88: Chapter 88 Testimony is not something that can be transferred.

[List of those replaced on the first floor of the White Tower twenty years ago, item one—]

[Witness: Teacher Xu Wenzhou.]

[Content replaced: ownership of testimony.]

[Recipient: Lu Chengyuan.]

These lines of text shone on the blackboard.

In the old classroom, no one spoke immediately.

Chen Ye was still standing in front of the blackboard, gripping his shield, his expression looking as awful as if he had just swallowed a mouthful of rust.

He had originally thought the first item on the list would be Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue.

Or perhaps Shen Qingshuang.

Or even possibly Lin Shoushan.

But no one expected that the first one to be replaced would not be a Combat Position, nor a Maintenance Position.

It was the witness.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou.

More accurately, it was his ownership of testimony.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou sat in the witness chair, his entire body frozen.

He stared at that line of text as if looking at a verdict that had arrived twenty years late.

"Ownership of testimony..."

His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"So that's what it was."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Did you remember?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's throat bobbed.

The silvery-grey silencing line on his neck appeared again, but it wasn't as tight as before.

It was as if that line had also been stunned by the record on the blackboard.

"Twenty years ago, after the true reward of the White Tower's first floor appeared, Lu Chengyuan asked me to read the first sentence for the Regulatory Seat."

"After I finished reading, the White Tower asked if I confirmed the witness transfer."

Chen Ye frowned.

"Transfer what?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou closed his eyes.

"At the time, I thought it was transferring the record."

"Witness records being sealed by the Regulatory Seat sounded very normal."

"So I confirmed it."

His voice was hoarse.

"But looking at it now, it wasn't the record that was transferred."

"It was the ownership of testimony."

The atmosphere in the old classroom grew heavier.

Ownership of testimony.

This term sounded very obscure.

But everyone understood what it meant.

If a person's ownership of testimony no longer belonged to them, then every word they spoke could be interpreted, sealed, or reorganized by the recipient.

He says 'I saw it'.

The other party can change it to 'Confirmed by the Regulatory Seat'.

He says 'I think there is a problem'.

The other party can change it to 'Witness record abnormal, lacks independent validity'.

Even the truths he spoke could be attributed to Lu Chengyuan, becoming information filtered by the Regulatory Seat.

This was more ruthless than silencing.

Silencing is making someone unable to speak.

Having ownership of testimony stolen is making it so that even if one speaks, it doesn't count.

Shen Tingxue said coldly:

"So your testimony has always been incomplete."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou nodded, his face pale.

"It's not that I couldn't remember at all."

"It's that every time I wanted to reach the key point, I would instinctively feel—this is not something I can say."

"Because the ownership of that testimony was not with me."

Zhou Heng looked at the blackboard, his eyes as cold as clouds before a thunderstorm.

"Lu Chengyuan didn't just take your testimony."

"He took your qualification as a witness."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou did not refute.

He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"So for twenty years, even though I was at the scene, I was like someone who could never explain things clearly."

"I thought it was a silencing order."

"I thought it was contamination."

"I thought I was just cowardly."

He looked up at the line on the blackboard [Recipient: Lu Chengyuan].

"So my mouth had been registered by someone else since the first floor."

Chen Ye cursed under his breath.

This time, he cursed very quietly.

Because he didn't know how to comfort him.

Lin Jin walked to the blackboard and stared at those lines of text.

The Hand of Rules slowly popped out.

[Target: Preview of the first item on the list of those replaced twenty years ago]

[Content: Ownership of Teacher Xu Wenzhou's testimony transferred to Lu Chengyuan]

[Nature: Old reward record preview]

[Current impact: Witness seat privileges easily occupied by the Regulatory Seat]

[Hint: Cannot forcibly retrieve full ownership; must be processed after entering the White Tower's first floor true reward]

[Suggestion: Establish protection for current witness testimony ownership]

Cannot retrieve it now.

Lin Jin had long guessed this would happen.

This was only a preview.

The real list was still on the first floor of the White Tower.

But not being able to retrieve it didn't mean doing nothing.

Otherwise, after they entered the White Tower, as long as Teacher Xu Wenzhou spoke as the current witness, Lu Chengyuan could continue to occupy it following the old record.

Lin Jin picked up the chalk.

"Protect the present first."

He wrote the first item on the blackboard.

