Chapter 264 - Chapter 264: 207. The Peak of Life_2
Chapter 264: 207. The Peak of Life_2
At this moment, Qing Chen suddenly felt that something was amiss.
He compared the voice he was hearing now with the neutral voice in his memory.
The voice of Zero now had more feminine characteristics.
Just then, Zero said, “Oh, there’s something I haven’t told you yet. I’ve sent the data to your phone; you need to take a look.”
Zero’s counterattack had arrived.
Qing Chen felt puzzled and opened the newly transferred file on his phone, “Loans…”
“Yes, a total of 61 loan documents,” Zero said nonchalantly.
“What are all these?” Qing Chen was shocked. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Because these loans are all in your name,” Zero replied.
Qing Chen began frantically flipping through all the documents, his mind racing.
He dared to guarantee that his brain was working even faster now than when he had seen the Scepter of the Gods!
Hesitantly, Qing Chen asked, “The house I’m living in, the hover car I ride, and the safe house in District 1… were all bought using loans taken out in my name by my master?”
Zero seemed quite pleased with this backstab, saying in a relaxed tone, “Yes.”
Qing Chen hesitated again, “And the house decoration, the mattress, the furniture… all bought on loan too?”
“Exactly,” Zero confirmed.
Qing Chen’s face turned ashen. “But why would my master need to take out a loan to buy an electric kettle?!”
“In the Inner World, loan finance is everywhere, allowing to satisfy human consumption desires as much as possible. The financial networks of the conglomerates provide meticulous loan support to everyone with credit, even if you’re just buying a pair of socks, you can get them on zero down payment,” Zero explained.
“And then, saddle everyone with omnipresent debt?” Qing Chen raised his voice.
He had barely started calculating when he realized that his kind and friendly master had taken out a whopping 68 million in loans in his name.
The hover car he was sitting on was valued at 8.89 million, with only ten percent down.
The safe house in District 1 was 59 million, also with only ten percent down.
The decoration of the two houses alone had cost nearly ten million, and together with other miscellaneous items, it left Qing Chen feeling breathless.
Suddenly, his teeth began to hurt.
Fortunately, his master still had some conscience; he hadn’t pulled a zero down payment stunt!
“But, can my credit cover such a huge sum of money, are the banks of these conglomerates idiots?” Qing Chen asked.
“Your background is that of a rich merchant’s son, so naturally you can take out such a huge sum. Moreover, Uncle Li Dong spread the loans among three families; the Li Family, Qing’s Family, and Chen Clan each took out a portion, making the amount seem less in each case,” Zero replied.
Qing Chen was shocked. “I don’t need to handle this myself…”
By this point, he had come to a realization. His master had the Taboo item ACE-005 at the time; naturally, he could have used it to take the loans out by impersonating him!
Master, does your conscience not hurt when you use a Taboo item for such things?!
Qing Chen had just internally praised his master for being generous, but little did he expect such a twist.
After taking over ten million in cash from the boxing ring, Qing Chen thought he could strut around the school, only to find out he wasn’t a rich man but a man steep in debt!
Honestly, Qing Chen had never thought that at an age when he should have been carefree, he would bear such undue debt.
This couldn’t be another tradition of the Knight Organization, could it?!
“I have a question, did my master ever bear such debts?” Qing Chen asked.
“He did,” Zero answered casually. “Initially, his uncle sent him to the boxing ring, but he kept getting beaten and didn’t want to continue. Later, to force him into a corner, his uncle took out a loan of over twenty million in his name.”
Qing Chen was taken aback; he roared inwardly:
Is there any good person in this Knight Organization at all?!
“I guess I know why he rushed to fake his death,” Qing Chen remarked pensively. “If he didn’t, the loan issue would have been exposed! Turns out, my master wasn’t just hiding from the conglomerates; he was avoiding me!”
What about Taboo item ACE-002.
What about the Scepter of the Gods.
At this moment, Qing Chen just felt that he had been played by Uncle Li Dong and Qing’s Family.
Qing Chen casually reviewed the loan documents in his mind and figured out that he had to pay 2.42 million every month!
