of gold as my greeting gift.”
As he spoke, Starry Ming deliberately shook the pouch so the ingots clinked together.
Lu Chuan’s eyes went wide.
No, don’t take it!
Don’t take it!!!
Lu Chuan pinched his thigh hard, screaming inside his head.
But damn it—this guy had to pull out an entire bag of gold ingots.
The sound of ingots clinking together was so sweet it was impossible to refuse.
Clearly, Starry Ming had done thorough homework on Lu Chuan—he knew exactly what Lu Chuan liked.
This bag of gold ingots was useless in City of Immortality, and for players it wasn’t much use either. Giving it away was far less practical than gifting equipment.
But for Lu Chuan, the meaning was very different.
His hands were already trembling with the urge to take it.
[Host, don’t take it!] #888 was horrified. Who in the world used such a vicious trick to test his host?
