93: Chapter 93 Right of Recourse: Not Immediate Death

[Hint: If you refuse, this White Tower first-floor real reward settlement will close this recourse entrance.]

After these two lines of text appeared, the three storage boxes in the Reading Room vibrated simultaneously.

The old paper inside the second box was still spread out.

The most crucial sentence on it was still glowing.

[Lin Shoushan's qualification to return home... I have staked it on the future Rule Maintenance Special Class team.]

Not staked on Lin Jin.

Not staked on the Department of Education.

Nor staked on the White Tower.

But staked on the future team.

Yet, the very next second, the White Tower turned it into a multiple-choice question.

Enter immediately.

Or close the entrance.

Chen Ye sat at the Co-verification Reading Seat, his face darkening.

"Isn't this just forcing us to jump into a pit right now?"

Shen Tingxue looked at Lin Jin.

She didn't say "Don't go," nor did she make the decision for him.

She only calmly reminded him:

"Your mental load is too high right now."

"You cannot continue to use the rule correction wrench."

Zhou Heng was more direct.

"If you rush in now, I'll knock you out first."

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Can you beat me?"

Zhou Heng said coldly:

"In your current state, it wouldn't be difficult."

Chen Ye immediately raised his hand.

"I can help hold you down."

Lin Jin didn't smile.

He stared at the line [Enter immediately], his eyes dark.

This was indeed one of the things he wanted most.

His father's qualification to return home.

If he could retrieve it, did that mean that one day Lin Shoushan could return from the No. 9 Forbidden Zone?

If he missed this chance and the entrance closed, would there never be another opportunity?

The White Tower was placing these two questions before him.

Forcing him to make the most dangerous choice while in the most anxious state of mind.

Lin Jin closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his voice was steady.

"We won't choose yet."

The White Tower's lights flickered.

[Selection countdown starting]

[Failure to select within thirty seconds will be deemed a refusal]

Chen Ye stood up abruptly.

"You're even doing a countdown?"

Lin Jin raised a hand to stop him, his gaze falling on the old paper.

"The reading isn't finished yet."

The White Tower's text paused.

Lin Jin continued:

"The second storage box contains the original copy of Lin Shoushan's supplementary clauses."

"Currently, only the fourth sentence has been read."

"The White Tower is demanding the team make an immediate execution choice regarding the recourse rights before the supplementary clauses have been fully read."

"This is not reward settlement."

"This is a coerced choice made while information is incomplete."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou sat in the Witness Seat and immediately spoke:

"Witness Teacher Xu Wenzhou recording."

"The original supplementary clauses have not been fully read."

"The White Tower has triggered the execution choice prematurely; there is a process interruption."

The Witness Seat emitted a gray light.

[Witness record: Valid]

The White Tower's countdown paused for a moment.

But soon, it lit up with new text.

[Recourse entrance activity is limited]

[Continuing to read will cause the entrance stability to decrease]

[Recommendation: Enter immediately]

Zhou Heng sneered.

"Recommendation?"

"White Tower recommendations are generally not good things."

Shen Tingxue looked at the second storage box.

"The recourse right is part of the reward."

"Before the reward content is finished being read, the White Tower has no right to use entrance activity to force execution."

Chen Ye also realized this and slapped the armrest of the reading seat, shouting:

"I am the reader for the first sentence!"

"I haven't finished reading yet!"

"You can't pull away the test paper and make me submit an answer!"

The White Tower's lights flickered again.

Although the phrasing was crude, the logic was very clear.

The reader had not finished reading.

The Witness Seat had also confirmed the process was not complete.

The reward could not be settled ahead of time.

Lin Jin looked at the old paper.

"Continue reading."

Chen Ye took a deep breath and looked down at the paper.

The rusty screw turned slowly.

Below the fourth sentence, new handwritten text finally emerged.

This time, the handwriting was very faint, as if it had been suppressed by the White Tower for a long time.

Chen Ye read word by word:

"Fifth sentence."

"Recourse right is a right, not an order."

