122: Chapter 123 A man has sat in the director's seat for twenty years

[Deceased: Lu Chengyuan]

[Place of Death: White Tower First Floor]

[Recipient of Remains: Lu Chengyuan himself]

When that death certificate seeped out of the white wall, all the silver threads on the basement level paused for an instant.

It was as if the entrance to the entire Reality Ledger itself hadn't expected this file to see the light of day again.

In the next second, the white wall behind Lu Chengyuan split open with a loud bang.

Countless ledger pages spewed from the rift like a reverse-swirling blizzard.

They didn't attack Lin Jin and the others, but instead pounced entirely on the death certificate.

They wanted to destroy the evidence.

"Shen Tingxue!"

The moment Lin Jin's voice fell, the Ice Key was already unsheathed.

Shen Tingxue took a step forward.

Instead of spreading over a wide area, the frost condensed into an extremely thin Ice Line, cutting precisely into the connection between the death certificate and the wall.

The edges of the paper froze instantly.

The date, location, signature, and recipient were frozen into four disconnected, transparent shards of evidence.

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear followed closely behind.

This time, he didn't attack Lu Chengyuan.

The tip of the spear bypassed the swirling ledger pages, driving in four buffer thunder nails in succession, pinning the four frozen shards of evidence firmly in mid-air.

"Chen Ye!"

"Here!"

Although Chen Ye still had a wound on his chest, he had already brought his shield around.

The torrent of ledger pages slammed into the surface of the shield, the roar sounding like the doors of the entire Archives Tower shutting at the same time.

The ground beneath his feet cracked instantly.

Blood also began to seep from the corner of his mouth again.

But Chen Ye didn't resist head-on.

The surface of the shield deflected slightly with the impact, guiding the torrent of ledger pages toward the silver-threaded walls on both sides.

"I'll block for three seconds!"

"Don't give me a fourth!"

Lin Jin had already rushed in front of the evidence.

His right hand was unusable.

So he used his left hand to grip the black iron token.

[Reality General Ledger Entrance Maintenance Record: 0001]

The moment the iron token drew near the death certificate, rust-red patterns suddenly lit up on its back.

[Record Retrieval Permission Matched]

[Maintenance Record 0001: Can save one instance of original entrance malfunction evidence]

Lin Jin pressed the iron token heavily onto the death certificate.

The four frozen pieces of evidence emitted a harsh grinding sound at the same time.

Lu Chengyuan finally moved.

He didn't stop Zhou Heng, nor did he attack Chen Ye.

He merely raised a single finger.

"Destroy the death file."

His calm voice fell.

On the seventh floor, sixth floor, fifth floor, and even throughout the entire Department of Education Archives Tower, tens of thousands of filing cabinets vibrated simultaneously.

[Target File: Lu Chengyuan's Death Record]

[Reason for Processing: Identity Conflict]

[Priority Retention: Active Record of Current Director]

[Deletion: Death Certificate from Twenty Years Ago]

Chen Ye roared through gritted teeth:

"When a dead person and a living person conflict, why delete the dead one?!"

Lu Chengyuan looked at him.

"Because active records are used more frequently."

"The archival system never judges truth or falsehood."

"It only judges which record remains continuously in effect."

These words caused Lin Jin's heart to sink suddenly.

This was the reason Lu Chengyuan had been able to sit in the Director's seat for twenty years.

It wasn't that no one had ever noticed anything unusual.

It was that whenever a death record conflicted with an active record, the Archives Tower would always prioritize retaining the one in continuous use.

Meetings.

Orders.

Signatures.

Project permissions.

Disciplinary decisions.

As long as "Lu Chengyuan" left new traces every day, that death certificate from twenty years ago would be pressed down to the very bottom layer, time and time again.

Over time,

the dead person became the erroneous file instead.

"The Archives Tower doesn't judge truth or falsehood."

Lin Jin pressed the iron token even tighter.

"But a Repairman does."

He didn't use the rule correction wrench.

Instead, he raised his rusty wrench and slotted it into an almost invisible groove on the edge of the iron token.

"Maintenance Record 0001, save original malfunction."

The wrench turned.

Click!

The four frozen pieces of the death certificate were forcibly absorbed by the iron token.

Below the number on the front of the iron token, a new scratch appeared.

