RinoZ
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Chapter 1674 - Shake Your Money Maker pt 4
🕑 Added 2025-09-12 02:00:05 +0000 UTCOf all the champions born to the Colony, it would be difficult to say which was the most disruptive. Solant is obviously a strong contender, reshaping the way the family approached war and instilling a… particular focus and drive towards victory that hadn’t existed before.
In her own way, Merchant was exceptionally influential to the fate of the family. For good or for ill, she forever changed the relationship between the Colony and wealth, and how we interacted with the outside world. This came with many benefits, yet also many drawbacks, entangling us in ways we did not expect, and that were difficult to cut loose when the time came.
- Excerpt from the private notes of Historiant.
The Brood Tenders had no idea what to make of this situation. The hatchling was showing interest in something. That was good! But they had no idea what it was or how it worked. That was bad!
How could they help guide the new champion and give her advice if she was already doing something they didn’t understand? The simple answer was, they couldn’t! Yet it was their role and purpose to help rear and guide the young, so they did their best to understand it.
Inside the brood chamber, surrounded by eggs and larvae, the hatchling had asked the soldiers to place a box for her, and then asked the Tenders to make sure the larvae didn’t eat it. Which they would, if given half a chance. They would eat anything.
Obviously, the Brood Tenders had insisted the box and all its contents be given a thorough inspection and acid wash to ensure it was properly clean before reluctantly agreeing. They didn’t want to put up barriers for the new champion so early in her development, but they weren’t really comfortable with anything being brought into the brood chamber.
“So can you try and explain this to us again?” Attendant, the chief Brood Tender in charge of the new champion asked.
“It’s so simple,” the hatchling said. “I’ve created a store that holds money for people.”
“They just… give you money?” she said.
Attendant didn’t really understand the idea of money in the first place, but she knew it was some human thing and they seemed rather obsessed with it.
“I’ll give it back to them,” the hatchling said. “They are giving it to me for safety. The humans are worried someone is going to steal their money, so they give it to me, and I will store it here in the nest. Now they don’t have to worry anymore.”
Well, it would certainly be difficult to go into a Brood Chamber and take anything out of there without thousands upon thousands of ants hunting you down. You had to get past those ants to get in there in the first place.
“But don’t you also pay them for giving you money?”
“Yes,” the hatchling nodded, “an interest payment.”
“Interest in what?”
“Money.”
“I… I see.”
This was all rather confusing, but she was desperate to be supportive.
“It’s all very clever,” she assured the little hatchling. “But don’t you want to make money?”
“Of course,” the little hatchling nodded eagerly. She had been overjoyed to find something she wanted to make. Money, as it turned out. How this would be useful to the Colony, Attendant had no idea. If only the Eldest were able to come up and speak to the little one, perhaps they might be able to make some sense of it.
“So how are you making money if you are giving it away?”
“Two ways,” the hatchling said, ticking them off on her antennae. “First, the fees give me an influx of coins I can use to cover the interest payments. Most people won’t be able to save enough money to completely eradicate the fees, so I will earn money from those accounts each year. The second way,” she said confidently, “is by using this money to make more money,” she tapped the box for emphasis.
“Isn’t that other people’s money?” Attendant said. “How are you going to spend it when it isn’t yours?”
“It was part of the contract they signed when creating their account. I’m allowed to allocate up to fifty percent of their funds for investing.”
This was just… so confusing.
“And they’re… fine with that?”
“The deposits are also fully guaranteed by the Colony, so there isn’t really any risk to them.”
“What does that mean?”
The little hatchling looked away.
“It means the Colony will pay them back if I make a mistake and lose their money…”
That… didn’t seem good.
“Are you going to lose their money?” Attendant asked, suspiciously.
“Of… of course not!” the hatchling said. “I’ll be very careful with it. It’s just like the human Jasper said to me yesterday, ‘sometimes you have to spend money to make money’. Now I have some money,” she tapped the chest again, “so I can start spending it to make more!”
“And you’re sure nothing will go wrong?”
“I’m very sure,” the little hatchling declared, nodding for emphasis. “Nothing can possibly go wrong.”
Comments
Marter
What do you mean cut loose? What happened?!!!
nixytrixy
Nevermind patrion was just being glitchy
nixytrixy
I was reading on royal road before which is at chapter 1644 and now that I got the patron sub I can only see chapters 1666-present. Does anyone know where I can find the chapters in missing?
Brian Schwab
But if Anthony knows any history at all, he could at least vaguely describe the Great Depression, even if he doesn’t know exactly what caused it or how it happened, knowing about the possibility would allow the smarter ants to think on it and how to avoid it in there future endeavors at the set up phase.
