214: Chapter 214 Hostile Takeover! I Used the Audience's Emotional Memory to Buy the Entire Platform

Thirty-seven seconds after Lin Chen's crowdfunding announcement was issued, the first emotional crystal crossed dimensions and landed in his palm.

It was a pale blue crystal, cool to the touch, with a memory fragment from a viewer hundreds of millions of years ago swirling inside—a moment of genuine, heartfelt laughter, pure and unadulterated.

Immediately after, the second, the third, the hundredth, the ten-thousandth...

Emotional crystals poured down like a torrential rain.

The office was instantly submerged in a sea of colorful crystals. Red anger, golden joy, purple sorrow, black regret... Each color represented a primal emotion, each crystal carrying a precious life fragment of a highly advanced civilization individual.

"Too many..." Zhang Hao was buried up to his chest in crystals, his voice trembling, "Boss, the count has already exceeded... one hundred million! And it's still skyrocketing!"

On the real-time data screen, the crowdfunding quantity was soaring by millions of crystals per second.

Viewers across all dimensions were responding.

Because for the first time, they saw an opportunity to 'turn the tables and become the master'—to transform from addicts being fed emotions by the platform into shareholders controlling the platform. This temptation, for them who had been empty for hundreds of millions of years, was more fatal than any drug.

Standing amidst the crystal pile, Lin Chen pulled up the auction countdown: 23 hours, 41 minutes.

"Not enough yet," he looked at the data, "To bid for the 7.2% equity stake, we need at least one billion crystals. And Long Aotian over there must have prepared to drive up the price."

As soon as he finished speaking, the auction pre-announcement was updated.

[Supplementary Clause: This auction has a 'Guaranteed Buyer'—jointly funded by the original shareholder alliance (holding a combined 5.1% stake), who have prepared 300 million emotional crystals to participate in the bidding.]

"Just as expected," Su Qingyu frowned, "They want to drive up the price to deplete our crystal reserves, so even if we win, we'll be severely weakened."

Lin Chen said nothing.

He walked to the window, looking at the world outside that was beginning to restore order—after the rule virus was cleared, everything was being rebuilt. But deep in the sky, the cracks left by the collapse of the seven advanced civilization worlds could still be seen, like bleeding scars.

"Do you know," he suddenly spoke, "why those viewers are willing to offer their most precious emotional crystals?"

Zhang Hao shook his head.

"Because 'owning' fills the void more than 'feeling'," Lin Chen turned around, "Feelings fade with time, but owning equity is eternal. They aren't investing in me; they're investing in an 'eternal possession'."

He pulled up the real-time emotional monitoring data from when the viewers donated:

[Donor: Emotion-JUNKIE-221]

[Donated Crystal Type: First Love Memory (Unique)]

[Emotional Fluctuations During Donation: Pain 87%, Anticipation 13%]

[Inner Monologue (Monitoring Excerpt): 'Anyway, this memory only brings me pain in the long eternity of immortality... Might as well trade it for an eternal shareholder status.']

"See," Lin Chen said, "They're even trading away their last bit of genuine emotion."

"And we..." He grabbed a handful of crystals, letting them slip through his fingers, "are going to use these 'discarded truths' to buy that stage that manufactures falsehoods."

The countdown entered the final hour.

Total crowdfunding crystals: 980 million.

Still 20 million short of the target.

"The growth rate is slowing down," Zhang Hao nervously stared at the data, "Those who were going to donate already have. The rest are those reluctant to part with their last nest egg..."

Right then, Long Aotian's communication came through.

In the image, he stood before a mountain of emotional crystals—the 300 million gathered by the original shareholder alliance.

"Lin Chen, you've lost," Long Aotian sneered, "Nine hours ago, I privately contacted the top ten thousand 'whale viewers' on the entire platform. Each of them has at least a million crystals stored away—collections they've accumulated over hundreds of millions of years."

"And I promised them: if they support me and I win the bid, they will become 'privileged shareholders' of the new platform, enjoying higher-level permissions than what you promised."

He pulled up a signed list, densely packed with top viewer IDs.

"Now, the total number of crystals in their hands is... 500 million."

"Plus my 300 million, that's 800 million total."

"And you, only have 980 million."

Long Aotian stepped forward, his gaze sharp: "The auction rule is the highest bidder wins. I will use these 800 million crystals to drive the price up to a point where you must exhaust all your crystals to win."

"When you win, you'll have none left."

"Without emotional crystal reserves, even if you hold a controlling stake in the platform, you won't be able to control core functions powered by crystals—like the 'Script Writing System', the 'Fate Correction Engine'..."

"By then, you'll just be an empty shell boss."

"And I, along with all the whale viewers, will establish a 'new platform', poaching all the streamers and viewers."

"What you'll have bought is a ruin."

The communication ended.

Dead silence in the office.

Zhang Hao's face was pale: "Boss... what he said is true. The platform's core functions indeed require emotional crystals as an energy source. If we use up all our crystals, even with a controlling stake..."

"I know," Lin Chen calmly pulled up a hidden interface.

It was a private database he had secretly established on his very first day as a shareholder.

The interface opened, revealing densely packed 'Emotional Contracts'.

"Remember?" Lin Chen said, "Back when the whole world was about to forget me, I had 81% of the population sign 'Memory Retention Agreements'—the cost being 10% of their future emotional earnings rights."

"Over these past days, these agreements have been running automatically."

"10% of the emotions generated by each signatory has been skimmed and converted into 'Secondary Emotional Crystals'."

He pulled up the inventory data:

[Secondary Emotional Crystal Reserve: 7.1 billion]

[Purity: Average 35% (far below the 100% of original crystals)]

[Characteristic: Can synthesize three into one standard crystal (100% purity)]

Su Qingyu's eyes widened: "So that means... you actually have..."