[Original Malfunction Evidence 1: Lu Chengyuan is deceased]

[Current Incumbent: Identity pending verification]

The entire basement level suddenly darkened.

For the first time, Lu Chengyuan's face turned completely dark.

"You can't take it away."

He took a step forward.

As that step landed, all the silver threads behind him tightened simultaneously.

Lin Jin suddenly saw that within every single silver thread, a small snippet of Lu Chengyuan's records was hidden.

Some were meeting speeches.

Some were project signatures.

Some were disciplinary approvals.

Some were career evaluations of a student.

Twenty years of records, like twenty years of blood vessels, jointly propped up the "regulatory post proxy shell" before them.

Trying to kill him was pointless.

As long as the record of his post remained, he could rise again from any document.

Lin Shoushan suddenly swung his wrench, smashing it into the bottom of the giant gate.

Boom!

Three silver threads on the gate snapped simultaneously.

Lu Chengyuan's body swayed along with it.

"Don't focus on his shell!"

Lin Shoushan roared, panting heavily.

"He has no core!"

"The post is his core!"

"However many Director records are still in effect in reality, that's how many lives he has!"

Zhou Heng gripped his Thunder Spear tightly.

"Then delete them all?"

"No!"

Gu Changye slashed through a collapsing wall with his blade and said sharply:

"Deleting all Director records simultaneously will turn twenty years of project files in the Special Career Development Division into ownerless documents!"

Lin Jin understood instantly.

Those documents didn't just contain Lu Chengyuan's malice.

They also contained the names of the victims.

Su Yan.

He Zhibai.

Luo Wensheng.

Ye Guizhou.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue, Shen Qingshuang, and Lin Shoushan.

If they directly wiped all of Lu Chengyuan's records, the evidence for these people might lose its liable subject along with it.

It was precisely on this point that Lu Chengyuan relied to stay alive.

Killing him might help him destroy the evidence.

Not killing him meant he would continue to sit in the Director's seat.

"So he isn't afraid of us knowing he's dead,"

Shen Tingxue said, her voice cold as she stared at the proxy shell.

"What he fears is us proving that the thing here now is not the legitimate Lu Chengyuan."

Lu Chengyuan did not deny it.

He looked at Shen Tingxue.

"You have indeed made some progress compared to that group from twenty years ago."

"When they saw a monster, they only wanted to kill it."

"You have begun to understand that identity is much harder to deal with than a physical body."

"But even if you know, what of it?"

The silver threads reconnected.

The hollow in his chest pierced by Zhou Heng's spear restored itself bit by bit.

"The real Lu Chengyuan is already dead."

"But the documents he signed still need someone to execute them."

"The projects he left behind still need someone to complete them."

"The post he sat in cannot be vacant."

"I am merely keeping everything running."

Enduring the sharp pain in his chest, Chen Ye gritted his teeth and said:

"You make devouring people sound like clocking in for work."

Lu Chengyuan looked at him calmly.

"The system does not care who is devoured."

"The system only cares if there is a vacancy."

"Haven't you already seen it?"

"When a Protection Role is vacant, it is filled."

"When an observer position is vacant, it is filled."

"When the receiver is gone, only the receiving stamp remains."

"When the Director dies, naturally someone should continue to act as Director."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Then who are you?"

This question made Lu Chengyuan fall silent for a brief moment.

It was very brief.

Yet it was enough for everyone to notice.

Lin Jin continued to press closer.

"You are not Lu Chengyuan himself."

"You are not a remnant of the White Tower."

"You are not a simple projection of the post."

"You know all of his records, you can use his authority, and you have even accepted his remains."

"But you don't have a name of your own."

For the first time, an extremely faint ripple appeared in the depths of Lu Chengyuan's eyes.

Behind the giant gate on the basement level, countless ledger pages began to flip frantically.

It was as if some deepest secret had been brushed against by Lin Jin.

Lin Shoushan suddenly shouted sharply:

"Stop asking!"

"He is stalling for time!"

Lin Jin whipped his head up.

Above the giant gate, the bolts that had been tightened by Lin Shoushan had already loosened by more than half.

After they entered the basement level, Lin Shoushan had stopped maintenance for too long in order to help them sever the transfer lines and preserve the death certificate.

The gap in the gate was widening.

Inside, it was not darkness.

It was a dense swarm of names.

