157: Chapter 157 Faith Collapses, Divinity's Stock Price Plummets

Two world-ending attacks hit Lin Chen at the exact same moment.

Above, Gramer's massive mouth, spanning half the Divine Realm, clamped down. The moment the fangs closed, a terrifying suction capable of devouring planes erupted—this wasn't a physical attack, but a consumption aimed directly at the concept of 'existence'!

Below, a torrent of destruction formed by three hundred and sixty-five gods burning their lives crashed in. It was the accumulation of ten thousand years of rage and despair from the Divine Realm; every wisp of energy was enough to annihilate the soul of a Master God-level powerhouse!

At the central point where the two attacks converged—

Space vanished.

It wasn't shattered; it was completely 'gone.' That area turned into pure nothingness, where even the concept of 'being destroyed' no longer existed.

“Boss—!!!”

Zhang Hao's eyes nearly split from strain in the nest.

Su Qingyu's figure, halfway through a dash, froze in mid-air, her face deathly pale.

Michael and the members of the Reformist Faction closed their eyes in despair.

It’s over...

No matter how strong the Lord of the Underworld is, he couldn't possibly survive such an attack...

Even Gramer let out a satisfied chewing sound, its giant mouth slowly closing, preparing to enjoy the pleasure of 'digestion'—

But the next second.

The giant mouth stopped.

No, it was stuck.

Like biting into an indestructible lump of iron, an ear-piercing grinding sound screeched between the fangs.

And the torrent of destruction formed by the gods burning their lives—

After rushing into that area of nothingness, it all vanished.

It wasn't neutralized, nor was it absorbed.

It was like water poured into a desert, disappearing without a trace.

silence.

A deathly silence.

And then—

In the nothingness, a speck of light glowed.

It wasn't holy light, nor was it nether fire.

It was... the cold light of an electronic screen.

A massive, semi-transparent holographic screen slowly emerged from that void.

The screen displayed complex stock market K-line charts, with red and green curves jumping frantically.

Below the screen sat a figure.

Lin Chen.

He was sitting in an executive chair with his legs crossed, holding a cup of steaming coffee, with a laptop set up in front of him.

Completely unscathed.

Not even a wrinkle on his clothes.

“Tsk.”

Lin Chen took a sip of coffee, looked at the data on the screen, and frowned:

“It's falling a bit fast.”

He looked up at the giant mouth stuck in the sky, then down at the gods who had begun to disintegrate from burning their lives, only to find their attacks completely ineffective and fall into a daze.

“Everyone, excuse me for a moment.”

Lin Chen tapped on the keyboard:

“Before I handle this 'business dispute'—”

“Can you let me finish my work before the market closes?”

Melodramatic reversal:

On the holographic screen, the K-line charts scrolled rapidly.

On the left side of the screen, rows of golden text were clearly listed:

【Divine Realm Faith Concept Stocks - Real-time Quotes】

1. War Godhead (Ticker: ZG001)

Current Price: 9,872 God Crystals/Share

Change: -89.7%

Status: Limit Down

2. Sun Godhead (Ticker: ZG002)

Current Price: 8,451 God Crystals/Share

Change: -91.2%

Status: Limit Down

3. Thunder Godhead (Ticker: ZG003)

Current Price: 7,932 God Crystals/Share

Change: -93.1%

Status: Limit Down

...

A total of three hundred and sixty-five 'Godhead Stocks,' all hit their limit down!

And they were still plummeting!

“This... what is this?!” Helios looked at the stock representing his own Godhead, his voice trembling. “My Godhead... when did it become... a stock?!”

“Three hours ago.” Lin Chen didn't even look up, his fingers tapping quickly on the keyboard. “While you were busy holding meetings to elect a new god, I used the Underworld Group's credit line to perform 'securitization packaging' on the Godheads of all gods in the Divine Realm on the 'Multiverse Concept Trading Market.'”

He pulled up a document:

“To put it simply, I split each of your Godheads into a hundred million 'Godhead Concept Shares' and then listed them for IPO.”

“I was planning to wait until the acquisition was complete to operate slowly, but you just had to make a move—”

Lin Chen pointed to the sky:

“As a result, Gramer swallowed twenty-seven Master Gods, causing 'investment confidence' in the Divine Realm to plummet.”