[The testimony of the current witness, Teacher Xu Wenzhou, belongs to Teacher Xu Wenzhou himself.]

Second item.

[The Regulatory Seat, Observer positions, the Academy, and the Abyss Processing Bureau may all record, but may not receive ownership of testimony.]

Third item.

[Witness statements may be reviewed, questioned, or supplemented, but may not be rewritten as someone else's speech.]

Fourth item.

[In the old records, 'Witness transfer to Regulatory Seat' serves only as evidence of a historical error and may not be used in the current White Tower reading process.]

After writing it, the blackboard did not accept it immediately.

The witness chair next to the White Tower's small door vibrated slightly.

Old white light crawled out from the back of the chair, attempting to reconnect Teacher Xu Wenzhou to that line [Recipient: Lu Chengyuan].

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's face instantly turned pale.

His throat felt as if it were being choked by something again.

"I..."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"You say it yourself."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou looked at him.

Lin Jin's voice was not loud, but very steady.

"The testimony is not something we snatched back for you."

"Nor is it something the Academy keeps for you."

"You say first, whose is it."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou's lips trembled.

The old light inside the White Tower's small door seemed to be waiting for him to be silent.

As long as he didn't speak, the old record would continue to be valid.

After a long while, Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised his head.

He said, word by word:

"Teacher Xu Wenzhou's testimony belongs to Teacher Xu Wenzhou himself."

The witness chair shook violently.

The white light seemed to be stabbed by these words and began to churn violently.

The silvery-grey silencing line on Teacher Xu Wenzhou's neck also tightened accordingly.

He was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he did not stop.

"Whatever I have said, I will bear."

"Whatever I have seen, I will testify."

"Lu Chengyuan can record."

"The Department of Education can question."

"The Academy can review."

"The Abyss Processing Bureau can seal."

He raised his hand and pressed it onto the armrest of the witness chair.

"But no one can own my testimony."

As these words fell, a very faint cracking sound seemed to echo in the old classroom.

A corner of the white light on the witness chair shattered.

The blackboard lit up accordingly.

[Confirmed by the witness himself]

[Protection for current testimony ownership established]

[Old testimony ownership transfer record: marked as a historical error, may not be used in the current process]

[Teacher Xu Wenzhou's testimony completeness: 81% → 87%]

Chen Ye let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Beautiful!"

Zhou Heng also looked at Teacher Xu Wenzhou.

This time, he didn't mock him.

He just said in a low voice:

"You should have said that earlier."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou smiled bitterly.

"I couldn't have said it earlier."

As these words fell, the old classroom fell silent for a moment.

Lin Jin did not continue to prod him.

Because he was telling the truth.

This was where the White Tower and Lu Chengyuan were most ruthless.

They didn't just simply silence a person.

They made this person believe that silence was their own weakness, and that not being able to explain things clearly was their own problem.

Only twenty years later, when the truth was dug up, did they discover that their mouth had long been registered to someone else.

The blackboard suddenly lit up again.

[Insufficient current witness protection detected]

[Suggestion: Have the Rule Maintenance Special Class temporarily receive ownership of Teacher Xu Wenzhou's testimony to counter the Regulatory Seat's occupation]

Chen Ye's face, which had just relaxed, instantly darkened again.

"It's coming again?"

Shen Tingxue said coldly:

"It changed the recipient."

Zhou Heng also frowned.

"From Lu Chengyuan to us?"

Lin Jin looked at that line of text and sneered.

"The White Tower really knows how to make multiple-choice questions."

"It seems as long as it's not owned by Lu Chengyuan, it can be owned by someone else."

He picked up the chalk and wrote heavily below that line of suggestion:

[Rejected.]

Then he added a sentence.

[Protecting ownership of testimony does not equal transferring ownership of testimony.]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou was stunned.

Lin Jin continued:

"We will not receive your ownership of testimony."

"You are not an asset of the Special Assignment Class."

"You are a witness."

"Not a tool."

Chen Ye immediately said:

"Right."

"We only need you to testify to what you saw."

"Not to co-opt your mouth."

Shen Tingxue nodded.

"The testimony belongs to you."

"The responsibility also belongs to you."

"Protection does not equal possession."

Zhou Heng said coldly:

"And it definitely doesn't mean letting you take the fall for us."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou lowered his head.

