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

……

The Grand Master was imprisoned in the lower level of the Holy Tower's interrogation room.

After his Qi Sea was cleared, there was no longer any pressure from the array on his body. His identity token was also removed, leaving only the most basic life monitoring.

When Qin Feng entered, the Grand Master was staring at the time on the wall.

"The Shen family surviving members are not dead."

The Grand Master's finger twitched.

"You used non-living energy."

"It seems you know what will happen after the supply is stopped."

"I don't know the specific arrangements."

"Then tell me what you know."

The Grand Master leaned back in his chair.

Now there is no golden seal, nor the right to interpret, but I still want to hold on to the last bit of something.

That wasn't loyalty; it was simply the inability to accept that after controlling the Holy Tower for so many years, it had become a tool in someone else's hands.

Why should I tell you?

Qin Feng placed a responsibility page on the table.

"You initiated the highest-level formatting yourself; that's a done deal. If you don't speak up, no one can absolve you of responsibility."

"Then what's the point of me speaking up?"

"I'll let you know who sent you in."

The Grand Master stared at him.

This statement hit the nail on the head regarding what he most wanted to understand.

Seven days ago, when he received the gray command, he never questioned its origin. That command could bypass the restrictions around the Holy Tower and also invoke the old system's observation permissions.

In his view, someone with such authority must be in a higher position in the Holy Tower.

The other party demanded that he complete the subjugation of Su Qingxue. He thought this was an opportunity for the Holy Tower to regain the right to interpret the first carrier.

As a result, the golden seal shattered, and the Qi Sea was also destroyed.

Su Qingxue, on the contrary, obtained temporary supervisory power.

The Grand Master finally spoke:

"I've been receiving a gray instruction for a long time. It doesn't have a fixed identification number, nor does it go through the Santa's record terminal. It only gives the result each time, without explaining the reason."

"How long has it been?"

"At least twelve years."

"What did I give you seven days ago?"

"Su Qingxue must be allowed to enter the Holy Tower and the subordinate binding completed."

"It didn't say how to do it?"

"No. It only reminded me that after the first ley line charge failed, I immediately moved on to a bearing review."

Qin Feng continued to ask:

"Did it also trigger the highest formatting process?"

The Grand Master paused for a moment.

"no."

That was your own decision.

"I must protect the Holy Tower."

"Did you manage to save it?"

The Grand Master did not answer.

Now I understand that the gray command didn't require him to press the gold seal at all.

If the first charge fails and the review process continues, the identity of the Santa subport will be revealed. He will certainly use his highest authority to destroy the evidence.

The other party understands him and knows that he will never accept having his right to interpretation taken away.

This is even harsher than a direct order, because the ultimate responsibility rests entirely on him.

Qin Feng laid out the complete timeline:

"The Grand Master attacks the superior central hub, and the ancestral land's highest defenses awaken."

"Su Qingxue thus obtained temporary supervisory authority over the Holy Tower."

"The Holy Tower has ceased supplying energy to living beings, and the Shen family's Zero Source Rune is being extracted at an accelerated pace."

"The second gate of the ancestral land has been opened ahead of schedule, and Lin Wanrong's historical identity has been revealed."

Qin Feng looked at the Grand Master.

"You only went first."

The Grand Master paused for a moment.

Previously, I always felt that I had lost to the chain of evidence Qin Feng had laid out. Now, looking back, Qin Feng was simply retaliating in accordance with the rules.

The person who actually pushed the whole thing to the ancestral land had already made preparations seven days in advance.

The Grand Master wanted to protect the Holy Tower, but ended up awakening the ancestral land with his own hands.

This is the hardest thing to accept.

Where is the original record of the gray command?

"The Holy Tower has no archives."

"If you can receive it, it will leave a code."

"You've already taken the identity card."

Qin Feng stood up.

That's enough.

……

Outside the review room, Zhou Ye had already completed the mirroring of his identity.

The entire gray instruction text was cleared by the self-destruct program, leaving only a few segments of transmission encoding.

"There's a very old prefix."

Zhou Ye said:

"It's not in the current Tianji Pavilion sequence. I checked the historical cancellation table, and it belongs to the higher-level observation sequence."

"Which seat?"

"The latter half is obscured. At present, we can only confirm that the authority is higher than that of the second observation seat and also higher than that of the Holy Tower."

