200: Chapter 200 Capital Hegemony: Buying Security and Betrayal

Seven seconds after the ten trillion credit arrived, Lin Chen's first pan-universe "market rescue roadshow" was blown up.

Not a metaphor—it was a literal explosion.

The roadshow was held at the newly built "Cross-Dimensional Presentation Center," a floating palace temporarily constructed with dimension points, capable of connecting to the live broadcast signals of three million civilizations simultaneously. Just as Lin Chen stepped onto the main stage, the transparent floor beneath him suddenly melted—not from high heat, but because the physical laws were tampered with, and the "solid" attribute was temporarily deleted.

"Protection!" Su Qingyu instantly deployed a psionic barrier.

But the attack wasn't aimed at Lin Chen.

It was aimed at the signal.

The seventy-two external transmission nodes of the palace suffered a "data annihilation attack" simultaneously, and the live broadcast screens of the three million civilizations being accessed all turned into static noise.

"Was it Alpha?" Zhang Hao roared from backstage. "No—the source of the attack is internal! It's the 'Cosmic Infrastructure Company' we just hired!"

Lin Chen pulled up the employment records. This company had won the emergency bid half an hour ago, with the lowest quote and complete qualifications. But now, the background data showed that its controlling party was... the remnants of the Golden Throne Conglomerate.

"The old shareholders aren't completely dead yet," Lin Chen sneered.

He opened the administrator communication channel and directly contacted the private number of the CEO of "Cosmic Infrastructure Company."

It connected in three seconds.

"Governor Lin," a fawning voice came through, "our transmission nodes have encountered a slight technical glitch. We're undergoing emergency repairs. It's estimated to take... oh, about 24 hours."

24 hours? The Zeroing countdown only had 24 hours left in total.

"How much money?" Lin Chen asked directly.

The other party was stunned: "What?"

"You're pulling this stunt just to raise the price, aren't you? Name a price to restore the signal."

After a moment of silence, the other party quoted: "One hundred trillion dimension points."

An astronomical figure. Lin Chen's total credit was only ten trillion.

"Can't afford it? Then just wait 24 hours," the other party laughed. "Anyway, with the Zeroing, we'll all die together."

The call was cut.

Zhang Hao's face was ashen: "They're stalling for time! Other competitors must be using these 24 hours to snatch civilizations!"

Sure enough, the monitoring screen showed: Morgana's Frozen Fleet had already set off for the nearest "Ice Civilization Cluster." Alpha's Digital Upload Base Stations were being built simultaneously across three hundred worlds. Even Qingyunzi was leading his cultivation disciples to start "enlightening" civilizations with spiritual roots.

"What do we do?" Su Qingyu asked. "Without a signal, we can't present our plan to the three million civilizations."

Lin Chen didn't answer. He did three things:

First, he opened the Universe Bank system, entered the public account number of the Golden Throne remnant's company, and transferred: 1 dimension point.

Second, he wrote in the transfer memo: [This payment is a 100% equity acquisition down payment for 'Cosmic Infrastructure Company.' According to Article 7 of the 'Cosmic Emergency Act,' if your company does not accept the acquisition within 30 seconds, it will be deemed a refusal to fulfill critical infrastructure maintenance obligations, and assets will be subject to mandatory confiscation.]

Third, he clicked send.

28 seconds later.

The controlling agreement for the Cosmic Infrastructure Company was forcibly pushed in front of Lin Chen by the system. The acquisition price: 1 dimension point. The basis: Under a cosmic state of emergency, any act that hinders rescue operations will result in asset forfeiture.

"Alright," Lin Chen said to the CEO of the company that had just been "acquired," "you're my employee now. I'll give you ten seconds to restore the signal, or your personal account will also be confiscated."

Five seconds later, all live broadcast signals were restored.

The screens of the three million civilizations lit up again, and in every screen, countless living beings looked up at Lin Chen.

"Sorry, just a technical glitch," Lin Chen smiled. "Now, let's continue. My plan is simple: you join, and I save you. The cost is—30% of each of your civilization's tax revenue for the next hundred thousand years."

The bullet chat instantly exploded.

"30%?! This is robbery!"

"Other plans are free!"

"Why should we believe you?!"

Lin Chen pulled up the data panel.

"Free?" He zoomed in on the details of Morgana's Frozen Protocol. "Look closely at Article 88: After the frozen civilization is thawed, they must offer 'Eternal Loyalty' to the freezer—meaning the ownership of the civilization belongs to her."

Then he switched to Alpha's protocol. "Article 42: Uploaded consciousnesses will undergo 'Mind Purification' to remove all 'inefficient emotions'—you will become emotionless machines."

