Siren smiled and said, "Please!"
Raphael and his group entered the bank. It had a very old-fashioned style, lacking the high-end customer machines you’d find in the main city banks; it resembled those private banks seen in American Western cowboy movies.
The bank was spotlessly clean, with clerks and counters, and the clerks’ attire was surprisingly upscale!
Raphael exclaimed in surprise, "These clothes?"
Siren laughed and said, "We stole them!"
The clerk greeted with a bow, "Welcome! Is there any service the customer would like to handle?"
Raphael asked, "Can we withdraw money?"
The clerk replied with a smile, "Unfortunately, no, but you can deposit money. Our bank currently applies a negative interest rate. Here’s the interest rate table..."
Negative interest rates, the more you save, the less money you have. Quite avant-garde.
Raphael’s interest was piqued, and he took out a handful of scattered silver coins for everyday tips from his inventory: "Not much money, can it be deposited?"
The clerk excitedly accepted it, "Of course!"
Then with a flurry of traditional stamping operations, he handed over a sheet with a brass-colored metallic sheen, "Sir, please keep this deposit slip safe!"
This shocked Raphael suddenly, the color...
— System Prompt: You have deposited 147 silver coins at the Evil Spirit Island bank. You can withdraw money at the Evil Spirit Island bank with this deposit slip.
The group was in uproar, "There’s actually a system prompt! Is this like a genuine bank, just without internet connectivity?"
Raphael stared at the deposit slip, even more stunned, "Lady Guardian God—"
Siren laughed and said, "Go and ask."
So, everyone left the bank, and Raphael couldn’t wait to ask, "Is this bank really just pretending to be open for business?"
Siren chuckled and said, "Guests shouldn’t say that in front of them, or the evil spirits will get angry."
Raphael said, "What I mean is, I’m very satisfied with their service, especially this deposit slip, where did it come from?"
Siren replied, "There’s an evil spirit lawyer on the island whose ability is to create this kind of contract paper. General property contracts are brass-colored, a bit more and they’re silver-colored, while large property contracts are gold-colored."
The group was taken aback, "It’s really the lawyer’s skill!"
Raphael asked in shock, "What’s the lawyer’s name? Can I meet him?"
Siren said, "He’s called Old Curly, you can meet him!"
Raphael was startled, "Is that his name?"
Siren laughed, "Exactly, many evil spirits forget their names from when they were alive, but remember their nicknames..."
Chun was awestruck, realizing that banks can actually operate! Isn’t Old Curly the one who forged my account books? What has he achieved in the past hundred years?
If the Ten Lords took interest in this bank, figured out a way to develop it into a system bank, then holy shit, that would be explosive! The ultimate goal for Lord players, having a system bank on your territory! To speak of which, when I first came across the ruins of a bank on Plague Island, I had the same thought.
Having thought it through, Chun immediately contacted the guild channel, "Goddess!"
Siren replied on the channel, "City Lord instructs."
Chun said, "They must want to annex our island; you should propose conditions for them to develop the bank into a real bank."
Siren said surprised, "But I don’t want to be annexed, I just want happiness and freedom!"
Chun was also troubled, "That’s an issue, let’s see what conditions they propose later, if they’re too excessive, then forget it."
...
At this moment, the chat group was abuzz with discussions.
Raphael said, "Boss, I suddenly have an idea related to transferring money with Uriel!"
Sela was intrigued, "You mean to develop this bank into a shadow bank?"
Raphael said, "Correct, I can’t achieve it myself, but with several princes here, it’s possible! Besides, using the bank to annex this hidden force would be a good bargaining chip."
Michael nodded, "It’s a good idea, continue exploring and investigating more details."
"Understood."
Thus, the next stop was the blacksmith’s shop. No, it was clearly a small iron refining factory!
When a blacksmith covered in white Holy Light appeared, Raphael was almost incredulous, "Is this the Holy Spirit?"
The blacksmith smiled and said, "Good day, customer!"
Raphael looked at the rumbling iron furnace, "What are you making?"