“Add to that the wave of advertisement bombardment I just did, making the believers start to question your 'product strength.'”

“So—”

He hit the Enter key.

On the screen, the drop in all Godhead stocks simultaneously broke past -99%.

“It crashed.”

Lin Chen picked up his coffee and took a sip:

“Now, the total market capitalization of each of your Godheads has dropped to less than 1% of what it was before the war.”

“In other words—”

He looked at Helios:

“You, the Sun God, are now worth... hmm, about eighty thousand nether talismans.”

“At the current exchange rate, that can buy a decent commuter car.”

Helios: “...Pfft!”

A mouthful of golden divine blood sprayed out!

It wasn't from injury; it was pure—rage!

“You... you dare to treat my Godhead... like a stock to be traded?!” He trembled all over, the light wings on his back extinguishing one by one. “This is sacrilege! This is—!!”

“This is a legal business activity,” Lin Chen interrupted him. “Notarized by the Scales of Truth. Although the ownership of your Godheads is still in your hands, I have temporarily obtained the 'trading rights' and 'valuation rights' through the 'securitization agreement.'”

He paused:

“By the way, when you burned your lives to attack me just now—”

“It triggered the 'Vicious Sell-off Clause' in the agreement.”

“So now, 50% of the 'Godhead Stocks' held by each of you has been forcibly listed for sale by the system.”

“The buyer is...”

Lin Chen pointed at himself:

“Me.”

As the words fell.

All the gods simultaneously felt—

Inside their bodies, half of their Godhead authority had vanished!

It wasn't stripped away; it... really turned into stocks and was sold!

“No—!!!”

Screams of agony echoed through the Divine Realm!

The gods frantically checked their Godheads, only to find in despair—Lin Chen was telling the truth!

They now truly possessed only half of their Godheads!

The other half of the authority had already been transferred to Lin Chen's name!

And even more terrifying—

Since only half of the Godhead remained, their strength also plummeted instantly!

The side effects of burning their lives began to explode; over a hundred gods' divine bodies directly disintegrated, dissipating into specks of light!

The remaining ones were all weakened, barely able to even maintain flight!

Thrilling satisfaction:

Just as the gods fell into a collective breakdown—

In the sky, Gramer's stuck giant mouth suddenly let out a world-shaking... burp.

“Burp—”

With this burp, the giant mouth snapped open!

It didn't open voluntarily; it was forced open!

Because inside its mouth, the rule-based wounds left by the explosion of those twenty-seven Master God Godheads were now frantically expanding!

Every wound was tearing at its concept of existence, and every wound was releasing... black, viscous, resentment-filled—faith residue!

That was the power of faith from believers that hadn't been fully digested within the twenty-seven Master Gods when they were devoured!

But this faith was now entirely polluted!

Polluted by Gramer's abyssal aura, polluted by the resentment of the Godhead explosions, and... polluted by the 'conceptual virus' hidden in Lin Chen's 1 nether talisman coin!

“Bleargh—!!”

Gramer began to vomit violently!

It vomited black blood, mixed with shattered Godhead fragments, prayer shadows of believers, and... countless electronic screens still playing advertisements!

Those screens poured out of its mouth like a plague, proliferating frantically in the air, instantly covering the entire sky!

The screens scrolled with the message:

【Abyssal Lord Gramer, due to defaulting on a debt of 81 trillion nether talismans, all assets under its name have been frozen】

【Including but not limited to: Ownership of the 73rd layer of the Abyss 'Molten Iron Hell,' control over the 300,000 God-Eroding Beasts Legion, and the stock of 937 Godheads devoured over the past 30,000 years...】

【Bankruptcy liquidation auction currently in progress, starting price: 1 nether talisman】

【Interested parties please contact the Underworld Group Asset Disposal Department】

“No—!!!”

Gramer let out a scream even more shrill than the gods:

“That's mine! My property—!!!”

It frantically tried to close its mouth, wanting to take back the vomit, but—

It couldn't.

Because that 1 nether talisman coin was now stuck deep in its throat, growing frantically like a tumor, extending countless fine 'rule chains' that firmly locked its devouring organ!

“I forgot to tell you.”

