228: Chapter 228 A Explosive Acquisition! I Made My Shareholders Bankrupt While They Were Asleep

In the first minute of the second phase of the shareholder Purge Plan, Lin Chen did three things.

First, he issued an "Emergency Notice on Regulating Dimensional Financial Derivative Transactions" to the entire universe.

The main text of the notice was very official, but a bomb was hidden in the appendix—the new regulations required all "faith-based assets" to disclose the true emotional data of their believers quarterly, with forced delisting for violators.

Second, he retrieved the asset reports of the last five neutral faction shareholders.

Their codenames were: Bone-Corroding (Necromancy Law), Nightmare (Dream Lord), Void Whale (Spatial Colossus), Time Cicada (Temporal Insectoid), and Boundary-Splitting Vine (Dimensional Plant).

Third, and most crucial—he activated the "Emotional Data Falsification Monitoring Program" that had been embedded in the core assets of these five shareholders three days prior.

0.3 seconds after the program started running, alarms blared.

"Boss!" Zhang Hao pointed at the monitoring screen, "The data shows that Bone-Corroding shareholder's 'Kingdom of the Undead' claims to have 800 billion devout undead, but less than 70 billion actually show emotional fluctuations! Falsification rate: 91%!"

"Nightmare's 'Dreamland Paradise' claims a daily output of trillions of pleasant dreams, but the real data is only 3 billion! Falsification rate: 99.7%!"

"Void Whale's 'Dimensional Channel' traffic is inflated by 1200 times!"

"Time Cicada's 'Time Acceleration Service' actual efficiency is only three ten-thousandths of what's advertised!"

"Boundary-Splitting Vine's 'Cross-Boundary Nutrient Solution' is basically tap water mixed with coloring!"

The asset reports of all five shareholders were pure bubbles.

"No wonder they've been neutral all along," Lin Xiao sneered, "Too busy with fraud to pick a side."

Lin Chen pulled up the reporting interface of the Universal Financial Regulatory Bureau and submitted the five falsification reports with a single click.

Simultaneously, he issued internal Group directives:

"Zhang Hao, short all listed assets of these five companies, max out the leverage."

"Su Qingyu, freeze all their credit lines within The Group."

"Lin Xiao, contact their main creditors—tell them 'the target may default, recommend pulling loans early'."

A three-pronged attack.

Seventeen seconds after the report was submitted, the Universal Financial Regulatory Bureau's investigation order was delivered across dimensions.

The core worlds of the five shareholders were simultaneously sealed by golden chains, all accounts frozen, and assets suspended from trading.

Twenty-three seconds after the short-selling order took effect, the stock prices of the five companies began a cliff-like plunge.

Forty-one seconds after the creditors got wind, a wave of loan withdrawals erupted—just like a bank run, all creditors frantically demanded early repayment.

"No—!" A shrill scream came from the Kingdom of the Undead of the Bone-Corroding shareholder, "Lin Chen! You set me up!"

On the surveillance feed, the colossal entity composed of billions of skeletons was collapsing—because the believers' faith shattered upon discovering the fraud, and the undead began turning on their master.

"Set you up?" Lin Chen answered the communication, "I merely reported you according to the law. You're the one who falsified data, you're the one who deceived. Now that the bubble has burst... who's to blame?"

"I can change! I can supplement the data! Give me time—"

"Apologies," Lin Chen glanced at the regulatory countdown, "According to the new regulations, once fraud in faith-based assets is verified, it results in permanent delisting. Your Kingdom of the Undead... is gone."

As soon as he finished speaking.

The Kingdom of the Undead's listing code was permanently deleted from the exchange roster.

The Bone-Corroding shareholder's true form began to disintegrate—its existence was built upon the fear of its believers. Now that the believers no longer believed, it had no foundation to exist.

"I... I refuse to accept this..." The giant skeleton turned to dust in the void.

First shareholder, eliminated.

Next was Nightmare.

After its "Dreamland Paradise" was delisted, all the dreams stored within began to leak—the pleasant dreams turned into nightmares, the nightmares into psychic pollution, flooding back into Nightmare's own consciousness.

"Aaaaaah—my mind—" The Dream Lord frantically clawed at its own intangible head on the surveillance feed, ultimately overloading its consciousness and turning into a chaotic stream of data.

