244: Chapter 244 Investigation Order Turns into a Suicide Note! Behind the Headquarters is Him.

Iron-Faced Judge did not pick up the investigation order that had fallen to the floor.

He stared at Lin Chen, and for the first time, his perpetually stern and rigid face revealed a complex expression—one part shock, one part absurdity, and four parts... liberation.

"You acquired 67% of the Supervision Bureau's equity?" Iron-Faced Judge's voice was very soft, "Do you know what this means?"

"It means I'm now your boss." Lin Chen smiled, "Director Li, regarding the account inspection, we can take our time—"

"No." Iron-Faced Judge cut him off, "It means you have triggered the 'Final Protocol'."

The meeting room suddenly fell silent.

Even the 'silence' light point, which had just been acquired, trembled slightly.

"What Final Protocol?" Lin Chen frowned.

Iron-Faced Judge bent down to pick up the investigation order, but instead of opening it, he... tore it apart.

The paper of the investigation order split in two, revealing not a paper core, but a layer of shimmering data film. What appeared on the film was not investigation clauses, but an equity structure diagram—the ultimate equity structure of the Supervision Bureau.

At the very top of the diagram, the shareholder holding 100% was displayed as a code name:

【██】

"This is..." Arrogant Dragon stared at the two obscured characters.

"The true owner of the Bureau." Iron-Faced Judge's voice was dry, "We call him 'Narrative Layer Inspector Number Zero'. All regulatory actions ultimately execute his will."

He called up a hidden log:

【Log Record - Pre-Epoch Seventh Cycle】

【Inspector Number Zero establishes the Universal Financial Supervision Bureau】

【Core Mission: Ensure all financial activities within the Narrative Layer do not touch the 'True Boundary'】

【Prohibited Clause: No entity may obtain 'Ultimate Control of the Narrative Layer' (i.e., hold over 50% equity) through financial means】

【Trigger Consequence: Activate 'Narrative Reset Protocol'】

Looking at the log entry, Lin Chen suddenly laughed, "So, by holding 67% equity, I triggered the reset protocol?"

"Yes." Iron-Faced Judge nodded, "The protocol will activate in ten minutes. At that time, the entire Narrative Layer will roll back to its state twenty-four hours prior—your acquisition of 'silence', all the financial products you issued, even this conversation of ours, will be erased. Everything starts over."

A countdown panel popped up:

【Narrative Reset Protocol Activated】

【Time Remaining: 9 minutes 47 seconds】

In the meeting room, all the shareholders who had just invested in the 'dimension shareholder' universe panicked.

"Chairman Lin! What do we do?!"

"Will our investments disappear?!"

"Think of something, quick!"

Lin Chen ignored them.

He looked at Iron-Faced Judge, "Since the protocol is so powerful, why are you telling me? Once I'm reset, wouldn't you have just completed your mission?"

Iron-Faced Judge was silent for three seconds.

Then, he did something that left everyone dumbfounded—

He called up his own character panel and selected 【Character Deletion】.

"What are you doing?!" a technical officer screamed.

"I've been the Supervision Bureau Director for three hundred epochs." Iron-Faced Judge's voice was terrifyingly calm, "With every reset, I forget everything and start anew. I've executed Number Zero's commands countless times, erasing countless individuals like you who touched the boundary."

He looked at Lin Chen, "But this time, I want to see... if someone can truly break this cycle."

A deletion confirmation pop-up appeared:

【Permanently delete character 'Iron-Faced Judge'?】

【After deletion, all traces of existence will be erased】

【Including memories, data, others' perception of you】

【Confirm?】

Iron-Faced Judge clicked 【Yes】.

His body began to dissipate from the edges, like a pencil drawing being erased.

But before vanishing completely, he spoke quickly:

"Number Zero's true identity is the embodiment of the 'Narrative Layer's Primordial Code'. He has no emotions, only rules."

"The only thing that can oppose a rule is not a stronger rule, but..."

"A loophole."

Iron-Faced Judge vanished completely.

Even the memories others in the meeting room had of him were rapidly fading—Lin Chen watched as several shareholders showed confused expressions, "Who... was speaking just now?"

Only Lin Chen, Arrogant Dragon, and the 'silence' light point, due to high enough authority, retained their memories.

Countdown: 【8 minutes 12 seconds】

"A loophole..." Lin Chen thought rapidly, "What loophole was Iron-Faced Judge talking about?"

The 'silence' light point suddenly flickered, "Chairman, I've detected a logical paradox within the core execution module of the reset protocol."

"Speak."

"The protocol stipulates: The reset will roll back all 'Narrative Layer state changes caused by financial activities'." The light point projected the original clause text, "But the protocol's own activation is triggered by you obtaining control through financial activity—this itself is also a 'Narrative Layer state change caused by financial activity'."

Arrogant Dragon's eyes lit up, "So if the protocol executes, it would also have to roll back itself?"

"Correct." The light point analyzed, "This would create an infinite loop: Protocol activates → rolls back everything → the protocol's own activation is rolled back → protocol terminates → your equity holding status is restored → protocol activates again → infinite loop."

Lin Chen understood, "So once this protocol activates, it would lock up the entire Narrative Layer?"

"Theoretically, yes. But Number Zero must have set up a bypass mechanism."

