188: When the blank page of Chapter 189 fell, Jiang Cheng had smeared his own words.

"From now on."

"Everyone re-Awakens."

The Blank Master Page fell from the Sky Gate.

They were not as blinding as the golden light.

They were even very clean.

White like new paper, like a new birth, like a fresh start without scars.

But when the first Blank Page touched someone, a scream immediately rang out in Jiangcheng.

In the North City Rest Station, Old Liu had just sat back down in his chair.

The Blank Page landed on his chest, and the blisters on his hands, the dust on his tool bag, and that sentence from just a moment ago, "I am really tired," all began to fade.

He looked down at his hands.

"Why did I... sit here just now?"

His wife's face turned pale.

"Old Liu!"

Old Liu looked at her blankly.

"Who are you?"

It wasn't as simple as amnesia.

It was the life experience related to the Career System being wiped clean, page by page.

He was no longer the person who had almost walked through the door just now, only to be held back by a chair.

He had become a blank sheet of paper waiting to be re-Awakened.

In First Hospital, the [Pending Naming] column on the newborn area headboards began to disappear.

The care Records written by Fang Ning, the public care certificates posted by the Head Nurse, and the study Records just added by the family members were all erased into a clean format by the Blank Page.

On the Nameless Baby Boy's headboard card, only one column remained once again.

[Pending Writing]

Fang Ning grabbed the medical chart, her fingertips turning cold.

"It's not just stealing names anymore."

"It's erasing everything we just proved!"

In the temporary classroom, the small patch of empty ground under Gu Xinghe's feet, which had the words [Not going today] written on it, was covered by a Blank Page.

He looked up, his eyes slowly going blank.

"Where... am I going?"

Qin Shanhe rushed over and pressed his shoulder.

But Gu Xinghe's student Record was also being erased.

Old students, new students, the first lesson of the Underground School teachers, and the graduation testimonies of the Underground School were all being wiped away bit by bit as if by an eraser.

Inside the Sky Gate, the Blank Master Pages were constantly replicating.

[Re-Awakening Preparation]

[Clearing Old Experience Contamination]

[Retaining Basic Life Information]

[Career Interface Reset]

Cheng Du slammed his fist onto the Mainframe, his voice hoarse:

"It's formatting!"

"It's not killing people."

"It's reverting everyone to the blank state before Awakening!"

Chen Ye's eyes turned red.

"Then was everything we did before for nothing?"

Lin Jin pressed down hard on the No. 001 Work Badge.

The blood from his palm dripped onto the rusted edge and was immediately absorbed by the Blank Page, turning into a small patch of clean white.

Even the bloodstains were erased as contamination.

This was the most terrifying part.

The God Head was no longer arguing with them over every single rule.

It was directly emptying the life experiences that carried those rules.

After re-Awakening, who would remember why they refused?

Who would remember that they shouldn't sign for others?

Who would remember that a child could be left unnamed?

Who would remember that a bypass station couldn't lock someone in?

The Blank Page was as white as absolution.

And as white as murder.

Lin Jin suddenly grabbed a wrench and slammed it hard against the edge of the console.

Clang!

"Awakening Hall!"

The Old Calibrator's voice came through the communication device, accompanied by heavy panting.

"The Master Blank Page is taking over the calibration disk!"

"All files are being required to return to the initial state of pending writing!"

"I can't stop it here!"

Lin Jin asked:

"What is the first step of the old Awakening process?"

The Old Calibrator was stunned for a moment.

"The person reports their own name."

"No."

Lin Jin stared at those Blank Pages.

"Further back."

The Old Calibrator flipped through the yellowed old manual, his hands trembling.

"Further back... is life verification."

"Confirming that the person being Awakened is not a blank page."

"What is it confirmed by?"

"Body temperature, heartbeat, real-world registration, testimony of accompanying persons, the person's current status..."

When he got to this point, he suddenly understood.

"Awakening isn't turning a person into a blank slate."

"It's confirming that an existing person connects to the Career interface."

Lin Jin looked up.

"Correct."

"It skipped a step."

Cheng Du's single eye lit up suddenly.

"It skipped life verification and went straight to formatting the Blank Page."

Lin Jin picked up the No. 001 Work Badge and pressed it heavily onto the Mainframe.

"Open a Master Work Order!"

Luo Wensheng's fingers were almost cramping from writing, but he didn't stop.

