KA-CHING! CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-DING!
Above the mouth of Wormhole Expressway #200, the hundred-mile-wide Omni-Galaxy Tax & Utility Audit Array let out a ringing chime that echoed clearly across three hundred and fifty galaxies.
From the bottom slot of the giant holographic abacus, a glowing golden scroll unrolled across the dark void like a cosmic waterfall, projecting every single line item into the sky above every planet, moon, and asteroid station in the Local Supercluster.
Standing on his floating library cart, Abacus Su cleared his throat, tapped his brass magnifying glass against the glowing text, and read the audit aloud in his crisp, booming accountant’s voice:
“Official Municipal Audit Report #843-A! Debtor: The Nine-Suns Royal Family! Creditor: The Citizens of the 150 Central Galaxies and the Dry-Well Municipal Utility Board!”
Up on the jade platform of his golden flagship, Prince Zhao Lie gripped his longsword tightly, his teeth grinding together as he shouted, “No matter what lies you write on that glowing bedsheet, a royal prince never owes money to dirt-farming peasants!”
“Numbers never lie, Your Highness!” Abacus Su replied cheerfully, pointing his abacus rod at the first massive section of the glowing sky-bill.
For three full seconds, the entire space battlefield went so quiet that everyone could hear Old Guo’s soup pot bubbling at the toll booth.
