nyslfriends Chapter 166 Fake Surrender, Real Invasion
Chapter 166 Fake Surrender, Real Invasion
The pale hand pressed against the door frame.
The back of his hand was very thin, with prominent blue veins, as if he had never seen the sun for many years.
Just now, Clerk Gu was putting on airs, but now he had stopped smiling and stepped aside.
The person who can make him behave so well must be someone important.
Pigsy's Adam's apple bobbed, and he asked in a low voice, "Old Chen, is this one harder than the one surnamed Gu?"
Chen Fan did not reply.
He stared at the hand, his mind racing.
Hard, of course it's hard.
The harder it is, the more usable it is.
Right now, they're in the warehouse, with few people and few cards. The more anxious the people coming from the other side are, the more it shows that the black ledger and that authority stick have hit a nerve with them.
Suddenly, someone pressed close to him, their voice barely audible.
"The third one has a flaw."
"What flaw?"
"The review panel only recognizes two states: takeover or abandonment."
Chen Fan raised his eyelids.
He stared at the red line, speaking very quickly.
"If you stubbornly insist on keeping it on, it will stay open, making it easy for external forces to connect."
"If you voluntarily abandon the position, the source warehouse will temporarily switch to kernel verification. People outside will need a return order to come in and verify it in person."
"During the verification process, the door will be locked as usual."
Pigsy understood immediately and grinned, "Isn't that just luring someone into a trap?"
The predecessor shook his head: "Only one can be locked up."
That's enough.
Chen Fan smirked, looked up, and shouted something to the outside.
"Stop hiding it."
The hand outside the door stopped.
Chen Fan held the black ledger in his hand and deliberately shook the authorization pin on the back of his hand.
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
"OK."
"I'll give it to you."
Pigsy was stunned and turned to look at him.
Sha Wujing also raised his eyes.
Even Clerk Gu frowned, as if he hadn't expected Chen Fan to agree so quickly.
The person outside the door finally showed half of their face.
thin.
White.
His face was thin, his nose was very high, and his lips looked like they were smeared with ash.
He didn't go inside, but stood behind the door frame, his eyes sweeping across the warehouse, first looking at the access token, then the black ledger, and finally landing on Chen Fan's face.
That gaze was like a ruler, measuring people inch by inch.
"The ninth generation".
"How do you want to give it to me?"
Chen Fan smiled, but the smile was faint.
"How else can I give it to you?"
"The source warehouse is about to burst. My access control is also unstable. If you keep lingering outside, I'll really burn the warehouse core, and no one will be able to take anything away."
The moment the words were spoken, a moment of silence fell over both inside and outside the warehouse.
He lowered his head and his lips twitched.
He knew that Chen Fan had started setting things up.
Registrar Gu was the first to react, and sneered, "You were so stubborn just now, but now you're scared?"
Chen Fan didn't even look at him, only staring at the pale face outside the door.
"Afraid?"
"I don't want to be buried with them."
"You know better than I how many old debts are hidden in this warehouse. If we really start digging them up, it's hard to say who will die first."
The pale-faced man didn't speak.
Registrar Gu narrowed his eyes: "You want to negotiate?"
"right."
Chen Fan was very decisive.
"I will hand over the recitation slips, the black ledger, and the authorization tokens."
"Let the four of us out."
Registrar Gu seemed to have heard a joke, and his shoulders trembled.
"You dare to make demands?"
"You, a fruit feeder, really think you're a warehouse owner?"
"Ninth generation, let me tell you. Those before you, some knelt and begged to live, some kowtowed and begged for mercy. What happened to them in the end? Do you want me to tell you everything, one by one?"
As he spoke, he flicked the golden fruit pit button in his hand.
With a snap.
It made a very crisp sound.
It's like deliberately slapping someone in the face.
Pigsy's face darkened, and he swung his rake, ready to curse.
Chen Fan raised his hand to stop him, but instead took two steps forward, his toes just touching the edge of the red line.
"Registrar Gu, you talk too much nonsense."
"You're not in charge. Stop showing off."
With just one sentence, Registrar Gu was speechless.
Clerk Gu's face darkened.
The pale-faced man outside the door finally spoke.
"We can talk."
His voice was very soft, like a piece of paper scratching on wood.
"Abandon the outer layer of control for now."
"The warehouse has been transferred to the inner office. I will have the Seventh Registrar go in with the warehouse return order to inspect the goods. After inspection, if the account books and receipts are still there, I will let you leave the port."
Registrar Gu suddenly turned his head: "My lord—"
"Do you have a problem with that?"
The pale-faced man didn't even turn his head.
Clerk Gu's face twitched, and he swallowed his words.
Chen Fan saw this scene and felt even more at ease.
This means he guessed correctly.
Registrar Gu was just a gofer.
The one who's in a real hurry is the one who came later.
Moreover, this person was unwilling to go into the warehouse himself.
He fears.
I'm afraid of the third one.
They were also afraid of the old rules in the warehouse.
Since that's the case, let's go all out.
Chen Fan pretended to hesitate, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the corner of the black ledger.
How can I trust you?
The pale-faced man said calmly, "You have no choice."
"Outer layer listening has been restarted."
"If you delay for another ten breaths, even if you want to surrender, you won't be able to."
As soon as he finished speaking, the several black boxes in the warehouse all shuddered.
A faint red light seeped from the seams of the box.
Rows of old characters appeared on the wall.
[Abandonment is subject to trial]
[Forced collection after timeout]
Countdown: Nine
Pigsy's heart tightened, and he cursed.
Sha Wujing also gripped his demon-subduing staff tightly.
Upon seeing this, Registrar Gu immediately revealed a mocking smile: "Now you know you're in a hurry?"
"Ninth generation, aren't you capable? Aren't you good at overturning verdicts? Come on, keep going."
"I'd like to see how much of a breath you can keep with this nail."
Chen Fan ignored him, only gritting his teeth as if he had truly been cornered.
"it is good."
"I abandoned the outer layer."
"Your people come in and inspect."
As soon as he said this, his body had already stepped back to the side of the thin cabinet, pressing his fingers against the groove of the black plaque.
Pigsy reacted quickly, pulling Sandy backward.
Registrar Gu did not notice.
All he cares about now is the feeling of exhilaration.
This kid finally chickened out.
You were so stubborn just now, what happened?
You still have to obediently spit it out.
The countdown on the wall jumps to six.
Chen Fan raised his hand and pressed the access pin into the groove on the side of the door.
With a click.
The entire source warehouse seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
The red line suddenly retracted.
The lids of the outer black boxes closed simultaneously.
Immediately afterwards, one by one, the old copper lamps around the head lit up, their light dim and yellowish, making the entire examination chamber look as if it were submerged in water.
Another line of text appeared on the wall.
[Outer layer abandonment complete]
[Warehouse Verification Begins]
[Enter with the warrant]
Registrar Gu's eyes lit up, and he immediately took out a dark blue token from his sleeve.
The token was wrapped with a gold thread, and two characters were engraved in the center.
Stored in the granary.
The pale-faced man took a step back.
"go."
Registrar Gu clasped his hands in response, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky.
As he stepped across the threshold, he didn't forget to smile at Chen Fan.
"Ninth generation, you've finally met your match."
"Bring out the recitation slips. And that black ledger."
"Stop dawdling. If I'm in a good mood, I'll leave you a proper burial later."
Pigsy was so angry he almost charged forward again.
Chen Fan, however, seemed to have truly resigned himself to his fate, and raised his hand to hold up the black ledger.
"Come in and get it."
Registrar Gu stepped into the red line.
The second step is to step onto the proofreading bricks.
The third step is to hold the warehouse return order in front of you.
"Alright, here's the stuff—"
He hadn't finished speaking.
Suddenly, the predecessor flipped the black plate into the groove.
Snapped.
The sound was very soft.
The row of old copper nails behind the door suddenly lit up.
next moment.
boom!
The gate to the warehouse suddenly slammed down.
It's not closed.
It's smashing.
The two thick doors, like two ballast plates, slammed shut from both sides. A string of sparks flew out from the crack in the doors, shaking the entire floor.
