I lent my brother 500 yuan, and he offered his wife as collateral.

……

After the life monitoring alarm sounded, the closed door of the remains area automatically closed.

[Estimated stabilization time for 17 vital signs: 60 minutes.]

The rate of life loss is still increasing.

The old clan gathering immediately descended into chaos.

"It's only been a short time since life support was cut off, and the person is already dying."

"No matter how many problems exist with the old Santa Fe system, it cannot be simply shut down."

"Restore the original formation first, and investigate the responsibility later."

Several applications to restore power were submitted at the same time.

The goal is clear.

Restart the original extraction array and use other lives to extend the life of the seventeen Shen family relics.

Su Qingxue rejected them all.

"It cannot be opened."

A representative of the old tribe stood up.

"Seventeen lives are in there. Are you trying to use principles to crush people?"

"Reverting to the old formation will only continue to drain other people's lives."

"We can start by finding volunteer energy donors."

Shen Banxia turned around from the ruins area.

"Who volunteered? You?"

The man shut his mouth.

Another old man said:

"The moment the Su family took over the Holy Tower, the remnants began to deteriorate collectively. Outsiders only care about the outcome."

That's very clear.

If the seventeen remaining individuals die, even if Su Qingxue discovers the hidden problems, she will first bear the responsibility of being blamed for the harm caused by the halting formation.

Qin Feng walked into the ruins area without arguing with the old clan.

He activated his divine eye and scanned the life-sustaining arrays one by one.

[Current life support: Live energy supply has been discontinued.]

Public basic energy: Normal.

[Reason for life loss: Hidden extraction loop.]

[Target for extraction: Shen Family's Zero Original Source Pattern.]

[Output Location: The former medical clinic, the ancestral home of the Su family in Yanjing.]

It was definitely a trap.

If the old method is not followed, Su Qingxue will have to continue to provide living people to power the Holy Tower.

Stop the old formation, immediately accelerate the hidden loop, and drain the last remaining life of the Shen family.

The people behind the scenes don't care whether these seventeen people survive or not.

The other party only wants to force Su Qingxue to reopen the old system. Once she does, the past responsibilities of the Holy Tower can be intertwined with the Su family's current decisions.

If we investigate further later, anyone can say that Su Qingxue also approved of this energy supply method.

Qin Feng suppressed his anger and first marked the structure of the hidden loop.

"Banxia, ​​come here."

Shen Banxia ran to his side.

"Have you found the cause?"

"Here, here, and at the very bottom return end. All three are drawing water outwards."

Qin Feng pointed out the location, but did not give her the order to cut off the supply.

The Shen family's array patterns have their own structure. The Divine Eye can see where the problem is, but it cannot replace Shen Banxia in judging which part is related to life maintenance.

"Can you cut it?"

Shen Banxia squatted down to examine it.

"The first segment can be cut. The second segment is connected to historical data; cutting it directly will result in the loss of some memory records. The third segment is under the life support array; cutting the wrong one will kill the person on the spot."

What do you need?

"Independent power source, stable cycle, and ten minutes of uninterrupted operation."

Qin Feng turned around.

"Qingxue, walk away from life support."

Su Qingxue has already opened the Holy Tower public resource pool.

"Current energy resources can only sustain eight-tenths of the total."

Qian Shao's remote channel came in.

"Boss, the Xiao family has two compensation mines that haven't been handed over yet. They're both stable spirit mines, they can hold out for a while."

Upon hearing his name called, Xiao Henian immediately checked the accounts.

"The mineral vein can be handed over, but directly changing it for life support purposes requires the approval of the Xiao family patriarch."

"How long?" Su Qingxue asked.

"The normal procedure takes half a day."

"There are only fifty-six minutes left."

Xiao Henian did not delay any longer.

"I signed the emergency handover agreement, and the Xiao family will not use this to offset their responsibility for the life-or-death order."

Qian Shao said:

"This sentence should be written on the reply slip to avoid disputes between the two sides later."

"Write."

The settlement page opened quickly.

Xiao Henian signed for the family head's permissions, Su Qingxue signed to receive them, and the public system locked the usage.

The two mineral veins cannot be incorporated into the Su family's assets; they can only supply energy to the Santa Life Sustainment Project.

As Qian Shao made the arrangements, he said:

"I can get back on in twelve minutes at the earliest. Banxia, ​​don't give me any formation jargon, just tell me how many you need."

"Start with three gears: the lowest for maintenance, the second for calibration, and the third as a backup."

"Understood. If you're talking about the Nine Palaces and Eight Gates, then I'll have to switch to a formation master for you."

Shen Banxia didn't have time to retort; she connected the seventeen life-saving rhythms onto the same monitoring chart.

Zhou Ye synchronized the timestamp.

"The hidden extraction is enhanced every forty-seven seconds. It waits for the living organism to decay on its own, so that the record will show a natural death."

"Can we leave any evidence?" Qin Feng asked.

"Okay. I'll save the amplification extraction and the Ancestral Land output rhythm side by side, recording all three copies simultaneously."

"Don't make it public yet."

