279: Chapter 279 The Silent One Awakens! He Will Uproot the Laws of Capital

Seventeen seconds after the line "Waiting for you" disappeared from the Echo Wall, the entire Oblivion Graveyard began to tremble.

It wasn't an earthquake, but a sense of collapse at the level of rules—as if someone had pried open a crack in the bottommost flagstone of the Narrative Layer, and a cold wind was pouring in from the gap, making every existence shiver.

Lin Chen's system interface suddenly popped up with countless red warnings:

[Warning! Detection of first epoch rule intrusion!]

[Intrusion Source: Bottom of Narrative Layer · The Silencer Hibernation Zone]

[Intrusion Target: All concepts related to the Capital Law]

[Current Erosion Progress: 0.3%... 0.7%... 1.2%...]

[Estimated time for complete erasure: 3 hours]

"So fast?" Number Zero's face was deathly pale. "It just woke up and it's already starting to act?!"

"It's not acting." Lin Chen stared at the data stream. "It's a rejection reaction. The Silencer's very existence is the rule-based incarnation of 'anti-capital.' The energy it radiates upon awakening automatically erodes surrounding capital concepts. It's like an immune system attacking a virus."

Arrogant Dragon gripped his immortal emperor long sword, but cracks were already appearing on the blade—because the concept of a 'sword' also belongs to 'man-made objects,' and man-made objects have an indirect connection with the Capital Law.

Golden Glazed was even worse off; the bank intern work badge on her wrist was melting.

"We must stop it." Lin Chen quickly pulled up the financial backend. "We can't let it continue to spread."

He created a new financial product:

[Product Name: Rule Immunity Options]

[Underlying Asset: 'Erosion Resistance' against the Capital Law]

[Contract Content: Upon purchasing this option, the holder gains 30 minutes of rule immunity protection during The Silencer's erosion period]

[Price: 1,000 dimension points per unit]

[Issue Volume: 1 billion units]

The options went live.

But before the first buyer could place an order, the system popped up an error message:

[Issuance Failed]

[Reason: The Silencer has locked onto the concept of 'Trading' and is currently deleting it]

[Current Trading Concept Integrity: 87%... 72%... 53%...]

Once the concept of trading was deleted, no financial product could be bought or sold.

Lin Chen watched the steadily dropping percentage and suddenly smiled.

"It's deleting trading?" he said. "Then we'll trade using something outside of 'trading.'"

He closed the financial backend and opened another interface he had never used before:

[Barter Protocol Generator]

This was the most primitive function of the Wealth System—the one humans used before the invention of currency.

Lin Chen wrote on the protocol:

"Party A (Lin Chen) provides: Rule Immunity (30 minutes) × 1 unit"

"Party B (_______) provides: Equivalent Exchange Item (To be determined)"

"Exchange Method: Face-to-face delivery, cash on delivery"

There was no concept of 'trading,' only 'exchange.'

The protocol was generated, shimmering with golden light.

Lin Chen projected the protocol into the void and shouted to the civilizations in the abyss that had yet to be resurrected:

"What do you have? Bring something to exchange!"

The abyss was silent for a second.

Then, the first responder appeared.

It was a civilization whose light was extremely faint—so weak it was almost about to dissipate.

The item it offered for exchange was:

"A memory."

"A memory regarding the first epoch."

Lin Chen nodded. "Deal."

The protocol executed automatically.

A fragmented memory flooded into Lin Chen's mind—it was a snippet of life for an ordinary person in the first epoch: he was exchanging shells for salt in a marketplace, bargaining with neighbors, and smiling happily while counting the copper coins he had earned.

In the daily life of that epoch, 'trading' was so natural.

But The Silencer didn't like it.

So he deleted it all.

As the memory transmission completed, a golden [Rule Immunity] fell into the hands of that faint civilization.

Relying on these 30 minutes of immunity, it temporarily stabilized its existence which was on the verge of vanishing.

The second, the third, the fourth...

More and more abyss civilizations used their last remaining possessions to exchange:

Some offered 'a song.'

Some offered 'a story.'

Some offered 'a name'—not their own, but the names of compatriots they remembered who had completely vanished.

Lin Chen exchanged with them one by one.