[Master Work Order Sub-item: Forced Re-Awakening Formatting Block]

He Zhibai added:

[Risk: Clearing real-world experiences, testimonies, wounds, choices, and responsibilities in the name of a fresh start]

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Received Re-Awakening Notification]

[Not equal to personal consent for formatting]

Qin Shanhe picked up the broadcast, roaring until his voice cracked:

"Everyone!"

"Don't lecture the Blank Pages!"

"Report the present!"

"Report what you are holding, where your feet are, what you just did, and who beside you knows you!"

"The more specific, the better!"

In First Hospital, Fang Ning was the first to react.

She rushed to the Nameless Baby Boy's incubator, grabbed the medical chart, and read aloud to the headboard card:

"Nameless Baby Boy, admitted at 21:16."

"Body temperature 36.7."

"First feeding, performed by Fang Ning."

"Umbilical cord processing complete."

"Left foot footprint collected."

"Current name status: Pending Naming."

"Current care status: Under public care at First Hospital!"

With every sentence read, an ink blot splashed onto the Blank Page.

It wasn't disappearing.

It was being dirtied.

The chillingly white page showed, for the first time, traces of reality that couldn't be erased.

The [Pending Writing] on the headboard card was pushed aside, and new text emerged:

[Existing Real-World Experience]

[Cannot be Blanked]

At the North City Rest Station, Old Liu's wife held his tool bag, her voice trembling but she desperately read:

"Liu Jianguo, you delivered iron plates three times just now."

"There are blood blisters on the web of your right hand."

"You sat in the first chair at the No. 2 Rest Station."

"You said, 'I am really tired.'"

"My name is Wang Mei, I am your wife."

Old Liu's dazed eyes trembled bit by bit.

He looked down at the blood blisters on his hands.

The pain returned.

Memories also started to return, piece by piece.

"I... I haven't finished my water yet."

Wang Mei cried as she shoved the water cup into his hand.

"Yes, you haven't finished yet."

The Blank Page was stained with a yellow ring from the tea stains on the water cup.

[Current status: Resting]

[Cannot be reset]

In the temporary classroom, Gu Xinghe was so pressed by the Blank Page that he almost forgot about the golden road he had just escaped.

Qin Shanhe squatted in front of him, his voice hoarse.

"Gu Xinghe."

"You said something today."

Gu Xinghe's eyes were hollow.

"What?"

The girl next to him suddenly shouted:

"He said, 'Not going today'!"

Another old student chimed in:

"He was dragged down by the golden road."

"His knee is still broken!"

Luo Wensheng wrote down this testimony at the Record desk.

Ye Guizhou stamped it.

He Zhibai entered it into the public Record.

Gu Xinghe looked down and saw the blood on his knee.

He suddenly gasped for air.

"Right."

"Not going today."

He rewrote that sentence on the back of his hand.

The Blank Page bounced half an inch off his chest.

The whole city began to become noisy.

Not with slogans.

But with a chaotic mess of self-verification.

"My name is Zhao Yiheng, I just took over Meng Huai's shift!"

"I am a teacher at Underground School No. 3, I declare no homework today!"

"I am Xiao Man's dad, I can't change diapers, but I just learned how!"

"I am from the bypass station material group, I delivered two round pipes!"

"I am Tang Qi, I refused an order once, and I haven't paid off my seven-day debt yet!"

"I am Inspector Han Su, I almost killed the Record Seat, and I tore off the off-duty badge!"

Every sentence was very specific.

Specific enough that it couldn't be simplified by the Blank Master Page into "Pending Writing."

Cheng Du watched the Mainframe pressure drop bit by bit, then suddenly whispered:

"It's effective."

"The more detailed the real-world experience, the harder it is for the Master Page to erase."

But the God Head wouldn't wait for them to finish reporting slowly.

The Sky Gate expanded violently.

The Blank Pages began to thicken.

[Individual self-narration interfering with formatting]

[Initiating unified blank coverage]

This time, the Blank Pages were no longer sticking to people one by one.

It was like a white canopy, directly covering the entire Jiangcheng.

All sounds began to fade into the distance.

Handwriting grew faint.

Wounds became shallow.

Even the rust on the No. 001 Work Badge was about to be wiped clean.

Lin Jin looked at that layer of white canopy and suddenly asked:

"Old Cheng, what is the Master Page afraid of?"

Cheng Du was stunned.

"Afraid of being filled up?"

"No."

Lin Jin looked up, his eyes cold.

"Afraid of the flip side."

The reason the Blank Page could format was because it pretended that it only had a front side.

The front side waited to be written with a career.

The front side waited to be named.

The front side waited for the system to decide.

But everyone, before being written on by the Career System, already had a flip side.

