275: Chapter 275 Echoes of the Abyss! The Price of the Resurrection of the First Civilization is My Credit

The sea of light specks did not sink.

They were waiting.

Waiting for Lin Chen to issue the specific proposal for that "Infinite Installment" national debt, waiting for him to fill in the first sum of startup capital, and waiting for him to prove that this wasn't just another empty promise—after all, for three million eras, many had promised to revive them, but not a single one had followed through.

Lin Chen pulled up the financial back-end, preparing to issue the first phase of the [Cross-Era National Debt].

But the system popped up a red warning:

[Issuance Failed]

[Reason: Your personal credit rating has fallen below the threshold]

[Current Credit Score: 17 (Out of 1000)]

[Reason for Credit Freeze:]

1. Already pledged personal right of existence (-300 points)

2. Already mortgaged Kindling Governor permissions (-200 points)

3. Issued outstanding debt scale exceeds limit (-483 points)

[Conclusion: You have no more mortgageable assets and cannot add any new debt]

Lin Chen looked at that glaring 17 points and fell silent for three seconds.

From the Chairman of the Underworld Group, to a temporary worker at the Universe Bank, to the number one in the Kindling Project, to now...

Credit bankruptcy.

"Boss," Zhang Hao's voice trembled, "how about we pause the revival plan for now and wait until we've gathered the funds before—"

"We can't wait." Lin Chen pointed at those light specks floating in the abyss. "They have already waited for three thousand eras. If we wait any longer, even the last remnants of their consciousness will dissipate."

"But what will you use to revive them? You have no assets left to mortgage!"

Lin Chen did not answer.

He pulled up the deepest part of the system interface, a folder that had never been opened.

Folder Name: [Personality Assetization Evaluation Report]

This was a hidden feature of the Wealth System—quantifying the holder's personality traits into an evaluation and packaging them into financial products.

Lin Chen had always known this feature existed, but he never thought he would use it.

He clicked open the report.

Evaluation results:

[Lin Chen · Complete Personality Asset Evaluation Report]

Asset Items:

1. Business Intuition: Valued at 120 trillion

2. Risk Appetite: Valued at 80 trillion

3. Empathy: Valued at 200 trillion (Extremely High)

4. Moral Compass: Valued at 300 trillion (Abnormally High)

5. Feelings for Su Qingyu: Valued at 500 trillion (Priceless, suggested for separate auction)

6. Trust in Arrogant Dragon: Valued at 100 trillion

7. Memories of Mother: Valued at 50 trillion

8...

Total Valuation: Approximately 1,800 trillion dimension points.

Enough to revive the first layer of the Abyss Civilization.

The price: selling a part of himself.

Lin Chen's finger hovered over the [Confirm Packaging] button.

"You're crazy." Number Zero (Employee Version) was the first to react. "Personality assetization is strictly forbidden by the Narrative Layer! If you sell your empathy, you'll become a cold-blooded animal; if you sell your moral compass, you'll become a devil; if you sell those emotions..."

He didn't finish.

Because Lin Chen had already pressed confirm.

But he didn't package everything.

He only chose one item:

[Trust in Arrogant Dragon: Valued at 100 trillion]

Transaction complete.

100 trillion dimension points received.

Lin Chen looked up at Arrogant Dragon, who was standing to the side.

Arrogant Dragon's face was ashen. "You sold your trust in me? What the hell do you mean by that?!"

"It means," Lin Chen said calmly, "from now on, I will not trust you unconditionally."

"I will doubt your every suggestion, I will audit your every expenditure, and I will fire you without hesitation if you do something wrong."

"This is what you once wanted—equal competition, without being protected by the protagonist's halo."

Arrogant Dragon was stunned.

Three million eras ago, when he was still an Immortal Emperor, what he hated most was being protected by fate.

Now he had gotten it.

Exchanged for Lin Chen's trust in him.

"You..." Arrogant Dragon's voice was dry, "you didn't have to do this..."

"It was necessary." Lin Chen had already begun allocating funds. "The revival of the first layer of the Abyss Civilization requires 100 trillion in startup capital, and you are the only person in our team who can provide value without needing my trust."

"Why?"

"Because you are strong enough." Lin Chen didn't look at him, focusing on the operation interface. "Strong enough that you don't need anyone's trust to hack through all enemies."

Arrogant Dragon fell silent.

A long time later, he said, "I will prove that your investment was right."

Lin Chen didn't reply.

He was already handling the second matter.

After the 100 trillion arrived, he initiated the revival program for the first layer of the Abyss Civilization.

The golden vortex spun once again.

But this time, what rose from the abyss was not a single civilization, but a civilization collective—composed of 3,700 deleted micro-civilizations, with a total population of about 4.7 billion.

Their files had long been lost; they had no names, no history, and even their language and writing were unrecognizable.

But they had voices.

It was an ancient melody sung by countless individuals, resonating directly at the level of consciousness.

There were no lyrics, only melody.

