52: Chapter 52 The Formation of Parliament

This was not the first time the Xinhuo Hall had changed.

Before the Torch was opened, Lu Chen had already allowed the hall to expand outward once.

The ten seats originally surrounding the stele were pushed back, and the outer ring seats, training projection area, and Grey Net map area emerged from the grey mist. However, at that time, everything was like a skeleton that had just been assembled; it was usable, but not stable enough.

When a Candidate entered the outer ring, the fire patterns beneath their feet would flicker slightly.

When the training projection area simulated Torch landing points, brief distortions would appear at the edges.

The Grey Net map could display Qinghe and a few surrounding abnormal remnants, but it could not maintain multi-city nodes for long.

That was not a complete upgrade.

It was just a temporarily expanded space.

But now, with the source essence analyzed by the longevity lamp flowing into the core, the hall expansion, which had only been seventy percent complete, finally began to fill in the final part.

Lu Chen stood before the central stele.

Grey-white fire patterns spread outward from the base of the stele, paving the ground in concentric circles.

The originally singular circular hall seemed to be pushed open by an invisible hand, and the walls retreated into deeper grey mist, revealing a multi-layered circular space.

The center was still the stele.

New facets emerged on the surface of the stele, corresponding to Tasks, Contribution, Exchange, Sealing, Grey Net, and Candidate Records respectively. Fine fire patterns floated on each face, like a sliced-up System panel.

The inner ring seats stabilized first.

Faint Torch lit up at the positions of Shen Qinghe, Zhao Ye, and Bai Ya. They were already the first generation of official members; their seats were close to the stele, allowing them to see more task details and the official member standard technique column.

Further out were the Apprentice seats.

The names of Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan were not yet fully fixed on the backs of the seats, with only translucent fire characters floating there, representing that they were in the promotion review stage.

Further out was the Candidate outer ring.

The seats there were more numerous and further away. The fire curtain hung down like a transparent veil, separating the deep core stele, the Sealing Corridor, and the content of the official member meetings. In the future, when Candidates from outside the city entered the Xinhuo Hall, they would only see this outer ring and would not come into contact with the true core.

Behind the stele, the grey mist suddenly surged upward.

A high platform slowly rose.

It did not look like a throne, nor did it have exaggerated decorations. The surface of the platform was composed of dark stone steps, fire patterns, and a circle of circular control runes. At the very top, there was only one wide Fire Keeper seat, with half a hanging Grey Net star map behind it.

Zero's voice rang out in the hall.

[Fire Keeper seat reconstruction complete]

[Permission functions: Deliberation, Adjudication, Task Issuance, Sealing Approval, Member Promotion, Grey Net Observation]

Lu Chen walked up the high platform along the stone steps.

The moment he sat down, the structure of the entire hall unfolded in his eyes simultaneously. Member mark status, contribution point flow, sealing cell stability, Candidate adaptability, and the Grey Net anomaly map all turned into schedulable information at the edge of his vision.

He was not sitting high up to enjoy looking down on others.

It felt like he had finally sat in a position where he could clearly see the entire backend.

An untimely thought surfaced in Lu Chen's mind.

Before, this was called a freelance team exploring the wasteland.

Now, at least it looked a bit like a guild hall.

Zhao Ye stood in the inner ring, looked up at the high platform, and couldn't help but whisper: "This position doesn't look like an ordinary administrator."

Bai Ya glanced at him: "You can think of it as the final approver."

Zhao Ye thought for a moment: "Isn't that still an administrator?"

Shen Qinghe did not respond. She watched the changes in the hall, her expression quieter than usual. She had known for a long time that the Xinhuo Council was not just a temporary squad, but until this moment, with the circular seats, Candidate outer ring, Sealing Corridor, Grey Net map, and Fire Keeper seat all stabilized, she truly realized that this organization was beginning to take a shape capable of carrying more people.

The Grey Net map area rose on one side of the hall.

