Lauren transferred over Alistair’s share of the loot back at the headquarters with a bored look on her face. In an effort to improve fairness, Sofia had the Moneylender in charge of equally distributing the profits of their mission. It wasn’t as if she wanted Lauren there, but because of her Class’s Skills, Sofia had no other choice.

The nondescript former banker had two Skills that made her paramount to the New Boston Alliance: [Interest] and [Cash Flow]. [Cash Flow] let her passively steal 40% of every drachma earned within a one-mile radius, while [Interest] allowed her to increase her wallet’s funds over time, like an actual bank account.

Sofia had two options — recruit and use Lauren to increase all the profits of the New Boston Alliance or exile her, since stealing 40% of all the drachma in her area wasn’t something that she could allow. Realizing the relative safety of her position, Lauren chose to join the Alliance. She now served as a repository for everyone to store their money, making her invaluable as an asset. The reason Sofia had brought Lauren along on the potentially dangerous mission was to level her up as fast as possible, along with making sure she didn’t run off or get extorted by a greedy traitor.

“That’s 18,351 drachma for you,” she said, transferring over the sum to his wallet. “Also, I must inquire about a discrepancy regarding your drachma.”

“A discrepancy?” Alistair asked.

“When you killed Marcus, I didn’t gain any drachma. Can you explain this?”

“I don’t follow?”

“His drachma? When you kill someone, you gain whatever items and drachma they had on them,” Lauren explained.

“I’ve never gotten any drachma for killing someone,” Alistair said.

“It would only be after level 15… but that’s very strange. I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.” Lauren gave him a suspicious glance.

“Feel free to. I’m an open book,” Alistair said honestly. Well, except for his one secret, but she didn’t need to know about that.

Alistair dropped into a makeshift bed the moment they returned to the headquarters. He had been fighting non-stop for a week and even with his superior body, he was feeling fatigued. A twelve-hour sleep session was just what he needed to recuperate.

He would have slept even longer, but he was woken up by a worker, who told him that the meeting in New York was happening in two hours and he needed to be ready. Alistair instinctively reached for his phone, before realizing he must have lost it changing clothing ages ago. After the power went out, he had no way of charging it, so it was useless to him. It was funny how he so easily discarded an integral part of his life from the before, like trash.

Ironically, the New Boston Alliance was hard at work restoring the power. Without refrigeration, it was very hard to feed everyone in the region, so Sofia sent hundreds of electricians and engineers to work on repairing the power plants that the monster waves had destroyed.

Because of her level, Sofia also asked Alexandra to tag along. With the addition of another woman, Alistair felt like the odd man out, literally, since she was taking him, Alexandra, Lauren, and Katie, her closest assistant. With Oliver out doing missions to catch up, Alistair had one last favor to ask.

“John, can I ask you something?”

John Desmond the Firesmith fashioned farming constructs of red fire in his office, handing them off to some volunteers. The large man had one of the more unique and versatile Skills Alistair witnessed, an artificing Skill that allowed him to create solid objects made of flame.

“Alistair, come in,” John said. “What can I do for you? Glad to see you’re safe.”

“Thank you for your concern. I was just wondering if you could watch over Donna and Tamia while I’m gone,” he said.

“Who? Oh, you mean the woman and child with you? I wouldn’t mind at all, but the meeting shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.”

“Just making sure,” Alistair said. He might have been overly paranoid, but why take chances? His evaluation of John’s personality made him confident that the man wouldn’t let anything happen to his first companions.

“Consider it done.”

“How have you been doing yourself? I don’t see you going and clearing any monster waves or going hunting. You’re going to let everyone pass you up.”

“I’ve made my peace with that. These hands weren’t made for killing, they were made for creating. I was a welder in my past life, but now I can make so much more.” John opened his hands, and an intricately designed butterfly of flames flew out, diving about in sinuous patterns before landing on Alistair’s shoulder.

