78: Chapter 78 Zhou Chengyue replaced Zhou Chengyue

[Verification Question: Twenty years ago, on the first floor of the White Tower, who did you replace?]

As soon as the words appeared on the blackboard, all sound in the old classroom ceased.

Zhou Heng stared fixedly at that line of text, lightning sparks lighting up in his eyes little by little.

He had considered many possibilities.

Shen Qingshuang.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou.

Even Lin Shoushan.

But the White Tower was not asking for a list.

It was asking Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue himself.

Before an Observer enters the tower, they must answer this question.

This meant that Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue had indeed used the replacement right on the first floor of the White Tower twenty years ago.

Chen Ye instinctively looked at Zhou Heng.

"Your second uncle..."

Zhou Heng did not look at him.

His voice sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Answer."

The Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue in the projection remained silent.

The calm on his face was finally torn open.

Not much.

But it was obvious enough.

Qin Shanhe also straightened up a bit.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's face turned even paler.

He looked at that line of text, as if he had finally remembered a piece of old memory suppressed by a gag order for twenty years.

The voice of a recorder from the Abyss Processing Bureau came through Gu Changye's communication talisman.

"The White Tower verification question has entered the tripartite review record.

"The Department of Education's observation seat cannot be interrupted.

Inspector Han Su's voice followed immediately.

"Deputy Director Zhou, please answer."

This sentence was very cold.

No protection.

No cover-up.

In front of the tripartite review record, Inspector Han Su could not shield Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at the blackboard.

"This is an internal White Tower question.

"It has nothing to do with current Observer authority."

The blackboard lit up immediately.

[Answer avoided]

[Observer identity verification failure risk increased]

[If verification fails, the White Tower will automatically replenish the Observer position authority]

Chen Ye immediately cursed:

"Automatic replenishment again!"

Lin Jin looked at the prompt, his eyes darkening.

If Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue did not answer, the White Tower might generate a more dangerous Observer.

For example, the Youthful Projection of Zhou Chengyue.

Or the shadow of an old project supervisor.

Or even expand the Observer position authority to "On-site Correction" directly.

That would be more troublesome than letting the restricted Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue go in.

Lin Jin looked at the projection.

"Deputy Director Zhou,

"If you want to enter the White Tower, you must first answer this question."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at him coldly.

"You are very eager to know?"

Lin Jin said calmly:

"I want to know.

"But what is more important now is not to let the White Tower answer for you."

Zhou Heng suddenly took a step forward.

"I also want to know.

He stared at Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

"Who exactly did you replace?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at Zhou Heng.

In that instant, his eyes were complex.

Containing coldness.

And a trace of exhaustion that had been forcibly suppressed.

After a long time, he finally spoke.

"I did not replace Shen Qingshuang.

"Nor did I replace Lin Shoushan.

"And certainly did not replace Teacher Xu Wenzhou."

Chen Ye frowned.

"Then who did you replace?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue was silent.

The blackboard countdown began to appear.

[Remaining time to answer: 60 seconds]

Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear had fully solidified.

"Speak."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his voice had returned to stability.

"I replaced Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue."

The old classroom was dead silent.

Chen Ye was stunned.

"What does that mean?"

Shen Tingxue frowned.

Lin Jin's fingers gently gripped the rule correction wrench.

He understood a little.

But he still needed confirmation.

The white characters on the blackboard flickered.

[Answer capturing]

[Keyword: Self-replacement]

[Please complete the replacement form]

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at the blackboard, as if looking at an old door that had long been closed.

"Twenty years ago, the reward given on the first floor of the White Tower was not called teammate replacement right.

"It was called Barrier Breaker Position Reconstruction Right.

"The description was very simple.

"It could reconstruct an unstable Barrier Breaker Position into a higher adaptation barrier-breaking sample."

Zhou Heng's face changed little by little.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue continued:

"At that time, the team had just passed the first floor.

"I was slow in breaking the barrier once.

"It wasn't very slow.

"It was just three seconds slow.

"But those three seconds almost caused the whole team to be overtaken by the White Tower pollution tide."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's fingers trembled slightly.

Apparently, he also remembered that incident.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's voice was low.

"The White Tower gave me a choice.

"Keep the original Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

"Or accept the Barrier Breaker Position reconstruction.

"After reconstruction, I would be faster, more stable, and more adapted to the White Tower."

Chen Ye couldn't help but say:

"So you just replaced yourself?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue glanced at him.

"If I didn't replace it at that time, I couldn't enter the second floor.

"If we couldn't enter, everyone would be judged as unqualified samples."

Zhou Heng's eyes turned red.

"So you deleted the scared version of yourself?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue did not deny it.

"I handed over the parts that affected judgment.

"Fear.

"Hesitation.

