Chapter 6
After speaking with Hubbard, Lu Chuan rushed to meet Mayor Bruce.
After all, he’d been invoking Bruce’s name in front of Hubbard and George. Now that the project was at a critical stage, how could the mayor not lend a hand?
“Mayor Bruce, forgive my intrusion. Mr. Hubbard and Mr. George never stop praising your wisdom. Without your efforts, this city would never have become so prosperous.” Lu Chuan adopted a completely different persona before the mayor.
With a few rounds of flattery, he had Bruce grinning ear to ear.
“…The main reason I came is to offer you a gift.” Lu Chuan smiled. “As an outsider buying the Mary Building, I want to renovate it into a landmark of this city. I can’t take on such a big project alone, so I’d like to give you a 10% stake and also apply for some government incentives.”
Bruce hesitated, not answering right away.
Lu Chuan let him take his time.
But after these past few days of moving around with Hubbard and George, he didn’t believe Bruce was unaware.
A mayor doesn’t rise without financial backers.
And with elections looming, he was hungrier than ever for support—in other words, this was when he needed money most.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Not much.” Lu Chuan smiled. “Just a phone call to Mr. Hubbard and Mr. George. Show some interest in the project, give them confidence. After all, this will be our joint project. Only when our interests are tied to the same boat can we share both glory and hardship. What do you think, Mr. Mayor?”
Bruce gave Lu Chuan a long look, then finally nodded.
*
Elsewhere—
“President, the documents President Lu submitted will take some time to verify, since some involve cross-border business…” The bank’s compliance officer had been working overtime for days, but Hubbard’s pressure was relentless.
“What problem could he possibly have? Mayor Bruce himself just called me. He’s the mayor’s man.” Hubbard urged, “Release part of the loan to George now, we’ll finish the rest of the paperwork later. No more delays.”
Though outwardly impatient, Hubbard was inwardly reassured.
If the mayor himself vouched for Lu Chuan, then investing in him was surely safe.
Meanwhile, George quickly arranged another meeting.
“President Lu, I’ve already received a 20% down payment. We can proceed with the contract.” George wasn’t expecting full payment upfront—businessmen rarely did. Installments were fine, especially since Lu Chuan had secured a bank loan. Money would flow in slower, but that was normal.
Besides, the Mary Building was always meant to be a losing deal.
“Alright.” Lu Chuan read over the contract carefully, then signed without hesitation.
“President Lu, from now on the Mary Building is yours.” George laughed heartily and shook his hand.
Just as Lu Chuan was about to respond, a thought struck him.
“Mr. George, since the Mary Building is now mine, let’s give it a new name. The old one just isn’t auspicious.” Lu Chuan smiled.
“Of course, my friend. That’s your right. You are its owner now.”
“Then let’s call it… Wealth—no, Golden Tower.” Lu Chuan said immediately.
“Golden Tower it is.” George laughed. “My assistant is already handling the transfer paperwork. I’ll have him change the name at the same time.”
[Congratulations, player. Strategy completion rate: 100%. Special achievement unlocked. Evaluation raised.]
[Congratulations, player. You’ve gained ownership of a building within the dungeon. Territory binding not yet unlocked. You may bind once the title is available.]
[Congratulations, player. Hidden achievement unlocked: The Unsealed Tower.]
[Congratulations, player…]
One system notification after another rang in Lu Chuan’s mind.
System 888 was utterly stunned, not daring to speak over the main system’s announcements.
Host, you’re something else.
You’ve already cleared the dungeon, yet you’re still walking the tightrope here.
Cheating one high-level NPC after another, stripping them for all they’re worth.
A newbie… who already owns a territory.
One can only imagine how many enemies the host will make once he clears more dungeons.
Lu Chuan, however, felt no problem at all.
Don’t be ridiculous.
No one gets rich without windfalls; no horse fattens without grass at night.
If you want to make big money, there’s no such thing as mercy in business.
The world’s wealth is finite. If you take more, others take less. There’s no such thing as polite negotiation when you can swallow it whole. Why share when you can keep it all?
So what if he made enemies? As long as it didn’t stop him from making money, who cared?
After leaving the mayor’s office, Lu Chuan received a call from Hubbard.
“President Lu, I’m in. I’m investing in your project.”
Moments later, three hundred million landed in Lu Chuan’s account.
Lu Chuan paused mid-step, then turned and headed straight to the gold exchange shop.
First things first: recover his capital, with interest.
[Wait, Host—if you convert all 300 million into gold, my storage space won’t hold it.] System 888 warned.
Worse, such a massive purchase would trigger the main system’s alarms.
“Of course I’m not buying that much. If I did, the cops would show up in minutes.” Lu Chuan was speechless. “Do you think I’m that dumb?”
