100: Chapter 100 Buyout Existence

"Pawn."

Lin Chen's icy voice fell, and his fingertip pressed down on the blood-red [Pawn] button on the [Highest Authority · Risk Protocol].

There was no brilliant light, no surging energy.

Only a deeper rule, one that touched the very foundation of existence, was violently leveraged!

[Pawn Protocol activated!]

[Pawned Item: Conceptual asset belonging to Contractor 'Lin Chen' — [humanity anchor].]

[Valuation confirmed... Based on the specificity of the target and the current emergency, the valuation is equivalent to the current existential value of the target 'Lord of the Ultimate End'.]

[Pawn Proceeds: One-time ultimate authority — [Right of Existence · Forced Purchase]!]

[Warning: During the pawning period, the humanity anchor is temporarily stripped, and emotions, empathy, and moral cognition enter a frozen state...]

An absolutely rational coldness, as if capable of piercing through the essence of all things, instantly filled Lin Chen's sea of consciousness. The last trace of human fluctuation in his eyes completely vanished. His gaze towards the Lord of the Ultimate End was like the most efficient program scanning an item about to be put into storage... cargo.

Almost at the same instant the pawning took effect, an invisible declaration, originating from the highest rules of the Underworld, disregarded the Lord of the Ultimate End's frantic self-destruct process and directly acted upon the root of its existence:

[Acquisition Target: 'Lord of the Ultimate End' complete Right of Existence (including consciousness, energy, rules, conceptual status).]

[Acquisition Consideration: Fully paid (Pawned Item: [humanity anchor]).]

[Acquisition Effectiveness Condition: Confirmation of target consciousness (rule enforced).]

[Acquisition Consequence: All ownership, control, etc., are transferred to the acquirer 'Lin Chen', and the original consciousness is immediately formatted.]

"Absurd!!!" The Lord of the Ultimate End's mental roar was filled with extreme absurdity, fear, and struggle! "I am the Incarnation of Termination! Eternal and everlasting! How can I... how can I be bought with money?!"

It could clearly "feel" that a higher, more fundamental rule was forcibly overriding and rewriting the "ownership" of its existence! It wasn't a clash of power, but rather... a forced change of property ownership!

It frantically accelerated its self-destruction even more, the light from its three core components already so intense that space itself was evaporating!

But, a strange thing happened.

Its act of mobilizing power, under the rule judgment of [Right of Existence · Forced Purchase], actually became... maliciously damaging "another's" asset without the owner's permission?

A powerful sense of stagnation and repulsion, originating from the rule level, like the toughest invisible chains, tightly wrapped around the three core components, making the world-destroying self-destruction process as slow and difficult as if it had fallen into an infinitely viscous swamp!

Its existence was being forcibly stripped from its identity as an "Incarnation of Termination" and redefined as a... "asset" awaiting delivery!

"Abandon futile resistance." Lin Chen spoke, his voice devoid of emotion, only the cold calculation based on maximizing efficiency, "Your act of resistance is significantly increasing the value loss during asset delivery, lowering the final assessed price."

This sentence made the Lord of the Ultimate End feel more shattered than any attack!

"Ant! I will drag you down with me!!" It burned with its last vestiges of madness, disregarding the rule's obstruction, determined to detonate even at the cost of damaging its core!

"Confirmed malicious asset destruction behavior." Lin Chen, in a state of absolute rationality, immediately made the optimal response. He instantly activated the system's [Asset Forced Management and Preservation Program].

[Detecting malicious asset destruction tendency in target!]

[Activating emergency preservation measures: 'Time Stasis' (localized), 'Energy Freeze' (core), 'Consciousness Isolation' (partial).]

[Execution Goal: Maximize preservation of asset integrity.]

[Cost: Borne by pawned authority.]

"Buzz!"

Three invisible shackles descended from thin air, falling precisely!

One enveloped the Lord of the Ultimate End's entire body, forcibly slowing the flow of time in its area to near stillness!

One ignored all obstacles, directly acting upon the three core components, forcibly "freezing" the boiling-hot Ultimate End power, like pressing an absolute zero pause button on a bomb about to explode!

The last one, like the sharpest scalpel, precisely severed most of the control links between the Lord of the Ultimate End's consciousness and its three core components, making it almost impossible for it to even "think" about self-destructing!

The Lord of the Ultimate End's massive eyes were now filled with extreme terror and disbelief! It could see, could "hear", could think, yet it had almost lost control over its own power, like an insect pinned to a specimen board; even self-destruction had become a luxury! For the first time, it clearly felt how ridiculous and powerless world-destroying power was in the face of higher-level rules!

"No... this is impossib..." Its mental fluctuations were weak and despairing.

Lin Chen paid no heed. Like the most demanding asset appraiser, he coldly "scanned" the Lord of the Ultimate End, this "asset" about to be acquired, conducting pure data analysis based on his frozen humanity.

"Overall energy structure integrity 85.7%, 'Spine End' core damage 14.3%, consciousness contamination extremely high, logic chaotic, requires formatting." He muttered softly, giving his final "assessment report."

Then, he looked up at the giant eye, temporarily "sealed" and unable to fully express even despair, and issued the final, undeniable "ownership transfer" notification:

"According to the ultimate clause of the 'Underworld Asset Transaction General Outline', the forced acquisition procedure has completed its preliminary steps."

"Now, for the target 'Lord of the Ultimate End', final ownership transfer and consciousness formatting will be executed."

He raised his hand and made a grasping motion towards the Lord of the Ultimate End. The action was less like destroying a world-ending existence and more like confirming receipt of a package.

"Formatting, initiated."

"From now on, all of you belongs to the Underworld, belongs to..."

"Me."