80: Chapter 80 Even the audience seats can't speak freely.

[Lu Chengyuan, Director of the Special Career Development Division, has requested access to the tripartite review gallery]

[Postscript: Son of Lin Shoushan, I have been waiting for you for a long time.]

In the old classroom, no one spoke.

This sentence wasn't long.

But every word was like a nail, pinning down all the clues they had just pieced together.

Lu Chengyuan.

The person who, twenty years ago on the first floor of the White Tower, pressed the self-replacement confirmation on behalf of Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

The supervisor of the No. 9 peripheral training project.

Today, the Director of the Special Career Development Division under the Department of Education.

He was also the name that had always been hidden behind Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue, Inspector Han Su, and the Department of Education's procedures.

Now, he wanted to enter the gallery.

Chen Ye stared at the blackboard and swallowed hard.

"Can we refuse?"

Zhou Heng said coldly,

"We must refuse."

Shen Tingxue didn't rush to speak, only looking at Lin Jin.

Qin Shanhe held his enamel mug, the usual laziness gone from his face.

"According to procedure, he is qualified to apply to sit in."

Gu Changye's voice came from the communication talisman.

"But you can request restrictions."

"He is not an on-site reviewer, nor is he an Observer, and certainly not a team member."

"In theory, those in the gallery can only listen; they cannot direct."

Chen Ye felt a headache coming on.

"'In theory' again."

"The Department of Education's 'theories' always end up becoming traps."

Lin Jin stared at the access request.

Refusing was simple.

But if they refused, the Department of Education would definitely frame it as:

"The Rule Maintenance Special Class refused to allow the Director of the Special Career Development Division to observe the review, indicating a tendency to conceal high-risk information."

The White Tower might also take the opportunity to generate a more troublesome "supervisory gallery shadow."

Just like the Observers.

They couldn't just let him in.

But they couldn't let the White Tower fill in the gap on its own either.

Lin Jin picked up a piece of chalk.

"Accept it."

Zhou Heng whipped his head around to look at him.

"Are you crazy?"

Lin Jin didn't look at him, writing four characters directly on the blackboard.

[Gallery Boundaries]

"We aren't letting him in to speak at will."

"We are locking him into the gallery."

The blackboard glowed faintly.

The Hand of Rules unfolded accordingly.

[Target: Access authority for the tripartite review gallery]

[Source: Department of Education, Special Career Development Division, Highest Authority]

[Fault: Unclear gallery boundaries; potential to influence the review and White Tower rules through historical information, factual statements, or authority invocation]

[Recommendation: Establish speaking boundaries and authority isolation for the gallery]

After Lin Jin read out the prompt, Qin Shanhe immediately nodded.

"Write it."

Gu Changye also said,

"The Processing Bureau will record it simultaneously."

Lin Jin wrote down the first rule.

[The gallery possesses only the right to listen and limited rights of statement; it does not possess review adjudication rights, on-site command rights, or route recommendation rights.]

[The gallery shall not invoke the authority of the old No. 9 peripheral training project, nor submit supplementary rules to the White Tower.]

[The gallery shall not issue commands, implied commands, or confirmation chain activations to Observer Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.]

[The gallery shall not define the identities of members of the Rule Maintenance Special Class, and shall not use terms such as "sample," "successor," or "replaceable subject" as current definitions.]

Having written this, Lin Jin paused.

Then he added a fifth rule.

[All statements from the gallery will be entered into the tripartite review record; if a statement causes route induction, identity contamination, or authority transgression, the team may apply to immediately terminate the gallery access.]

After reading it, Chen Ye nodded vigorously.

"Now that's what I call sitting in."

"He should just shut up and listen."

Zhou Heng's expression was still grim.

"Will he agree?"

Lin Jin looked at the countdown on the blackboard.

[Remaining time for access confirmation: Three minutes]

"If he doesn't agree, it proves he didn't come just to observe."

Shen Tingxue said softly,

"Then we will have a reason to refuse."

Gu Changye said,

"The Abyss Processing Bureau supports the gallery boundaries."