Behind every name hung a string of costs waiting to be deducted.

[Memory]

[Qualification]

[Career]

[Kinship]

[Survival Status]

Gu Changye's expression changed dramatically.

"The gate is about to open!"

Lin Shoushan grabbed his wrench and lunged toward the giant gate once more.

A silver chain pierced his shoulder, dragging him brutally back to his original spot.

Yet as if he couldn't feel the pain, he dropped to one knee, using his body to block the gap in the gate with all his might.

"Go!"

Lin Jin didn't move.

"I can help you repair it."

"You can't help right now!"

Lin Shoushan turned his head and roared.

"Your rule correction wrench is only sixty percent complete!"

"And your hand is half-crippled!"

"Staying behind won't save me; it'll just deliver the next Maintenance Worker to him!"

Lin Jin's throat tightened.

Meeting only once in three years,

and for less than ten minutes.

Now he had to leave again.

Seeing his expression, Lin Shoushan's voice finally softened slightly.

"Silly brat."

"I didn't tell you to give up."

"I am telling you to go back and complete your tool."

He raised his chin, pointing at the black iron token in Lin Jin's hand.

"0001 is not my number."

Lin Jin was startled.

"Whose is it?"

Lin Shoushan grinned.

His mouth was covered in blood.

"The First Reality Entrance Maintenance Worker."

"The person from twenty years ago."

"Find the 002 Wrench he left behind."

"The one in your hand that corrects rules is only half of it."

Lin Jin's heart shook violently.

The rule correction wrench was at 61% completeness.

So the missing part was not just fragments,

but another wrench numbered 002.

Lu Chengyuan suddenly raised his hand.

"Shut up."

All the silver threads stabbed toward Lin Shoushan simultaneously.

Shen Tingxue slashed horizontally with her Ice Key.

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear erupted.

Chen Ye charged forward with his shield raised.

But Lin Jin was faster than anyone.

He drove the black iron token fiercely into the ground.

[Maintenance Record 0001]

[Save Current Testimony]

The iron token felt a jolt.

Lin Shoushan's words just now transformed into a rust-red scratch, carved forcefully onto the surface of the token.

[Key Tool: 002 Wrench]

[Holder: First Reality Entrance Maintenance Worker]

Lu Chengyuan's silver threads were a step too late.

Boom!

The giant gate opened another half-inch.

The entire basement level began to tilt.

Gu Changye grabbed Lin Jin by the back of his collar and flung him directly toward the ice stepping plates.

"Retreat!"

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear cleared the way.

Shen Tingxue froze the falling ledger pages.

Chen Ye brought up the rear, his shield blocking the pursuing silver threads.

Lin Jin was forced onto the path of departure.

He looked back and saw Lin Shoushan kneeling in front of the gate once more, tightening the bolts one by one.

His father's figure grew further and further away.

Lu Chengyuan stood beside his father, looking up at Lin Jin.

Calmness returned once more to that face which had been dead for twenty years.

"Lin Jin."

"You will return."

"Because the cost your father must pay is already approaching its settlement day."

The ice stepping plates shattered one after another.

At the final moment, Lin Shoushan suddenly looked up and threw a blood-stained nut toward Lin Jin.

"Go to the Thirteenth Floor!"

"Find the document of Lu Chengyuan's first reinstatement!"

"See clearly who hired a dead man back!"

The nut flew out of the gap in the gate.

Lin Jin caught it with his left hand.

The moment they rushed back to the seventh floor, the door of cabinet 0719 slammed shut behind them.

All the empty uniforms bowed their heads at the same time.

Hundreds of grey ledgers flipped to the exact same page.

[Director of the Special Career Development Division: Lu Chengyuan]

[Employment Status: Normal]

Subsequently, a new line of text was slowly written.

[Death Record Conflict Detected]

[Initiating Self-Verification of Post Legitimacy]

All the lights in the Archives Tower lit up simultaneously.

From the direction of the Thirteenth Floor, the heavy sound of a filing cabinet opening echoed.

On the elevator screen, a button that had never appeared before slowly lit up.

[Floor 13: Director's Appointment Files]

Below the button, there was also a line of bright red prompt.

[Current File Retriever: Lu Chengyuan]

[Lu Chengyuan is on the Thirteenth Floor, waiting to meet himself.]