Greyg
Go even further with swarm and energy based evolutions an anternet is possible
Vampiric Dust
The only real element Merchant is missing is Credit. Banks operate based on the cash staying put. What happens is when people deposit their money, their money is now the bank's money while the bank credits their account. In the US, banks are obligated to cover 10% of all deposits with on hand cash. The rest of the funds are covered with credits. Banks mostly move funds through credits rather than the cash. Physical cash doesn't match the full credited accounts, but banks transfer cash between them to cover credit imbalances between them. So if say bank A nets -$1000 in a day in transactions to bank B, they send $1000 cash to bank B to pay off the transactional debt. Even if there was $20 billion in transactions between the banks, they only really move the difference. For the Colony, they could monopolize the payment and banking industry. Since they would be the only bank, they don't have to transfer cash externally. They only need local cash on hand for withdrawals and the rest is handled by moving numbers on paper. With long range communications, the Colony could set up the first global payment and banking system... Greedant.
Silent Consent
Lmfao, well let’s take people and give them loans to buy houses and then package those loans into securities we sell on the stock market which we use to give more loans and sell more securities. It’s perfect!
Rahsheem Reid
Only for a little bit, gandolf willing
Navarog
Colony signed onto it, because member of the colony is doing this. Try to remember first chapters when The Queen went for most of Antony plans just because he was part of colony and wanted only good for family.
Sean
Yes, nothing ominous here. Just some wholesome good stuff gonna happen soon.
FroggingurMom
Where were you for the Great Colony Market Crash of '74?
CentaureHeart
I can feel the whacking from the Eldest coming.
Greyg
Now we get a champion without the guidance of Anthony let chaos ensue guaranteed by the Colony
Collector of Stories
Well that opening excerpt and the ending aren’t ominous at all
Ben
Hopefully this doesn’t mess up the incorruptibility vibe of the colony and they don’t have a massive market crash
Fred Bright
Freely admitting that the Colony is not exploitative and the idea of such is abhorrent to the Family, including their Champions.
Fred Bright
Love the idea of Merchant...wonder how the Brathians will feel in the coming years! (if this foreshadows the appearance of Marxant...this should be interesting!)
alt31415
o no
Alessandro Mattioli
Beginning sentence for the next chapter “Everything Went Wrong”
Hayden Leech
I kinda love it. Merchant and her cabal of Capitalists. Making ridiculous amounts of money with the rest of the colony just thinking they are weird. There’s like an exploitative insurance ceo ant. Insurant! An arms dealer ant “war is good for business!” Advertisemant!!! Obnoxiously stuffing ads on everything!! Or maybe just a scene where people are scratching their heads at how the colony just seems to have a financial stake in pretty much everything now. “What do you mean the Colony owns stock in the Legion! That doesn’t even make sense!”
S10NN4CH
Famous last words
Hayden Leech
So Accountant definitely needs to become a new class of ant like Carver and Soldier. Merchant is going to need an army of AccountAnts to manage the colonies various enterprises.
giann flroesca
**insert stereotypical villain music when villain starts scheming**
A Reader
I think Merchant committed Identity Theft. The colony didn’t sign onto it. I wonder what they’ll do when there is inevitably a Bank Run and they end up on the hook for something they didn’t sign up for
Koala Man
Brathians need somewhere safe to keep their money too. No where will be safer
Buck
Well, Merchant is nothing if not convinced of her own infallibility!!
Roombot
Quick, introduce her to the brathians!!!
Pockman
“The Great Depressant was a devastation that bankrupted the Ant Home of Renewal”
Rene Duvall
Im sure many things went very wrong
jeffrey niski
I retract my comment from yesterday. She's going to flush all their money down the drain.
Cylar
So young yet already tempting fate.
A Reader
BANK RUN INCOMING. Also treating the colony like the Fed ha ha.
Kail311
Famous last words, lol. I can't wait for Merchant to find their footing and eventually interact with the Barathians. Funnily enough, I don't think Anthony would be able to help this champion much. Even as a human, he didn't exactly have an economics background.
kev mil
Famous last words
Shakyamunie
Oh lord she's on the Ponzi route...
Ez
Said the ant as the universe began creating ways to take the humans money —historiant to a queen as she told the tale of merchant over tea
Tosk
Next chapter title: "Something went wrong."
Rahsheem Reid
RinoZ this chap is hitting close to the banking system that runs the world lol im here for it!…hopefully “they” don’t catch wind.
Hamish Gamma
So true nothing can go wrong
Yeslek Nnamhctits
Oh man, she gonna collapse the economy... Brathians are gonna be so confused