Qin Shanhe: "The Academy supports it."

A few seconds later, Inspector Han Su's voice came from the other end of the communication talisman.

"The Department of Education's gallery applicant has received the restrictive clauses."

The projection array at the front of the old classroom lit up.

This time, the person who appeared was not Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

Instead, it was a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair.

He looked to be around fifty, wearing simple black clothes, with a highly intricate silver crest on his chest.

His features were not sharp, even carrying a very gentle, refined elegance.

Yet the moment he appeared, the air in the classroom seemed to be pressed down an inch by an invisible hand.

It wasn't raw pressure.

It was authority.

Those who wielded rules and procedures for a long time carried an indescribable aura of oppression.

He glanced at the five gallery boundaries on the blackboard and smiled slightly.

"Back in the day, Lin Shoushan also liked to write restrictive conditions on the blackboard."

Lin Jin looked up.

"That statement counts as a recollection, not a definition."

"It can be recorded."

Lu Chengyuan was slightly taken aback, then his smile deepened.

"You are more cautious than I imagined."

Lin Jin said,

"I was trained by your Department of Education."

Chen Ye almost couldn't hold back a laugh.

Qin Shanhe simply raised his mug to drink, acting as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Lu Chengyuan did not get angry.

His gaze swept over the four of them.

When he looked at Chen Ye, his gaze paused for only a brief moment.

When he saw the Ice Key in Shen Tingxue's hand, his eyes flickered slightly.

When he saw Zhou Heng, he finally lingered for a few seconds.

Zhou Heng said coldly,

"Don't look at me."

Lu Chengyuan said calmly,

"Zhou Heng, you resemble the Zhou Family even more than your second uncle did in his youth."

Thunderous light flashed in the depths of Zhou Heng's eyes.

Lin Jin spoke up immediately:

"The gallery shall not define identities."

The blackboard glowed immediately.

[Gallery Statement Warning (1): Suspected bloodline identity association]

Lu Chengyuan looked at the warning and nodded slightly.

"Alright."

"Let me rephrase."

"You look very much like someone who has not yet been rewritten by the White Tower."

Zhou Heng's expression froze for an instant.

This sentence didn't define him directly.

Yet it stung even more.

Qin Shanhe said coldly,

"Lu Chengyuan."

"You are here to observe, not to stab students with your words."

Lu Chengyuan looked at him.

"Dean Qin, after all these years, you are still so protective."

Qin Shanhe put down his mug.

"And you still like to hide daggers in your words."

Lu Chengyuan smiled.

He didn't deny it.

Lin Jin stared at him.

"Director Lu."

"You didn't request access just to say hello, did you?"

Lu Chengyuan's gaze finally returned to Lin Jin.

He stared at Lin Jin for a long time.

That look was not like looking at a student.

It was more like looking at a project result that was many years overdue.

But because of the fourth restriction, he couldn't put that look into words.

"I came to confirm three things,"

Lu Chengyuan said.

"First, because you refused the right of replacement, the first floor of the White Tower has entered a high-difficulty route."

"Second, the list of those replaced does indeed exist."

"Third, Lin Shoushan made a deal with me back then."

As his final sentence fell, the old classroom fell into instant silence.

Lin Jin's fingers tightened slightly.

Chen Ye's expression changed.

"A deal?"

Shen Tingxue looked at Lin Jin.

Zhou Heng also frowned.

Lin Jin didn't react immediately, only asking,

"What deal?"

Lu Chengyuan said,

"This falls under the category of historical fact statements."

Lin Jin looked at the blackboard.

The blackboard issued no warning.

Gu Changye's voice sounded:

"The Bureau is recording."

Lu Chengyuan raised his hand, and a sealed audio file appeared in the projection.

[Audio Recording of Temporary Negotiations for the No. 9 Peripheral Project]

[Time: Three years ago]

[Participants: Lu Chengyuan, Lin Shoushan]

Lin Jin's eyes darkened.

Three years ago.

Before his father entered No. 9 Forbidden Zone.

Lu Chengyuan said,

"I can play it."

