182: Conceptual futures

Chen Feng double-locked his office door, isolating himself from the noise and anxiety outside.

He sat in his wide executive chair and did not immediately start the system. Instead, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. Every inhale felt like filtering the decayed air of this planet into icy determination; every exhale was meant to expel that trace of trembling fear from the depths of his heart.

Ten minutes. He only gave himself ten minutes of weakness.

When he opened his eyes again, those black pupils were a dead abyss, showing not a hint of human emotion.

"System, connect to the 'Trading Atrium'."

"Call target: Sequence Zero."

The surrounding space instantly warped, familiar darkness and starlight intertwining to pull him into that virtual hall composed purely of information.

Directly in front of him, that eternally shifting blue light entity appeared as expected, floating in the void. It had no facial features or limbs, only countless bands of light representing logical operations frantically entangling, collapsing, and reorganizing at its core.

"Unit 734."

Sequence Zero's voice remained a flat, composite electronic tone without a trace of warmth. "According to the Pan-Universe Data Flow Macro Model analysis, your business entity, 'Hanhai Trade', will have its existence return to zero in 9 hours and 14 minutes of Standard Cosmic Time. Bankruptcy probability: 99.999%."

The blue light flickered slightly, as if scrutinizing a data packet about to dissipate.

"Initiating communication at this moment is logically unclear. If you are here to request unsecured aid, according to Article 7 of the Mechanical Pantheon External Interaction Protocol, it is rejected."

Chen Feng did not panic from having his desperate situation exposed. He even adjusted his posture to look more relaxed, as if he were sitting at the other end of a negotiation table rather than the edge of a cliff.

"I'm not here to request help, Sequence Zero."

Chen Feng's voice was terrifyingly calm, carrying a power of absolute certainty. "I'm here to give you an opportunity."

"Opportunity?" Sequence Zero's light entity paused for a moment, as if searching for the rationality of this word in this context. "Data does not support this conclusion."

"An opportunity for the Divine Court to monopoly the next century's 'non-logical fuel' at an unprecedentedly low cost."

Chen Feng gave the other party no time to retort. He suddenly raised his hand, palm up, and an extremely complex data interface emerged out of thin air.

"Remember that Ashen Earth Star geological data packet I 'gifted' you months ago? That was just bait."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth. "Now, I'll show you the real 'hole card'."

"Highest Authority, open."

Boom!

Following Chen Feng's command, countless red data torrents erupted from the interface in his palm, instantly washing over Sequence Zero's blue light entity.

It was a perspective.

It was the real-time perspective of every mining drone, every sensor, and every secret exploration tunnel spread deep beneath Ashen Earth Star.

Sequence Zero's blue light entity instantly expanded, and countless data tentacles greedily inserted themselves into this torrent.

In its 'vision', the Ashen Earth Star underground—previously described in external intelligence as 'resource-depleted and dead'—now presented a shocking sight.

In the dark depths of the crust, veins of 'undead crystal' flowed silently like underground star rivers. The automated mining lines improved by Eve were peeling, packaging, and transporting these high-purity crystals like precision scalpels.

That was no depleted wasteland.

That was a river flowing with gold.

"This... is logically mutually exclusive with Giant Star Mining's public financial reports and the reports from the Interstellar Geological Exploration Bureau..." Sequence Zero's voice stuttered for the first time, the frequency of its flickering light rising sharply. "Hard data confirmed. Resource reserves... exceed standards. Purity... exceeds standards. Your entity's control over core resources far exceeds model predictions."

"This is the information gap, Sequence Zero," Chen Feng said coldly. "Giant Star Mining thought this was a dump, but I turned it into a vault. And now, the key to this vault is in my hands."

The light slowly receded, and Sequence Zero returned to its calm blue form, but Chen Feng knew its calculation core must be running frantically at this moment.

"Please state your 'opportunity'."

"A set of 'conceptual futures'."

Chen Feng threw out the bombshell he had prepared long ago. "I will package and sell you Hanhai Trade's entire 'undead crystal' output for the next full year. The price... is 70% of the current market rate."

Sequence Zero's light flared up. For the Mechanical Divine Court, which urgently needed such resources for ascension experiments, this was practically a gift.

"Furthermore," Chen Feng continued to up the ante, "I'm also bundling the priority purchase rights for Hanhai Trade's upcoming second-generation energy blocks based on 'biocatalysis' technology. With a 200% performance increase, I'll give you an exclusive discount on those as well."

"Conditions?" Sequence Zero cut straight to the point.

"Prepayment."

Chen Feng held up one finger, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Full amount. Immediately. Into the account."

