189: Chapter 189 Dimensional Tax and Free Trade Zones

Before the smoke from the destruction of the Main God Space had even settled, Lin Chen convened a platform-wide economic meeting.

The meeting was held at the newly established [Cross-Dimensional Free Trade Port]—a hypercube structure suspended in the void, with its internal space folded into infinite levels, each corresponding to a product category zone.

“From today onwards,” Lin Chen announced from the golden high platform of the main hall to the representatives of 3.7 million worlds, “the platform is officially transitioning into a ‘Dimension Service Provider.’ We will only do three things: provide trading venues, maintain trading rules, and collect Dimension Tax.”

The audience erupted in an uproar.

“Tax? Is that just a new word for exploitation?” a Heavenly Dao Avatar from a cultivation world snorted coldly.

“No.” Lin Chen brought up the tax details. “There is only one type of Dimension Tax: 1% of the cross-dimensional transaction volume. Whatever you do within your own world is untaxed. But as long as you trade with other worlds, no matter what you buy or sell, the platform only takes 1% as a channel maintenance fee.”

1%!

This number left all the representatives stunned.

In the era of the old platform, cross-dimensional trade was monopolized by a few shareholders, with commissions as high as 30% to 70%. 1% was practically giving it away for free.

“Of course,” Lin Chen added, “to enjoy the 1% tax rate, you must abide by the ‘Free Trade Convention.’ There are only three rules in the convention:”

Golden text expanded in the center of the hall:

Rule One: Prohibit forced trading (all transactions must be voluntary for both parties).

Rule Two: Prohibit false advertising (products must be described truthfully).

Rule Three: Prohibit monopolistic hoarding (no world may monopolize key resources).

“For those who violate the convention,” Lin Chen clicked on the penalty clauses, “the first time is a warning; the second time, the tax rate increases to 10%; the third time... you are banned from the Free Trade Zone and blacklisted.”

“What about the arbitration mechanism?” a representative from a technological world asked. “If a dispute arises during a transaction—”

“We are establishing the ‘Dimension Arbitration Court.’” Lin Chen pulled up the structural diagram. “Arbitrators will be recruited from various worlds and trained for the job. Each dispute will be heard by three randomly selected arbitrators. The platform only provides the venue and rules; it does not interfere with the verdict.”

Fair.

Transparent.

Low tax rate.

The atmosphere in the hall shifted from suspicion to fanaticism.

“Now,” Lin Chen opened the real-time trading panel of the Free Trade Port, “the first batch of listed products will be displayed.”

The screen expanded.

Category One: Resources

· “Spiritual Qi Crystals” from cultivation worlds (99.9% purity), Price: 3 million dimension points per ton.

· “Antimatter Batteries” from sci-fi worlds (Safe Version), Price: 500,000 dimension points per unit.

· “Eternal Fire Sparks” from magic worlds, Price: 2 million dimension points per cluster.

Category Two: Technology

· Dimension Jump Engine Blueprints (Simplified Version), Price: 80 million dimension points.

· Rule Loophole Detection Algorithm (One-year license), Price: 500 million dimension points.

· Emotional Dosage Extraction Technology (Safe Version), Price: 12 billion dimension points.

Category Three: Special Services

· World Barrier Reinforcement Service (Annual package), Price: Negotiable.

· Civilization Ascension Consultation (Limited to below S-rank), Price: 10 billion dimension points per session.

· Reincarnation Slot Reservation (Highlighted)

The last item caused the entire hall to fall silent instantly.

Reincarnation Slots.

And specifically, Lin Chen's Mother’s reincarnation queue.

Lin Chen pulled up his mother's data panel:

【Name: Lin Chen's Mother (Mother of Lin Chen)】

【Status: Soul intact, memory retention 72%】

【Reincarnation Queue Number: 8,742,351】

【Estimated Waiting Time: 47 years (Original)】

【Current Option: Pay dimension points to skip the queue】

“According to the new regulations,” Lin Chen said calmly, “the platform respects the autonomy of all souls. Ms. Lin Chen's Mother has the right to sell her ‘queue position.’ Any world or individual, by paying enough dimension points, can swap to a position ahead of her—but only if she personally agrees.”

He opened a communication link to Lin Chen's Mother.

