119: Chapter 120 The Ice Key is Drawn, the Detention Order is Cut in Half

"Lu Chengyuan accuses the Rule Maintenance Special Class of forging Shen Qingshuang's return records."

"And demands the immediate detention of Shen Tingxue."

"The reason is—Shen Tingxue is suspected of illegally possessing the key to the Second Observation Position."

After Inspector Han Su finished reading this sentence, the mailroom became as cold as an ice cave.

Lying on the stretcher, Chen Ye was so angry he almost tore open the old wound on his chest again.

"Illegally possessing?"

"Who was it that just redirected the returned item to her?"

"And now they turn around and say she's illegally possessing it?"

The Thunder Spear in Zhou Heng's hand was already raised, purple lightning crackling wildly at its tip.

"Lu Chengyuan really isn't pretending anymore."

Gu Changye's face was cold and grim as he immediately ordered:

"Processing Bureau, seal the evidence imprint."

"No unilateral authority from the Department of Education is allowed to touch the Ice Key, letter fragments, or return records."

Qin Shanhe took a step to block the mailroom door, heavy academy array patterns spreading out from beneath his feet.

"Who dares detain a student in my academy? You'll have to ask me, the dean, first."

Inspector Han Su did not speak immediately.

He looked down at the emergency counter-appeal order that popped up in front of him, his face looking worse than ever.

Because it was indeed stamped with the seal of the Director of the Special Career Development Division.

Lu Chengyuan wasn't making a private threat.

He was going through the official counter-appeal process.

This was the most disgusting part of the process.

Even if it was fake, it would still force people to deal with it first.

The next second, a silvery-white projection floated in midair.

Lu Chengyuan's figure appeared outside the mailroom.

He still wore that Department of Education uniform, neat to the point of coldness. The gaze behind his glasses was calm, as if all the records just exposed had nothing to do with him.

His first words were not an excuse.

Instead, he directly defined the situation.

"Shen Tingxue."

"The Ice Key in your hand involves the authorization of the White Tower's Second Observation Position."

"Before the source of the authorization is officially verified, you have no right to continue holding it."

Shen Tingxue stood in the center of the frost, the Ice Key floating quietly in her hand.

She looked at Lu Chengyuan, not taking a single step back.

"You say it is the key to the Second Observation Position?"

Lu Chengyuan said calmly:

"It can open the return records related to the Second Observation Position."

"It can respond to Shen Qingshuang's old consultant seal."

"It can draw the White Tower's observer seats."

"This is enough to prove the risk."

Shen Tingxue's eyes grew colder.

"Proving risk does not equate to proving ownership."

Lu Chengyuan looked at Inspector Han Su.

"Inspector Han Su of the oversight seat."

"Execute the temporary detention."

Inspector Han Su did not move.

Lu Chengyuan's voice remained calm, but carried a hint of pressure.

"You are an inspector of the Department of Education, not an academy bystander."

"When a high-risk legacy project authorized item falls into the hands of a student, you should secure it first, then review it."

Inspector Han Su slowly raised his head.

"Securing evidence does not equate to detaining the student themselves."

"The Ice Key has a bloodline binding, a profession binding, and a Lockdown Role adaptation binding with Shen Tingxue."

Lu Chengyuan said.

"The person is the key's carrier, and the key is the observer position's authority interface."

"Securing the item alone is ineffective."

Chen Ye cursed out loud.

"In the end, you just want to arrest her!"

Lin Jin raised his hand to hold him back.

Not to make him shut up.

But to keep him from being led by the nose by Lu Chengyuan.

Lin Jin looked at Shen Tingxue.

"Ask the key."

Shen Tingxue nodded.

She raised the Ice Key and flicked it gently with her finger.

The Ice Key spun in midair, and four thin, low-temperature lines extended from its body like four ice-blue needles, piercing into the newly sealed return records, Shen Qingshuang's testimony outlet, the residual coordinates of the evacuation qualification, and the absence marker of the Second Observation Position.

Shen Tingxue's voice was clear and cold.

"Ice Key, self-check your source."

The Ice Key buzzed.

Lu Chengyuan's glasses flashed slightly.

He raised his hand, and a silvery-white authority line immediately stabbed toward the Ice Key.

"Without the permission of the Department of Education, legacy project authorized items may not be awakened privately."

