Chapter 162: The Hunt (1)

Zhang Meili continued her deduction:

'Since I cannot determine whether Cao Xiu is Company No. 7 or Company No. 9, then...'

'I will set aside around 1.5 million!'

'What should I do with the remaining funds?'

'I need to think from Zhou Chen's perspective. Judging by Company No. 6's previous operations, Zhou Chen likely knows nothing about the stock market.'

'He must be extremely desperate to end this Secret Room. The appearance of two Company No. 5s made him realize that the clearance condition is to bankrupt the Company No. 5 controlled by the wealthy NPC.'

'However, the wealthy NPC had the foresight to purchase a massive amount of stock in Company No. 8 ahead of time.'

'Because of this, it won't be easy to target and bankrupt the wealthy NPC. Instead, I... will become the target of Zhou Chen's attacks!'

'After all, the wealthy NPC previously took advantage of having the same company name as me to quietly pull off quite a few tricks.'

'By refusing to repurchase the Company No. 6 stock in my hands, leaving me unable to expand production and eventually bleeding me dry through the continuously rising manual maintenance fees.'

'How do I break this deadlock?'

'By becoming a parasite!'

'I'll go all-in with the remaining funds and buy Company No. 6 stock! That way, even if I don't expand production, I can survive just on the dividends every time Company No. 6 turns a profit!'

At this thought.

Zhang Meili stared fixedly at the screen. As long as Company No. 6 expanded production and issued new shares, she would immediately go all-in.

...

Zhou Chen:

'The wealthy NPC is impossible to kill right now, so I have to destroy his protective umbrella first!'

'The two Company No. 5s are mixing the fake with the genuine. I'll first bankrupt the Middle-aged Woman among Chen Ran's teammates, who is the legal representative of the other Company No. 5.'

'I won't repurchase the stock in her hands!'

Just as he was about to execute the trade.

"Zhou Chen, I think you should think this through carefully. It won't be too late to act after that."

A voice suddenly rang out, causing Zhou Chen's hand to freeze just as he was about to click the computer mouse.

The speaker was Diwu Zeyi.

Zhou Chen frowned.

'What does he mean?'

'Is he trying to tell me that whatever I can think of, the Middle-aged Woman can think of too?'

'How would the Middle-aged Woman break my trap?'

'Going all-in!'

'Once I expand production, she will go all-in with all her funds to buy my company's stock. Then, she'll rely on the dividends based on her shares to cope with the continuous increase in manual maintenance fees.'

'How should I counter that?'

"Your best choice is to not expand production. You have money on the books right now, so you can afford a war of attrition," Diwu Zeyi advised.

These words were like a sudden enlightenment, instantly opening up Zhou Chen's mind.

However, right after the words were spoken.

A notification appeared on his computer screen:

[Company No. 3 has initiated a Shareholders' Meeting for Company No. 6. The meeting vote is as follows:]

[Option One: Expand production.]

[Option Two: Do not expand production.]

Chen Ran stared at the prompt.

'Cao Xiu wants to cling to Diwu Zeyi's coattails.'

'Logically, he should choose Option Two.'

'Diwu Zeyi is in a very dangerous position right now, so logically, he should also choose Option Two.'

'That is the only way to bleed Zhang Meili dry.'

'But the truth is, neither of them dares to choose Option Two.'

'If Cao Xiu chooses Option Two, he will let Zhang Meili know that he is Company No. 9.'

'If Diwu Zeyi chooses Option Two, he will expose his company's name to us.'

'After all, aside from Zhou Chen, Cao Xiu, and Diwu Zeyi, the rest of us will all choose Option One.'

'What a cunning move!'

Unsurprisingly, when the results came out, everyone had chosen Option One, except for Zhou Chen, who voted for Option Two.

Since Zhou Chen held 49% of the shares and the other nine collectively held 51%...

Company No. 6 would expand production!

[Stock Market]: Please note, Company No. 6 has initiated a Shareholders' Meeting vote and ultimately chosen to expand production and purchase new equipment.

