Chapter 103: The Interconnected Bank

Chapter 103: The Interconnected Bank

Chad ultimately did not keep his promise to Ge Li—to take her home.

Yet, Ge Li was quite satisfied with her current life.

After Sparda fell, they were taken away by the Internet God and teleported to this war-torn border town—Ailanz.

Along with them came sixty thousand helots.

Chad still remembered how the sight of this place nearly broke him when they first arrived.

—Everywhere he looked, the city was in ruins, with collapsed walls and shattered structures, far worse than the destroyed Sparda.

At least Sparda didn’t have wandering undead or ghouls.

But Chad had no choice. Faced with the mages hovering above, watching everything from their lofty positions, he could only obey.

However, as the days passed, Chad, who had been on the verge of despair, gradually found himself pleasantly surprised!

Because he was a warrior among the helots, he was assigned to a hunting squad, tasked with following the knights and mages to exterminate the undead and ghouls roaming the ruins.

This job was dangerous.

Beyond the threat of death, the undead and ghouls themselves were infectious.

If one was physically weak, even a scratch could lead to fatal poisoning—or worse, turning into one of them.

At first, Chad was extremely reluctant, but he never expected this job would come with payment?

With payment, they could buy food, clothing, weapons—even powerful magic artifacts!

The helots had not only asked about it but had pooled their money and successfully made purchases.

This discovery thrilled Chad beyond measure.

The fact that Keville allowed them to buy magic artifacts meant they weren’t just being treated as expendable labor.

After all, if they rebelled, having magic artifacts would make them a formidable force.

As it turned out, the Keville Empire truly had no intention of using them as cannon fodder.

That very night, a mage announced that they were prisoners of Lord Ajef and rightfully belonged to him—but Lord Ajef had relinquished his claim.

Because they were all children of the God, and in the eyes of the God, no one was above or below another.

As long as they worked diligently, they could use their earnings to rent—or even buy—homes here, becoming permanent citizens of the Keville Empire.

Chad still remembered the jubilant cheers of the helots that day after the noble mage’s proclamation.

But Chad’s joy didn’t end there.

After working during the day, the City Lord’s Mansion steward would gather the helots in the camp at night to explain the Empire’s policies, promote the internet, and even organize literacy lessons.

As the steward put it, those who couldn’t read would struggle to bask in the divine radiance of the Keville Empire.

Chad was literate, so he became an unofficial teacher among the helots.

Many affectionately called him "Teacher Chad."

Chad, who was accustomed to hurling the most vicious insults at his opponents to provoke them and disrupt their rationality, had never imagined that one day he would become a respected Teacher.

He instinctively suppressed the curses that threatened to spill from his lips at any moment, striving to behave like a Teacher—the kind everyone envisioned.

He understood why the helots were so fervent, why they pushed themselves to study even after exhausting days.

Because here, there was the internet!

Chad would stake his life on it—the Internet God was undoubtedly the most benevolent and magnificent deity he had ever encountered!

And the internet was absolutely the greatest divine technique in this world.

Every feature of the internet left him in awe!

Socializing, the Forum, Online Classes, the Library, the Music Sanctuary, the Conquest of Subdomains—each one was astonishing and captivating.

It could be said that the existence of the internet granted them the possibility to become anyone they desired!

With the intervention of mages, Ailanz was rebuilt swiftly.

By Chad’s third day there, the undead and ghouls in the city had been mostly cleared out, and the city walls were repaired far ahead of schedule—serving as a barrier against the beasts of the forest.

The main buildings within the city had also been restored.

Many of the original inhabitants had returned.

At the City Lord's Mansion, Chad registered his identity using his internet Soul ID, officially becoming a citizen of the Keville Empire.

Thanks to the generous rewards for hunting the undead, he became the wealthiest individual among the helots.

Combined with the wages Ge Li earned from her work, their savings were quite substantial.

Worried about Ge Li’s health, Chad refused to continue living in the straw hut beneath the city walls and instead rented a house in the city.

Though Ge Li fretted over their finances, Chad insisted.

He assured her that as a strong, literate man, he would have no trouble finding work in the revitalizing Ailanz.

In truth, there was something he didn’t say—he simply wanted to give Ge Li a home, even if it was just a rented house.

It sounded too sentimental, so he kept it to himself.

But he could feel Ge Li’s joy when they moved into their new home.

Even though it was late at night when they relocated, she still turned on the internet’s lighting function and busied herself cleaning the admittedly dilapidated, bloodstained house.

The vitality radiating from her filled Chad with motivation.

The beauty of their current life gradually helped Ge Li forget the past.

She strived to bring a touch of brilliance to their humble existence.

Take their dinner, for example—simple yet abundant.

Hollow bread steamed with winter mallow and black grain powder was filling and plentiful.

A small plate of spicy pickled vegetables, bought by Ge Li at the market for seven copper coins, made the meal even more satisfying.

A small bowl of finely chopped steamed sweet potatoes—these were the cheapest, half-spoiled ones from the market. After cutting off the bad parts, they were perfectly edible. This little bowl cost only 3 copper coins, just right for Chad’s big appetite.

There was also a large pot of egg soup, made from bird eggs gathered by mischievous children—also very cheap.

Though the bird eggs were tiny, they were enough for the soup. With a sprinkle of black grain powder and some vegetable leaves, it thickened into a hearty, filling pot!

"Have you seen the new feature on the internet?"

Chad, wolfing down his food, suddenly brought up the latest update.

"You mean the Interconnected Bank? I’ve heard about it. What about it?"

Ge Li lifted her face, faint traces of exhaustion visible.

"I want to deposit our money there. Keeping it at home makes me uneasy. The city’s been chaotic lately—all sorts of people around. A lot of folks I know have been robbed."

"It’s fine. Our money’s hidden somewhere safe. No one will find it," Ge Li whispered.

"But I heard that for every hundred copper coins you deposit, you get one extra after a year! If we deposit a thousand, that’s ten copper coins in pure profit!"

Chad’s eyes gleamed at the mention of interest.

"That’s still a whole year. Who knows what could happen in a year? With all this war and unrest, and this place just getting attacked—what if… what if Saint Todd strikes again?"

Ge Li’s face was clouded with worry.

"The internet says the money might be stored here, but you can withdraw it in any city with a Magic Tower—you can even pay online! Even if Ailanz gets attacked, we can just flee to another city. Besides, the Internet God is so powerful—do you really think Keville could just disappear?" Chad argued.

"No, I still don’t like it. That’s just what the internet says. How do we know it’s true? What if we deposit the money and they refuse to give it back?"

"It’s run by the Internet God—why wouldn’t they give it back?"

"I don’t care. I don’t like putting money in someone else’s hands. Only when it’s in my own do I feel safe."

Ge Li’s expression was firm. A life of instability had made her distrustful of everything.

She just wanted control over her own life. Something as important as money had to stay in her grasp—that was the only way she could feel secure.

Chad looked at Ge Li’s stubborn face, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

He didn’t want to upset her.

Little did Chad know, words like Ge Li’s would soon be repeated by countless others in the days to come.

Or rather, Ge Li’s ideology represented the majority.

The Interconnected Bank—its first battle had met resistance.