158: Chapter 158 The Void Appears, The Last Fishman

"3."

"2."

"1."

"The auction begins!"

The moment the countdown hit zero, every screen in the entire God Realm simultaneously switched to the auction hall's feed.

The virtual auctioneer was a skeleton wearing a suit and tie—a guest appearance by Little Red Clothes' doll. Its voice had been processed to sound professional and enthusiastic:

"Distinguished guests! Welcome to the God Realm Asset Restructuring Auction hosted by the Underworld Group!"

"The first lot: Ark No. 1, equipped with one complete Faith Refinery, three Divine Hidden Treasuries, and a total of 37,500 family members and confidants of the Old God Court's high-ranking officials!"

"Starting bid: 10 billion nether talismans!"

"Each bid increment must not be less than 1 billion!"

"Starting now—!"

Before the words even finished—

"20 billion!" Gramer's giant mouth roared—He used the last of His strength to force out a bid. "My debtors are on that ship! Their property should go toward paying off my debts first!"

"30 billion." A strange electronic voice sounded—it came from an anonymous account belonging to the Technological Cultivation United Empire. "We are interested in the refinery technology."

"50 billion." The representative of the Scales of Truth calmly raised their paddle—while they were maintaining the fairness of the auction, they were also quietly bottom-fishing for deals.

The price skyrocketed frantically!

The high-ranking officials of the Old God Court on Ark No. 1 watched the live broadcast, their faces pale. They never dreamed that one day they would become—auction items!

"No! Stop!" In the Ark's command center, the former War God King Ares (who had snuck onto the ship) roared into the communicator, "Lin Chen! You can't do this! We are gods! Not commodities!"

"70 billion." Lin Chen sat in his boss chair and raised his own number paddle. "Furthermore, according to Article 33 of the Auction Law, the owners of the lot have no right to interfere with the auction process. Any more noise will be considered a disturbance of order, and you'll be fined 20% of the final sale price."

Ares: "..."

The price continued to climb.

Ark No. 2 and Ark No. 3 were also put up for auction one after another.

Gramer's total ownership was the grand finale item, with a starting bid of 1 nether talisman, but it was instantly bid up to the trillion level—after all, that was full control over an Abyssal Lord!

The entire God Realm, at this moment, turned into a massive auction house.

All living beings looked up, watching the numbers jumping on the screens, watching those once-high-and-mighty gods and monsters being clearly priced and fought over like radishes in a vegetable market.

Absurd.

But this was reality.

Cliché Plot Twist:

Just as the price of Ark No. 3 broke through 300 billion—

An anomaly occurred.

It didn't come from the auction site, nor from Gramer, nor from any of the bidders.

It came from... the God Realm itself.

The dense black cracks in the sky suddenly began to expand, connect, and merge rapidly!

In just three seconds, all the cracks merged into one—a massive black vortex that covered the entire sky of the God Realm!

In the center of the vortex, there was no darkness.

It was something more terrifying than darkness... nothingness.

Pure, absolute nothingness that even negated the very concept of "existence."

"High-dimensional invasion detected—"

The virtual auctioneer skeleton doll's voice suddenly glitched, and the screen began to flicker violently:

"Warning... Warning..."

"Unknown entity is forcibly connecting to the auction system..."

"Inbound identity identification: ...Unidentifiable... Conceptual level too high..."

Bang!

All screens went black at the same time.

It wasn't a malfunction; the screens themselves—had been erased from the conceptual level of "displaying"!

Immediately after, in the center of the vortex, an eye slowly emerged.

It wasn't a hideous compound eye like Gramer's, nor a majestic divine eye like a god's.

It was an eye composed purely of "non-existence."

It had no pupil, no white, no border—the moment you saw it, you would only feel the eerie cognition of "there should be something there, but there is nothing."

And the eye's gaze fell upon—

Lin Chen, at the auction site.

"Found... you..."

A voice rang out directly in the depths of all living beings' consciousness.

It wasn't language, nor was it a thought; it was a forced conceptual infusion:

"Lord of the Underworld..."

"You are very interesting..."

"But the game... should end now..."

The moment the words fell—

The eye blinked.

Just that one blink.

The "colors" of the entire God Realm began to vanish.

It wasn't turning black and white; the concept of color itself was being extracted!

The golden holy light of the sky faded to grayish-white, the white jade of the ground faded to grayish-white, and even those still-burning divine remains faded to grayish-white!

All living beings felt it—they were "fading"!

It wasn't death, but something more terrifying: their sense of existence was being diluted!

"What... what is this?!" Zhang Hao's voice trembled as he looked at his gradually transparent hands.

"The true form of the Void Devourer..." Su Qingyu struggled to resist that fading sensation. "It has been hiding behind the cracks... waiting for the right moment..."

"Now... the time has come..."

She looked at Lin Chen:

"It is devouring the 'concept of existence' of the entire God Realm!"

"Once the God Realm has completely faded... it will become part of the 'Void Domain'..."

"When that time comes... all living beings... will be completely erased from the history of the multiverse..."

Not even a name would remain!

Thrilling Satisfaction:

At the auction site, all the bidders panicked.

The representative of the Scales of Truth began an emergency teleportation evacuation—but the teleportation spell failed; space was locked down!

The Technological Cultivation Empire's account frantically sent out distress signals—but the signals were devoured by the void as soon as they were sent!

Gramer's giant mouth was trembling violently—He felt His massive body was also fading!

"No... no... I haven't paid off my debts yet... I can't die...!"

For the first time, the Abyssal Lord showed fear.

But the most terrifying thing was still those three Arks—

They were accelerating their escape, but their speed was getting slower and slower.

