Chapter 115: The Astonishing Purchasing Power of Galactic Credits

"Sir, to inherit this account, we require an affiliated account—in other words, the authorization of Mr. Bai."

"I am Bai. This is my account information; you may verify it," Bai replied, immediately reciting his credentials.

"Greetings, Mr. Bai. The inheritance procedure has been initiated. Account 523462437231, registered to seventh-class citizen Mr. Mang Feng, holds 11,000,000 Cosmic Credits, 500,000,000 Yuanlan Credits, and one medium-sized private space. Do you wish to merge all 11,000,000 Cosmic Credits, 500,000,000 Yuanlan Credits, and the medium-sized private space into Mr. Lan Tian’s account?" After Bai’s authorization was verified and the sprite performed a series of operations, it spoke again.

"Yes, merge everything into Mr. Lan Tian’s account," Bai confirmed.

"Very well, please enter your password," the sprite prompted.

Bai followed the instructions and entered the password.

"Password correct. Inheritance in progress..."
"Currency inheritance complete..."
"Private space inheritance complete..."

A series of notifications chimed from the sprite, while Lan Tian’s private inbox began to ping incessantly.

"Inherited 11,000,000 Cosmic Credits from account 52346243723."
"Inherited 500,000,000 Yuanlan Credits from account 52346243723."
"Inherited one medium-sized private space from account 52346243723."

"Congratulations to second-class citizen Lan Tian! Your personal wealth has exceeded 1,000,000 Cosmic Credits; you have been automatically upgraded to a third-class citizen!"
"Congratulations to third-class citizen Lan Tian! Your personal wealth has exceeded 5,000,000 Cosmic Credits; you have been automatically upgraded to a fourth-class citizen!"
"Congratulations to fourth-class citizen Lan Tian! Your personal wealth has exceeded 10,000,000 Cosmic Credits; you have been automatically upgraded to a fifth-class citizen!"

"Inheritance complete. A service fee of 10,000 Cosmic Credits has been deducted. Would you like to close account 523462437231?" the sprite asked.

"Let's not close it..." Bai hesitated, reluctant to delete his former master’s account.

"Since the assets have been transferred and the account has been dormant for 31,273 days, failure to close it will require a back-payment of 31,200.73 Cosmic Credits in network fees, with an annual maintenance fee of 1 Cosmic Credit thereafter. Otherwise, the account will be rendered unusable," the sprite explained.

"Damn, that’s a rip-off! The processing fee alone was ten thousand, and now another thirty thousand! Fine, pay it then. After all, he was my benefactor of a master; even though he has passed, I’d like to keep a memento," Lan Tian interjected.

"Understood. Please wait while the system processes the deduction," the sprite said.

"Haha, I’m a fifth-class citizen now. I suppose that makes me a big shot, right?" Lan Tian asked smugly while the system processed the payment.

"Tch, it’s just a fifth-class citizen. That’s the limit. If you want to rise higher, wealth is useless. You have to apply based on strength and status, and you will be evaluated by experts from the Void Saint race. It’s not something you can just buy your way into," Bai retorted dismissively.

"Whatever... you said your master’s wealth was staggering, but it was only ten million or so. And what is this 'medium-sized private space'?" Lan Tian countered.

"Heh, 'only ten million'? You know the value of a seventh-level energy crystal—even the Lord of Lanque Star would wince at the cost. So... why don't you guess how many Cosmic Credits it takes to buy one?" Bai rolled his eyes.

"Hmm... I thought it would be quite a lot, but given your tone... ten thousand?" Lan Tian glanced at Bai, trying to read his expression, but Bai remained impassive.

"Keep guessing," Bai said noncommittally.

"Uh... five thousand?" Lan Tian ventured.

"Let me put it this way: the currency used on Lanque Star, where we are now, is the Lanque Credit. The exchange rate to the Yuanlan Empire’s currency is roughly 10,000:1—meaning 10,000 Lanque Credits for 1 Yuanlan Credit. And the Yuanlan Credit, used across the Yuanlan Empire, has the same 10,000:1 ratio against the universal Cosmic Credit!"

"In other words, you need 10,000 Yuanlan Credits to get 1 Cosmic Credit!"

"A first-level energy crystal costs 1,000 Lanque Credits. Now, think about how many Cosmic Credits a seventh-level crystal costs."

"No way... let me calculate. First-level is 1,000 Lanque Credits, so second-level is 10,000, which is 1 Yuanlan Credit... so third-level is 10, fourth-level 100, fifth-level 1,000, sixth-level 10,000..." Lan Tian suddenly shrieked in agony, "Does that mean... a seventh-level energy crystal only costs 10 Cosmic Credits?!"

"My God! I just spent over thirty thousand Cosmic Credits to pay the back-fees for your master!"
"Plus a ten-thousand-credit inheritance fee!"
"This Virtual Universe Network is a total scam!"
"If one seventh-level crystal is only 10 credits, that means... I just threw away thousands of them for nothing?!"
"Are you insane? Why didn't you warn me?!" Lan Tian’s eyes turned red with regret.

"Look at you, acting like you've never seen money before. You were a 'richest man' once—can you act like it?" Bai sneered.

"Damn it... that’s not the same thing!" Lan Tian groaned.

"How is it not? You have no vision. I haven't even shown you what’s in the private space yet," Bai continued.

"Right, the private space. Let me see what’s inside... Hiss!!!" As Lan Tian commanded the sprite to open the private space, a list appeared before him. The items listed made his heart skip a beat.

"Ownership deeds for over eight thousand life-bearing planets."
"Three medium-sized space warships."
"Fifteen small fighter craft."
"One hundred thousand ninth-level energy crystals."
"Two fifth-tier divine weapons."
"Over three hundred tons of various rare materials."
"One vial of life-essence extract."
"One red-grade token of the Qingcang Holy Land."
"One mysterious key."
"..."

Lan Tian read through the list. With every line he moved down, his expression shifted—from confusion to surprise, then to ecstasy, then numbness, and finally to blank-faced shock. By the end, his facial muscles were stiff, and he was completely at a loss for how to express the complex emotions roiling within him.

"Well? How does it feel?" Bai chuckled.

"It feels... like becoming a tycoon," Lan Tian replied numbly. He then asked the question weighing on his mind: "Are these things real? How can physical objects be stored in the Virtual Universe Network?"

"Of course they are real. But who told you these things are stored *in* the network? You idiot, the network can't store physical matter. But the Virtual Universe Network has branch offices on every major planet; these items are stored at those branches," Bai explained as if it were obvious.

"Uh... aren't you afraid of them being hacked or stolen?" Lan Tian remained skeptical.

"Of course not. Do you think anyone can own a private space? Having a private space is the definition of absolute security and absolute guarantee!" Bai said proudly. "Below sixth-class citizenship, unless acquired through inheritance, no one—regardless of wealth or background—is qualified to obtain a private space."

"There is a long-standing covenant within the human race: if anyone dares to target a Virtual Universe Network branch office, they will be hunted down by the entire human civilization."

"Therefore, the privacy and security of a private space are absolute."