243: Chapter 243 I bought the concept of "existence," and the stock price went to zero, instantly killing all the gods!

Seventeen seconds after his account was unfrozen, Lin Chen saw the true form of 'that thing'.

It was not a physical entity, not data, not a concept.

It was... the very essence of 'Void'.

On the surveillance screen, it appeared as an expanding expanse of pure white—but upon closer inspection, one would find that the white contained nothing, not even the definition of 'white' itself, which was being devoured by it.

Where it passed, story universes were not destroyed; they 'had never existed at all'.

"My Supermarket in the Apocalypse" was the first to disappear.

The surveillance feed showed: that story universe, which the fund had just revived, was directly erased from the database the instant the pure white swept past. It wasn't deleted; not even a 'deletion record' remained—as if it had never been created.

The Author's backend was simultaneously cleared.

On readers' bookshelves, the book vanished into thin air, their memories even corrected to 'I've never read this book'.

The loan records in the fund's backend... also disappeared.

"It's devouring 'existence' itself," Arrogant Dragon stared at the screen, his voice dry.

The Technical Officer from the Supervision Bureau, brought by the Iron-Faced Judge, suddenly screamed—he had been analyzing the data of that pure white expanse, and his analysis tool vanished directly from the screen. It didn't close; the icon, the program, even the installation package, completely disappeared from all devices.

"All technical means are ineffective," the Technical Officer trembled. "It's not attacking; it's... negating."

The countdown panel flickered back to life, but this time it didn't display time:

[Existence Value: 72%]

[Current Devour Rate: Decreasing by 0.3% per second]

[Estimated Time to Complete Zeroing: 4 minutes]

Lin Chen didn't panic.

He pulled up the financial market backend.

"What are you doing?" the Iron-Faced Judge demanded sharply. "You're still thinking about money at a time like this?!"

"Because money is the only thing that can still 'exist'," Lin Chen operated rapidly. "Look, even as that pure white devours everything, the transaction records for dimension points remain—because the concept of 'transaction' is more fundamental than 'existence'."

As he spoke, he created a brand new financial product:

[Product Name: right of existence Futures Contract]

[Underlying Asset: The 'right of existence' of a specific story universe]

[Contract Terms: The buyer pays a deposit to purchase the right for a specific story to 'continue existing' within the next 24 hours. If that story is Zeroed/devoured, the seller (i.e., this platform) must compensate 100 times the contract value.]

[Special Clause: The 'existence' of this contract is protected by the highest law of the Narrative Layer, taking priority over Zeroing.]

The product went live.

The Iron-Faced Judge was dumbfounded: "You... you're selling 'existence' as a commodity?!"

"Why not?" Lin Chen had already started listing orders. "Since it's coming to steal, I'll just put a clear price tag. Want a story to survive? Pay for its 'right of existence'. If enough people buy it, that story's 'Existence Weight' will increase, and the energy required for Zeroing to devour it will grow larger—so large it can't afford to swallow it, and naturally, it will give up."

The first batch of contracts was listed: right of existence Futures targeting the "dimension shareholder" universe.

Unit Price: 1 dimension point per share.

Each contract guarantees 0.0000001% Existence Weight for that universe.

Total Issuance: One hundred trillion shares.

Three seconds after listing—

A frenzied rush began!

The Supervision Bureau's surprise inspection wasn't over yet, but all the investigators the Iron-Faced Judge brought were now secretly pulling out their personal terminals to snatch up contracts.

"What are you all doing?!" the Iron-Faced Judge roared.

A young investigator looked up, justified: "Chief, all my assets are tied up in derivative investments in 'dimension shareholder'! If it disappears, I'll be bankrupt! Spending a little money now to ensure its existence, is there a problem?"

The Iron-Faced Judge was speechless.

Looking at the snatching data, Lin Chen said to Arrogant Dragon, "See, binding interests is the strongest defense."

Existence Value Panel: [68%]

The devour rate had dropped—from 0.3% per second to 0.28%.

Though only a 0.02% drop, it proved effective.

"Not enough," Arrogant Dragon stared at the expanding pure white. "It's still approaching."

"Then add leverage," Lin Chen raised the contract unit price from 1 dimension point to 10 dimension points.

Simultaneously, he initiated an even crazier operation:

Sending targeted advertisements to all high-level civilizations, god-level beings, and dimension lords across the entire Narrative Layer.

The ad copy had only one line:

[The 'dimension shareholder' universe is about to be Zeroed by 'silence']

[This universe holds the following scarce assets:]

[1. Complete Commercial Divinity (replicable)]

[2. Cross-Dimensional Financial System (ready-made template)]

[3. Long Aotian Immortal Emperor's Insights on Achieving Emperorhood (exclusive)]

[4. Inspector 117's Death Data (classified)]

[If this universe disappears, the above assets will be annihilated along with it.]

[Now opening 'right of existence Equity Investment': Every trillion dimension points grants 0.001% universe equity. shareholders will share all future profits of this universe according to their share.]

[Investment is Defense: The higher your equity share, the higher this universe's Existence Weight, the harder it is for Zeroing to devour.]

This was no longer just selling futures.

This was selling shares of a universe.

The Iron-Faced Judge watched, trembling all over: "You... you're securitizing an entire universe!"

"What else?" Lin Chen didn't even look up. "Wait to die?"

Thirty seconds after the ad was sent.

