Chapter 27: The Heavenly Divine Palace, Reunion Without Recognition

"The shopkeeper is out on business at the Divine Palace of Heavenly Dao. Return time is uncertain. Please forgive the inconvenience."

At 7:00 AM, Lin Xiao wrote this note on the small blackboard outside his shop door, then stepped out while stifling a yawn. He had spent until past 3:00 AM setting up his local network and installing security cameras. Having slept for only three hours, he naturally felt sluggish. However, the fruits of his labor were significant; his shop was now protected by a local network monitoring system, which greatly bolstered his sense of security.

"The transcendent belongs to the gods; the worldly belongs to the government," Lin Xiao pondered as he walked toward the main street.

This was a world where gods truly existed. Since the public's transcendent powers originated from the gods, matters related to these powers were naturally managed by the Divine Palace of Heavenly Dao, the gods' representative on earth. Lin Xiao found this reasonable, though the gods of this world were not anthropomorphic figures like the Three Pure Ones, the Buddha, or Jesus from his previous life, but rather akin to the "Heavenly Dao"—the inscrutable, silent will of the universe. These god-like entities did not speak directly to humans, nor did they have physical forms; thus, the Divine Palace of Heavenly Dao acted on their behalf to carry out their will.

"But wasn't it agreed that the worldly belongs to the government?" Lin Xiao pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. On the front of the deep blue banknote was the portrait of a handsome man wearing priestly robes.

"The root of all evil," Lin Xiao remarked. The man on the bill was Lin Xuan, the eleventh Master of the Divine Palace of Heavenly Dao from over four hundred years ago. He held another identity: the architect of the "Vow of Agony," the ultimate scheme for internal competition. The world held mixed feelings toward his "genius invention," but for the Divine Palace, it was undoubtedly an epoch-making achievement, making Lin Xuan one of the greatest Masters in history. Yet, the fact that he remained on the highest denomination bill over four centuries later clearly had other reasons.

Lin Xiao’s gaze moved from Lin Xuan’s smiling face to the bottom right corner of the bill, where a line of text was printed: Issued by the Divine Palace of Heavenly Dao.

"Well, look at that. The Divine Palace has seized the right to mint currency!"

Lin Xiao knew that not only did his own Southern Cross Federation use this currency issued by the Divine Palace, but the empire to the north used the exact same system. He was not surprised that they could suppress the two largest nations in the world and claim the most critical economic power—the right to mint money. After all, in a world where gods truly existed, it made perfect sense for the Divine Palace, as the gods' representative, to enforce its will through military might.

What truly surprised Lin Xiao was that the monetary system designed by Lin Xuan four hundred years ago remained incredibly smooth and functional to this day. This was the fundamental reason he remained firmly on the front of the banknote.

"Isn't that a bit insane? How on earth did he manage it?" Lin Xiao was full of doubt. It was well known that human nature made a perfect monetary system nearly impossible in human society. Gold-standard currency had a natural risk of deflation, which became a huge bottleneck in eras of rapidly expanding productivity. Meanwhile, paper currency that relied entirely on the credit of the issuer suffered from the chronic ailment of inflation caused by over-issuance. Over the span of centuries, it was nearly impossible for any governing body to resist the instinct to over-issue currency.

Yet, in this world, that impossibility had been overcome. The currency issued by the Divine Palace had maintained stable value for hundreds of years. There was neither deflation nor inflation; it was as if an invisible hand were perfectly regulating the economy.

"I’m truly curious how this was done. If someone could achieve this in my past life, they would have swept every Nobel Prize in Economics," Lin Xiao mused. In his heart, he had a vague suspicion: this world possessed a highly potent currency recycling mechanism, which meant the Divine Palace never had to worry about over-issuance. With the threat of inflation removed, solving deflation was no longer a difficult task. But what was this mechanism?

"It seems the waters in this world run deep. Better to curb my curiosity and stay out of trouble," Lin Xiao thought, casting the distracting notions from his mind as he headed toward the tram station.

"I wonder how much it costs to purchase a satisfactory secondary ability?"

This was his primary goal for the day, though he knew full well he likely couldn't afford it. From his conversation at Yang Shubai’s shop yesterday, he learned that learnable abilities were divided into five tiers based on rarity, with base prices roughly at: 100,000, 1 million, 50 million, 1 billion, and priceless... The actual transaction prices would fluctuate around these baselines. Good grief, even the cheapest tier cost 100,000. Anything even slightly decent jumped straight to 1 million or even 50 million. This was something Lin Xiao could never afford.

However, Lin Xiao had no intention of paying. His goal was to observe an "Ability Crystal" in person to form a vivid memory, and then, upon returning home, consume "Source Energy" to replicate it from that memory. "Free-loading" really made one happy!

"I laugh with delight~ I laugh with delight~" Lin Xiao hummed a tune, walking quickly toward the incoming tram.

The tram hissed as it released air, and as the doors opened, passengers poured out like a tide. Lin Xiao instinctively stepped aside, but his eyes caught a familiar shade of bright yellow in the crowd—the girl in the yellow sweater was walking quickly with her head down, her twin tails swaying gently with each step, her rimless glasses glinting in the sunlight.

The unexpected reunion filled Lin Xiao with joy. He smiled and stepped forward: "What a coincidence. Didn't you say yesterday, 'We won't meet again'?"

The girl looked up at the sound, a flicker of confusion crossing her eyes behind her lenses. She frowned slightly and took a half-step back, guarded: "Sir, I think you have the wrong person? I don't know you!"

Lin Xiao: "..."

That sounded exactly like what he had said to her yesterday, just with the roles reversed.

"Are you still upset that I didn't cooperate with you yesterday?" Lin Xiao said helplessly.

"I truly don't know you. If you say you know me, do you know my name?" the girl in yellow replied.

Lin Xiao: "..."

Wow! It felt like a replay of yesterday! If it were anyone else, he would think the girl was deliberately using his own words to mock him. But Lin Xiao sensed that she wasn't joking, nor was she still holding a grudge; she truly seemed not to know him!

How could this be? They had been through so much yesterday—she had helped him escape a gang of pickpockets, they had fled into an alley together, and she had even kindly offered him some advice... How could she have no memory of all these things overnight?

"You're joking, right?" Lin Xiao asked tentatively. "Just yesterday, on this very street, you helped me..."

"I'm sorry." The girl interrupted him, a look of anxiety appearing on her face. "I have urgent business and I'm in a rush."

She hurried past Lin Xiao, her yellow skirt fluttering in the wind, bringing with it a faint, familiar fragrance—even the scent was identical to yesterday.

Lin Xiao stood where he was, not chasing after her. He watched her retreating figure, his brow furrowing involuntarily. It was too strange. Her expression didn't seem faked; that sense of distance and wariness when facing a stranger couldn't be feigned. And given her personality yesterday, if she remembered him, she would never have reacted this way.

The tram gave a signal that it was about to depart, and Lin Xiao finally snapped out of his daze. He hurriedly boarded, his mind filled with questions. What exactly had happened to her?