If it could lead to a discovery of ancient relics, this metal map would be priceless!

"Mr. Marcus, are you patronizing me by taking out an indecipherable map and daring to ask for 10 billion?" Steve asked coldly.

Marcus' expression changed as he said hastily, "Mr. Billion, we are not patronizing you. This map was found on the coast of the border that separates the world of the demons and mankind. The treasure is probably near the sea, where the most abundant resources and the most ancient ruins are hidden."

Steve listened and sneered. "Haha, the sea is indeed rich in resources and ancient ruins. But, it's more dangerous too. Even the most famous adventure team is awed by the sea. Moreover, if you want to find the treasure, you'd have to unlock the password code on the treasure map."

He then added, "If you guys could unlock the password, it wouldn't have remained in the insurance capsule and remained useless. If you can't unlock the password. It'll just be a piece of scrap iron..." Marcus was sweating profusely.

The truth was just as Steve had said, the reason why they were reluctant to sell was not that the price was not high enough. Instead, they wanted to unlock the password and find the treasure themselves.

In the legend of human adventurers, many adventurers had discovered mysterious relics and acquired treasures or inheritances from them. Ancient relics, although accompanied by danger, were also accompanied by numerous opportunities.

The same rule applied as to why a brave man would want to slaughter a dragon. It was simply because dragons represented countless treasures, as well as one's becoming a legend, thus being worshipped and admired by countless people! As such, even though dragons were powerful and dangerous, there were still countless brave men who wanted to kill them for the rewards that doing so would provide.

In the human legends of the Blue Star Continent, there were powerful beings who were like gods of war. These beings had become the most powerful warlords of mankind because they had found and explored the relics that no one else had found. This had caused them to had rise up and become the most powerful warlords that humans had ever seen.

Including the creator of the Ares Council, the strongest warlord in the Blue Star Continent today was Li Long. He had risen to become the strongest warlord because of the discovery of the main brain of the Original Gravity Tower, from which he had obtained the powerful inheritance of the Titan Clan.

This was precisely what had caused all evolved beings to be attracted to ancient relics. Everyone dreamed of discovering ancient relics and becoming the next strongest warlord.

Marcus himself had this thought, as did the members of the Black Tiger Combat Unit, who saw it as an opportunity for their future elevation. Unfortunately, after so many years of getting metal sheet maps, they were still unable to solve the encrypted passwords, no matter how hard they tried.

"Mr. Billion, its password 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 pass it on from generation to generation?" Steve laughed.

Marcus was embarrassed. He didn't know what to say at that moment.

"Mr. Marcus, let's cut the crap. 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 pawn 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 hardship. 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 partnership 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 assume 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!