The smile on Clerk Gu's face froze.
He turned and lunged forward, but as soon as his hand touched the door, a ring of black lines appeared on the door and crawled up his palm and arm.
"What's going on!"
"Open the door!"
His roar had changed.
There was a moment of silence outside the warehouse.
Immediately afterwards, the pale-faced man's expression changed for the first time. He took a step forward and pressed his five fingers against the door.
"Seventh, step back!"
Registrar Gu hurriedly retreated.
Black lines had spread across the entire door panel, like an old net, tightly gripping the entire inspection and review warehouse.
The words on the wall seemed to jump out one by one.
[Warehouse verification has been locked]
[The person holding the order is included]
[Proofreading begins]
External interference is prohibited.
Clerk Gu's face turned pale. He turned around and stared at Chen Fan, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
"You dare to scheme against me?"
"You're asking for it!"
"Do you even know who I am?!"
Chen Fan finally smiled this time.
It wasn't the forced smile I saw earlier.
It was a genuine laugh.
"Know."
"Registrar of the Seventh Naval Station"
"The person who brought in three fruit feeders."
"Now, it's your turn."
Registrar Gu's chest heaved as he raised his hand to grab the token.
As soon as the token was lit, the cabinet doors around the review floor popped open in unison.
A yellowed, wavy recitation scroll rose up on its own.
The thin cabinet at the very back, marked with a black ring, creaked open half an inch.
From the crack in the cabinet, an iron ring slowly slid out.
When Clerk Gu saw the iron ring, his face turned deathly pale.
"Black market environmental trials?"
"How come this thing is still here!"
The person in front muttered under their breath, "As expected, they're afraid of this."
Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat.
Instead of rushing forward, he continued to press on.
"Registrar Gu, weren't you quite eloquent just now?"
"Come on, say a few more words to me."
"Didn't you say you'd leave me a complete corpse?"
Pigsy finally couldn't hold back any longer and slapped his thigh, laughing out loud.
"Keep one! Leave one for Old Pig to see!"
Even Sha Wujing managed a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, a rare occurrence.
Registrar Gu's face turned pale and then red, and his lips trembled.
Outside the warehouse, the pale-faced man's voice was as cold as ice.
"The ninth generation".
"You think locking him up will make him live?"
"Open the door."
Chen Fan glanced at the crack in the door, then slung the black ledger over his shoulder.
"Getting impatient?"
"Wasn't it perfectly stable just now?"
"Didn't you want the written rules, the black ledger?"
"Alright. They're already in here, let's take our time with the interrogation."
A muffled thud was heard outside the door.
It felt like someone slammed their hand on the door.
The door trembled only once, but didn't open.
The pale-faced man's voice fell completely silent this time.
Do you know what he was carrying?
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.
When Clerk Gu heard this, he suddenly froze.
He looked down at his waist.
There, at some point, a small bump appeared.
next moment.
A "click" sound came from the small bag.
It's like something unlocked itself.
Chen Fan's expression changed drastically.
Chapter 534 The Second Box Opened
"Click".
The sound wasn't loud.
Everyone in the warehouse heard it.
When Clerk Gu looked down at his waist, his face changed instantly.
The bulging little burr split open on its own, and a black-edged wooden plaque popped out, fell to the ground with a thud, spun twice, and slid right to Chen Fan's feet.
The wooden sign has two characters engraved on the front.
Registrar.
There is also a fine line on the back, like a needle, that goes all the way to the center of the card.
Registrar Gu reached out and snatched it quickly.
Chen Fan was faster.
With a flick of his toe, the wooden plaque flew directly into his sleeve.
"You're asking for it!" This time, Clerk Gu was really anxious and lunged forward.
Pigsy, who had been holding back his anger, swung his nine-toothed rake and stood in front of him.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Weren't you putting on a good act just now? Now you're getting anxious?"
boom!
Clerk Gu slammed his palm on the rake, his arm went numb from the impact, and he stumbled back three steps.
He had barely steadied himself when the other side slashed across, the short knife flashing horizontally, aimed directly at his throat.
Clerk Gu hurriedly shrank his neck, and the blade grazed his skin, slicing off half of his collar.
His back was immediately soaked.
The pale-faced man outside the door said in a deep voice, "Don't let him touch the cards!"
"Too late." Chen Fan smiled and took out the cards.
The access token on the back of his hand was still hot.
The black ledger was also trembling slightly inside the sleeve.
Both things seemed to recognize the sign at the same time.
hum.
As soon as the clerk card landed in his palm, a dark light shone on its surface.
Registrar Gu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"That's impossible!"
"If an outsider takes the cards, the cards will be sealed!"
"What right do you, a fruit feeder, have to accept this?"
Chen Fan glanced at him: "You're asking me? Who should I ask?"
"Why don't you kneel down and I'll teach you?"
Pigsy laughed on the spot: "Did you hear that? Registrar, kneel down quickly, and you might be able to learn a move or two."
Clerk Gu's face turned pale and then red, his lips trembling with anger.
He was just referring to the ninth generation as if he were looking at a dead dog.
In the blink of an eye, the register was in Chen Fan's hands, and even the restrictions no longer recognized him.
This is a slap in the face, a really hard one.
Even the pale-faced man standing outside the door fell silent for a moment.
The next moment, he said coldly, "Being able to recognize the cards doesn't mean you know how to use them."
"Every deep box in this warehouse must be matched with its code."
"If you make one mistake, you'll all be blown up."
Like grasping at a straw, Clerk Gu immediately followed.
"Yes! You can't open it!"
"You think you can check nuclear boxes just because you have a license? Dream on!"
"Even I can only see the outer layer of what's inside."
Chen Fan ignored him.
He stared at the row of black boxes in the warehouse.
The first box has already been opened, and the case file of the ninth generation fruit feeder has been released.
Further inside, there was a shorter, old box.
The box has cracks and the edges are all worn down, as if it has been moved many times.
A wooden tag with peeling paint was hanging on it.
I couldn't see it clearly before.
Now that the clerk's plaque is lit, those four characters slowly emerge.
[Old Fruit Feeder Backup Box]
His breath caught in his throat.
"Backup box?"
Sun Wukong's voice also lowered: "It doesn't sound like a good thing."
Chen Fan had already started walking forward.
The last trace of color drained from Clerk Gu's face.
"Don't touch that!"
"That's not a car you can drive!"
Chen Fan turned around: "The more you forbid me from touching you, the more open-minded I become."
"This habit can't be changed."
He walked to the old box and pressed the clerk's plaque onto the latch.
The latch is not open.
Instead, a circle of fine text popped up.
[Insufficient permissions, please enter the parking area clerk's identification code]
Registrar Gu was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.
"I thought you were really capable."
"The cards may recognize you, but the code may not."
"Without my password, you'll never be able to open it in your entire life."
As he said this, he deliberately took half a step forward, his tone both sinister and sarcastic.
"Ninth generation, you really think you've turned things around?"
"A fruit feeder is a fruit feeder. Even if you put on a layer of skin, you still can't climb onto the table."
"Want to investigate old cases? You think you're qualified?"
Pigsy, enraged, shouted, "You dog's mouth—"
"Let him speak," Chen Fan said, raising his hand.
He looked at Clerk Gu and smiled instead.
"You think I used it to solve coding problems?"
Registrar Gu was taken aback.
Chen Fan pressed down on the cards with his left hand and pulled out the black ledger with his right hand, slamming it onto the lid of the box.
The corner of the ledger fits perfectly into the groove of the black card from before.
At the same time, the access token on the back of his hand suddenly heated up, like red-hot iron, and lit up straight.
Connect all three things at the same time.
The clerk's plaque, the black ledger, the authority pin.
next moment.
Three consecutive "click-click-click" sounds came from the old box.
Like three old locks bursting open at once.
Registrar Gu froze completely.
"Force it open?"
"Are you crazy! This is a nuclear warehouse deep chamber!"
The pale-faced man outside the door lost his composure for the first time, and his voice suddenly rose.
"Stop him!"
