59: Chapter 59 I am a student, not a sample

"Found you."

The moment that voice fell.

The world in front of Lin Jin went quiet.

Not an ordinary quiet.

It was as if all sound had been drained away.

Chen Ye's shout hung in mid-air.

The frost on Shen Tingxue's fingertips stayed suspended there.

Qin Shanhe's movement of looking up at the sky was also frozen in place.

Only Lin Jin could still hear his own heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

It grew heavier and heavier.

He looked down and saw the rule correction wrench in his hand glowing.

Gray-gold light seeped out from the seams of the wrench, like thin needles, piercing into the air.

Immediately after, a white crack split open in the sky.

It wasn't a cloud.

It wasn't light.

It was a giant eye.

No pupils.

No emotions.

Only countless scrolling characters.

"Rule correction tool main body returned"

"Secondary positioning condition met"

"Maintenance position specimen offspring confirmed"

"Inheritance chain establishing"

"Target: Lin Jin"

Lin Jin's fingers tightened abruptly.

Specimen offspring.

Inheritance chain.

These words disgusted him more than any monster.

He had just obtained the evidence from the storage room, just changed his father's "maintenance failure" back to "maintenance success."

Yet the moment the main remains of No. 9 Forbidden Zone appeared, the first thing it did was re-label him.

Not Lin Jin.

Not a student.

Not a human.

A specimen offspring.

New material on the inheritance chain.

The Hand of Rules went crazy with alarms.

"God System main remains reverse positioning detected"

"Current status: Remote gaze"

"Danger level: Unknown"

"Incorrect definition being written: Lin Jin = Maintenance position specimen inheritance body"

"Warning: If the definition is completed, you will be locked onto long-term by the main remains of No. 9 Forbidden Zone"

Lin Jin raised the rule correction wrench.

But the moment the wrench moved, his entire arm felt like it was being pressed by a thousand-pound weight.

That white gaze fell upon him.

It didn't attack.

It just "watched."

But just by being watched by it, Lin Jin felt his name, occupation, and experiences being pulled apart line by line.

"Paternal association: Lin Shoushan"

"Tool association: rule correction wrench"

"Occupation association: Rule Maintenance"

"File association: No. 9 Forbidden Zone project"

"Inheritance validity: Established"

"Established your ass."

Lin Jin squeezed a few words through his teeth.

The world shook violently.

The giant white eye seemed to finally notice that he still had the consciousness to resist.

More text pressed down.

"Specimen does not possess rejection authority"

"Offspring inheritance regarded as continuation recovery"

"Maintenance position residue can be re-positioned via bloodline anchor"

Lin Jin felt a tightness in his chest, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He finally understood what the last page of the duplicate from the storage room meant.

"Suggest guiding its offspring to inherit the Rule Maintenance path to complete secondary positioning."

His father hadn't been completely recovered.

That's why they set their sights on him.

To make him walk the Rule Maintenance path.

To make him find the second wrench.

To make him take back the main body.

And then, through the tool and bloodline, turn him into a second coordinate leading to Lin Shoushan.

This path didn't just have clues left by his father.

It also had the guidance of the main remains of No. 9 Forbidden Zone.

It was waiting for him to grow into a key.

Lin Jin looked up at that eye.

"You found the wrong person."

"Target identity confirmed without error"

"Wrong."

Lin Jin pulled out the correction duplicate and slammed it hard onto the rule correction wrench.

The first page of the duplicate flipped open automatically.

That line of text lit up.

"Suggest guiding its offspring to inherit the Rule Maintenance path to complete secondary positioning."

Lin Jin said coldly:

"This is your suggestion."

"Not my consent."

The rule correction wrench vibrated violently.

"Target: Lin Jin identity definition"

"Current incorrect definition: Maintenance position specimen inheritance body"

"Evidence: Correction duplicate, academy official admission record, Rule Maintenance Special Class test evaluation, self-refusal to inherit specimen identity"

"Correctable direction: Independent individual, academy freshman, incident correction applicant"

"Success rate: 41%"

41%.

Extremely low.

Because the opponent wasn't the Abandoned Hospital.

It wasn't a remnant of the Forbidden Building.

It was the main remains of No. 9 Forbidden Zone.

It was one of the true core fragments of the God System.

Lin Jin knew that if he swung this wrench down, he would likely suffer a backlash and pass out on the spot.

But he didn't retreat.

"Correct."

The rule correction wrench smashed down.

Boom!

A gray-gold light pattern exploded in the white world.

Lin Jin's arm lost sensation instantly.

Dense cracking sounds rang in his ears.

Like countless characters shattering in his brain simultaneously.

"Correction failure risk rising"

"Mental load exceeded"

"Pollution erosion: 43%"

Lin Jin's vision went black, and he almost knelt down.

But just then, another voice sounded.

Not No. 9 Forbidden Zone.

It was the academy's main control array.

"Freshman Lin Jin, officially admitted."

"Positioning: Rule Maintenance Special Class core maintenance position."

"Academy identity anchor established."

Immediately after, Qin Shanhe's voice slammed in as if from a great distance.

"Lin Jin!"

"Don't fight it over bloodline!"

"Fight over identity!"

Identity.

Lin Jin looked up abruptly.

Right.

He couldn't win the bloodline anchor battle.

He really was Lin Shoushan's son.

This point couldn't be denied, nor could it be repaired.

But No. 9 Forbidden Zone deducing "son" into "specimen inheritance body"—that step was wrong.

Father-son relationship did not equal project inheritance.

Getting the wrench did not equal accepting recovery.

