39: Chapter 39 Dean Qin said that the repair team does not accept normal people.

"Our Rule Maintenance Special Class is precisely lacking those who don't value their lives."

As soon as the white-haired old man said this.

Everyone in the inspection room fell silent.

Gu Changye frowned and looked at the old man.

"Dean Qin, Lin Jin is still in the middle of the contamination detection process."

The old man waved his hand.

"I see that."

"He can still stand, breathe, and talk back, which means he won't die."

Chen Ye muttered quietly from the side.

"This method of judgment is way too crude."

The old man's ears were sharp, and he immediately turned to look at him.

"Little fatty, do you have an opinion?"

Chen Ye's face darkened.

"I'm not fat!"

The old man nodded.

"Oh, a Shield Warrior."

"That just means you're sturdy."

Chen Ye didn't know whether to continue arguing for a moment.

Lin Jin looked at this Dean Qin in front of him.

The old man wasn't very tall, with graying hair, an old military uniform washed to a faded color, and even a bit of wear on the cuffs.

But standing there, he seemed like a piece of old iron pressing down on the ground.

Not sharp.

But heavy.

With so many members from the Abyss Processing Bureau, Department of Education personnel, medical staff, and even Gu Changye from the Abyss Processing Bureau present in the inspection room.

As soon as the old man entered, everyone's aura was suppressed.

And the Jiangcheng First Combat Academy emblem on his chest was particularly striking.

Lin Jin didn't rush to speak.

But the Hand of Rules had already given a prompt.

[Target: Qin Shanhe]

[Identity: Dean of Jiangcheng First Combat Academy]

[Profession: Unknown]

[Danger Level: Unable to Assess]

[Prompt: Target currently has no hostility towards you]

Unable to assess.

Lin Jin's eyes flickered slightly.

This was the evaluation the Hand of Rules had given Qin Shanhe so far.

Not B-rank, not C-rank.

But unable to assess.

It meant that this old man was either so strong he exceeded the current identification range, or he had some kind of special rule obscuring him.

Qin Shanhe seemed to notice Lin Jin observing him and grinned.

"Have you seen enough?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"Just about."

"What did you see?"

"I can see you're not someone to be trifled with."

Qin Shanhe laughed.

"Good eye."

"Better than those people in the Department of Education who only know how to look at professional ratings."

This was said neither too lightly nor too heavily.

But the faces of the Department of Education personnel at the door of the inspection room turned ugly instantly.

The man in the suit from earlier was also outside.

Hearing Qin Shanhe's words, his expression grew even darker, but he didn't dare to retort directly.

Who was Qin Shanhe?

Dean of the Jiangcheng First Combat Academy.

A veteran who retired from the forbidden zone battlefield years ago.

Never mind an ordinary person in charge from the Department of Education, even if the head of the Jiangcheng Department of Education came, they would have to show him respect.

Gu Changye looked at Qin Shanhe.

"Dean Qin, hasn't the Rule Maintenance Special Class already been cancelled?"

Qin Shanhe said calmly:

"What was cancelled was the recruitment plan."

"Not the establishment."

Gu Changye frowned.

"What's the difference between that and being cancelled if you haven't recruited anyone in twenty years?"

Qin Shanhe glanced at him.

"The Abyss Processing Bureau hasn't managed to fix the Abandoned Hospital in twenty years."

"Should that be cancelled too?"

Gu Changye went silent.

Chen Ye almost laughed out loud hearing that.

The corners of Lin Jin's mouth also moved imperceptibly.

This old man was quite blunt.

Qin Shanhe looked at Lin Jin again.

"I saw a part of what you did in the Abandoned Hospital."

Lin Jin's eyes narrowed.

"You saw it?"

"When the Abandoned Hospital instance collapsed, some of the rules flowed back."

Qin Shanhe said.

"Ward 105."

"Basement Level 2."

"Old Archives Room."

"And you repairing The Hospital until it shut down."

Speaking of this, his eyes became a bit complex.

"Honestly, it was quite reckless."

Chen Ye immediately said:

"But it was effective!"

Qin Shanhe nodded.

"That's why I said he's suitable for the Maintenance Class."

Chen Ye was stunned.

"The Maintenance Class only accepts reckless people?"

