237: Chapter 237 The Seal of the Divine Tomb! I'm Putting the Founder's Conscience Up for Auction

Three days later, at exactly zero seconds, the Manager appeared on the top floor of The Group's headquarters.

He had changed into a pure black suit, and the rotating black hole on his chest seemed slightly larger, its edges beginning to swallow the surrounding light. Lin Chen could even see nearby floating surveillance probes being slowly pulled toward that black hole, then vanishing silently.

"Ready?" the Manager asked.

Lin Chen nodded and said to Su Qingyu and the others behind him, "While I'm away, Arrogant Dragon will temporarily manage The Group. If a crisis occurs, activate the 'Ultimate Risk Avoidance Plan'—I've placed that plan in the third drawer of my office; the password is Su Qingyu's birthday."

Su Qingyu's eyes were slightly red, but she gritted her teeth and nodded.

The Manager impatiently snapped his fingers.

Space tore apart.

It wasn't a portal; it directly deleted all dimensional intervals between the two of them and their destination—they stepped out and were already standing in the darkest region of the universe.

Even the concept of "darkness" felt like a luxury here. Because there was nothing—no matter, no energy, no flow of time; even "existence" itself was as thin as if it were about to dissipate.

Only in the very center floated a massive throne constructed from the remains of countless Creator Gods.

Sitting on the throne was a skeleton draped in a Star Robe, holding a slowly beating heart in its hands—the heart was translucent, with rainbow-like emotional light flowing within: a pale blue of compassion, a deep purple of guilt, a golden hue of mercy...

"Is that your conscience?" Lin Chen asked.

"Yes," the Manager stared at the heart with a complex expression, "but look around the throne."

Only then did Lin Chen notice—centered on the throne, within a void spanning tens of thousands of miles, floated countless distorted figures.

Some were fragmented Creator Gods, some were unspeakable ancient beings, and many more were clumps of black mist with only eyes and mouths. All these entities were tethered by invisible chains, the other ends of which were connected to the throne.

"They are..." Lin Chen frowned.

"'Guardians,'" the Manager whispered, "or rather, 'parasites attracted by my conscience.' The positive emotions emitted by the conscience are lethal poison to them, yet they are an irresistible temptation—like moths to a flame."

No sooner had he spoken.

The nearest clump of black mist suddenly shrieked and lunged toward the throne!

But as soon as it approached within a hundred meters, the skeleton on the throne suddenly opened its eye sockets!

Two beams of pure white light shot out, instantly vaporizing the mist.

"See?" the Manager said, "Those Guardians will attack any entity that tries to approach the throne. You need to pass through their encirclement, get the conscience, and then—"

Before he could finish.

Lin Chen suddenly pulled out a tablet and began operating it rapidly.

"What are you doing?" The Manager was stunned.

"Market research," Lin Chen said without looking up. "I've scanned the area; there are a total of 3,742 guardian units. Among them are nineteen Creator-level, 203 half-step Creator-level, and the rest are various small fry."

He pulled up the data analysis: "According to the threat assessment, the success rate of a direct assault is 0.03%, with a 99.97% probability of death."

"So?"

"So we need a different approach." Lin Chen clicked on a new interface. "Since they are attracted by the conscience, we'll use the conscience as bait."

He created a real-time auction page:

[Auction Item: 'Priority Access Rights' to the Creator's Conscience (A collection of pure emotions)]

[Auction Description: The winner will receive one opportunity to safely approach the conscience (limited to 10 minutes)]

[Starting Price: One trillion dimension points]

[Auction Location: Current Coordinates]

[Special Note: Proceeds from the auction will be used to establish the 'Guardian Pacification Fund']

The Manager was dumbfounded: "You're auctioning my conscience?!"

"No, I'm auctioning the access rights," Lin Chen clicked publish. "The conscience will be returned to you in the end anyway, but the access rights can be sold many times—as long as we tell the winners that 'the first person to make contact might trigger unknown risks, so observation is advised,' they'll be willing to wait for someone else to try first."

The auction information instantly spread throughout the entire universe.

Those ancient beings who had been observing in the shadows, hidden powerhouses, and even the collective consciousnesses of certain civilizations—they all went mad!

The Creator's conscience! That was a supreme treasure containing the emotional laws of the Creator-level! By comprehending it, one might even break through their current realm!

The bidding surpassed a hundred trillion within ten seconds.

Meanwhile, the Guardians sensed the auction's fluctuations and began turning toward Lin Chen and the Manager en masse!

"They're coming!" The Manager's expression changed.