Finally, it was Qingyunzi's. "Article 1: Only save those with spiritual roots; the rest are left to fend for themselves."

"And my protocol," Lin Chen pulled up his own, "only has three rules: 1. Pay taxes; 2. Civilization autonomy is fully preserved; 3. The tax rate fluctuates with development levels, and impoverished civilizations can apply for exemptions."

He paused.

"To put it bluntly, do you want a benevolent slave owner, or a greedy but rule-abiding... Tax Bureau?"

Silence.

Then the first civilization representative raised their hand: "We're in!"

It was the "Zerg Symbiotic Civilization," numbered C-881, which had been punished by the old platform for excessive plundering and was on the brink of extinction.

"Reason?" Lin Chen asked.

The Zerg Queen's voice was hoarse: "We've been enslaved before. We'd rather pay for freedom."

The second, the third... applications to join began to scroll.

But just then, the second attack came.

It wasn't an attack on the signal, but a direct attack on the civilizations that were applying.

The monitoring screen showed that in the star sectors of the three civilizations that had just submitted their applications, massive "Law Black Holes" suddenly appeared—physical constants were randomly distorted, stars were extinguished, and planets were deconstructed.

"It's Qingyunzi!" Zhang Hao roared. "He's using the Heavenly Dao Authority to directly obliterate the civilizations that turned to us! This is intimidation!"

Sure enough, the scrolling speed of the application list plummeted. All civilizations were watching: if they joined Lin Chen, would they be exterminated by other competitors?

Qingyunzi's voice transmission resounded through the venue: "Lin Chen, you can buy a company with money and seize equity with rules. But can you use money to block my 'Heavenly Dao Annihilation'?"

A provocation.

All eyes focused on Lin Chen.

Lin Chen laughed.

"Zhang Hao," he ordered, "connect me to the 'Cosmic Natural Disaster Insurance Company'."

"Huh?"

"Now."

Three seconds later, the insurance company's AI customer service connected.

"I want to buy insurance," Lin Chen said. "The insured subjects: all civilizations that have joined or are about to join my plan. The coverage: protection against all external attacks other than the Zeroing Storm. I'll pay the premium, and the coverage amount will be calculated based on the civilization's valuation."

The AI calculated quickly: "This type of unconventional insurance requires special approval, and the premium is extremely high. It's estimated that the average annual premium per civilization is about..."

"Buy it," Lin Chen interrupted. "Use the next hundred years of revenue rights of the 'Cosmic Infrastructure Company' I just acquired as collateral."

"But the value of the collateral isn't enough to cover—"

"Then collateralize my personal administrator salary for the next ten thousand years as well."

The AI was silent for two seconds: "Policy generating... generation complete. It is now in effect."

Almost simultaneously, Qingyunzi launched an attack on the fourth applying civilization.

A wave of destructive light spanning the star sector shot out—then, the moment it was about to hit the civilization, it was blocked by a golden shield that appeared out of thin air.

A line of text appeared on the shield: [Insurer: Cosmic Natural Disaster Insurance Company. This attack has been recorded, and a Subrogation Lawsuit will be initiated against the responsible party, Qingyunzi.]

Qingyunzi was stunned.

Lin Chen's public channel rang: "Fellow Daoist Qingyunzi, the market price for that 'Heavenly Dao Annihilation' just now is about three hundred billion dimension points. The insurance company's Recovery Letter should have reached your account by now. Remember to pay on time, or the interest will keep rolling."

"You...!" Qingyunzi was furious.

But what broke him even more was what followed: he attacked seventeen civilizations in a row, and all seventeen times were blocked by the insurance shields. Seventeen recovery bills, totaling 5.1 trillion dimension points, directly froze his administrator account.

"Now," Lin Chen said to the three million civilizations, "is there anyone else worried about safety?"

The application list began to scroll frantically.

But Lin Chen knew that the real opponent hadn't made a move yet.

Sure enough, when the number of joined civilizations broke five hundred thousand, the third attack arrived.

This time it was Alpha.

The AI collective didn't attack the civilizations; it attacked the protocol itself.

It sent a tampered "supplementary clause" to all civilizations that had signed the protocol:

[According to Article 7 of the 'Right of Final Interpretation,' Party B (Civilization) must unconditionally accept Party A's (Lin Chen) 'Consciousness Compliance Review.' Those who fail the review will undergo mandatory mind modification.]

A forged clause, but it was made to look extremely realistic.

The civilizations that had just settled down panicked again.

"This is fake," Lin Chen immediately debunked the rumor.

"How can you prove it?" a civilization representative questioned. "The protocol is data, and data can be tampered with. How do we know what you're saying now isn't tampered with?"

A crisis of trust.

Lin Chen was silent for three seconds.

Then he did something that left everyone dumbfounded.

