205: Chapter 201 The Cause and Effect Bank Plan Announced

It wasn't just him. All twelve people present had the same prompt jumping on their life rings.

And every single member of the entire Council of Thirteen—whether core or peripheral—had been marked with a risk label.

The word "Risk" behind the top-right corner of their account avatars was like a red-hot iron branded onto their faces, impossible to wash off.

"Bang!" Cheng Rui swept everything off the table with one palm. The teacup shattered, and the life ring recording board slammed into the bulkhead and bounced away.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He paced back and forth in the conference room like a trapped beast, his eyes bloodshot and the veins on his forehead bulging.

"Why! We haven't even said the bank was fake! We didn't say we wouldn't pay out! By what right does he classify it directly as fraud? Why?! It's unfair!"

No one answered.

Cheng Rui turned abruptly, pointing his finger straight at the figure leaning in the shadows of the corner.

"It's all you! Director Sun Zheng! If you hadn't brought this bullshit bank plan over, how would our Council of Thirteen have been marked! How would our Fate Platform functions have been restricted! You're a fucking jinx!"

"Enough." The middle-aged man with a square face frowned and spoke.

"Enough my ass!" Cheng Rui kicked over a chair. "The follow-up processing plan! Did you see that last sentence in the announcement? Follow-up processing plan! What does that mean? Expulsion from the Fate Platform? Are you kidding me—without the Fate Platform, there's no compass, no Personal Information Panel, no Trading Realm, no Spring Water, no enhancements, nothing at all! How is that any different from throwing us directly into the Magic Sea to wait for death?!"

This sentence finally pierced the last layer of pretense in the conference room.

The noblewoman's hands began to tremble. Old Li's face was deathly pale. Old Qin closed his eyes. Even the thirty-something man who had remained silent the whole time swallowed hard.

"Slap."

It wasn't a slap in the face.

It was Old Lin's palm striking the round table.

The sound wasn't loud, but the entire conference room fell silent instantly.

Everyone's gaze gathered at the head of the table.

The white-haired old man slowly stood up. His back remained straight, but his face looked ten years older in that moment.

"This matter..." His voice was hoarse, "is not Director Sun Zheng's fault."

Cheng Rui opened his mouth.

"The bank plan was proposed by me. The decision was approved by me. The timing was chosen by me. The strategy released in the early morning was determined by me." Old Lin said, word for word, "Director Sun Zheng was just the executor. All decisions came from my hand."

He looked around at everyone present. Old Qin lowered his head. Old Li's face was ashen. The noblewoman's lips trembled slightly. The middle-aged man with the square face clenched his fists. Cheng Rui stood where he was, his chest still heaving violently, but he couldn't bring himself to curse anymore.

"It was my misjudgment." Old Lin's voice was very flat, as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself. "I thought that as long as things were within a controllable range, the Fate Master wouldn't interfere with the disputes between Survivors. I was wrong."

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"The follow-up processing plan hasn't come out yet. But I know clearly that since that person has made a move, they won't let it go lightly."

He opened his eyes.

"I will resign from the position of Second Chief. And then—"

His gaze passed over the others and looked toward some void direction.

"I will go and find a channel to talk to the Fate Master. I will beg for mercy, to spare the other members of the organization from further punishment."

Cheng Rui suddenly looked up.

"All consequences will be borne by me alone." Old Lin's voice finally trembled slightly, "Even if it means sacrificing this flesh and blood... sacrificing the reputation and dignity of the past few decades, I will not hesitate."

There was no sound in the conference room.

Old Qin's eyes turned red. The noblewoman turned her face away. Even Cheng Rui, who had been standing there with his arms crossed and a livid face, was uncharacteristically silent, his lips moving a few times, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

In the corner.

In the shadows.

Director Sun Zheng remained silent throughout.

His face was hidden in the darkness, making his expression unreadable.

Only the karma points lighting device beside him, which was about to run out, flickered occasionally with a faint light, casting a fleeting, gloomy glint in his eyes.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Perhaps it was the cup of hot tea that Zheng Yuanshan handed him in the Renaissance operation conference room.