In the Reading Room, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Lin Jin's heart felt as if it had been lightly tapped by something.

Chen Ye continued reading:

"Can be registered."

"Can be sealed."

"Can be opened by a future team when all members are conscious, pollution is controllable, the route is intact, and there is no external coercion."

"Must not be forced to be executed immediately by the White Tower, the Department of Education, the Supervision Seat, or any single member."

After this sentence was read, the second storage box vibrated violently.

On the walls of the White Tower, countless tiny characters began to flow chaotically.

[Recourse right activity decreasing]

[Immediate execution prioritized]

[Sealing may cause the opportunity to be lost]

This time, without needing a reminder from Lin Jin, Chen Ye shouted directly:

"Witness record!"

Teacher Xu Wenzhou immediately followed up.

"Witness record: The fifth sentence of Lin Shoushan's supplementary clauses clearly states that the recourse right can be registered, can be sealed, and must not be forced to be executed immediately."

Shen Tingxue raised her hand, and the low-temperature path diversion ice crystals lit up, freezing the fifth sentence on the old paper into a clear layer of ice film.

"Text sealed."

Zhou Heng's thunder nail landed on the edge of the paper.

"Preventing tampering."

Lin Jin did not touch the rule correction wrench.

He only looked at that line of text and spoke to create a note.

"The fifth sentence of the supplementary clauses proves that the White Tower's current 'enter immediately or close the entrance' choice does not comply with the clauses left by Lin Shoushan."

"The recourse right can be registered."

"The entrance can be temporarily closed."

"But the recourse right must not be cancelled."

Four badges lit up simultaneously.

The Mutual Verification Contract, the Reward Isolation Agreement, the Reading Order, and the Witness Seat record all pressed down onto the old paper together.

The White Tower's countdown stopped completely.

[Immediate execution choice paused]

[Supplementary clause fifth sentence effective]

[Recourse right nature being re-evaluated]

The lights in the Reading Room turned from white to gray.

Above the second storage box, a new judgment appeared.

[Lin Shoushan's qualification to return home recourse right]

[Nature: Team recourse right]

[Execution conditions: Team members all conscious, pollution controllable, route intact, no external coercion]

[Current status: Immediate execution conditions not met]

Chen Ye let out a heavy breath.

"At least we're not throwing our lives away right now."

Zhou Heng looked at Lin Jin.

"Did you really want to go in just now?"

Lin Jin did not deny it.

"I did."

Shen Tingxue asked:

"And now?"

Lin Jin looked at the line [Immediate execution conditions not met].

"I want to even more now."

"But we aren't going now."

As these words fell, the Mutual Verification Contract lit up slightly.

It wasn't a shackle.

It was more like a confirmation.

The White Tower seemed still unwilling to give up; another line of text popped up from the second storage box.

[If choosing to seal the recourse right, please designate a custodian]

[Hint: The custodian will obtain priority sensing rights for the return anchor]

Chen Ye's expression changed.

"Designating a single person again?"

Shen Tingxue said coldly:

"Priority sensing rights for the return anchor will very likely induce the custodian to open it alone."

Zhou Heng looked at Lin Jin.

"It wants you to be the custodian."

Lin Jin nodded.

"That's why I won't be the custodian."

He walked to the storage box and raised a hand to press onto the gray-gold halo jointly cast by the four badges.

"Since the recourse right is staked on the future Rule Maintenance Special Class team."

"Then a single custodian cannot be designated."

"Custody method: Joint custody by the team."

The White Tower immediately responded.

[Format mismatch]

Lin Jin said coldly:

"Then correct the format."

"Not all rights must be hung on one person."

"Especially since this right was originally intended to prevent me from being lured away alone."

Chen Ye stood up and pressed the shield-shaped light slice against the left side of the storage box.

"Protection Role as the outer layer custodian."

Shen Tingxue placed the Ice Key against the right side of the storage box.

"Lockdown Role as the opening temperature limit."

Zhou Heng used the buffer barrier breaker nail to pin the box latch.

