High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Chen Xi raised his hands, his tone as calm as ever: "Every single Origin Spirit Star Stone is refined by the Alliance using standard cosmic crystals."

"Cosmic crystals are the universal energy currency of the entire universe. They are the standard currency, and they are energy in themselves."

"The standard number of cosmic crystals required to consume one Source Spirit Star Stone is approximately three thousand."

"Therefore, the amount you owe is linked to the cost of your investment."

"The league has strict accounting standards in this regard; it's not a matter of me saying how much it is."

"If the investment process goes smoothly, and the civilization breaks through to the first level in one go after accepting the star stone, without any setbacks or additional intervention, then the repayment amount is generally three to five times the investment cost."

"What if it doesn't go smoothly?" Song Chen asked.

"Ten to twenty times."

"What about Blue Star?" Li Qingcang pressed.

His tone was urgent. With his peak human strength, he shouldn't be in a hurry, but he was like a creditor with the ledger laid out in front of him, waiting to count the zeros. It would be strange if he wasn't in a hurry.

The humanoid figure in the morning light flickered slightly, as if it were performing a quick and complex calculation, or perhaps preparing the three people in front of it mentally.

"The situation on Earth is rather unique."

"Over the past 600 million years, I have released four Origin Spirit Star Stones onto Blue Star. The first three failed, but the fourth succeeded."

"According to the alliance's accounting rules, in the continuous investment on the same planet, the failed investments will be accumulated to the civilization that eventually succeeds."

"Wait a minute," Zhou Wangyue suddenly said.

"Why should we pay back the debts the dinosaurs owed us?"

Chenxi turned to him, her tone unchanged: "This is the rule of the Alliance."

Zhou Wangyue fell silent and did not speak again.

Song Chen patted Zhou Wangyue on the shoulder, then turned to look at Chenxi: "Let's just get to the numbers."

"The four Source Spirit Star Stones consumed a total of approximately 12,000 standard universe crystals."

"Based on a 100x multiplier, you will need to repay 1.2 million cosmic crystals."

"A hundred times?" Li Qingcang's voice rose an octave.

"You just said ten to twenty times, how come Blue Star is a hundred times more?"

"Because Blue Star is the most unsuccessful example in the history of alliance investment."

Chenxi's tone remained calm.

"Six hundred million years, four investments, and the complete extinction of three civilizations. The calculation factor is one hundred times, which is already the result after the Alliance Investment Committee has made appropriate reductions."

Li Qingcang opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Over the years, he had seen all sorts of unfair terms, but compared to this one, the old Treaty of Versailles seemed like a charitable agreement.

Song Chen's lips twitched. One million two hundred thousand sounded like a round number, but he had no concept of what that number meant.

How much psionic energy is a single cosmic crystal worth?

How much does Earth produce each year?

He had no idea, but his intuition told him that the number was probably not high.

"By the way, this debt also has interest," Chenxi said again.

Song Chen's eyebrows twitched.

"Interest?"

"Interest-free for the first 10,000 years."

Chenxi seemed completely oblivious to the change in Song Chen's tone, continuing to speak in her usual flat, unchanging manner.

"Interest will begin to accrue after 10,000 years, at an annual interest rate of one percent. That is to say, starting from the 10,001st year, you will need to pay interest of 12,000 cosmic crystals every year."

Li Qingcang was stunned, and Zhou Wangyue was also stunned.

On the surface, Song Chen didn't move, but in his heart, he had cursed the three-meter-tall light and shadow in front of him a dozen times.

Interest-free for the first 10,000 years? It sounds like a huge favor, but after 10,000 years, it's 12,000 every year. The principal of 1.2 million is just sitting there untouched, and the interest alone is 1% every year.

According to this algorithm, starting from the 10,001st year, if humanity does nothing every year, the interest alone would cost 12,000 cosmic crystals.

If you can't pay it back, it accumulates, and the more it accumulates, the more interest it generates.

He couldn't hold back any longer and raised his hand to interrupt Chenxi.

"You just said a ten-thousand-year interest-free period?"

"Yes."

"Interest will start being collected in 10,000 years?"

"Yes."

"One percent per year?"

"Yes."

Song Chen took a deep breath. He thought of something: in the old days, there was something called usury, and there was something called imperialism.

Imperialism in the old era used gunboats to force other countries to open their doors to trade, slamming debts onto small countries, and then generation after generation had to pay interest, a debt that could never be repaid.

The civilization standing before him now, without firing a single shot, turned all of humanity into debtors with a single meteorite, with an indefinite repayment period.

Usury imperialism has now escalated.

It's now usury interstellarism.

"What if we can't pay it back?" Song Chen asked, his tone now calm, but a little too calm.

"The portion that cannot be repaid will automatically accumulate into the principal."

"Interest will be recalculated on the new principal amount in the second year, and so on, until the end of civilization."

"What if you can pay it back, but don't want to?" Song Chen then asked.

The temperature in the hall seemed to have dropped by one degree.

The figure of dawn remained unchanged, replying in a calm tone: "If a civilization has the ability to repay but deliberately defaults, the Alliance will dispatch a punitive envoy."

"The Punisher will carry out divine punishment."

"Divine punishment is non-negotiable, non-warning, and leaves no room for negotiation."

"Punished civilizations may be permanently removed from the list of cosmic civilizations."

Looking at the ball of light and shadow in front of him, Song Chen suddenly realized why the other party had been so confident from beginning to end. Outside the spaceship, it said, "You will obediently pay back the money."

At the time, he thought it was arrogance, but now he understands that it wasn't arrogance, but experience.

The Cangxing Alliance has been making investments in the universe for countless billions of years, and has seen countless civilizations progress from ignorance to interstellar space. What kind of tricks haven't they used to renege on their debts?

It's not afraid that you won't pay it back, because it's absolutely certain that you will.

Li Qingcang stood aside, barely uttering a word from beginning to end.

It's not that I don't want to talk, it's just that I have too much to say, and it's stuck in my throat and I can't get it out.

He looked at the timelines of the four Source Spirit Star Stones. Each one represented a leap forward for the Blue Star civilization, and each one was also an iron chain around humanity's neck.

Six hundred million years of waiting, four investments, the cost of 12,000 cosmic crystals, a debt of 1.2 million crystals, plus endless interest.

This is hardly an investment.

He thought to himself that the Cangxing Alliance was essentially no different from those that devoured and plundered civilizations.

The only difference is that one uses teeth, and the other uses a contract.

In the lobby, Song Chen was still calculating the debt.

One million two hundred thousand cosmic crystals, a ten-thousand-year interest-free period, and one percent interest per year. If you can't pay it back, the interest will snowball until the civilization perishes.

These numbers spun around in his mind, and each time they seemed absurd.

He glanced at Li Qingcang subconsciously and noticed that the speaker's face had turned from ashen to ashen.