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The lid of the box had popped open half an inch by itself, and a musty, old paper smell wafted out.
It didn't explode, it didn't blast.
It's really open.
Pigsy's mouth gaped open, and after a long pause, he finally managed to stammer, "Damn, really?"
Sun Wukong laughed heartily: "Old Chen, you've really ruthless."
The predecessor didn't laugh.
He had already bent down and lifted the lid of the box all the way up.
There were no magical treasures or weapons inside.
It consists of only six layers of thin plywood.
Each layer was covered with a stack of old paper, as well as small bottles, stamps, scraps of cloth, fruit pits, and even half-burnt numbered tags.
It's as if someone has broken down the entire process and categorized it into different parts.
The top sheet of paper was lifted up, and the title had only four words.
[Overall Deployment Process]
The warehouse fell silent.
Chen Fan picked up the paper and swept it downwards.
First column.
[Sampling]
The rest is written very plainly.
Blood is drawn. Bone is removed. The echoes of consciousness are extracted. Habits are recorded. Catchphrases are recorded. Frequent actions are recorded.
Pigsy felt a chill run down his spine: "Is this treating people like pigs to be slaughtered?"
Sun Wukong's eyes also darkened.
Chen Fan continued scrolling down.
Second column.
【cover】
Create a substitute shell. Infuse old memories. Fill in behavioral templates. Set up error correction pins. Seal off background noise.
The person in front stood to the side, their fingers tightening little by little.
"A substitute shell..."
He seemed to have thought of something, and his voice became hoarse.
Chen Fan flipped to the third column.
[Distribution]
Return to original location. Prioritize contact with existing circles. Proofread daily. Review monthly. Report three or more errors to general sales.
The fourth column.
【fail】
This page is the dirtiest.
It looks like someone has repeatedly smeared it with ink.
It wasn't just one area; every single line was blacked out.
Only a few words can be seen on the edge of the page.
"The reaction... is out of control..."
"The old chain... has broken..."
"Identify...reject..."
Further down, the entire column is black.
When Clerk Gu saw this page, sweat broke out on his forehead, but he still stubbornly refused to admit it.
"Fake."
"They're all useless files."
"Half of the items in the nuclear warehouse are fishing bait."
Chen Fan didn't even look up, and flipped to the fifth column.
【Recycle】
Night collection. Quiet collection. Distributed processing at a different location. Numbered and archived. Fruit pits recarved. Registrar's signature.
Column 6.
[Replace]
Second sampling. Template repair. Change verbal tics. Remove old traces. Resubmit.
After turning all the pages, there was a long list at the very bottom.
It's not a name.
They are all numbered.
Ninth generation, seventh generation, third generation, transferred to a foreign post (B), transferred to Hong Kong (C), defective (D)...
Each number is followed by a brief annotation.
"Stablize."
"To be checked."
"Needs to be recycled."
"Already replaced."
Pigsy felt a chill run down his spine.
"This isn't raising people, it's replacing them!"
The predecessor reached out and snatched the list, glanced at it a few times, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
"Without me."
"The backup of the ninth generation doesn't include me."
Sun Wukong looked at him: "Isn't it a good thing that you're not here?"
He shook his head, unable to suppress the fierceness in his eyes.
"My absence means I'm not a backup."
"I am the empty hole."
After these words were spoken, the warehouse fell even quieter.
Registrar Gu's lips twitched; he still wanted to deny it.
Stop scaring yourself.
"The old files are a mess, so what's wrong with missing a number—"
Chen Fan had already pulled out the page showing the failure.
This page is the heaviest.
It looks like there's something stuck in the back.
He flicked his fingertips and, sure enough, pulled out a small piece of thin paper from the interlayer.
The piece of paper was only the size of a palm.
There were originally many words written on it, but they were erased with black ink.
It was applied very heavily.
He almost went for the kill, not wanting anyone to see it.
But the four characters in the very middle weren't completely erased.
It's like the writer's hand is shaking, or the person erasing is too slow to do it.
Those four characters were clearly visible.
[Sample disconnection]
The person in front of him stared at those four words, and his eyelids twitched violently.
Sun Wukong muttered to himself, "Sample...missed from the chain?"
Pigsy didn't understand: "What do you mean? The chain broke?"
This time, Clerk Gu was truly panicked and lunged forward to try and snatch it.
"Give me!"
"That page is off-limits!"
The moment he moved, Chen Fan slapped him across the face.
Snapped!
The sound was very crisp.
Registrar Gu was slapped so hard he was knocked off balance, his mouth split open, and half of his face swelled up rapidly.
He covered his face, completely stunned.
It was as if I couldn't believe I'd been slapped like that.
Chen Fan waved his hand dismissively: "Who do you think you are, daring to stick your claws out in front of me?"
Pigsy was laughing so hard he was slapping his thigh.
"good!"
"That's how you should draw!"
"Having listened to his nonsense all the way here, Old Pig has been itching to take action!"
Registrar Gu's eyes were red, and his chest was heaving violently, but he didn't dare to rush forward again.
Because that piece of paper was still in Chen Fan's hands.
The pale-faced man outside the door stopped knocking.
It was eerily quiet.
After a couple of breaths, he slowly opened his mouth.
The voice was colder than before.
"Turn the paper over."
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes. He really did flip it over.
There was also a line of small print on the back of the paper.
It looks like it was written at the last minute.
The handwriting was messy, and there was even a trail of ink at the end.
There is only one sentence.
[Decoupled samples will not be sent to the recycling port]
Pigsy was taken aback: "Not recycling?"
Sun Wukong's gaze instantly sharpened.
Its front end suddenly raised its head, as if it had grabbed something.
"It's not that it can't be recycled."
"We dare not accept it."
Outside.
The pale hand pressing against the door frame suddenly tightened.
The knuckles bulged out one by one.
Immediately afterwards, the pale-faced man's voice came in.
This time, even Clerk Gu sensed something was wrong.
"The ninth generation".
"The predecessor of the one next to you."
"Make him roll up his sleeves."
Chapter 535 The Rules of Counterattack by the Old Fruit Feeder
The predecessor remained unchanged.
The pale-faced man stood outside the door, his hand still on the door frame, his voice sounding like it was being ground out between his teeth.
"Roll up your sleeves."
"I'll say it one last time."
Clerk Gu also looked over.
He had been acting like he had everyone under his thumb, but now his eyelids were twitching, as if he had remembered something from the past.
Chen Fan first looked at the pale-faced man, then at the man in front of him.
With her head bowed, she slowly rolled up her left sleeve after a long while.
The sleeves were just past the elbows, and everyone in the warehouse could see them clearly.
There was no injury on his forearm.
It was a row of old box labels.
Seven.
They were all driven into the flesh.
Each one was blackened, with curled edges, as if it had been torn and re-pasted. The one in the very center was torn in two, with half of the words still blurred on it.
Return.
Pigsy gasped.
"My God, they actually stick this on people?"
Sun Wukong's eyes darkened.
He didn't recognize these rules, but he could tell that they weren't things that living people should have.
The pale-faced man stared at the row of box labels, and his expression suddenly turned ugly.
"You're not dead."
The person in front of him raised his head, grinned, and his teeth were full of blood.
"I almost died."
"But you underestimated one thing when you returned the grain to the granary that time."
Registrar Gu's face turned even paler, and he blurted out, "Bullshit! All the old accounts are sealed up, who can touch them—"
He stopped talking halfway through his sentence.
Chen Fan understood.
Old debts.
The key is not the box, nor the people, but the account.
The previous body took a breath and suddenly reached into its pocket, pulling out a flat iron box.
The box was very small, like an old-fashioned backup box for storing fruit pits. The lid was half rusted shut, and there was a scratch from a fingernail on it.
Nine.
The predecessor threw the box to Chen Fan.
"open."
Registrar Gu's eyes turned red, and he raised his hand to lash out.
"Don't let him drive!"
Sun Wukong stepped forward to block him.
The golden cudgel blocked the way, smashing Clerk Gu back to the door.
With a bang.
The registrar, Gu, slammed his back against the wooden beam, coughed up blood, and was completely stunned.
