282: Chapter 282 The collateral is Su Qingyu! The Silent Ones want me to hand over my queuing rights.

The news of Su Qingyu's disappearance arrived three minutes after the Queue Warrants closed.

Lin Chen was calculating the gains and losses of this financial war—The Silencer had lost a massive 1.2 quadrillion and temporarily retreated; the souls within Arrogant Dragon had stabilized at 2 million; the Abyssal Civilization had gained priority queuing status due to the bailout loan.

Everything seemed to be improving.

Then, his private terminal received a message.

Sender: The Silencer.

The content was a real-time surveillance video.

In the footage, Su Qingyu was imprisoned in a pure white space with no surrounding points of reference. She sat on a chair, her expression calm, but her wrist was encircled by a glowing golden ring—the "Collateral Mark."

Only individuals being used as collateral for assets would bear such a mark.

Attached below the message was an electronic contract:

【Collateral Agreement】

Pledgor: The Silencer

Collateral: Su Qingyu (Narrative Layer character, No. MQLY-0001)

Collateral Value: Provisionally estimated at 1 quadrillion dimension points

Pledge Period: 72 hours

Pledge Condition: If Lin Chen does not hand over all issuance rights and backend control of the "Queue Warrants" within 72 hours, this collateral will enter the "Forced Auction Procedure," and the highest bidder will obtain ownership of Su Qingyu.

At the end of the contract was a note:

"Friendly reminder: The buyers in a forced auction might be the Zeroing Storm, the seed of the heavenly dao, or certain Dark Collectors interested in 'Lin Chen's woman.' Guess how they'll treat her?"

Lin Chen finished reading and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he smiled.

It was the kind of smile that sent chills down one's spine—Arrogant Dragon recognized this smile; the last time he had seen it, Lin Chen had just shorted the economy of an entire star system.

"The Silencer has learned financial tactics," Lin Chen said. "Using collateral to threaten me into handing over the warrants. Great progress."

"What do we do now?" Arrogant Dragon asked.

"Rescue her."

Lin Chen pulled up the exchange's backend and began operating.

But just as he opened the interface, the system popped up a red notification:

【Your trading has been restricted for 72 hours】

【Reason: Suspected market manipulation (Accuser: The Silencer)】

【Appeal Channel: Closed】

The Silencer had not only abducted Su Qingyu but had also frozen his trading privileges in advance.

This was intended to cut off his hands and feet.

Lin Chen looked at the notification without panicking.

He turned to Arrogant Dragon: "Do you have trading privileges?"

Arrogant Dragon opened his account—he was an Immortal Emperor, but his status in the exchange was that of a "Natural Person Investor," with very low privileges.

【Your Trading Limit: Maximum 10 million dimension points/day】

10 million to save Su Qingyu? A drop in the bucket.

"What about the Abyssal Civilization?" Lin Chen asked Number Zero.

Number Zero quickly calculated: "The total trading limits of all queuing civilizations combined is about 300 billion dimension points. But it takes three days to go through the approval process—there's no time."

"What about Golden Abacus?"

"The President of the Universe Bank has the highest privileges, but he's currently being watched by The Silencer. News just came in that his private account has also been frozen."

Every path was blocked.

This move by The Silencer was far more sophisticated than the last.

Lin Chen sat in his chair, staring at the Collateral Agreement, motionless.

Arrogant Dragon paced anxiously: "How about I go break her out? With an Immortal Emperor's stealth techniques, maybe—"

"No," Lin Chen shook his head. "The place where Su Qingyu is held is the 'Collateral Exclusive Space.' It's a rule-level prison that physical force cannot enter. Only financial means can open it."

"Then hurry up and think of some financial means!"

Lin Chen didn't speak.

He stared at the words "Provisionally estimated at 1 quadrillion dimension points" on the agreement and suddenly spoke:

"Dragon, do you think Su Qingyu is worth 1 quadrillion?"

"Of course she is!" Arrogant Dragon replied without a second thought. "She's your person! She's priceless!"

"Correct," Lin Chen nodded. "Priceless."

He stood up and opened a system interface he had never used before:

【Asset Pricing Appeal Platform】

This was the highest arbitration body of the Cosmic Exchange, specializing in asset valuation disputes.

