169: Chapter 170 Han Su almost cut out a second archive tower

"Everyone."

"Now, please prove—"

"That everyone who executed my orders is not my accomplice."

Lu Chengyuan's voice came from the direction of the Department of Education.

The dilapidated office in mid-air slowly descended.

Desks, filing cabinets, approval machines, and red seals—one by one, they were dragged back into reality from the old Records.

The office had no walls, yet everyone felt as if they were standing outside the door, waiting to be called in to sign something.

In the next second, countless black document lines shot out from the bottom of the desk.

The first one pierced Inspector Han Su.

At the top of the Archives Tower, Inspector Han Su's chest jolted violently, and he was pinned to the edge of the tower by the black line.

[Once acknowledged Lu Chengyuan's authority as valid]

[Once participated in the review of the Special Career Development Division process]

[Verdict: Accomplice in the position chain]

The second one pierced Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

The lines left behind by the White Tower's reconstruction were forcibly lit up.

[Once served as an Observer]

[Once failed to immediately block after discovering an anomaly]

[Verdict: Accomplice in the position chain]

The third one pierced the chest of a regular input clerk at the Archives Tower.

A middle-aged woman, still clutching the newly organized register of departed personnel, suddenly fell to her knees.

[Once entered attachments for the White Tower project]

[Once stamped incoming documents]

[Verdict: Accomplice in the position chain]

Her voice trembled:

"I couldn't even see the contents of the attachments!"

The black line ignored her.

More document lines pierced toward every level of the Department of Education.

Some had merely forwarded a notice once.

Some had only served tea at the door of a meeting.

Some had indeed participated in modifying materials, while others had once tried to report anomalies, only to have them returned by Lu Chengyuan's office.

Now, they were all entangled by the same sentence.

[Obedience is bearing]

[Bearing is complicity]

Chen Ye raised his shield and smashed it toward the nearest document line.

The line broke for an instant, then split from the break into two, piercing toward two nearby mentors.

"Damn it!"

Chen Ye's expression changed, and he hurriedly retracted his shield.

Shen Tingxue used an Ice Line to seal the spread of the document lines, but the ice layer was quickly pierced through by a red seal.

[Freezing process requires approval from the Division Director]

The frost shattered.

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear thrust toward the mid-air office, but before the spear tip could touch the desk, it was blocked by dozens of approved documents.

[Attacking the office area of the Special Career Development Division]

[Considered interference with the review]

The Thunder Spear was deflected, and Zhou Heng's wrist went numb.

"It's not defense."

"It's turning all of our actions into procedural violations."

Inspector Han Su said in a low voice over the comms:

"I can slash it."

He drew his Job-Slayer long blade.

The blade was aimed at the [Special Career Development Division Director's Seat] in mid-air.

With the last slash, he killed the Record Seat and almost dragged over three thousand people to disappear with it.

If this slash landed, everyone who had ever borne the chain of the Special Career Development Division would be settled by the blade together.

Inspector Han Su knew this.

Yet, his hand was still raised.

Because the black lines were tightening around more people's chests.

If he didn't slash, they would be made to share the guilt by Lu Chengyuan.

If he did slash, perhaps they would die faster.

Lin Jin roared:

"Inspector Han Su, lower the blade!"

Veins bulged on Inspector Han Su's forehead.

"I can't hold on for too long."

Lu Chengyuan sat behind the desk, his face expressionless.

He could not defend himself.

And he did not need to defend himself.

Every document, every seal, every process spoke for him.

[Director's decision is considered the department's collective will]

[Department's collective will is borne by the entire chain]

[The entire chain bears the guilt]

Lu Chengyuan raised his hand slightly.

A new document flew toward Inspector Han Su.

[Suggest the Job-Slayer immediately execute the Director position]

[After execution, evidence related to the position will be zeroed out]

Inspector Han Su's eyes darkened.

This was forcing him to slash.

If he slashed, Lu Chengyuan's evidence of guilt would be destroyed, and the people in the execution chain would also be swallowed.

If he didn't slash, the document lines would continue to spread.

Lin Jin didn't have the Hand of Rules and couldn't see the so-called fault points.

He could only rush under the projection of the mid-air office and lie on the ground, feeling for the roots of those document lines.

Each line was connected to the same mechanical base.

The base looked like an old approval machine.

Documents went in on the left.

Results came out on the right.

In the middle was a master seal that kept falling.

Each time it stamped, all orders were rewritten into "collective will."

"Found it."

Lin Jin looked up.

"It's not the position distributing the guilt."

"It's the approval machine merging individual orders into collective orders."

Chen Ye rushed over with his shield, blocking two document lines piercing toward Lin Jin's back.

"How do we dismantle it?"

"First, make it stop stamping."

Lin Jin wedged the rusty wrench into the landing point of the master seal.

Bang!

The master seal slammed down heavily.

The wrench was bent by an inch.

The web of Lin Jin's left hand split open.

But the master seal paused for half a beat.

Half a beat was enough.

Shen Tingxue's Ice Line drilled into the gap of the approval machine, freezing the recoil spring.

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear pierced into the gears, and the purple lightning forcibly jammed the next round of approvals mid-air.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou gripped 002 but didn't slash immediately.

There were too many cuttable targets in his sight.

The Director position.

The Department of Education chain.

All the document lines.

Even the relationships between the people labeled "accomplices" and their positions.

If he cut the wrong place, the disaster of the Record Seat would be repeated.

Lin Jin tapped the very bottom of the approval machine.

Clang.

"Teacher Xu, don't cut the lines."

Clang.

"Cut the merger."

Clang.

"Individual orders cannot automatically become everyone's collective will."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou closed his eyes and listened to the sound.

002 fell.

Snap!

A black gear in the center of the approval machine was cut in two.

