Chapter 277: What’s better than Money? Free Money!
Chapter 277: What’s better than Money? Free Money!
When Fang Yu continued talking to the man, she discovered that his name was Ricardo, and his job was to gather potential fighters in the coliseum.
“I knew it just by seeing you two that you have it in your bodies! The power of a mighty fighter!” Honestly, Fang Yu had already grown tired of Ricardo saying these things to her and Andromeda earlier. But she did not stop him, as she felt good from all the praises given to her.
“How does the matches work anyway?” Fang Yu cocked her head as she asked Ricardo. “Are there any requirements for a fighter before he can fight another fighter in the coliseum?”
“Requirements?” Ricardo tapped his chin as he tried to remember the rules.
“Ah! You can only fight a fighter if the money that you have was approximately equal to theirs.”
“Money? You mean the money used here in the Colony?” Fang Yu asked as she felt disappointed. She had many treasures hidden on her storage but from the looks of it, she will be technically ‘penniless’ this time.
“Yes. That money.” Ricardo then reached on his pocket as she showed Fang Yu and Andromeda the money that was in circulation here in the Colony.
The money system here in the Colony was called Solom, in honor of the great Solomon. This money system was mainly facilitated with paper money.
Each paper money here had different faces, and the value differs with each face.
The faces on the paper money were the faces of the 9 Djinns who were originally with Solomon. Even though 4 of them left, they were not removed in circulation.
Instead, the faces of the 4 Djinns were used for the lower valued money.
What Ricardo showed to Fang Yu was the 1 Solom Bill. The face that was imprinted here was Orias’ face. Fang Yu marveled on how accurate this face was, which captured that irritating gloating smile of his.
“Can I keep this?” Fang Yu asked as she held the 1 Solom bill. “I just arrived here you know. Wait... if I need money to fight, then how will I fight if I have no money right now?”
“Oh, do not worry! I have a solution for you!” This time, Fang Yu saw Ricardo’s friendly façade turning slightly more... sinister. If it was a real country bumpkin talking to Ricardo, they might not have seen past his friendly nature.
But Fang Yu was different. Her encounters with Wang Hao made her wary of any possible swindlers that might take advantage of her. When she saw Ricardo’s current expression, she knew that the scam was on its way now.
“I have friends that can lend money for you to fight!” Ricardo said enthusiastically as he steered Fang Yu towards a glamorous-looking building. “Just ask them any amount and they will give it to you! Of course you will have to write a contract to them saying that you will return the money!”
Fang Yu hid a sneer as she realized what scheme Ricardo’s group was working on.
They will entice penniless fighters to borrow money from them. They will then be coerced gently to write a contract stating that they will return the money when they win a match. The contract might even ask for an interest for every week the money was paid late.
That’ where the scheme lies.
Fang Yu was sure that once the victim received the money, they will be matched to an extremely strong opponent.
The victim, shining with confidence will then fight his opponent with vigor.
The poor victim will then lose to that extremely powerful opponent, losing his money and properties to that opponent.
At that point, the victim will be penniless once more, with his properties snatched by his first opponent.
That was when Ricardo’s group will sink its fangs. They will demand the victim to return the money, since the victim promised it in the contract.
But since the victim lost his money already, he had no way to return the money that he borrowed. What made it worse was the interest in the contract. Now, the victim’s debt to Ricardo’s group will increase for every week that he pays late.
The only way for the victim to pay back the debt was to earn money. But earning money here in the Colony was actually difficult, especially here in the Common Layer!
Ricardo’s group will then swarm in and force the victim to work for them so that he/she can repay the money he borrowed. As for what kind of work that will be, it might depend on the abilities of the victim.
But one thing was for sure: Ricardo’s group will surely use the poor victim to the fullest!
Of course, Fang Yu was not sure if this was how the scam will work.
But she was fairly sure that Ricardo’s group will find ways to make the victim lose the money that he/she borrowed from them.
Only when that happens that Ricardo’s group can ‘attack’ their prey.
Fang Yu then let out a silly smile as she gave Ricardo a delighted expression.
“You will lend us money? Thank you! You really are a great friend!”
“Hahaha! Of course, of course we are friends! Come with me now, I shall bring you to my other friends!” Ricardo chortled as he and Andromeda entered the glamorous building.