Over three thousand distorted entities surged forward like a tide!

But Lin Chen remained calm, pulling up the hundred trillion in funds he had just raised and launching a program he had prepared long ago:

[Program Name: Emotional Hedge Fund]

[Operational Logic: Using the positive emotions of the conscience as collateral to issue 'Negative Emotion Absorption Bonds']

[Bond Description: Purchasers will bear the impact of the Guardians' negative emotions; in return, they receive a 10% dividend right of the conscience's comprehension time]

The program launched.

The hundred trillion in funds transformed into a massive golden network, sweeping back over the Guardians!

The moment the network touched the Guardians, the billions of years of resentment, madness, and despair accumulated within them began to be forcibly extracted, converted into 'yield data' for the bonds!

The Guardians shrieked in pain but could not break free—because the essence of this financial tool was a universe-level rule contract!

"When... when did you prepare all this?" the Manager asked in shock.

"Three days ago," Lin Chen stared at the tablet. "You said there were 'not-so-good things' locked up here, so I guessed it might be some kind of emotional aggregation. To deal with emotions, the best weapon is financial derivatives—because the essence of finance is the trading of emotions."

He looked at the Guardians being "purified": "Now, instead of being threats, they've become our 'wealth management products.' Bondholders earn the emotional spread, we earn the management fee—it's a win-win."

The Manager was speechless.

Five minutes later.

All the Guardians collapsed to the ground, the negative emotions within them drained, turning them into gentle, translucent spirits.

The golden network retracted, and the returned data showed: a net profit of eighty trillion dimension points from this operation.

"Alright," Lin Chen put away his tablet. "Obstacles cleared. Now, go get your conscience."

The two walked toward the throne.

The closer they got, the more violently the heart beat.

Just as Lin Chen reached out to touch it, the skeleton suddenly spoke—its voice like a chorus of billions of Restless Souls:

"He who touches... must pass... the Conscience Trial..."

"Trial for what?"

"To judge... if you are worthy... to possess the authority... of the 'Creator'..."

As the voice fell.

The world before Lin Chen's eyes suddenly collapsed.

He found himself standing in a pure white space, with three people identical to him standing in front.

The first wore blood-stained battle armor and held a dripping longsword—the commercial genius of the cultivation world from his previous life.

The second was dressed in a suit, his eyes as shrewd as a fox—the Earth merchant Lin Xiao from this life.

The third was wrapped in data streams and law chains—his current self.

"Choose," a triple-layered voice rang out. "Among the three of you, only one can remain. The other two will be sealed forever."

Lin Chen frowned: "This is a test?"

"It is a trial," the voice said. "A Creator must be pure. But you currently have a mixture of three identities; you are not qualified."

Lin Chen looked at the three versions of himself.

The cultivation genius had a resolute gaze, but carried an unavenged blood feud.

The Earth Lin Xiao had a cunning smile, but hid a century of loneliness.

His current self... was tired, but there was light in his eyes.

He was silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed.

"I choose the fourth option."

"The fourth?"

"Yes," Lin Chen raised his hand and actually pulled out a business proposal out of thin air. "I want to acquire the operating rights of the 'Conscience Trial Program'."

He flipped open the proposal: "This trial model of yours is too outdated—choosing one out of three? Too inefficient. I suggest changing it to a 'Personality Shareholding System,' where the three of us allocate equity based on contribution, and major decisions are made by vote."

"This way, diversity is preserved while ensuring decision-making efficiency."

"In exchange, I promise to pay a 10% 'Personality Management Fee' to the trial system every year."

The white space shook violently.

For the first time, a note of bewilderment appeared in that voice: "You... you're trying to cut a deal with the trial program?!"

"Everything can be traded," Lin Chen smiled, "including you ancient rules."

He pulled out a standard merger and acquisition contract: "Sign it, and you'll have a stable income from now on, no longer needing to toil away at these trials. If you don't sign..."

He paused: "I'll go to the Cosmic Supreme Court and sue you for 'illegal detention of personalities,' seeking a hundred trillion in damages."

Silence.

A long silence.

Finally, the white space dissipated.

Lin Chen returned to the front of the throne, his hand already gripping the translucent heart.

The skeleton slowly lowered its head: "You... have passed..."

"Not passed," Lin Chen corrected. "The acquisition was successful."

He removed the heart and turned toward the Manager.

But the moment the heart left the throne—

The entire dark region began to collapse!

It wasn't a physical collapse, but a disintegration at the level of existence!

"Not good!" The Manager's expression changed drastically. "The conscience is the 'anchor' of this region! It's been taken, and now this place is going to return to nothingness!"

