55: Chapter 55 The School History Archives: History Has Been Written Backwards

In the shadows of the fourth floor, that black glove flashed and vanished.

But Lin Jin saw it very clearly.

It was not something casually conjured by the phantoms of the Forbidden Building.

On the cuff of that hand was a silver emblem.

The Department of Education.

It was exactly the same as the hand that pressed the final confirmation rune in the failure record.

Chen Ye saw it too, and his shield was raised instantly.

"Was that a person just now?"

Shen Tingxue stared at the stairwell, frost already spreading along her feet.

"Not necessarily."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou stood at the entrance of Office 105, his expression grim.

"That is an Old Surveillance Phantom."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"An Old Surveillance Phantom?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou nodded.

"Twenty years ago, in order to supervise the Forbidden Building project, the Department of Education left a set of surveillance rules in the School History Sealing Room."

"In name, it was to preserve accident records."

"In reality, it was to prevent anyone from overturning the case."

Chen Ye frowned.

"In other words, it didn't come to protect history."

"It came to watch and make sure history isn't changed back?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou gave a bitter smile.

"You finally understood something for once."

Chen Ye's face darkened.

"I've always understood."

Lin Jin did not bicker with them.

He looked at the second wrench fragment floating in his toolbox.

The fragment pointed toward the fourth floor.

The ash-gold light, like a thin needle, pierced deep into the staircase.

The Hand of Rules prompt still hung before his eyes.

[Target: rule correction wrench main body]

[Current Location: Forbidden Building fourth floor, School History Sealing Room]

[Warning: School History Sealing Room is regulated by old Department of Education seals]

[Warning: Opening the archive will trigger external surveillance]

External surveillance.

These four words were very troublesome.

It meant the School History Sealing Room was not just dangerous within the Forbidden Building.

Once they opened it, the Department of Education might receive a signal.

By then, what would come might not necessarily be a phantom.

It might be an actual surveillance team.

It might also be those people who wanted to stop him from enrolling yesterday.

Chen Ye said in a low voice:

"Should we notify Principal Qin first?"

Lin Jin took out his phone.

No signal.

There was only a line of Forbidden Building prompts on the screen.

[During the test, external communication is disabled]

After reading it, Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"Fine then."

"Another classic closed examination room."

Shen Tingxue looked toward the stairs.

"The longer we drag this out, the more likely variables will arise."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Let's go up."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou suddenly spoke:

"I cannot go up to the fourth floor."

The three of them looked at him.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised his wrist.

A grayish-white seal line was wrapped around his hand.

After the third test ended just now, this line appeared.

[Personnel related to the old incident]

[Restriction: Cannot enter the School History Sealing Room]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's voice was low:

"After the incident back then, all surviving personnel related to it were excluded by the School History Sealing Room."

"I can't get in."

Lin Jin asked:

"Qin Shanhe can't get in either?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou nodded.

"He can get in even less."

"He is the academy's confirmation signatory."

This explained it.

Why Qin Shanhe knew there was something in the Forbidden Building but didn't take it out directly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to.

It was that the rules wouldn't let him in.

The old Department of Education seals blocked all personnel related to that year outside, allowing only "people not on the old incident list" to approach.

And Lin Jin was Lin Shoushan's son.

He was also a new generation Rule Maintenance candidate.

He was exactly in the gap of the seal rules.

Lin Jin put away his toolbox.

"You stay here."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou looked at him, his expression complex.

"In the School History Sealing Room, everything might be real."

"But the arrangement order is fake."

Lin Jin's steps paused.

"What do you mean?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou said in a low voice:

"It won't fabricate history out of thin air."

"It just reverses cause and effect."

"Writing success as failure."

"Writing forced as voluntary."

"Writing murder as rescue."

"Don't be in a hurry to believe any records you see."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Understood."

Chen Ye muttered:

"History is just written in reverse, huh."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou glanced at him.