In the video, a gentle middle-aged woman smiled. “Hello everyone. I do want to reincarnate sooner and live a mundane life. But if someone is willing to bid for a position swap... I am willing to consider it. After all,” she looked at Lin Chen, “my son has made the platform so lively, I have to support him.”

The crowd exploded.

It wasn't anger; it was madness.

Because every representative instantly realized—Lin Chen's Mother’s Reincarnation Slot wasn't just a position.

It was a favor to Lin Chen’s mother.

Buying this slot was equivalent to establishing a special relationship with Lin Chen. In the future free trade system, how much would this relationship be worth?

Bidding began within five seconds.

The first bid came from the royal family of a Level 9 civilization: “10 billion dimension points! Our royal family has the best mundane worlds, guaranteeing Ms. Lin a happy and healthy life after reincarnation!”

The second was from the Heavenly Dao of a Great Cultivation World: “20 billion! Plus an ‘Innate Dao Body’ talent, guaranteeing her a path to the Nascent Soul stage!”

The third was a super AI from a sci-fi world: “30 billion! We can customize a perfect life script for Ms. Lin, reducing the probability of all suffering to below 0.001%!”

The price soared, doubling every second.

50 billion...

120 billion...

500 billion...

Lin Chen's Mother herself was dumbfounded.

“Mom,” Lin Chen sent her a private message, “don't panic. This is market behavior. Sell if you want to, and don't if you don't.”

“I...” Lin Chen's Mother hesitated, “Is this money very important to you?”

“It's very important for the platform,” Lin Chen answered honestly. “The Free Trade Zone has just started, and we need a massive amount of startup capital to build infrastructure. This transaction of yours could solve 30% of the initial funding needs.”

Lin Chen's Mother took a deep breath.

Then she said on the public channel: “I accept the bidding. But I have two conditions:”

“First, the money goes directly into the platform’s ‘World Development Fund’; I won't keep a single cent.”

“Second, the world I reincarnate into must be a purely mundane world with no supernatural powers. I don't want talents or scripts; I just want the life of an ordinary person.”

Once the conditions were set, the bidding became even more frenzied.

Because this meant the person who bought the slot wouldn't need to pay extra costs (like terraforming a world); they just had to pay the money.

The price broke through one trillion dimension points.

Zhang Hao, monitoring from the back end, had trembling hands: “Chairman Lin, this number... has already exceeded the annual GDP of a small-scale world.”

“Continue.” Lin Chen watched calmly.

Ultimately, the price settled at 3.8 trillion dimension points.

The bidder: a low-profile Level 8 civilization called the ‘Hermit Society.’ They didn't ask for any return, only leaving a message: “Our civilization owes Chairman Lin a favor. This money is a token of our gratitude.”

The transaction was completed.

Lin Chen's Mother’s reincarnation queue number jumped from over eight million to number 1 instantly.

She could choose to reincarnate immediately.

But she chose to ‘defer’—she wanted to see her son for a few more days.

The funds arrived.

The construction progress of the Free Trade Port instantly soared from 17% to 85%.

“Now,” Lin Chen closed the bidding interface, “the Free Trade Zone is officially open. All worlds may begin trading.”

Every level of the hypercube building lit up with the glow of transactions simultaneously.

Cultivation worlds swapped Spiritual Qi Crystals for medical technology from sci-fi worlds.

Magic worlds exchanged curse-removal services for ‘Tranquility Talismans’ from supernatural worlds.

Apocalyptic wasteland worlds traded rare mutant beast gene samples for food seeds from agricultural worlds.

Transaction volume erupted like a volcano.

And the 1% Dimension Tax collected by the platform grew like a rolling snowball:

First minute: Tax revenue of 12 million dimension points.

Tenth minute: 870 million.

First hour: 52 billion.

“At this rate,” Su Qingyu calculated, “the platform's annual tax revenue will break five hundred trillion dimension points. After deducting operating costs, the net profit will be at least four hundred and fifty trillion—more than fifty times the annual profit of the old platform era.”

“And this time,” Zhang Hao added, “the money comes from voluntary trade, not exploitation.”

But just then, the monitoring system popped up an abnormal alarm.