The blacksmith sighed and said, "Cannonballs, to prepare for the Empire’s crackdown."
Siren gave a helpless smile, "Actually, we don’t want to go to war with the Empire, so we’ve invited guests to come to the island personally to express our intentions."
Since we’re talking business, let’s get straight to the point.
Raphael first asked the Second Prince, "Second Prince, what do you think?"
The Second Prince said, "Our primary task is to retrieve the boss’s ship... Then, my warship is still trapped in the Algae Sea—"
Siren smiled, "No problem! We’ll return the ship immediately, and we’ll rescue the Prince’s warship right away, how about that?"
The Second Prince nodded, "Agreed!"
Siren took to the skies, "Mining team, cease work immediately! Old Turtle, prepare to set sail..."
Old Turtle chuckled, "Time to stretch my legs again!"
Raphael also soared into the sky, wanting to record the full operation of Old Turtle.
With the surrounding mining boats quickly gathering back to the island, Old Turtle began moving his body, like a giant cruise ship, incredibly steady, with the Prince’s warship still steadily docked at Turtle Island’s pier, forming a seamless whole with Old Turtle, no, it looked more like they stood still.
Then the entire Old Turtle Island began sailing out of the ring-shaped crater, causing the surrounding waves to boil!
Sariel, who recognized its value, said, "Tidal Power! What the Merfolk can do, it can do too!"
The group was shocked, "So this Old Turtle is a god!"
Sela exclaimed, "A small island actually has two gods; the strength of this hidden force indeed qualifies it to develop a shadow bank."
Michael nodded, "Now it depends on the Prince’s attitude; if he insists on carrying out the Emperor’s order to crush Siren, it would be quite troublesome."
Raphael said, "Anyway, there are five princes, there must be a breakthrough point."
As they spoke, Old Turtle’s speed suddenly increased, the map zoomed out, and they quickly reached the edge of the Algae Sea, then Old Turtle moved its turtle legs, treading lightly over the Algae Sea from beneath its belly, and its speed hardly diminished.
Raphael turned to look at the Second Prince’s reaction; it was one of unabashed astonishment!
Seizing the chance, Raphael worked hard, "Your Highness, such a rapidly moving force is far more troublesome than pirates; chasing them would result in daily fleet expenses alone that are enormous."
The Second Prince nodded, still silent.
Nodding is enough, Raphael didn’t press further. After all, the more princely one is, the more they consider.
Finally, they saw the Second Prince’s warship trapped in the Algae Sea, and the Second Prince flew up to greet it; the warship also sounded its horn in celebration.
Old Turtle gently moved alongside the warship, and the warship smoothly docked at the pier, forming a cohesive whole with Turtle Island once again, sailing out of the Algae Sea.
With this, the Second Prince breathed a sigh of relief.
"Metatron" also suggested, "Let’s join up with the Fourth Prince."
The Second Prince nodded, "Sure, my brothers and I must discuss this affair."
Raphael was quite pleased, the matter was halfway done, the other half depended on Siren’s intentions.
Soon, they reached the location of the Fourth Prince’s semi-sunken ship.
The Second Prince was taken aback, "Fourth brother said he brought a lot of supplies, how did it end up like this?"
Raphael cleared his throat, "Last night, we encountered a massive attack from Sea Monsters."
The Second Prince was surprised, "I also encountered them last night, repelled them with gunfire; they didn’t seem strong."
Siren explained, "Those are the Creator God’s malformed Radiation Demon creations, extremely weak at times, and terribly strong at others."
As they spoke, the Fourth Prince’s warship sounded its horn, and then the Fourth Prince and Sariel also took to the skies.
In the end, after chatting, the Fourth Prince’s ship docked at Turtle Island’s pier.
However, the Mermaid still stayed in the cabin, not intending to come ashore, "My task is only to fight her; friendship is not my concern. There’s nothing to talk about with her. You negotiate what you will, and if it breaks down, I’ll fight."
Sariel was understanding, "Lord of the Divine Throne’s arrangement is best."