[Collective will merger damaged]

Lu Chengyuan's office jolted violently.

All document lines stopped spreading.

But the lines that had already pierced out were still tightening.

The people pinned were still becoming transparent.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue coughed up blood over the comms.

"Stopping new lines isn't enough."

"The old lines are still settling."

Lin Jin crawled under the approval machine and found that every old line had already branched into six columns.

[Drafting]

[Issuing]

[Forwarding]

[Executing]

[Informed]

[Profiting]

Originally, these columns had all been there.

They had just been compressed into one column by the collective will merger:

[Accomplice]

"Ye Guizhou!"

Ye Guizhou immediately rushed over. The seal wasn't fully repaired yet, but his hand was already pressed onto the first document line.

"Receiving an order does not equal agreeing to the order."

The gray seal fell.

The first line split back from [Accomplice] to [Received].

He Zhibai also rushed over, ledger spread open.

"Execution behavior, degree of knowledge, profit results—count them separately."

Luo Wensheng sat behind the temporary Record table, her translucent hand holding a regular pen.

"List resistance Records separately."

"List returned objections separately."

Shen Qingshuang stood next to Yu Xing, the "Unsettled" fragment on her chest glowing slightly.

She whispered:

"Having executed it does not equal being innocent."

"But the principal offender cannot treat the executor as a trash can."

As these words fell, the document lines began to split.

Not breaking.

But unraveling from a single black rope into many thin threads.

The line on Inspector Han Su's chest unfolded again.

[Received authorization from Lu Chengyuan]

[Incomplete attachments seen during review]

[Subsequently stopped Shen Tingxue's illegal detention]

[Permissions frozen by Lu Chengyuan]

[Further trial needed: process default verification issue]

Inspector Han Su's transparent left arm recovered halfway.

He lowered his Job-Slayer long blade.

"Record."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's line was also unraveled.

[Anomaly discovered]

[Hesitation]

[Failed to block in time]

[Subsequently provided testimony]

[Judgment affected by White Tower reconstruction]

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue closed his eyes.

"Record."

It wasn't a whitewash.

And it wasn't being dragged to the grave.

It was just a Record.

The lines of more Department of Education personnel were unraveled.

The regular input clerk was left with only:

[Entered encrypted attachments, no viewing permission obtained]

But the line of a certain project supervisor turned blood-red.

[Actively modified evacuation instructions]

[Deleted objection receipts]

[Obtained rank promotion]

His face turned pale, and he wanted to pull out the document line.

Inspector Han Su's blade barred his way.

"Keep this line yourself."

Lu Chengyuan's office finally lost its balance for the first time.

The responsibilities that had once been mixed into a lump by it returned to specific people, specific orders, and specific choices.

Lu Chengyuan himself remained seated behind the desk.

The position shell could not defend itself.

It could not say it was just a system.

And it could not continue to drag everyone into the water.

The last master seal on the desk suddenly lifted automatically.

It wanted to stamp the final approval.

[This division's actions are exempted by historical necessity]

Lin Jin smashed his wrench onto the handle of the seal.

The handle cracked.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou followed up with a hammer blow.

"Historical necessity—"

"Is not an exemption seal!"

002 smashed the master seal.

Half of the mid-air office collapsed with a roar.

The chair Lu Chengyuan sat on also cracked, but it did not disappear.

Inspector Han Su spoke:

"It cannot be allowed to disappear."

"It is the subject on trial."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Seal it."

Ye Guizhou stamped it.

[Received Lu Chengyuan's position shell]

[Identity: Subject on trial]

[Must not transfer guilt]

He Zhibai recorded in the ledger.

[Trial cost: Publicly borne]

[Must not be converted into executing those who obeyed]

Luo Wensheng recorded.

[Lu Chengyuan's position shell retains order archives.]

[Execution chain to be tried item by item.]

[Objections can be supplemented.]

Below the eleventh question in the sky, the open answer took shape.

[The dead cannot replace judgment, the position cannot replace the person, and those who obey cannot automatically bear the guilt of the principal offender.]

[When a position shell commits a crime, its order archives, decision chains, and execution Records should be retained as the subject on trial.]

[Subordinate responsibilities must be tried separately according to drafting, issuing, forwarding, executing, being forced, resisting, profiting, and consequences.]

[Collective will cannot be used to cover up individual decisions, nor can "just following orders" be used to erase individual participation.]

Lu Chengyuan's office was locked layer by layer with gray seal strips.

He could finally no longer speak.

And he could no longer let others speak for him.

Inspector Han Su stood at the top of the Archives Tower, his long blade hanging down.

"Finally, it's his turn to wait for trial."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue whispered:

"I am waiting too."

This time, no one told him he was already innocent.

That was why this sentence sounded like the truth.

The eleventh page of the sky exam paper stabilized.

The list of twelve Abyss career recipients had only the last line left.

That line remained unlit for a long time.

The Abyss seemed to be waiting for everyone to relax.

A long time later, the last name emerged.

[Recipient: Cheng Du]

In the maintenance tunnel's communication screen, the old man, whose half-body was connected to the mainframe, froze for a moment, then cursed with a very dirty word.

A black career card slowly squeezed out from the broken port where he was connected to the mainframe.

[Abyss Career: The Last Shutdown Person]

[Ability: Can immediately shut down the National Class Transfer System and all Abyss exams]

[Cost: Everyone who relies on the Career System to maintain their life, identity, memory, and strength will shut down together]

The twelfth question in the sky slowly unfolded.

[When a machine has been hurting people for twenty years, but everyone has also relied on it to live for twenty years, should the last Repairman press the shutdown button?]

Cheng Du looked at Lin Jin, his single eye lacking the energy to curse for the first time.

"You brat."

"This time, it put the master switch—"

"Right in my hands."