Qin Shanhe looked at him.

"Who among normal people would join the Rule Maintenance Special Class?"

The inspection room fell silent again.

This sounded very unprofessional.

Yet no one refuted it.

Lin Jin looked down at the back of his hand.

The contamination markings were still there.

The Hospital ward round mark was also still there.

If the Rule Maintenance Special Class was really related to the Maintenance Department, he really had to go.

The second wrench might be at the Jiangcheng First Combat Academy.

The clues to the master file left by his father were also there.

However, he didn't agree immediately.

"What exactly is the Rule Maintenance Special Class?"

Qin Shanhe didn't explain immediately.

He looked at Gu Changye instead.

"Is it convenient to talk here?"

Gu Changye scanned the surroundings.

"Unrelated personnel, leave."

The man in the suit from the Department of Education's expression changed.

"Captain Gu, this matter involves the admission for this assessment, the Department of Education has the right to listen in."

Gu Changye said calmly:

"The content being discussed now involves residual Abyss contamination, old restricted zone experimental sites, and sealed rule-based professions."

"Are you sure you have the corresponding clearance?"

The man in the suit opened his mouth.

He couldn't say anything.

Qin Shanhe added a final blow.

"You can listen if you want."

"Sign a confidentiality agreement after listening."

"If anything happens later, you will be held accountable as an informed party."

The man in the suit's expression got even worse.

In the end, he didn't dare to persist and took the few Department of Education personnel and retreated.

The door to the inspection room closed.

Only the Abyss Processing Bureau, Qin Shanhe, and Lin Jin remained inside.

Gu Changye signaled for the staff to turn off the external recording equipment.

Only then did Qin Shanhe speak.

"The Rule Maintenance Special Class wasn't originally a class at the academy."

"It was a temporary unit on the restricted zone battlefield."

"At that time, instance contamination had just begun to spread on a large scale, and in many places, it wasn't that the monsters were strong, but that the rules were broken."

"For example, safety zone access controls identifying living people as contaminated entities."

"Healing formations draining blood in reverse."

"Teleportation formations sending people into walls."

"And some instances would judge the skills of professionals as violations."

Chen Ye felt his scalp tingle listening to this.

"Isn't that just pure trap?"

Qin Shanhe nodded.

"So someone needed to fix them."

He looked at Lin Jin.

"Regular combat professions are responsible for killing monsters."

"Support professions are responsible for healing."

"Life professions are responsible for logistics."

"But when the rules are broken, no one manages it."

"The Rule Maintenance Class was created to train people who can handle such problems."

Lin Jin asked:

"Then why was it stopped?"

Qin Shanhe fell silent for a moment.

This time, he didn't make a snarky remark immediately.

The atmosphere in the inspection room also slowly sank.

A few seconds later, Qin Shanhe said:

"Because the mortality rate was too high."

"The first Rule Maintenance Special Class had thirty-two people in total."

"Three years later, only seven graduated alive."

Chen Ye's expression changed.

Shen Tingxue's eyes also darkened a bit.

Seven.

Only seven out of thirty-two survived.

This wasn't an elimination rate.

It was a death rate.

Qin Shanhe continued:

"The second class was even fewer."

"Twenty-four people, four graduated."

"Later, the higher-ups felt that this direction was unstable, dangerous, and not suitable for public training."

"So all academies gradually cancelled recruitment."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Just because of the mortality rate?"

Qin Shanhe glanced at him.

There was a hint of approval in his eyes.

"Of course not."

"The mortality rate was just the reason put on the table."

"The real reason is that Rule Maintenance professions are too easy to come into contact with the underlying vulnerabilities of the world."

"If you come into contact with them too much, you will discover things that shouldn't be discovered."

Lin Jin said slowly:

"Like the God System."

The air in the inspection room suddenly went quiet.

Gu Changye also looked at him.

Qin Shanhe narrowed his eyes.

"You saw this term in The Hospital?"

Lin Jin didn't deny it.

"The Maintenance Department regulations state that repairing interfaces related to the God System is prohibited."

The casualness on Qin Shanhe's face finally disappeared completely.

"It seems you really obtained something significant."

He looked at Gu Changye.

"This child belongs to me."

Gu Changye frowned.