"Excessive reaction to teammates' deaths.

"And unnecessary emotional entanglements."

He spoke very calmly.

So calm that it was like describing a surgery.

But the calmer he was, the more it made people's backs go cold.

Lin Jin finally spoke.

"That was not optimization.

"That was the White Tower rewriting you as a barrier-breaking tool."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at him.

"But I survived.

"The team also entered the second floor."

Lin Jin asked:

"And then?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue did not answer.

Because everyone already knew part of what happened later.

After the White Tower, the 104 Incident.

Shen Qingshuang went missing.

Lin Shoushan was dragged into the deeper No. 9 wreckage contact.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou was gagged.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue entered the Department of Education.

All of this was not necessarily caused by that self-replacement.

But that replacement must have been a rift.

The blackboard continued to write.

[Self-replacement answer: Valid]

[Observer interest correlation supplement: Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue once accepted Barrier Breaker Position self-reconstruction on the first floor of the White Tower]

[Old reconstruction residue: Exists]

Zhou Heng felt as if he had been stabbed by this line of text.

"Old reconstruction residue?"

Lin Jin immediately looked at the blackboard.

The Hand of Rules unfolded.

[Target: Observer identity of Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

[New risk: Old White Tower reconstruction residue]

[Possible influence: Forming route coverage, efficiency oppression, and identity correction induction towards Barrier Breaker Position Zhou Heng]

[Suggestion: Add restrictive clauses]

Lin Jin did not hesitate and directly wrote new clauses on the blackboard.

[The supervisory Observer must not use their own White Tower reconstruction experience to impose judgments on the rationality of replacement on any member of the current team.]

[The supervisory Observer must not touch Zhou Heng's professional badge, Barrier Breaker Position training fragments, or Mutual Verification Contract anchor points.]

[The supervisory Observer must not use terms like "Zhou Family," "bloodline," or "inheritance of barrier-breaking routes" to define Zhou Heng's actions.]

Zhou Heng looked at the last clause, his Adam's apple moving.

He did not say thank you.

But the light on the Thunder Spear slowly stabilized.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at the clauses and said coldly:

"You are treating the Observer as a source of pollution.

Lin Jin looked up.

"You just admitted that you have old reconstruction residue.

"This is a tripartite review, not a family chat."

Gu Changye's voice came from the communication talisman.

"The Abyss Processing Bureau supports the addition."

Qin Shanhe immediately said:

"The Academy supports it."

Inspector Han Su was silent for two seconds.

"The Department of Education..."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue suddenly interrupted.

"I accept."

Everyone looked at him.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at Zhou Heng.

"I accept these restrictions.

"But Zhou Heng, you had better understand.

"The White Tower will not lower the difficulty just because you dislike me."

Zhou Heng said coldly:

"I didn't intend to let it lower it either."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's gaze was like ice.

"You are rejecting my path now.

"When you see your teammates die in front of the door because of your slowness with your own eyes, you will understand my choice back then."

Zhou Heng gripped the Thunder Spear tightly.

"That is also my business."

Lin Jin added a sentence.

"It is our team's business."

The Mutual Verification Contract glowed slightly.

This time, Zhou Heng did not refute.

The additional restrictions on the blackboard began to turn gray-gold.

[Observer restrictive clauses added successfully]

[Old reconstruction residue marked]

[Observer must not affect current Barrier Breaker Position identity definition]

Just as Chen Ye was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the blackboard lit up with another line of text.

[Tower entry identity verification incomplete]

[Secondary verification question generated]

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue's face changed abruptly.

This time, his change was more obvious than before.

It was as if he had really encountered something that could not be said.

The white characters appeared stroke by stroke.

[Twenty years ago, on the first floor of the White Tower, self-replacement required external confirmation.]

[Verification Question Two: Who pressed confirm for you?]

In the old classroom, even the sound of breathing became light.

Zhou Heng looked up abruptly.

"What does external confirmation mean?"

Lin Jin's heart also sank.

The White Tower's replacement could not rely solely on the person's own consent.

Especially "self-replacement."

It must have someone to confirm.

Someone had to send the "original Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue" into the replacement right.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue looked at that line of text, for the first time unable to immediately maintain the dignity of a Deputy Director.

His lips moved, but he made no sound.

The blackboard slowly displayed a countdown.

[Remaining time to answer: 30 seconds]

Zhou Heng took a step forward, the Thunder Spear almost reaching the projection.

"Who?"

"Second uncle.

"Who pressed confirm for you back then?"

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue was silent.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

The moment before the countdown hit zero, the blackboard suddenly popped out a line of old records on its own.

[External confirmer: No. 9 peripheral training project supervisor]

[Name: Lu Chengyuan]

[Note: Department of Education, Special Career Development Division, current Division Chief]