Lin Chen uploaded an appeal:

【Subject of Appeal: The 'Su Qingyu Collateral Valuation' submitted by The Silencer】

【Reason for Appeal: Valuation is severely low, suspected malicious undervaluation of collateral to manipulate the market】

【Appeal Requests:】

1. Suspend Su Qingyu's collateral procedure until a fair value revaluation is completed.

2. The revaluation process must be completed by an independent third-party auditing agency.

3. During the audit period, The Silencer may not perform any disposal of the collateral.

After the appeal was submitted, a system prompt appeared:

【Your trading privileges are frozen. Do you wish to initiate an appeal as the 'Asset Holder'?】

Lin Chen clicked confirm.

Three seconds later, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the exchange sent a temporary ruling:

【Upon preliminary review, the grounds for appeal are valid.】

【Execution of the 'Su Qingyu Collateral Agreement' is suspended effective immediately, and the fair value revaluation process is initiated.】

【Revaluation Time Limit: 24 hours.】

【Revaluation Agency: Three independent auditing firms randomly selected.】

The Silencer's collateral procedure was halted.

Arrogant Dragon was dumbfounded: "This... this works too?"

"Valuation is a business," Lin Chen closed the interface. "He says it's worth 1 quadrillion, I say it's worth 10 quadrillion, so a third party has to judge. During the judgment process, the collateral cannot be touched."

"And what happens after 24 hours?"

"After 24 hours, I will have the auditing firms evaluate Su Qingyu's value as 'Infinite'," Lin Chen smiled. "Something infinite cannot be used as collateral."

He pulled up the data on the auditing firms and began his operations.

The three randomly selected auditing firms were:

【Star Valuations】, 【Balance Assessments】, 【Abyss Assets】

The first two were controlled by the Universe Bank; Lin Chen knew them.

The third one, 【Abyss Assets】, was an unfamiliar name.

Lin Chen clicked on its details.

Registered Location: Bottom of the Narrative Layer.

Registration Time: Three million eons ago.

Legal Representative: The Silencer.

The third auditing firm was an industry owned by The Silencer.

In a random selection, it had picked its own people.

A probabilistic impossibility.

"It wasn't random," Lin Chen understood. "The Silencer tampered with the selection algorithm and inserted its own firm. Out of the three auditing firms, two are mine and one is its. 2:1, but major matters require a two-thirds majority to pass—if it casts a dissenting vote, the revaluation result will be invalid."

"Then what do we do?" Arrogant Dragon grew anxious.

Lin Chen looked at the name 【Abyss Assets】 and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he pulled up the auditing firm's ownership structure chart.

The legal representative was The Silencer, that was correct.

But in the list of shareholders, there was a line of small text:

【shareholder: Nameless Civilization No. 07 (17% stake)】

Nameless No. 07—that was the Light-Speaker Civilization that had just loaned Lin Chen money for the bailout and said "no need to pay it back."

They actually held shares in Abyss Assets.

Lin Chen immediately contacted the Light-Speakers.

The response was swift:

"Abyss Assets was formed three million eons ago when The Silencer forced us deleted civilizations to use our residual consciousness to take shares. It said this would allow us to 'participate in rule-making.' In reality, it was to enslave us—we have to do three months of auditing work for it for free every year in exchange for it not deleting us."

"But now," the Light-Speaker paused, "we are no longer afraid."

"Because you are resurrecting us."

"So, what do you need us to do?"

Lin Chen quickly said a sentence.

After hearing it, the Light-Speaker replied with three words:

"We understand."

The audit meeting convened three hours later.

The representatives from Star Valuations and Balance Assessments were old acquaintances of Lin Chen—senior auditors from the banking system.

The representative for Abyss Assets was a blurry figure in a gray robe. It had no face, only a glowing plaque that read "Abyss Assets · Legal Representative · The Silencer."

The meeting began.

Star Valuations spoke first: "Our side evaluates Su Qingyu's value as—Infinite. Reason: She is the core emotional asset of Lin Chen's commercial empire and cannot be quantified in dimension points."

Balance Assessments echoed: "Agreed. Infinite value."

The figure from Abyss Assets stood up, its voice mechanical: "Our side evaluates Su Qingyu's value as—1 quadrillion dimension points. Reason: Based on market comparable transaction analysis, the average transaction price for 'Protagonist's Partner' roles is between 800 billion and 1.2 quadrillion. Our side takes the median."