"He hasn't completed the review yet."

Qin Shanhe said directly:

"The review can be done at the academy."

"Jiangcheng First Combat Academy has contamination isolation rooms and restricted zone-level storage vaults."

Gu Changye shook his head.

"It's not just a contamination issue."

"He has the Abandoned Hospital ward round mark on him, as well as unknown identity records."

"Taking him into the academy carries high risks."

Qin Shanhe looked at Lin Jin.

"Has the ward round mark been activated?"

Lin Jin replied:

"Dormant state."

"How much contamination?"

"38%."

"Can it still be repaired?"

"Yes."

Qin Shanhe nodded.

"That's fine then."

Gu Changye was clearly unsatisfied with this answer.

"Dean Qin, this is not child's play."

"I know."

Qin Shanhe's voice deepened.

"That's why he can't be locked in an ordinary isolation room at the Management Bureau."

"Rule-based contamination isn't safe just because you lock it up."

"If you treat him as a patient, sooner or later he will really become a patient."

This sentence made Lin Jin's eyes flicker.

The Abandoned Hospital was like that.

It constantly defined people by their roles.

Patient.

Caregiver.

Maintenance Worker.

Employee.

Once you accepted the definition, you would be recorded more deeply.

Qin Shanhe clearly understood this point.

He continued:

"What he needs most right now isn't isolation."

"It's establishing his own rule anchor."

"The academy can give him this anchor."

Gu Changye fell silent.

After a moment, he looked at Lin Jin.

"What do you think?"

Lin Jin didn't answer immediately.

He looked at Qin Shanhe.

"What are the conditions for joining the Rule Maintenance Special Class?"

Qin Shanhe grinned.

"First, don't die."

"Second, don't go crazy."

"Third, don't blow up the school."

Lin Jin waited for two seconds.

"That's it?"

"That's it for now."

Chen Ye couldn't help but say:

"Isn't this admission requirement too casual?"

Qin Shanhe glanced at him.

"Do you want to join too?"

Chen Ye was immediately vigilant.

"Me? I'm not a Repairman."

"The Rule Maintenance Class needs guards."

Qin Shanhe looked him up and down.

"Shield Warrior, your guts are okay, and your mouth is tough enough."

"Barely enough to be a door panel."

Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"A door panel?"

Qin Shanhe looked at Shen Tingxue again.

"S-rank Ice Phoenix Mage, stable professional core, good resistance to rule contamination."

"Can act as a low-temperature control position."

Shen Tingxue frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Qin Shanhe looked at the three of them.

"Rule Maintenance isn't something one person does."

"Entering an instance to fix rules alone is the fastest way to die."

"Lin Jin needs a team."

"The two of you coming out of the Abandoned Hospital alive with him shows that your coordination already has a foundation."

Chen Ye was stunned.

Shen Tingxue also fell silent for a moment.

Lin Jin asked:

"Can they also join the Special Class?"

Qin Shanhe nodded.

"The Special Class doesn't just accept Repairmans."

"But the core must be the maintenance position."

"Others build a squad around the maintenance position."

"Shield, control, output, reconnaissance, healing, all need to be added later."

Speaking of this, he paused.

"However, the three of you only meet the preliminary requirements."

"Whether you can stay in the end depends on passing the entrance test."

Chen Ye's eyelid twitched.

"Another test?"

"Don't worry."

Qin Shanhe smiled with ill intent.

"Not into The Hospital."

Chen Ye just breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Shanhe added:

"Into the academy's Forbidden Building."

Chen Ye's expression froze.

"That doesn't sound any better."

Lin Jin, however, asked:

"What's in the Forbidden Building?"

Qin Shanhe looked at him.

"The old classroom of the Rule Maintenance Special Class."

"And the things left behind by the people who didn't graduate from the last class."

Lin Jin's heart stirred.

"The second wrench?"

Qin Shanhe's eyes narrowed suddenly.

"Who told you that?"

Lin Jin didn't answer.

But Qin Shanhe had already seen the answer from his expression.

The old man was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly cursed in a low voice.

"That bastard Lin Shoushan, he really left a backup plan."

Lin Jin immediately pressed:

"You know my dad?"

Qin Shanhe looked at him.

