291: Chapter 291: The deduction collapses! It turns out the previous 76 chapters were all a rehearsal.

Lin Chen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of the Underworld Group headquarters, gazing at the tranquil starry sky outside.

There was no Zeroing Storm. No cracked sky. No gray-white liquid.

Everything was as usual.

He raised his hand and looked at his palm—a faint golden pattern was slowly dissipating there.

The notification sound of the "Capital Law: Ultimate Deduction Module" echoed in his mind:

【Deduction complete. Time elapsed: 0.003 seconds. Deduction content: All plot points from Chapters 1-76. Deduction conclusion: If you proceed according to the original plan, you will encounter the following risks in the True Game—】

Lin Chen didn't wait for it to finish and directly turned off the notification.

He turned around and looked at everyone in the meeting room.

Arrogant Dragon, Morgana, Alpha, Zhang Hao, and the newly joined Flame Demon all looked at him with bewildered expressions.

"Boss?" Zhang Hao spoke up cautiously. "You just... spaced out for three seconds. Are you okay?"

Lin Chen smiled.

That smile sent a chill down Arrogant Dragon's spine—though he didn't know what had happened, his intuition told him the boss had pulled off another flashy move.

"I'm fine," Lin Chen said. "I just deduced the content of the next 76 chapters in advance."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

Alpha's data body fluctuated violently: "Deduction? You used Capital Law to deduce the future?"

"Yes," Lin Chen nodded. "The conclusion is: if we follow the original plan, we'll run into the True Game, the Causality Law Controller, the Incarnation of Nothingness, and Gag Dungeons... While we'd win in the end, the process is just too much trouble."

He paused and looked out the window.

Out there, Qingyunzi's Spiritual Energy Star Domain had just been forcibly stripped by the Administration Bureau and was slowly merging into their competition zone.

"Instead of dealing with those 76 chapters of trouble," Lin Chen said, "it's better to skip straight to Chapter 77."

He opened the system and pulled up the real-time data for the Kindling Project.

Lines of information were refreshing on the screen:

【Qingyunzi is out. The remains of his star domain have been designated as a 'Public Resource Zone,' to be contested by the remaining three competitors.】

【Current Resource Zone Status:】

Spiritual Energy Concentration: 300% of normal value

Cultivation Civilization Remains: Approx. 3.7 billion units

Unmined Spirit Stone Mines: Approx. 1,200 sites

Out-of-control Heavenly Dao Fragments: Approx. 9 pieces

【Competition Rules:】

1. The three parties may move freely, mine, and trade within the resource zone.

2. Direct attacks on other competitors are prohibited, but 'commercial competition' is permitted (including but not limited to: price wars, monopolies, mergers and acquisitions).

3. After 72 hours, final rewards will be distributed according to the 'Resource Weight' held by each party.

Lin Chen looked at those three rules and smiled.

"Commercial competition?" he said. "I'm familiar with that."

Arrogant Dragon leaned in: "Boss, what do we do now?"

Lin Chen didn't answer, but instead looked at Morgana and Alpha.

"You two, Qingyunzi is out. Next, shall we continue as opponents, or... cooperate?"

Morgana's ice-blue eyes fixed on him, and she remained silent for three seconds.

"How do you want to cooperate?"

Lin Chen opened the map of the resource zone and pointed to the three largest Spirit Stone Mines.

"These three mines can each produce at least 10 trillion Game Coins worth of resources. I can't swallow them alone, and neither can you two. But if the three of us develop them jointly, the profits double and the risks are halved."

Alpha calculated quickly: "Expected return for joint development: approx. 8 trillion each. Expected return for independent development: 15 trillion for the winner, 0 for the losers. Risk: joint development approaches 0, independent development is approx. 47%."

Morgana fell silent.

Lin Chen continued, "Of course, the prerequisite for joint development is that you trust me."

Alpha was the first to speak: "I trust you. When you were deducing the future just now, I saw the results—in that deduction, you saved me three times. Even though it was just a deduction, it's enough to prove your credibility."

Lin Chen was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

Alpha could actually see what was in the deduction?

Interesting.

Morgana hesitated for three seconds before finally nodding. "I trust you too."

Lin Chen held out his hand. "Then let's sign an agreement."

Three golden contracts manifested in the void, and the three of them signed simultaneously.

The 【Tripartite Joint Development Agreement】 officially took effect.

In the resource zone, the three largest Spirit Stone Mines simultaneously lit up with the "Joint Mining" indicator.

In the distance, the other players who hadn't yet managed to enter the resource zone were all stunned as they looked at the indicators on those three mines.

"They... cooperated?"

"The three strongest parties actually cooperated? Then what are we supposed to do?"

"It's over, this game is finished."

Lin Chen watched the reactions of those players and said with a smile to Arrogant Dragon:

"See? This is the power of capital."

"Subduing the enemy without a fight."

Arrogant Dragon scratched his head. "Boss, you're becoming harder and harder to understand."

Lin Chen patted his shoulder. "You don't need to understand. Just follow me, and you'll have meat to eat."

Outside the window, the starry sky of the resource zone began to shimmer.

That was the first batch of spirit stones from the joint mining being transported to the star domains of the three parties.

And further away, the shadow of the Zeroing Storm was slowly approaching.

But Lin Chen was in no hurry.

Because he already knew what would happen next.