With the resource stream secured and the Black-Iron Guild's manufacturing infrastructure seized, Arion had proven that logistics defeats both fraud and brute force. But the true power of Head Minister Jihun lay not in the physical realm, but in the ethereal—the manipulation of trust, value, and currency.
The System registered a financial storm brewing outside the standardized walls of the Imperial Palace. The Grand Merchant Guild, furious over the seizure of their grain silos and terrified by the possibility of standardized trade value, had launched a coordinated attack on the Imperial currency.
LOGISTICS ALERT: IMPERIAL CURRENCY STABILITY CRITICALCurrency Fluctuation: Gold-to-Silver ratio destabilized by 400% in 12 hours.Root Cause: Coordinated mass liquidations of Imperial Gold by Grand Merchant Guild subsidiaries across all major trade hubs.Threat Assessment: High. If stability is not restored, a complete economic collapse is imminent.
Jihun's plan was brilliant and ruthless. By collapsing the Imperial gold standard, he would render Arion's immense treasury—full of newly acquired jade and gold—worthless. The populace, unable to buy or sell, would starve and riot, giving the scattered remnants of Gwang's forces the opportunity to install a new puppet emperor.
"The Merchant Guild relies on fluctuation and inconsistency to profit," Arion calculated. "We must introduce a system of absolute, standardized value that cannot be manipulated by speculation."
The traditional gold and silver currency relied on a chaotic, subjective system of assaying and trust. Arion needed a tool that imposed mathematical certainty onto value.
BLUEPRINT 107: STANDARDIZED CURRENCY EXCHANGE UNITA Class 8 analytical array capable of instantly assaying and certifying the true spiritual and physical value of all Imperial currency. It generates a perfectly synchronized, digital ledger that supersedes physical gold/silver as the official medium of value.Focus: Financial Standardization, Economic Stability. Input Required: 10 Units Purified Gold Alloy (for precision core), 5 Units Purified Spirit Jade (for digital ledger stability), 2 Units Refined Copper (for long-range network connectivity).
The resulting unit was a series of ten small, intricately engraved jade boxes, each housing a shimmering holographic screen. These were the first Standardized Currency Exchange Units. They would be deployed at the ten most critical market locations in the city.
The Counter-Strike of Certification
Arion deployed Captain Joon's elite unit, accompanied by ten Iron Standards, to install the Exchange Units. The mission was dangerous; the Merchant Guild had deployed their own private security—Stage 4 mercenaries who were now actively intimidating merchants into selling their gold for wildly inflated silver prices, artificially creating the crash.
Joon and his forces arrived at the Grand Market, where chaos reigned. Merchants were weeping as their life savings were devalued by the minute.
Joon ordered the Iron Standards to set up a tight perimeter. He placed the first Currency Exchange Unit on the central trading block. He activated the unit.
The holographic screen shimmered, displaying a simple, irrefutable number: 1 Gold Unit = 100 Value Units (Certified).
"The Emperor has issued a new decree," Joon announced, the Harness enforcing his cold, authoritative tone. "Effective immediately, the value of currency is measured not by its fluctuating physical metal content, but by the Certified Value Unit calculated by the Imperial Growth System. All gold, silver, and high-grade currency will be submitted to this Exchange Unit for instant, certified conversion."
The Merchant Guild's mercenaries immediately attempted to attack the unit, aiming to smash the holographic display. The Iron Standards did not hesitate. They executed a coordinated Standardized Punch blast that neutralized the attackers without damaging the Unit.
Merchants, desperate for any stability, rushed forward. They placed their chaotic, non-standardized gold coins on the Unit's scanning plate. The Unit instantly analyzed the material content, energy density, and weight, assigning a perfect, Certified Value Unit score. This score was then recorded on a synchronized, tamper-proof digital ledger that could be instantly viewed at all ten locations across the city.
The effect was immediate and overwhelming. The Merchant Guild's manipulation relied on creating uncertainty. The Currency Exchange Unit created absolute certainty.
When a Guild subsidiary attempted to buy gold cheaply, the seller could instantly verify the true worth of the gold and the Guild's chaotic offer was immediately exposed as a fraudulent devaluation attempt. The panic stopped. The currency crash was arrested mid-fall.
Jihun's Ultimate Retaliation
LOGISTICS VICTORY: FINANCIAL STABILITY RESTOREDGrand Merchant Guild Currency Manipulation Neutralized.Currency Volatility: Reduced to 0.1%.
Arion had achieved the final logistical prerequisite for the next stage of his power. He had neutralized the financial threat.
IMPERIAL GROWTH SYSTEM TIER UPGRADE PENDING:Prerequisites Met: Resource Standardization (Jade), Force Standardization (Black-Iron Guild), Financial Standardization (Currency).
TIER 2 UNLOCK IMMINENT.
Head Minister Jihun, now watching his economic and resource empire crumble entirely, was left with only his personal power—his formidable Stage 7 (Mortal Law Insight) cultivation base. He had lost his guilds, his assets, and his political platform. He was cornered.
However, Jihun had one last, desperate card to play: his ultimate connection to the dark, chaotic systems of the wider empire—the black market trade routes to the distant, powerful Sects and outside Empires. He would use the next chapter to initiate a desperate final logistical move to escape the capital, seeking to return with forces far beyond Arion's Tier 1 capabilities.
Arion, having stabilized the city, now focused on the final pieces of information needed for the Tier 2 upgrade, including a curious logistical anomaly that had appeared during the currency crash—a beneficial, yet strangely disorganized, interference in a distant trade route.
"System, analyze the recent trade anomaly in the Southern Pass. Its structure suggests intentional chaos, yet beneficial effect," Arion commanded.
The System, driven purely by logic, could not categorize the pattern. But Arion, guided by the memory of the original Emperor, knew this strange, protective move could only be the hand of one person: Lady Seraphina, his Stage 8 Empress-Select.