63: Chapter 63 You are not a tool of the Zhou family

The phone screen was lit.

The caller ID showed only two characters.

[Second Uncle]

Zhou Heng stared at those two characters, his expression even uglier than when he was singled out by the gag order earlier.

There is no signal in the Forbidden Building.

This is a rule everyone knows.

From the moment they entered the Forbidden Building, phones could only display Forbidden Building notifications; outside calls could not get through at all.

But now, not only did Zhou Heng's phone ring, it also answered automatically.

This was no ordinary call.

It was some kind of remote command that had wormed its way in through bloodline, occupational compatibility, and old incident records.

On the other end of the line, the man's voice was steady to the point of coldness.

"Zhou Heng."

"Stay away from Lin Jin."

"He will break you during maintenance."

As these words fell, the lights in the old classroom dimmed slightly.

Zhou Heng's fingers tightened bit by bit.

He did not answer immediately.

Chen Ye held his shield, frowning at the phone.

"Your Second Uncle's call is pretty high-tech."

"It can even get through to the Forbidden Building?"

Shen Tingxue looked at the ground.

A wisp of silver-gray thread was spreading from under Zhou Heng's feet, connecting to the phone screen.

"It's not a phone call."

"It's an Identity Anchor."

Lin Jin saw it too.

The Hand of Rules popped up a notification.

[Remote identity command detected]

[Target: Zhou Heng]

[Source: Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

[Attachment path: Family bloodline, Thunder-type Barrier Breaker Position compatibility, 104 Incident Barrier Breaker Position record]

[Effect: Induce target to leave current team, rebuild family definition]

Family definition.

Lin Jin's eyes darkened slightly.

This thing was more troublesome than an order.

An order can be refused.

But a definition makes a person doubt themselves.

Especially someone like Zhou Heng.

He had been propped up by the Zhou Family's resources since he was a child, raised to be an A-rank Thunder Spear Knight, and told he was born noble, exceptionally talented, and destined to enter the elite combat class in the future.

But now someone was telling him:

The so-called Thunder-type Barrier Breaker route might have come from the 104 Incident twenty years ago.

The so-called family honor might be experimental compatibility brought back by the Department of Education.

The so-called genius might just be another sample number.

This was crueler than calling him trash directly.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue on the other end of the line continued:

"Your emotions are unstable right now."

"The Forbidden Building will amplify your doubts."

"Lin Jin has only just come into contact with the rule correction wrench; his judgment is not credible."

"Leave the classroom immediately."

"I will arrange for someone to pick you up."

Chen Ye was furious hearing this.

"Picking someone up again?"

"Is that the only trick your Department of Education knows?"

The phone was silent for a moment.

Then, Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice sounded.

"Chen Ye."

"D-rank Shield Warrior."

"After the Abandoned Hospital incident, pollution residue was minor."

"Family is ordinary, occupational growth limit is limited."

"You have no qualification to participate in the Zhou Family's affairs."

Chen Ye was stunned for a moment.

Then he laughed.

"Yo, you even checked my file."

"Then did your file mention that I don't have a very good temper?"

He raised his shield and slammed it onto the ground.

Bang!

The silver-gray threads on the ground shook.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue ignored him.

His target was always Zhou Heng.

"Zhou Heng."

"You are the best Thunder Spear Knight of this generation of the Zhou Family."

"Rule Maintenance Special Class will only drag you down."

"Lin Jin's path is a path targeted by No. 9 Forbidden Zone."

"If you follow him, you will only be dragged into the mess his father left behind."

Zhou Heng finally spoke.

His voice was very low.

"I have a question for you."

The other end of the line paused.

"Speak."

Zhou Heng raised his eyes and looked at the line of text on the blackboard that hadn't disappeared yet.

[104 Archive Abnormal - Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

His voice turned cold bit by bit.

"Twenty years ago, were you a Barrier Breaker Position for the Rule Maintenance Special Class?"

