Chapter 106: Master of Darkness
by xennovel“What’s going on?”
Clementine’s brows furrowed, her clear eyes now filled with sharpness, glaring fiercely at the merchant Tony!
Is this deliberate troublemaking?
At this moment, she was no longer a bank teller but a noble member of the Kewell royal family.
“Noble lord, I won’t deposit anymore. Please spare the old man, alright?” Beside her, the old farmer was so agitated that he knelt with a thud.
The bank branch had become a popular spot in the city.
Many country bumpkins often passed by the bank, even taking detours just to catch a glimpse of the beautiful princess from afar.
Thus, when Tony came riding his horse and the old farmer knelt to plead for mercy, this scene instantly attracted countless onlookers.
Countless people unconsciously gathered at the bank’s entrance, stretching their heads to see.
Old Tony looked at the furious Clementine and hurriedly explained, “Princess, are you mistaken? Before I went to bed yesterday, my account clearly showed 1.34 million. How come this morning I suddenly have 36 extra copper coins and still 7 tenths and 1 hundredth of a coin remaining?”
What?
The old farmer kneeling in supplication looked bewildered.
The crowd at the bank entrance exchanged confused glances.
Clementine almost exploded upon hearing this, nearly wanting to punch Tony, but she sighed with relief inwardly.
This was the new rule from the Interconnected Bank last night.
That is to calculate interest daily.
Sir Ajef specifically sent messages to all branches, requiring bank tellers to be familiar with this rule and inform customers about it.
Clementine took a deep breath:
“I am not mistaken, nor is the bank. Have you forgotten? The bank’s annual interest is 1%. You deposited 1.34 million. Your annual return is equal to 13,400 copper coins, contracted to 36.71 copper coins daily. Does that have any problem?”
As her voice fell, Tony, the old farmer, and even the onlookers outside the bank seemed struck by lightning!
Is there a problem?
Of course… there is a problem!
Not only is there a problem, the problem is huge!
Can interest really be calculated daily?
Even loan sharks wouldn’t dare calculate like that, right?
“Can… the money be withdrawn?”
The merchant instinctively led Tony to suppress his shock, asking nervously.
“Of course.”
“I mean… just withdraw the interest.”
“Sure. Do you want to withdraw it?”
“Yes!” Tony nodded.
Immediately, with everyone as witnesses, he withdrew 36 copper coins, and the account balance returned to 1.34 million.
Of course, 7 tenths and 1 hundredth remained.
“Princess, will I earn 36 copper coins again tomorrow?”
“Of course. Including your 0.7 interest, tomorrow you can withdraw 37 copper coins in addition to the principal,” Clementine replied.
“Can I withdraw the principal now?”
“Yes, do you want to?”
“Yes!”
Tony gritted his teeth.
Before everyone’s eyes, he withdrew 134 gold coins.
As the glittering gold coins were placed in front of the counter, not only Tony but the onlookers were thoroughly in an uproar!
“Oh my gosh, interest can be calculated daily?!”
“Getting 36 copper coins in interest daily is more than I earn working a full day.”
“If I had 1.34 million, couldn’t I just live off the interest every day?”
“How can there be such a good deal?”
“Yes, how can there be such a good deal? Isn’t the bank just holding our money, not charging a storage fee, and also giving us interest?”
All the chatter eventually condensed into one ultimate question.
—Why does the bank help store money, not only not charging fees but also giving them interest?
Everyone was puzzled.
All eyes instinctively turned to Clementine.
Looking at the puzzled crowd, Clementine suddenly realized that this might be one of the fundamental reasons why the Interconnected Bank had not been able to attract deposits.
“Because the Interconnected Bank is established by the Internet God! And the Internet God is benevolent, charitable, and selfless, like the publicly available knowledge in the library!”
Clementine reiterated the answer she gave the old farmer.
The scene suddenly fell silent!
After a while, someone murmured.
“So the Interconnected Bank is of the Internet God.”
“Everything is due to God’s benevolence.”
“Praise the Internet God!”
“Praise the Internet God!”
Someone echoed.
“Praise the Internet God!”
The shout suddenly resonated through the bank branch, the city, and echoed throughout the Kewell Empire!
…
The Interconnected Bank once again sparked an online topic!
But this time, it wasn’t just all talk and no action.
Countless citizens flooded the bank, storing all their fortunes.
Yes, things were this strange and absurd. Overnight, everyone seemed to accept the Interconnected Bank.
Because everyone saw with their own eyes the nobles and wealthy merchants deposit large bags of gold into the bank;
More importantly, they saw the money grow visibly with daily interest!
Money is hard to earn, crap is hard to eat.
The attachment and desire for money is not only seen in the nobility; commoners covet it more!
Everyone is racking their brains, trying every means to make it grow more.
Countless people dream of copper coins reproducing themselves.
However, reality is ruthless; such absurd things clearly should not happen.
But the great and benevolent Internet God satisfied their whimsical dreams!
It turned out that by leaving money untouched, it could indeed generate small income.
Countless people now wake up every morning to check the Interconnected Bank, seeing how much interest accrued.
No matter if it’s just a tenth or a hundredth, it still exhilarates and satisfies many commoners.
Continuously calculating in their minds how much money is stored, how much can increase automatically every day.
How much more money to deposit, to one day live off the interest alone.
The Internet’s newly opened screenshot function prompted everyone to share bank deposit screenshots enthusiastically!
Big shots earn admiration;
Commoners evoke empathy.
A great financial era has thus commenced.
Behind all this golden brilliance, deep in the Shrine’s Ancient Castle, the female steward—Loxia, viewed the online praises, inexplicably feeling a chill down to her bones.
Several days ago, her master approached her, assigning her a task.
Her master termed it—Big Data Precision Marketing.
Loxia didn’t quite understand the name’s meaning, but these days’ experiences gradually unveiled it to her.
Her master granted her some forum access.
Instructed her to precisely target some posts at different areas and audiences.
For instance: to rural villages, push posts like “Poor farmer suddenly robbed, life plunged into hell overnight.”
For instance: to affluent urban districts, push posts like “Rich merchant attacked by bandits, his cargo plundered, family fallen.”
Of course, besides post-pushing, her master also gave her several Internet accounts, termed “zombie followers.”
According to her master’s request, she manipulates these zombie followers to comment and argue in these posts as if they were real netizens.
But the posts are orchestrated in any form, ultimately with one purpose—to guide users to discover the Interconnected Bank’s practicality and convenience.
Loxia didn’t know whether the Interconnected Bank’s sudden acceptance by Kewell’s populace was due to daily interest or her precision marketing.
But this exposure to her master’s shadowy side filled her with a kind of bone-chilling dread.
More daunting was the realization that from now on, she would become her master’s shadow, ruling the darkness!
…
Some fear darkness, others yearn for it. When White Reed awakened under the Internet God’s control, opening his eyes on the Azaea Continent, the Internet God unfolded his wings once again, casting shadows over this world.