[Stock Market]: Please note, Company No. 6 has completed its production expansion. The company's stock price has returned to normal, and 1 million new shares have been issued.

Almost instantly, nine companies purchased 500,000 worth of stock from Company No. 6.

But it wasn't over.

Zhang Meili went all-in with 2.5 million to purchase more of Company No. 6's stock. With this...

Zhang Meili's shareholding reached: 13.5%

Parasitism successful!

Every time Company No. 6 made a profit, she would receive a 13.5% dividend, which she could use to cover the deficit in her own company.

In other words.

From this moment on, Cao Xiu's schemes were essentially dead in the water, and Diwu Zeyi remained in a state of extreme danger.

At the same time, Zhou Chen was also in peril.

If he didn't make enough money to repurchase the newly issued shares, he would remain a puppet. If another Shareholders' Meeting was initiated, he would be completely ruined.

This meant Zhou Chen absolutely didn't dare to scheme against Zhang Meili anymore. Instead, he had to endlessly grind for profits, using his earnings to buy back his stock from the other companies.

However, his worries were somewhat unnecessary. Now that Zhang Meili was tied to his ship, she would side with him if another Shareholders' Meeting was called.

Chen Ran dangled a cigarette from his lips.

'Company No. 3 is most likely Long Hui or Dorje. By protecting Zhang Meili, they are trying to keep the total number of players at an odd number.'

'However, Cao Xiu and Zhang Meili have already practically torn at each other's throats. If they activate their Skills, Zhang Meili might defect to Diwu Zeyi...'

'Cao Xiu is in danger!'

In truth, in this gamble, Cao Xiu's attempt to lay a trap had backfired completely, resulting in his own loss.

He was panicking right now.

'Based on the share structure of Company No. 6, Zhang Meili should still have around 1.5 million in account funds left over.'

'Minus the company expenses, she has roughly 1 million left. In other words, Zhang Meili couldn't deduce whether I was Company No. 7 or No. 9, so she held back 1 million to evade the Future Lie.'

'At this moment, I finally understand how Chen Ran felt in the last Secret Room.'

'Having Three-Star Players presiding over the game and interfering with our plans is incredibly frustrating!'

'Next, if Diwu Zeyi wants to escape danger, he has to eliminate someone.'

'Next, if Diwu Zeyi wants to escape danger, he has to eliminate someone.'

'Naturally, I have become the prime target.'

'Logically speaking, at this point, I should just copy Zhang Meili—go all-in on Company No. 6, leech off them as a parasite, and survive.'

'But why does this feel like a hunt?'

'The Three-Star Players are driving us straight into their encirclement...'

'If Zhang Meili and I both become parasites on Company No. 6, they only need to take out Company No. 6 to eliminate all three of us.'

'That would turn the number of players into an even number.'

'Therefore, if I choose to parasitize, then Chen Ran, Qiu Yinong, and Li Zhitong—the three who are just watching the show—will be in danger next.'

'The reason is simple. As long as there is an odd number of players, Long Hui and Dorje can coordinate their Skills to reliably eliminate a target.'

'It's Chen Ran!'

'After all, his Skill...'

'So, if I parasitize, their next target will definitely be Chen Ran.'

'They will drive Chen Ran into the encirclement, which means forcing him to also leech off Company No. 6.'

'But the problem is...'

'Which company number is Chen Ran?'

'From Diwu Zeyi's perspective, if I parasitize Company No. 6, he will protect Chen Ran at all costs to prevent him from doing the same...'

'In other words, going forward, if I don't parasitize, Diwu Zeyi will come after me. If I do, he'll do everything he can to protect Chen Ran.'

'By the same logic, if I don't parasitize, Long Hui and Dorje will come after me to force my hand; if I do, they will go after Chen Ran.'

'Conclusion: If I don't become a parasite, the three Three-Star Players will hound me to death.'

'The only difference is that Long Hui and Dorje won't kill me right away, whereas Diwu Zeyi will absolutely try every possible method to eliminate me.'

'Rather than letting them cripple me before I'm forced into their encirclement, I might as well...'

'Voluntarily enter the trap and preserve my financial strength!'