The phone was silent for two seconds.

These two seconds were enough to explain many things.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue did not deny it.

"That was a long time ago."

Zhou Heng continued to ask:

"Why did you never tell me?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice remained steady.

"Because it wasn't necessary."

"You don't need to know the history of losers."

The lightning in Zhou Heng's eyes flickered.

"Lin Shoushan is not a loser."

When this sentence came out, even Lin Jin glanced at him.

Zhou Heng himself seemed to realize what he had said, and his expression became even uglier.

But the words had already been spoken, and he did not take them back.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice on the other end of the line finally turned a bit colder.

"You have been influenced by them."

Zhou Heng gritted his teeth.

"I'm only asking you."

"In the 104 Incident, what exactly did you do?"

A circle of silver-gray emblem suddenly appeared on the phone screen.

A tiny lightning pattern also appeared on Zhou Heng's wrist.

That lightning pattern should have been his occupational pattern.

But at this moment, a bit of gray-white was mixed into the pattern.

The Hand of Rules notification refreshed.

[Barrier Breaker Position compatibility lock detected]

[Effect: When target questions the truth of old incident, trigger family command suppression]

[Risk: Occupational pattern pollution]

Shen Tingxue immediately said:

"We can't let him continue to be suppressed."

Lin Jin looked at Zhou Heng.

"This is your anchor."

"We can help you block it, but we can't break it for you."

Zhou Heng looked up.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Jin said:

"If I use the rule correction wrench to smash this call directly, you will still be redefined by him later."

"This time, you have to hang up yourself."

Zhou Heng's expression was ugly.

"I know."

But although he said he knew, his hand did not move.

Because that was not a normal hang-up button.

The red hang-up button on the phone screen was currently wrapped in a circle of silver-gray chains.

The other end of the chains was connected to the new student badge on Zhou Heng's chest.

[Temporary Barrier Breaker Position]

These characters flickered unsteadily.

As if as soon as he pressed it, it would cut off his current position as well.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue seemed to sense Zhou Heng's hesitation, and his voice slowed down a bit.

"Zhou Heng."

"From the time you were small until now, I have planned every step for you."

"Thunder Spear training."

"Barrier Breaker Position courses."

"Occupational awakening resources."

"Elite combat class quota."

"Everything you possess today did not come from nothing."

"Leave that class."

"You will still be the heir to the Zhou Family, an A-rank Thunder Spear Knight, and the combat genius the academy should cultivate the most."

Chen Ye felt his teeth ache hearing this.

"This rhetoric is really familiar."

"First they say it's for your own good, then they start counting the costs."

Zhou Heng did not look at him.

His eyes stared fixedly at the phone.

"So you cultivated me, for my sake."

"Or to replicate the Barrier Breaker Position of the 104 Incident?"

The other end of the line was silent.

Zhou Heng's breathing became heavy.

"Answer me."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue finally said:

"The two are not in conflict."

This sentence was colder than an admission.

Zhou Heng's expression changed completely.

Not in conflict.

In Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's eyes, a nephew and a Barrier Breaker Position sample were actually not in conflict.

As long as he was excellent enough, as long as he could achieve the compatibility results the Zhou Family needed, then whether he was a person or not did not seem important.

Zhou Heng let out a low laugh.

It was an ugly laugh.

"So that's how it is."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice sank.

"Zhou Heng, don't be childish."

"The strong are never grown freely."

"Do you think Lin Jin is freer than you?"

"He is just being pulled by another set of strings."

"If you stay with him, you will only fall from the Zhou Family's path into Lin Shoushan's path."

Zhou Heng raised his head and glanced at Lin Jin.

Lin Jin did not speak.

He didn't need to say anything either.

Because half of this sentence was true.

He was indeed also being pulled by the threads of his father, No. 9 Forbidden Zone, and Rule Maintenance.

But the difference was that he was finding the threads bit by bit.

And repairing them.