"An equivalent reserve of 2.36 billion standard crystals," Lin Chen smiled, "Plus the 980 million from crowdfunding, that's a total of 3.34 billion."

"Long Aotian thinks I'm on the first floor."

"Actually..."

"I'm in the stratosphere."

The auction began.

In the virtual venue, Long Aotian, representing the original shareholder alliance, made the first bid: 100 million crystals.

Lin Chen bid: 200 million.

Long Aotian raised: 300 million.

Lin Chen raised: 400 million.

Within five minutes, the price soared to 1 billion crystals—already exceeding Lin Chen's publicly known crowdfunding total.

"Where are you getting the extra crystals?" Long Aotian questioned on the public channel.

"Guess," Lin Chen bid: 1.1 billion.

Long Aotian gritted his teeth and followed: 1.2 billion.

The whale viewers behind him began to grow uneasy—this had already exceeded their agreed budget.

Lin Chen bid: 1.5 billion.

The entire venue was in an uproar.

Long Aotian's face turned ashen as he looked at the whales behind him. They shook their heads—they wouldn't follow.

"I give up," Long Aotian forced the words through his teeth.

"Congratulations, Mr. Lin Chen!" The auctioneer brought down the gavel, "7.2% equity, sold for 1.5 billion emotional crystals!"

But just as Lin Chen was about to make the payment—

Long Aotian suddenly laughed.

"Wait," he pulled up a document, "According to Article 1 of the platform's original charter: Any transaction involving more than 5% equity must receive unanimous consent from 'existing shareholders holding over 10% equity'."

"And I," he displayed his shareholder panel, "have just accepted the transfer of... 11.2% equity from the former administrator of the seven civilizations."

"Now I hold 11.2%."

"I do not agree to this transaction."

The auctioneer was stunned—the charter indeed had this clause, but no one had invoked it for millions of years.

Lin Chen was silent for three seconds.

Then, he applauded.

"Well played," he said sincerely, "Using the 'debt-to-equity' right I just gave you to block me in turn. Truly worthy of being Long Aotian."

"So the transaction is void," Long Aotian sneered, "This 7.2% equity will go unsold and be reallocated. And your crowdfunded crystals, according to the rules, will not be refunded—because they were voluntarily donated."

He looked at Lin Chen, his eyes filled with the arrogance of victory:

"You've lost, Lin Chen."

"Using all your methods, in the end, you still..."

Before he could finish speaking.

Lin Chen pulled up a contract.

It was a hidden agreement he had secretly signed with all the crowdfunding participants during the auction.

Agreement Title: 'Joint Acquisition Agreement Between Emotional Crystal Donors and Lin Chen'

Core Clauses:

"All donated crystals are considered equity investment in 'Lin Chen's Platform Equity Acquisition Plan'. If the acquisition is successful, donors share equity proportionally; if the acquisition fails, the crystals are converted into 'interest-free loans to Lin Chen personally', with the loan collateral being—"

Lin Chen read out the final segment:

"46.303350071% of the platform equity under Lin Chen's name."

"Now, the acquisition has failed due to Long Aotian's opposition."

"Therefore, according to the agreement—"

He looked at the auctioneer:

"I, Lin Chen, due to being unable to repay the loan of 1.5 billion crystals, now voluntarily transfer all 46.303350071% of the equity under my name, proportionally, to the 980 million viewers who participated in the crowdfunding."

"From now on, they are no longer viewers."

"They are platform shareholders holding a combined 46.3% stake..."

Dead silence.

Silence as death.

Then, Lin Chen turned to Long Aotian and smiled:

"By the way, according to the same charter clause: When equity is dispersed to over 100 million shareholders, it is considered 'publicly held' and is no longer subject to the 'one-vote veto right of shareholders holding over 10%'."

"So now, this 46.3% equity can be freely traded."

He pulled up a pre-prepared transaction interface:

"I am initiating a purchase offer to these 980 million shareholders for the symbolic price of 1 Dimension Point."

"To acquire the minuscule equity they just received, each amounting to zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero something."

"Will they sell?"

The answer was revealed three seconds later.

980 million shareholders, 100% agreed to sell.

Because Lin Chen had attached a clause to the offer: "Sellers will permanently retain 'Platform Honorary shareholder' status, enjoying all shareholder rights—except voting rights."

They traded their voting rights for eternal status.

Transaction completed.

Lin Chen's equity, from 46.303350071%, became...

[92.603350071%]

Absolute controlling stake.

Platform control, change of hands.

Long Aotian stood frozen in place, as if his soul had been sucked out.

Lin Chen walked up to him and said softly:

"You lost because you failed to understand one thing."

"Real business isn't about calculating how much money others have."

"It's about calculating what others are willing to pay for."

"And you, you'll never figure it out."

A platform-wide announcement resounded across all worlds at that moment:

[Platform Control Change]

[New Controlling shareholder: Lin Chen (Holding 92.6%)]

[Original Board of Directors Dissolved]

[New Board of Directors Established Immediately]

Lin Chen closed the announcement and looked out the window at the myriad worlds.

Su Qingyu asked softly, "And now?"

"Now," Lin Chen said, "it's time to go sit in that 'director's chair'."

"To see what's really hidden..."

"behind it."

---

[Book Seven 'Dimensional shareholder, Live Streaming the Multiverse' Complete]

[Book Eight 'The Battle for the Ember' Preview: When Lin Chen becomes the master of the platform, he discovers everything is just an experiment by the higher-dimensional 'Epoch Administration Bureau'. The universe's countdown to zero begins, and he must use commercial means to fight against the ultimate law—destruction and rebirth.]