He didn't expect that even after revealing his identity, Sun Wukong would still dare to use such a heavy hand.
Sun Wukong, carrying his staff, let out a cold laugh.
"Take one more step forward, and I'll put you in too."
The pale hand outside the door slowly withdrew.
The pale-faced man stopped trying to go any further, staring intently at the iron box in Chen Fan's hand, as if he were watching a venomous snake about to turn over.
"The ninth generation".
You'd better think this through.
"Some things, knowing them is worse than dying."
Chen Fan ignored him.
He crouched down and used the access nail to pry open the seam of the metal box.
As soon as the nail touched it, the lid clicked open by itself.
There's nothing of value inside.
There was only a shriveled kernel and a thin, translucent recording leaf.
The recording leaf lights up as soon as it sees the wind.
Then, a very old voice rang out.
His voice was dry and hoarse, as if someone had fed him a hundred years of wind and sand.
"remember."
"Fix the accounts first, then save lives."
Just one sentence.
That's all.
The warehouse fell silent.
Pigsy was stunned.
"this one?"
"Just one sentence?"
The person in front of him leaned against the box, laughing so hard they were coughing.
That's enough.
"Those who died before us did not die in vain."
Chen Fan clutched the recording disc, his mind feeling as if it had been violently split open.
First, correct the accounts, then save lives.
Previously, he only focused on the box labels, the samples, and who could be dragged out.
All wrong.
Even if the person is dragged out, as long as the account is still pending, once the review committee opens, they will still be put back into custody.
If you save one person today, it can take them back tomorrow.
No wonder the second box was labeled "Decoupled sample, not to be sent to the recycling port".
It's not that you can't get in.
It needs to be deleted from the account first.
If it's not deleted, it'll still be considered a product from Hong Kong, no matter where it goes.
Chen Fan stood up and fixed his gaze on Registrar Gu.
"Where is the account?"
Clerk Gu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and then smiled.
"You reacted quickly."
"Unfortunately, it's too late."
"Ninth Generation, do you think the ledgers are just lying on the table for you to flip through?"
He raised his hand and pressed it against his waist.
The button with the golden fruit pit popped open with a snap.
The next instant, the entire source warehouse felt as if it had been struck by a hammer from below.
hum-
All the black boxes around them shook simultaneously.
The corners, locks, and tags on the boxes lit up one after another.
Red, white, and green.
Hundreds of points of light emerged at once.
Pigsy cursed and gripped his rake tightly.
"Damn it, not again?"
Clerk Gu was panting, his face was pale, but his eyes were full of ruthlessness.
"The review process has been restarted."
"None of you are getting away."
"As long as the accounts in the port are still outstanding, whether they are alive or dead, broken or unsigned, they all have to be brought back to the warehouse for review."
The pale-faced man finally smiled.
She laughed very softly.
"Registrar Gu, you've finally done something worthwhile."
As soon as he finished speaking, a series of sounds of chains tightening came from deep within the source warehouse.
Click. Click. Click.
It looked like countless hands were pushing the box out.
The face of the original body changed abruptly.
"Don't let it be fully lit."
"When all the lights are on, old orders will come back."
Chen Fan pressed further, "Where is the account book?"
The foreground raised the hand with seven box tags attached and pointed to the top of the warehouse.
"above."
"The review panel is closed, so we can't see it."
"When it opens, the curtain lines will fall down."
"As long as you grasp the main thread, you can make a change."
One stroke is enough.
Upon hearing this, Clerk Gu laughed even harder.
"Is one penny enough?"
"You don't even have a pen."
"The accounts here need to be stamped by the registrar, signed by the chief accountant, and sealed with a 'return to the granary' mark."
"What are you going to use to modify it?"
Chen Fan raised the permission pin in his hand.
The smile on Clerk Gu's face froze for a moment.
The predecessor also looked over.
Chen Fan's mind was already aligned.
It wasn't that no one thought of saving people during the previous eight generations of fruit feeders.
They lost because of the order.
Save first, then fix.
So the people who were rescued were taken back.
The permission pin isn't for unpacking.
At least not just.
This thing is probably specifically used for stamping accounts.
He looked at the top of the warehouse.
It was originally dark up there.
At this moment, thin, glowing lines are slowly seeping out.
It looked like someone was flipping through ledgers behind the ceiling, with ink lines hanging down one by one.
Small characters were hung on each line.
Number. Stored. Verified. Returned.
It also has a name.
Some of them were rotten, with only half of the title remaining.
Some of them were so new they were almost blinding.
Pigsy only glanced at it once, and his scalp tingled.
"Old Chen, you've got connections."
Chen Fan looked up.
Sure enough, he saw his mark on a newly fallen tent line.
The ninth generation of fruit feeders.
Waiting to return.
Then I looked to the side.
Sun Wukong, an anomalous sample.
Pigsy (Zhu Bajie), chained and awaiting trial.
The one that came before was the worst.
Seven withdrawals and seven re-entries.
No wonder he had seven slips of paper pinned to his hand.
That's not punishment.
Those were pieces of evidence that had been withdrawn seven times.
Sun Wukong looked at his string, a golden light flashed in his eyes, and he raised his staff to smash it.
The predecessor shouted anxiously, "Don't smash it!"
"Smashing it won't help, the bill is still up there!"
Chen Fan has already made his move.
He pushed off with his foot, leaping up the box lid, and thrust the access nail in his hand directly at his own tent line.
Registrar Gu cried out in disbelief.
"Stop him!"
The pale-faced man finally stopped standing.
He slipped through the crack in the door like a piece of paper, his five fingers forming claws, aiming straight for Chen Fan's back.
The speed is frighteningly fast.
Sun Wukong grinned.
"I've been waiting for you for ages."
The golden cudgel swept across.
This blow was merciless.
The pale-faced man raised his arm to block, and with a crack, half of his sleeve bone was broken. He slid backward and knocked over three black boxes.
Clerk Gu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"You dare to hit the censor?"
"We're going to beat you bunch of bookkeeping dogs."
Sun Wukong caught up and slammed his staff down again.
This time, the pale-faced man dared not take the hit head-on. He rolled away, and for the first time, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
Taking advantage of this moment, Chen Fan had already driven the access nail into the tent wire.
There was no blood.
There was only one piercing friction sound.
It's like someone is wielding a knife and scraping it hard across an abacus.
The next moment, a string of words exploded in front of Chen Fan's eyes.
[The Ninth Generation Fruit Feeder]
[Arrival in Hong Kong: Recorded]
[Uses: Feeding, transferring, replenishing losses]
Status: Pending return
The last two words were glowing red.
Chen Fan gritted his teeth, twisted his wrist, and slashed the "Waiting to Return" sign hard with the nail tip.
sizzle.
The red light split open on the spot.
The entire tent line was shaking violently.
Dozens of boxes inside the warehouse were banging and crashing at the same time, as if someone inside was going crazy and banging on the door.
Clerk Gu's face turned pale.
"You're insane!"
"Tampering with the source accounts without authorization will have consequences!"
Chen Fan's veins bulged on the back of his hand as he pressed down on the wire, coldly cursing back.
"If you can change it, why can't I?"
He crossed out half of those two words.
The character "待" (dài) has shattered.
The struggle to return home continues.
Just then, from the deepest part of the warehouse roof, a thick, pure black line suddenly drooped down.
It's thicker than other tent threads.
A bone needle was hanging from the end of the thread.
A thin sheet of curtain is strung on the needle.
The page of the account book swung down and came to rest right in front of Chen Fan.
There was only one line of text at the top.
[The holder of the general sales authority, Gu Zhaolin, possesses one master ledger.]
When Registrar Gu saw that page of the account, his expression changed instantly.
"How did they manage to bring out the mother tent...?"
Suddenly, the person in front of them propped themselves up, their eyes filled with light.
"Grab it!"
"That's the real account!"
Just as Chen Fan was about to reach out, the pale-faced man suddenly roared.
"Gu Zhaolin, step back!"
"Don't touch that book!"
Registrar Gu was taken aback and subconsciously looked up.