"What mechanism?"

The light point was silent for two seconds, "...I don't know."

Countdown: 【6 minutes 33 seconds】

Time was running out.

Lin Chen called up the Supervision Bureau Chairman authority he had just obtained, attempting to terminate the protocol, but the system prompted:

【Ultimate Protocol Authority is higher than Chairman Authority】

【Termination requires approval from 100% of shareholders】

【Current shareholder: ██ (100%)】

Number Zero held 100% equity; agreement was impossible.

"Wait." Arrogant Dragon suddenly said, "Since activating the protocol would lock up the Narrative Layer, why would Number Zero even set it up? That doesn't make sense."

A flash of insight struck Lin Chen.

"Unless..." he called up the Narrative Layer's underlying data stream, "this protocol was never meant to be executed; it's meant as a deterrent. Number Zero is betting no one would dare trigger it, because triggering it means mutual destruction."

"But we've already triggered it now!"

"So Number Zero now has only two choices." Lin Chen said quickly, "One, let the protocol execute, and we all die together. Two, before the protocol executes, change the rules—change them so my equity holding no longer triggers the protocol."

He looked at the countdown: 【5 minutes 01 second】

"Which do you think He will choose?"

As if answering his question—

The sky of the entire Narrative Layer suddenly darkened.

Not black, but a deeper kind of 'nothingness'.

Then, an indescribable existence descended.

He had no form, no sound, but within the 'cognition' of all living beings, they all 'knew' He had arrived.

He was the rule itself.

The source code of the Narrative Layer.

He was... Number Zero.

A line of text appeared directly in everyone's consciousness:

【Protocol trigger detected】

【Execution will cause Narrative Layer logical collapse】

【Initiating contingency plan: Modify core rules】

A new clause emerged:

【Original Clause: No entity may obtain Ultimate Control of the Narrative Layer through financial means】

【Modified to: No entity may obtain Ultimate Control of the Narrative Layer through 'non-commercial means'】

【Supplementary Note: Commercial means include, but are not limited to, equity investment, mergers & acquisitions, securitization, and other legal financial operations】

Lin Chen smiled.

Number Zero had compromised.

Because He could not allow the Narrative Layer to collapse—that was the foundation of His existence.

The countdown stopped at 【3 minutes 17 seconds】.

Protocol terminated.

Number Zero's will transmitted again:

【You have passed the test】

【You are qualified to participate in the true governance of the Narrative Layer】

【A shareholders' Meeting will be convened in three days】

【At that time, you will meet the other 'passers'】

The text disappeared.

The sky returned to normal.

The meeting room was deathly silent.

After a while, Arrogant Dragon finally spoke, "So... all of this was a test? Iron-Faced Judge's sacrifice, the threat of Zeroing, even 'silence' itself, were all part of the test?"

The 'silence' light point flickered, "Chairman, my underlying code indeed had a 'test module', but it has now been removed. I am now purely the 'Zeroing Business Subsidiary'."

Lin Chen did not answer.

He called up the Supervision Bureau's backend to check the information about the 'shareholders' Meeting' mentioned by Number Zero.

On the list of attendees, besides him and Number Zero, there were three other names:

【shareholder No. 2: The Librarian of the Eternal Library (Attendance Confirmed)】

【shareholder No. 3: The Game Designer of the Cycle of Reincarnation (Attendance Confirmed)】

【shareholder No. 4: ████ (Status: Unknown)】

The fourth name was obscured.

But Lin Chen noticed that next to that obscured name, there was a very small timestamp:

【Last Active: Minute 7 of This Epoch】

"Minute 7 of this epoch?" Arrogant Dragon frowned, "The Narrative Layer has been running for trillions of years now. This epoch refers to..."

Lin Chen suddenly thought of something.

He called up the creation record of the work 'dimension shareholder'.

Creation timestamp:

【Minute 1 of This Epoch】

The release time of the work's first chapter:

【Minute 5 of This Epoch】

And the release time of the fourth chapter...

【Minute 7 of This Epoch】

"The fourth shareholder," Lin Chen stared at the timestamp, "was already a shareholder by the 7th minute of our story's beginning."

"That's impossible!" Arrogant Dragon shook his head, "At that time, you hadn't even obtained the system yet; the story had just begun!"

"Therefore," Lin Chen said slowly, "the fourth shareholder either foresaw the future in advance, or is..."

He looked at everyone in the meeting room.

He looked at the Underworld Group building outside the window.

He looked at this commercial empire he had built from the ground up.

"...from the very beginning, within the story."

The silence light point suddenly flickered violently:

"Chairman, abnormal data flow detected—originating from your character database."

"What anomaly?"

"Your 'Initial Assets' record has been modified." The light point projected the data, "The original record shows: The first pot of gold you obtained was not through system tasks, but... receiving a transfer from an anonymous account."

"Transfer amount: 10 dimension points."

"Transfer time: Minute 6 of This Epoch."

"Transfer note: Seed capital."

Lin Chen was stunned.

Minute 6 of this epoch—that was the very first second his story began.

Before he got the system.

When he was still an ordinary person.

Someone... had already sent him money.

And the ID of that anonymous account now slowly surfaced in the data:

【Transferor: shareholder ████】

The fourth shareholder.