202: Chapter 198 Funny
Yang Hang opened his eyes within the time field created by the Sleeping Pendulum.
Five and a half days of subjective secluded cultivation had passed, while less than a day had passed in the outside world.
He withdrew his consciousness from the deep logic of energy rules, and the information transmitted by his Fate Platform Divided Soul flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.
It took him three seconds to finish reading it.
Magic Sea Bank.
Council of Thirteen.
Director Sun Zheng defected.
Billions of karma points. Tens of millions of people suspected of being scammed.
Yang Hang's figure flashed, appearing on a deck lounge chair. The Bionic Maid precisely handed him a glass of fruit juice, which he took and took a sip of.
A white light flickered in Yang Hang's eyes, and the Power of Causality spread silently.
An invisible web of rules spread out from his consciousness, extending outward along the underlying architecture of the Cause and Effect Fate Platform. He anchored onto the event node of "Magic Sea Bank" and traced it backward—the chain of Karma emerged, link by link.
Director Sun Zheng.
The interior of the Revival Society.
The contact with the Council of Thirteen.
Lin Huaiyuan's layout.
Cheng Rui's restlessness.
The "unauthorized release" by the guard named Zhou Hai.
The precise timing at midnight.
Looking further ahead—if he did not intervene, in three days, when the bank's funds could not circulate normally, the Council of Thirteen would choose to announce a suspension of operations under the pretext of a "System failure."
Afterward, they would shed their skin like a golden toad, the same group of people would change their masks, and they would reappear in the public eye as a brand-new organization. Billions of karma points would be split and laundered, flowing into arms procurement and personnel expansion.
The entire structure of the cause and effect was clear, and the threads of Karma were visible down to the finest detail.
Yang Hang opened his eyes.
To be honest, his first reaction was not anger.
It was amusement.
A bunch of people who relied on fighting to survive ran to the Magic Sea to play financial games, Ponzi schemes? And they used the karma points he, Yang Hang, issued as bargaining chips? They used the users of his Fate Platform as test subjects?
Did these people think there was no one watching behind the Cause and Effect Fate Platform, or did they think that because he, the Fate Master, hadn't personally managed the platform's affairs, he didn't exist?
Amidst the amusement, a trace of displeasure rose from the bottom of his heart.
It wasn't because of the money—karma points were indeed just a line of numbers to him.
It was because he was being taken lightly.
The highest position in the Council of Thirteen was left vacant for him? And they said "Respect to the Fate Master"? Yet, they turned around and used his platform as an ATM, using the blood and sweat of over a billion Yanhuang Survivors as a gamble.
Yang Hang picked up the fruit juice and took another sip.
It was sweet.
Before he prepared to handle this matter, he first checked the private chat interface of the Fate Platform.
There was a private chat box with a pile of messages.
Sender: Yang Yue.
The timestamp showed it was sent after eight o'clock this morning, and nearly ten hours had passed now.
[Yang Yue: Brother!!! Are you there!!!]
[Yang Yue: Brother brother brother!!!]
[Yang Yue: What are you doing, why aren't you replying to me!!]
[Yang Yue: Wuwuwu I got scammed T_T]
[Yang Yue: That Magic Sea Bank! I deposited 250 karma points into it!!! Now I can't withdraw them!]
[Yang Yue: Mom and Dad scolded me so bad QAQ]
[Yang Yue: Brother, did you deposit into that bank? You didn't get scammed too, right??]
Yang Hang looked at the dozen or so rapid-fire messages from his sister on the screen, his expression going through three stages of change.
First stage: Speechless.
Second stage: Helpless.
Third stage: Black lines.
He thought for a moment, clicked the reply box, and sent an eye-rolling emoji.
[Yang Hang: Didn't invest.]
[Yang Hang: Your IQ matches the 250 karma points you deposited quite well.]
Replied in a second.
[Yang Yue: !!! Yang Hang, you're calling me a two-hundred-fifty!!!]