Second shareholder, annihilated.

Void Whale tried to escape—being a Spatial Colossus itself, it attempted to tear through dimensions and flee to another universe.

But Lin Chen had preemptively sealed all spatial channels.

"Void Whale shareholder, your 'Dimensional Channel' fraud resulted in 170,000 channel accidents over the past three epochs, with casualties exceeding 100 billion," Lin Chen pulled up the accident reports, "Right now, the victims' families are filing a class-action lawsuit."

The screen switched.

Billions of chains condensed from resentment reached out from the void, tightly entangling the star-system-sized beast.

That was the karmic backlash from the hundred billion dead.

Void Whale struggled, roared, and was finally dragged into the abyss of resentment.

Third shareholder, devoured by its own sins.

Time Cicada and Boundary-Splitting Vine, witnessing the fates of the first three, completely broke down.

"We surrender!" Time Cicada (a giant, crystalline cicada) screamed over the comms, "Chairman Lin! We are willing to hand over all our assets! Just spare our lives!"

"Us too!" Boundary-Splitting Vine (a vine spanning dimensions) trembled as it spoke, "We'll work for The Group! No salary needed! Just grant us sanctuary!"

"Too late," Lin Chen said calmly, "You should have thought of this day when you committed fraud."

He pulled up two contracts—"Unlimited Joint Liability Betting Agreements" that Time Cicada and Boundary-Splitting Vine had signed earlier for financing.

The agreements stipulated: If assets default due to fraud, the shareholders must bear compensation liability with their entire personal assets (including life essence).

"Now, the creditors have already applied to the Universal Laws for enforcement."

Lin Chen paused:

"Your lives..."

"...now belong to the creditors."

Lawful chains descended.

Time Cicada was consumed by temporal backlash—all its temporal clones aged and died simultaneously, its main body exhausting a hundred billion years of lifespan in ten seconds, turning into a handful of temporal dust.

Boundary-Splitting Vine was rejected by dimensions—all the worlds it had rooted in simultaneously expelled it, the vines breaking inch by inch, ultimately withering away in the dimensional gaps.

All five neutral faction shareholders were completely annihilated within seven minutes.

The Hall of Authority fell into silence.

Zhang Hao swallowed hard, "Boss... isn't this a bit too ruthless?"

"Ruthless?" Lin Chen looked at the surveillance feed—civilizations that had been ruined by the shareholders' fraud were now weeping amidst the rubble.

"Wasn't it ruthless when they committed fraud, causing the deaths of hundreds of billions of lives?"

"Wasn't it ruthless when they sucked the blood of the entire universe with fake data?"

"What we're doing now is simply ensuring that debts owed are repaid."

Before his words faded.

The projection of Inspector 117 suddenly appeared, voice urgent:

"Chairman, something's wrong!"

"We just detected that the defaults of the five shareholders have triggered a chain reaction!"

"All the bonds, wealth management products, and fund products they previously issued have defaulted, involving ninety-seven thousand civilizations, with a total amount exceeding three hundred trillion dimension points!"

"These civilizations are now collectively making a run! The universal financial system... might collapse!"

A surveillance feed popped up.

Countless representatives of civilizations were protesting outside the Universe Bank headquarters, demanding payment.

The bank's vaults were being emptied.

"This is their real killing move," Lin Xiao's face turned ashen, "They knew they would die, so they planted a financial bomb in advance—dragging the entire universe down with them!"

Lin Chen looked at the desperate civilization representatives on the screen.

He remained silent for three seconds.

Then, he smiled.

"Perfect."

"I've been waiting for this opportunity."

He pulled up The Group's capital pool—containing profits from the earlier short-selling, auction revenue, and management fee shares, totaling approximately one hundred eighty trillion.

Then, using his Chairman authority, he applied for a universe-level emergency liquidity support—quota: two hundred trillion.

"Now," Lin Chen said to 117, "Issue a Group announcement."

"First, the Epoch Management Group will establish a 'Financial Risk Disposal Special Fund' to fully assume the payment responsibility for the defaulted products from this incident."

