Chapter 461

Seeing the text on the communication interface, Li Cheng raised an eyebrow, casually removed his safety gloves, stepped out of the automated warehouse, and pulled open the office door upon returning.

Between the shelves outside the door, Special Affairs Bureau agents Fu Ding Hualong and Su Jie wore hats, disguised as ordinary customers.

Between the two of them stood a tall figure wearing a white tiger mask and a Daoist robe.

The three had come representing the Special Affairs Bureau; Li Cheng casually shut the office door and pushed open the operating room door. "Come in."

"Uh, alright."

Su Jie and Fu Ding Hualong looked slightly uneasy; just a few days ago, they had been equals and familiar friends with Master Pi Fu, but now upon meeting again, he had become a nationally infamous—

terrorist? The strongest lone wolf? The sole AAA gear-customizing Pi-ge in the Entire Kill Arena? It was hard to describe him accurately.

Li Cheng pulled open a row of specimen refrigerators and asked casually, "Tea or coffee?"

Su Jie glanced at the tea canister placed amid a pile of preserved, wide-eyed mutant monster heads, then at the coffee canister sitting among severed humanoid limbs, and decisively said, "We'll have milk tea."

"Here."

Li Cheng pulled three cups of Mixue Bingcheng from beneath the refrigerator and tossed them over, then casually leapt onto the operating table. "What brings you here? And who is this?"

"Allow me to introduce myself: Bai Ze, Lv27."

The figure calling himself Bai Ze handed out a business card; his voice was muffled and echoed, making gender and age impossible to discern.

The front of the card listed his position: Special Affairs Bureau Headquarters — General Affairs Division — Organizational Coordination Office.

The back carried a string of lavish titles: Member of the International Advisory Committee of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Special Consultant to the Supercomputing Center, Consultant for the Deep Space Exploration Project, Epidemic Expert for the United Nations World Health Organization, and more.

It had the vibe of a WeChat Moments micro-business huckster blowing his own horn—only missing phrases like "Global Youth Leader" or "Vice Chairman of the Internet Development Association."

Given Su Jie and Fu Ding Hualong's demeanor, this Bai Ze was clearly no impostor, but a direct intelligence asset of the Special Affairs Bureau Headquarters, representing high-level authority.

"This is a small token from the Special Affairs Bureau."

Bai Ze raised his gloved hand and placed an object on the table.

It was two oversized cylindrical batteries, nearly the size of a two-liter soda bottle, wrapped in black-and-gold metallic stickers, with a liquid crystal display panel embedded in the center capable of showing images.

【Item Name: Backup Hidden Energy】

【Type: Battery】

【Quality: Perfect】

【Effect: Preparedness. User may channel Qi into it, up to current level × 75 points; retrieval rate depends on Perception and Intelligence stats】

【Cost: 50 Sanity Points】

【Cooldown: None】

【Usage Condition: None】

【Note: This item is bound; cannot be transferred after binding.】

【Note: You promised me lithium-ion batteries, you scammer—why did you charge me 100 yuan?!】

【Note: Source God, activate!】

Huh?

Li Cheng paused mid-sip of his milk tea; Qi value had always been a critical determinant of player power, and even a simple alchemical potion restoring mana wouldn't cost less than 500 game coins.

The more Qi restored and the faster the rate, the higher the price.

This 【Backup Hidden Energy】 tied its storage capacity directly to the player's level—by Lv40, the maximum capacity reached a staggering 3,000 points, undeniably a strategic-grade item.

It rivaled, even surpassed, the Ten-Ingredient Supreme Pill.

Li Cheng set down his Mixue Bingcheng. "What's this? You're being too generous."

Bai Ze shook his head. "The Special Affairs Bureau has always held one consistent principle: sincerity begets sincerity. We warmly welcome like-minded comrades who choose to join, and fully understand those who have not yet joined."

Although Master Pi Fu has not registered as a bounty hunter with the Special Affairs Bureau, we have consistently recorded your contributions."

"This item is merely settlement and gratitude for past efforts."

"Alright." Since he said so, Li Cheng accepted the two heavy batteries without hesitation.

"There's one more thing."

Bai Ze pulled a document folder from inside his Daoist robe, opened it, and revealed a stack of papers.

Li Cheng picked up the documents. "IPO prospectus and listing plan?"

"Yes."

Bai Ze said, "The core business of Zhu Xing Zhen Tai is converting culturally significant artifacts into items and skill scrolls within the Kill Arena system, correct?"

This service distinguishes itself from other guilds' manufacturing by not relying on supernatural materials, granting it an unparalleled cost advantage."

We can help establish an offshore shell company registered in the Cayman Islands, allowing Zhu Xing Zhen Tai to operate in the real world under the guise of an 'AI Cloud Services Company,' raising capital and listing simultaneously on the A-share market and Nasdaq."

To ordinary investors, it appears as a thriving, rapidly growing company. Only players and real-world elites know it is truly Zhu Xing Zhen Tai."

Bai Ze flipped open the detailed documents and explained: "After listing, Saudi PIF, Qatar QIA, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, and others will immediately pour money into it."

It will easily cover the cost of the perfect-quality scrolls you've expended."

It's not that these sovereign funds expect quarterly dividends or stock fluctuations to let retail investors profit while insiders recoup their gains."

Rather, they believe in Zhu Xing Zhen Tai's future potential and your own future height."

"Huh?"

Li Cheng rubbed his chin. "Am I really that famous?"

"Heh," came Bai Ze's amiable chuckle from beneath the mask. "You rose to Lv21 in less than a year. Even protagonists in many fictional works don't level up this fast."

Unless something unforeseen occurs, you will almost certainly enter the top tier, even reach Lv40."

For nations with wealth but little power, money is no longer the top priority; the Kill Arena's physical space is boundless, its resources inexhaustible. Eventually, oil may not even retain its status as a chemical feedstock."

It will be replaced by nuclear fusion reactors and new materials."

Thus, for them, only two things are matters of life and death: while the current international order still holds and digital currency still has value, they must pour money into cultivating their own nation's superhumans with strong loyalty."

So that, at a critical moment, these individuals can pull them back from the brink.

Second, cultivate good fortune by spending money to buy safety.

Even Dai Ying, one of the Five Constants, was left writhing from a single hit of the 【Primordial Epoch】, for ordinary people and transcendents are two different species, and low-rank transcendents and high-rank transcendents are yet another two different species.

Li Cheng activated the Multi-Threaded Brain Domain Method, swiftly scanned the listing proposal, found no issues, and signed the shell company authorization document.

Ironically, the Cayman Islands, a tax haven in the real world, are a British overseas territory in the western Caribbean of the Americas.

Thank you, Dai Ying.

"That should be enough."

Li Cheng set down the paper, suddenly thinking of something: "Wait—don't all other high-level players do this? Setting up shell companies to list and raise money?"

"For high-level players with unique businesses, yes."

Bai Ze's tone carried a subtle nuance: "Stock prices fluctuate with the transcendents' status; if a high-level player's recent mission evaluation drops, the stock price falls accordingly."

If a high-level player dies, the stock representing him plummets to delisting."

Damn, now I know why the A-share market has been stuck at 3,000 points.

Li Cheng stared at the listing prospectus in his hand, his expression strained, as if he could already hear the future investors' lines.

"When others are greedy, I fear; when others fear, I add positions."

"Don't talk to me about technical adjustments—I, Old Hu, always go all-in in stock trading."

"Zhu Xing Zhen Tai, bless me with wealth freedom! I love Zhu Xing Zhen Tai!"

"The Man in the Air"