Ark Simulator, Aren't I Without a Physical Form?

"It's even worse in our mine." His companion rubbed his calloused hands, his knuckles large and calloused as if he'd spent years working with machinery. "The bank doubled the loan interest rates, and the foreman said if this keeps up, we'll have to lay off workers next month."

Ice Brew in wiping the glasses, her deer ears drooping slightly. "Lately, nine out of ten customers who come to drink complain about the bank."

Jessica blinked and turned to look at Su Rui: "Are the banks here really that bad?"

Su Rui took a sip of her drink and said calmly, "It's normal."

"Normal?" Jessica frowned. "What's normal about this?"

"Capitalism," Su Rui replied succinctly, as if those four words were enough to explain everything.

Ice Brew came over and refilled their glasses with hot mead. "If you want to stay, there are rooms available upstairs." She glanced at the increasingly fierce blizzard outside the window, "Going out in this weather will freeze your ears off."

Su Rui nodded. "How much?"

Ice Brew her hand. "Consider it a return gift for that meal."

Volume 14, Chapter 798: Money in the Bank

The guest room on the second floor was more comfortable than he had imagined. After checking the doors and windows, Su Rui casually stuck a miniature alarm on the window frame. Jessica sat on the edge of the bed, applying a hot towel to her face, peeking at him through her fingers as he worked.

"Do you think the bank problems they mentioned...?" She hesitated for a moment, "Are there really no way to solve them?"

Su Rui didn't turn her head. "Yes."

What method?

"Wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait until they break down on their own."

Jessica threw the hot towel at him. "What kind of solution is this!"

Su Rui caught it easily and hung it back on the shelf. He walked to the bed and sat down, the mattress sinking slightly. Jessica suddenly noticed that the ends of his black hair were still damp—he must have washed his face with cold water when she wasn't looking.

"Aren't you cold?" she couldn't help but ask.

Su Rui shook his head, took out a tactical tablet from the storage module, and began to look through the mission briefing. Jessica leaned closer, rested her chin on his shoulder, and breath brushed against his ear.

"The bank that worker mentioned..." she asked softly, "Is there really no way to resolve this?"

Su Rui's finger paused on the screen for a second. "Yes."

What method?

"Bang."

He made a trigger-pulling gesture.

Jessica's eyes widened. "Su Rui!"

"Just kidding." Su Rui closed the tablet, her tone as calm as if she were discussing tomorrow's breakfast. "Blacksteel doesn't take political assassination jobs."

Jessica stared at him for three seconds, then suddenly lunged at him and grabbed his neck. "You scared me to death!"

Su Rui leaned back, sinking into the soft down comforter with her. Jessica's blue hair spread across his chest like a small starry sky.

Night had fallen, and the wind and snow continued to howl outside the window. In the tavern downstairs, Ice Brew was packing a hot soup for the last customer—the father who kept talking about the cost of his medicine.

"Take it with you," her voice drifted up through the wind and snow, "The child needs to grow; he can't go hungry."

Upstairs, Jessica curled up next to Su Rui, listening to his steady heartbeat, and gradually drifted off to sleep.

No matter how heavy the wind and snow, it cannot extinguish the warmth in this room.

The first rays of morning light streamed into the bar through the icy windows, the empty glasses on the bar still warm from the night before. Jessica held a hot cocoa in both hands, her long blue hair casually tied back and falling over her shoulders. She stared at the slowly swirling cream in the glass, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Su Rui," she suddenly said, "I want to help them."

Su Rui sat next to her, peeling an apple with a dagger. A long strip of peel hung down onto the bar. Without looking up, he simply said, "Hmm."

"Just 'hmm'?" Jessica turned to look at him. "Don't you think we should do something?"

Su Rui stopped what she was doing, looked up at her, and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know..." Jessica bit her lower lip, "But those workers can't even afford their children's medicine, yet the banks are still raising interest rates..."

Su Rui cut the peeled apple into small pieces and pushed them in front of her. "Blacksteel's rule is not to interfere in local politics."

"This isn't politics!" Jessica poked a piece of apple with her fork. "This is... humanitarianism."

Seeing her puffed-up face, Su Rui's lips curled up slightly. "Humanitarianism?"

"Yes!" Jessica nodded vigorously, "We can hack into the bank's system and delete those unreasonable loan records, or..."

"Or just blow up the bank," Su Rui chimed in, her tone as calm as if she were discussing a breakfast menu.

Jessica nearly choked on her apple. "Su Rui!"

"Just kidding." Su Rui shrugged, but a sly glint flashed in his eyes. "... Probably."

Jessica glared at him. "Are you serious?"