"Second, all affected civilizations can exchange their holdings, at 80% of face value, for The Group's newly issued 'New Epoch Reconstruction Bonds'—these bonds carry a 5% annual interest rate with a ten-year term."

"Third, those unwilling to exchange for bonds can queue for cash payment... estimated queue time: three hundred epochs."

The announcement was issued.

The civilizations making the run were stunned for a second.

Then, they frantically rushed to the bond exchange windows.

80% meant a loss, but it was better than losing everything.

Moreover, there was a 5% interest.

Most importantly—these were Epoch Management Group bonds, currently the most stable asset in the universe.

The three hundred trillion payment pressure was transformed into two hundred forty trillion worth of Group bonds within an hour.

Lin Chen not only resolved the crisis but also secured a massive amount of long-term, low-interest funding for The Group.

"Now," he looked at the bondholder list, "these ninety-seven thousand civilizations have all become our creditors."

"But they are also... our 'bondholders'."

"That is to say... a community of shared interests."

Su Qingyu understood, "What they fear most now is The Group collapsing—because that would turn their bonds into worthless paper."

"Correct," Lin Chen nodded, "So from today on, they will spontaneously safeguard The Group's interests. Anyone who dares attack us attacks the bonds in their hands."

"These ninety-seven thousand civilizations have become our most loyal... 'Financial Guard'."

Zhang Hao listened, dumbfounded.

Turning creditors into bodyguards?

This maneuver...

"Not finished yet," Lin Chen pulled out the final killing move, "I plan to package these bonds into 'New Epoch Bond-Backed Securities' and list them for sale again."

"Target buyers: those high-level civilizations not yet caught up in the crisis."

"Selling point: 'Investing in this security equals investing in universal financial stability, guaranteed returns'."

"Estimated fundraising: five hundred trillion."

Lin Xiao was utterly convinced, "You're turning a financial crisis... into a wealth management product?"

"Crisis means both danger and opportunity," Lin Chen smiled, "It's about who can seize it."

He clicked to publish.

The new product went live.

As he predicted—seeing the selling point of "Universe-Level Guaranteed Payment," those high-level civilizations frantically snapped it up.

The five hundred trillion quota sold out in three minutes.

The Group's capital pool instantly swelled to nearly a quadrillion dimension points.

And the original three hundred trillion in bad debt that triggered the crisis had now become eight hundred trillion worth of high-quality assets.

A net profit of five hundred trillion from the exchange.

"Alright," Lin Chen closed all interfaces, "Purge completed, crisis resolved, and we made a hefty profit."

"Now, time to prepare to welcome..."

He looked at the universal clock.

Twenty-two hours and thirty-seven minutes remained until the predicted resurrection time of Arrogant Dragon.

"...that old friend."

As soon as he finished speaking.

Inspector 117 suddenly popped up another warning—this time a highest-level crimson alert:

"Chairman! Abnormal spacetime fluctuations detected!"

"Source: the tomb of the fallen... Long Aotian Immortal Emperor!"

"Nature of fluctuations: Reverse Chronological Revival!"

"Someone... is illegally reviving Long Aotian ahead of schedule!"

The surveillance feed switched.

The previously empty void was now splitting open with a blood-red spacetime rift.

From within the rift came Long Aotian's familiar, maniacal laughter:

"Hahaha! Lin Chen! Did you think the Author would keep their promise?"

"I paid for an 'Early Resurrection Card'!"

"Now, I'm back—"

"With all the memories from my previous life!"

"This time, I'm going to..."

The rift exploded.

The figure of the white-robed Immortal Emperor stepped out.

But the moment he emerged, he froze.

Because he saw—

His former enemies, Black Star, the Aged One, and Blue Flame, now wearing Group uniforms, were cleaning in a corner of the hall.

All the former neutral shareholders had vanished.

And Lin Chen sat on the Chairman's throne, with representatives from the ninety-seven thousand bondholding civilizations standing behind him.

Everyone looked at him, their gazes as if looking at...

...a new hire.

Lin Chen picked up his coffee, took a sip.

Then smiled:

"Welcome back, Long Aotian."

"HR is over there."

"Remember to fill out the forms, you start work today."

"Group rules, being late deducts your full attendance bonus."

Long Aotian: "..."

All the lines he had prepared got stuck in his throat.