Yama Rising

In the peaceful graveyard, Edward was standing in complete silence.

He was completely rooted to the spot, and a single thought filled the entirety of his mind: It's here! A being from that world has responded to me! After 10 years of waiting, it's finally here!

He couldn't help but fall to his knees and bring his palms together again, praying devoutly with all his might. Amid his prayers, a young voice rang out from the other side of the door. "Open up your consciousness and don't resist me."

All of the plant life in the entire private area abruptly swayed again as if a deity had just walked past, but it had left no trace whatsoever in its wake.

Around 10 minutes later, the metal door was opened, and Edward re-emerged.

However, what was different was that when he had entered the graveyard, he had been slightly hunched over, but he was now standing ramrod straight, and his slightly murky eyes were now glowing brightly.

"What a terrible vessel," he murmured to himself. "The body is pretty strong and fit, but there are some hormonal imbalances and it's suffering from the triple threat: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood lipidity... What is this piece of trash that Rick has organized for me? Forget it, I'll forgive you seeing as you're already dead."

Given how outrageously handsome I am, surely he should've tracked down a more handsome vessel! What is this greasy middle-aged host?

He adjusted his own tie, then stuck his hands into his pockets before casually strolling along the stone path.

The good thing about possession was that it allowed him to obtain all of his host's knowledge and memories, so he wasn't unfamiliar with the Rose Hills Mortuary even though he had never been here before. However, he didn't want to leave right away. Instead, he fell into deep thought as he walked along the path.

What should I do now?

Despite his verbal complaints, he was actually quite pleased with this arrangement.

There had to be at least tens of thousands, if not over 100,000 police officers like Edward in Usonia, and the biggest advantage he had was that he was ordinary and completely unremarkable.

Another advantage was his occupation.

Police officers could access many files that were inaccessible to normal people, and he wouldn't attract any attention when entering affluent residential areas. The first thing that he had to find out was what exactly had happened to the First Usonian Bank.

"In Usonia, it's very difficult for banks to close down, most banks that disappear are simply merged with other banks. However, the items being stored in the banks would be left untouched, so Xu Fu's notes definitely still haven't been discovered. The biggest possibility is that it's still sitting in the storage rooms of the First Usonian Bank."

A contemplative look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "However, it's been a very long time since the First Usonian Bank has been around, so it has to have been merged with another bank. All I have to do is find out where it is and who the manager of the vault is, and it'll be a simple task to secure the notes."

Right at this moment, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and cast his gaze forward.

Perhaps it was out of habit, but he had already made his way back to the guard post. The elderly man in the guard post had his back firmly pressed against his chair, looking as if he were about to rush out of the room at any moment, and his mouth was gaped wide open in shock and horror as he stared at Edward.

In Edward's eyes, this wasn't an elderly man at all. Instead, it was an undead corpse.

He gave the elderly man a faint smile, and the elderly man immediately collapsed to the ground, seemingly having fallen unconscious. Only then did Edward depart from the mortuary with a sly smile on his face.

………………………………………………

It was now the next day since Qin Ye had possessed Edward, and his fingers were currently flying across his keyboard.

In order to do what he wanted to do, he had to take care of some matters first. Thus, he immediately submitted an application to take a month of accumulated annual leave. His supervisor had not been very pleased to hear this, telling him that if he wanted to take such a long break, then he could pack his bags and go work at a rural police station, but he remained completely unfazed.

Of course, after leaving Usonia, he was going to leave Edward with a sum of money that would be sufficient to cover all of his expenses until the day he died. He didn't want to owe anyone anything, particularly when it was very likely that Edward really would find himself working in a rural police station once he regained control over his own body.

On top of that, he also ordered pizza delivery for three meals every day.

Usonian was a very strange nation. Depending on how one looked at it, the people there could be referred to either as hospitable or nosy. In Cathay, even if a tenant were to go several days without eating, no one would care. However, in Usonia, there really would be overly hospitable neighbors knocking on your door to check on you if they noticed you weren't eating.

After resolving all of those issues, he withdrew all of Edward's savings from the ATM, then began his search.

What was quite commendable was that Edward had been saving up for this very day, so his savings were quite appreciable. The average salary in Usonia was around 43,000 USD, yet his salary was around 55,000 USD. Of course, there were additional benefits for those working in the Usonian police force. Edward was receiving the wage of a federal police officer, and state police officers received an even higher salary to the tune of 65,000 USD, while regional police officers earned roughly 60,000 USD.

During the past decade, he had managed to save up over 400,000 USD!

He was earning the income of a Usonian while exercising the saving principles of a Cathayan. It had to be said that he was truly a devout believer.

Several hours later, he finally exhaled as he stared at the windows open on his computer screen with a contemplative expression.

"I have to say, this bank is far more prominent than I imagined!" He picked up a cup of Coke as he read from the screen with slightly furrowed brows, "In the seven years following the war of independence in 1790, Usonian was faced with crippling debt and severe economic difficulties. The minister of finance at the time, Alexander Hamilton, proposed the idea of a privately owned bank. Its headquarters was going to be set at Philadelphia, and it was going to gather all of the personal wealth of the nation's affluent individuals. However, his good friend, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson objected to the idea, stating that a privately owned centralized bank releasing common currency posed an even greater threat to the freedom of the general public than even enemy armies..."

He raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. Wasn't this the difference between a capitalist bank and a socialist bank?