The city outline of Qinghe was the clearest, with anomaly points suppressed by Xinhuo markers, many of which had already turned into grey-white archived marks. Further out, the outlines of Jiangbei, Linhai, and surrounding counties appeared vaguely, with specks of red light scattered upon them.

Those places had no Xinhuo markers.

The red dots spread more slowly and were harder to extinguish.

The Sealing Corridor extended into the depths of the hall. The sealing cell containing the longevity lamp wick was pushed separately into a high-risk zone, with three layers of Purifying Flame seal lines added to the outside. Old bell fragments, shard mirror remnants, crying face copper coin, and red line directory remnants were archived one by one, like a string of old objects nailed into the order.

The training ring also stabilized.

There, one could simulate Torch paths, landing impacts, low-level abnormal remnants, and Purifying Flame Vision training. The originally temporary Torch training ground now became an official area.

Zero continued to prompt.

[Xinhuo Hall first expansion completion: 100%]

[Stable projection capacity: 30]

[Candidate outer ring: Enabled]

[Functional corridors: Initially stabilized]

[Outside-city Candidate access: Trial possible]

[Warning: Outside-city Candidates may only enter the outer ring and must not come into contact with the inner ring and Sealing Corridor]

Lu Chen looked at the last item and nodded.

"Permission isolation must be hardcoded."

"Recorded."

Below the high platform, six translucent corridors emerged outside the stele.

Action, Investigation, Intelligence, Medical, Logistics, Equipment Workshop.

They were still just prototypes, without real department heads or full authority, but it was enough for members to know that the next step for the Xinhuo Council was not just squads taking on tasks.

Lu Chen raised his hand, and the Grey Net map zoomed in on Jiangbei.

There was a red dot there, as if dragged by a red line, flickering on and off.

He did not immediately order it to be handled.

The fire in Qinghe had just been woven into a net, and the outside city was still too far away. Rashly spreading out would only drag the Xinhuo Council into an out-of-control rhythm.

But he also knew that this day would come sooner or later.

The hall had been stabilized.

Next, it was time to let people keep up with the changes in the hall.

After the high platform stabilized, Lu Chen had Zero bring up the hall permission schematic.

Official member seats could see complete task briefings, core standard techniques, summaries of some sealed items, and squad dispatching. Apprentice seats could see task collaboration, basic exchange, Ability Seed conditions, and training applications. The Candidate outer ring could only see Candidate tasks, organizational rules, and their own contribution records.

Tang Zhiwei stood outside the Logistics corridor, looking at those permission layers, and her eyes held a bit more approval.

She had seen too many real-world organizations; the more they expanded, the easier it was for boundaries to become chaotic.

Some overstepped their authority with money, some cut in line with connections, and some occupied positions with seniority. The coldest and hardest part of the Xinhuo Council was precisely its most reliable part.

What should be seen, can only be seen.

Where one should be, one can only be.

Zhao Ye reached out and touched the armrest of the inner ring seat. The fire pattern lit up for a moment along his Mark of the Torch, and quickly displayed his name and route.

[Official Member: Zhao Ye]

[Functional Tendency: Action, Suppression]

[Core Standard Technique: Torch]

He looked at it for a moment, then suddenly straightened his back, as if finally confirming he wasn't a temp worker.

Bai Ya said slowly: "Don't be too moved; being an official member doesn't mean you aren't poor."

Zhao Ye: "Can you not remind me of reality at a time like this?"

On the high platform, Lu Chen heard this and almost laughed out loud.

There were seats, permissions, and the pressure of contribution points for the poor.

Very good, the sense of organizational reality had also stabilized.

The fire curtain of the Candidate outer ring also stabilized at this moment.

Looking from the inner ring, the outer ring looked like a hazy star belt; looking in from the outer ring, the official member seats and the Fire Keeper high platform were obscured by firelight, leaving only outlines. This was not feigning mystery, but permission isolation. A person who had just been invited in should not immediately see those things deep in the Sealing Corridor that would look back at people.

Lu Chen scanned the spatial structure, confirmed there were no omissions, and then had Zero synchronize the hall stabilization results to the members' Xin Huo Interface.