255: Chapter 255 Ultimate Editing Rights! That voice is my own father's.

The moment the voice rang out, only two things in the frozen universe could still move: Lin Chen and the glowing fruit in his pocket.

The fruit split open. Inside, there was no pulp, only a folded piece of paper.

Lin Chen unfolded the paper, which contained handwritten clauses:

[Narrative Layer Ultimate Management Agreement]

[Authorizing Party: Epoch Administration Bureau (Dissolved)]

[Authorized Party: Lin Jianguo (Code Name: Watcher)]

[Authority: Under specific conditions, 'Forced Deletion and Modification' can be executed on any story in the Narrative Layer]

[Current Trigger Condition: Detected that the story "dimension shareholder" has severely deviated from its initial setting, with a commercialization index exceeding the limit, potentially triggering systemic risks in the Narrative Layer]

[Execution Approved: Delete this story and clear all related data]

[Countdown: 10 minutes]

The signature at the end of the paper caused Lin Chen's pupils to shrink—

Lin Jianguo.

His biological father's name.

The same Lin Jianguo who passed away in a car accident seven years ago.

"Dad?" Lin Chen spoke toward the fruit, his voice dry.

The voice within the fruit remained silent for five seconds.

Then, that Aged One's voice became a bit gentler: "...Xiao Chen."

It really was his father.

"You're still alive?" Lin Chen clenched his fists. "Or rather... you never died at all?"

"Dead, and yet not dead," Lin Jianguo—or rather, his residual consciousness—spoke slowly. "The car accident seven years ago was real; my body died. But my consciousness was reclaimed by the 'Epoch Administration Bureau,' and I became one of the Watchers of the Narrative Layer."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because of the rules." Lin Jianguo's voice carried weariness. "A Watcher must sever all connections with their past life, or it will interfere with the narrative. I was supposed to forget you entirely, but... I secretly retained observation permissions. I watched you from the moment you obtained the system, all the way to today."

Countless memories flashed through Lin Chen's mind—before his death, his father always encouraged him to start a business, saying 'Commerce is the strongest weapon.' Now he understood.

"So now you're going to delete my story?" Lin Chen asked.

"It's not that I want to delete it," Lin Jianguo said. "The 'Agreement' was triggered automatically. When you pushed commerce to a degree the Narrative Layer could no longer sustain, the deletion program initiated. I was just... the one assigned to execute it."

The countdown panel ticked: [9 minutes 33 seconds]

"Is there a way to stop it?" Lin Chen went straight to the point.

"...There is." Lin Jianguo hesitated for a moment. "But it requires your cooperation."

"Speak."

"Sign the 'Narrative Regression Agreement' and voluntarily revert the story to its state at the end of Part Three—back when you had just listed the Underworld Group and the level of commercialization was still within controllable limits. All subsequent storylines will be deleted, including the cross-dimensional empire you've built now."

"Delete all memories?"

"Yes. You will forget the contents of these five parts, and so will everyone else. The story restarts, beginning again from the end of Part Three—but this time, I will secretly guide you to avoid walking the path of excessive commercialization again."

Lin Chen laughed.

"Dad," he said, "you know I won't sign it."

"You must sign!" Lin Jianguo's voice grew frantic. "Once the deletion program is complete, you will disappear entirely! Not death, but 'never having existed'! Even I, as a Watcher, won't be able to retain your data!"

"So you're begging me?" Lin Chen stared at the fruit. "Begging me to give up everything I have now, go back to the past, and be a good boy?"

"I'm trying to save you!"

"I'll save myself my way." Lin Chen called up the operation interface. "Since this deletion program was triggered by an 'Agreement,' then there must be a way to modify the agreement—right?"

"...Theoretically, yes. But it requires a collective vote from the Narrative Layer Management Committee, with a two-thirds majority. The Committee was dissolved seven hundred years ago."

"Then we'll reorganize the Committee." Lin Chen began his operations. "According to the 'Narrative Layer Basic Law' I read, when the Management Committee is unable to perform its duties, 'stakeholders' can temporarily form a 'Special Committee' to handle emergency matters."

"Who are the stakeholders?"

"Everyone currently being affected by this story." Lin Chen pulled up the data. "The residents of my universe, the members of the Alliance, the readers who invested in our story, and even those characters from other stories impacted by our commercial actions—they are all stakeholders."

He created a voting platform.

[Issue: Whether to delete the story "dimension shareholder"?]

[Voting Eligibility: Any individual with a direct or indirect interest in this case]

[Voting Weight: Votes allocated according to the 'degree of impact']

[Voting Time: Within 9 minutes]

The platform went live, instantly spreading through the Narrative Layer data network.

Thirty seconds later, the first vote was cast.

It came from Lin Bei, the protagonist of "i open a supermarket in the apocalypse": "Against deletion! Boss Lin just saved my world!"

The second vote came from an old woman in the Purity Alliance: "...Against deletion. Although commerce is loathsome, our existence now depends on his system."

Third vote, fourth vote...

The data stream began to pour in.

But Lin Chen noticed a problem: the number of votes in favor of deletion was slowly growing.

Those votes came from the 'native residents' of the Narrative Layer—they had never encountered commerce and purely felt that this story 'polluted' the narrative environment.

Countdown: [7 minutes 12 seconds]

Ratio of votes in favor to votes against: 47% to 53%.

Still not safe enough.