Instead of answering directly, Su Rui pulled a miniature terminal from his tactical pouch and rapidly tapped on the virtual keyboard. A few seconds later, a holographic projection unfolded on the bar, displaying a series of complex banking data streams.

"The Seventh Mobile City-State of Columbia United Bank," he pointed to the data on the screen, "Uses old-fashioned encryption for its loan system, which is easier to breach than Franka's joke."

Jessica's eyes widened. "You really want to hack in?"

"Didn't you want to help?" Su Rui raised an eyebrow, "But..." He paused, "It will take some time."

Jessica's eyes lit up. She leaned closer to the screen, her blue hair falling onto Su Rui's arm. "What can I do?"

"Keep an eye on Ice Brew, but don't let her find out." Su Rui's fingers flew across the keyboard. "And by the way..." he gestured to the kitchen, "Make something else to eat, I'm hungry."

Jessica laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "All you ever think about is food!"

When Ice Brew came downstairs, she found the bar counter piled high with food—fried eggs, toast, hot soup, and even a small dish of honey cake. Jessica was humming a song as she poured juice into her glass, while Su Rui sat to the side, expressionlessly chewing on bacon.

"What are you all...?" The Ice Brew drinker perked up slightly, "Celebrating what?"

"Ah, Ice Brew!" Jessica exclaimed with a bright smile. "Come and have breakfast!"

Ice Brew glanced at them suspiciously, but the aroma of the food ultimately overcame her wariness. She sat down and took the hot tea Jessica offered. "You both look... exceptionally energetic today."

"Hmm." Jessica blinked. "Maybe she slept well."

Su Rui took a sip of coffee, her gaze sweeping over the terminal hidden under the bar—on the screen, the bank's firewall was being breached one by one without anyone noticing.

Jessica tapped her fingers lightly on the table, her blue hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She stared at the old-fashioned clock on the tavern wall, her gaze sharpening with each tick of the second hand.

"I've made up my mind," she suddenly said, her voice low, "I'm going to rob a bank."

Su Rui, who was wiping his tactical dagger, paused upon hearing this. He looked up, a barely perceptible hint of interest flashing in his dark eyes. "Reason?"

"Those workers need money," Jessica said firmly, "And the bankers clearly aren't going to reason with us."

Su Rui paused for three seconds, then pulled a data chip from her tactical pouch, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards her. "The structural diagram of the Seventh Mobile City-State Bank, including the ventilation system and the electronic lock model for the underground vault."

Jessica blinked. "You were all prepared?"

"Just an alternative." Su Rui's tone was as calm as if she were discussing the weather. "I've already taken care of the electronic access control, but there's one last problem—"

"Guards," Jessica interjected, her brow furrowing slightly.

Just then, the tavern door opened, and an elderly Sankta man with white hair walked in, leaning on a cane. His halo was somewhat dim, but his smile was exceptionally bright, "Oh my, isn't this the Ice Brew shop? I can smell the mead from afar!"

Ice Brew peeked out from behind the bar. "Old Mark? Aren't you a night security guard at the bank?"

Volume 14, page 799 is generally not acceptable.

"Shift change! Shift change!" The old man waved cheerfully. "Tonight it's my turn to guard the vault—" He suddenly lowered his voice, "I heard a new batch of chocolate Mousse arrived, specially prepared for the bank manager."

Jessica and Su Rui exchanged a glance.

Ten minutes later, Jessica pushed a plate of muffins drizzled with chocolate sauce in front of Old Mark. Sankta old man's aura instantly brightened. "Oh dear, I can't accept this—"

"We've heard that the bank's chocolate Mousse is famous," Jessica said with an innocent smile. "Could you bring us one?"

Old Mark's fork hovered in mid-air. "Well... it's not allowed according to the rules..."

Su Rui silently pushed a bulging envelope towards the old man. Curious, he opened it and found a whole box of limited-edition liqueur-filled chocolates inside.

Sankta's aura suddenly shone as bright as day. "Oh dear! This isn't the kind of thing used by the Victoria Royal Family—"

"As long as you 'take a nap' promptly at nine o'clock tonight," Jessica winked, "All of this is yours."

Old Mark solemnly put down his fork, looked around, and then suddenly lowered his voice. "I didn't hear anything... but my presbyopia flares up precisely at nine o'clock, and I also temporarily lose my hearing." He deftly stuffed the chocolate into his pocket, "For about... thirty minutes?"

"That's enough." Su Rui stood up. "It was a pleasure working with you."