The first major investment arrived:

[Investor: Magic Epoch Supreme Morgana (Frozen)]

[Investment Amount: Five hundred trillion dimension points]

[Note: Don't die. The unfreezing solution for my frozen true body is still in your database.]

The second:

[Investor: AI Integration Entity Alpha (Dormant)]

[Investment Amount: Eight hundred trillion dimension points]

[Note: My core backup is with you. You must exist.]

The third came from an anonymous account:

[Investment Amount: One quadrillion two hundred trillion dimension points]

[Note: I am Qingyunzi. I hate you, but my fragment of the Heavenly Dao is still held as collateral by your Underworld Group. You can't die yet.]

Even enemies came to invest.

Existence Value Panel: [71%]

Not dropping, but rising!

The devour rate plummeted to 0.1% per second!

The expansion of the pure white noticeably slowed.

"It can't swallow anymore," Arrogant Dragon stared at the screen. "Your universe is now 'held' by hundreds of millions of investors. Its Existence Weight has become so high that swallowing it would require astronomical energy consumption."

"So it will change targets," Lin Chen looked at the surveillance.

Sure enough, that pure white expanse began to turn, spreading towards another direction—

That was the Narrative Layer's 'Public Domain,' It contains tens of millions of items without clear copyright ownership." fan works"" Secondary Universe"" Fan-created world".

These worlds, due to ambiguous copyright, could not be securitized.

They were disappearing in swathes.

"Damn it," Lin Chen frowned.

He pulled up the fund backend, wanting to rescue those worlds, but the system prompted: [Target universe copyright status unclear. Equity investment operations unavailable.]

Without equity, investor interests couldn't be bound.

Without bound interests, Existence Weight couldn't be increased.

They could only watch helplessly as they were devoured.

Though the Existence Value panel stabilized at 71%, the 'total existence quantity' of the entire Narrative Layer was rapidly decreasing.

"This won't do," Arrogant Dragon suddenly spoke. "If all other worlds are swallowed, leaving only us, we'll become silence's sole target—it will concentrate all its power to slowly grind us down."

Lin Chen, of course, knew.

He remained silent for three seconds.

Then made a decision no one expected.

He pulled up the equity he held in the "dimension shareholder" universe—after that round of financing, he still retained 51% controlling share.

He pledged this entire 51% equity.

Obtaining a loan of astronomical figures.

Then, with this loan...

He bought the temporary copyright for the entire Narrative Layer 'Public Domain.'

"Are you insane?!" the Iron-Faced Judge bellowed. "Those tens of millions of worlds! What are you buying them for?! They're about to be swallowed up!"

"Once bought, they become my assets," Lin Chen said calmly. "And my assets can be securitized."

He operated quickly.

Packaging tens of millions of worlds about to disappear into a super asset bundle.

Naming it: [Narrative Layer Heritage Fund].

Then, splitting this fund into one trillion wealth management products, each priced at 100 dimension points.

The product description was written plainly:

[This product invests in worlds about to be Zeroed/devoured.]

[Expected Loss Rate: 99.99%]

[But: If you purchase this product, you will receive the 'Savior' title and enjoy benefits such as Priority Reincarnation Rights, talent bonuses, and Increased Chance of Encounters in future new epochs.]

[In other words—you're not investing; you're purchasing Merit for your next life.]

This was no longer a financial product.

This was... selling the afterlife.

The Iron-Faced Judge was completely speechless.

But investors bought into it.

Especially those old monsters from high dimensions who were already tired of living and began contemplating 'how to live the next life.'

One minute after the product went live, sold out.

One trillion shares, completely sold.

Total financing amount: One hundred trillion trillion dimension points.

Lin Chen used this money to do one thing:

He launched a reverse takeover of 'silence.'

Not attacking it.

But issuing it a 'Takeover Offer.'

Offer content:

[We intend to acquire your (i.e., 'silence's) 'Zeroing Right' for one hundred trillion trillion dimension points.]

[Post-acquisition, you will become our subsidiary, responsible for 'Orderly Zeroing Management Operations.']

[Benefits: Annual fixed budget, five insurances and one fund, Paid Annual Leave.]

[If agreed, please sign this Electronic Contract.]

Dead silence filled the room.

Even that pure white expanse halted for an instant.

As if silence itself was stunned—having devoured countless epochs, this was the first time it encountered someone wanting to acquire it.

Three seconds later.

The contract actually...

Passed.

Not signed.

But that expanse of pure white suddenly began to contract, condense, and finally transformed into a white point of light, flying into Lin Chen's palm.

A cold, hollow, yet undeniably existing voice came from the point of light:

"Contract received."

"Acquisition effective."

"From this moment, 'Zeroing' becomes a subsidiary operation of the Epoch Management Group."

"May I ask the Chairman, what is my first work assignment?"

Lin Chen looked at the point of light in his palm and smiled.

"First task: Spit out one-third of the worlds you just swallowed—pick the ones with the most commercial value."

The point of light flickered: "Understood."

The next second.

Tens of thousands of vanished worlds reappeared in the database.

Though incomplete, they indeed 'existed.'

Lin Chen turned to look at the petrified Iron-Faced Judge.

"Chief Judge Li," he smiled. "Now, we can properly audit the accounts."

"But before auditing, there's a small issue—"

He pulled up the equity structure chart of the Supervision Bureau.

"I just incidentally acquired 67% of the Supervision Bureau's shares."

"So now, I should be your..."

"New Chairman?"

The investigation warrant in the Iron-Faced Judge's hand clattered to the floor.