“Wait,” Qing Chen frowned, “this hover car runs on liquid oxygen methane, right? How much does that cost each month?”
“Including insurance and maintenance, about 61,000 per month. It’s a toy for the rich,” Zero replied.
Qing Chen thought it over for a moment, “That…just let me off here, I’ll walk to the boxing gym. It’s not that I’m worried about the fuel cost, I just like walking.”
“Tsk tsk,” Zero said, “a Tiger Grade Boxer, the only direct disciple of a Demigod in this era, giving up the convenience of a hover car just to save on some fuel costs. You’ve already bought the car, does the fuel really matter?”
“Why would an artificial intelligence make a ‘tsk tsk’ sound,” Qing Chen was flustered, “you believe I won’t strip you of a few more disguises these next few days!”
Zero: “Tsk tsk!”
Qing Chen: “…”
He did the math, the money Uncle Li Dong gave him was only enough to cover the loan for a few months. It wasn’t that he was stingy, he simply had never seen that much money in his life.
He originally thought that after coming to the Inner World and having Uncle Li Dong as his master, he could reach the pinnacle of life in minutes.
Instead, he had reached the pinnacle of debt.
“I want to ask, if I stop payments, would the bank just take back the car and the house and then I apply for personal bankruptcy?” Qing Chen asked.
He wondered, might he be the first bankrupt Knight?
That’s not right, given the tradition of Knights ensnaring their disciples generation after generation, he might not be the first bankrupt one…
Zero said cheerfully, “The Federation doesn’t have a law for personal bankruptcy, once you’re in debt, it’s a perpetual joint liability.”
“Why?” Qing Chen was stunned.
“Because you owe money to the syndicates,” Zero replied, “The syndicates control the Senate, how could they possibly allow anyone to escape their debts?”
“What happens if I can’t pay it back?” Qing Chen asked.
“Within the first day of the first month of an overdue payment, you’ll receive a payment notice on your phone, and by the last day of that month, the bank will take all your property.”
“If you’re overdue for three months, the syndicates will give you two options. The first option is to trade your organs, replacing them with cheaper synthetic ones. The second option is to assign you a job to repay the debt through labor.”
“Wait,” Qing Chen said puzzled, “can organs be directly bought and sold in the Inner World?”
“Of course,” Zero replied.
Such things were absolutely forbidden in the Outer World.
Just like how ordinary people could become servants to great personages, the laws of the Inner World had many aspects of fantasy.
It was only upon seeing these “rules” that Qing Chen truly realized what kind of world this was.
He suddenly recalled a term that was very popular on the internet in the Outer World, cyberpunk.
Qing Chen looked out the car window at the towering buildings and suddenly said, “Welcome to the Cyberpunk World.”
Zero asked, “Isn’t the buying and selling of organs allowed over there?”
“Hmm, it’s not allowed.”
“Even if you want to sell your own?”
“Yes, not allowed.”
“Why?” Zero asked curiously.
“Because ‘one must not forfeit major personal interests,’” Qing Chen said, “It’s a law meant to protect ordinary people. Otherwise, the capital could do whatever it wants, buying organs, lives, anything.”
Zero remarked, “Honestly, I rarely ask a human so many questions, because most of my questions don’t need to be addressed by humans. But it’s different with you, I become quite curious, and you are smarter than most humans.”
Qing Chen was puzzled, why this artificial intelligence suddenly started praising him.
But Zero continued, “However, I feel that if you were just a bit less intelligent, you would probably have Awakened by now. Perhaps this is what they call knowledge changing one’s destiny.”
Qing Chen: “…”
…
Sorry everyone, there’s only this one chapter of 4000 words today. I started having a low fever late last night and only just started feeling a little better, so I owe you one chapter, which I’ll make up within three days.
Thank you to Ling Yu Han Yue for becoming a new ally of this book, the boss is generous, and may the boss be healthy!
Thank you to Wen Zai Fou for becoming a new member of the Silver City Alliance, the boss is generous, and may the boss be healthy!