Immediately afterwards, a woman's laughter rang out from deep within the warehouse roof.
It's very light.
Very close.
It's like someone has been watching a play from behind the mother tent.
The next second, a hand smeared with black ink slowly emerged from behind the thin ledger page and slapped down on the head of Registrar Gu.
Chapter 536 The Notice Was Changed for the First Time
The moment that black hand pressed down, Gu Zhaolin felt as if he were wrapped in a wet cloth, his neck sinking down first.
He made an "uh" sound.
The sound was very short.
The golden fruit pit button on his forehead lit up first, and after shining for half a breath, it cracked open with a snap.
The pale-faced man stood outside the door, his face turning even paler.
"Don't touch her!"
He didn't shout that at Gu Zhaolin.
It is Chen Fan who is in conflict.
Chen Fan had already lunged towards the thin mother tent, but upon hearing this sound, he moved even faster.
"Monkey King, block the door!"
Sun Wukong strode forward, his golden cudgel thrusting horizontally, causing a muffled thud to erupt from behind the door. The black mist in the storage room seeped in through the crack in the door, only to be forcefully forced back in.
Pigsy grabbed his rake and immediately moved to protect Chen Fan from behind.
"You handle the accounts, I'll watch the people!"
Its predecessor was more direct.
He stared at the black hand until his throat tightened.
"That's not her true form! She's using the mother account to get her share! Quick, drag out the real account!"
Chen Fan clenched his five fingers and grabbed the corner of the thin booklet, which felt as slippery as if it had just been pulled out of the water.
Turn the pages yourself.
Splash!
Turning to the middle, a page suddenly bulged out.
It looks like something is stuck underneath.
Black Ink's hand tightened suddenly, his five fingers digging directly into Gu Zhaolin's scalp. Gu Zhaolin's eyes rolled upwards, his face twitched, as if he wanted to curse, but he couldn't open his mouth.
"The ninth generation..."
He managed to squeeze out a few words.
"You dare touch... the Hong Kong charts?"
Chen Fan ignored him.
He ripped open the bulging page of the account book.
There are no words inside.
It was a black iron nail.
Half a finger's length.
The nail was engraved with fine lines, and the end was covered with a bit of dark gold dust, as if it had been forcibly pried off from an old plaque.
Upon seeing the original, their eyes lit up.
"Proofreading tool!"
"You actually caught it!"
The pale-faced man outside the door fell silent.
"How did it end up in the mother's tent!"
This wasn't just feigned composure.
Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat.
He had long suspected that this mother account book was important, but he never expected it to be hidden there.
He was panting heavily, but his voice was rapid.
"Stop asking questions, install the main tent! Quickly!"
"The notice for the Seventh Anchorage Area must be posted on the main account's supplementary page!"
"If you change just one line, they'll all have to stop today!"
The black hand on the top of the warehouse visibly stiffened for a moment.
Immediately afterwards, the woman's laughter stopped.
A shrill voice came down from all directions.
"Who dares to judge Hong Kong?"
Gu Zhaolin's knees buckled, and he almost knelt down.
All the arrogance on his face vanished, and he gritted his teeth and struggled upwards.
"The Inspector of Ink..."
"I'm still here, the list of successful candidates must not be messed up—"
Hei Mo pressed down with his hand.
Gu Zhaolin spat out a mouthful of blood, and the rest of his sentence was completely broken.
Chen Fan had already turned the mother tent upside down.
The last three pages are all lists.
Densely packed.
Each line seems alive, the ink characters crawling lightly on the paper like a swarm of black insects huddled together.
The one at the very top is the biggest.
[Seventh parking area, welcome back to port]
The four characters flashed on and off.
It looks like they're eating it all.
Chen Fan stared at it for a moment and felt a tightness in his chest.
The predecessor was so anxious that he kept pounding the ground.
"Don't just stand there!"
"Insert the pin, change it!"
"Changing only Zone 7 will minimize the disruption, but it will be the most ruthless!"
Pigsy turned around and roared.
"Hurry! They can't hold out outside!"
There was more than one hand on the door panel.
First came a pale hand, then two, then three. The fingernails scraped against the door, making a screeching sound that made one's teeth ache.
Sun Wukong braced himself against the door with one hand, while raising his staff in the other.
"Chen Fan, three breaths."
"If you're any slower, I'll smash all that stuff outside in here."
"You choose."
Chen Fan took a deep breath and picked up the proofreading nail.
The moment the nail tip touched the ledger page, the entire master ledger shuddered violently.
Like a live fish seeing a hook.
The shrill female voice instantly rose in pitch.
"Stop!"
"Who do you think you are, to presume to change the Cantonese language!"
Chen Fan's hands didn't stop, and neither did his mouth.
Whether I am worthy or not is not for you to decide today.
The nail tip pierced the first stroke of the character "欢" (joy).
laugh.
There is no Mars.
There was only a stuffy, burnt smell, like damp paper that had been pressed deep inside an old cabinet for years suddenly bursting into flames.
The words on the ledger pages began to scramble.
The four characters "Welcome back to the warehouse" seemed to be frantically trying to hide to the side, as if trying to shrink back into the paper.
Chen Fan gritted his teeth and pressed his wrist down.
Every stroke of the pen was carefully altered.
[Recall suspended, pending review]
When the last character "审" (examine) was written, the entire staple was inserted into the ledger page, with only the end of the staple sticking out, trembling slightly.
There was a moment of silence in the warehouse.
next moment.
The entire harbor looks like it's being choked from the middle.
A loud bang was heard outside.
It's not an explosion.
It's a stop.
The black light that had been flowing along the warehouse passage suddenly snapped. The hands that had been scraping at the door outside froze in mid-air, like a group of marionettes whose strings had suddenly snapped.
The black ink hand above Gu Zhaolin's head also trembled.
Fine cracks appeared on the back of my hand.
"impossible……"
The woman's voice changed tone for the first time.
"Who gave you the right to review and approve?!"
Chen Fan looked down.
The mother account's supplementary page opens by itself.
Below the seventh anchorage, the original clerk's mark that belonged to Gu Zhaolin was split in two.
Half of it is still there.
Half of it turned gray.
At the same time, the string of fruit pit buttons hanging from Gu Zhaolin's waist fell to the ground with a clatter.
He braced himself on the ground with both hands, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
"My permissions..."
"How could it be cut in half!"
The person in front of him laughed so hard their chest shook.
"nonsense."
"The proclamation has been changed, are you still the old registrar?"
"The fact that they didn't fire you on the spot is already considered lenient according to Hong Kong regulations!"
At this point, Gu Zhaolin completely lost his composure.
He had just been acting like he was taking over everything, but now he was kneeling on the ground, frantically picking up the fallen fruit pits and buttons. He picked one up, and it crumbled. He picked one up, and it cracked.
His hands started shaking when he picked up the third one.
"How could this happen... I clearly connected to the main sales line..."
Chen Fan stepped on the back of his hand.
Click.
Gu Zhaolin groaned and finally looked up.
That face had lost all its former airs of a registrar; it was now filled with shock and ruthlessness.
"You think you'll win just by changing one line?"
"Ninth Generation, do you even know whose inventory you've tampered with?!"
Chen Fan looked down at him and held the mother tent directly in front of him.
All I know is that you used Hong Kong regulations to intimidate people just now.
"The Hong Kong regulations have changed now."
You have to listen to me.
One sentence was enough to make Gu Zhaolin's face twitch.
Pigsy laughed first.
"Damn, it's so crispy."
Sun Wukong's side was even more direct.
The door opened.
He kicked the first two frozen black-ringed specimens into the warehouse.
After the two objects landed, their limbs remained in a forward-leaning position, but the black rings on their chests had gone dark, like lights without electricity.
Pigsy went up and used his rake to flip one of them over.
A row of small characters emerged from the ring surface.
[Recall suspended, imports frozen]
"It's really stopped!"
Pigsy grinned.
"Old Chen, that was a ruthless move!"
Further along the canal road, chaos began to break out as well.
First, some people started to criticize.
Then came the sound of chains falling to the ground.
