New Times, New Hell

Chapter 138 - Extra: Retirement Plan (End)

Chen Yangli’s farewell-and-birthday party lasted over half the day. After having the Underworld spirits at Luofeng’s headquarters finish with the cake, they could still send it over to the subsidiary company for the mortals to eat. One cake, two meals. From a cost perspective, this was very worth it.

At the end of the party, Chen Yangli bade farewell to all of his coworkers. “My mom for my next life is already in labor at the hospital. I need to hurry and get to the reincarnation point too.”

“Then have a good trip. Be punctual. Don’t make your mom suffer too much,” his coworkers said.

Because everyone still had work to do, they couldn’t personally send Chen Yangli off to the reincarnation point. Following all the goodbyes, Kang Jin – as the representative – drove Chen Yangli’s Ferrari and dropped the other off at the Three Chambers’ Assembly Hall where the Ancient Well Reincarnation Point was located.

These days, not only was the Three Chambers’ Assembly Hall the central reincarnation point for all the nearby cities, it was also one of the main activity areas for Underworld spirits in Fu City. Normally, aside from ghosts waiting to reincarnate, there would also be lots of other spirits wandering around.

Kang Jin drove Chen Yangli to his destination. Though Underworld cars theoretically didn’t disrupt traffic in the mortal realm, Kang Jin still carefully parked the car in a parking spot. The two of them disembarked the vehicle.

Not far away from them was a young ghost by the Three Chambers’ Assembly Hall; he was sneakily observing the Underworld spirits walking in and out of the building. Upon noticing Kang Jin and Chen Yangli’s luxury Ferrari, his eyes lit up.

Cars in the Underworld were burned over, but according to the currency exchange rates between money in the Underworld and money in the mortal realm, this car was still quite expensive. Normal ghosts weren’t able to afford one. It definitely belonged to someone with a job and connections, or someone whose relatives in the mortal realm were extremely generous and thoughtful regarding sacrificial offerings.

Such a ghost would definitely have quite an impressive amount of savings.

The youth quickly thought things through. Then, he revealed an ingratiating smile and scooted close. He stopped Kang Jin and Chen Yangli before mysteriously asking, “You two, are you heading to reincarnate?”

Kang Jin felt a bit suspicious upon noticing how sketchy he seemed. He instinctively asked, “Do you need something?”

“Of course. I have something nice to introduce to you.” The youth cocked an eyebrow. “However, you need to answer me first. Are you guys heading to reincarnate or not?”

Kang Jin and Chen Yangli were both ghosts with an abundance of societal experience. Upon observing this youth’s demeanor, they realized that there was most likely something sketchy going on. The two of them made eye contact and, with great tacit understanding, didn’t reveal their identities. Chen Yangli nodded and replied, “I’m heading to reincarnate. He drove me here.”

“Congratulations, you’ve received a rare chance to change your fate.” The youth exaggeratedly shook Chen Yangli’s hand, then scooted close and lowly asked, “Bro, do you want a good time?”

Chen Yangli momentarily couldn’t understand. “Huh?”

“I have an excellent reincarnation time. Heavy eight characters, a hardcore life. If you want it, I can sell it to you for this price.” While speaking, the youth held up his hand. “Mortal currency. Fifty thousand.”

Kang Jin instantly sputtered out from off to the side, “So you’re a yellow cow?”

No wonder why he had felt that this youth’s tone was strangely familiar: wasn’t this basically the tone yellow cows outside concerts in the mortal realm who asked everyone, “Do you want a ticket?” used? However, now, “do you want a ticket?” had become “do you want a good time?”

As expected, creatures such as yellow cows wouldn’t disappear because of death.

The youth made a “sh” gesture. “Lower your voice. I’m not considered a yellow cow. I’m just offering everyone a better future while also asking for compensation.”

The corners of Kang Jin’s mouth twitched. He scoffed. “Each person’s reincarnation time is set in stone. I’ve never heard that these things can be resold.”

“That’s because you don’t have enough knowledge. As long as you make the correct moves, everything is possible,” the youth confidently said.

Kang Jin and Chen Yangli exchanged glances. Chen Yangli understood the other’s intentions, so pretended to be curious. He inquired, “Oh, then tell me. How would one make those moves?”

