166: Chapter 167 He Zhibai smashed the account book, and Jiang Cheng began to pay off his debts himself.

"You don't choose sacrifice every time, yet the debts haven't disappeared."

"They were just recorded with me first."

He Zhibai sat in front of the black abacus.

He was even thinner than in Lin Jin's memories.

The Cost Accountant in the White Tower's bills was once just a string of names, a teenager forced to calculate "who is more suitable to pay the bill" for the system.

Now, twelve circles of black thread were wrapped around his wrists.

Each circle was connected to a page of the Jiangcheng sky exam paper.

The more open answers there were, the tighter the black threads tightened.

The ledger in front of him flipped its pages automatically.

[Question 1: Reception Mechanism for the Unaffiliated]

[Rejection Scheme: Unified Management, Forced Internment]

[Added Costs: Temporary Housing, Food, Medical Care, Personnel Coordination, Risk Supervision]

[Question 2: Division of The Rejector's Responsibilities]

[Rejection Scheme: Eliminate Tang Qi Tang Qi]

[Added Costs: Public Explanation, Shared Risk, Seven-Day Response Plan]

[Question 6: Temporary Storage Verification for Return Applications]

[Rejection Scheme: Accept All or Reject All]

[Added Costs: Message Gate Maintenance, Verification Manpower, Temporary Storage Space]

After every bill, there was a line of blood-red conclusions.

[Payer Unspecified]

[Default Transfer to Cost Accountant]

He Zhibai's fingertips had already been worn raw by the abacus beads.

Yet he continued to toggle them.

If he stopped, the bill would automatically settle.

And the first principle of automatic settlement was to find "the person most suitable to bear the cost."

In other words, the sacrifices Jiangcheng had just refused would come back through the ledger.

Tang Qi might still be eliminated.

Su Yan might still turn into a gate.

Ye Guizhou might still be crushed by all the return applications.

Only this time, the Abyss would say—

"It's not that I'm forcing you."

"It's that you owe a debt and haven't paid it."

Chen Ye rushed forward, wanting to smash the abacus.

"Get rid of this damn ledger!"

He Zhibai looked up abruptly.

"Don't touch it!"

A black light sprang from the abacus, and Chen Ye's shield was knocked back by the shockwave.

He collided with the ground, and a line of text instantly appeared on his arm.

[Those who destroy the ledger shall default to bearing the unsettled costs.]

Chen Ye's expression changed.

That line of text burrowed into his bones like a branding iron.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand to freeze his arm, barely suppressing the spread.

He Zhibai coughed, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

"The ledger cannot be smashed."

"Once smashed, it will settle in the worst possible way."

Lin Jin walked to the abacus.

Without the Hand of Rules, he couldn't see the glitches.

He could only see the abacus beads moving on their own at a terrifying speed.

Each bead was engraved with a person's name.

Some were living people.

Some were former students.

Some were even remnants from the temporary storage applications outside the gate.

This wasn't a ledger.

This was a calculator made of human names.

"What is your Abyss profession?"

He Zhibai was silent for two seconds.

The ledger flipped to the profession page for him.

[Abyss Profession: Final Settlement Clerk]

[Ability: Can delay any unpaid costs for seven days, and within those seven days, find a non-sacrificial method of repayment.]

[Cost: If unable to clear the debt within seven days, all unpaid costs shall be prioritized to be borne by the Settlement Clerk; when the Settlement Clerk is insufficient, it will convert to forced city-wide settlement.]

Chen Ye choked mid-curse.

This Abyss profession wasn't purely bait.

It did grant a seven-day buffer.

And it did allow for "non-sacrificial repayment."

But it piled all the debts for which no repayment method was found onto He Zhibai.

Tang Qi looked at the black thread on his wrist.

"When did you sign this?"

"When you rescued the former students," He Zhibai said in a low voice.

"Underground shelter school graduation, reality reception, Message Gate temporary storage, The Rejector responsibility splitting..."

"Every single item is generating deferred debt."

"If no one takes the bill, the Abyss will immediately judge these open answers as empty talk."

"So you took it?" Ye Guizhou's face turned pale.

He Zhibai smiled slightly.

"I used to know how to calculate accounts."

"At least this time, I want to calculate the accounts for how people can live first."

The eighth question of the sky exam paper finally unfolded.

[When everyone refuses to pay the cost by sacrificing individuals, who should bear the incurred costs?]

This question provided no standard answer.

Because the ledger had already started answering for Jiangcheng.

