Chapter 504: Bank!

Chapter 504: Chapter 504: Bank!

Lily Hart was still sipping her soda when Diana Sharp called, her excited voice coming through the phone, "Lily, someone scratched off a bank!"

Since she had it on speakerphone, everyone heard it loud and clear. Elder Shaw and Elliot Chapman, in particular, shot to their feet in excitement.

Elder Shaw asked in disbelief, "What? A bank?"

Elliot Chapman even stuttered, "A-A bank? For real?"

An image of the completed research institute immediately flashed into his mind. Wow, what an exciting thought.

Lily Hart was also a little excited. She asked again, just to be sure, "You’re sure you’re not mistaken? It’s a bank?"

Diana Sharp’s affirmative reply came through. Lily Hart immediately shot up. "Let’s go, let’s go! What are you all standing around for? Do you want a research institute or not?"

Elder Shaw and Elliot Chapman reacted the fastest, shoving their chairs back and immediately following her.

The others followed close behind, not expecting a bank to be scratched off so quickly either.

What was even more unexpected was the very concept of a bank in the apocalypse. The kind you could deposit money in and borrow from?

So, what would happen if you couldn’t pay it back? Would they come for your life?

The group didn’t have time to overthink it. They hurried to catch up with Lily Hart, deciding to check out the spectacle first and worry about the rest later.

The moment they stepped out of the Sichuan restaurant, the group saw the bank and froze.

Lily Hart had expected something in the style of the pre-apocalypse era—stern, cold, and meticulously formal.

But one look at it now, and all she wanted to do was laugh.

’Heavens, can the system please stop being so abstract?’

The bank before them was a giant Crystal Core—a Tenth Rank Crystal Core, to be exact—glowing with a faint pink light.

Owen Warren felt his scalp tighten. A pink Crystal Core meant a Tenth Rank Crystal Core, which, to him, meant his life was on the line.

’This is insane. How could they use a pink Crystal Core to represent a bank?’

’Whose idea was this?’ The sight of it irritated Owen Warren so much he wanted to punch it.

Leo Colby muttered to himself, "A Tenth Rank Crystal Core? A bank? It’s actually quite fitting."

A First-rank Crystal Core could be exchanged for 100 points from Lily Hart, but that didn’t mean a Tenth Rank Crystal Core was only worth 1,000 points.

As for how much it was actually worth, no one had tried to find out.

After all, the amount of energy a Tenth Rank Crystal Core could provide a superpower user was immense—far more valuable than what they could get with points.

"Come on, let’s go inside and see." Lily Hart had already recovered from her mild shock.

But the others were still staring at the Tenth Rank Crystal Core, even the regular customers. They couldn’t help but think...

’If only I had a Tenth Rank Crystal Core...’

Lily Hart walked a few steps, then looked back and saw that no one was following.

They were all still staring at the giant Tenth Rank Crystal Core with gazes of resentment, desire, greed, or awe.

’What, does no one here have megalophobia? Doesn’t it scare you to look at it for too long?’

’Then again, after so many years in the apocalypse, what haven’t they seen? They’ve witnessed countless mutated plants and animals far bigger than this.’

Lily Hart stopped, crossed her arms, and waited quietly for them to snap out of it.

After a long moment, Elder Shaw came to his senses and quietly fell into step beside Lily Hart. "Nicely done. It’s very iconic. One look and you know it’s connected to money."

Before Lily Hart appeared, everyone had used Crystal Cores as currency.

After Lily Hart’s arrival, she solidified this practice even further: use Crystal Cores to exchange for points, and with points, you could buy anything.

Lily Hart couldn’t be bothered to wait for the others. She walked side-by-side with Elder Shaw to the bank’s main entrance.

Each taking one side, the two of them pushed the doors open and went inside.

The inside was also different from what Lily Hart had imagined. There were no teller counters, only self-service machines.

’That’s fine, though. Otherwise, I’d have to buy robots,’ Lily Hart thought.

Thirty self-service machines were arranged neatly in the first-floor lobby. Lily Hart and Elder Shaw walked up to the nearest one.

The screen displayed several options, all simple and easy to understand.

Deposit, Withdraw, Loan.

Elder Shaw’s eyes lit up. He tapped the "Loan" button, and the screen changed.

First, you had to fill in your personal information: how many points or Crystal Cores you possessed, your rank as a superpower user, or even if you were a zombie.

Age, gender, specific superpower, position held at the base, or if you were unaffiliated.

It also asked about any past contributions and whether you had ever been on the combat power rankings.

It was incredibly detailed, practically stripping a person bare, inside and out.

Elder Shaw clicked his tongue. "Anyone who didn’t know better would think this was some secret organization collecting intelligence."

Lily Hart chuckled. "It’s probably to determine how much a person can borrow, whether they can pay it back, and if they can’t, how the debt will be collected."

"Makes sense," Elder Shaw agreed. "But what if someone fakes their information?"

"Why don’t you try?" Lily Hart raised an eyebrow at him, her tone carrying a hint of encouragement.

She had faith in the system; it definitely had a way to verify the accuracy of the information.

’Otherwise, why create so many fill-in-the-blank questions? For fun? Because it has too much time on its hands?’

Elder Shaw didn’t fall for her trick and began to fill out the form honestly.

Just as he was diligently halfway through, Logan Holland and the others came bursting in noisily, completely disrupting his train of thought.

Elder Shaw said with a sigh of resignation, "You lot, fill out the loan application too. Let’s see how much we can all borrow and if it’s enough to buy the research institute."

At the mention of the research institute, Elliot Chapman was instantly energized. He rushed over to the machine next to Elder Shaw.

He quickly tapped the loan button. Logan Holland and the other two followed him, wanting to see what was going on.

The first thing they saw was a page that looked just like an exam, spanning a good four or five pages.

Peter Sharp’s head was spinning. "Boss Hart, is this an exam or a loan application?"

Lily Hart rolled her eyes at him. "How else would it know if you’re qualified for a loan without a test?"

Logan Holland countered, "So what happens if you fill it out, get approved for a loan, but still can’t pay it back in the end?"

"Then you pay with your life!" Lily Hart said, throwing caution to the wind.

’What else could happen? If they’re flat broke, what can they pay with, if not their life? Wash dishes for me? I don’t need that.’

The group fell silent, but they also felt it was reasonable. This was the apocalypse.

Getting to live it up for a while before dying wasn’t such a bad deal.

The system chimed in meekly: [If it’s a superpower user and the payment is overdue, a life-and-death contract will be signed, forcing them to kill zombies until the debt is repaid.]

Lily Hart understood. [Oh~ what about ordinary people?]

The system replied: [Ordinary people without any standing generally can’t borrow much. They should be able to pay it back with a little effort.]

Lily Hart summarized the system’s words for the group.

They seemed to grasp the gist of it: either work to pay it back or die.

Elliot Chapman couldn’t be bothered with the details; he was already filling out the information. Logan Holland and the other two also found machines and got started.

Five minutes later, Elder Shaw stretched his neck.

Lily Hart asked, "How’s it going? Are you done?" She was getting a little tired of waiting.

"Almost, almost. Just one more page," Elder Shaw said.

He was filling it out meticulously, listing everything he’d ever done, hoping it would increase his loan limit.

Elliot Chapman was doing the same. He even put down that he had developed the "Plant-Killer" shells, adding it to the list.

Finally, Elder Shaw finished. He stared blankly at the long string of zeros on the screen.

Lily Hart had already started counting them. "One, two, three, four..."