Zhou Heng slowly raised his right hand.

Lightning light condensed in his palm.

It was not a Thunder Spear.

It was a very small lightning nail.

Lin Jin's eyes moved slightly.

This was not an attack skill.

It was the most basic "Point Penetration" in the Barrier Breaker Position occupation.

Zhou Heng aimed the lightning nail at the silver-gray chains on the phone screen.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice finally changed.

"You dare?"

Zhou Heng gritted his teeth.

"You said I would drag the Zhou Family into the water."

"You said I didn't understand what the family had sacrificed."

"You said I should walk the path you set."

He paused.

His voice suddenly calmed down.

"But you never asked which path I wanted to take."

The lightning nail pierced down.

Snap!

The first circle of silver-gray chains on the phone screen broke.

Zhou Heng let out a muffled groan.

The new student badge on his chest also cracked with a fine line.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice was cold to the extreme.

"Zhou Heng."

"If you hang up now, you are choosing to stand on Lin Jin's side."

Zhou Heng raised his eyes.

"Wrong."

"I am standing on my own side."

The second lightning nail condensed.

Pierced down.

Snap!

The second circle of chains broke.

The gray-white lightning pattern on Zhou Heng's wrist began to recede.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his face turned pale, but his eyes instead lit up bit by bit.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand, frost stabilizing the riotous lightning intent around him.

Chen Ye raised his shield to block the door, preventing the external gag order from surging in again.

Lin Jin stood where he was, not intervening.

Because this was Zhou Heng's own maintenance.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice sank completely.

"You will regret this."

Zhou Heng pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"Teacher Xu Wenzhou has already said this many times."

"Change to another one."

The third lightning nail fell.

Bang!

The hang-up button on the screen finally lit up.

Zhou Heng reached out and pressed it.

The call disconnected.

In the old classroom of the Forbidden Building, all the silver-gray threads shattered at the same time.

The new student badge on Zhou Heng's chest flashed violently.

[Temporary Barrier Breaker Position]

These characters twisted for a few seconds.

Finally, the two characters "temporary" slowly faded away.

Turning into:

[Rule Maintenance Special Class: Barrier Breaker Position]

Chen Ye's eyes widened.

"You got a permanent position?"

Zhou Heng's face was pale, and he said coldly:

"Shut up."

Chen Ye laughed.

"Fine, Young Master Zhou, welcome to the pit officially."

This time, Zhou Heng did not curse back.

He just looked down at his badge, his fingers trembling slightly.

He originally hated this class the most.

But now, this badge felt like the first choice he had pressed himself.

The text on the blackboard also changed accordingly.

[Zhou Heng identity definition pollution: initially resolved]

[Barrier Breaker Position stability: improved]

[Class collaboration evaluation: improved]

[Teacher Xu Wenzhou testimony completeness: 68%]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou sat on the testimony seat, watching Zhou Heng hang up the phone, his eyes complex.

"You are braver than your Second Uncle was back then."

Zhou Heng said coldly:

"Don't compare me to him."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou nodded.

"Okay."

"Then I'll change the phrasing."

"You just did what he didn't do twenty years ago."

Zhou Heng was silent.

Qin Shanhe sat in the last row and suddenly took a sip of tea.

"This class meeting was more useful than I thought."

Chen Ye looked back.

"Dean, what did you think at first?"

Qin Shanhe said indifferently:

"As long as you don't die."

Chen Ye: "..."

The blackboard seemed not to want the atmosphere to stay relaxed for too long.

The chalk wrote automatically again.

[First class meeting item two: Establish temporary squad contract]

[Goal: Prevent external definitions from polluting members individually]

[Reminder: Experimental squad contract once caused the 104 Incident, whether to rebuild requires full member consent]

Seeing the four words "squad contract", everyone in the classroom's expression changed.

They had just seen in the 104 Incident how disgusting that thing was.

A wrong contract almost defined teammates as removable parts.