Less than two seconds later, the second message followed.
[Yang Yue: And where did you go! You're only replying to the message I sent this morning now! Don't you miss your cute little sister for the whole day!!]
[Yang Hang: Had things to do during the day, was busy.]
[Yang Yue: Busy with what? Being all mysterious again.]
[Yang Hang: Busy being a normal person who isn't a two-hundred-fifty.]
The other side was silent for five seconds.
Then a pouting emoticon was thrown over.
[Yang Yue: (ノ｀Д)ノ Brother, you don't love me anymore!]
[Yang Yue: I came to you for comfort! I've been scolded by Mom and Dad all morning! As a result, not only did you not think of me all day, but now that you're finally back, you have this attitude!!!]
[Yang Yue: Yang Hang, do you have another sister out there!]
Yang Hang looked at this message and shook his head.
He didn't type anymore and directly clicked the video call button.
Waiting.
Three seconds later, it connected.
The screen lit up.
Yang Yue was sitting cross-legged in the resting cabin of a Silver Grade luxury dock, her hands raised high above her head, tying a ponytail behind her head.
A pink and white short vest with a bear pattern hung loosely on her body. Because of the action of raising her arms, the hem of the vest was pulled up completely, revealing a slender waistline and a shallow navel.
Underneath was a pair of casual shorts. Her sitting posture allowed a large expanse of fair legs to extend from the edges of the shorts, her toes unconsciously hooking the edge of the carpet on the cabin floor.
The eighteen-year-old girl's body lines were clean and sharp, plated with a soft luster by the warm yellow cabin lights, and the aura of youth was almost overflowing from the screen.
Yang Yue saw that Yang Hang had connected the video; she didn't stop the action of tying her ponytail, but her cheeks immediately puffed up.
"Yang Hang, you're too much." Her tone was fierce, but her puffed-up cheeks greatly discounted this fierceness.
Yang Hang didn't respond, his fingers tapping twice on his life ring.
[Karma point transfer: Yang Hang → Yang Yue, 500 karma points]
The life ring on Yang Yue's wrist vibrated. She looked down, and the ponytail she was half-tying came undone.
"Five... five hundred?"
"Mm." Yang Hang leaned back on the lounge chair, his tone casual, "Making up for your two-hundred-fifty, the remaining two-hundred-fifty is your IQ tax. Don't spend it recklessly."
"..." Yang Yue opened her mouth, her eyes unconsciously squinting into an arc, but her mouth was still unforgiving, "If you're going to transfer karma points, just transfer them; can't you be a bit nicer with your words?"
Yang Hang chuckled, then asked, "Did Mom and Dad deposit into that bank?"
"No." Yang Yue started tying her ponytail again, her voice muffled, "Dad thought it wasn't reliable and didn't let Mom deposit. It was just me who secretly deposited... then I got caught... and got scolded all morning..."
The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, finally turning into a mosquito-like buzz.
Yang Hang looked at his sister in the screen, her head lowered, the tips of her ears slightly red, and the mischievousness from their bickering earlier dissipated.
"Alright." His tone softened, "Money can be earned back; it's not a big deal. Mom and Dad scolded you because they were worried about you. Next time you encounter something with double returns like this, first think about whose head a pie falling from the sky would hit."
"Mm..."
"It's only two hundred and fifty points. Your brother here still has plenty of karma points, enough for you to spend, and maybe the Fate Master will step in to resolve this chaos soon."
Yang Yue looked up, wrinkled her nose, and the corners of her mouth finally curled up.
"Then from now on, every time you call me a two-hundred-fifty, you have to transfer five hundred karma points."
"Dream on."
"Will such a big figure as the Fate Master really care about us?"
"The Fate Master definitely can't stand the suffering of the world; he definitely will."
"Hmph."
After the video call ended, Yang Hang put away the chat interface on the life ring projection.
His expression returned to calm.
"Alola."