Birth, crying, footprints, birth names, wounds, rice bowls, chairs, hesitation, refusal, rest, mistakes, bills, testimonies.

The God Head wanted to write on the front side.

Then they would flip the back side out.

Lin Jin grabbed the communicator:

"All Record points, upload all work orders, ledgers, sign-offs, medical Records, location Records, wound receipts, and rest station lists from just now—upload them all in reverse!"

He Zhibai reacted immediately.

"Not uploading as files."

"Uploading as endorsements!"

Luo Wensheng stood up, his semi-transparent body swaying, but he said word by word:

"All testimonies, keep the original voice, mark the source, and write them onto the flip side of the Master Page."

Ye Guizhou stamped until his wrist went numb.

[Flip side received]

[Must not overwrite personal future choices on the front side]

Qin Shanhe broadcasted to the whole city:

"Everyone, get paper!"

"If you don't have paper, use a wall!"

"If you don't have a wall, use your hands!"

"Write one sentence: I am not a Blank Page!"

Jiangcheng began to write.

Some wrote on their clothes.

Some wrote on bandages.

Some wrote on the outside of incubators.

Some wrote behind the iron plate numbers of the bypass station.

Children wrote crookedly.

Old students wrote with such force that their pen tips snapped.

Cheng Du wrote with his blood on the Mainframe's rest position:

[I have guarded for twenty years, I am not blank.]

Lin Shoushan, in the treatment pod, dragged his finger with difficulty across the glass.

[I have sealed error pages, and I must also leave behind testimony.]

Yu Xing wrote in front of the memory library:

[I have woken up 1,204 times, I will not return to blank.]

Shen Qingshuang wrote:

[I am unfinished.]

Thirteen watched everyone else writing, frowned, and finally wrote on the back of his hand:

[Thirteen, will not refill pages.]

Chen Ye saw it and couldn't help but say:

"Your handwriting is really ugly."

Thirteen said coldly:

"It's neater than your face."

"At a time like this, you're still roasting me!"

"I am not blank, I can roast you."

Chen Ye was stunned, then laughed loudly.

He wrote on his shield:

[Chen Ye, D-Class Shield Warrior, just laughed.]

The laughter was recorded in.

When the white canopy pressed down to ten meters above Jiangcheng, it suddenly stopped.

Because its flip side began to be pierced through by countless traces of reality.

[Flip side Record overload]

[Blank state invalid]

[Life verification before re-Awakening failed]

The God Head's voice finally turned cold.

"Humanity refuses to start over."

Lin Jin stood in front of the Mainframe, his hands covered in blood and filth, his clothes full of dust.

He looked up at that white canopy that had been dirtied.

"It's not refusing to start over."

"It's that to start over, one must bring oneself along."

The old calibration disk in the Awakening Hall roared into motion.

The Old Calibrator, with tears on his face, pressed the life verification seal that had been covered in dust for twenty years.

[Awakening prerequisite process restored]

[Subject must first be confirmed as a real-world life]

[Must not overwrite personal experience with the Blank Master Page]

[Forced re-Awakening failed]

The white canopy shattered.

The Blank Master Pages fell down one by one.

They no longer glowed.

They turned back into ordinary paper.

Some people picked them up to do homework.

Some used them to prop up table legs.

Some tore them into strips to register shifts for the rest stations.

The Sky Gate vibrated violently in the sky.

After the Master Blank Page failed, the entire golden gate finally began to crack.

Cheng Du stared fixedly at the Mainframe screen.

"What else does it have?"

Lin Jin didn't answer.

Because he saw, in the deepest part of the golden gate, that God Head core slowly open its second eye.

Not gentle.

Not angry.

But some kind of completely cold judgment.

[Naming failed]

[Career failed]

[Memory failed]

[Will failed]

[Re-Awakening failed]

[Confirmation: Jiangcheng cannot be taken over]

From behind the golden gate, a huge sound of chains came.

Cheng Du's face turned pale bit by bit.

"It's not the right hand anymore."

"It's recalling other divine bodies."

At the end of the sky, seventy-two abyss entrances expanded outward simultaneously.

Pale golden ribs slowly materialized from behind the gate.

The God Head's voice no longer sounded like a mother.

It sounded like a machine that had finally given up on persuasion.

"Since a city cannot return home."

"Then fold the world into a delivery room."

The next second, the global Career System interface went black simultaneously.

Only one line of golden text lit up for all cities.

[Jiangcheng sample judgment failed]

[Mother of All Things torso connecting]

[World-class recycling initiated]