[Recommended Payer: He Zhibai]

[Reason: Voluntarily accepted the bill, professional fit, strong calculation ability.]

The first circle of black thread on He Zhibai's wrist suddenly dug into his flesh.

His body swayed in pain, but he didn't stop toggling the abacus.

Lin Jin reached out and pressed down on the edge of the ledger.

"Stop for a second."

He Zhibai shook his head.

"I can't stop."

"I'm not asking you to stop calculating."

Lin Jin stared at the ledger.

"I'm telling you not to just calculate who should die."

He picked up a piece of rubble from the side and wrote four words on the black ground.

[Repayment Method]

"Debts don't necessarily have to be repaid with lives."

"Housing costs can be repaid with rooms, tents, school buses, and warehouses."

"Verification costs can be repaid with time, manpower, and Records."

"Waiting costs can be repaid with shift rotations and public spaces."

"Risk costs can be repaid with contingency plans, training, monitoring, and evacuation routes."

He looked at everyone in the open space.

"The Abyss translates all costs into 'finding one person to bear them'."

"We will break it back down into specific tasks."

Qin Shanhe immediately raised his megaphone.

"Everyone, listen up."

"Question Eight starts now, no turning in people."

"Turn in solutions."

"Report empty rooms if you have them."

"Report medicine if you have it."

"Report cooking skills if you can cook."

"Sign up if you can take shifts guarding the gate."

"If you know the underground passages in the old city, draw a map immediately."

"Don't write that you are willing to sacrifice yourself."

"Write what you can do."

The crowd was silent for a moment.

Then, a logistics cook raised his hand.

"I can cook big pot meals for two thousand people."

"But I need grain."

A warehouse manager immediately followed up.

"There is still three days' worth of rice and flour in the North District warehouse. I can arrange it, but I need a vehicle."

"I have a vehicle!"

"I can drive the medical vehicle!"

"I can take the former students to register for temporary residence. I won't write down affiliation, just location."

"I used to be a plumber, I can connect temporary water supply."

Information popped up from the crowd one by one.

No system light.

No professional flashy skills.

Chaotic, noisy, repetitive, and someone even reported the wrong warehouse location.

But when these things fell onto the ledger, the blood-red numbers paused for the first time.

He Zhibai widened his eyes.

The abacus beads no longer just showed names.

New entries began to appear.

[Temporary bunks in Gymnasium No. 3: 600]

[Vacant factory in the West District: Can be renovated, needs cleaning]

[Outpatient nursing staff from The Hospital: 12]

[Decommissioned city defense tents: 300]

[Former students voluntarily participating in the verification group: 47]

[Night shift volunteers at the return application station: 83]

"It... is acknowledging them."

He Zhibai's voice trembled.

"The ledger acknowledges these as repayment."

The first circle of black thread loosened a little.

But soon, the ledger flipped to the next page.

[Risk has not yet returned to zero]

[Open answers create uncertainty]

[Uncertainty costs cannot be offset by ordinary supplies]

[Recommendation: Convert to high-risk individual containment]

The iron badge on Tang Qi's chest lit up.

Su Yan's face turned pale.

Ye Guizhou's receipt stamp also began to vibrate.

The Abyss had translated "uncertainty" into people again.

Lin Jin crouched under the ledger and finally saw a mechanical gap.

The ledger wasn't purely an Abyss object.

It borrowed the White Tower's old accounting system.

That system was originally good at writing "trouble" as "someone is more suitable to pay."

"Teacher Xu."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou stood by his side.

"Should we cut it?"

"Not yet."

Lin Jin used a wrench to pry open the base of the ledger, revealing two sets of gears inside.

One set was black, from the Abyss.

Responsible for recording costs.

One set was white, from the White Tower.

Responsible for finding a payer.

Between the two sets of gears, a small metal plate was forcibly welded.

On it was written:

[Costs must have a designated bearer]

"The problem is here," Lin Jin said.

"It acknowledges costs."

"But it doesn't acknowledge public assumption."

Zhou Heng used the Thunder Spear to illuminate the base.

Shen Tingxue froze the high-speed rotating white gears.

Chen Ye held up his shield to block the black paper pages counterattacking from the ledger.

Lin Jin gripped the wrench and unscrewed the metal plate bit by bit.

The metal plate was very thin.

But it was jammed extremely tightly.

Every time it loosened a fraction, the ledger would pop up a question.

[Does public assumption equal no one assuming responsibility?]

Lin Jin answered:

"No."

[Does multi-person participation lead to untraceable responsibility?]

Ye Guizhou raised his stamp.