"You got it right this time."

Chen Ye snorted.

"I told you I've always understood."

The three of them went up the stairs.

The fourth floor of the Forbidden Building was colder than below.

As soon as they stepped onto the last stair, the surrounding light dimmed.

There were no regular classrooms in the fourth-floor corridor.

Both sides were filled with display cabinets.

Behind the glass were old school uniforms, trophies, damaged weapons, graduation photos, and stacks of yellowed archives.

A huge school history plaque hung on the wall.

[Jiangcheng First Combat Academy, Twenty Years of Glory]

The first line read:

[This academy always adheres to safety first and never uses students as experimental subjects.]

Chen Ye only took one look, and his face darkened.

"This plaque really dares to write anything."

Shen Tingxue's voice was very cold.

"The more guilty they feel, the more they overcompensate."

Lin Jin walked closer to the school history plaque.

The Hand of Rules unfolded.

[Target: School History Display Plaque]

[Status: Intact]

[Record Nature: Official Narrative]

[Fault: Cause and effect reversed, responsibility transferred]

[Prompt: Cannot directly modify the school history plaque, must obtain original archives]

As expected.

The school history here wasn't broken.

It was "officially preserved" into a wrong version.

If they smashed the plaque directly, they would only be judged for destroying school history facilities.

They had to get the original archives and the main body of the second wrench to be qualified to change it.

The three of them continued forward.

At the end of the corridor was a heavy iron door.

The door was covered with silver-gray seals.

In the center of the seals was the old Department of Education emblem.

Above the iron door, it was written:

[School History Sealing Room]

A figure stood in front of the door.

A long black trench coat.

Black gloves.

The face was covered by a silver mask.

He stood straight, as if he had been waiting here for twenty years.

Chen Ye raised his shield.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand.

But Lin Jin spoke first:

"Department of Education surveillance?"

The black-gloved figure slowly turned its head.

A voice with no fluctuation came from under the mask.

[Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering the School History Sealing Room.]

[Please present the Department of Education authorization.]

Lin Jin looked at the iron door.

The Hand of Rules prompt appeared.

[Target: Old Department of Education Surveillance Phantom]

[Status: Seal enforcement unit]

[Authority: School history archiving, accident record protection, intrusion interception]

[Weakness: Only recognizes written authorization and legal error correction processes]

Written authorization.

Legal error correction process.

Lin Jin suddenly smiled.

Seeing him smile, Chen Ye immediately asked in a low voice:

"Is there a way?"

Lin Jin took out the [104 Incident Failure Reason Judgment Form] from earlier.

"Yes."

He held up the judgment form.

"The 104 Incident record has been updated."

"The failure reason judgment has passed."

"According to the school history error correction process, I apply to retrieve the original archived files."

The surveillance phantom bowed its head.

The silver mask flickered slightly.

[Accident record update detected]

[Error correction application detected]

[Applicant: Lin Jin]

[Identity: Rule Maintenance Special Class candidate]

[Insufficient authority]

Chen Ye was just about to curse.

But Lin Jin was not panicked.

He took out the old Maintenance Worker 07 badge, as well as the second wrench fragment.

"Supplementing authority."

"Acting holder of tools left by Lin Shoushan."

"Candidate recognized by the second wrench fragment."

"Repairer of the 104 course completion record."

The three items glowed simultaneously.

The surveillance phantom was silent for a few seconds.

[Authority recalculating]

[Calculation result: Temporary error correction authority established]

Chen Ye's eyes lit up.

"Did it work?"

The next second, the surveillance phantom raised its head again.

[But must sign the accident liability confirmation form.]

The wall next to the iron door cracked open, popping out a black file.

The file title appeared clearly.

[104 Incident Liability Confirmation Form]

The first column below was already filled out:

[Person responsible for the accident: Lin Shoushan]

The second column:

[Nature of accident: Illegal maintenance led to Forbidden Building loss of control]

The third column:

[After the error correction applicant confirms the above facts, they may enter the School History Sealing Room]

Chen Ye's eyes widened instantly.