At 8:55 p. m. that evening, the surveillance footage in the bank's underground vault suddenly flickered with static. Old Mark sat in the guardhouse, the box of chocolates in front of him, humming a tune as he poured himself a cup of black tea.

"Oh dear, getting old makes me sleepy..." He deliberately yawned exaggeratedly at the security camera, then slowly pressed the "Temporary System Maintenance" button. The alarm system immediately fell silent.

At the same time, the ventilation duct grille was gently moved aside. Jessica nimbly leaped down, followed closely by Su Rui, a sniper rifle slung over her back and a hacking terminal in her hand.

"Where are the guards?" Jessica asked in a low voice.

Su Rui pointed to the guardhouse—through the glass, they could see Old Mark winking at them while holding up a chocolate bar.

"Sankta's promise," Su Rui whispered, "Is more reliable than a safe."

Jessica couldn't help but chuckle, then said seriously, "Let's begin."

The electronic door to the vault slid open silently. Su Rui's terminal connected to the bank's main system, and numbers flowed across the screen like a waterfall.

"Thirty seconds," he said, staring at the countdown, "Take the marked box."

Jessica quickly located the safe marked with the Workers' Union logo. Inside were not cash, but stacks of loan agreements—the debt certificates that were suffocating the miners.

"Found it!" She stuffed the document into a waterproof bag.

Su Rui pressed the last button. "Withdraw."

As the two returned the way they came, Old Mark was still leisurely sipping chocolate in the guardhouse. Seeing them pass by, the old man raised his teacup in greeting. "The chocolate tonight was quite good, wasn't it?"

Jessica flicked a liqueur-filled chocolate into his palm. "I'll bring you some next time."

The next morning, news of the bank manager's furious outburst spread throughout the city. Meanwhile, the miners discovered that their loan records had mysteriously disappeared.

Ice Brew poured Jessica a glass of hot milk, her deer ears twitching slightly. "I heard the bank was robbed last night."

"That's terrible," Jessica said, taking a sip of milk. "What's gone?"

"Just some 'paper'," Ice Brew smiled meaningfully. "But Old Mark came to the shop this morning and said he received ten boxes of chocolates from an anonymous sender."

In the corner, Su Rui was wiping his sniper scope. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the barely perceptible curve of his lips.

Jessica swirled her milk glass, her blue hair shimmering in the morning light. "Some people just can't stand seeing others suffer."

Su Rui put away her gun and said calmly, "Yeah, especially when sweets can solve the problem."

Outside the window, the engines of the Seventh Mobile City-State finally resumed normal operation. The wind and snow gradually stopped, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on the long-lost smiles on the workers' faces.

In the Ice Brew pub, the firelight from the fireplace cast flickering shadows on the glass windows. Jessica leaned on the bar, her fingertips gently toying with a metal coin, which twirled between her fingers, occasionally reflecting the blue light of patrol cars outside the window.

Su Rui sat next to her, a cup of hot coffee in her hand, her gaze calmly sweeping over the investigators hurrying past on the street. Those people were wearing crisp uniforms, carrying notebooks, going door to door asking questions, their expressions serious and tired.

"They look really busy," Jessica said softly, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Su Rui took a sip of coffee, a hint of interest flashing in his dark eyes. "Inefficient."

Ice Brew emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray of freshly baked honey bread. Her deer ears trembled slightly. "This is the seventh batch. This morning was the seventh batch to be questioned." She placed the bread in front of the two men, lowering her voice, "You two seem quite relaxed."

Jessica picked up a piece of bread, and as she broke it open, a warm, sweet aroma filled the air. "We didn't do anything."

Su Rui glanced at her, said nothing, but reached out to wipe a little honey from the corner of her mouth.

The tavern door was pushed open, and a cold wind carrying snowflakes swept into the room. An investigator in a thick uniform walked in, his nose red from the cold, holding a clipboard in his hand. His gaze swept around the tavern, finally settling on the two people at the bar.

"Excuse me," his voice was tired and hoarse, "Just a routine question, where were you two between nine and eleven o'clock last night?"

Jessica blinked, her blue hair gleaming warmly in the firelight. "We've always been here."

"Really?" The investigator frowned. "Can anyone vouch for this?"

Ice Brew walked over at just the right moment, carrying a cup of hot tea. "They were drinking here last night, until closing time." She handed the tea to the investigator. "It's so cold outside, have something hot."

The investigator paused, his fingers trembling slightly as he took the teacup. "Th-thank you..." He lowered his head and took a sip, the steam blurring his glasses. "However, I still need to make a note of this..."

Su Rui pulled a receipt from her pocket and pushed it over. "Last night's drinks menu, the timestamp should be clear."