259: Chapter 259 The Bank Tycoon Arrives! He's Actually My Fiancée's Father

As the light from the charging cannons illuminated the entire meeting room, an unexpected figure stepped out from the shadows behind Black Stone.

It was a middle-aged man wearing dark gold robes, with a refined face but eyes like a precise abacus; every movement of his pupils seemed to be calculating gains and losses. When he appeared, even Black Stone subconsciously took half a step back and bowed.

"General Manager..." Black Stone's voice was dry.

The middle-aged man didn't look at him; his gaze fell directly on Lin Chen's face.

"Lin Chen," he spoke, his voice gentle yet carrying unquestionable authority, "I am the General Manager of the Universe Bank, Golden Abacus. Your recent operations... were very interesting."

Golden Abacus.

This name meant an absolute myth in the Narrative Layer's financial circles—he had been in charge of the Universe Bank for seven thousand epochs, survived three Narrative Layer financial crises, and managed to double the bank's assets every time. Legend has it he could even mortgage "time" for a loan.

Lin Chen stared at him: "The General Manager came in person to collect the debt? Do I have that much face?"

"Not entirely for debt collection." Golden Abacus took out a contract shimmering with dark gold light from his sleeve, "I'm here to discuss a new deal."

The contract unfolded, and the terms made everyone gasp:

[Debt Conversion Agreement]

Party A: Universe Bank

Party B: Lin Chen

Terms:

1. Party A waives all of Party B's debts (including the 300 trillion long-term loan and 141 trillion short-term loan, totaling 441 trillion).

2. In exchange, Party B must marry Party A's only daughter, Golden Glazed, and marry into the Jin family as a matrilocal husband.

3. After marriage, all of Party B's assets will be incorporated into the Jin Family Trust, with Party B retaining only management rights.

4. Party B must expand the Underworld Group's asset scale to one quadrillion dimension points within three years; otherwise, the marriage will be automatically dissolved and all assets confiscated.

Marrying in.

Selling himself.

The meeting room fell into a deathly silence.

Arrogant Dragon was the first to draw his sword: "This is too much!"

From the shadows behind Golden Abacus, twelve black-robed guards suddenly emerged. They carried no weapons, but each emitted an aura of "Rule Lock"—these were the Universe Bank's highest-level "Contract Enforcers," capable of directly invoking Narrative Layer laws to suppress targets.

"Young man, don't be impulsive." Golden Abacus remained gentle, "This isn't coercion; it's a trade. You marry my daughter and gain freedom. I find a son-in-law who can make more money for me. It's a win-win."

"Why choose me?" Lin Chen asked.

"Because you're ruthless enough." Golden Abacus clicked open a data panel, "In three days, you went from 300 trillion in debt to ranking first in the Dead Silence Star Domain; you turned a literalization crisis into a futures product; you gambled your life with other people's money—this kind of business talent, I've only seen three times in seven thousand epochs. Of the previous two, one is now my Vice General Manager, and the other has become the richest man in the Narrative Layer."

He paused: "More importantly, you and my daughter... are fated."

Before he finished speaking.

The meeting room door was pushed open.

A young girl in a white dress walked in. She was about eighteen or nineteen, with a clear and pretty face, but her eyes were as hollow as a doll's, and she held a worn-out teddy bear in her arms.

"Glazed, come here." Golden Abacus beckoned.

The girl walked woodenly to his side.

The moment Lin Chen saw her, his brain felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer—he knew her.

Not in this life.

In his previous life.

Fragments of memory surged: a summer when he was twenty-one, the university library, that quiet girl who always sat in the corner reading finance books. They had discussed Keynes and Hayek, and debated the pros and cons of monetary policy. Later, she suddenly dropped out of school and was never heard from again.

Her name was... Golden Glazed.

"Remembered?" Golden Abacus smiled, "Seven years ago, my daughter was experiencing life in the real world and met you. She came back and said she met an interesting person. I investigated you—ordinary family, ordinary talent, so I didn't care. It wasn't until recently, when the 'dimension shareholder' data surged, that I noticed you again."

He stroked his daughter's long hair: "Glazed contracted 'Narrative Amnesia' three years ago, forgetting all emotions and memories. Doctors say only the person most important in her subconscious could possibly wake her up. And you... are the most frequent name appearing in her memory fragments."

"So you want me to marry a... doll?" Lin Chen looked at the hollow-eyed girl.

"Marry her, cure her." Golden Abacus's gaze became sharp, "If she's cured, you'll be my Jin family's prized son-in-law, and the future of the Universe Bank will be yours. If not... the third clause of the contract will take effect, and all your assets will belong to me. No matter how I calculate it, I don't lose."

