Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

The investigation into the roster has lasted for half a month, but things have remained quiet at Zhurongtai.

It was as quiet as if it were waiting.

On the ninth night, the quiet ended.

First came Qin Lan's warning.

Seven of the nine fragments of the illumination device simultaneously showed a slight increase in temperature.

It wasn't ignited.

It became "like it was about to be set on fire".

"The temperature isn't high," Qin Lan said, staring at the data, "but the curve is wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"It's waiting for a peak," Qin Lan said. "It's like someone has set a standard for it, and once it reaches that line, it will start to rise."

"Who set the standards?"

"I don't know," Qin Lan said, "but the line it's waiting for matches one thing."

"What is it?"

Qin Lan placed the two pictures side by side.

On the left is the temperature curve of the nine fragments awaiting the sun.

On the right is the arrangement of the forty-seven compartments of the counterweight compartment.

"They match," Qin Lan said. "The first one matches the first square, and the seventh one matches the seventh square."

"What about the ninth one?"

"The ninth one corresponds to the thirty-first slot," Qin Lan said. "And the current registered name for the thirty-first slot is—"

She didn't continue.

Everyone knows that name.

Lu Chengong.

The Zhu Rong Terrace doesn't need to collect nine fragments.

There are nine positions.

The human world has just filled that empty space with the name of a living person.

"This is a trap," Lu Chenggong said.

"It wasn't a trap," Lin Jibai said from the toolbox. "We found it ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"The roster was filled out three years ago," Lin Jibai said. "It wasn't filled out by Zhu Rongtai today. It just called names from the roster."

Xu Wangshu immediately understood.

"It calls names by the roster because there's a name in that position on the roster."

"right."

"What if we withdraw the name?"

"That spot is empty," Lin Jibai said. "It might stop because it can't select anyone."

Lu Chenggong stood up.

"Then let's retreat."

He was about to press the undo button.

Qin Lan stopped him.

"etc."

"What are you waiting for?"

"If you withdraw, it's tantamount to admitting you were never number 31," Qin Lan said. "But that registration from three years ago was already in effect. Withdrawing now only removes you from the list."

"What's wrong with disappearing?"

"The problem is," Qin Lan showed him the data, "that Zhu Rongtai didn't select the name 'Lu Chen Gong'."

"What is that?"

"It's position number thirty-one," Qin Lan said. "Whether you move or not, the position is still there. It doesn't recognize names, it recognizes positions."

The main control room fell silent.

Only now did everyone understand.

The most ruthless thing about the roster isn't that someone filled in Lu Chengong's name.

There was a seat that was always empty, waiting for someone to stand in it.

"Then what should we do?" Lu Chenggong asked.

"We can't leave," Xu Wangshu said. "If we leave, you'll become a vacancy in that position."

"So you're telling me to stand here?"

"Yes," Xu Wangshu said, "but not as a witness."

"In what capacity?"

Xu Wangshu looked at him.

"In the capacity of 'I refuse to take office'."

She had someone fill in a new line in the number 31 column.

It's not about deleting.

It added a line after the name:

I was unaware of this registration and therefore refuse to accept it. The validity of the registration is pending a ruling.

The moment that line was added, the temperature of the fragments on the Zhurong Terrace dropped slightly.

It fell by a very small amount.

But it did indeed fall short.

"It can tell," Lu Chengong said. "It can tell that I didn't stand there voluntarily."

Xu Wangshu nodded.

"It can see that."

That night, the temperature of the shard remained very close to the ignition wire.

No dots.

It didn't drop much either.

Qin Lan stayed up until dawn, saving all the data from that night.

After saving it, she wrote a note.

[Position 31: Someone is there, but they don't recognize them.]

After she finished writing, she added another half sentence.

Whether the location is still considered "occupied" if the person denies it is yet to be determined.