Chen Ye immediately raised his hand.

"I'll speak first."

"I won't sign that kind of thing that treats people as parts."

Shen Tingxue also said:

"If the terms are not clear, I do not agree."

Zhou Heng sneered.

"And I definitely won't bind myself to Lin Jin."

Lin Jin looked at the blackboard.

"Can we not use a contract?"

The blackboard displayed an answer.

[Yes.]

[But during the three-party review in three days, the Department of Education will question each member's identity stability individually.]

[Without a contract, members may be broken individually.]

[Suggest establishing a minimum mutual proof contract.]

Mutual proof contract.

Not sharing damage.

Not cutting nodes.

Not team survival overriding the individual.

But proving each other:

You are not a sample.

You are not a tool.

You are not a replaceable part.

Lin Jin looked at the blackboard and slowly said:

"I will write the terms."

Zhou Heng immediately frowned.

"Why?"

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Because I just repaired a wrong contract once."

"If you are worried, you can review it word by word."

Zhou Heng was silent for two seconds.

"Write."

Lin Jin walked to the blackboard and picked up the chalk.

The blackboard did not stop him.

He wrote the first line.

[Squad members are all independent individuals, not to be redefined due to occupation, bloodline, file, or sample number.]

Second line.

[No member shall be used as a sacrifice node for the team's survival.]

Third line.

[When external forces conduct identity pollution on a single member, the remaining members have the obligation to provide testimony for mutual proof.]

Fourth line.

[The contract does not bind obedience, only mutual proof.]

After writing, the classroom was very quiet.

Chen Ye spoke first:

"I can sign this."

Shen Tingxue nodded.

"Okay."

Zhou Heng stared at the fourth line for a long time.

The contract does not bind obedience, only mutual proof.

This sentence seemed to nail exactly where he had hung up the phone just now.

Finally, he said with a cold face:

"Barely acceptable."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou looked at the four new contract clauses on the blackboard and suddenly whispered:

"If there was this clause back then..."

He didn't finish.

Because there were no ifs anymore.

The chalk words on the blackboard lit up.

[Minimum mutual proof contract can be established]

[Please all members confirm]

On the four desks, a small gray-gold mark appeared simultaneously.

Lin Jin looked at the three.

"Voluntary."

"You don't have to sign if you don't want to."

Chen Ye pressed it directly.

"I sign."

Shen Tingxue pressed it second.

"Confirmed."

Zhou Heng hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and pressed it.

"Confirmed."

Finally, Lin Jin pressed his own mark.

The four gray-gold marks lit up simultaneously.

No chains.

No black lines.

No pain.

Only a circle of very faint light, connecting from the four desks into an unclosed ring.

Unclosed.

It meant that no one was being trapped.

The blackboard displayed a notification.

[Mutual proof contract established successfully]

[Rule Maintenance Special Class basic squad established]

[Before the review in three days, member identity pollution resistance improved]

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is more like a proper squad contract."

Zhou Heng said coldly:

"Don't think that just because I signed this, I recognize you as the captain."

Lin Jin put down the chalk.

"I didn't say I wanted to be one either."

The blackboard, however, suddenly lit up at this moment.

[Core maintenance position detected assuming main rule judgment duties]

[Temporary Captain: Lin Jin]

Zhou Heng: "..."

Chen Ye finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Shen Tingxue turned her head, her lips moving slightly.

Lin Jin looked at the blackboard and was also silent for a second.

"I didn't write this."

Zhou Heng gritted his teeth.

"I know!"

Just at this moment, the sound of Qin Shanhe putting down his teacup came from outside the classroom.

The old man looked out the window.

"Someone is coming."

Almost at the same time, rapid footsteps sounded outside the Forbidden Building.

An academy teacher pushed the door open and entered, his expression grave.

"Dean."

"People from the Abyss Processing Bureau have arrived."

"The team is led by Gu Changye."

"He said the three-party review is moved up."

"Starting tonight."