239: Chapter 240 Temporary State, Cannot Grow into a New Throne

[If the world is not yet ready to choose.]

[Temporary states can be continued forever.]

The voice of The Sixth Seat was very gentle.

So gentle that it didn't seem like an enemy.

It didn't say who had to make sacrifices.

It didn't say who had to be named.

It didn't say which one—closing, retaining, or connecting—was correct.

It simply said:

"Wait a little longer."

"Wait for the careerless survival baseline to be established."

"Wait for the safe exit procedure to be complete."

"Wait for the retained careerist boundaries to stabilize."

"Wait for the resource gap to ease."

"Wait for the autonomy protocol to mature."

"Wait for everyone to be ready."

Inside the Old Awakening Hall, many people did not immediately object for the first time.

Because those words sounded too much like human speech.

Nanling Hospital still had patients waiting for medicine.

Wuye City still had wet rosters that hadn't dried yet.

Dead Water Well still had nineteen people who hadn't been rescued.

A-Lu had just dared to eat a whole piece of flatbread.

Zhao Jing was still writing [I don't know].

Shen Tingxue was still in the load-reduction observation period.

Liang Yan just wanted to sleep first.

Forcing the world to make a final choice right now was indeed too cruel.

Yet Cheng Du's expression was frighteningly pale.

"Don't agree."

Chen Ye looked at him.

"Why? Seven days aren't enough, so extending it by a few more days is normal, right?"

Cheng Du stared at that continuously extending timeline.

"The scariest part of continuation is not the delay."

"It's that it will simmer all 'temporaries' into a new system."

As soon as those words fell, the timeline expanded violently.

Countless temporary states were gently swept up by it, all dragged towards a more distant future.

[Shen Tingxue: Load-reduction observation period extended until the public cooldown gap is completely lifted]

Shen Tingxue's gaze turned cold.

"Completely lifted?"

[Liang Yan: Temporary suspension of Lighthouse function extended until waste page pollution is completely cleaned]

Shi Nan's expression changed.

"Then he can only be 'temporarily' forever?"

[Wuye City outer receiving point: Temporary service point extended until the autonomy protocol matures]

Zhong Minglin abruptly raised his head.

"So internal hospitals, schools, and drainage shouldn't be built yet, and we must wait forever for maturity?"

[Jiangcheng Maintenance Team: Temporary technical assistance extended until bottom-layer review is complete]

Chen Ye finally understood.

"Before the bottom-layer review is completed, we'll just keep hanging here?"

[Zhao Jing: Temporary non-awakening state extended until personal clear choice is made]

Zhao Jing was stunned for a moment.

At first glance, this sentence had no problem.

But the next line lit up immediately.

[During this period, resource paths are executed according to special observation for temporarily unawakened persons]

Teacher Song Qing's expression sank.

"Special observation is just another kind of label."

The Sixth Seat remained gentle.

[continuation can avoid forced decisions.]

[continuation can avoid wrong choices.]

[continuation can protect the hesitant.]

Lin Jin stared at that timeline and finally spoke.

"You are not protecting hesitation."

"You are turning hesitation into a cage."

The Sixth Seat paused.

[Wrong decisions are irreversible]

"That's why there should be review, withdrawal, and staging."

Lin Jin walked up to the timeline.

[Shen Tingxue load-reduction observation period]

"The observation period is to let her see clearly whether she wants to continue."

"It is not a temporary warehouse for the public cooldown gap."

Shen Tingxue raised her hand and wrote on her own page:

[Seven-day observation]

[Personal review after seven days]

[The public cooldown gap shall not be used as the sole reason to extend personal observation period]

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Personal deadline received]

Lin Jin pointed at Liang Yan again.

"Liang Yan's 'sleeping first' does not mean never asking again."

Shi Nan leaned over and asked Liang Yan.

Liang Yan was half-awake, his voice very soft.

"Tomorrow... don't ask."