"Barrier Breaker Position as the entrance barrier breaking limit."

Lin Jin embedded the old path identification screw into the center of the box lid.

"Maintenance Position as the error path identification."

Four training fragments lit up simultaneously.

A new lock appeared on the surface of the storage box.

It wasn't one lock.

It was a structure of four parts, each indispensable to the other.

[Team sealing format generated]

[Custody method: Four-in-one]

[No single member can open it alone]

[If any member is replaced, pollution-defined, or identity becomes unstable, the recourse right automatically hibernates]

[External Supervision Seat, observer position, and Witness Seat have no opening authority]

Chen Ye saw the last line and finally revealed a slight smile.

"This is good."

"Even the Witness can't open it."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou smiled bitterly at the Witness Seat.

"The Witness shouldn't be opening it anyway."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue sat in the observer position, remaining silent throughout.

Only at this moment did he speak:

"Team sealing will reduce opening efficiency."

Zhou Heng immediately looked at him.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue calmly added:

"Factual reminder."

"Not a recommendation."

The blackboard gave no warning.

Lin Jin nodded.

"I know."

"We accept the efficiency decrease."

Zhou Heng also said coldly:

"Efficiency is not the priority."

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue glanced at him and didn't speak again.

The second storage box finally closed.

Gray-gold text appeared on the lid.

[Lin Shoushan's qualification to return home recourse right: Registered]

[Current status: Team sealed]

[Immediate recourse entrance: Closed]

[Recourse right: Retained]

At the end of the Reading Room, a rust-colored crack that had been slowly opening closed accordingly.

From within that crack, a very distant knocking sound was vaguely heard.

Like a wrench striking an iron door.

Lin Jin's heart tightened abruptly.

The next second, the last line of text emerged on the old paper.

It wasn't a clause.

It was more like a handwritten note left by Lin Shoushan.

[Well done.]

[Don't be in a rush to save me.]

[Anxiety is the White Tower's cheapest rope.]

Lin Jin looked at those three lines of text, his throat tightening slightly.

But he didn't reach out to touch them.

After Chen Ye saw it, his voice softened a little.

"Can we trust this time?"

Lin Jin looked at the paper.

The Hand of Rules did not sound an alarm.

Shen Tingxue also checked the Ice Key's reaction.

"The pollution is very low."

Zhou Heng said:

"But we will still treat it only as a note."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Mm."

"Only as a note."

The second storage box fell completely silent.

The first name list light book hadn't completely closed yet.

However, the third storage box lit up at this moment.

[Hidden Reward Three: Original Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue hesitation residual coordinates]

Zhou Heng's expression changed immediately.

This time, the White Tower did not let Chen Ye read directly.

Instead, it popped up a hint first.

[These coordinates have an old reconstruction connection with Supervision Observer Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

[Before reading, please confirm the status of the observer position]

Everyone looked at the observer position simultaneously.

Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue sat there, the three-layer lockdown rings on his wrists glowing slightly.

His expression remained calm.

But the moment the third storage box lit up, a very thin white light suddenly seeped from his chest.

It wasn't the Department of Education's silver thread.

Nor was it the No. 9 white light.

It was a very faint, very old thunder light.

Zhou Heng stood up straight abruptly.

"What is that?"

Lin Jin's Hand of Rules automatically popped up a hint.

[White Tower old reconstruction residual resonance detected]

[Target: Supervision Observer Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue]

[Fault: Current observer position overlaps with original Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue hesitation residual coordinates]

[Warning: Coordinates are not inside the box]

[Coordinate carrier: Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue himself]

In the Reading Room, Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue suddenly groaned, lowering his head to press on his chest.

The third storage box opened on its own.

There was no map inside.

Only a cracked mirror.

In the mirror, a young Deputy Director Zhou Chengyue was reflected.

He was crouching in a corner of the White Tower's first floor, his face full of fear, his hands clutching a broken Thunder Spear tightly.

And the moment he looked up and saw Zhou Heng, the first sentence he said was:

"Don't let him choose for me again."