The old tribes are still demanding the restoration of the old formations.

If we reveal the hidden extraction now, they will immediately ask who did it, how to prove it, and whether we can check first. Time is of the essence and we cannot afford to argue.

Qin Feng wanted to save people, and then present complete evidence.

Su Lie stood at the entrance to the ruins area, blocking two old clan array masters who wanted to enter.

"We're here to help."

"You are not on the list."

"The situation is urgent; the more people there are, the better our chances of success."

"You can't even recognize all the Shen family's source patterns; coming in will only cause trouble."

One of them looked unwell.

"Elder Su, you've gone too far."

Su Lie didn't move.

"Once someone is saved, then you can try to reason with me."

On the other side, two Santa recorders wanted to submit an automatic application to restore the old formation, but Wu Jie stopped them.

"You guys really never learn."

"We were just performing life-saving procedures."

"The old procedures risked other people's lives to save others, and you call that emergency care?"

The recorder said:

"The system has been running like this."

Wu Jie returned the application.

"The Grand Master used to sit on it all the time, but now he's lying down, isn't he?"

……

Forty-seven minutes remain.

The first mineral vein energy connection.

Shen Banxia began to cut the first hidden loop.

The extraction end is immediately enhanced.

Seventeen beats of life dropped a bit at the same time.

Shen Banxia's palms were covered in sweat, but she didn't stop.

"It's fighting back."

Qin Feng stared at the reflux structure.

"The third line on the right side is delayed."

"I saw it."

"Will it work?"

"Yes, but you can only use it once."

When the next round of extractions arrived, Shen Banxia suddenly reversed the first loop and plugged it into the empty array disk.

The remote extraction attempt failed.

"Now!"

Zhou Ye sent the calibration rhythm to the life support device, while Qian Shao simultaneously increased the output of the ore vein.

The seventeen relics have regained their energy.

Thirty-five minutes remain.

The second part relates to historical data.

Shen Banxia didn't cut it directly; instead, she first mapped each memory record independently. She didn't want to only preserve the active tissues while losing track of who these people were.

Qin Feng understood her concerns.

"Is there enough time?"

"We have to do it even if it's not enough."

"How many minutes will it take?"

"Twelve minutes."

"You have fifteen minutes."

Qin Feng turned to look at Su Qingxue.

"The entire second sequence of public resource pools will be moved to the legacy area, and non-emergency formations will be suspended for fifteen minutes."

Some members of the old clan council objected:

"Suspending the formation will affect the maintenance of the Great Order."

Su Qingxue asked directly:

"Which imperial edict is more urgent than the lives of the people here?"

No one answered.

……

Twenty-four minutes remain.

Historical data mapping complete, second segment cut.

All seventeen identity records were preserved.

The last section was placed beneath the life-sustaining array.

Shen Banxia lay down beside the array platform and slowly removed the covering patterns.

Her cold poison had long been cured, but after prolonged contact with the old formation, her arms still began to feel numb.

Qin Feng did not urge her.

Rushing things at this point will only lead to mistakes.

He scanned the third section of the structure again, finding the hidden life feedback lock.

"Don't touch the center line. It will interpret a cut as the subject's death."

"Then we'll go around from the side."

Shen Banxia changed her seat.

Nine minutes left.

The second mineral vein energy connection.

Three minutes left.

The last hidden loop was completely removed.

Zhou Ye immediately sealed it up.

Remote life extraction has been aborted.

The non-life support chain is functioning normally.

[The seventeen life forms have entered a stable state.]

There was silence for a few seconds outside the ruins area.

Those who had just requested the restoration of the old formation were looking at the monitoring chart and remained silent.

Su Qingxue then revealed the evidence.

Every increase in the hidden extraction, the output rhythm in the ancestral land direction, and the time of mineral vein access are all recorded clearly.

"The halt in action did not lead to their exhaustion."

"Someone remotely took their last breaths after the sanctuary stopped providing food."

"Reverting to the old formation will only drag more people into it."

After reviewing the evidence, Xiao Henian submitted it for permanent preservation.

"The Xiao family has applied to verify the subsequent use of the two compensation mines and prohibit their conversion for maintenance by the Grand Order."

Other members of the old faction also changed their stance.

No one wants to admit that they almost restarted the old system.

Shen Banxia ignored the reactions outside.

In one of the earliest remnants, the rhythm of life suddenly changed slightly.

Intermittent breathing sounds could be heard from the monitoring device.

"Someone's awake," she whispered.

Qin Feng walked over.

The elder from the Shen family was unable to open his eyes and only briefly regained consciousness.

After a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Guifeng Gate... wasn't where the Phoenix Lord was sent..."

Shen Banxia bent down.

"What is that for?"

"Let her...escape..."

The beat weakened again, but it didn't disappear.

At the same time, the severed hidden loop sent out a final remote feedback.

The second gate of Yanjing, the ancestral home, was unsealed ahead of schedule.

A port that had been dormant for twenty years suddenly came online in an old medical clinic.

[Lin Wanrong's historical identity: Currently being restored!]