"But you must prepare yourself mentally."

Lin Jin said coldly,

"I don't need you to prepare me."

Lu Chengyuan clicked on the audio.

After a burst of static, Lin Shoushan's voice sounded.

It was hoarser than his phantom in the White Tower.

And more real.

"Lu Chengyuan, don't use my son to threaten me."

Lu Chengyuan's voice followed immediately, sounding a bit younger than he did now.

"This isn't a threat; it's a disclosure of risk."

"Lin Jin's career orientation assessment at age fifteen was already close to the Rule Maintenance path."

"You know better than anyone what that means."

Lin Shoushan sneered.

"It means you want to find another wrench."

"I will enter No. 9."

"And you will withdraw the second-generation observation on Lin Jin."

There was a silence of several seconds in the audio.

Lu Chengyuan said,

"Withdrawing it is impossible."

"Suspended."

Lin Shoushan's voice turned cold.

"For how long?"

"Three years."

"If you bring back key evidence from the main wreckage within three years, the second-generation observation will be destroyed."

"If you don't return, the path restarts."

Lin Shoushan was silent for a long time.

So long that everyone in the old classroom could hear the wind in the background noise of the audio.

Finally, he said,

"Then write it down clearly."

"I am entering No. 9 to trade for three years."

"It does not mean I agree to let you touch Lin Jin."

"And it certainly doesn't mean I agree to let him inherit some garbage sample path."

Lu Chengyuan's voice sounded.

"Recorded."

Lin Shoushan added,

"And one more thing."

"If he walks in front of you on his own after three years, then that is his own choice."

"But if anyone dares to choose for him..."

A soft metallic clink came from the recording.

It sounded like a wrench being slammed onto a table.

Lin Shoushan's voice dropped low.

"I'll smash whoever does it when I get back."

The audio didn't end there.

A mechanical recording voice followed immediately.

[Temporary Transaction Record Confirmed]

[Lin Shoushan enters No. 9 Forbidden Zone]

[Second-generation Maintenance Position observation suspended]

[Suspension period: Three years]

[Expiration condition: Lin Shoushan fails to return, observation automatically restarts]

[Supervisor: Lu Chengyuan]

The audio stopped.

A deathly silence filled the old classroom.

Lin Jin sat there, not saying a single word.

Chen Ye looked at him cautiously.

"Brother Jin..."

Lin Jin raised his hand, signaling him not to speak.

He finally understood now why his father had suddenly entered No. 9 Forbidden Zone three years ago.

It wasn't just for Shen Qingshuang.

It wasn't just for the evidence.

It was also to buy him three years.

During those three years, the Department of Education had not directly touched him.

Until Awakening Day, until the Abandoned Hospital, and until the Rule Maintenance path was triggered once again.

Shen Tingxue said softly,

"Your father didn't agree to their terms."

Lin Jin nodded.

"I know."

Zhou Heng looked at Lu Chengyuan in the projection, his voice terrifyingly cold.

"You call a threat a deal?"

Lu Chengyuan said calmly,

"Zhou Heng, you are still too young."

"Many deals are inherently made between threats and choices."

Sparkles of Zhou Heng's Thunder Spear flashed.

The blackboard immediately issued a warning:

[Gallery statement has not transgressed boundaries]

This made Zhou Heng even angrier.

Because Lu Chengyuan's words were disgusting, yet they indeed did not violate the clauses they had just set.

Lin Jin finally looked up.

"Did you play this to shake my resolve?"

Lu Chengyuan said,

"I wanted you to know."

"You didn't arrive here by chance."

"Lin Shoushan bought you three years."

"And now, those three years have expired."

He raised his hand.

A greyish-white file emerged in the projection.

[Second-generation Maintenance Position observation suspension period: Three years]

[Status: Expired]

[Automatic restart node: Lin Jin completes Awakening and contacts the Rule Maintenance path]

[Current status: Restarting]

Lu Chengyuan looked at Lin Jin.

"So, son of Lin Shoushan."

"From the moment you picked up your first wrench,"

"this path has already been reopened."