His shoulders had been tense for a long time, and finally, they relaxed bit by bit.

The White Tower's suggestion on the blackboard began to fade to grey.

[Temporary transfer suggestion: Rejected]

[Current testimony ownership: Teacher Xu Wenzhou himself]

[Current witness duty: Verify the reading process, do not replace any seat in reading the first sentence]

[Witness seat calibration complete]

In front of the White Tower's small door, that witness chair completely stabilized.

It no longer blocked the way.

And it was no longer connected to the Regulatory Seat.

Instead, it stood quietly by the side of the door, like a true witness nail.

Gu Changye's voice came from the communication talisman:

"Abyss Processing Bureau record complete."

"Teacher Xu Wenzhou's current witness protection established."

"This part of the record will enter tripartite review."

Qin Shanhe looked at Teacher Xu Wenzhou.

"Can you still hold on?"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou sat in the witness chair, his face pale, but he nodded.

"I can."

"This time, I will only be a witness."

Qin Shanhe nodded.

"Remember these words."

The blackboard finally returned to the third training item.

[Team entry route selection continues]

The remnant map of the White Tower reappeared.

Four fake shortcuts still surrounded it.

The safest.

The coldest.

The straightest.

The most familiar.

The empty chair of the absent second Observer was moved to the side.

The witness chair also retreated to the side of the small door.

On the small door, the four words [Team Members Traveling Together] began to glow.

Lin Jin looked at the four of them.

"Don't take the fastest."

"Don't take the steadiest."

"Don't take the path that looks most like the answer."

Chen Ye raised his shield.

"And don't swap teammates."

Shen Tingxue held the Ice Key.

"Don't let the remnants choose for us."

Zhou Heng lifted the Thunder Spear.

"Don't let the old route open the door for me."

Lin Jin pressed the grey screw into the edge of the toolbox.

"Don't let the experience of the older generation take action for me."

The four of them stepped forward at the same time.

This time, all four fake shortcuts lit up.

The safest path raised a giant shield.

The coldest path revealed the blurred back of Shen Qingshuang.

The straightest path flashed the Youthful Projection of Zhou Chengyue.

The most familiar path echoed the sound of Lin Shoushan's wrench.

But the four of them did not stop.

Chen Ye's shield only blocked half, leaving a window for Zhou Heng to break obstacles.

Zhou Heng's thunder was only at seven-tenths power, leaving a locking fulcrum for Shen Tingxue.

Shen Tingxue's ice only suppressed the counterattack, leaving a maintenance path for Lin Jin.

Lin Jin did not chase the old markers, only repaired the disjointed parts between the four.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The small door finally opened completely.

There was no white light trap inside.

Only a very narrow grey staircase, leading down to the bottom of the first floor of the White Tower.

The blackboard wrote out the final evaluation.

[Team entry route selection: Passed]

[Fourth path: Team Members Traveling Together, locked]

[White Tower first floor entry route: Hidden entrance]

[Observer position isolation: Established]

[Second Observer position absence: Established]

[Witness seat: Teacher Xu Wenzhou, established]

[Reward reading rules: Established]

Chen Ye sat down heavily.

"We finally passed this time, right?"

The blackboard was silent for a second.

Subsequently, new text appeared.

[Third day of training complete]

[White Tower opening preparing to enter the final stage]

[Opening time: Tonight at midnight]

In the old classroom, everyone looked at the blackboard.

Tonight at midnight.

Earlier than the original three-day deadline.

Urgent reports came from Gu Changye's communication talisman.

"The White Tower entrance is beginning to materialize."

"Location: Training area on the east side of the Academy."

"The hidden entrance on the first floor of the White Tower has responded."

"Entry list is being generated."

The text on the blackboard unfolded line by line.

[Entry team: Lin Jin, Chen Ye, Shen Tingxue, Zhou Heng]

[Regulatory Observer: Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

[Second Observer position: Absent]

[Witness seat: Teacher Xu Wenzhou]

[Audience seat: Closed]

[Warning: Lu Chengyuan of the Department of Education's Special Career Development Division is applying for final off-site confirmation rights]

Lin Jin's eyes turned cold.

The next second, the last line of text slowly appeared.

[If the final confirmation rights are approved, the reading order of the White Tower's first floor rewards will be prioritized and verified by the Regulatory Seat.]