Further on, there were long stretches of footsteps stuck in place, as if the entire sample of the seventh parking area had stalled halfway through the journey.
As Gu Zhaolin listened to the commotion outside, his face turned increasingly pale.
He understood better than anyone what this meant.
The goods delivered to the port today cannot be received into the source warehouse.
If it can't be brought in, it will just pile up outside.
A bunch of detached samples, a bunch of black ring semi-finished products, and a bunch of old goods that can't be seen in the light of day are all stuck in Zone 7.
The registrar should take the blame.
He carried half of it.
The remaining half needs to be burned.
The pale-faced man finally stopped pretending.
His voice, hushed to the utmost, came from outside the door.
"Gu Zhaolin, you're a piece of trash."
"They couldn't even keep an eye on a single mother account book."
Gu Zhaolin suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with the urgency to survive.
"Sir, save me! I didn't change the notice, it was him—"
"Shut up."
The pale-faced man only uttered two words.
The next second, a thin white thread slipped through the crack in the door.
It's not silk.
Like tendons pulled from human bones.
Upon seeing this, the person in front of them immediately changed their expression.
"retreat!"
"He's going to silence them!"
Sun Wukong reacted the fastest, spinning his golden cudgel and smashing it directly into the crack in the door.
boom!
The entire door panel bulged up.
The white line was broken in half, but the broken end didn't hit the ground; instead, it darted towards Gu Zhaolin's neck like a live snake.
Gu Zhaolin tried to dodge, but his movements were a beat too slow.
A white thread is wrapped around it.
A crisp click.
His neck was tilted to one side, his eyes were still open, but black liquid began to drip from the corner of his mouth.
Pigsy clicked his tongue.
"That's ruthless."
Chen Fan, however, did not look at Gu Zhaolin.
His gaze remained fixed on the mother tent.
After the notice was revised, a new line of text appeared at the bottom of the side page.
It's not the original Hong Kong regulation.
It's like you've just climbed up from a deeper place.
The text is very small.
The ink was very heavy.
[Retrieval of the seventh parking area is suspended; temporary inspection bays are now open]
There is one empty space below.
Like someone is waiting for someone to press their hand.
The person in front of him was breathing rapidly.
"Press it on!"
"Quick! This is for grabbing a spot!"
"If you get the temporary proofreading position, you'll be in charge of opening and closing half the doors in this area today!"
Pigsy's eyes widened in astonishment.
"You can do that?"
Sun Wukong also turned around and glanced back.
"according to."
"Someone's coming."
As soon as those three words were spoken, the sound of orderly footsteps suddenly rang out from the far end of the warehouse.
It wasn't the messy dragging that happened before.
It's a team.
Not a single step off.
Each step is heavier than the last.
The pale-faced man outside the door remained silent for a moment, then took the initiative to step back.
The person who made him give way was clearly no small fry.
At the end of the warehouse road, a row of cold lights soon came on.
What appeared first under the light was not a human face.
It is a small flag with a black background and gold trim.
There is only one word on the flag.
审。
Upon seeing the flag clearly, the person in front of him tensed up, his voice becoming a thin line.
"Oh no!"
"The real interrogation team from the port has arrived."
Chen Fan had already raised his hand, hovering above the empty seal position.
It's still half an inch short.
A cold female voice came from outside the warehouse door.
"Who is illegally opening trial slots in District 7?"
"Take your hand away."
Chapter 537 Yang Jian Takes Back the Surveillance Chain
"Take your hand away."
As soon as the woman's voice fell, the small black flag with gold trim outside the warehouse door peeked in first.
The flag is not big.
The weight of the weight prevented the people inside the room from moving.
Clerk Gu had barely escaped with his life from that black-clad assassin. He lay on the ground, still panting, but his eyes had already changed. He recognized the flag. In the port's real interrogation team, seeing the flag was like seeing a knife. Normally, with his clerk's order, he could intimidate anyone. But with the real interrogation team present, he wouldn't even have the right to utter a sound.
The original owner's face darkened further, and he muttered under his breath, "The fact that the flag inspection has entered the Seventh District means that the higher-ups have taken direct control."
Chen Fan's hand was still hovering over that empty seal position.
It's off by half an inch.
If we were to press it down, it would be tantamount to directly competing with the real review team for a spot.
The footsteps outside the door were slow, almost frighteningly steady.
The first person to enter was a woman, wearing a narrow-sleeved black robe with a string of silver tokens hanging from her waist. As she entered, she glanced at the registrar, Gu, on the ground, then looked at the altered master ledger of the proclamation on the ceiling, her brows furrowing slightly.
"You altered the proclamation without permission, opened the audit for positions without authorization, and even dragged out the mother's account." She stared at Chen Fan. "You've got some nerve."
As if grasping a lifeline, Clerk Gu scrambled toward her.
"Judge Ning! It's them, the ninth generation infiltrated! And there's a broken sample! And—"
Snapped.
The woman flicked her wrist, and a silver token was embedded directly into the floor tile near the mouth of Clerk Gu.
It was just a hair's breadth away from his lips.
Clerk Gu immediately shut up, his face turning pale.
"I didn't ask you."
He swung the weapon so swiftly that even Pigsy raised an eyebrow.
"This woman is even more ruthless than I thought."
Sun Wukong did not respond.
He kept staring at the woman's back.
There's another person behind that.
He wasn't wearing the black robes of the judges, nor did he have a silver tag. He was just draped in an old gray cloak, walking slowly, as if he had arrived casually. Yet the real judges made way for him.
Chen Fan's eyes narrowed.
Yang Jian.
It is not a Dharma image that paves the way, nor a three-pointed double-edged sword that suppresses the field.
He didn't even bring any weapons this time.
But the moment the person in front of her saw him, their back straightened up.
"How could it be him...?"
Judge Ning turned around, seemingly unwilling to say more, and coldly uttered a single sentence.
"Temporary access officer".
Upon hearing this, Clerk Gu was stunned at first, then a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.
Investigator?
Isn't that for auditing accounts?
Before he could speak, Yang Jian had already bypassed the crowd and walked directly to the mother's book.
He didn't look at Chen Fan, nor did he look at Sun Wukong.
His gaze fell on the tear in the banner tent that had been torn open by his predecessor, and he paused for two breaths.
Then, he raised his hand.
The cuff slid down half an inch.
On the inside of my wrist, a very faint old mark was visible.
It looks like marks left by a chain.
The pupils of the person in question contracted, and their voice became hoarse.
"Chain of surveillance..."
This time, Clerk Gu was truly dumbfounded.
"What chain?"
Yang Jian still ignored him.
He pressed two fingers together against the edge of the crack. The dark crack seemed to come alive, creeping upwards along his fingertips. After a few breaths, a thin, hair-like dark gold thread was slowly pulled out of the crack.
The entire warehouse fell silent.
For the first time, Judge Ning's expression changed.
"Are you really capable of reconnecting the old link?"
Yang Jian said calmly, "It's not a continuation."
"It's to take it back."
Upon hearing this, Clerk Gu's knees buckled, and he almost knelt down.
He finally understood.
This is not an auditor temporarily transferred from the port.
This is the old rights holder.
And the level is frighteningly high.
Yang Jian tugged at the dark gold thread, and it grew longer and longer until it transformed into a small chain less than a foot long. The links were very thin, and each link bore a tiny mark, like an eye or a lock.
As soon as the chain was formed, all the lights in the seventh district flashed.
The several runes on the wall lit up simultaneously, then went silent at the same time.
Registrar Gu's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly reached for his waist token.
"My storage order... why is it malfunctioning?"
Yang Jian finally turned his head and glanced at him.
His eyes showed little emotion.
Registrar Gu felt as if he had been slapped in the face; his scalp tingled.
"The old chain of the former Ninth Experimental Field Inspector has been reinstated."
"Your storage order is registered under the Seventh Warehouse Master Register."
"Four floors below me."
"What are you going to do with it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark gold chain trembled slightly.
The clerk's token at the clerk's waist cracked open with a "crack," freezing the black light flowing on it instantly, as if it had been stuffed into a block of ice.