Lin Chen finally stood up from his executive chair.

He walked to the holographic screen and pulled up another document:

“Those twenty-seven Godheads you swallowed just now—I tampered with them a bit.”

“It wasn't a virus, but a 'Debt Transfer Agreement.'”

“The content of the agreement is simple: whoever swallows these Godheads automatically inherits their corresponding—Divine Realm External Debt.”

Lin Chen looked at the scrolling data on the screen:

“Over the past 30,000 years, to maintain operations, the Divine Realm has cumulatively borrowed... about 3,700 trillion nether talismans from major financial institutions in the multiverse.”

“These debts were originally dispersed among all the gods, but because you swallowed twenty-seven Master Gods—”

He paused:

“So now, the debts under those Master Gods have all been transferred to you.”

“Plus the 81 trillion you originally owed me...”

Lin Chen showed a professional smile:

“A total of 3,781 trillion nether talismans.”

“May I ask—”

“Cash or card?”

Gramer's giant mouth froze completely.

Its 3,600 compound eyes simultaneously lost their luster.

Because it felt—

The fundamental laws of the multiverse had truly begun to execute!

Its nest in the 73rd layer of the Abyss, the Godhead collection it had amassed over 30,000 years, all its legions... were all being forcibly stripped away and were starting to be packaged for auction!

“I... I...”

Gramer opened its mouth, wanting to say something.

But in the end, it only spat out a sentence full of extreme frustration and despair:

“...Can I pay in installments?”

The hook:

Before Lin Chen could answer—

From deep within the Divine Realm, in the ruins of the Pantheon that had already fallen silent, a massive roar suddenly erupted!

It wasn't combat; it was...

The sound of an engine starting.

Immediately after, three massive metal dreadnoughts, large enough to blot out the sun, slowly rose from the ruins!

The surfaces of the dreadnoughts were covered in dense divine-script armor, with the emblem of the Divine Realm carved on the bow, but on the sides of the hulls were eye-catching words:

【Ark No. 1 · Old God Court Exclusive Escape Ship】

【Ark No. 2 · God King Direct Lineage Reserve Ship】

【Ark No. 3 · Core Asset Transfer Ship】

“That's... the Ark Project!” Michael screamed in shock. “They're really going to run—!!”

The dreadnoughts began to accelerate, charging toward the rift in the sky!

And on the ships, they were clearly carrying—

The last three 'Faith Refineries' of the Divine Realm, ninety-seven Divine Treasure Vaults, and...

All the family members and confidants of the Old God Court high-ranking officials who were still alive!

Helios looked at those three dreadnoughts, the last sliver of light in his eyes extinguishing.

“So... those of us fighting desperately on the front lines... were really just... pawns to be discarded...”

He laughed miserably, looking at Lin Chen:

“You won.”

“The Divine Realm... is finished.”

After saying that, his divine body began to completely disintegrate, turning into countless specks of light and dissipating in the wind.

Other gods followed suit one after another.

One by one, they dissipated.

And in the sky, Gramer was still struggling with its debt.

The three Arks were about to escape.

The entire Divine Realm fell into complete chaos and despair.

But Lin Chen—

He smiled.

“Who said that?”

He looked up at the three dreadnoughts, a cold light flashing in his eyes:

“The play is only halfway through—”

“How can the actors leave the stage early?”

He raised his hand toward the sky and snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The crisp sound echoed in every corner of the Divine Realm.

The next second—

The images on all the screens playing advertisements switched simultaneously.

They switched to a massive, blood-red countdown:

【Underworld Group "Divine Realm Asset Restructuring Auction"】

【About to Begin】

【Countdown: 10 Seconds】

【Auction Items Include but are not limited to: The three Ark dreadnoughts, Faith Refineries, Divine Treasure Vaults... and】

【Total ownership of Abyssal Lord Gramer】

The countdown began to tick down.

10.

9.

8...

Gramer: “???”

High-ranking officials on the Arks: “???”

All surviving beings of the Divine Realm: “???”

Lin Chen turned around, walked back to his executive chair, and sat down again.

He picked up the now-cold coffee and took a sip.

“Now—”

He looked at the numbers jumping on the screen and said softly:

“Time to liquidate.”