323 Atish

"Uh, no… I think you misheard me… I said, the deposit number is one hundred 'billion' dollars liquid asset… not million… billion as in with the initial letter 'B'." The CEO ugly clarified patiently while showing an amused grin.

Pofff~

Promptly, all of the coffee was sprayed out of the other CEO's mouth.

Shatter!

That wasn't the end as it was followed by the sound of a cup falling and breaking apart into many pieces.

At this point, Mr. Nault's eyeballs were already almost popping out of their sockets as he just stared in the CEO ugly's direction with no words. He was dumbstruck!

"Mr. Nault? Hello? Mr. Nault? Is anybody there?" Seeing the other CEO's eyeballs fixed into a specific point in the air… while waving his hand in front of him, the CEO ugly uttered continuously.

Internally, however, he was thinking while feeling truly entertained, 'Haha… his reaction is simply hilarious… though it's to be expected since even their annual net income is less than five percent of that number at this moment. What a pity, Master would've enjoyed all of this…'

"Mr. NAULT!" He shouted loudly all of a sudden, startling the other CEO out of his daze as he inquired doubtfully, "Ah… sorry about that, did I hear wrong? Did you say 100,000,000,000 USD? A twelve figure number?"

"That's correct! But is certifying a card for that type of figure even possible for you guys? Also, I would like to know what type of card would you be making for an astronomical amount like ours, anyway?" Asked the CEO ugly in an inquisitive tone.

"Well, in response to your first question... we'll face some issues, but it's my job to make it possible, Mr. Greg, so don't you worry! Also, as to your second question... about the type of debit card... um, that doesn't need to be asked at all. I mean… we're even willing to create a personal type of luxury debit card specifically designed for the chairman himself!" Without needing a single second to contemplate on the matter, the CEO of American Express answered. There wasn't a shred of doubt nor hesitation discoverable within his tone at all.

However, quite suspicious of that response, the CEO ugly uncertainly said, "A-are you sure you can make that happen?"

Mr. Nault didn't need to think at all as he directly started explaining, "For others… no, that would be an impossible task… but for hundre-… I mean for you, Mr. Greg, that's definitely doable… haha…"

Nodding his head in satisfaction, while displaying a knowing smile, the CEO ugly muttered, "Alright then, let's do the necessary paper works and other crucial stuff… I want the debit card to be ready in two days at most."

"Sure!"

"Also, how is acceptance of the card around the globe? There is no problem in countries like China, correct?"

He turned a little worried at this point before responding, "China and other major countries like that are definitely not a problem! Though we don't support some countries... but we're in the process of expanding even further! Just over the past year, since now the importance of international transactions due to the appearance of the rifts, Abnormals, Red-Crystals, etc. has skyrocketed, we've been expanding both day and night like a shooting star! Now, global acceptance is a major attribute a great multinational financial services corporation requires due to these massive transformations the world is going through, so we're striving to that end as we're also almost getting there."

"Nonetheless, please be assured that even if it's a minor country, I mean whatever country... as long as you make a call to us, we'll try to find a solution or an alternative asap for any type of transaction even if we have to lose the money from our own pockets. I hope that provides you a satisfactory response."

"Good… to be honest, if it was two or three years ago, I wouldn't have chosen this corporation since its acceptance was so low, but since it's enlargened its access globally a lot over the past two years and is still making expansions very rapidly almost every day. I've decided to put my money on this company!" Concluded the CEO ugly.

A particular butterfly effect that had taken place with the advent of the rifts and guardians had been that people wanted to trade Red-Crystals, Beads, and especially the corpses of different creatures from all around the world internationally. And this fact alone was leading to the quick global expansion of many multinational financial services corporations and banks. And one of such largely influenced corporations had been the American Express Company!

______________

Currently, while sitting on his bed, different notions started to pass by through Virus' head, 'Since I regressed from the first level of Energy Disentanglement the moment my Energy Pathways were destroyed… I'm required to go through the entry barrier, Internal Energy Spark, again. Sigh…'

The previous time he entered the first level of Energy Disentanglement stage, with the utilization of 『Spark Awareness』, it had taken him around 12 hours in order to break through and officially enter the road of cultivation.

'I wonder how long it would take this time?' And once again, deliberating up to this point, Virus initiated the 『Spark Awareness』 which was a mortal-class high-rank Spark Breathing Technique.

He was expecting himself to be enlightened about his Internal Energy even faster this time since treading the same road was even easier the second time.

Anyway, just like the flow of an hourglass, the quick passage of time was initiated.

Without a single pause in between, Virus sank into a deep state of meditation as he emptied every notion within his mind while focusing every bit of his awareness trying to sense the Energy within his Energy Pathways. This process continued for two entire days when at last, covered in sweat, fatigue, and hunger, he was forced to snap out of his meditation.

"Phew…" Letting out a tired noise, he murmured, "It's been 48 hours from the moment I started… but, why can't I seem to be able to sense anything? I can't even feel anything… what's going on, damn it."

Remaining in a meditative state like that while practicing the breathing techniques of the 『Spark Awareness』 was a lot more energy-consuming than simply remaining idle. That's why Virus couldn't handle any more than 48 hours as that number was his current absolute limit although he was far stronger than a normal person.

Virus knew, however, that for an ordinary person, let's not talk about comprehending the mysteries and complications of 『Spark Awareness』, even training the breathing technique simply for two hours would've been a tall task by itself!

Nevertheless, walking out of his room with a throbbing pain of hunger coursing through his stomach, Virus spotted the golden beauty who was currently sitting on the couch while watching a certain live channel that was currently broadcasting the battle of a single Guardian against the creatures of a specific rift.

"Lil Belle…" He called out.

"Ah..." A little startled by the sudden noise, she turned around. Seeing her master there, she uttered, "Eh… Master's finally out!?"

"Is there anything to eat?" As he wasn't in the mood to talk about anything else, he inquired directly.

"Oh… I kept putting food in front of master's room these past two days. But you never ate them…" Saying this, she also added, "I cooked something for myself and master a few hours ago anyway, let me just warm that up."

Uttering this, she left into the kitchen in a hurry as the television continued to broadcast the scene of the rift.

"Hmm, let's see…" While phrasing this sentence, Virus sat on the couch next.

Currently, over the television screen, a guardian who called herself 'Atish' was surrounded in a hell of red fire while burning every monster surrounding herself into a crisp. Looking at how easily she was burning all of the creatures before they even had any chances of attacking or getting near her, Virus wondered, "Wew, the Abnormal Guardians have progressed so much over the past sixteen months, they're so powerful now… I feel like that fire would even be able to somewhat harm me… damn, everything's progressing so much different from the previous records of my past world, the future."