CHAPTER 961: CHAPTER 959: THE RIGHT OF FINAL INTERPRETATION BELONGS TO THE RITIAN SECT

"A slightly better room costs tens of millions of Cosmic Coins per night, that shouldn’t be too expensive!"

Someone immediately did a quick calculation in their mind. Based on past experience, this Treasure Hunting Space generally lasts about 3 Cosmic Years, meaning it would cost tens of billions of Cosmic Coins, which doesn’t seem too much. After all, the protection fees Zhang Menglong charged previously already reached hundreds of billions of Cosmic Coins.

Although after the last extortion, they almost had no money left, in this treasury, it might be possible to casually kill a Level Five Peak fierce beast and loot something worth millions or even tens of millions of Cosmic Coins.

Even after paying this accommodation fee, they could still save up quite a lot of things. More importantly, survival in this Treasure Hunting Space is the first priority, everything else can be considered secondary.

"Mr. Zhang, I want a cozy single apartment!"

"Mr. Zhang, we need a standard room!"

"A bunch of poor bastards, I want a luxury single suite!"

...

Once someone took the lead in taking a risk, the rest gradually accepted the condition.

"Mr. Zhang, we..." An evidently haggard-looking Treasure Hunter seemed to have unspeakable concerns.

"My friend, is there something you’re worried about?"

"Mr. Zhang, after paying the protection fee last time, we’re out of money," the Treasure Hunter sighed, "we haven’t gained anything these past few days and even got attacked by a group of fierce beasts last night. Now we’re really at the end of our rope."

"Oh, it’s you!" Zhang Menglong suddenly remembered. This person was from a small Cosmic Empire and wasn’t wealthy at all. At that time, they couldn’t even gather the 40 billion Cosmic Coin protection fee, almost emptying their pockets to give Zhang Menglong nowhere close to 40 billion.

At that time, Zhang Menglong felt really sorry for him and left him in this city.

However, this guy was indeed unlucky. Among the Level Five Peak Life Forms, he should be the weakest. Surviving until now is already a miracle in itself.

"Aside from him, are there others like this?" Zhang Menglong asked, estimating that there wouldn’t be few people in such dire straits.

As expected, a third of the people in the crowd raised their hands.

"Alas," Zhang Menglong sighed, then shook his head, "there’s no way around it, I’m just too kind-hearted!"

Hearing this, everyone had their eyes lit up. Could it be that this scourge was about to have a change of heart?

They would never truly know how deep Zhang Menglong’s schemes ran.

What did their life or death have to do with him? Even if they were torn apart by those beasts, they’d only lose an opportunity, while he felt no burden at all.

"In that case, let me offer something else!" Zhang Menglong immediately sketched out some information in his mind, and the corresponding content on the screen behind him instantly changed.

"I know many of you are strapped for cash right now. If you can’t come up with money, I understand. Everyone has hard times," Zhang Menglong said. "But letting someone die without helping isn’t my style, nor a reason for me to stand by. So I made a decision that goes against my ancestors, take a look at this!"

Zhang Menglong pointed to the big screen behind him.

"Ritian Assured Loan?"

"Lo...Loan?"

The Cosmic Bank also had lending services, and the higher-grade the Life Form, the higher the loan limit. A Level Six Life Form could easily take out many trillion Cosmic Coins.

"To help you all get through this difficult time, I’m willing to offer each of you a loan of up to 100 billion Cosmic Coins! The annual interest rate is only 5%, no collateral needed, are you tempted?"

"100 billion Cosmic Coins for each person?"

"Even the Cosmic Bank only offers a non-collateral loan limit of 50 billion for Level Five Peak Life Forms, how much money does he have?"

"Don’t forget, he just extracted at least 40 billion Cosmic Coins from each of us. This might not even be the first time, what does this amount mean to him?"

"Damn it, he actually wants to use our money to make more money off us, even capitalists would weep."

"Do we have any choice? Either endure a few fear-filled nights and then get torn by those beasts, or fall into his trap. What options do we have?"

"Those needing Ritian Assured Loan, please queue here!" Zhang Menglong brought out a few ordinary Black Warriors, who started preparing to handle the loan business on the side.

"I want a loan of 10 billion!"

"I want 30 billion!"

"Start with 25 billion for me!"

The loan business area instantly saw long queues form, proving that most of these people truly had very little money left.

"Oh, and to provide you higher quality services, I’ve decided to introduce Ritian Chain Hotels’ VIP Card!" Zhang Menglong said, "A one-time deposit of 10 billion Cosmic Coins allows you to enjoy a 50% discount on all room types below a cozy single apartment!"

Zhang Menglong naturally wasn’t this kind as per the data provided by Otis, most people would be eliminated in the first Cosmic Year, and some unlucky ones might just cool down after paying the 10 billion. Isn’t this money easy earnings?

Such a discount excited many, with some immediately recharging for the Ritian Chain Hotels’ VIP Card right after getting a loan. With this back and forth, these funds ended up back in his pocket.

As for the question of default?

Unless they were willing to lose even more money, this wasn’t a good choice. They’d all heard about how the Ritian Sect brought a huge fleet against the Tiz Cosmic Empire during allocation, leaving them almost utterly defeated.

Of course, if they believed their Cosmic Empire could compare with the Tiz Cosmic Empire, they could try.

After completing the check-in procedures, the Treasure Hunters started entering the city one after the other. As night fell, more and more people flocked to this city, and even people from further away were on their way after hearing the news.

Some people had made some gains during this time and after paying the first night’s accommodation fee, the first thing they did was rush to the central area to exchange their gains for Cosmic Coins to cover upcoming accommodation fees.

Of course, those entertaining them were also intelligent systems of this city, with Black Warriors efficiently guarding key points, presenting a very well-regulated atmosphere.

Many held this thought, confirming their rooms and then rushing to the resource selling point, causing the trading area to become overcrowded.

"What? Look closely, this is a Level Five Energy Baryte! How can it be worth so little money? The quote you gave me isn’t even a fifth of the market price!"

"You’re only offering 50 million Cosmic Coins for a Level Five Martial Weapon? Are you kidding? I could easily sell it for at least a few billion Cosmic Coins on the cosmic trade market."

"Swindler! He claims honesty but he’s just a swindler!"

After consulting the prices, they were shocked to find the appraisals were absurdly low!

If it were just 10% to 20% lower than market price, they might accept it as they were in someone else’s place. Yet, only receiving a fifth or even a tenth of the market price wasn’t just business, it was plain robbery!

"Do you have any concerns about our appraisal prices?" an Artificial Intelligence asked.

"Of course, your prices are unreasonable!" a Treasure Hunter shouted angrily.

"We apologize, but all service explanations within Ritian Chain Base Hotel are at the sole discretion of the Ritian Sect. If you have any concerns, you can directly contact our CEO!"

"CEO?"

"That would be our great Mr. Zhang Menglong!"