"On the third day, you can ask me if I still want to keep sleeping."

Shi Nan's eyes turned red.

Luo Wensheng recorded:

[Liang Yan: Do not ask about careers within three days; on the third day, he can decide for himself whether to continue resting, receiving medical treatment, or confirming his wishes]

Lin Jin looked toward Wuye City.

Zhong Minglin had already pressed the wooden seal onto the autonomy page.

[Wuye City outer receiving point: Three-day temporary]

[Draft internal service points within three days]

[Determine the first batch of items eligible for public services within seven days: drainage, medical referrals, basic classrooms, passage witnessing]

[Maturity is not a prerequisite; starting is the prerequisite]

The Sixth Seat's timeline began to shake.

[If not completed when the deadline arrives, it should continue to be extended]

"It can be extended."

Lin Jin said.

"But the extension must state clearly why."

He wrote four words.

[Sunset clause]

Everyone looked at him.

Lin Jin wrote down stroke by stroke:

[All temporary states must specify: purpose, deadline, affected objects, termination conditions, transition-to-long-term conditions, post-failure handling methods.]

[Extensions require a public explanation of: what was completed in the previous period, what was not completed, why it wasn't completed, and what specific actions will be taken in the next period.]

[Extensions cannot be granted indefinitely for the same reason.]

[If there is still no progress after three consecutive extensions, the problem must be split; people cannot continue to be crushed inside temporary states.]

[Temporary states must not expand obligations, weaken rights, or form a default center.]

[The arrival of the deadline does not equal forcing an individual to make a final choice; the arrival of the deadline forces the public system to explain the next step.]

He Zhibai immediately followed up:

[Extension costs publicly accounted for]

[The waiting, missing out, and damage brought by temporariness must not disappear into "continued observation"]

Ye Guizhou stamped:

[Sunset clause received]

Luo Wensheng recorded:

[continuation is not freezing.]

[Waiting is not shelving.]

[Protecting the hesitant does not equal letting the hesitant be managed forever.]

The Sixth Seat's voice fluctuated for the first time.

[If a sunset is set, it may lead to hasty decision-making]

Teacher Fang Ning said:

"Medical observation also has follow-up visit days."

"A follow-up visit is not forcing a patient to recover."

"It is to remind doctors not to forget them."

Teacher Song Qing said:

"If students say they don't know, it can be postponed."

"But teachers cannot throw them in the corridor and write 'pending observation' year after year."

Zhong Minglin said:

"Wuye City can slowly take in services."

"But we cannot continue withholding them just because it's slow."

Shen Tingxue said indifferently:

"I can continue observation after seven days."

"But it must be confirmed by me."

Gu Changye added:

"Failure lines can be isolated."

"But isolation Records must be reviewed; you cannot lock people up to the end of time."

All voices converged onto the timeline.

It was not a unified answer.

It was countless deadlines, conditions, review points, and personal confirmations.

The Sixth Seat's timeline began to be tied into knots.

It wanted to extend infinitely far away.

Yet every segment had dates, reviews, personal input, corroborating evidence, and termination conditions written on it.

Infinite continuation fears specific dates the most.

Lin Jin pressed the new tool onto the back of The Sixth Seat's chair.

The old definition surfaced.

[continuation = Avoiding choice]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002.

Lin Jin said in a low voice:

"Wrong."

"continuation is fighting for conditions for choices."

"It is not building a grave for choices."

The blade fell.

Crack!

The back of The Sixth Seat's chair split open.

New gray-white characters rose to the top.

[continuation permissions demoted]

[Responsibilities: Maintain transitions, register deadlines, remind reviews, Record extension reasons, flag long-term risks]

[Must not make temporary states permanent]

[Must not cancel phased decisions on the grounds of "not yet ready"]

[Must not turn individual postponements into public management labels]

[Must not extend technical assistants into a new center]

The timeline finally broke into pieces.

Every segment hung with a small bell.