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear struck first, pinning down.

Purple lightning curved in an arc, directly cutting off that authority line.

"What are you in such a hurry for?"

Zhou Heng sneered.

"Didn't you say you wanted to verify it?"

Shen Tingxue did not look at Lu Chengyuan.

The light on the Ice Key grew brighter and brighter.

After a few breaths, a line of ice-blue text emerged.

[Ice Key Source Self-Check]

[1. Shen Qingshuang's Ice-system Lockdown residual coordinates]

[2. Shen Qingshuang's evacuation qualification tracking anchor]

[3. Testimony outlet low-temperature carrier]

[4. Second Observation Position return receipt attached anchor]

[Conclusion: Not the authorized key for the Second Observation Position]

The mailroom fell silent in an instant.

Chen Ye's eyes lit up.

"Did you see that?"

"It's not an authorized key!"

Lu Chengyuan's expression remained unchanged.

"Self-check results can be contaminated."

Shen Tingxue looked up.

"Then why do you want to detain it?"

Lu Chengyuan's gaze finally paused slightly.

Shen Tingxue walked toward the projection step by step.

Frost spread beneath her feet like a silent road.

"If it is a contaminated counterfeit, you have no right to detain me on the grounds of it being the Second Observation Position key."

"If it is a real legacy project item, then its self-check conclusion, return receipt, and your processing seal must all go into review."

"Lu Chengyuan."

"Do you want to say it's fake, or do you want to say it's real?"

Chen Ye almost slapped his thigh.

Unfortunately, he was injured, so he could only express his sheer satisfaction wildly with his eyes.

The corner of Zhou Heng's mouth also curled up coldly.

This sentence backed Lu Chengyuan into a corner.

If he said it was fake, the grounds for detention would not hold.

If he said it was real, the evidence of him redirecting Shen Qingshuang's returned item would be established.

Lu Chengyuan looked at Shen Tingxue and was silent for two seconds.

Then, he smiled slightly.

It was very faint.

And very cold.

"You are more suited to sit in the observer position than Shen Qingshuang."

The Ice Key in Shen Tingxue's hand suddenly lit up.

Not because it was induced.

But because her anger had been compressed into a blade.

Lu Chengyuan continued:

"Shen Qingshuang was too obsessed with refusing."

"While you are calmer and know better how to utilize the rules."

"If you accept the Second Observation Position, many things would be much simpler."

Shen Tingxue raised her hand.

She held the Ice Key across her chest.

"You finally admit it."

Lu Chengyuan did not respond.

Shen Tingxue finished for him.

"What you want is not preservation."

"It is to make me sit in that chair."

The next instant, a silvery-white crack burst open on the floor of the mailroom.

A detention order flew out of the crack, wrapping directly toward Shen Tingxue's wrist.

[Temporary Detention Execution]

[Target: Shen Tingxue]

[Detention Nature: Legacy Project Authority Carrier Preservation]

Lin Jin's eyes instantly turned cold.

"Director Gu!"

Gu Changye had already taken action.

The dark blue lockdown chains of the Abyss Processing Bureau shot in from outside the door, wrapping around a corner of the detention order.

Qin Shanhe's academy array patterns pressed down, forcefully pinning the silvery-white detention order in midair.

But the order paper was still drilling toward Shen Tingxue.

Because it was traveling through the official execution channel of the Department of Education.

Inspector Han Su finally moved.

He raised his hand, and an oversight seal fell from his projection, stamping directly onto the center of the detention order.

"The oversight seat suspends execution."

Lu Chengyuan looked at him.

"Han Su, do you know what you are doing?"

Inspector Han Su's voice was cold and hard.

"I do."

"I am suspending a detention order whose application basis is self-contradictory."

"The applicant claims the Ice Key is forged evidence, yet applies to detain the holder on the grounds of this Ice Key's real authority."

"Before this detention order is logically self-consistent, it shall not be executed."

The detention order vibrated violently.

Lu Chengyuan's eyes finally grew cold.

"Han Su, you are exceeding your authority."

Inspector Han Su said word by word:

"I am overseeing the abuse of authority."

In the mailroom, the atmosphere suddenly tightened.

Shen Tingxue did not waste this opportunity.

She raised her hand and slashed down with the Ice Key.

Not at a person.

But at the order.

Crack!