Perhaps it was something else.

— —

The heat of discussion in the Symphony Realm continued to rise after the golden announcement from the Fate Platform.

Panic faded, replaced by the relief of surviving a disaster, condemnation of the Council of Thirteen, and elaborate expressions of adoration for the Fate Master.

The discussion continued.

The atmosphere was relaxed. Some people even started making up jokes.

[Magic Sea Joker (Yanhuang Civilization): Council of Thirteen: We'll leave the First Chief position vacant for the Fate Master! Fate Master: Oh, then I'll leave a risk label vacant for you.]

This comment instantly surged to the top of the hot comments, with over six million likes.

Then—

Seventeen minutes later.

All life rings vibrated in sync again.

Golden border. Highest priority. Fate Platform announcement.

The scrolling in the Symphony Realm came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone's gaze gathered on that golden light.

[Cause and Effect Fate Platform · Official Announcement (Continued)]

The Symphony Realm went silent instantly.

Everyone's fingers froze on the screen.

[1. Final disposal plan for funds involved in the "Magic Sea Bank Incident"]

[1. Refund path: All affected Survivors can submit a "karma points refund application" via the AI Customer Service icon in the bottom left corner of the life ring or Fate Platform interface. After submission, it will be credited immediately, no waiting required.]

[2. Transfer path: karma points not applied for refund will be automatically transferred to the Cause and Effect Fate Platform's official bank—the "Causal Bank" head office account. It will take effect immediately after transfer, and interest will be calculated according to the head office's demand deposit interest rate.]

[Specific interest rates are as follows:]

[Demand deposit: Weekly interest rate 0.5%, withdraw anytime.]

[Fixed deposit: Weekly interest rate 1%, minimum deposit period of three days.]

[Note: Interest rates will be dynamically adjusted according to weekly actual operations, and adjustments will be announced one day in advance.]

The comment section was silent for three seconds.

Then—

[Wind-Chasing Youth (Yanhuang Civilization): Wait. Did I read that right? The Fate Master... opened a bank himself???]

[Sea Chicken Farmer (Yanhuang Civilization): Causal Bank??? The Fate Platform's official one???]

[Small Noodle Shop Owner (Yanhuang Civilization): Demand weekly interest rate of 0.5%... Although it's much lower than the 100% from that swindler Council of Thirteen, but—this is from the Fate Platform official!!! Personally endorsed by the Fate Master!!!]

[Storm Eye (Yanhuang Civilization): Brothers, calm down and finish reading, there's more below.]

There was indeed more.

[2. Provisional penalties for personnel related to the "Council of Thirteen"]

[1. The three masterminds, Director Sun Zheng, Lin Huaiyuan, and Cheng Rui: Accounts marked with a red risk label, included in the Fate Platform's long-term key monitoring list, and all Fate Platform functions except for the speaking function are completely prohibited. Also, all existing karma points of the organization will be confiscated, and half of the subsequently produced karma points will be automatically deducted and deposited into the Causal Bank as interest for the general depositors.]

[2. Council of Thirteen organization: Effective immediately, the blue badge of official Fate Platform organization certification is removed.]

[3. Other involved members: Accounts marked with an orange risk label. Trading and enhancement operations in the Karmic Trading Realm and Causality Enhancement Realm are subject to daily/weekly/monthly quota limits; see the Personal Information Panel for specific limits. Half of subsequently produced karma points will be automatically deducted and deposited into the Causal Bank, for an unlimited period. Method of removal: Make a major contribution to the Fate Platform, Survivors, or Yanhuang Civilization, and you can submit an appeal to the AI Customer Service to lift the restrictions.]

Once this penalty result came out, the emotions in the comment section exploded again.

[Iron Straight Man (Yanhuang Civilization): Red label! Long-term monitoring! Restricted Fate Platform functions! Confiscated karma points! Trading quota control! They won't be able to turn things around in this lifetime, right?]