"That is illogical," Sequence Zero retorted immediately, its blue light turning sharp. "Your entity will go bankrupt in 9 hours. Once bankrupt, these futures contracts will become waste paper. Even if the resources exist, you will lose the mining rights. Full prepayment, risk coefficient: Infinite."

"Wrong."

Chen Feng stood up abruptly, leaning forward and staring at the light entity with intense aggression. "What if I don't go bankrupt?"

"If you give me this money, I won't go bankrupt. If I don't go bankrupt, I can continue to control these resources. This isn't just a deal, Sequence Zero, it's a 'causality' weapon."

"You aren't buying goods; you are buying the possibility that 'Hanhai Trade survives'."

Chen Feng's voice was low and full of seduction, every word sounding like a strike against Sequence Zero's logical core. "Giant Star Mining is an old-fashioned overlord; they would only treat these resources as trash. Only I, only Hanhai, can provide you with stable, pure, high-quality 'non-logical fuel'."

"If I fall, your evolution experiments will be delayed by at least five hundred years."

"Five hundred years might be just a moment for the eternal Divine Court. But in those five hundred years, will other competitors surpass you? Will other civilizations discover the value of these resources?"

"Have you calculated that risk?"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

In the Trading Atrium, only the massive data stream flowed silently through the void.

Sequence Zero fell into silence. Inside that blue light entity, countless runes were born, collided, and annihilated at a speed the naked eye could not catch. That was hundreds of millions of deductions per second, the ultimate gamble between reason and chance.

In the real world, Su Li stood in the command center, staring fixedly at the frantically ticking countdown.

"03:00:00".

"02:59:59".

Her palms were soaked in cold sweat, and she had bitten her lip until it bled.

"Chen Feng... what on earth are you doing..."

In the virtual space, these thirty seconds felt like a century to Chen Feng. His back was drenched in cold sweat, but he maintained his posture of having the victory in hand, even though his heart was nearly beating out of his chest.

Finally.

Sequence Zero's light entity underwent a violent tremor.

"Calculation complete."

That emotionless electronic voice sounded like heavenly music to Chen Feng's ears at this moment.

"This transaction presents a 73.4% short-term default risk. In standard commercial logic, this falls into the 'absolutely prohibited' category."

Chen Feng's heart sank.

"However," Sequence Zero's tone shifted, its voice gaining a strange fluctuation like electronic static, "if successful, our efficiency in acquiring 'non-logical variables' will increase by 4200%. Furthermore, the unpredictability of this variable (referring to you) is exactly the key parameter missing from our 'consciousness ascension' model."

"Conclusion: Extremely high risk, extraordinary reward."

"This kind of 'uncertainty' is the very essence of evolution."

Buzz—

With a soft sound, an electronic contract shimmering with golden light appeared out of thin air, slowly floating toward Chen Feng.

"Protocol approved. Funds have been allocated via quantum channel."

Chen Feng reached out, and the moment his fingertips touched the contract, he swayed as if he were about to collapse from exhaustion.

At this very moment, in the Hanhai Trade command center in the real world.

In the hall that had been deathly silent, save for the ticking of the countdown, a piercing notification sound suddenly erupted.

"Beep—! Large transfer notification received!"

Su Li snapped her head up, her bloodshot eyes widening instantly as if she were witnessing a miracle.

On the screen, the account balance that had dropped to three digits was, in this instant, like a nuclear-powered rocket—the numbers frantically jumped, rolled, and increased... until they became a string of astronomical figures so long she thought the system had glitched.

A massive wave of euphoria hit her chest like a sledgehammer. Su Li's vision went dark, and she nearly fainted, having to grip the edge of the console tightly just to remain standing.

The alarm lights extinguished one by one, replaced by a pleasant green light representing sufficient funds.

"We... we survived..."

Someone let out an unbelievable groan, followed immediately by deafening cheers.

Chen Feng cut the connection to the Trading Atrium and removed the neural connector.

He listened to the celebration coming from outside the door, but there was no joy on his face. He leaned back tiredly against his chair, looking at the ceiling, where the final words left by Sequence Zero seemed to linger:

"We have invested in the 'variable' itself. Now, prove to us that your existence is worth this calculation."

Chen Feng slowly clenched his fist.

This also meant that from this moment on, Hanhai Trade was no longer an independent entity; they now carried the weight of a mountain called the 'Divine Court' on their backs.

But so what?

A grim smile curled on Chen Feng's lips.

As long as he was still alive, there was a chance to turn the tables.

"Su Li." He opened the internal comms, his voice raspy but full of strength. "Don't faint. Wipe away your tears and get to work. We have money now... it's time to go buy some rope."

"Buy rope?" Su Li's voice carried a sob and a tremor.

"Yes." A cold light flashed in Chen Feng's eyes. "The rope to hang Hoffman."