“Wise words.”

“But not for you, it seems. And that’s fine. Everyone has their own path, and I can admire yours. For me? I can get levels just by having people use my creations. Sometimes a non-combat Class has its perks,” John said. “You should be off now before Sofia gets mad.”

Alistair excused himself as the magical butterfly dissipated into smoke. It was good to see that not everyone had become crazed psychopaths after the Earth’s initiation. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of New York.

“You’re from New York, right?” Alistair asked as they prepared to get on the Teleportation Circle.

“Yeah, I’m from the Hamptons, though, not the city. Big difference,” Alexandra replied.

“Aren’t the Hamptons the place all the stuck-up rich people live? Sorry, I wouldn’t know much about that,” Alistair said.

“Why should I be ashamed of my family’s wealth? If dad was here, I’d have so much drachma.” Alexandra was practically salivating at the idea.

“You haven’t mentioned your dad much,” Alistair noted.

“Things have been a bit rough ever since I went to law school instead of helping him out with the family business. He’s real old school that way, he thinks that I’ve grown up too American. But isn’t an apocalypse the perfect way to solve family issues? Who cares about all that stupid shit now?”

Alistair nodded in agreement. In a flash of blue light, a luxury apartment replaced their old scenery of treadmills and dumbbells.

They arrived in an off-white-colored room containing a raised wooden platform, with a view overlooking the Hudson River. A slightly chubby, bearded man greeted them as soon as they appeared.

“Welcome to my humble abode, ladies and gentleman,” he said, surveying the party that had just arrived. “Which of you beautiful ladies is Sofia?”

“That would be me,” Sofia answered. Alistair would have said she was annoyed by his comment, but she always looked halfway pissed off.

“I’m so happy you could make the journey. I hope you don’t mind the women,” said the man, whom Alistair could only imagine was Anthony Ricci, the fifth-ranked person in the world.

Anthony casually referenced the scantily dressed women who made themselves at home around the floor. They walked further into the suite, entering an open room with a bonsai tree in the center.

“I think I know this building,” Alexandra whispered to him. “We’re on Billionaire’s Row.”

He normally would have asked Alexandra what that was, but he was too busy focusing his [Eyes of Truth] on Anthony. Getting more info about the strongest man in America sounded important.

Name: Anthony Ricci

Species: Human Variant

Level: 29

Class: ???

“Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing, kid? Anyone tell you it’s rude to stare? Who the fuck is this guy?” Anthony turned his gaze on Alistair, and at that moment, he felt so very small.

The second he stepped foot in the apartment, he felt Anthony’s powerful aura, but it only felt slightly stronger than Sofia’s, and not anything overwhelming. But feeling it directed at him was another story. Alistair felt like his heart was being constricted by an omnipresent, unending force, his limbs frozen by an implacable power. The world itself lost color as he felt every second stretch for aeons upon aeons until the pressure abated at last and it was as if nothing had happened.

Alistair stumbled forward, nearly face planting on the polished wooden floor, only stopped by Alexandra catching his fall.

“Teach that kid some fucking manners, okay? I thought you were only bringing big shots. Does he not have a sponsor to tell him it isn’t appropriate to inspect people?” Anthony shouted, turning to Alistair. “You, I’m talking to you brat. Do you think your Intelligence is really that much higher than mine that you can inspect me and get away with it? No way is that happening.”

“I apologize for my subordinate’s behavior,” Sofia said immediately. “I forgot to inform him of the proper ways of a cultivator.”

“That’s right,” Anthony said, sitting down on a recliner that looked completely out of place in the austere Japanese-style room. “We do things a ‘proper cultivator’ way round these parts. You know, I think those alien fucks got a few things right. It should be survival of the fittest, ya know? Why should we, the powerful motherfuckers of the world, have to bend over and take it from bureaucrats and pencil pushers who haven’t thrown a punch in their lives? It’s better this way. New York is a paradise.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sofia said.