"This is too shameless!"

Shen Tingxue's expression also turned extremely cold.

"It wants you to personally admit your father is guilty."

Lin Jin looked at the file, his eyes sinking completely.

This was the most insidious part of the old Department of Education seals.

It allowed error correction.

But before correction, one must first admit to the official determination of responsibility.

Once Lin Jin signed, even if he entered the archive, all subsequent overturning of the case would be suppressed by this confirmation form.

His signature as the son of Lin Shoushan would be more damaging than any outsider's testimony.

The surveillance phantom's voice was cold.

[Please sign.]

[Refusing to sign will be considered as abandoning the error correction application.]

Chen Ye said in a low voice:

"What do we do?"

"We can't sign it, right?"

Lin Jin did not answer.

He walked to the file.

Looking at the three columns of content.

The Hand of Rules slowly appeared.

[Target: Accident Liability Confirmation Form]

[Fault: Pre-filled conclusion, forced admission, process kidnapping]

[Maintenance plan: Rewrite as Accident Liability Dispute Confirmation Form]

[Success rate: 64%]

The corners of Lin Jin's mouth moved slightly.

"The file is broken."

The surveillance phantom looked up.

[The confirmation form has no faults.]

Lin Jin raised the wrench.

"It's useless for you to say it's not broken."

"I am a Repairman."

The wrench fell.

Click!

The first column of the file vibrated.

[Person responsible for the accident: Lin Shoushan]

The words twisted into:

[Person responsible for the accident: To be determined]

The surveillance phantom suddenly raised its hand.

[Warning: Tampering with Department of Education files is prohibited]

Shen Tingxue stepped forward, frost blocking the surveillance phantom's action.

Chen Ye pressed his shield horizontally.

"He is performing maintenance!"

"Don't disturb the master at work!"

Lin Jin's second wrench fell.

[Nature of accident: Illegal maintenance led to Forbidden Building loss of control]

Changed to:

[Nature of accident: Successful maintenance was interrupted by external sealing process]

The silver light around the surveillance phantom surged.

The seals on the iron door shook wildly.

A piercing alarm sounded throughout the fourth floor.

[Illegal modification of Department of Education file detected]

[External surveillance about to be triggered]

[Countdown: Five minutes]

Chen Ye cursed.

"It actually triggered an alarm!"

Lin Jin did not stop.

The third wrench fell.

[After the error correction applicant confirms the above facts, they may enter the School History Sealing Room]

Changed to:

[Error correction applicant confirms the accident is disputed and has the right to access original archives]

Bang!

The file lit up completely.

[Accident Liability Dispute Confirmation Form generated]

[Temporary error correction authority established]

[School History Sealing Room opening]

The silver-gray seals on the iron door burned one by one.

The surveillance phantom stepped back half a step, a crack appearing on its mask.

It did not disappear, just coldly looked at Lin Jin.

[External surveillance has been triggered.]

[The Department of Education will receive the archive anomaly within five minutes.]

Lin Jin put away the file.

"That's enough."

The iron door slowly opened.

Inside the door was a pitch-black archive room.

Rows of iron cabinets were submerged in darkness.

In the deepest part, something was suspended in a glass cabinet.

It was a wrench that had been broken and then stitched together by countless ash-gold rule lines.

On the wrench handle, four complete words were engraved:

[Rule Correction]

The fragment in Lin Jin's hand vibrated violently.

At the same time, a red light lit up on the wall of the archive room.

[External surveillance countdown: 04:59]

And next to the glass cabinet, a file automatically opened.

The first page read:

[No. 9 Forbidden Zone project, God System main wreckage contact list]

The first line of the list.

Was surprisingly—

[Lin Shoushan: Maintenance position sample, recovery not completed.]