Chapter 116: Massive Capital Verification and Bicycle Envoy

With Manancy completing the apprentice magician assessment, it was as if a floodgate had opened. Every moment, a magic apprentice completed the assessment.

A day later, 69% of the magic apprentices had passed the apprentice test.

Why 69%?

Because the remaining 31% of the magic apprentices failed their tasks.

We must admit, the estimation ability of Quever’s magicians is indeed formidable.

The passing rate was set quite accurately.

Of course, it could also be that this high-pressure passing rate made many apprentices overly focused on efficiency, ultimately failing.

However, future battlefields won’t allow for slow progress, so this line was well-drawn.

With the completion of the apprentice magician assessment, the Empire saw an overnight increase of over six thousand official magicians.

The Internet God also used this assessment to achieve a strategic goal — constructing four Magic Towers in the Dofi Sub-Dimension.

These four Magic Towers are not of high specification, but they suffice for a small dimension.

They each occupy two large mithril mines, one large copper mine, and one large aluminum mine.

This will become the raw material supply area for the Dragon Factory!

And the players are the best workers.

……

……

Manancy, having received the gray robe and medal symbolizing an official magician from her magic mentor, was almost flying with excitement.

After she arranged a celebration time with her classmates, she couldn’t wait to put on the gray robe and medal, rushing eagerly to the gate of Felix Magic Academy.

She already guessed that her parents must be sitting in a carriage, anxiously waiting for her assessment results.

After going out, the school gate was indeed crowded with carriages, but her family’s carriage was nowhere in sight.

Something’s not right?

She knew her father was a duke. Even if he sent a butler, the carriage would be parked in the most conspicuous place.

So… her father didn’t come?

Manancy was stupefied.

Could it be… something happened at home?

Manancy’s face turned a little pale. She carelessly applied a light body spell and hurried home.

When she arrived at the front of the Duke’s mansion, panting, she saw several carriages parked at the front gate, with boxes of gold coins being loaded onto the carriages.

Don’t ask how Manancy knew they were gold coins?

Because the crisp collision sound as the boxes hit the carriages was unmistakably clear.

Manancy’s face turned white!

Could the family be confiscated?

Before countless thoughts burst in her mind, her father, Duke Mallory, rushed out of the gate, sweating profusely, roaring with no regard for a magician’s dignity: “Faster! You’re as slow as a pig! Old me using Mage’s Hand would be faster than you! What’s the point of keeping you all?”

In fact, behind Duke Mallory, boxes were already floating.

The precious space ring on his finger was also filled with gold coins.

At this moment, Manancy was dumbfounded.

“Dad!”

“Hmm? Xiaoxi? Oh, my beautiful and charming Miss Manancy, you passed the apprentice magician assessment?”

Mallory’s eyes lit up, and he cheerfully ran over when he saw the gray robe on his daughter.

“Yes, I’ve passed the test. But… what’s going on here?”

Manancy pointed at the busy servants.

Upon hearing her, Duke Mallory’s expression instantly changed. He turned around and yelled again, “Faster, faster! Delay depositing money, and I’ll dismantle your bones and refine necromancy!”

After shouting, he turned back with a warm face, “You don’t know, Ajef suddenly announced he wants to auction off the bicycle production line! There are only six lines. My heavens, who doesn’t know by now that bicycles are the goose that lays golden eggs? This is a must-get item!”

“But… what’s this got to do with that?” Manancy pointed at the servants carrying the gold coins.

Duke Mallory looked constipated: “Lord Ajef said that to participate in the auction, one’s capital must be verified! Assets below five million gold coins are not allowed to participate. The verification method is checking the bank account.”

Hearing this, Manancy froze on the spot!

Even if she has no concept of money, she knows what five million gold coins are?

No more than ten entities in the entire Empire can produce that amount.

That includes the Empire’s Four Great Pillars!

Duke Mallory gritted his teeth again, “Now the whole Empire has gone crazy. Even those damn peasants are madly pooling money!”