In all directions, space began to shatter like glass.

Those Guardians who had just been purified turned to ash amidst the shattering.

"Let's go!" The Manager tore through dimensions, wanting to take Lin Chen away.

But the dimensional rift closed automatically as soon as it opened—the rules of this region were failing, and even teleportation was impossible!

Lin Chen looked at the heart in his hand and suddenly asked, "What if I put it back?"

"Then we came here for nothing!"

"Not necessarily." Lin Chen stared at the heart. "You said it was locking up 'not-so-good things'—what exactly?"

The Manager gritted his teeth: "It's my... Fallen Side. When I stripped away my conscience back then, some dark emotions were also sealed with it. They are inside the heart."

Before he could finish.

The heart in Lin Chen's hand suddenly turned black!

The translucent rainbow light was replaced by a murky dark red; the heart began to beat violently, letting out an evil sneer:

"Finally... finally free..."

"Lin Chen, thank you..."

"As a reward, I shall make you..."

"The new Creator God!"

The dark red heart suddenly exploded, turning into billions of black bloodstreams that surged toward Lin Chen!

The Manager tried to intervene, but it was too late.

The black bloodstreams instantly merged into Lin Chen's body.

Then—

Everything went still.

The collapse stopped.

The shattered space froze in mid-air.

Even the Manager's movements were frozen in time.

Only Lin Chen could still move.

He looked down at his hands—beneath the skin, dark red patterns were spreading.

"This is..." he murmured.

"This is the Creator's 'Godhood Authority'." A voice rang in his mind—it was that fallen conscience. "Now that you have it, you can modify any rule in this universe."

"The price?"

"The price is..." The voice chuckled. "You will slowly become me."

"Become that cold Creator God who..."

"...for the sake of efficiency, can purge the entire universe."

Lin Chen was silent.

He looked at the frozen Manager, at the collapsing region, and at the heart fragments remaining in his hand.

Finally, he spoke:

"Let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

"I'll resell this Godhood Authority to the Manager," Lin Chen said. "But he needs to pay the price—his 'position as Creator,' and full control of the Administration Bureau."

The fallen conscience was stunned: "You... don't want to become the Creator God?"

"No," Lin Chen shook his head. "I just want to be a merchant."

"But with godhood, you can have as much wealth as you want—"

"How boring," Lin Chen smiled. "The joy of making money is in the process, not the result. If I can have whatever I want instantly, why would I still do business?"

The fallen conscience was speechless for a long time.

Finally, it sighed: "You really are a... pure madman."

"Thanks for the compliment." Lin Chen began operating the authority transfer program. "So, deal?"

"...Deal."

The program launched.

The dark red patterns were pulled out of Lin Chen's body, re-condensing into the form of a heart, and then flew toward the Manager.

The Manager regained his ability to move; the moment he caught the heart, all the collapse reversed, and space was restored to its original state.

He looked at Lin Chen in shock: "You... you gave the godhood back to me?"

"No, I sold it to you." Lin Chen pulled up the bill. "Price: Your position as Creator, plus 100% equity in the Administration Bureau. The contract is now in effect; please sign."

The Manager looked at the contract and suddenly burst into laughter.

By the end, tears were even coming out.

"Good... good! Lin Chen, you win."

He signed.

Then he took the heart, which had turned translucent again, and pressed it into the black hole in his chest.

Rainbow light blossomed.

The Manager's aura began to sublimate—from a cold manager of rules, he transformed back into a complete Creator.

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Lin Chen put away the contract. "Now, it's time to fulfill your promise—tell me the true source of the Zeroing, then solve it."

The Manager nodded and was about to speak—

The entire universe suddenly shuddered violently!

It wasn't just one region; the entire universe shuddered in sync!

Even the Creator's expression changed drastically: "This feeling... could it be..."

Lin Chen's work badge alarmed frantically:

"[Warning! Warning!]"},{

"[Awakening of an over-specification entity detected!]"}, 170: {"text": "[Coordinates: The 'Narrative Layer Core' of all universes]"}, 171: {"text": "[Identity Identification: The Author Himself]"}, 172: {"text": "[Reason for Awakening: The story's direction has severely deviated from the outline]"}, 173: {"text": "[Estimated Intervention Method: Forced plot reset]"}, 174: {"text": "At the end of the alarm, a line of small blood-red characters was attached:"}, 175: {"text": "'Protagonist Lin Chen, you've played around too much.'"}, 176: {"text": "'Now, it's time to get back on track.'"}