246: Chapter 246 I Devour Myself! Ignite Three Hundred Mad Worlds

On the surveillance screen of defective world No. 001, the mad Lin Chen had already covered the entire floor of the room in blood writing. Amidst the twisted formulas were scrawled, roaring words: "Zeroing... die together... why is it only me who goes bankrupt..."

The 'silence' light point flickered rapidly: "Chairman, what he wrote is the 'Targeted Zeroing Chain Detonation Algorithm'. Once this world is devoured, the algorithm will trigger, propagate backward along the data link of the devourer, and ultimately blow up the main world."

Arrogant Dragon's face turned ashen: "So Future You dug a pit for us—if we go to devour the world, we get blown up; if we don't devour it, our weight isn't enough. In thirty days, we'll still die in the Great Cleansing."

Lin Chen stared at the screen and suddenly laughed.

"Who said we have to 'devour' it?" He pulled up the financial backend. "In business, what do you do when you encounter toxic assets?"

Arrogant Dragon: "...Divest? Sell?"

"Wrong." Lin Chen created a new operational interface. "It's 'debt-to-equity swap' plus 'asset restructuring'."

He began operating quickly.

Step One: Simultaneously send "Bankruptcy Liquidation Assistance Offers" to three hundred defective worlds.

The offer was simple—Lin Chen, as the "parent company," would assume all the "debts" of these worlds (i.e., their collapse logic), while injecting funds for "bankruptcy restructuring." After restructuring, ownership of these worlds would belong to Lin Chen, but the "residents" inside (those mad duplicates) would gain "debt-to-equity swap" eligibility, becoming shareholders of the new company.

"Will they agree?" Arrogant Dragon doubted. "Those duplicates are all mad."

"Mad is better." Lin Chen clicked send. "A madman's decisions are the easiest to predict."

Thirty seconds later.

The first world replied.

Below the mad Lin Chen's blood-written formulas, a line of crooked characters suddenly appeared: "Give money... any amount..."

The acceptance rate instantly soared to 100%.

All defective worlds accepted the offer.

"Step two," Lin Chen pulled up the previously issued "Memory Perpetual Bond" fund pool. "Use this money to buy 'Logic Stabilization Insurance' for the three hundred worlds."

The insurance terms were special: if a world collapsed during the restructuring process, the insurance company would provide full compensation and must "restore it to its pre-collapse state."

Insurance purchase completed.

"Now," Lin Chen looked at the "silence" light point. "You can go devour them."

The light point trembled: "B-but those Zeroing algorithms—"

"The algorithm triggers on the premise of 'illegal devouring'." Lin Chen pulled up the newly signed restructuring agreements. "But now, I am the legal owner of these worlds. You, as my subsidiary, going to 'recover our own assets' is internal resource allocation. It doesn't trigger the algorithm's defense mechanism."

Arrogant Dragon understood: "You turned the bombs into inventory in your own warehouse, then had your own employee move them..."

"Correct." Lin Chen nodded. "And if they blow up during the move—the insurance pays."

The "silence" light point finally moved.

It split into three hundred tiny light points, simultaneously teleporting to the three hundred defective worlds.

The surveillance screens began playing synchronously.

In world No. 001, the mad Lin Chen looked at the suddenly appearing light point and grinned: "Come devour me... let's die together..."

The light point did not devour.

It merely projected a holographic contract: "According to Clause 7.3 of the Restructuring Agreement, as the original shareholder of this world, you are now granted 0.001% equity in the new company. Please sign to confirm."

The mad Lin Chen froze.

He stared at the contract with his bloodshot eyes for three seconds, then suddenly screamed: "Equity?! I have equity?! I'm not bankrupt?!"

"You were bankrupt before," the light point said calmly. "But now, Chairman Lin Chen has assumed all your debts and injected funds for restructuring. Your net assets are now positive."

The mad Lin Chen stood dumbfounded.

Then, the madness on his face began to recede—though his eyes were still chaotic, at least he stopped writing in blood.

He tremblingly reached out and pressed his fingerprint onto the contract.

The moment he pressed down.

The "Zeroing Algorithm" within him automatically deactivated—because the algorithm determined that "world ownership has changed, the original defense protocol is void."

Similar scenes played out synchronously across three hundred worlds.

In some worlds, Arrogant Dragon's duplicate was on the verge of qi deviation and self-destruction; in others, Su Qingyu's duplicate was destroying everything amidst memory confusion. But after the equity contract appeared, they all stopped.

Not because they regained their sanity.

But because... they now had "assets."

Even madmen have possessiveness.

With equity, they want to stay alive to enjoy the dividends.

"Step three," Lin Chen watched as all worlds stabilized and pulled up the weight system. "Now, legally recover the assets."

The "silence" light points began the true devouring.

No resistance, no explosions.

The three hundred worlds melted like wax, transforming into pure data streams that converged into Lin Chen's main universe.

The weight panel began to jump:

【Devoured defective world No. 001: Weight +0.04】

【Devoured defective world No. 002: Weight +0.03】

【Devoured defective world No. 099: Weight +0.05】

...

All three hundred worlds were completely devoured.

Lin Chen's weight soared from 7.6 to 19.1.

Not only exceeding the survival line of 10, but even surpassing The Librarian (16.4) and The Game Designer (13.5).

Arrogant Dragon looked at the data and let out a long sigh: "We made it..."

"Not finished yet." Lin Chen stared at the top of the weight ranking. "Number Zero's weight is still ERROR, Future Lin Chen's weight is still invisible. And—"

He pulled up the insurance company's claim notification.

Sure enough, it arrived.