Because the concept of "propulsion" that drove them forward was being extracted!

The engines were still roaring, but the thrust produced... was becoming non-existent!

"Quick! Full power!" Ares roared in the command center, "Break out—!!"

But it was useless.

The Arks began to fade.

Starting from the bows, the metal turned grayish-white, then transparent, and finally... vanished.

It wasn't an explosion, nor was it disintegration.

It was being erased from reality, like pencil marks being rubbed away by an eraser!

The gods, family members, treasuries, refineries on the ships... everything was disappearing!

"Help—!!"

"I don't want to die—!!"

"Chairman Lin! Save us—!!!"

Wails resounded throughout the communication channel.

But Lin Chen still sat in his boss chair.

He looked at that eye for a long time.

Then, he spoke and asked a question that stunned everyone:

"Do you want to participate in the auction too?"

The eye: "..."

"According to the rules," Lin Chen pulled a document from his pocket, "if you want to participate in the bidding, you have to pay a deposit first."

"Deposit standard: 10% of the estimated value of the target item."

"What you want to bid for now is the entire God Realm—including the three Arks, ownership of Gramer, and all existing assets."

"The total valuation is approximately... well, let's round down the change and call it 50 quadrillion nether talismans."

"10% is 5 quadrillion."

Lin Chen reached out his hand toward the eye:

"Cash or card?"

The eye fell silent for a second time.

It had existed for untold eons and had devoured countless planes, but it had never encountered—

Someone asking it for a deposit?!

"Are you... provoking me?" For the first time, there was an emotional fluctuation in the eye's voice—confusion.

"No, I am acting according to the rules," Lin Chen said seriously. "If you want to buy the God Realm, you can. But you have to follow the formal process."

"Without paying the deposit, you cannot participate in the bidding."

"These are the business rules."

"Or rather—"

He paused, saying each word clearly:

"Do you think you can stand above the rules?"

These words were like a key.

The eye suddenly trembled violently!

Because it felt—in the void, that will of the multiverse's fundamental rules, which had once caused it to suffer a loss, had cast its gaze here again!

Last time, Lin Chen used the rules to force Gramer to accept a fine.

This time, he used the rules to question the Void Devourer—will you follow the rules?

If it said it wouldn't, it would immediately become the public enemy of all lawful existences—including the lingering wills of the planes it had already devoured and turned into part of the void, which would all revolt against it!

If it said it would...

Then it would have to pay a 5 quadrillion deposit.

It was stifling.

But what was even more stifling was—

It found that it... actually seemed to have to follow them.

Because the gaze of that rule-will was getting stronger and stronger!

"I... will follow."

The eye finally squeezed out these words.

The voice was filled with an unprecedented, extreme unwillingness.

"The deposit... I will pay."

"But when the auction is over..."

Its gaze locked onto Lin Chen:

"I will let you know..."

"What true... nothingness is."

The Hook:

The eye slowly closed.

The fading process temporarily stopped.

The God Realm remained in that eerie grayish-white state—half the color had been drained away, but it hadn't completely disappeared.

All living beings looked at each other's semi-transparent bodies in shock, then looked at Lin Chen.

And Lin Chen—

He withdrew his hand, his face expressionless.

"Deposit received."

He looked at the auctioneer:

"Continue."

The skeleton doll was stunned for a moment before hurriedly restarting the system:

"The, the auction continues!"

"Current lot: Ark No. 3, latest bid is 320 billion! Are there any more bids?!"

The bidding resumed.

But the atmosphere had completely changed.

Everyone raised their paddles absentmindedly, their eyes frequently glancing toward the sky—where the massive black vortex was still slowly rotating.

Although the eye was closed, everyone knew—

It was still there.

It was waiting for the auction to end.

It was waiting... to dine.

Zhang Hao walked to Lin Chen's side, his voice dry:

"Boss... have we... gone too far?"

"That's the true form of the Void Devourer... even the Supreme God was gnawed on by it..."

Lin Chen didn't speak.

He just looked down at the document he had used to "collect the deposit."

On the last page of the document, in the corner, there was a line of very, very small text.

So small it was almost invisible.

It was a clause he had just added on the fly:

[The deposit payer confirms: They voluntarily provide the deposit paid this time as an 'Auction Participation Qualification Fee,' which is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.]

[If the payer attempts to disrupt the auction, attack other bidders, or use any unfair competitive means during the auction process—]

[The deposit will automatically be converted into a 'Penalty Fee' and forfeited in full.]

[And their qualification to participate in all commercial activities of the Underworld Group will be permanently revoked.]

Lin Chen looked at this line of text.

He looked at it for a long time.

Then, he smiled.

In that smile, there was no fear, no tension.

There was only a kind of... cold excitement of a hunter seeing his prey finally step into the trap.

"Zhang Hao."

He said softly:

"Do you know what the Void Devourer's greatest weakness is?"

Zhang Hao shook his head.

"It's that it's too strong."

Lin Chen put away the document and looked toward the sky:

"So strong that it has forgotten—"

"How to be a player who follows the rules."

"And now..."

He tapped on the keyboard.

At the very bottom of the auction screen, a new line of small text appeared:

[Special Announcement: A 'Grand Prize' has been added to this auction—]

[The winner will obtain the qualification to 'Have Dinner with Underworld Group Chairman Lin Chen' to discuss in-depth cooperation matters in person.]

[This qualification is non-transferable and cannot be waived.]

Lin Chen looked at that announcement, a cold light flashing in his eyes:

"I'm going to teach it—"

"What the cruelty of a commercial society really means."