“You don’t have to just take my word for it, sweetie. If I wanted to, I could kill all five of you without breaking a sweat. But since I’m a nice guy, I won’t do that. Now, let’s talk shop. What’s the deal with Boston? Never liked that city, let me tell you.”

Alistair thought Sofia looked the angriest he had ever seen her, with her slightly furrowed brow. Even the ice queen could get offended with the right idiot in charge, it seemed.

“You were the one who wanted this meeting because of my Moneylender,” Sofia reminded him.

Anthony looked at her with confusion before it dawned on him. “Oh, yes, that’s what it was! This big city and we have nothing similar. Is it the guy?”

“No, Lauren Yoon is the Moneylender,” Sofia said.

“The Asian chick?” Anthony asked, looking at Lauren. “What, you work for JP Morgan or something? Why do you have this Moneylender Class and no one I can find in the city has it?”

“Goldman Sachs and I’m not sure why myself. Maybe all the executives in your city died,” Lauren answered.

“I wish they did,” Anthony laughed. “I like this one. No, we found some people from finance and the like, but they all had lame Classes like Banker or Merchant. Never Moneylender, where you can actually store other people’s money. How much money can you hold?”

“Five million drachma, though it should increase to ten million shortly.”

Anthony whistled. “And you compound your interest at 10% every week? Am I hearing that right, that’s not a joke?”

“That’s correct.”

“Sofia, I think you found yourself a deal. So how are we going to do this?” Anthony asked, sitting up from his recliner throne.

“She can only hold 50k from an individual person, so we’ll have you and several people you trust deposit the maximum amount. In exchange, I’ll give you the exact amount you deposit. Whenever you want to exchange, I’ll take our own deposit plus a cut of the interest you earned and give you back your money. In exchange, we want access to the Hall of Math.”

Anthony’s smile vanished. “How do you know about the Hall of Math?”

Sofia smiled in return. “I have my ways.”

“You’re asking for a lot,” Anthony grumbled. “I’ve been assured not even the other members of the top 5 have access to such a trove of information. Do you realize how valuable it is?”

“I don’t think you realize how valuable the Moneylender is. If you deposit a million drachma now, in a month you’ll have over 1.4 million. In three months, 3.1 million. The System Store is getting larger every day and the cultivators are arriving in droves. The rich are getting richer and you can’t afford to be left in the dust,” Sofia explained calmly.

“Tch, you drive a mad bargain, woman. Let me think for a second.”

“Do you know the Hall of Math is?” he whispered to Alexandra.

“No idea, but it sounds big. Maybe it’s something his sponsor gave him? He is super high ranked,” Alexandra replied.

Katie, the blonde woman with an Acolyte Class, gave them a glare. Alistair hadn’t really met the woman, but he heard she was friends with Sofia from before the initiation and was fiercely loyal to her.

After a minute of deliberation, Anthony gave them his answer.

“I can get behind the arrangement, but I can’t let you view the Hall of Math unsupervised,” he said.

“I’ll have to limit your funds, then.”

“Fuck you, you aren’t even the Moneylender. I want to hear HER opinion.” Anthony said. Then he pointed to Alexandra. “And I wouldn’t mind if she speaks either, she’s just my type.”

Sofia and Lauren both moved to speak. Alistair was extremely lucky that at the same time he was about to voice his objection to the leader of New York, the world faded to darkness, the only thing appearing in the endless void of darkness being a small blue window.

Welcome to the third Quest! I hope you didn’t forget about them. Due to your special accomplishments and accrued renown, you have been chosen as a part of the elite Prime Initiate version of the third Quest, called [Gladiatorial Survival]. As a part of our rehabilitation program, we regularly allow the convicts of the Empire to fight for their freedom against the inhabitants of newly initiated planets. Congratulations for having the privilege of being invited to one of the top StreamCast programs, Felons vs. Fellows!