Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 47: I Summon Legendary Beasts
Julien stared at the glowing golden text in the air of the abandoned factory, his mind struggling to process the information.
His breathing was shallow, his heart still throbbing with pain from Viper’s brutal interrogation. The chains binding his wrists shook slightly as he leaned forward, entirely captivated by the interface.
How is this possible?
Julien asked, directing his thoughts entirely toward the entity residing in his mind.
System, you explicitly told me that my class was based on transactional commerce. You said I could only purchase inanimate items and consumables.
These are living, breathing creatures that are the exact opposite.
The interface flickered, the list of beasts momentarily dissolving before reforming into a line of system-generated response.
[Query Acknowledged.]
[Clarification: The host’s previous understanding was limited to Tier 1 parameters.] Tier 1 Commerce strictly dictates the materialisation of inanimate alchemical constructs and basic survival utility items. It is the equivalent of a shop storefront.]
[Tier 2 Commerce operates on Dimensional Leasing and Contractual Binding. You are not purchasing these entities as property. You are paying a premium to temporarily bypass dimensional barriers and lease their combat prowess. They are mercenaries bound by System Law.]
Julien swallowed hard.
The implications were staggering, but if he could lease monsters from other dimensions, this is already a game breaker.
But his eyes drifted back to the top right corner of his vision.
[Current Balance: 0 Credits]
He was broke. And more importantly, he knew this System intimately.
It had kept him in absolute, grinding poverty for months and never handed out miracles without a devastating price tag.
’What is the catch?’ Julien asked, his voice narrowing with deep suspicion.
You warned me about an Emergency Overdraft earlier. So tell me exactly what it means to summon these things when I have zero capital to invest.
The System did not hesitate, and the text expanded, flashing with a warning of red.
[Notice: Host’s current physical vessel and neural pathways are categorised as ’E-Rank’. You possess an incredibly weak mind and a fragile constitution. Anchoring a high-tier dimensional entity to this plane requires massive mana reserves and a strong biological conduit.]
[Because you lack the physiological strength to anchor them naturally, and the capital to pay the System to shield you from the strain, the toll will be extracted directly from your physical body as collateral. Furthermore, all Overdraft purchases will accrue a compounding daily interest rate until the debt is settled in full.]
[Displaying Updated Tier 2 Overdraft Contracts:]
The interface shifted, the list of beasts returning.
But this time, the golden text was stained with red warnings beneath every single entry.
[Shadow Beast]
Origin: The Graveyard Pines
Duration: 5 Minutes
Overdraft Cost: 1000 Credits
Collateral Toll: Siphons the host’s optical nerves to maintain its physical form. Inflicts total visual loss (Partial to Full Blindness) for 24 hours.
Debt Penalty: 20% daily compounding interest on the 1000 Credit debt.
[Iron-Plated Boar]
Origin: The Terran Wastes
Duration: 10 Minutes 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Overdraft Cost: 800 Credits
Collateral Toll: Drains the motor functions of the host’s lower parts. One leg will be completely paralysed and rendered useless for 3 days.
Debt Penalty: 15% daily compounding interest.
[Ash-Weaver Spider]
Origin: The Cinder Realm
Duration: 8 Minutes
Overdraft Cost: 750 Credits
Collateral Toll: The extreme heat transfer will cause severe respiratory failure and first-degree internal burns to the host’s lungs for 48 hours.
[Venomous Manticore Cub]
Origin: The Poisoned Crags
Duration: 5 Minutes
Overdraft Cost: 1200 Credits
Collateral Toll: Total neural pathway overload. The host’s brain will forcibly shut down to protect itself, resulting in an immediate, inescapable 1-month coma.
[Gargantua Bear]
Origin: The Frost Peaks
Duration: 3 Minutes
Overdraft Cost: 1500 Credits
Collateral Toll: Massive muscular atrophy. The sheer physical density of the summon will crush the host’s muscles, reducing all physical stats by 90% for two full weeks.
Julien stared at the red text in absolute horror.
The System wasn’t offering him a loan, but more like a mutilation contract.
His mind raced, frantically analysing the options.
The Gargantua Bear and the Manticore Cub were immediate death sentences. Falling into a coma for a month or losing 90% of his stats in the middle of a Red Gate apocalypse meant he would be eaten by monsters or killed by Cobra before he ever woke up.
The Ash-Weaver Spider would leave him suffocating and coughing up blood. The Iron-Plated Boar was cheaper, but losing the use of his leg for three days meant he wouldn’t be able to run. In a ruined city swarming with syndicate members and dungeon beasts, mobility was life.
That left only one viable option.
The Shadow Beast.
A 1000 Credit debt with a brutal 20% daily interest rate would financially ruin him if he couldn’t find a way to make money fast.
And losing his sight for twenty-four hours was terrifying.
But, Julien thought, a grim logic taking over his mind, I am chained to a chair in a locked room.
I don’t need my legs right now, and neither do I have a need to breathe perfectly. And if the beast does its job and slaughters everyone in this building... I won’t need to see them die.
He would have to pay the money back eventually, or the System would likely claim his life as default.
But if he did nothing, Cobra was going to hook him up to an IV and turn him into a living, tortured vending machine for the rest of his miserable life.
Suddenly, the heavy, echoing sound of heavy boots hitting the concrete floor vibrated through the factory walls.
Someone was coming down the hallway. The heavy, measured footsteps belonged to the massive, bald enforcer who had severed Chris’s rope.
He was coming back, likely to prep Julien for the basement vault.
There was no more time to think.
System! Julien commanded, his mental voice sharp and entirely devoid of fear.
’Select the Shadow Beast and form the contract.’
[WARNING: You are authorising an Emergency Overdraft of 1000 Credits. Your optical nerves will be hijacked as collateral.]
[Are you sure you wish to proceed?]
’YES’, Julien screamed in his mind.
[Contract Formed.]
[Dimensional Tethers Anchored.]
[Summoning in progress...]
The moment the golden text vanished, Julien screamed till his mind gave up.
It felt as though two ice-cold needles had been driven directly through his pupils and into the centre of his brain.
The pain was sharp, absolute, and blinding to the core. A faint red light filtering in through the shattered factory windows instantly disappeared from his vision.
The outlines of the crates, the chains on his wrists, the dusty floor, everything was violently ripped away from him.
Darkness covered him completely, leaving no amount of light.