No, you’re not dumb, Host. I’m just afraid your greed will make you forget the situation you’re in.
Right now, you’re carrying the marks of multiple high-level NPCs.
System 888 wished desperately that Lu Chuan would just exit the dungeon so it could explain everything clearly.
[Host, since you already own a territory in this dungeon, most of your wealth here can’t be taken out.] System 888 explained cautiously. [Until you unlock territory binding, only then will the money here truly become yours to control. That’s a balance mechanism.]
“How much can I take out then?” Lu Chuan was displeased. “It’s my money, and I can’t even carry it away?”
[At most five times—no, ten times.] System 888 gritted its teeth. [Ten times your starting capital. That’s the absolute limit. Any more is impossible.]
“Boss, give me ten gold bars. Yes, the 2500g ones.” Lu Chuan told the gold shop owner immediately.
[Host… why do you need that much gold? To bash people with?]
“Take it back and lay it on the bed.” Lu Chuan answered without hesitation. “I’m going to build a bed made entirely of gold, sleep on it, and keep nightmares away.”
As he said this, Lu Chuan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
System 888: … I respect your hobby, but I don’t understand it.
The gold shop owner hadn’t expected Lu Chuan to return so soon, and judging by his appearance, he had struck it rich. Unable to hold back, he asked, “Did you win the lottery or something?”
“Something like that.” Lu Chuan replied lazily. “Once you’ve got the gold ready, pack it into bags for me.”
“Alright.”
Then Lu Chuan went to another bank to handle some business.
[Host, what are you doing now?] 888 didn’t understand.
“Sigh, originally I thought I could just take the money and leave. But now that you say I can’t take it all with me, I’ll have to use Plan B.” Lu Chuan sighed. “I got a hefty loan from Hubbard, and the annual interest isn’t small. Most of that interest Bruce will pay from city investment funds, but part of it I’ll have to cover myself. I need to set up something to split the remaining two hundred million over a few years, paying tens of millions in interest annually, just to buy some time.”
Even if he had never played games, Lu Chuan knew that territory titles weren’t something you could unlock easily.
The skyscraper was already his—he was sure he’d return to this dungeon again.
The Golden Tower.
He really did like that name!
[Ohhh great, Host, this way you’ll be safe for the short term.] 888 cheered.
“Not for too long. But that’s a problem for the me a few years from now.” Lu Chuan raised an eyebrow. “With my skills, there’s no way the me in a few years will still be a failure.”
Lu Chuan had confidence in himself.
And even if his future self ended up doing poorly, that had nothing to do with his present self. As long as today’s self was happy, that was enough.
A true ruthless man is one who can even scam himself.
After finishing his business, Lu Chuan returned to the gold shop, hefted his heavy bag, and pressed the “return” button.
*
Deep within the dungeon.
Several massive black entities, constantly shifting form, drifted through the air.
Wherever they passed, all living beings on the ground instantly mutated—yet not one creature realized the change had arrived.
“Mom, what just flew overhead?”
“Don’t look. Don’t ask. It’s not something we should know.”
“…Mom, was there something just now?”
“No, child. Keep eating.”
“Mom, your head fell off.”
“It’s fine, Mommy will just put it back on.”
…
“Hold onto your sanity, Number 18. The power you’re leaking is already disturbing the dungeon’s ecosystem!”
Upon the back of one of the massive, nearly unseeable monsters stood a tall man.
His hands rested one atop the other on the hilt of a sword, its blade stabbed deep into the monster’s forehead, radiating light to preserve the creature’s last fragments of reason.
“Senior, this is how we survive. The more we lose our sanity, the stronger we become. If you’d fully abandon reason, you’d surely climb several ranks higher.” The monster swished its tail, a fleeting clarity flashing in its eyes.
These strange murmurs, transformed into language, carried a reality-bending power.
“Senior, what are you looking at?” the massive monster asked curiously. Dozens of eyes sprouted from its smooth back, all staring straight at the man. Meanwhile, various parts of its body morphed into attack forms, striking at a certain creature in the middle.
Bang, bang, bang, bang—
The man pressed down the brim of his hat, covering most of his eyes.
Only after all the chaotic tentacles and organs exploded into nothingness did the monster settle down.
“Senior, your ‘eye’ is still so violent. I just wanted to greet you.”
“Someone has achieved a 100% dungeon clear.” The man, called Senior, spoke slowly. “What’s strange is that the dungeon’s own NPCs haven’t requested our investigation. But any dungeon with a perfect clear requires our observation.”
“A newbie dungeon should be simple, right? Senior, let me go. I’ll rip that dungeon out at the roots and craft a new one in its place.”
“…That won’t be necessary.”
At that moment, Lu Chuan left the dungeon and, for the first time, saw this brand-new Infinite World with his own eyes.
