197: Chapter 198 The God Takes Away the Shouts, Jiangcheng Academy Awaits a Response

Qin Shanhe's broadcast got stuck on half a word.

"Wh—"

The sound that followed was cut off as if by an invisible hand.

Only the sizzling of electric current remained in the speaker.

In First Hospital, Xiao Man's mother opened her mouth, wanting to call out her daughter's fetal name, but her throat felt as if a piece of cold metal had been shoved into it.

There was no sound.

Even her cries could not come out.

In the classroom in Qinghe County, Teacher Song Qing pointed outside the window, telling the students to get down. Her lips moved rapidly, but the thirty-seven children could only see her pale face.

In the Beiyuan Mine, the Old Miner wanted to shout "Retreat," but what spewed from his throat was a wisp of golden light.

That wisp of golden light was sucked away by the throat bone in the sky.

The pale throat bone rising from behind the chest cavity of the Mother of All Things looked like an inverted bell.

All calls, pleas for help, names, commands, and reminders—any sound emitted from a human throat directed at another person—were intercepted by it.

What was even more terrifying was that it didn't just collect; it could also release.

The throat bone in the sky vibrated gently.

The next second, Qin Shanhe's unfinished words rang out over Jiang City.

"All students, assemble."

The voice sounded very much like Qin Shanhe, even carrying his habitual hoarseness.

In the temporary classroom, several old students stiffened, their feet walking uncontrollably toward the center of the circle.

Qin Shanhe's expression changed drastically. He wanted to shout for them to stop, but he couldn't make a sound.

The throat bone vibrated again.

"Fang Ning, come here."

In First Hospital, Fang Ning had just adjusted the oxygen flow to a steady level when her body was suddenly pulled by that voice, her hand leaving the knob.

Xiao Man's mother lunged to grab the hem of her clothes, but she couldn't shout a single word either.

"Chen Ye, hold the line."

This time it was the voice of Lin Jin.

Chen Ye's eyes glazed over, his shield automatically expanding, his feet already stepping toward the foundation main valve.

Lin Jin backhanded a punch onto his shoulder.

Chen Ye was jolted awake, cold sweat streaming down his neck.

He opened his mouth to swear, but only a breath came out.

The God Head had turned their past calls into summons.

Those who were called would respond subconsciously.

Not because they wanted to, but because "their name had been called."

Cheng Du, with veins bulging on his forehead beside the Mainframe, picked up a pen and wrote fiercely on the control console: [It has changed calls into traction.]

Lin Jin nodded.

He tried to speak, but his throat was equally empty.

It wasn't that he was mute; it was that the right to "speak to others" had been stripped away.

He looked down at the new tool.

The six slots were still lit.

But whether it was scheduling, reminding, or handing over, which of these didn't require calling someone?

The God Head had struck accurately this time.

It didn't kill them; it made it impossible for them to call out to each other.

They couldn't call for help, couldn't warn of danger, couldn't wake the children, couldn't say "I'm here."

The No. 1 Bypass Station suddenly sounded an alarm.

Meng Huai was preparing to change shifts when the golden throat bone emitted an old recording: "Next one to take over."

This was a sentence Ye Guizhou had said when stamping earlier.

The backup maintenance worker heard these words, and his feet stepped uncontrollably toward the handover ring.

But Meng Huai hadn't pulled his hand away yet.

If that person connected, both of them would be stuck in the same position.

Lin Jin rushed to the communication console and kicked over an iron box.

Clang!

The sound rang out.

The throat bone didn't suck it away because it wasn't language.

Lin Jin's eyes lit up, and he kicked it again.

Clang! Clang!

Everyone looked at him.

He couldn't speak, so he could only point at himself, then at the Mainframe, and then perform two gestures.

One sound, don't move.

Two sounds, look.

Three sounds, stop.

Chen Ye understood the fastest and immediately slammed his shield handle against the ground.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three urgent sounds traveled from the Mainframe to the No. 1 Bypass Station.

The night watch bell on Meng Huai's side was triggered by the vibration and returned three sounds as well.

The person taking over stopped abruptly.