【Illegal transaction behavior detected】

【Target: World G-557 (Cultivation) and World H-882 (Sci-fi)】

【Transaction Content: G-557 is exchanging ‘World Origin Fragments’ for H-882’s ‘Dimensional Weapon Blueprints’】

【Issue: World Origin Fragments are prohibited trade items (they damage world stability)】

“Someone is violating the rules so soon.” Lin Chen pulled up the detailed data.

As it turned out, the Heavenly Dao of World G-557 had been secretly enticed by an old shareholder—the other party promised to help it break through its realm if it obtained World Origin Fragments. Meanwhile, the military group of World H-882 desperately needed dimensional weapons to suppress an internal rebellion.

“Processing plan?” Su Qingyu asked.

“Follow the convention.” Lin Chen clicked execute.

Inside the Free Trade Port, the two parties currently trading were suddenly enveloped by golden pillars of light.

【Warning: Illegal Transaction】

【Item ‘World Origin Fragment’ is a banned product】

【Tax rate for both parties increased to 10%, effective immediately】

【Current transaction forcibly canceled, items returned】

The light pillars dissipated.

The Heavenly Dao of G-557 turned pale—not only did it fail to get the weapon blueprints, but its taxes were raised, and worse, its attempt to sell the world's origin was made public, causing the trust of the living beings within its world to plummet.

The military group of H-882 was in even worse shape—the weapons they desperately needed were gone, and the rebel army was currently attacking their headquarters.

“Do you see?” Lin Chen broadcasted across all channels. “The cost of violation is very high.”

“But...” a voice asked weakly, “what if a world really needs a certain resource but can't afford the dimension points?”

“Then take a loan.” Lin Chen opened the interface for the newly launched [Platform Development Bank]. “Worlds can use future tax revenue, resource production rights, or even partial world permissions as collateral to apply for low-interest loans. Maximum limit: 300% of that world's annual GDP.”

Another bombshell.

This meant that even poor worlds had a chance to turn things around.

The hall was in a complete frenzy.

But amidst this fervor, Lin Chen received an emergency communication from the Sea of Disorder investigation team.

It was sent by that Mechanical Head Expert.

“Chairman Lin,” his voice was filled with static, the signal clearly being interfered with, “we found the ‘Epoch Fissure.’ But the thing inside... you'd better come see for yourself.”

“What is it?”

“A countdown board.” The Mechanical Head Expert’s voice was trembling. “What it’s displaying isn't time... it's the number of remaining worlds.”

“What?”

“Deep within the crack, a massive black stone tablet is suspended. Carved on the surface is a number: 7,402,331. This number is slowly decreasing—every few minutes, it drops by one. We've tracked the pattern of the decrease...”

He paused.

“Each decrease corresponds to a world voluntarily disconnecting from the platform.”

Lin Chen’s pupils constricted.

“You mean—”

“The Epoch Administration Bureau's fallback program might not be a direct attack.” The Mechanical Head Expert’s voice was dry. “Instead, it's inducing worlds to ‘voluntarily leave.’ Once the number of departed worlds reaches a certain threshold... it might trigger some kind of ‘Restart.’”

A sense of horror washed over him like ice water.

Lin Chen looked at the bustling Free Trade Zone before him, at those world representatives who were happily trading.

They didn't know.

Every “voluntary departure” was adding a stroke to the countdown to destruction.

“Continue the investigation,” Lin Chen ordered. “I want to know what the threshold is.”

“We're already calculating... preliminary estimates suggest that if the number hits zero, it might mean...”

“Mean what?”

The Mechanical Head Expert was silent for three seconds.

“It means the platform loses all worlds.”

“It means the Epoch Administration Bureau can legitimately declare the ‘selection a failure.’”

“And then...”

“Initiate the Epoch Restart Program.”

The communication cut off.

Lin Chen stood on the golden high platform, looking down at the countless worlds immersed in the trading frenzy below.

Then he accessed the back end and quietly modified the ‘Free Trade Convention.’

Added Rule Four:

Prohibit any world from inducing other worlds to disconnect from the platform without explaining all risks.

Violators—permanent exile.

Outside the window, the light of the Free Trade Port illuminated the void.

While deep in the darkness, the countdown ticked silently with every “voluntary” choice.