[Justice Executor (Yanhuang Civilization): Blue badge removed! From now on, the Council of Thirteen is just an uncertified rogue organization! Hahahaha!]

[Iron-Faced Ruthless (Yanhuang Civilization): Honestly, it's lighter than I thought... I thought they would be kicked off the Fate Platform directly. But the Fate Master really has a sense of proportion. Didn't kill them all, but pulled out all their teeth. And ordinary members can only lift restrictions by making huge contributions, which is also beneficial to us.]

[Scooping the Moon from the Sea (Yanhuang Civilization): The "pulling teeth" metaphor is spot on. Trading and enhancement are prohibited, leaving only the speaking function; what's the difference between them and Survivors from foreign civilizations using the visitor system? Their economic lifeline is crippled. They can't enhance weapons even if they have them, and they can't spend karma points even if they have them. This is much crueler than just kicking them out; it's like cutting flesh with a dull knife.]

[Dont Panic Let Me Analyze (Yanhuang Civilization): Everyone, the point isn't the punishment. The point is below. Look down.]

Everyone scrolled down.

[3. Cause and Effect Fate Platform · Causal Bank Officially Launched]

A short headline.

But the content that followed made the entire Symphony Realm fall into a collective silence for ten seconds.

[The Causal Bank is the official financial System of the Fate Platform, parallel to the Karmic Trading Realm and the Causality Enhancement Realm, serving as a first-level functional entrance.]

[The head office is directly managed by the Fate Platform core System. All deposits, withdrawals, transfers, interest settlements, and risk control audits are embedded in the underlying architecture of the Fate Platform, with security provided by the ultimate guarantee of the Fate Platform itself.]

[The head office's risk control System is fully managed by the Fate Platform's official AI, monitoring capital flows in real-time, automatically identifying abnormal transactions, and triggering risk warning and freezing mechanisms.]

[The head office accepts deposits itself, with interest rates as stated above.]

By this point, most Survivors were already frantically taking screenshots.

But what truly made everyone hold their breath was the next paragraph.

[4. Causal Bank · Branch Opening Applications]

[Any Survivor individual or organization with the qualifications can submit an application to the Causal Bank head office to open a branch.]

[Branch requirements: Independent operation, sole responsibility for profits and losses, self-determination of interest and storage plans, and self-absorption of Karma point funds. Pay 1% of the weekly turnover to the head office as an operating tax every week.]

[Branch red lines: All storage terms, interest rules, and transaction details of branches must pass through the Fate Platform's impartial audit System. Any terms with ambiguity, hidden traps, or wordplay will be directly rejected. Those who force a release will trigger an automatic freeze.]

[Branch tiered incentive System (Level 0 to Level 5):]

[Level 0 (Weekly turnover below 1 million): Basic rules, no extra benefits.]

[Level 1 (Weekly turnover 1 million - 10 million): Head office commission reduced by 50%.]

[Level 2 (Weekly turnover 10 million - 100 million): Obtain exclusive customized bank smart computing System support, head office commission reduced by another 20%.]

[Level 3 (Weekly turnover 100 million - 1 billion): Obtain official Fate Platform recommended slots and traffic inclination, head office commission reduced by another 10%.]

[Level 4 (Weekly turnover 1 billion - 10 billion): Embedded in the head office page, promoted to a Fate Platform sub-function, possess Fate Platform bottom-line guarantee, commission reduced by another 10%.]

[Level 5 (Weekly turnover above 10 billion): Commission reduced by another 5%.]

Everyone's pupils dilated in shock the moment they scanned to Level 4.

Embedded in the head office page? Promoted to a Fate Platform sub-function?

That would mean their own branch would become a part of the Fate Platform!

On the same level as official functions like the Karmic Trading Realm and the Causality Enhancement Realm!

What kind of concept is this?

It's a golden signboard! It's an unshakeable backing!

The comment section was already going crazy.

But there was a line of small print following Level 5.

Many people almost missed it.

[Level 5 branch additional reward: Obtain the qualification to apply for a direct communication or meeting with the core manager of the Fate Platform once a month.]