"Recording who did what does not equal letting one person bear all the consequences."

[Does deferral increase total risk?]

Tang Qi walked forward.

"Yes."

Her voice was very steady.

"Therefore, those who defer must participate in handling the risk."

"But increased risk does not equal that I should be eliminated."

[Do non-sacrificed individuals owe value to those sacrificed?]

Su Yan raised his head.

"I am not a gate."

"I was saved, I don't owe anyone being a gate."

"But I can learn how to open the gate safely."

He Zhibai looked at these answers, his fingers slowly leaving the abacus.

The abacus didn't stop.

But it was no longer being toggled by him alone.

More and more people were writing their abilities, supplies, time, and commitments into the temporary ledger.

The ledger began to sprout new columns.

[Public Repayment]

[Personal Voluntary Work]

[Resource Allocation]

[Shared Risk Contingency Plan]

[Pending Confirmation, Not Settled]

The welded metal plate finally loosened.

Lin Jin pried it off with a wrench.

"Clack!"

The sound of gears reassembling came from the base of the ledger.

[Costs must have a designated bearer] broke.

In its place was a new line of temporary rules:

[Costs must be seen, broken down, recorded, and tracked.]

[Must not automatically convert to single-individual sacrifice.]

The twelve circles of black thread on He Zhibai's wrists snapped six circles instantly.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood violently, but he smiled.

"It's half lighter."

"What about the other half?" Chen Ye asked.

He Zhibai looked at the sky exam paper.

"There are still some debts that really cannot be repaid tonight."

"For example, the risks of the seven-day exam."

"For example, the handling after the returnee verification fails."

"For example, if the Abyss entrance opens again, who retreats first, and who covers the rear."

These cannot be solved by saying "no sacrifice."

And they cannot be pretended not to exist.

Lin Jin nodded.

"Then write them down as unsettled items."

"Make them public."

"Update them daily."

"Allow questioning."

He Zhibai hesitated.

"Making the ledger public will cause panic."

Qin Shanhe walked over.

"Hiding it will cause panic."

"In the past, the White Tower and the Department of Education hid all the debts, and in the end, they hid a group of people who were settled."

He looked at the dense crowd in the open space.

"Now everyone sees it."

"See it, then scold."

He Zhibai lowered his head and laughed.

"Then I might be scolded to death."

Chen Ye patted his shield.

"Don't worry, you won't be scolded to death."

"If someone really tries to do something, I'll block it."

"But if you secretly Record the debt on yourself again, I'll beat you too."

He Zhibai finally reached out and flipped the black ledger to the first page.

He was no longer settling the bills for Jiangcheng.

Instead, he projected the ledger into the sky.

Everyone saw it.

The cost of every open answer.

How much each resource could offset.

What was still missing for every unsettled risk.

The work that each person voluntarily offered could be withdrawn or adjusted.

No one's name was written in the "Sacrifice Payer" column.

Because that column had been torn off by Lin Jin himself.

Below the eighth question in the sky, the open answers gradually stabilized.

[Refusing sacrifice does not equal refusing cost.]

[Costs should be concretized, publicized, traceable, and shareable.]

[No system shall automatically convert unsettled costs into payment by a single life.]

[Voluntary assumption of work must be retractable and shall not be upgraded to personal ownership.]

A low sound came from the crowd.

It wasn't cheering.

It was more like a sigh of relief after finally discovering that the bill hadn't disappeared.

Because a visible debt could at least be repaid bit by bit.

The Abyss profession card on He Zhibai's chest cracked, but it didn't shatter.

He looked at the remaining six circles of black thread and said softly:

"Seven days later, if the debt isn't paid, it will still come for me."

Lin Jin said:

"Then keep paying within seven days."

"It's not just you alone."

Just then, the sky exam paper lit up again.

Among the twelve Abyss profession recipients, the ninth name emerged.

This time, the name appeared very slowly.

Every stroke seemed to be pieced together from countless voices.

[Recipient: Luo Wensheng]

The Ice Key in Shen Tingxue's hand vibrated gently.

In the distant temporary return application station, the right hand that had been frozen and preserved suddenly opened its palm.

In the palm, a black pen shadow without a barrel slowly took shape.

The ninth question in the sky unfolded accordingly.

[When everyone can testify, who decides which testimony will be written into history?]

Luo Wensheng's lingering voice sounded softly between the Ice Key and the right hand.

"Lin Jin."

"The Abyss says it can return my complete body."

"The price is—"

"The final Record of the seven-day exam can only be written by me alone."