"Mr. Billion, its pa.s.sword has never been seen by anyone, so it probably represents a relic that has never been discovered." Marcus kept trying to raise the value of the metal sheet maps.

"An encrypted map that can't even be unlocked by the Original Gravity Tower. Who else in the world do you think can unlock it?" Steve sneered.

"Maybe it will be solved in the future..." Marcus guessed.

"In the future? Like 100 years from now? Or, maybe when humans have discovered more ancient relics and are more powerful... Will the metal sheet map be solved then? What good will it be to me then? Do you want me to take it as an heirloom and pa.s.s it on from generation to generation?" Steve laughed.

Marcus was embarra.s.sed. He didn't know what to say at that moment.

"Mr. Marcus, let's cut the c.r.a.p. I want this metal sheet map, but it is impossible to offset all of the debts. Since someone has priced it at one billion, I shall offset some of the debt at the price of one billion and fifty million dollars," Steve said.

It was impossible for the Black Tiger Combat Unit to pay off all of their debts of 10 billion in original gold. It was already past their limit to pay 2.5 billion in original gold. In addition to the 1.5 billion in original gold, a total of 3.1 billion in original gold was deducted, leaving 6.9 billion worth of debt remaining.

Marcus thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Alright! It offsets part of the debt at a value of 1.55 billion. But, I have a small request. We are temporarily unable to repay the remaining 6.9 billion, so can you give us some more time?"

"I'll give you a year to pay the remaining 6.9 billion, but you have to pay twice as much interest as the bank's interest every month," Steve said calmly.

"Wow, 6.9 billion within a year? That's too little time..." Marcus' face changed.

"Hmph! Either take it as a gift that I give you time to repay your debt, or go bankrupt and p.a.w.n yourself to repay me!" Steve snorted. "I'll give you a year, but there are other conditions, too."

Marcus turned pale, but finally decided that repaying it within a year was better than going bankrupt! In Blue Star Continent, if one were to go bankrupt without paying off their debts, they would have to work for the debtor to pay off their debts for as long as it took.

Even though people called it work, it was about the same as slavery. Most of their salaries would go directly to paying off their debts, while the rest was just enough for them to live without starving. Furthermore, they had to do the hardest and most tiring tasks.

Many of them would often have to risk their lives to perform these tasks. The only advantage was that they got paid a meager amount at least, so they didn't have to starve to death.

Thinking of their lives now, if they were to fall and become slaves all at once, the whole Black Tiger Combat Unit would be reduced to a slave Combat Unit! Fear appeared on their faces when they imagined such a scenario.

Most of them were ordinary civilians. They had chosen to join the army because they could not afford to pay the huge amount of tuition fees at universities.

Now that they had been able to escape poverty and were living prosperous lives, it would be more difficult for them to return to a lives of hards.h.i.+p. In fact, that would even be harder than asking them to die!

"One year it is then! If you have any other conditions, please do not hesitate to mention them." Marcus gritted his teeth and agreed.

With his potential, he had almost reached his limit at around 430 points of basic cell value. What remained was to break through and become a level-one evolved being, as a level-one evolved being could earn more money to pay off the debt.

In this way, at least there was hope. Then, if other members of the team were to develop their potentials and break through to become level-one evolved beings, their speed of debt repayment would be even faster.

"My request is very simple. You guys must serve me in the future. If my orders conflict with those of the Babbitt Group, you must give priority to my orders. If you do well, I can cancel some of your debt or extend the repayment date," Steve said calmly.

Marcus' face changed when he thought about it carefully. After all, they were in partners.h.i.+p with the Babbitt Group, but if the Babbitt Group was gone, they could work with other groups.

But, if Mr. Billion was unhappy and wanted them to pay their debts immediately, they could only become slaves. Regardless of what he was thinking at the moment, he knew that this matter still needed to be discussed with the rest of the team.

The combat units in the military base had a very strict system. The combat unit was a whole, and every member could reap benefits according to his or her efforts, but if the combat unit faced difficulties and debt, the entire combat unit must bear the burden together.

As long as your name was on the team list, even if you didn't take part in a particular mission, a little benefit would still be given to you. Similarly, if the team was in debt, everyone on the team had to bear it. Moreover, until owed debts were paid, no withdrawals from the combat unit was allowed.

If a new member joined, he must be informed of the situation of the combat unit. If he wanted to join, he could choose if he wanted to a.s.sume the debt or not. Of course, personal debts and earnings had nothing to do with the combat unit as a whole.

In this way, the combat unit's business was everybody's business. Now that all of the members of the Black Tiger Combat Unit were in debt, they were unable to quit!