Matrix Survival: I Get A Random Chest Every Day-Chapter 898 - 635: Terminal: "How Did I Clone Something Like You?" (3)

"Don't I have you as my backup?" Li Zheng thick-skinnedly asked again, "Is this illegal?"

This time the Terminal's ability to accept improved significantly and quickly responded, "Yes! But if the victim doesn't report to the Law Enforcement Team, you won't have a problem. If they report, you will be arrested by the Law Enforcement Team for fraud, and depending on the severity, you could be fined. At worst, you could be expelled from the Outer City, so think it through."

"Alright, thank you!" Li Zheng put away the Inscription Card, already having a plan in mind.

Thank you?

In the Central Hub, the Terminal read this message and felt its supercomputer was struggling to function smoothly.

"What exactly does this guy want? Money? If it's money, just tell me, I can directly adjust your account balance... Oh, to prevent favoritism and corruption, the economic system was designed so that even I don't have the authority to alter data on the backend."

Well, then, I'll just watch this kid dig his own grave.

Many people believed the Terminal was the richest entity in the Outer City because the largest Crystal Coin processing system—the Coinage Workshop—was tightly controlled by it.

Empty Magic Crystals, after being stripped of energy, had to be sent to the Coinage Workshop for cutting and registration before they could circulate normally in the city. Unregistered coins were not officially recognized and could only be used on the black market as "Black Coins."

In the early days, the Terminal's methods of processing Crystal Coins were crude; blank Magic Crystals could only be simply processed, resulting in large, white buns in appearance when finished.

Somehow, these alien races gradually started calling the circulating coins "Bun Coins."

The Terminal noticed this and thought it sounded unpleasant. At the same time, a breakthrough in craftsmanship occurred, prompting it to order a recall of all currency to be remade into thin, long strips before reissuing them.

Assuming this shape of the coin was unlikely to earn any strange nickname, it was unexpected that the thin, long coins soon began to be called "A Thread of Sky" due to their slender appearance, hanging down like a thin line. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Once again, the Terminal recalled and processed them; subsequently issued coins were given decorative shapes, aiming for beauty so they could be used as ornaments, hoping it wouldn't earn another bizarre name.

Unfortunately, the third version of the currency was shaped like a butterfly, the most aesthetically appealing at that time, and was quickly dubbed "Butterfly Coin" after issuance.

Moreover, since the third version of the currency was very popular among Outer City residents, the black market secretly produced larger quantities to cater to residents' needs.

This allowed it to be both a collectible and a currency in the black market, resulting in two types of this coin.

The smaller coins issued by the Terminal were called "White Butterflies" while those circulated on the black market were called "Black Butterflies."

Left with no alternative, the Terminal added a database to the supercomputer's program to register each Crystal Coin and stamped unique codes on them upon issuance to distinguish them.

The fourth version was made into a perfect sphere, and a regulation was introduced to name coins according to their original colors, "White Crystal Coin" for white, and "Red Crystal Coin" for red.

Simultaneously, the Law Enforcement Team received a mandatory order to strictly crack down on "Black Coins" appearing in the market and severely punish manufacturers daring to privately produce Black Coins.

This finally stabilized the currency system, which continues to be used to this day.

After gaining total control over currency minting rights, a portion of each Blank Magic Crystal cut at the Coinage Workshop was taken by the Terminal as a fee.

Everyone believed these fees went into the Terminal's private pocket, but they were all used to pay salaries of public employees, compensate for official tasks, and very little ended up left in its own hands.

Besides, the Terminal had to conduct various research, all costing money for raw materials, making it less affluent than others imagined, rather struggling financially.

Even the Terminal itself didn't have much surplus. At this time, Li Zheng was short of cash, and despite being the Terminal's own created clone, it hadn't considered giving him money, instead letting Li Zheng find his way to earn.

"At most, after the fact, I'll lighten the charges and penalties for him. After all, he is my most successful and last work."

The Terminal mused, and suddenly a large container made of metal and blue translucent materials rose from the ground in front of the supercomputer.

Contained inside was its former body, eyes tightly closed, face serene, as if merely asleep.

Next to the container, flashing numbers were rapidly decreasing. The Terminal watched these data silently.

Soon, as the numbers returned to zero, it let out a long sigh, "Finally, I couldn't hold on any longer!"

Li Zheng's original physical body completely lost vitality and could no longer produce more clones.

Li Zheng reached a final conclusion.

"Even though I knew this day would come, when it finally arrived, there was a sense of unease in my heart." The Terminal murmured, beginning to handle its own remains.

Sending a command to the container, the dial on it flickered several times, and huge amounts of ultra-low temperature gas were released inside.

A layer of frost gradually formed on the surface of the remains, freezing everything from hair to skin, blood no longer flowing, and hardened bones under the low-temperature chill.

From now on, it would forever be preserved this way in a corner beneath the Central Hub until the Matrix disappeared, at which point it would also evaporate from the universe, leaving no trace.

"When I'm talking business with those people, use your newfound ability to influence them so they become infatuated with you. A trait of male creatures is making certain promises easily when they're taken with an object of affection. We don't ask for much, just ten percent above the market price... What?"

Li Zheng, who was planning with Mirel to earn some extra money from Botanical Garden owners, suddenly felt something and turned to look in a certain direction.

"What's up?" Mirel also looked in that direction, finding nothing.

Li Zheng was silent, saying, "I don't know why, but I suddenly felt a surge of sadness, as if I wanted to cry."

Mirel asked with concern, "Did something sad come to mind?"

"No." Li Zheng shook his head, "An intuition tells me that something very important to me in the world... is gone."

"Something very important?" Mirel thought, "Could it be Li Zheng's original body?"

It wasn't just Li Zheng.

In all corners of the Outer City and the Wilderness, people who looked somewhat similar or identical to him all turned to look in one direction.

Some with dazed expressions couldn't help but shed tears, inexplicably grieving.