Clerk Gu lunged forward to snatch it.
As soon as his hand touched the token, his entire arm went numb, and he cried out in pain as he pulled back.
Pigsy laughed heartily at the sight.
"Hey, weren't you pretty arrogant just now? Go ahead and bang on the door again, go ahead and shout 'Go back to the granary' again."
Clerk Gu's face turned pale and then red, and his lips trembled.
"Inspector...no, impossible. The Ninth Experimental Site was sealed off long ago. How could the Old Chain still be in the Mother Account...?"
"Sealing it off doesn't mean it's completely wiped clean," Yang Jian said.
He spoke mediocrely.
Judge Ning instinctively took a half step back.
She came from an auditing background and knew best how troublesome old permissions were. What the port feared most wasn't troublesome samples or monsters that had broken out of the chain, but these kinds of people who should have disappeared but still left their mark on the underlying chain.
Chen Fan stared at the dark gold chain, and his mind lit up.
This is the key.
It's not a path to be forged.
That's the path we found.
He immediately followed up, "Can we investigate this further?"
Yang Jian looked up at him.
Chen Fan pointed to the frozen warehouse return order of Registrar Gu.
"That bastard keeps sending people upstairs. The registrar's order is listed in the seventh vault, and there must be a list behind the order. Who entered the port, who left the warehouse, who had their files deleted—it's all in there."
Upon hearing this, Clerk Gu's face immediately turned pale.
"Don't check! That's in the warehouse—"
Sun Wukong kicked him in the lower back.
Clerk Gu lunged forward, his face scraping against the floor tiles for half a foot, and his teeth even bleeding.
"If you utter one more word, I, Old Sun, will rip your tongue out."
The interrogation team members standing at the door looked at each other, none of them daring to move.
It's not that they didn't want to stop them.
The judge, Ning, did not speak.
Meanwhile, Judge Ning was also staring at the chain in Yang Jian's hand, his fingers pressing on the silver token, hesitating to pull it out.
She's waiting too.
What exactly will this former inspector uncover?
Yang Jian tossed the small chain into the air.
The chain dangled, as if nailed to mid-air.
The next moment, lines of black characters were forcibly pulled out from the frozen registrar's order.
It's not words on paper.
It is a record hidden in the token.
Row upon row, floating outwards close to the air.
When Clerk Gu saw the first row, he rushed forward like a madman.
"Stop! Stop! That's not something you can see!"
Snapped!
This time, it's the predecessor that's making the move.
The broken pen handle in his hand smashed directly onto the back of Clerk Gu's head, making him see stars and fall back to his original position.
"Shut up."
The person in question was breathing rapidly, their eyes fixed on the rows of black characters.
Like staring at a grave you've wanted to dig up your whole life.
First row.
[Sample count of stored grains: 132.]
second row.
[Transfer anomalies: zero.]
Third row.
[Supervisory review: Deleted.]
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.
Deleted?
Keep reading.
Fourth row.
[Port inspector list.]
As soon as the words were scattered, a long string of names unfolded behind them.
No, that's not a name.
It's more like a number.
Each number has three words attached to it.
[Deleted]
[Deleted]
[Deleted]
The entire page was filled with these three words.
Pigsy felt a chill run down his spine.
"Old Pig has lived this long, and this is the first time I've seen a list full of dead people... no, they're not even dead, they've all been erased."
Judge Ning's expression changed completely.
"How is that possible?"
"The port inspectorate roster is not under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Treasury, and it should not be in the registrar's order."
Yang Jian raised his hand and hooked the chain, causing it to tremble again.
The top column slowly cracked open.
It's like a layer of fake skin has been torn off.
The original upward-facing sign disappeared, revealing the actual old sign underneath.
When the original body saw those words clearly, it stopped breathing.
Chen Fan was also taken aback.
That line of text was very short.
There are only five characters.
[The Ninth Scene: Old Port]
Below this line of text, at the very top of the list, there is a bolded old note.
It's not a serial number.
It's not a deletion mark either.
It was a line of text so gray it was almost illegible.
Yang Jian stared at it, his fingers stopping for the first time.
Judge Ning couldn't help but take half a step forward.
"What does it say on it?"
The next instant, the dark gold chain trembled slightly.
The gray text became fully visible.
【Huaguoshan Source Sample】
The room fell into a deathly silence.
Pigsy's mouth was open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his eyes widened in surprise and fear, as if he had suddenly remembered a great deal.
Registrar Gu was completely paralyzed.
He stared at the five words, making a strange, indistinct sound, as if he had seen a ghost.
Sun Wukong took a step and stood in front of the words in mid-air, his eyes lowered.
"Flower and Fruit Mountain".
He spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Who mistook my old Sun's mountain for a sample?"
Yang Jian hadn't spoken yet.
The registrar's order, which was hanging in the air, suddenly clicked again.
From the crack in the token, the second layer of secret records slowly emerged.
只有一行。
It felt like I had just been remotely woken up.
Yang Jian's gaze suddenly darkened.
Chen Fan looked in that direction, and his back instantly tensed up.
The newly emerged words were red.
[Source sample awakened, Old Port about to open]
Immediately afterwards, the entire wall of the seventh warehouse shook.
It's very light.
It looked like something had turned over behind the wall.
Chapter 538 Pigsy swallowed a box tag
After the warehouse wall trembled slightly, all the lights in the entire seventh section went out for a moment.
next second.
One red light after another lit up.
It's not a guide.
It's like taking attendance.
The sound of latches clicking and clapping came from inside the wall, both near and far, making one's scalp tingle.
Clerk Gu's expression changed first.
"The floodgates have been opened for preheating."
"If we don't leave now, the entire area will be sealed off like a live box."
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he spoke in a very low voice.
"The real trial team is outside, Cang Bi is awake, and the registrar has ordered the red record to be turned over again."
"This isn't an audit, this is a human-devouring operation."
Yang Jian raised his hand, wrapped the monitoring chain around his wrist, and fastened it back onto his wrist.
As the silver chain closed, a sliver of cold light shone from within its links.
He didn't even look outside, only asking Chen Fan.
"Do you want to advance or retreat?"
Chen Fan stared at the line of red text.
[Source sample awakened, Old Port about to open]
Huaguo Mountain was recorded as a sample.
The old port opened.
They would no longer be considered trespassers.
Yes, it's the goods.
Chen Fan let out a breath.
"Cannot be refunded."
"Take what you can before opening the gate."
The pale-faced man was still standing outside the door, his laughter dry.
"take?"
"What are you going to bring?"
"With a single letter from District Seven, you won't even be able to leave your names."
Sun Wukong took a step forward, and his golden cudgel slammed to the ground.
The ground shook violently.
The door hinges were all slightly bent.
He grinned, his eyes filled with a fierce light.
"Stop talking nonsense."
"Open the door or not, or I'll smash the wall."
This time, the pale-faced man didn't argue back.
He took half a step back.
They were clearly afraid that Sun Wukong would take action.
Clerk Gu was anxious.
"Don't smash it!"
"Behind the wall isn't soil, it's a nest of boxes. Smash one, and the rest will wake up."
Chen Fan immediately seized upon this sentence.
"What's the nest afraid of?"
Registrar Gu's lips trembled slightly.
"I'm afraid to sign."
"They recognize signatures, not people. If there's a code, they'll release it; if not, they'll haul it away and pack it into boxes."
Pigsy, who was carrying his nine-toothed rake and looking around, suddenly brightened up when he heard this.
"sign?"
He bent down and started rummaging around.
In the chaos just now, there were many rotten wooden signs, cracked iron pieces, and black labels that had broken off from old boxes scattered on the ground.
Some of them were broken, and there was still old ink on the edges.
Registrar Gu glanced at it and quickly waved his hand.
"Don't touch it."
"That's an expired label. It's outdated. There's no point in sticking it on."
Bajie clicked his tongue.
"You're useless, yet you're so afraid."
As he spoke, he squatted down and picked one up.
That thing was only half a palm long, with a black wood base and a layer of gray-silver seal pressed on the surface, the seal had long since cracked.