The three parties finished their statements.

According to the rules, a vote was required to determine the final evaluation result.

Star Valuations voted Infinite.

Balance Assessments voted Infinite.

Abyss Assets voted 1 quadrillion.

2:1, Infinite wins.

But The Silencer's representative suddenly raised a hand: "Our side applies for a review. According to Article 88 of the Auditing Law, when a major disagreement occurs, the 'Final Arbitration Procedure' can be initiated. The arbitrator shall be—the Rule-Maker of the First Eon of the Narrative Layer."

It pointed to itself: "Which is me."

"I have the right to overturn your voting results."

"Now I declare that the 1 quadrillion valuation for Su Qingyu is valid, and the collateral procedure is resumed."

After speaking, it prepared to leave.

"Wait," Lin Chen said.

The Silencer looked back.

"Do you know who was recording when you just voted?" Lin Chen asked.

"What?"

Lin Chen pulled up a record—it was the breakdown of share voting rights for the entire meeting.

Abyss Assets had three shareholders:

The Silencer (83% stake), holding 83% of the voting rights.

The Light-Speaker Civilization (17% stake), holding 17% of the voting rights.

During the vote just now, The Silencer, as the legal representative, exercised all 83% of the voting rights and voted for 1 quadrillion.

But according to the corporate bylaws, the Light-Speaker Civilization, with its 17% stake, has the right to exercise its own voting rights separately—provided it raises an objection.

Now, the representative of the Light-Speaker Civilization appeared at the meeting.

It submitted a document:

"Our side exercises our 17% voting rights and votes for 'Infinite'."

The Silencer's 83% + the Light-Speaker's 17% = Infinite.

Because the corporate bylaws state: the final result is calculated as the "weighted average of all shareholders' voting rights."

The Silencer voted 1 quadrillion (83% weight), and the Light-Speaker voted Infinite (17% weight).

The weighted average result: Infinite.

Because infinity multiplied by any weight is still infinity.

A mathematical impasse.

Looking at the calculation result, The Silencer froze for the first time.

It hadn't expected that the civilizations it had enslaved three million eons ago would turn against it at this moment.

The audit result took effect.

Su Qingyu's value: Infinite.

Collateral of infinite value cannot enter the auction procedure.

The Silencer's plan failed.

The collateral space was dissolved.

Su Qingyu was teleported back to Lin Chen's side.

Her face was slightly pale, but her eyes remained clear.

"Thank you," she said.

Lin Chen shook his head: "I should be thanking you. You were the 'target' of this financial war, and also the key to winning."

Su Qingyu smiled slightly.

But as soon as she stood firm, she suddenly frowned and clutched her chest.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing... just..." Su Qingyu looked down at her wrist—the Collateral Mark was still glowing. "Why hasn't this mark disappeared?"

Lin Chen's expression changed.

He pulled up a system scan.

The scan results made his pupils shrink:

【Collateral Mark Status: Second-layer protocol activated】

【Protocol Content: If the primary collateral procedure fails, the "Joint Collateral Clause" is automatically initiated—freezing all "associated assets" of the collateral holder.】

【List of Associated Assets:】

1. Su Qingyu's "Memory Bank" (Valuation cannot be estimated)

2. Su Qingyu's "Emotion Module" (Valuation cannot be estimated)

3. All shared memories between Su Qingyu and Lin Chen (Valuation cannot be estimated)

These assets had been locked by The Silencer.

"It knew from the start that the collateral procedure would fail," Lin Chen realized. "Its true goal was these 'unvaluable assets'—because they cannot be valued, they cannot be redeemed."

The blurry figure of The Silencer slowly emerged in the void.

It looked at Lin Chen and, for the first time, revealed a smile—a human-like smile that an embodiment of rules should not possess:

"Lin Chen."

"You think you've won?"

"I'm just teaching you a lesson."

"In the world of finance, the most lethal risk—"

"Always comes from the things you cannot price."

It pointed to the still-glowing mark on Su Qingyu's wrist.

"Now, her memories, her emotions, her love for you—"

"Are all in my hands."

"Do you want to redeem them?"

"What will you use to pay?"