【Claim Notification: Logic Stabilization Insurance Triggered】

【Cause of Incident: 'Original Sin Code' residue detected during world restructuring】

【Compensation Amount: Three hundred trillion dimension points】

【However: According to Exemption Clause No. 33—If the loss is caused by intentional acts of the policyholder, the insurance company reserves the right to deny the claim and pursue liability】

Lin Chen smiled: "There was indeed a backup plan."

Although the mad duplicates had deactivated the Zeroing Algorithm, they still harbored a more concealed "Original Sin Code" within them—that was the second layer of trap buried by Future Lin Chen.

Once the code was activated, these duplicates would become the culprits "intentionally causing losses," leading to insurance claim denial.

And the restructuring costs for the three hundred worlds were all borrowed by Lin Chen.

If the insurance claim was denied, he would instantly be in debt by three hundred trillion.

"Has it activated now?" Arrogant Dragon asked urgently.

"Activated." Lin Chen watched the surveillance—the three hundred duplicates simultaneously began convulsing, their eyes turning red again.

But the next second.

The duplicates suddenly spoke in unison, their voices overlapping into an eerie chorus:

"Detected equity dividend payment received..."

"Dividend amount: 100 dimension points..."

"Continue holding equity... wait for next dividend..."

The activation process of the Original Sin Code stalled.

Lin Chen pulled up the equity system: "I set up a 'greed cycle' for all duplicates—automatically distributing tiny dividends every minute. As long as they still want money, they will subconsciously resist any self-destructive tendencies."

Arrogant Dragon was dumbfounded: "You used... petty gains to control three hundred madmen?"

"Basic principle of business." Lin Chen closed the interface. "As long as the income continues, even the craziest investors will wait obediently."

The insurance company's denial notification flickered a few times, ultimately changing to 【Claim Review Approved】.

Three hundred trillion arrived in the account.

Debt cleared to zero.

Weight stabilized at 19.1.

Just as everyone thought the crisis was resolved—

The shareholder meeting communication channel was forcibly accessed.

Future Lin Chen's image appeared in the conference room.

He applauded.

"Beautiful operation." he said, his golden pupils revealing no emotion. "Using debt-to-equity swap to crack the Zeroing Algorithm, using a dividend cycle to control the Original Sin Code. As my past self, you pass."

"But," he changed his tone, "do you know why I set this trap?"

"Not to kill me." Current Lin Chen said calmly. "It was to test whether I'm qualified... to participate in your real plan."

Future Lin Chen smiled.

"Correct."

He pulled up a top-secret agreement:

【Narrative Layer Ultimate Restructuring Plan · Codename 'Nirvana'】

【Initiator: Fourth shareholder (Future Lin Chen)】

【Objective: During this Great Cleansing, reversely devour Number Zero and seize the highest control of the Narrative Layer】

【Current Progress: Second shareholder (The Librarian) and Third shareholder (The Game Designer) have been turned】

【Missing Component: Requires a 'Variable'—an existence that cannot be predicted by Number Zero】

【Candidate: Current Lin Chen (Weight 19.1, meets requirements)】

The contents of the agreement made Arrogant Dragon gasp.

Future Lin Chen... wants to rebel?

"Isn't Number Zero the embodiment of rules?" Arrogant Dragon asked. "How can you devour it?"

"He once was." Future Lin Chen said. "But He has become 'erroneous'—you saw His weight turn to ERROR in the meeting. That means He is losing absolute control over the rules."

He enlarged a data record: "In the past three thousand cleansings, Number Zero's weight never fluctuated. But starting from the last cleansing, He showed a 0.0001% prediction error rate. By this meeting, the error rate has reached 3.7%. He is 'declining'."

"So you want to kick Him while He's down?" Current Lin Chen asked.

"No." Future Lin Chen shook his head. "I want to save Him."

He pulled up the true form data of Number Zero—deep within that mass of rule code flow, the core part was turning into garbled code.

"He isn't declining; He's being infected by 'some existence outside the Narrative Layer'." Future Lin Chen said. "My plan is: during the Great Cleansing, use the high permissions of the cleansing program to enter Number Zero's core and Clear the infection source. But doing this requires someone to draw fire on the periphery—Number Zero's defense mechanisms will crazy attack the Clear者."

He looked at Current Lin Chen: "You are that bait."

"Why me?"

"Because you are the only 'unpredictable variable'." The Librarian's image also joined in, the old man adjusting his glasses. "I have recorded all data from all epochs. Only your behavioral patterns I cannot fully model—you always solve problems that shouldn't be solved with money, using money."

The Game Designer chimed in with a grin: "And you're greedy enough. Greedy people are easiest to control—we promise you 30% permanent equity in the Narrative Layer after success."

Current Lin Chen remained silent for a long time.

Then, he asked one question:

"What if I refuse?"

Future Lin Chen's golden pupils slightly contracted.

"Then everything you possess now," he said softly, "will disappear in three minutes."

"Including your newly increased weight."

"Including your universe."

"Including... everyone you love."

A countdown panel popped up:

【180】

【179】

【178】

Arrogant Dragon tightened his grip on his sword.

The "silence" light point began to tremble.

But Current Lin Chen smiled.

He opened his account and pulled up a fund that had just arrived—the three hundred trillion from the insurance claim.

Then, he did something no one expected.

He donated all this money...

To the "Number Zero Restoration Foundation".

A charity organization that didn't exist at all, which he had just casually created.

The donation note read:

"For the treatment of the infected Narrative Layer rule embodiment."

The moment the donation was completed.

Number Zero's weight suddenly changed from 【ERROR】 to...

【20.0】