He took it in his hand and flipped through it.
Just as I was about to stuff it into my sleeve, the wooden skewer suddenly made a "sizzling" sound.
Like burnt paper.
A wisp of gray smoke climbed up his finger.
Pigsy was startled and almost shook him off.
"Damn it, it's biting my hand again?"
Chen Fan turned his head and looked at it, his gaze sharpening.
The gray smoke didn't dissipate.
It's burrowing into Pigsy's arm.
It's like searching for a place to imprint.
Clerk Gu's face darkened further.
"Oh no, it's looking for a substitute."
"Expired labels are the dirtiest; whoever gets them on is carrying the old box number."
The pale-faced man outside sneered.
"It's good that you've memorized it."
"Let's recycle them together."
Sun Wukong raised his staff again.
Chen Fan raised his hand to stop him, but his eyes never left Bajie.
"Don't smash it yet."
"Let him give it a try."
"Try what?"
Bajie was baring his teeth when the wisp of gray smoke had already reached his neck.
He suddenly shrank his neck, his pig-like temper flaring up.
"Try it, my ass! I'll eat it first!"
The voice just fell.
He actually opened his mouth.
A snap.
He bit off the old box tag and swallowed it along with the ash.
The entire warehouse fell silent instantly.
Clerk Gu's eyes nearly popped out.
"You...you ate it?"
The predecessor was dumbfounded.
"Can even box tags be swallowed?"
The pale-faced man was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.
"idiot."
"That's the death mark from the discarded slips. If it gets into your stomach, at best it'll cause your intestines to rot, at worst you'll become a slave to your trunk."
"I thought you guys were really capable, but it turns out you brought a pig to its death."
Pigsy clutched his stomach, his face turning pale and then red.
"You son of a bitch..."
He had only uttered half a curse when a sudden "thump" came from his stomach.
It felt like someone had struck a wooden fish in his stomach.
Immediately afterwards, he straightened his neck and exhaled a cloud of grayish-white air.
The anger hasn't dissipated.
Instead, it pressed against his chest, forming a faint signature.
The seal was only the size of a copper coin, stuck to his lapel, flashing intermittently.
Clerk Gu stared with his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.
"Temporary...pass stamp?"
Chen Fan's eyes lit up.
"What level?"
Registrar Gu took two steps closer and stared intently.
"The stamps of the lowest-level box makers in the old port."
"Short time frame, low right-of-way, can only take miscellaneous roads, cannot enter the main platform."
"But it's real. It has the aura of a genuine fortune slip."
The pale-faced man's laughter abruptly stopped.
He stared at the mark on Pigsy's chest, his face stiffening.
"How is that possible?"
"How can a dead stamp on an invalid signature come back to life?"
Yang Jian also glanced at it, a strange look flashing in his eyes.
"He swallowed the mark of death and left behind a destiny of destiny."
"You idiot, your stomach works better than I thought."
Pigsy rubbed his belly, his face still pale, but his lips curled up in a smile.
"That's right."
"Back in the old days of Tianpeng Camp, I ate all sorts of weird and wonderful things."
After he finished speaking, he was stunned.
Because not only does my stomach not hurt.
Something else had entered his mind.
It's not a character.
It's a stretch of road.
It was black. Narrow. It turned seven or eight corners. The roadside was lined with numbered boxes.
At the end, there is a slanted iron gate.
There are three broken characters on the door.
second……
The rest is not clear.
Pigsy suddenly looked up.
"Old Chen."
"I saw something."
Chen Fan immediately walked up to him.
"explain."
Bajie closed his eyes and raised his hand to gesture on the ground.
"Like a fragment of a painting."
"Go out from here, not through the main gate, but through the side path on the right. Pass two overhead rails, then go through a low warehouse. There's a wastewater ditch behind it."
The more Clerk Gu listened, the more uneasy he felt.
"That's the old production line."
"It was rendered useless a long time ago."
Bajie ignored him and continued talking.
"At the end of the wastewater ditch, there's a slanted door. Above the door, it looks like it says something like 'Second Field'."
The front of the body suddenly shuddered.
"A second experimental field?"
Bajie opened his eyes.
"Yes, that's the taste."
"I saw people running from there. Not just one, but a series of dark figures. The one in front was dragging a chain."
Yang Jian's gaze darkened.
"Escape route".
Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat.
Second experimental field.
They had just gotten close to the "off-chain sample" in the previous chapters.
Now, Pigsy swallowed an old fortune slip and actually saw the incomplete map.
This is no coincidence.
This is the old port providing a road.
Or rather, someone had already blocked the way through these invalid signatures.
The pale-faced man finally couldn't hold back any longer and turned to leave.
"Stop him!"
Chen Fan gave a low shout.
Sun Wukong had been waiting for this.
A figure flashed, and the stick swept across.
The door panel flew off.
The pale-faced man staggered back three steps, but was still struck on the shoulder by the residual force, half of his body sinking into the wall, blood and foam gushing from his mouth.
He still wanted to struggle.
Sun Wukong stepped on his chest.
"Run!"
"Run one more and show me."
The group of black-clad interrogators standing outside initially appeared quite imposing.
The pale-faced man was rendered helpless with a single move, completely frozen in place.
Someone just raised the flag.
Yang Jian flicked his wrist, and the monitoring chain flew out with a "whoosh," directly entangling the trial flag.
The chain link is twisted.
The flagpole broke in two.
The man in black's hands were numb, and his face was as white as paper.
"Chain of surveillance..."
"Didn't you already give the order?"
Yang Jian looked at him indifferently.
"Who told you I submitted the entire blockchain?"
In a word.
Those people all stepped back.
The clerk, Gu, felt a chill run down his spine.
The real investigation team was suppressed.
These people are all incredibly ruthless.
Chen Fan didn't have time to pay attention to them and squatted down next to the incomplete drawing that Bajie had made.
Does the route have a beginning and an end?
Pigsy frowned, as if recalling something.
"There's one up ahead."
"It stopped there."
"At the break, there's a high platform. It's full of boxes, layer upon layer, like a mountain. There are even lights hanging from the top, rotating."
Registrar Gu exclaimed, "The general storehouse?"
Its predecessor has also changed its appearance.
"What you saw was a multi-stage equipment display?"
Pigsy nodded.
"The end refers to that place."
Registrar Gu's throat was dry.
"That place is deeper inside the harbor."
"Normally only the chief dispatcher and the head of the mother tent can enter."
"All the discarded labels, old boxes, and unpacked samples from the old port eventually end up there."
Chen Fan stood up, his eyes suddenly turning cold.
"In other words, the people who escaped from the second experimental field eventually went to the group box platform."
The predecessor continued the conversation.
"Or rather, they were forced to work at the group box station."
The pale-faced man, whose chest heaved violently as Sun Wukong stepped on him, suddenly laughed upon hearing this.
Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, but his smile was strange.
"Go ahead."
"Aren't you looking for the real accounts?"
"Beneath the platform of boxes, there are buried tents."
"Personnel account, box account, sample account."
"Even the broken-chain mother tent you're looking for might be down there."
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.
"Maybe?"
The pale-faced man looked at him, his voice hoarse.
"Because those who have been there rarely come out."
"You thought the paths in the second experimental field were for escaped convicts?"
"no."
"That's a feeding line."
A moment of silence fell over the warehouse.
The clerk's back was soaked with sweat.
The predecessor's fingers trembled, almost crushing the tattered tent on the ground.
Bajie looked down at the faint mark on his chest.
The mark is still flashing.
It's a little brighter than before.
next moment.
His stomach made another "thump".
This time, it wasn't just one sound.
It was three times in a row.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It felt like three things bumped together inside his stomach.
Bajie's expression changed, and he reached into his robes.
The other two tattered box tags that he had just casually stuffed in had somehow stuck to his stomach and were now burrowing inside.
He cursed and raised his hand to pull.
Chen Fan's pupils contracted.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
It's too late.
The second old slip disappeared halfway into the ground with a "plop".
Bajie froze, his eyes fixed on the depths of the warehouse, his voice trembling.
"Over at the group box station..."
Something has opened.