Chapter Thirty-Two: Short Selling in the Reverse Direction
An outrageously crazy plan instantly took shape in her mind.
She's going to create a run on Datong Pawnshop that will sweep across the entire city of Chang'an!
The purpose of this plan is not actually to accumulate a billion strings of cash in profits, but to generate "payout" requests far exceeding the instantaneous data processing limit set by the "system" for the world's "economic module" at the same time.
She grasped the key: the Datong P2P lending platform she had built was like the lifeblood of this world. Once this lifeblood was simultaneously impacted by tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of "payout" orders, it would trigger a tsunami of economic data. This tsunami-like abnormal data flow would no longer be a simple commercial activity, but a violent shock to the world's underlying rules.
This is like injecting a piece of redundant code in an infinite loop into a sophisticated virtual program, enough to exhaust its computing resources and cause the program to freeze or crash. What she wants to exploit is that momentary delay and vulnerability that will inevitably occur in the system when dealing with such an "unplanned" and massive data surge!
It's not necessary to actually collect 1 billion guan; all that's needed is to generate enough "redemption" requests at the same time that exceed the system's real-time processing capacity, causing it to overload and crash!
She tore off a corner of the lining of her prison uniform, bit her still-intact finger, and wrote a few lines in her blood:
"Three days later at noon, Datong Pawnshop will open its doors to make payments, accepting all comers until it goes bankrupt. Believe me, there is still a chance to survive; disbelieve me, and your entire family will be executed."
She rolled the strip of cloth tightly and, in the pre-dawn shift when the guards were most tired and relaxed, used the last scraps of food to stick it to an inconspicuous crack below the cell door. This was her and Cui Jiulang's agreed-upon method of communication in the most urgent situations. She gambled that Cui Jiulang, under pressure to save his family, would send someone to check on them and discover it.
She won her bet.
The message was successfully sent.
When Cui Jiulang received the letter written in blood, he was filled with shock and rage, smashing his most beloved jade ruyi. "Madwoman! She's a complete madwoman!" he roared. To open the shop and allow the crowds to harass them would be tantamount to self-destruction; the Cui family's century-old legacy would be destroyed in an instant!
But... "If you don't believe me, your entire family will be executed." The Censorate is already sharpening its knives. Even without Liu Bao'er as the "culprit," the Cui family will not escape punishment. Bankruptcy might allow them to preserve some bloodline; resisting the Emperor's will means the complete annihilation of the family.
This is a high-stakes gamble that puts the fate of the entire family at stake.
Cui Jiulang's face was ashen, and he remained silent as a stone statue. Finally, he closed his eyes and forced out the command through clenched teeth:
"Do as she says."
The third day, at noon.
Chang'an has gone mad.
The East Market, West Market, Zhuque Street... all the roads leading to Datong Pawnshop were completely submerged by crowds. Merchants, commoners, officials, and even servants of noble families, carrying all sorts of paper money, tickets, property deeds, and land deeds, surged towards Datong Pawnshop like a flood bursting its banks!
"Give me the money! Give me the money now!"
"Datong Pawnshop is going bankrupt! Hand over our hard-earned money!"
"Make way! I was here first!"
The threshold of the shop was broken by the force of the footsteps, and the heavy elm counter groaned under the weight of the throng. Abacus beads were flung everywhere by the frenzied crowd, falling into the moat like hail. The shop assistants tried desperately to maintain order, but were instantly swallowed up by the throng.
Every branch of Datong Pawnshop in Chang'an City became a volcano spewing chaotic data. Countless people's panic, greed, and survival instincts transformed into the simplest "payment" commands, converging into a destructive torrent that crashed against the fragile dam constructed of "credit," "rules," and "accounts." This dam was both the financial order of the human world and one of the underlying codes maintaining the "legitimacy" of this virtual world.
Inside the Jinwu prison, Liu Bao'er sat cross-legged.
In her mind, the cold, background noise of the world that only she could perceive began to distort and sharpen! It was no longer a clear alarm, but rather the overloaded roar of a machine under immense load, or the static noise generated by countless data streams colliding and annihilating with each other!
"Warning: Data overflow! System load 95%... 96%... 97%..."
(WARNING: Data overflow! System load 95%... 96%... 97%...)
Immense pain swept through her consciousness, as if her soul were being torn apart. She gritted her teeth, using all her willpower to stay conscious, and raised her bloodied fingers. Using the dust on the cell wall and the dried bloodstains, she began to trace—not runes, not spells, but something else, a more complex reverse intrusion QR code that she had already calculated!
The moment the peak load exceeded 99%, she made the final stroke!
"Overridemand: Set historical correction coefficient to 1.618."
(Overwrite command: Set the historical correction factor to 1.618.)
"Click."
A faint, almost imperceptible, crackling sound, seemingly emanating from the very source of the world, resounded deep within her consciousness.
The frantically blaring alarm suddenly stopped.
The massive, oppressive system interface in my brain, like a shattered mirror, cracked inch by inch, dissipating into specks of light.
In the end, only a single line of Chinese characters remained, suspended in the void:
"Experimental subject Liu Bao'er has been granted temporary administrator privileges. Delete the formatting command?"
Looking at these words, Liu Bao'er revealed a tired yet incredibly sharp smile on her blood-stained face.
"delete."
"Command confirmed. Formatting process terminated."
The next second, Boom!
The wall of her cell suddenly exploded, and a scorching shockwave carrying debris rushed towards her! It wasn't an explosion, but rather a localized and violent data reconstruction of the entire Jinwu Prison's underlying structure due to the forced modification of its core rules!
Amidst the billowing smoke and flames, Liu Bao'er walked step by step out of the collapsed prison ruins.
Outside, Cui Jiulang stood dumbfounded by the earth-shattering turn of events, along with the three families of private soldiers behind him, their faces pale and trembling.
Cui Jiulang looked at the petite woman who emerged from the flames and ruins, her eyes as cold and sharp as if they had been tempered by fire. His Adam's apple bobbed, and finally, he was the first to kneel down on one knee and lower his proud head.
"Master," his voice was hoarse, yet filled with an unprecedented subservience, "what's our next step?"
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