Upon seeing that they really were interested, as expected, the youth pulled out his phone and pulled up a few pages for them to look at. “I have a few other people’s times here. Everything’s already been agreed on. If you guys want a certain time, as long as you pay, these people will help you pass through Luofeng’s systemic review. All you have to do is take their place right before the reincarnation time.”

Chen Yangli glanced at that youth’s phone. There were a few screenshots of the self-service reincarnation page from the Life Management apps of other ghosts. The ghosts’ personal information had been blurred out, only leaving the time of reincarnation visible. As expected, each time was an excellent time that most people could only dream about.

Chen Yangli furrowed his brows and asked, “What do they gain out of selling off such a great time?”

“All ghosts have their own goals, you know?” The youth patted him on the shoulder. In a very open-minded manner, he stated, “Humans have difficult lives. Even with a good birth time and family, you’ll ultimately still have to rely on your own hard work and efforts. They would rather live in a carefree manner first while they’re still ghosts.”

“There are humans who sell their organs for luxury products. It’s not too strange that there are ghosts selling good times in order to drive luxury cars, right?” The youth continued, “How about it? For only fifty thousand in mortal currency, you’ll be able to gain a blessed life. No matter how you calculate it, you won’t be at a disadvantage. Are you going to buy?”

Kang Jin was completely unaffected. In suspicion, he said, “Luofeng’s review is already so computerized. How could it be that easy to replace someone? If we accidentally get discovered, it’s over for us.”

“Ey, the seller takes full responsibility for that too. If they really find out, you can just say that you read the time wrong. The seller will take all the blame: he’s the one who will go to prison and lose Good and Evil Scores. At most, you’ll just receive a verbal warning. Not a big deal,” the youth drawled out. “Don’t worry. My plan is absolutely flawless. I’ll take a deposit of five thousand in advance. Let’s write out a contract for the rest of the money first. If it succeeds, I’ll bring the contract with me and ask for the remainder of the money. If it fails, I’ll give you a full refund. You won’t lose a single cent.”

The youth’s tone was extremely persuasive. “As soon as you successfully reincarnate, even if Luofeng finds out, they won’t be able to do anything, you know? By then, you’ll already be a human. The Underworld has no jurisdiction over the mortal realm.”

Chen Yangli: “What about the time’s original owner?”

The youth held his hands out. “They’ll just be considered as late to reincarnation and have to switch to a worse time. Even if they get discovered by Luofeng…… Same old: either way, the seller takes full responsibility.”

This youth acted rather professional. He had already considered all possible questions in advance. The offer truly sounded very enticing. If Kang Jin and Chen Yangli weren’t Luofeng’s employees, it was possible that they would actually believe him.

Chen Yangli laughed coldly. “Then did you know that you won’t be able to enter the reincarnation path if you aren’t using your own time?”

The Six Paths of Reincarnation were directly under the control of the Life and Death Accounts system. Currently, everything was mostly computerized. The system would perform a full body scan and data examination on the Underworld spirits before allowing them to enter the reincarnation path. This was even stricter than retina scans and facial recognition in the mortal realm. There was absolutely no possibility of someone replacing someone else.

However, because all Underworld spirits could only reincarnate once, most only learned about the specific details in the moments right before reincarnation. Those with worse judgement, especially the ghosts who were older in age, might very well feel tempted after this youth’s trickery.

The youth hadn’t thought that these two people would actually know the truth. Upon seeing that they were scoffing at him, he surprisingly didn’t act awkward about being exposed at all. Instead, his tone instantly changed. He said, “It seems that you guys are well informed. Then I won’t hide it from you anymore. I actually have something even better.”

Kang Jin had originally already pulled out his handcuffs. Unexpectedly, this youth had more than one trick up his sleeve. Kang Jin’s expression slightly changed as he stuffed the handcuffs back. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “What else do you have?”

“A cheat code for changing the Good and Evil Scores.” The youth pulled out his phone and opened up a program that looked a bit strange. “This is something that a really skilled programmer who died from sudden death made. It can change your Good and Evil Scores for the better…… Everyone knows that reincarnation results are decided by the Good and Evil Scores. With this program, why be scared that you won’t have a wonderful life in the future?”

Kang Jin: “……Your scamming techniques have kept up with the times quite well.”

The youth revealed an expression of disagreement. He pretended to put his phone away. “I’m only telling you guys about this because it looks like you’ll be able to afford it. If you don’t believe me, there are plenty of other ghosts who’ll want to buy it.”

Kang Jin scoffed. “Is that so?”