The detention order was split down the middle by the ice-blue blade light.

As the silvery-white paper light exploded, an extremely thin afterimage of an old seal actually fell out from within.

Lin Jin saw it at a glance, and his heart sank violently.

That was not the Department of Education Director's seal.

Nor was it the White Tower Signing Room seal.

It was Shen Qingshuang's old consultant seal.

Deep inside the detention order, Shen Qingshuang's nominal authorization was actually tucked away.

Shen Tingxue saw it too.

Her eyes were so cold they had almost no warmth.

"Lu Chengyuan."

"You even have to borrow her seal to detain me?"

Lu Chengyuan did not answer.

But the fragments of the detention order had already given the answer.

[Detention Basis Attached Authorization: Shen Qingshuang's Old Consultant Status]

[Authorization Status: Redirected]

[Actual Processor: Lu Chengyuan]

Inspector Han Su's face changed completely.

Gu Changye said coldly:

"Processing Bureau, record this."

"Lu Chengyuan is suspected of repeatedly borrowing the old consultant seal of missing personnel Shen Qingshuang to redirect legacy project documents."

Qin Shanhe laughed out of extreme anger.

"Good, very good."

"Using Shen Qingshuang's seal to force Shen Tingxue into the observer position."

"And then using Shen Qingshuang's seal to detain Shen Tingxue."

"Lu Chengyuan, are you afraid there isn't enough evidence, so you're delivering it yourself?"

Lu Chengyuan's projection began to fade.

Clearly, he was preparing to cut off the communication.

Lin Jin immediately spoke up:

"Don't let him leave too cleanly."

Shen Tingxue spun the Ice Key, and an ice-blue thin line shot out along the fragments of the detention order, wrapping around the edge of Lu Chengyuan's projection.

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear followed closely, pinning down.

"Leave a tail."

Gu Changye's Processing Bureau lockdown chains also pressed down.

Three forces chased into the silvery-white channel at the same time.

Lu Chengyuan's projection finally showed a few cracks.

Through the cracks, a corner of the scene behind him was revealed.

That was not a Department of Education office.

Nor was it the Special Career Development Division's meeting room.

It was a white room.

In the room, rows of signing tags, recording pens, ledgers, and ice-sealed keys hung.

At the deepest end, there was a door.

On the door, it was written:

[White Tower Second Floor · Cost General Ledger Room]

Lu Chengyuan was unexpectedly not at the physical Department of Education.

He was in front of the entrance to the White Tower Second Floor.

Lin Jin's pupils contracted.

"You have already gone in?"

Before his projection shattered, Lu Chengyuan finally revealed a genuine smile.

"It's not that I went in."

"It is that the ledger room has always been inside the Department of Education."

The projection severed.

The silvery-white channel completely shattered.

The mailroom fell into a dead silence.

A few seconds later, the grey fire in the preservation box slowly lit up.

[Major Evidence Update]

[The White Tower Second Floor Cost General Ledger Room is suspected to overlap with the real-world authority of the Department of Education's Special Career Development Division]

[Seven-Day Audit Target Changed]

[If the real-world overlap is not severed, the automatic deductions of the ledger room will directly affect the academy archives, Department of Education records, and the Abyss Processing Bureau's sealed vault]

Chen Ye's face turned pale.

"Does that mean... the second floor is not just inside the White Tower?"

Lin Jin looked at the grey fire, his voice as heavy as iron.

"It has a half in reality as well."

Shen Tingxue gripped the Ice Key tightly.

"Then we'll cut off the physical half first."

Just then, Inspector Han Su's oversight projection suddenly flickered violently.

He looked down at the Department of Education imprint on his chest, and his face changed drastically.

A silvery-white chain emerged from within his projection.

[Inspector Han Su of the oversight seat]

[Suspected of obstructing the execution of the Special Career Development Division]

[Immediate Suspension and Investigation]

[Duty Authority Frozen]

Inspector Han Su looked up, his voice showing a noticeable tremor for the first time.

"Lu Chengyuan is severing my oversight authority."

The next second, his projection went completely dark.

But before disappearing, he forcibly threw out an oversight backup.

The backup landed in front of Lin Jin, with only the last line of words still lit.

[Go to the Department of Education's Archives Tower.]

[Find the real-world ledger entrance of the Special Career Development Division.]