The pipe-beating sound of Wuye City.

The class dismissal bell of Qinghe County.

The follow-up visit reminder of Nanling Hospital.

The Beiyuan minecart shifts.

The Hai City tide table.

The broken clock in the Jiangcheng Old Awakening Hall.

These imperfect times replaced The Sixth Seat's endless line.

The six chairs of the Central Interpretation Court darkened simultaneously.

[Record] demoted to public archive tool.

[Ruling] demoted to dispute process tool.

[Replacement] demoted to alternative plan registration tool.

[Recycling] demoted to hazardous material disposal tool.

[Correction] demoted to summary organization tool.

[continuation] demoted to deadline review tool.

The Six Seats were still there.

But they were no longer seats.

They were just tools.

Tools could not sit on top of people's heads.

Inside the Old Awakening Hall, everyone remained silent for a long time.

Until Chen Ye suddenly said in a low voice:

"So after seven days, we still have to face those three options?"

Lin Jin looked at the main interface.

[Retain the Career System]

[Shut down the Career System]

[Long-term manual maintenance and voluntary connection]

The three options had not disappeared.

It was just that beneath them, there were many more baselines, procedures, deadlines, and unfinished items.

Lin Jin nodded.

"We have to face them."

"But not by buzzing in with answers in three minutes today."

The system slowly popped up the final write-back.

[Temporary minimum maintenance extension: Seven days]

[Sunset clause effective]

[Maintenance supervision mechanism effective]

[Public explanation process effective]

[Six baselines enter trial operation review]

[Reopen bottom-layer review after seven days]

[Jiangcheng Maintenance Team identity: Technical assistant party, lacking final interpretation rights, final maintenance rights, and final voting rights]

[Lin Jin's identity: One of the Maintainers, can be called to a stop]

Chen Ye stared at the last sentence and suddenly smiled a little.

"Pretty good."

"In the future, if you want to play the hero again, we'll beat you legally."

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Halting maintenance, not beating up."

Thirteen said coldly:

"We can discuss expansion clauses."

Laughter finally appeared in the Old Awakening Hall.

Very soft.

Very tired.

But real.

Yet before the laughter had faded, a low sound suddenly came again from the bottom of the system.

It wasn't The Six Seats.

It wasn't the gods heart.

Nor was it the career page.

That sound came from a more distant place.

From beyond the seventy-two cities.

From all regions that had not yet entered the gray-white rule trial operation.

The map lit up inch by inch.

Red dots spread out densely.

[Seven-day extension period task generated]

[Need to expand the trial operation of the six baselines to more regions]

[Discovered: 327 Wuye settlements]

[194 waste page subsidence points]

[Over 7,600 career family inheritance lists]

[Over 40,000 unaudited career-slaying suggestions]

[Countless "I don't know"s]

Everyone's hearts, which had just relaxed, rose up little by little again.

Lin Jin looked at the map, which was so huge it almost crushed people, and his fingers slowly tightened around the new tool.

Seven days.

They only had seven days.

It was impossible to finish repairing the world.

But at least they already knew that they could no longer use gods, The Six Seats, the system, or any genius to answer for the world in advance.

Cheng Du's voice came from the Mainframe.

"The door to Volume 3 is almost time to close."

Qin Shanhe looked at those red dots in the distance and said in a low voice:

"The next volume does not lie with the deities."

"It lies in the mortal world."

At the farthest end of the map, a distress signal from an unfamiliar city lit up.

[This is Luochuan.]

[We have no gods.]

[Nor do we have a Maintenance Team.]

[But our children are already beginning to be pre-registered again.]

Lin Jin raised his head.

The doors of the Old Awakening Hall slowly opened.

Outside the door was not a divine throne.

Not the White Tower.

Not the abyss.

It was a messy, mud-damp, and noisy human world.

Lin Jin picked up the new tool and said in a low voice:

"Then let's go."

"Seven days later, let the whole world answer for itself."