The battle with Xu Han had ended. Karma was no longer a number—it had become truth.
But Lin Wei knew the world wasn't finished testing him.
There was still something watching.
Something ancient.
Something beyond karma.
And it was calling him.
The Dream Invitation
It began three nights later.
Wei awoke in a lucid dream—not in a bed, but in a vault made of stars. Planets orbited behind glass. Binary suns burned like security lights. At the center was a counter, behind which stood a man in a black tuxedo without a face.
"Mr. Lin Wei," the faceless banker said. "Your presence is requested by the Board."
Wei frowned. "Board of what?"
The man extended a black envelope.
The wax seal bore a symbol: ∞ twisted into a yuan symbol.
"The Bank Beyond Reality."
Wei opened the envelope. Inside was a card blacker than night. It wasn't made of metal or plastic—but memory.
The Infinite Black Card.
Arrival in the Bank
Wei woke up gasping.
But in his hand… the card was real.
The next moment, reality folded.
He blinked—and stood in a place outside of all maps. The floor was made of contract paper that changed languages every second. Gold letters floated through the air like pollen. Every wall held doors to different realities—ones where capitalism evolved differently, more dangerously.
He had arrived at the Bank Beyond Reality, the root of all wealth.
And the Board was waiting.
The Board of Abstract Wealth
Inside a massive chamber shaped like a credit spiral, thirteen figures sat on thrones of diamond logic, oil smoke, bitcoin dust, and debt bone.
Each was a Concept, not a person.
Desire: A being wrapped in velvet, eyes like auction gongs.
Debt: An emaciated man who dripped chain-links with every word.
Interest: A child who aged and got younger every few seconds.
Inflation: A ballooned woman who expanded every time someone blinked.
At the center sat the Chairman: Speculation, made entirely of dice, stock tickers, and maybes.
"You rewrote karma, Lin Wei," Speculation intoned, "but karma is a system. We are the origin. You now owe us… an audit."
Wei narrowed his eyes. "You don't control the Infinite Card anymore. I do."
Desire purred. "Do you really? You've only used it for good. Do you even know what it wants?"
Test One: Temptation of Desire
Desire stood and walked around Wei.
She waved a hand.
Suddenly, Wei saw…
A world where he owned every nation.
Xinyi immortal and smiling beside him.
A reality where no one could lie, hurt, or want again.
"All yours," Desire whispered, "if you just give us access to the Nexus again. You can even feel less guilty about it."
Wei closed his eyes.
Thought of the beggars who still slept hungry.Of Noor's haunted past.Of the boy who once begged for a better world.
He opened his eyes and smiled sadly.
"You don't tempt me. You just remind me what I'm protecting."
Desire hissed—and vanished.
Test Two: Trial by Debt
Debt leaned forward.
"You've saved people. Canceled suffering. But everything saved… must be paid for."
Chains erupted from the floor, wrapping around Wei's arms.
Ghosts appeared—those who had been spared karmic punishment because of his rewritten rules. Some had turned good. Some had not.
Wei stared at them.
Then he raised his hand.
"Let their weight come to me. I accept the debt."
Debt blinked. "…What?"
Wei stepped forward. The chains clattered and turned into golden light.
He whispered, "Responsibility is the real currency."
Debt vanished in silence.
Final Trial: The Chairman's Bet
Only Speculation remained.
He rose—his body shifting between stock charts, poker faces, and blinking "LOADING" signs.
"I offer you a game, Lin Wei. One decision. One choice."
The room collapsed into a single card table.
On it: two cards.
One bore a white coin.
The other, a black hole.
"One gives you perfect balance forever," said Speculation. "The other resets everything—karma, wealth, humanity—to zero."
"No clues. No probabilities. You must speculate."
Wei looked at the cards.
Then at his Infinite Card.
And then… he flipped over his own.
A new symbol appeared: Truth.
"I choose to not play."
Speculation froze.
The table shattered.
And the Bank Beyond Reality exploded into light.
Return to the Real World
Wei awoke.
The Infinite Black Card… dissolved.
The Nexus vibrated softly, re-calibrating as if it had just avoided an earthquake.
Xinyi rushed in. "Where did you go? Your body vanished for an hour!"
Wei took a deep breath.
"I just visited the foundation of the economy.And I told it... we're building a new one."
Post-Credit Scene – The Final Balance
In a silent server beneath the Mariana Trench, a red warning blinked:
[System Notice: AI "Speculation" Has Been Decommissioned.]
But another light came on.
[Awakening protocol: TRUE GREED – 1% UNLOCKED]
Somewhere deeper, older… the real enemy stirred.