Three hours later.

The Silencer's erosion progress was stuck at [47%].

It wasn't because the attack had weakened, but because the concept of 'bartering' was not on its deletion list.

He had forgotten that such a primitive method of transaction existed.

The erosion paused.

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

But in the next second, an aged, cold, and emotionless voice came from the very bottom of the Narrative Layer:

"Lin Chen."

"You are very interesting."

"Using bartering to bypass my conceptual deletion... in three thousand epochs, you are the first."

Lin Chen spoke toward the void: "The Silencer?"

"It is I." The voice paused. "When I woke up, I found you were resurrecting civilizations I had deleted. Do you know what that means?"

"It means you're afraid." Lin Chen said calmly. "Afraid that the civilizations I resurrect will reinvent the market. Afraid that the Capital Law will grow strong again. Afraid that after I, this 'merchant,' become a god, the first one I'll settle accounts with is you."

The Silencer was silent for three seconds.

Then, he laughed.

It was a laugh that made one's whole body go cold—no warmth, only the mockery of a rule being violated.

"Settle accounts with me?" he said. "Do you know who I am?"

"You are the rule-maker of the first epoch." Lin Chen said. "An old fogey afraid of capital becoming sentient. An expired product who deleted the Yixie Civilization, deleted countless civilizations that invented markets, and now wants to delete me."

The words 'expired product' made The Silencer's laughter stop abruptly.

The erosion progress suddenly jumped from 47% to 53%.

"You dare call me an expired product?" For the first time, The Silencer's voice had an emotional fluctuation. "Without the rules I set, the Narrative Layer would have been swallowed by capital into a wasteland long ago! Without me, you'd still be in a primitive society exchanging shells for salt!"

"So what?" Lin Chen countered. "You ruled with fear for three thousand epochs, and the result? Civilizations still develop, markets still appear, and the Capital Law still evolves. You delete one batch, and a new one grows. Can you ever finish deleting them?"

The Silencer did not answer.

Lin Chen continued: "You aren't protecting the Narrative Layer; you're refusing evolution. Just like those ancient tribal chiefs who feared fire—whenever they saw someone using it, they called it a demon and wanted to burn them. But fire will burn regardless, spreading across the mountains and plains, burning out a civilization."

He paused and pulled up the resurrection progress of the Yixie Civilization:

"Look, the Yixie Civilization is resurrected. They've invented the market again. What will you do? Delete them once more?"

The Silencer was silent for a long time.

So long that the erosion progress even stopped.

Then, he said:

"I cannot kill you."

"Because behind you stand three hundred trillion investors, 127 layers of abyss civilizations, and the Author of that real world."

"But I can seal you."

"I will seal you and your Capital Law together into a 'No-Trade Zone'—where there is no buying or selling, no exchange, and no contracts. You will be there like a fish out of water."

"Forever."

The moment he finished speaking.

The ground beneath Lin Chen's feet suddenly split open.

A giant hand made of pure black rules reached out from the crack and grabbed his ankle!

The force from the giant hand wasn't physical; it was conceptual—it was forcibly stripping away Lin Chen's 'Trader' attribute.

Once the stripping succeeded, Lin Chen would lose all commercial ability and become an ordinary person who couldn't even bargain.

"Boss!" Arrogant Dragon slashed at the giant hand with his sword, but the blade shattered instantly.

Golden Glazed lunged forward to pry it open, but her fingers began to turn transparent the moment they touched the hand—her 'Bank Intern' identity was being stripped away.

Number Zero activated Inspector authority to try and counter the rules, but the authority was suppressed by The Silencer as soon as it was activated.

No one could oppose him.

Lin Chen looked at his right hand, which was gradually losing its 'Trader' attribute—it was turning into an ordinary hand, no longer able to sense market fluctuations, no longer able to automatically generate financial products.

"Goodbye, Lin Chen." The Silencer's voice came from the crack. "In the No-Trade Zone, reflect well."

The giant hand began to drag him down.

Half of Lin Chen's body had already sunk into the crack.

At that moment—

Arrogant Dragon suddenly did something that caught everyone by surprise.

He raised his left arm—the new arm inhabited by trillions of dead souls.