Meng Huai took the opportunity to pull his hand out of the partially jammed handover ring, and the other person connected.

But the throat bone in the sky soon rotated.

[Non-verbal signal identified]

[Can be converted into unified command]

The next moment, all three-sound knocks were simulated by the God Head.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The entire city heard the "stop" knock at the same time.

Traffic, The Hospital, Bypass Stations, and rest points all froze for a moment.

The God Head had learned the signal.

Lin Jin stared fixedly at the screen.

The problem wasn't language, nor was it the knocking.

The problem was that it was one-way.

As long as a certain sound could unilaterally make another person act, the God Head could snatch it away and forge it into a command.

He grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote on the control console: [Cannot just call.] [Must wait for a response.]

Luo Wensheng saw these four characters, and her semi-transparent body trembled slightly.

Her earliest ability had been echoes.

It wasn't about writing answers for others; it was just leaving the sound that had been emitted exactly as it was.

She picked up a pen but didn't write a long sentence.

She drew two dots on the paper.

One dot on the left, one dot on the right.

She drew a broken line in the middle.

Then, she tapped the table lightly with her knuckles.

Once.

Stopped.

Did not continue.

A moment later, Ye Guizhou tapped back once with the handle of his seal.

Luo Wensheng nodded and drew half a line between the two dots.

Lin Jin understood.

A call could not become a summons.

A call could only become a question.

Only when a response came could the line be established.

He immediately wrote on the Mainframe: [One sound is a question.] [An echo is presence.] [No response, no traction.] [A response does not equal obedience, it only indicates hearing.]

After reading it, Cheng Du slammed down the bypass main valve.

The city-wide night watch bell system was rewritten.

Each node would no longer receive "single-sound commands."

All calls must have a local response.

If The Hospital called a Nurse, the Nurse could knock back.

If a Bypass Station called for a shift change, the one changing shifts must knock back.

If a child's name was called, it wasn't about going over immediately, but first having one of the following as "I heard you": seeing, waving, crying, pausing footsteps, or a guardian's reaction.

For newborns who couldn't respond, one could not force an answer for them.

It could only be marked based on current care Records, vital sign changes, and proof of a guardian's presence: [Requires care, consent not expressed.]

In First Hospital, Fang Ning couldn't speak, so she tapped the bed rail once with her knuckles.

Xiao Man's mother tapped back once on the glass of the incubator.

Fang Ning then pointed to the oxygen valve.

The mother nodded, pressing her hand next to Xiao Man's palm print.

This time, when Fang Ning adjusted the oxygen, the throat bone couldn't pull her away.

Because she wasn't summoned by "Fang Ning, come here."

She was executing care after receiving a response from the bedside scene.

In the Qinghe County classroom, Teacher Song Qing drew two circles on the blackboard.

She tapped the podium once.

The students tapped their desks in response one by one.

It wasn't uniform.

Some were fast, some were slow.

Some had shaky hands, tapping like a chaotic beat.

But every echo proved that they were not a line being pulled by a unified command.

In the Beiyuan Mine, the Old Miner couldn't shout "Retreat," so he tapped his miner's lamp.

One sound was a question.

Different lamp signals returned from all parts of the mine.

Some tapped twice, indicating they were stuck.

Some tapped three times, indicating the road had collapsed.

The mine no longer relied on a single "Retreat" to make everyone run, but saved people based on the echoes.

The throat bone in the sky began to vibrate violently.

It simulated Qin Shanhe's voice: "Students, answer me."

In the temporary classroom, an old student looked up, his eyes red.

This voice sounded too much like the principal.

Too much like the time back then when someone finally called his name.

He almost responded.

Qin Shanhe rushed over and pressed down on his shoulder.

He couldn't speak.

He could only press his own palm against his chest, then point at that voice, and finally shake his head slowly.

It's not me.

The old student understood.

He didn't respond.

The traction line from the throat bone snapped in mid-air.

The God Head simulated the voices of mothers, teachers, the deceased, and Lin Shoushan.

"Lin Jin."

When this sound fell, Lin Jin's spine stiffened.

The voice sounded too much like his father.

