83: Chapter 83 Nine Hundred Million Underworld Talismans - Dazzlingly Bright

In the core area of the Fortress, the atmosphere in the office that symbolized the highest authority, now seeming somewhat empty, was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Lin Chen sat in the wide chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk, producing a dull *tap-tap* sound. On the floating light screen before him, the number representing his nether talisman balance was a glaring, dazzling **[0]**. The news had long since spread like wildfire to every corner of the Fortress—Master Lin Chen, the omnipotent, whale-spending big shot with an ocean of nether talismans, had gone bankrupt! Resources depleted, powerful enemies surrounding them, the Fortress was in imminent peril.

A small group of people stood in the office. They were the current core layer of the Fortress, or rather, those who considered themselves the core layer. Zhang Hao stood at the front, his forehead covered in fine beads of cold sweat, his eyes shifting uneasily, stealing glances at Lin Chen and the zeroed-out light screen before him, his throat working with difficulty.

"M-Master," Zhang Hao's voice trembled uncontrollably, forcing out a smile uglier than crying, "outside... outside everyone's saying that our nether talismans... that... they're gone? This... this must be a rumor, right? You surely have a backup plan, don't you?"

Lin Chen lifted his eyelids. Those eyes, usually deep and teasing, now held only a cold weariness and a trace of something hard to detect... disappointment? He swept a glance over Zhang Hao, not answering, but instead asked calmly, "Zhang Hao, you've been with me for quite some time. What do you think?"

Zhang Hao's heart quivered under his gaze, his legs feeling weak. What did he think? He thought he was fucking doomed! Relying on Lin Chen's influence before, how many people had he offended? How many survivors had he exploited? Now, if Lin Chen, this great tree, were to fall, would those starving Bizarre Monsters outside, and those 'comrades' inside the Fortress who wished to tear him apart, let him off? He was dead! Absolutely dead!

The instinct for survival overwhelmed his fear of Lin Chen. Zhang Hao thudded to his knees, his voice choked with sobs, "Master! It's not that I, Zhang Hao, am disloyal! It's just... it's just that I have an eighty-year-old mother at home... I mean, the Fortress clearly can't hold! I don't want to die for nothing! I beg you, for the sake of our past relationship, let me... let me go! I'll leave and take my chances, I'd never dare drag the Fortress down!"

His kneeling and crying seemed to flip a switch.

The dozen or so so-called managers and petty bosses behind him exchanged glances. All the thoughts previously suppressed by Lin Chen's formidable strength and ruthless methods now grew wildly like weeds.

"Mr. Lin... I'm sorry, I... I also want to leave," a bespectacled man originally in charge of resource statistics said softly, head bowed.

"Yeah, Boss Lin, the great building is about to collapse. We... we have to find a way out for ourselves!"

"That's right! We came to join you in the first place because you could provide safety! Now the safety is gone, we can't just stay here waiting to die, can we?"

"Right! Distribute the remaining resources! Let us go!"

"Distribute the resources! Let us go!"

The crowd began to stir, their voices growing louder, carrying a kind of desperate, reckless madness. They stared fixedly at Lin Chen, as if he were no longer the leader who controlled their life and death, but an obstacle blocking their escape. The feigned respect and fear they usually displayed were torn to shreds before the crisis of survival and the reality of 'zero nether talismans.'

Lin Chen watched this agitated crowd expressionlessly, his gaze sweeping over faces filled with shame, greed, fear, or resolve. He showed no anger, no rebuke, only the coldness deep in his eyes grew a shade heavier.

Just then, a figure moved against the crowd and walked to Lin Chen's side.

It was Su Qingyu.

She was wearing a simple combat suit today, outlining a slender yet firm figure. Her face was also somewhat pale; clearly, the news of 'nether talismans depleted' and 'powerful enemies at the gates' had placed immense pressure on her too. But her eyes were unusually clear and calm.

She didn't look at those clamoring to leave. She simply and quietly took out a small cloth bundle wrapped in a clean handkerchief from her bosom and gently placed it on the desk before Lin Chen.

The handkerchief was opened, revealing a neat stack of nether talismans of varying denominations.

The largest denomination was a thousand, the smallest ten. Added together, they probably didn't even amount to ten thousand nether talismans. For Lin Chen, who had once spent millions or tens of millions of nether talismans at a time, this wasn't even a drop in the bucket.

But Su Qingyu's voice, though soft, clearly cut through all the noise: "These are all the salary and bonuses you've given me since I joined the Fortress. I haven't spent a single one; they're all here. I know this amount of nether talismans won't make a difference, but... this is all the strength I have."

She raised her eyes, bravely meeting Lin Chen's gaze, her tone firm: "I'm not leaving. If the Fortress stands, I stand."

For a moment, the office fell silent.

All those clamoring to leave were stunned, looking at Su Qingyu in disbelief as if she were a fool.

Zhang Hao's eyes widened even further, and he blurted out, "Su Qingyu! Are you fucking insane?! What use is this pittance of nether talismans?! Staying here to die with him?!"

Su Qingyu ignored Zhang Hao's shrieking, just quietly looked at Lin Chen.

Behind Lin Chen, the two Yin Soldier Centurions standing like statues seemed to let their crimson gazes, hidden beneath their helmets, linger on Su Qingyu for a moment.

Lin Chen looked at the somewhat meager yet weighty-as-a-thousand-jun stack of nether talismans on the desk, then at the woman with determined eyes before him. He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a soft laugh.

This laugh was light, yet carried an indescribable meaning, breaking the deathly still atmosphere in the room.

He reached out, not touching the nether talismans, but tapped the desktop with his finger.

Then, he raised his eyes, looking again at the group of people before him who had just been clamoring to divide the assets and run. The corner of his mouth lifted into a familiar, supremely mocking curve.

"Finished talking?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone's hearts tighten violently.

Before they could react, Lin Chen casually swiped across the light screen before him.

The glaring **[0]** instantly vanished.

In its place was a long, seemingly endless string of dark golden numbers flashing with a heart-palpitating light—

**[nether talisman Balance: 9,999,999,999+]**

In the office, a deathly silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

Zhang Hao's kneeling body completely stiffened. His eyes bulged like copper bells, his mouth agape wide enough to fit a fist. The color drained from his face in an instant, leaving only boundless terror and absurdity.

Those managers and petty bosses who had just been shouting to divide resources and leave now looked like ducks being choked. The excitement, greed, and resolve on their faces instantly froze, then shattered, transforming into extreme horror and disbelief.

Nine... nine hundred ninety-nine million plus?! And it's still a fucking '+'?!

Wasn't he bankrupt?! Weren't the resources depleted?!

This... this is fucking called bankrupt?!

An icy chill shot up from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads, leaving their entire bodies cold and their hands and feet trembling.

Lin Chen slowly stood up, looking down from above at these ashen-faced individuals, the smile on his face growing colder and more cruel.

"It seems," he said deliberately, each word like an ice pick stabbing into their hearts, "my humble Fortress is too small a temple for you great Buddhas."

"Just now, who was it that said they wanted to divide my resources?"

"And who was it that said they wanted to 'take their chances' and would never drag the Fortress down?"

His gaze, like the sharpest blade, swept over each of the trembling figures one by one.

"I gave you a chance."

"It was you who didn't want it."