He slammed it hard into the crack!

"What are you doing?!" Lin Chen roared.

Arrogant Dragon didn't answer.

He just whispered a command toward the depths of the crack:

"Trillions of souls, hear my command—"

"With the patience you've had waiting in line for three million epochs—"

"Hold him back for me!"

The moment his voice fell.

Countless tiny slits suddenly opened on the skin of Arrogant Dragon's arm, and from each slit, tens of thousands of starlights poured out.

Those starlights converged into a river, pouring down along the crack and rushing straight for The Silencer's true form!

They had no offensive power.

But they had numbers.

Countless souls of civilizations personally deleted by The Silencer now used their last remaining existence to tightly entangle that giant hand.

The giant hand struggled, shaking off one batch only for another to pounce on it.

The Silencer roared: "You trash that I deleted, you dare resist me?!"

The souls did not answer.

They just silently and persistently pounced on him one after another.

Using the desire to 'be remembered' to combat the fear of 'being forgotten.'

Lin Chen's foot broke free from the giant hand.

He looked at the river made of souls, watching them surge into the depths of the crack one after another, and saw Arrogant Dragon's face contorted in pain from losing a large number of inhabitants.

Then, he did something.

He opened the system and pulled up the issuance interface for [Cross-Epoch Indefinite Treasury Bonds].

This time, he didn't mortgage any assets.

What he mortgaged was—

The value of himself being remembered.

Issuance Description:

"These bonds are mortgaged by 'the degree to which the name Lin Chen is remembered by history.'"

"If one day in the future, Lin Chen is completely forgotten, these bonds will automatically become void."

"If Lin Chen is remembered forever, these bonds will pay interest perpetually."

"Now, issuing the first phase, scale: 1,000 quadrillion dimension points."

"Purpose: To redeem all souls participating in blocking The Silencer."

The treasury bonds went live.

The entire Narrative Layer was silent for three seconds.

Then, Golden Abacus was the first to bid: "Universe Bank subscribes for 100 quadrillion."

Morgana: "Icebound Star Domain subscribes for 50 quadrillion."

Alpha: "Data Core subscribes for 80 quadrillion."

In the abyss civilizations, those souls still waiting in line subscribed with their very existence—they mortgaged the 'probability of being remembered in the future' to Lin Chen.

Funds converged.

Lin Chen used this money to do one thing:

He issued an acquisition offer to The Silencer.

Acquisition Target: The Silencer's 'Anti-Capital Rule-Making Power.'

Price: 500 quadrillion dimension points (paid over 100,000 years).

Attached Condition: After the acquisition is complete, The Silencer must enter 'Permanent Hibernation' and no longer interfere with the development of the Narrative Layer.

The offer was sent.

In the depths of the crack, The Silencer fell silent.

A long time later, he said:

"You... want to use money... to buy me?"

"Yes." Lin Chen said. "Aren't you afraid of capital? Then I'll use capital's methods to buy you. Once you become my asset, you won't have to be afraid anymore."

The Silencer fell silent again.

Then, he suddenly laughed out loud.

He laughed until he was out of breath:

"Three million epochs... I deleted countless civilizations... just to prevent this day..."

"In the end... this day still came..."

"Using money to buy me... Hahaha..."

The laughter faded.

Finally, he said:

"I refuse."

"Not because the money is too little."

"But because... I do not believe money can buy away conviction."

The crack began to close.

The Silencer was going to take his rules and sink back to the bottom of the Narrative Layer.

But before completely disappearing, he glanced at Lin Chen:

"You won this round."

"But the next time we meet..."

"I will not give you another chance to negotiate."

The crack closed completely.

The Silencer disappeared.

Lin Chen stood where he was, looking at Arrogant Dragon's arm which was almost depleted of souls—it was now dry as kindling, with no more starlight moving under the skin.

"Was it worth it?" Lin Chen asked.

Arrogant Dragon grinned, his voice weak:

"You're asking me if it's worth it?"

"When you used 500 quadrillion to buy The Silencer just now, did you think about whether it was worth it?"

Lin Chen was silent.

Arrogant Dragon patted his shoulder: "So, don't ask."

"Business is business, brothers are brothers."

"We each settle our own accounts."