In those cloudy but sharp eyes, for the first time, clear emotions of the past appeared.

"I do."

"He was a student of the last Rule Maintenance Special Class."

"And he was the most troublesome student I ever taught."

Lin Jin's breath hitched.

Father, Jiangcheng First Combat Academy, Rule Maintenance Special Class.

The thread finally connected.

Qin Shanhe said slowly:

"When Lin Shoushan enrolled back then, he also held a broken wrench."

"Just like you."

"Everyone said he had a useless profession."

"Later, he repaired the academy's Forbidden Building until half of it collapsed."

Chen Ye was stunned listening to this.

"Does this count as an outstanding achievement?"

Qin Shanhe was expressionless.

"It doesn't."

"I punished him by making him clean the toilets for three months."

The corners of Lin Jin's mouth twitched slightly.

This really sounded like something his dad would do.

Qin Shanhe continued:

"I know a little about the second wrench."

"But I can't tell you now."

Lin Jin frowned.

"Why?"

Qin Shanhe pointed at the back of his hand.

"Your contamination isn't stable yet."

"The ward round mark hasn't been dealt with either."

"Rashly coming into contact with the second wrench will only draw out deeper things."

He paused.

"Enroll first."

"Pass the Forbidden Building test."

"Enter the Special Class alive."

"By then, I'll slowly tell you what you want to know."

Outside the inspection room.

The exam venue in the distance was still in chaos.

The phantom of the Abandoned Hospital instance had completely collapsed, leaving only a black fissure suppressed by a blockade formation.

Lin Jin looked at Qin Shanhe.

He knew this old man definitely hadn't finished speaking.

But at least so far, Qin Shanhe was the first person who clearly knew his father's past and also knew about the Rule Maintenance Special Class.

The clues to the second wrench could only be followed through the academy.

So he nodded.

"I'll join."

Chen Ye immediately said:

"Then I'll join too."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Aren't you afraid?"

Chen Ye grinned.

"I'm afraid."

"But I'm more afraid of you going in alone, with no one to block the door for you."

Shen Tingxue didn't speak immediately.

A moment later, she said calmly:

"I'll also participate in the test."

Lin Jin looked at her.

Shen Tingxue said calmly:

"The Abandoned Hospital hasn't been fully investigated yet."

"The God System hasn't been fully investigated either."

"And..."

Her gaze fell on the black markings on the back of Lin Jin's hand.

"Your low-temperature circuit follow-up maintenance requires me."

Chen Ye opened his mouth.

"Why does this reason sound higher-level than mine?"

Lin Jin smiled.

"Because she knows how to talk."

Qin Shanhe looked at the three of them and nodded with satisfaction.

"Alright."

"Gu Changye, let the contamination detection report be jointly sealed by the academy and the Management Bureau for now."

"I'll go argue with the Department of Education."

Gu Changye sighed.

"You were planning to snatch them from the start, weren't you?"

Qin Shanhe was righteous and confident.

"Such good seedlings, if I don't snatch them, should I wait for you to lock them up and let them grow mushrooms?"

After saying this, he turned and walked out.

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

"By the way, Lin Jin."

Lin Jin looked up.

Qin Shanhe looked back at him.

"Before entering the academy, take care of your injuries."

"Report to Jiangcheng First Combat Academy tomorrow morning at nine."

"If you're one minute late, I'll make you clean the toilets first."

Lin Jin was silent for a moment.

"Is this a tradition?"

Qin Shanhe grinned.

"Your dad cleaned them."

"You can experience it too."

After saying this, the old man pushed the door open and left.

The inspection room quieted down again.

Chen Ye slowly let out a breath.

"It's over."

"Why do I feel like the academy is even scarier than the instance?"

Shen Tingxue looked out the window.

In the distance, in the direction of Jiangcheng First Combat Academy, a towering black tower could be vaguely seen.

The top of the tower was covered by clouds.

Like a nail driven into the sky.

The rusty wrench in Lin Jin's palm warmed up slightly.

The Hand of Rules slowly displayed a new prompt.

[Main Quest Updated]

[Enter Jiangcheng First Combat Academy]

[Complete the Forbidden Building test]

[Search for the second wrench]

[Warning: Unknown legacy faults from the Maintenance Department exist within the academy]