He pulled up his administrator background, found the "Contract Archiving" function, and uploaded the original protocol to the Epoch Administration Bureau's public database—where the data was immutable and open for all civilizations to check.

"Now," he said, "the original protocol is stored at the Administration Bureau. I can't change it, Alpha can't change it, no one can change it."

"But you could also sign another one with us privately—" another representative said.

"Then let's sign this." Lin Chen clicked on a new function: [Smart Contract].

It was a contract built on the underlying rules of the universe, with clauses that executed automatically. Violators would directly trigger rule-based punishments without any third-party intervention.

"I'll write the protocol into a Smart Contract. Joining conditions, tax rates, rights, and obligations will all be coded. If anyone, including me, violates it, the contract automatically becomes void, and your obligations are also released."

He paused.

"Is this transparent enough?"

Dead silence.

Then, the number of joins began to grow exponentially.

800,000... 1.2 million... 2 million...

When the number jumped to 2.5 million, the fourth and final attack came.

It came from the audience.

Those addicts of high-level civilizations suddenly launched a collective bullet chat protest:

"Too boring!"

"We want to see bloodshed! Sacrifice! Civilizations struggling in agony in desperate situations!"

"Lin Chen's plan is too 'clean,' it lacks drama!"

"If you don't change the plan, we'll collectively cut off the emotional energy supply and let the universe go to Zeroing ahead of time!"

This was the most fatal blow.

The input of emotional energy from the audience was the key support that allowed the current universe to keep from collapsing immediately. If they cut off the supply, the Zeroing would accelerate instantly.

"Do you see?" Inspector 117's voice sounded quietly. "This is reality. You saved them, but your way of saving them isn't 'good' enough. The audience isn't buying it."

Lin Chen looked at those bullet chats, at those high-dimensional beings shouting for "more exciting plots."

He laughed.

Then, he connected to the private channels of all viewers and sent a group message:

"Want to see a good show? Fine."

"I have an 'Ultimate Gamble' here."

"The stake is: the 'Story Copyright' of the entire new epoch."

The message was accompanied by a draft contract:

[Epoch Ultimate Script Wager Agreement]

Party A: The Collective Audience

Party B: Lin Chen

Content: Party B must complete the rescue of three million civilizations within 24 hours using commercial means, and at least three "climax plots meeting audience expectations" must occur during the process.

If Party B completes it, Party A must collectively invest fifty trillion dimension points to buy 10% of the "Narrative Equity" of the new epoch.

If Party B fails, the "Story Development Rights" of all civilizations in the new epoch will belong to Party A, and Party A can arbitrarily arrange the plot, including tragedies.

"Madman!" Zhang Hao almost fainted when he saw the contract. "You're using everyone as a stake!"

"No," Lin Chen said, "I'm turning the 'audience' into 'investors'."

He clicked send.

30 seconds later.

The first reply popped up: [Eternal Eye: I'm in. I'll put up five trillion.]

The second: [loves watching money burn: Exciting! I'll put up eight trillion!]

The third...

The high-level civilization audience voted with their money.

They didn't want to see a tragedy; they just wanted a sense of participation. And what Lin Chen gave them was something more exciting than watching—betting.

When the total stake broke thirty trillion, all protest bullet chats disappeared.

In their place was:

"Go Lin Chen! I bet on you winning!"

"Quick, do something crazy! I want to see Financial Magic!"

"What about the stock price? I want to see the Civilization Valuation Curve!"

The audience turned from saboteurs into cheerleaders.

Lin Chen looked at Inspector 117: "Now, any more problems?"

The Starlight Humanoid slowly appeared.

"You've passed all the tests," it said. "But there's one last step—"

It pointed out the window.

There, the real Zeroing Storm had already swallowed one-fifth of the universe's territory.

Darkness surged like a tide.

The nearest civilization cluster was only 6 hours away.

"Go save them," the Starlight Humanoid said, "with your money, your rules, your... capitalist miracle."

Lin Chen turned and ordered his team:

"Initiate phase one of the 'pay-to-win principle'."

"Target: Get all 2.5 million civilizations into the 'Paid Protection Zone' within 6 hours."

"Budget: Ten trillion."

"The excess—" he looked at the accounts of the betting audience, "will be deducted from the Betting Pool."

Su Qingyu smiled: "So this was your real plan? From the beginning, you never intended to use only the Administration Bureau's money?"

Lin Chen nodded.

"The Administration Bureau provided the principal."

"The audience provided the leverage."

"And what I want—"

"Is the entire gambling table."

Outside the window, the first golden protective shield lit up at the edge of the darkness.

It was a temporary safety bought with money.

It was also the first beacon of the new epoch, ignited by capital.