“Don’t believe me? If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.” As if he had been challenged, the youth opened up the program once more. “Open your eyes wide and take a good look. However, I’m going to be impolite right now. After seeing this, if you still want to make the purchase, the price is going to be double.”

While speaking, he opened up the home screen of the Life Management app, then used that program to complete a few actions. Only a moment later, they really did see a change happen to the Life Management app’s page. The previous result of “reincarnating into a normal household” had been rapidly changed to now say “reincarnating into a wealthy family.”

Neither Kang Jin nor Chen Yangli were skilled technologically. They didn’t understand the concepts behind this. Upon seeing this result, both their eyes widened. Kang Jin made to snatch the phone away. “How did you do that?”

That youth immediately clung onto his phone. “Ey ey ey, you need to pay first before using this.”

“You’ve been arrested!” This time, Kang Jin didn’t bother being polite with him anymore. Expression cold, he pulled out the handcuffs in his pocket. “We’re Luofeng’s employees. Right now, we’re arresting you and charging you with disrupting the order of the Underworld. Hands on your head and squat, immediately.”

“Fuck——” The youth was completely terrified. He had only dared to start being a yellow cow here after figuring out who the reincarnation point workers were in advance. Unexpectedly, he had ultimately directly ended up in headquarters’ hands. His first reaction was to run, but Chen Yangli had already prepared for this. He quickly caught the other and yelled, “You actually dare to change the results of reincarnation? That is an extremely serious crime. I’d like to see where you can run off to.”

The youth sobbed: “I’m a liar. I was only lying. Please, you guys, let me go……”

That youth was taken to the office in the reincarnation point. Kang Jin then reported the situation to headquarters. Yu Zhengdu immediately rushed over after hearing that such an incident had occurred.

In Luofeng’s hands, the yellow cow quickly confessed after barely any interrogation.

It turned out that this yellow cow wasn’t actually working alone. He also had a small team working with him to commit crimes around the vicinity of all the reincarnation points. They specifically targeted those clueless ghosts who were also in a rush to reincarnate.

The screenshots of good times that he had shown Kang Jin and them in the beginning had actually been photoshopped. What they were trying to earn wasn’t the supposed fifty thousand from selling these different times either; instead, it was the five thousand deposit fee. If unknowing ghosts fell for the trick and paid the deposit, the scammers would immediately vanish.

As for the supposed cheat code mentioned later……

“It’s only a fake Life Management app.” Yu Zhengdu picked up the yellow cow’s phone and looked at it, then instantly exposed their ploy. The Life Management app they could supposedly alter was actually fake. Just like those fake official websites for hospitals and schools in the mortal realm, it looked very similar, but was actually something entirely different. As long as they moved quickly enough, others would be easily fooled if they didn’t get a good look.

After confirming that this yellow cow couldn’t actually change the numbers in the Life Management app, Kang Jin sighed in relief. However, he was still a bit worried. He looked at Yu Zhengdu. “Xiao Yu, this can’t really change our system’s data, right?”

“Don’t worry. Our system’s servers are on Luofeng Mountain, which is exceptionally sensitive to abnormal data. Currently, the system is impossible to be hacked into,” Yu Zhengdu said.

He shook his head in exasperation. “I hadn’t thought that there would be these types of scammers in the Underworld too. It seems that we can’t skip out on anti-fraud promotion in the Underworld either.”

Luofeng’s system was very stable and reliable. However, it couldn’t be helped that there were ghosts taking advantage of this lack of information distribution to scam those Underworld spirits left in the dark. Though this theoretically didn’t affect the reincarnation order too much, they still couldn’t just stand aside and watch as other ghosts had their money and assets tricked away from them.

Kang Jin: “Then should we be like the mortal realm and repeatedly broadcast anti-fraud promotional information at all the reincarnation points?”

“Yes.” Yu Zhengdu added with a smile, “I’ll also add a warning risk notification to our app that can’t be skipped to ensure that every user who downloads it can see this warning.”

“The most important thing is to increase our retaliation against scammers.” In a leisurely manner, he glanced at the yellow cow youth. “This time, you and your partners will just be punished according to normal Underworld management laws. If there’s a next time, we’ll turn you, the fake yellow cow, into a real……yellow cow.”

The yellow cow that Luofeng was talking about was definitely an actual cow.

The youth wailed through tears, “I don’t dare to, I won’t ever dare to again.”