“You want to scam me? Heh, in your dreams!” Fang Yu thought viciously in her mind. “Since you dare scam me, then you should be prepared because I shall scam your group now!”
When Fang Yu entered the building, she had to stop as she observed the area that she was in right now.
From what she can see, she was in a bar with some people drinking idly nearby. The bartender was a lean pretty girl, who gave Fang Yu a wink when she saw her enter.
Fang Yu looked further, and then she saw one large black door at the end of the bar. She saw two guards flanking the door.
She licked her lips, realizing beyond this door was the place where Ricardo’s ‘friends’ were residing.
“Okay, Fang Hao.” Ricardo said as he stared at Fang Yu, rubbing his hands excitedly. “How much do you want to get? The cheapest fighter here has money of around 10,000 Soloms. That’s the smallest amount that you can get from us.”
Fang Yu sneered at her mind after hearing that. The ‘cheapest’ was around 10,000 Soloms? That was a damn lot of money! No wonder this business thrives here. With that amount of money ‘lent’, Ricardo’s group surely was able to acquire many unwilling workers.
“Hmm... who’s the richest fighter here, and how much money does that fighter have?” Fang Yu asked nonchalantly.
“The richest one? Her name was Spear Demoness!” Ricardo said with a fervent expression on his face. Fang Yu could see that the current expression of his was not an act at all. He clearly a fan of this woman.
“Her money was around 1,452,981,560 Soloms! That money was enough for her to go to the Median Layer, yet she still stayed here, since she wanted to continue fighting!”
“Then lend that money to me.” Fang Yu said confidently. “I am a great fighter, and I also want to fight the best. Since she gathered that much money, I think she will satisfy my hunger for battle!”
“What!” Ricardo’s jaw dropped as he heard Fang Yu’s ridiculous offer. “Are you sure about that? You want to owe 1,452,981,560 Soloms from us just to fight her?”
“Yes, I’m sure about that.” Fang YU replied with no hesitation.
Ricardo paused as he said worriedly, “I am just reminding you, if you get that money and fight her, there is a high chance that you will lose. And if you lose, you will owe us with a godly amount of money. That will not be good for you.” Ricardo was surprisingly stopping Fang Yu right now!
“You can just ask for cheaper fighters you know.”
“I have already decided. Don’t worry about me, I can defeat her!” Fang Yu said confidently.
“..... Ah ok, let me talk to them first. You wait here.” Ricardo then rushed and entered the black door.
While waiting for him to come back, Andromeda just sat on one of the bar chairs, while Fang Yu started to flirt with the pretty bartender.
***
“Boss!” Ricardo said as he stared at the back of his leader who was busy smoking a pipe. “Will we allow that guy Fang Hao to borrow 1.4 Billion Soloms? It seems too much!”
“Yes, that’s too much!” Other people in the room, whose work was like Ricardo, chimed in approval.
But to their surprise, their boss suddenly said,
“Let that guy borrow the amount that he wanted.” He then did not say anything else as he continued smoking his pipe.
“.....” Even though they were shocked by what their boss said, Ricardo and the others in the room did not dare to refute their boss.
Their boss was a masterful strategist who managed to raise this business of his single-handedly! All of his decisions were precise and calculated!
That meant that Ricardo should not doubt any of his Boss’ decisions!
***
It took 30 minutes before Ricardo came back.
His face looked slightly pale as he talked to Fang Yu. He held a scroll on his right hand, and a stack of money on his left.
“Fang Hao, I asked my friends to let them borrow you some money, but we were only able to fork out 1.4 Billion Soloms.” He said as he waved his left hand in front of Fang Yu.
“But do not worry, since 1.4 Billion Soloms was approximately near that woman’s money, she will most likely fight with you. But before you receive this, kindly sign this contract saying that you will return the money you owed as fast as possible.”
Ricardo then shoved the scroll on his right hand onto Fang Yu’s hands.
Fang Yu then skimmed the contents of the contract, trying to see if there were any hidden traps or wordplay.
When she verified that there was none, she used the fake name ‘Fang Hao’ as the written name on the contract.
“Marvelous!” Ricardo said as he shoved the 1.4 Billion Soloms on Fang Yu’s arms. Ricardo’s beady eyes then narrowed as he muttered,
“Use that money well!”