Manancy knew the ‘peasants’ her father spoke of were not just common citizens but also included nobles of lower rank than him.

“Dad, isn’t this… too dangerous? So much money… what if, what if…”

“It won’t be, Ajef is a follower of the Internet God. If he wanted money, the Internet Bank has plenty.”

“If he doesn’t want money, why does he open the Dragon Factory? And, why sell bicycles if they’re so profitable?”

Duke Mallory took a deep breath and whispered, “Lord Ajef is producing flintlocks. He’s no longer interested in bicycle profits, so he decided to sell them off.”

Manancy was amazed… the flintlocks from the apprentice magician assessment were really produced by the Dragon Factory?

Before she could say anything else, her father was already shouting to the coachmen, driving away at high speed.

Manancy watched her father’s retreating figure, never expecting that the many times she imagined the scene of becoming an official magician would be so absurd!

However, wasn’t her family not the only absurd one?

The entire aristocracy of Vis Els had almost gone mad.

The affair even affected major cities in the Empire.

Everyone can see how lucrative bicycles are.

Currently, the market is in short supply.

Even grabbing a low-end model at 998 copper coins can make a big profit.

In remote areas of the Empire, some minor nobles even take pride in owning a bicycle!

There’s even a rumor of blacksmiths hammering out bicycles from scratch.

Of course, limited by technology, key parts like chains, tires, rollers, ball bearings, etc., most blacksmiths can’t produce.

Therefore, most imitations are quite crude.

Not even comparable to matured carriages.

However, money moves people’s hearts.

Rumor has it that many magicians have joined in, using metal magic from the earth branch to create and sell key parts.

A glimpse reveals the whole picture.

It shows how booming the bicycle market is.

Actually, it’s understandable why bicycles are booming.

They’re truly convenient, requiring no magic to operate, and are ready to use when acquired. Compared to traditional carriages, the maintenance and operation costs are lower.

Whether for personal travel or long-distance freight, they have wide applicability.

So, with the Dragon Factory suddenly auctioning off the bicycle production line, how could people not be tempted?

As for the capital verification?

Honestly, it’s impossible to say there’s no concern.

But under the temptation of bicycle profits, people couldn’t care less.

They don’t believe the Internet God would abscond with a heap of gold coins.

However, the five million gold coin verification fee is indeed vast.

In copper coins, it’s 50 billion copper coins.

Adding up all the copper coins in the Empire, who knows if there’s even that much?

It’s fortunate it’s gold coins!

Nobles have a hobby of storing gold coins.

The Kewell Empire has been passing down for millennia. Although nobles have changed several times, wealth doesn’t disappear into thin air.

The gold coins produced over these thousand years mostly reside in the cellar of various nobles.

Awaiting someday to eye some high-end magical tool and then haul them out.

Now, thanks to Lord Ajef’s words, various nobles have opened their dusty cellars, moving out gold coins that could serve as antiques.

But even so, not everyone can gather this amount of money.

Helplessly, some high-status but low-savings new nobles can only swear curses, mortgaging, selling, joining forces, and cooperating to fund verification.

For a while, Quever Empire’s citizens finally witnessed the wealth of the nobles.

The carts of gold coins being transported to banks shocked countless people and stirred a huge wave online!

The Internet Bank, because of this incident, saw its public trust soar several levels overnight!

Even though the forums were abuzz, everyone knew the nobles saved money to bid for the bicycle production line, but they couldn’t deny a glaring fact.

Gold coins were being deposited into the Internet Bank.

If there were problems with the Internet Bank, would those shrewd noble lords save money there?

This scene made many hesitant and stingy poor people suddenly relieved.

Even those noble lords dare to save mountains of gold coins in it, so why should we fear with our few hundred copper coins?

Thus, with the nobles’ capital verification frenzy, the Empire saw another wave of deposit fever.

At the same time, Kewell Empire dispatched a large bicycle envoy to Karman United Republic.

Nominally to negotiate bilateral trade, but in reality… to showcase bicycles and advertise.