"You need a two-thirds majority against to overturn the agreement," Lin Jianguo reminded him. "You're still short by 14 percentage points."

"Then I'll canvass for votes." Lin Chen did two things.

First, he sent a 'Deletion Consequence Assessment Report' to all voters who 'favored deletion.'

The report detailed calculations of how much economic loss would be caused to the entire Narrative Layer if "dimension shareholder" were deleted—

Cross-dimensional trade would be paralyzed, with an estimated loss of three hundred trillion dimension points.

A wave of defaults on financial products would trigger a chain collapse.

The unemployment rate would rise to 70%, leading to social unrest.

"You think you're just deleting a story?" the end of the report read. "You are deleting one-tenth of the Narrative Layer's economy. Do you want to be buried with it?"

The growth rate of votes in favor began to slow down.

The second thing Lin Chen did was initiate 'vote-buying.'

Not by giving money directly—that was too low-class.

He issued [Story Survival Linked Bonds], the value of which was tied to whether the story was deleted. As long as the story wasn't deleted, the bonds would pay interest on time; if the story was deleted, the bonds would become scrap paper.

Then, he gave these bonds for free to the undecided voters.

As long as you voted 'Against Deletion,' the bonds were yours.

If you voted 'In Favor,' the bonds automatically became void.

Human nature cannot withstand such a test.

The 'In Favor' votes began to defect.

Countdown: [5 minutes 01 second]

Percentage of votes against: 68%.

Still 1% short.

"The last bit is the hardest," Lin Jianguo said. "Those who still insist on deleting are the true 'Narrative Fundamentalists.' They don't care about economic interests; they only care about the 'purity' of the Narrative Layer."

"Then I'll make them care." Lin Chen had an idea.

He pulled up the records of those 'Fundamentalists'—most of them lived in secluded 'Pastoral Narrative Zones,' living self-sufficient lives.

Lin Chen didn't go to disturb them.

He simply... projected a line of text onto the skies of these pastoral worlds:

[Urgent Notice: Due to the initiation of the deletion program for the story "dimension shareholder," the Narrative Layer energy supply system will restart, resulting in an estimated three consecutive 'No Story Days.' During this period, all narrative activities will be suspended, including your pastoral lives. Thank you for your cooperation.]

The text was fake.

But it looked real.

Those Fundamentalists panicked.

"No Story Days"? That meant even their pastoral lives would be suspended—flowers wouldn't bloom, birds wouldn't sing, and there wouldn't even be the sound of wind blowing through the wheat fields.

Because all 'narrative' required underlying energy to maintain.

And they had always thought that energy was infinite.

Only now did they realize that it, too, was affected.

The final wave of 'Against' votes poured in.

Countdown: [3 minutes 17 seconds]

Percentage of votes against: 71%.

Exceeded two-thirds.

The vote passed.

The deletion program terminated.

Lin Jianguo, within the fruit, let out a long sigh of relief: "...You won."

"It's not over yet," Lin Chen said. "I want to modify that 'Ultimate Management Agreement' and permanently cancel the 'Forced Deletion and Modification Rights.'"

"Impossible. That is the highest rule of the Narrative Layer—"

"Then I'll acquire it." Lin Chen pulled up the original text of the agreement and found the key clause. "Look, it says here: 'The right of interpretation for this agreement belongs to the Epoch Administration Bureau.' And the Epoch Administration Bureau has already dissolved, so who does the right of interpretation... belong to now?"

He quickly searched the Narrative Layer database.

He found it—when the Epoch Administration Bureau dissolved, it bundled all assets and permissions for auction. The buyer was...

[Anonymous Investor, Closing Price: Ten Thousand dimension points]

"Ten thousand dimension points?" Lin Jianguo was shocked. "The Bureau's entire estate was only worth that much?!"

"Because it was an internal auction, and only I knew about it," Lin Chen smiled. "And that anonymous investor—was a shell company I used to buy it."

He pulled up the proof of equity.

Now, he was the legal owner of all the Epoch Administration Bureau's legacy.

Including the right of interpretation for the 'Ultimate Management Agreement.'

"So," Lin Chen modified the agreement's clauses, "from now on, 'Forced Deletion and Modification Rights' are renamed to 'Narrative Development Suggestion Rights.' Watchers can only make suggestions; they cannot force a deletion. Satisfied, Dad?"

The fruit remained silent for a long time.

Finally, Lin Jianguo's voice carried a hint of a smile: "...If your mother knew you'd grown up like this, I don't know if she'd be happy or worried."

"Is she okay?" Lin Chen asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

"She's in another Narrative Layer, living a peaceful life. I can occasionally observe her." Lin Jianguo paused. "Xiao Chen, the matter of the agreement is resolved, but I must warn you—you've touched not only the rules but also the bottom line of 'certain existences.'"

"What existences?"

"The creators of the Narrative Layer." Lin Jianguo lowered his voice. "Or rather... the collective consciousness of the 'Authors.' They will not allow a story character to turn around and control the narrative rules. Next, you might face..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

The fruit suddenly shattered.

Lin Jianguo's voice was cut off.

At the same time, all readers of "dimension shareholder" received a message from the Author at the exact same moment—

But it wasn't written by Author Lin Chen.

It was posted by another ID:

[Important Notice: Due to technical reasons, "dimension shareholder" will suspend updates and enter an indefinite hiatus. Thank you for your continued support. Goodbye.]

The ID that posted the notice was:

[System Administrator 01]