Lin Chen's system automatically translated:

[We... are... the forgotten...]

[Have... no... name...]

[But... remember... the promise...]

The melody paused for a moment.

Then, a clearer, more human voice separated from it.

It was an individual.

An ordinary individual from one of the 3,700 civilizations.

Her voice sounded like a rusty bell:

"Are you called... Lin Chen?"

"Yes," Lin Chen replied.

"My name is... Dew," the voice said. "When I was alive, I was a... weaver. After death... I drifted in oblivion for three million eras."

"I have only one question."

She asked:

"The trust in Arrogant Dragon that you just sold..."

"Was worth 100 trillion."

"Then what if you sold your trust in yourself?"

"How much would it be worth?"

Lin Chen was stunned.

"We were deleted three times," Dew said. "The first time, the Author dropped the book. The second time, the system cleared the recycle bin. The third time, even the files were formatted."

"Three times, and we didn't resist once."

"Because we no longer believed we deserved to live."

Her voice carried no resentment; it was just a statement.

"So I want to know, if one day, you also begin to doubt yourself—"

"How much would you be willing to pay to buy back the trust in yourself?"

The entire scene fell into a dead silence.

The 4.7 billion specks of light in the abyss all went still.

They were waiting for an answer.

Lin Chen remained silent for a long time.

Then, he pulled up that [Personality Asset Evaluation Report] and flipped to the first page.

[Sense of Self-Identity: Valued at 1.2 Jing dimension points]

[Remarks: This personality trait is Lin Chen's core asset, accounting for 67% of the total value of his complete personality]

[Warning: This asset cannot be sold separately; stripping it will lead to a total collapse of the personality]

He projected this line of data above the abyss.

"Do you see?" Lin Chen said. "My trust in myself is worth 1.2 Jing."

"It's ten times higher than the total cost of reviving all of you today."

"So I'm not selling."

Dew's voice carried confusion: "Then what if... you must sell?"

"Then there will be no revival," Lin Chen said calmly. "Someone who doesn't even believe in themselves has no right to save others."

The abyss was silent.

Then, Dew laughed.

It was the first time in three million eras that this civilization had laughed.

"That's enough," she said. "This answer is enough."

The 4.7 billion specks of light behind her began to actively move toward the revival program.

"Wait," Lin Chen said suddenly, "aren't you going to ask about the price?"

"The price you gave," Dew said, "has already been paid."

"What?"

"You just said—'Someone who doesn't even believe in themselves has no right to save others.'"

"That sentence is worth 4.7 billion lives."

The light specks flooded into the golden vortex.

The traces of 3,700 micro-civilizations began to re-coalesce in the sky above the Oblivion Graveyard.

There were no files, no historical records; no one even knew what their civilizations were called.

But Lin Chen issued a new ID card to every revived individual.

[Name: Dew]

[Place of Origin: Eden Civilization Affiliated Industrial Zone (Reconstructed)]

[Occupation: Underworld Group Textile Division · Senior Technician]

[Date of Employment: Year One of the Kindling Era]

[Remarks: This employee has experienced three deletions and still chooses to believe in tomorrow.]

Dew looked at that ID card.

She traced the words "Eden Civilization" with her finger.

"This isn't our name," she said.

"I know," Lin Chen said, "but you can choose a new one."

"When?"

"After work."

Dew laughed.

She tucked away the ID card and walked toward the workstation assigned to her.

After walking two steps, she turned back:

"Boss, is there meat in the cafeteria?"

Lin Chen didn't answer.

But an Eden Civilization scholar nearby shouted, "Yes! We added chicken legs yesterday!"

The remaining light specks in the abyss that had not yet been revived heard this conversation.

They began to slowly float upward.

Not in a frantic swarm, but layer by layer, row by row, waiting in an orderly fashion.

Like disaster victims lining up for relief food.

An order maintained for three million eras.

Lin Chen looked at that boundless sea of light specks and for the first time felt...

The weight of the word 'debt'.

Not the weight of owing money.

But the weight of owing 127 layers of civilizations, with each layer containing anywhere from hundreds of millions to trillions of souls—

A promise to "be remembered".

He opened the system and began drafting the second phase of the revival plan.

But just as he typed the first line, the terminal suddenly exploded with a blood-red warning:

[Warning! Detected that your "Credit Score" has dropped from 17 to -83!]

[Reason: The bonds issued with "Trust in Arrogant Dragon" as collateral have triggered a "Trust Default Clause"]

[Default Details: Three minutes ago, without your permission, Arrogant Dragon privately initiated the "Immortal Emperor Source Combustion Program"]

[He is using his own life to repay that 100 trillion debt gap for you]

Lin Chen whipped his head around.

Arrogant Dragon stood where he was.

Golden flames burned all around him.

He looked at Lin Chen and grinned:

"Boss."

"Selling your trust in me made me very unhappy."

"So I decided..."

"To make you believe in me again."

The flames soared into the sky.