Qin Feng told him to continue his analysis, then turned to switch to Wu Jie's channel.

Wu Jie has already contacted Su Tianxiao.

In the scene, Su Tianxiao is sitting in a windowless room. On the table is half a yellowed account book.

The first place they asked about, however, was not their ancestral home.

"Mr. Qin, what are the follow-up treatment plans for Wenbin?"

"Continue with the existing plan."

"If I hand over the account books, can you guarantee he won't have his medication stopped?"

"Existing medical records will not be deleted manually."

Su Tianxiao frowned.

"Just for recording?"

"What else do you want?"

"The collateral branches of the Su family can cooperate with the investigation, but there has to be a way out."

Qin Feng said:

"The ledger can only prove that you have stopped concealing the truth, not that you are innocent."

"What I have can help you open up the ancestral land."

"We'll still investigate even without it, it'll just be a bit slower."

Su Tianxiao recalculated in his mind.

His biggest desire was to protect Su Wenbin, not because he suddenly developed a strong father-son bond with him.

Su Wenbin is crippled, but he remains a figurehead within the collateral branch of the family. As long as he's alive, Su Tianxiao still has a reason to control his former subordinates.

Once the son dies, the collateral branches will immediately disintegrate.

The account book was the last thing he could sell. He wasn't willing to sell it too cheaply. But if he kept it, and Qin Feng found it elsewhere, the half-book would truly become worthless.

Su Tianxiao said:

"The responsibility of collateral relatives should be divided according to the individuals involved. We cannot hold all collateral relatives accountable just because someone else was involved."

"Based on actual behavior."

I need a formal reply.

"Can."

"Wenbin's treatment cannot be retaliated against and interrupted by the Su family."

"Medical records, approved medications, and routine care are retained. Additional resources will be allocated for review."

Su Tianxiao knew that this was already the maximum scope Qin Feng would grant.

The other party never uses excuses to obtain confessions.

This was frustrating, but it also made him dare to hand over his things.

If Qin Feng readily agreed to spare the collateral branches, Su Tianxiao would doubt whether he would even survive after handing over the score.

"Give the account books to Wu Jie."

Pushing half of the ledger in front of the camera, Su Tianxiao continued:

"The original document is in the West Archives of Yanjing. The password is the date of Wenbin's first hospitalization."

Wu Jie immediately sent someone to retrieve it.

The electronic scan was transmitted first.

The ledger records the handover of the ancestral land twenty years ago before it was closed.

The first point is very clear:

[Former patriarch Su Zhennan ordered the sealing of Lin Wanrong's historical identity.]

The second record details the order to guard the ancestral lands:

The main branch of the Su family retains one old family seal, used solely for legitimate external connections.

The third point was added seven days ago:

[The old permissions have been completed and the outer perimeter of the Phoenix Corridor has been opened; it will not participate in inner-layer commands.]

This proves that Su Zhennan's old seal was just a bridge.

It can send in valid credentials, but it is not the source of the final command.

Qin Feng continued flipping through the pages.

The page containing the high-order receiver was torn out.

The tear is old. It wasn't made recently.

The tattered page only contained half a line of commands:

[The Lin family's old platform has been relaunched, and the process of repositioning candidates will be initiated immediately.]

Wu Jie asked Su Tianxiao:

"Where is the torn-out page?"

"It's not in my hands."

"Who tore it?"

"Su Zhennan".

"Does he know who the receiver is?"

Su Tianxiao shook his head.

"All I know is that that page cannot remain in the current Su family accounts. Twenty years ago, Su Zhennan personally watched someone burn a copy of it."

Why is only half of the original document remaining?

"Because he didn't dare to burn it all."

After Su Tianxiao finished speaking, he shut his mouth.

Qin Feng didn't force him to guess.

This incomplete account only proves that Su Zhennan retained the bridging tools, but it cannot prove who actually gave the orders from higher-ups.

However, two separate pieces of evidence have now been put together.

The gray code of the Grand Master points to the cancelled superior observation sequence.

Su Tianxiao's ancestral land account proves that a high-level receiving end existed seven days ago.

Just as Zhou Ye was preparing to compare the codes on both sides, the ancestral land controller sent a new record.

[The second person present has completed registration.]

Name: Lin Wanrong.

[Identity Type: Historical Matriarchal Subject]

[Candidate placement process: Initiated!]