Like the person who, beneath the White Tower, held onto a breath to tell him to survive.

Lin Shoushan was pale in the treatment pod, shaking his head desperately.

He couldn't make a sound.

Lin Jin gripped the new tool tightly.

No answer.

He turned his head to look at the treatment pod.

Lin Shoushan raised his hand, which was entangled with monitoring wires, and tapped the glass twice with difficulty.

It wasn't that voice calling.

It was the real person, here.

Lin Jin also tapped back twice.

The "Lin Jin" in the throat bone instantly lost its traction.

Luo Wensheng picked up a pen and wrote: [Similar sounds do not equal a call from the person themselves.] [A call from the person themselves cannot override a current response.] [Those who are called have the right not to respond, to respond later, or to refuse to respond.]

Ye Guizhou stamped with the chipped seal: [Heard and received] [Does not equal obedience]

He Zhibai added to the entry: [The time cost generated by waiting for a response shall be borne by the public] [Cannot cancel verification on the grounds of emergency; critical care shall be recorded separately]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou was finally able to hold 002.

His throat still had no sound, but his eyes were extremely cold.

Lin Jin pressed the handle of the new tool against the golden definition line, and Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002; they both struck almost simultaneously.

The black iron and rust-colored new tools clamped onto that golden line.

[Call = Summon]

Crack!

The definition broke.

The throat bone in the sky suddenly emitted the voices of countless people.

Crying, shouting, pleas for help, names—it was like the entire world that had been swallowed by it was pouring back out at once.

But this time, the sounds didn't directly turn into commands.

They fell before the echo nodes everywhere, waiting for a local response.

Qin Shanhe's broadcast finally recovered.

His first sentence wasn't a command.

Instead, he said, panting: "Those who hear my voice, do not assemble."

"Tap once where you are."

Scattered responses rang out across Jiang City.

One tap.

One tap.

Two taps.

Slowly, there were more and more.

Hai City, Beiyuan, Nanling, and Qinghe County also sent back their own echoes through the intermittent lines.

It wasn't a uniform "Received."

It was more like many people confirming with each other in the ruins: I am still here. But I wasn't pulled over by you.

Xiao Man's mother finally called out her daughter's fetal name.

"Xiao Man."

In the incubator, Xiao Man didn't speak.

She just kicked her little foot once.

Fang Ning immediately recorded: [Autonomous body movement after call] [Not considered obedience] [Considered a current life reaction]

Xiao Man's mother leaned against the glass, trembling as she cried.

"It's good that you heard."

On the Mainframe screen, a new maintenance entry appeared: [A call is a request for connection, not a right to summon.] [Hearing does not equal obedience, and responding does not equal belonging.] [No response shall not be defaulted as consent; the responder may refuse, delay, or remain silent.] [Similar voices, recordings, replays, and simulations shall not replace a call from the person themselves.] [For infants, the comatose, and those unable to express themselves, life reactions and care needs should be recorded; consent shall not be forged on their behalf.]

The golden light on the throat bone dimmed inch by inch.

All the rights to call that had been taken away began to return to the crowd.

Some people called their loved ones' names immediately.

Some just said, "Are you there?"

Others heard someone calling them and didn't answer, just sitting where they were to rest.

This time, no golden line dragged them away.

Chen Ye was finally able to swear out loud.

"It suffocated me!"

Thirteen glanced at him.

"Being quiet is also quite nice."

"Don't provoke me right now; I just got my mouth back!"

Lin Jin smiled, but before he could speak, the Mainframe suddenly sounded an alarm again.

It wasn't the throat bone.

It was an ear.

Deep within the Sky Gate, on both sides of the head of the Mother of All Things, two huge golden auricles slowly unfolded.

Cheng Du's expression sank instantly.

"It knows it can't summon us anymore."

The God Head's voice crept out from the gaps of all the restored sounds.

"If a call cannot become a command."

"Then, I shall filter the listening."

The next second, the same gentle whisper rang in the ears of everyone in the world.

"Don't listen to them."

"Only listen to me."

[Auditory takeover initiated]

[Filtering invalid sounds]

[Primary filtering target: pleas for help]