Capitalist banks were privately owned, and that was how consortiums came into existence. In contrast, socialist banks were owned by the state, so it was very difficult for consortiums to emerge under a socialist political system.

Looking back at the developmental history of consortiums, banks perhaps weren't their origin points, but in the process during which consortiums had become a force to be reckoned, banks had definitely played a massive and undeniable role.

"This proposal sparked a debate of unprecedented levels of intensity, and in the end, it was approved by the parliament by the slightest of margins. However, despite this, the president at the time, George Washington, was quite hesitant about how to proceed. This was because this proposal clearly conflicted with the constitution, and he was even prepared to veto against the bill. Upon hearing about this, Alexander Hamilton immediately approached the president to try and persuade him, bringing out his decisive trump card, which was the notion that if they didn't do this to attract injections of foreign funds, the government would collapse very shortly. Under this immense pressure, the Washington administration authorized the establishment of Usonia's first centralized bank on the 25th of February, 1971. It went against the contents of the proposal to construct the bank from scratch, and the main clause in the proposal was that the bank wasn't going to be a part of the government system, so they picked one bank in particular."

Qin Ye set down his glass of coke and began to stare intently at the screen. In particular, he was looking at the line that read: "The First Usonian Bank, a privately owned bank."

That was the extent of hte description.

This was the bank that would go on to become one of the most monumental banks in the history of Usonian, yet not a single word had been written about its owner, address, or the services that it provided.

Only the underworld would be aware of these things, while those in the mortal realm would only make rough records. Qin Ye was completely unconvinced that it was a coincidence that the bank that had been chosen at the time was the First Usonian Bank, a bank that just so happened to be owned by the Freemasonry.

Was this an attempt made by a supernatural power to try and make contact with the mortal realm?

Was this a plot for a supernatural force to extend its reach deep into this newly founded nation at the time?

Qin Ye didn't know the answer to that, but he was certain that the circumstances behind all of this had to be extremely complex.

He continued reading.

"This piece of news immediately attracted the attention of all of the world's top consortiums. This was an opportunity to seize control over the financial fate of a nation, and thus, countless sums of foreign funds invaded Usonia, helping it endure the most difficult period in its history. At the same time, it set the foundation for the emergence of all of the major consortiums in the future, and the bank was named the First Bank of Usonia. In 1811, Nathan Rothschild became a major shareholder of the bank, and during the same year, due to differences in political opinions, Thomas Jefferson completely cut all ties with Alexander Hamilton. He was the one who had released the operating license for the First Bank of Usonia, so in 1811, the operating license officially expired. The opposition party, led by Thomas Jefferson, engaged in a fierce political clash with those in the government who had begun to reap the rewards of capitalism. In the end, the opposition party secured an extremely narrow victory in the House of Representatives, winning by the slim margin of 65 votes to 64. The votes were tied 17 to 17 in the senate, and the one who had cast the 65th vote in the House of Representatives had been none other than Vice-president George Clinton. In 1955, The First Bank of Usonian officially merged with the Rockefeller Family's Chase Bank, forming the Chase Manhattan Bank."

Qin Ye was feeling the onset of a headache after reading through this passage of history.

"These are the people most likely to have obtained the notes," he murmured to himself as he began to scribble names down onto a piece of paper. "Number one: the party in power at the time of the founding of the First Bank of Usonia. Number two: the subsequent parties that facilitated the merger between the two banks."

He paused momentarily before continuing, "Due to the fact that it's a merger, all of the stored items must be completely transferred, but approval from the owners of those stored items must be secured prior to that. However, they wouldn't have been able to get into contact with Xu Fu, so the following few outcomes could've arisen. Number one: the notes were stored in an alternate special location. Number two: the notes were stored with all of the other stored items, waiting for an inquiry to be submitted from the owner. After all, the owner of the notes had to be extremely wealthy to have been able to afford the expensive storage fees, and at the time, the First Bank of Usonia would've been scrambling to finalize the merger, so they would've most likely been hoping for Xu Fu to contact them and extend the duration of his storage."

The tip of his pen was quickly gliding over the surface of the paper, then suddenly drew to a halt. The pen was wavering in his hand, and he seemed to be hesitating about something. Only after a long while did he draw a circle around the second option.

In a nation like Usonia, where money often came first, there was a very good chance that the second option would be chosen. Otherwise, if they were to choose the first option, they would be able to process the item, thereby putting them at risk of incurring the ire of a major client.

If they had followed the second option, the party offering the service to Xu Fu would've changed, but at the very least, his needs would still have been satisfied.

He set down his pen and heaved a long sigh. "In that case, the notes should be in Philadelphia, but the issue is that the history of this damn bank is way too complicated! It's been under the ownership of both the Rothschild Family and the Rockefeller Family at certain points in history, and both of those are said to be important families in the Freemasonry. If they had discovered something, then Xu Fu's box would've definitely already been opened..."

Right at this moment a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Hold on...

He immediately sat up straight and began to read through the information on the webpage again.

"The First Usonian Bank, a privately owned bank." This was the only sign that the First Usonian Bank had ever existed.

Why was there such a massive coincidence? The Freemasonry had founded the First Usonian Bank, and after that, it had been under the ownership of two individuals suspected to have been Master Masons of the Freemasonry... Wasn't that a little too convenient?

Was there something special about the First Usonian Bank? Had it been selected to become the First Bank of Usonia through a fair process or was there artificial manipulation at play?