A countdown panel popped up—this one was brought by Golden Abacus:

[Decision Time: 10 minutes]

[If not signed within the time limit, the fleet will open fire]

The pressure was like a mountain.

In the meeting room, Su Qingyu looked at Lin Chen with a pale face.

The veins on Arrogant Dragon's hand holding the sword bulged.

Future Lin Chen quickly calculated in the communication channel: "Agree, and there's a 67% chance to turn the tables, but you'll lose independence. Don't agree, and we'll be destroyed right now."

Zhang Hao whispered: "Boss, you can't sign... this is an indenture..."

Lin Chen didn't speak.

He walked up to Golden Glazed, crouched down, and looked her in the eyes.

In those hollow pupils, his face was reflected, but there was no emotional ripple.

"Glazed," he said softly, "do you still remember Keynes and Hayek?"

The girl did not react.

"You said Keynes was like a doctor, always wanting to prescribe medicine to intervene. Hayek was like a gardener, believing the market would grow on its own." Lin Chen continued, "I asked you which one you believed in, and you said... you believed in the one that could win."

Golden Glazed's eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.

Golden Abacus's pupils narrowed—for the first time in three years, someone had made his daughter react!

Lin Chen saw that tiny tremor.

He stood up and looked at Golden Abacus: "I can sign. But I have three conditions."

"Speak."

"First, the marriage term is changed to one year. If I wake her within a year, the contract is voided, the debt is still waived, but I won't marry in, and my assets remain independent."

"Second, during this year, I want the Universe Bank's full support to win the Kindling Project—not as a loan, but as unconditional support."

"Third," Lin Chen stared at Golden Abacus, "I want to know why Glazed contracted Narrative Amnesia. The truth."

Golden Abacus was silent for a full two minutes.

The light from the fleet's cannons grew brighter and brighter.

Finally, he nodded: "Fine. But I'll add one clause—if you fail to wake her within a year, not only will you lose all your assets, you will also stay by her side forever as a servant until you die."

The most poisonous clause.

Win, and gain freedom.

Lose, and be a slave for eternity.

Lin Chen smiled: "Deal."

He signed the contract.

Instantly, all debts were cleared.

The Universe Bank fleet withdrew.

Golden Abacus left one sentence: "Three days later, the engagement banquet. At that time, all the bank's shareholders will be present. Be prepared... to perform."

They left.

Taking away the blank-faced Golden Glazed.

In the meeting room, there was a deathly silence.

Su Qingyu turned to leave, but Lin Chen pulled her back: "Qingyu..."

"No need to explain." Su Qingyu's voice trembled, "A business marriage, I understand. I just... need time."

She left.

Arrogant Dragon patted Lin Chen's shoulder: "Brother, this situation... is really fucking hard."

The hardest thing wasn't the debt or the crisis.

It was people's hearts.

At that moment, Future Lin Chen suddenly sent an emergency transmission:

"I found it!"

"Golden Glazed's amnesia... was not an accident!"

"Three years ago, she participated in a 'Narrative Layer Underlying Code Research' project and came into contact with 'Author Authority Fragments'. Those fragments contaminated her consciousness, causing her memory to collapse!"

"And the sponsor of that research project was—"

He pulled up the data.

On the list of sponsors, the first name was shockingly:

[Epoch Administration Bureau · Inspection Department]

The second name was even more hair-raising:

[Innocent Narrative Alliance (Disbanded)]

The third name, Lin Chen recognized:

[Qingyunzi (incarnation of the heavenly dao of the Cultivation Epoch · One of the Kindling Project competitors)]

"So," Lin Chen's gaze turned cold, "my fiancée's illness is related to my competitor. It's related to that disbanded alliance. And even... related to the interior of the Epoch Administration Bureau."

He pulled up Golden Glazed's medical records.

In the last line of the symptom description, there was an encrypted note.

Lin Chen used his newly acquired Universe Bank authority to force a decryption.

The note showed:

[Deep in the patient's subconscious, there remains a constantly repeating instruction fragment]

[Instruction content: 'Kill... Lin Chen...']

Lin Chen stared at those words and suddenly laughed.

A laugh that made people feel a chill.

"I see." He said softly, "The engagement banquet is not a wedding."

"It's... a death trap."

A countdown panel popped up again—this time, he set it himself:

[Engagement Banquet Countdown: 72 hours]

[Objective: Find the truth, counter-kill the plotters]

[Backup Plan: If I fail... then I'll really marry her, and then destroy the Jin family from within]