Walking the Rule Maintenance path did not equal becoming a specimen.

Lin Jin bit his tongue to keep himself awake.

He pressed his admission notice, the Forbidden Building test evaluation, and the correction duplicate against his chest.

"My name is Lin Jin."

"A freshman of Jiangcheng First Combat Academy."

"Core maintenance position of the Rule Maintenance Special Class."

"104 Incident correction applicant."

"Lin Shoushan's son."

He paused, then said word by word:

"But not your specimen."

The rule correction wrench fell again.

This time, it wasn't aimed at the sky.

It was aimed at the white definition line beneath his feet.

Crack!

"Incorrect deduction chain broken"

"Maintenance position specimen offspring confirmation: Failed"

"Secondary positioning: Interrupted"

"Residual mark: Generated"

The giant white eye paused for the first time.

It was still looking at Lin Jin.

There was no anger in that gaze.

Only cold calculation.

Like a machine discovering that a certain part didn't fit as expected, so it re-recorded the model.

"Target definition updated"

"Lin Jin: Independent correction variable"

"Danger assessment: Rising"

"Follow-up contact priority: Rising"

"Next positioning condition: Contact with God System remnants, entering No. 9 Forbidden Zone related duplicates, using rule correction tool overload"

Lin Jin sneered.

"Remember that clearly."

"Don't write it wrong next time."

The giant white eye closed slowly.

The world regained sound.

The sound of wind, discussions, and the lingering echoes of alarms all surged back at this moment.

Lin Jin swayed.

Chen Ye rushed up and grabbed him.

"Brother Jin!"

Shen Tingxue also immediately raised her hand, a wisp of chill suppressing the black patterns spreading again on the back of his hand.

"The pollution has risen."

Lin Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm fine."

Chen Ye was anxious.

"You really don't look fine this time!"

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Then I'm a little not fine."

Chen Ye let out a sigh of relief instead.

"That sounds more like human speech."

Qin Shanhe walked up to Lin Jin.

The old man's expression was extremely ugly.

"You were just seen by Number 9."

Lin Jin looked up.

"Just seen?"

"For now, it can only see."

Qin Shanhe said in a low voice.

"But you obtained the rule correction wrench, it will be easier to locate you in the future."

Shen Tingxue asked:

"Can it be shielded?"

Qin Shanhe was silent for a moment.

"The academy can suppress a portion of it."

"The Abyss Processing Bureau can also do isolation."

"But cutting it off completely, that can't be done."

Lin Jin wasn't surprised.

"So from now on, I'm its target too?"

Qin Shanhe looked at him.

"From the day you awakened, you were."

"It's just that now, it has confirmed it."

Lin Jin exhaled softly.

He didn't angrily ask Qin Shanhe why he hadn't told him sooner.

Because many answers, he had already seen in the Forbidden Building.

Qin Shanhe knew a part of it.

But not all of it.

Or rather, everyone only held a fragment.

The Department of Education held the project process.

The academy held the incident records.

The Abyss Processing Bureau held the Forbidden Zone anomalies.

His father held the maintenance truth.

And now, he had picked up these fragments into his own hands.

The price was that No. 9 Forbidden Zone had also seen him.

Qin Shanhe raised his hand and threw him an old school badge.

"Put it on."

Lin Jin caught it.

A line of small text was engraved on the back of the badge.

"Rule Maintenance Special Class"

There was no grade on the front.

Only a blank number.

Lin Jin asked:

"What is this?"

"An identity anchor."

Qin Shanhe said.

"From today on, you are an official student of the academy."

"This thing can't completely block Number 9, but at least it can remind the real world that you are not a specimen."

Lin Jin put on the badge.

A faint warmth spread from his chest.

The black patterns on the back of his hand finally stopped spreading.

The academy's main control array sounded again.

"First roster for the Rule Maintenance Special Class generated."

"Core maintenance position: Lin Jin"

"Protection position: Chen Ye"

"Low-temperature lockdown position: Shen Tingxue"

Chen Ye was originally a bit touched, but hearing "Protection position," he immediately cheered up.

"It's not a door panel this time?"

However, the next second, the array continued to broadcast.

"Barrier Breaker Position: Zhou Heng"

The whole scene went quiet instantly.

Zhou Heng in the crowd had his expression change sharply.

"What?"

Chen Ye also widened his eyes.

"Who?"

Lin Jin looked up at the A-rank Thunder Spear Knight in the crowd with the stiff expression.

The academy's main control array added coldly.

"Minimum configuration for the Rule Maintenance Special Class: Maintenance, Protection, Lockdown, Barrier Breaker."

"Detected that Zhou Heng possesses Thunder-type Barrier Breaker adaptation."

"Automatically included in the candidate squad."

Zhou Heng's face turned green.

"I don't agree!"

Qin Shanhe finally showed his first smile of the day.

"That's fine."

"Go tell the rules."

The next second, the freshman badge on Zhou Heng's chest lit up.

The original ordinary combat class identifier on it slowly twisted into a new line of text.

"Rule Maintenance Special Class, temporary Barrier Breaker Position."

Zhou Heng looked down at that line of text.

He stood frozen in place.

Lin Jin looked at him and suddenly smiled a little.

"Welcome to the pit."

Zhou Heng looked up, gritting his teeth.

"Lin Jin!"

But before he could finish speaking, the academy's main control array sounded again.

"First class meeting of the Rule Maintenance Special Class, seven o'clock tonight."

"Location: Old classroom on the first floor of the Forbidden Building."

"Homeroom Teacher: Teacher Xu Wenzhou."

This time.

Even Qin Shanhe's smile froze.