Chapter 312: Breathing Within the Gaps of the Rules

Seventeen seconds after the permit application was submitted, the Committee rejected it.

The reason for rejection was etched in a three‑line cold system notice:

"1. The Holy Land sector has been classified as a 'Potential Aesthetic Pollution Reverse Diffusion Source', prohibiting all non‑removal visits.

2. The Beauty Council's permission applies only to 'Aesthetic assessments of unpolluted areas'.

3. If entry is required, one must first prove that the sector's 'pollution can be controlled'—but that can only be proven after entry. The logical loop holds, so the request is denied."

Old Zhao finished reading the notice, snapped the last piece of Determined Victory cake in half, and said: "Typical— you have to prove you're not ill, but the proof process is the symptom itself."

"They have seven layers of logical locks," Absolute Luminance-4 said, using the Mirror Ruler to analyze the rejection notice's structure, "each layer is based on perfectly self‑consistent rules. But the seventh layer has a 0.3‑second 'rule interpretation delay period'—that is the window for a human reviewer to manually re‑examine it."

Teaching Scar on Han Qing heated up: "In other words, if we can slip in, within 0.3 seconds, a reason that makes the human reviewer reluctant to click reject?"

"Theoretically feasible," the surface of Absolute Luminance-4's Prism displayed a complex logic tree, "but the reason must satisfy three conditions simultaneously: 1) be legal within the literal meaning of the rules; 2) trigger the reviewer's 'irrational Resonance'; 3) be comprehended and retained within 0.3 seconds."

Su Yu folded a sheet of paper: "It's like, while origami, just before the crane's wings fully close, slipping in a piece of gold leaf covered with writing."

"Too poetic," Kaiwen adjusted his glasses, "what we need is an executable plan."

Old Zhao began packing the second item: a small bag of pollen mixed with sesame and osmanthus, sourced respectively from 'sesame that survived in the ruins' and 'the first batch of osmanthus from GuiHuaYuan.'

"If we can't get in," he said while bagging, "at least let the Holy Land smell what beauty still exists outside."

Xiao Yu used the Resilience Ruler to see that the bag of pollen sealed two completely different 'survival memories': the sesame held the stubbornness of 'hardily blooming in polluted soil,' while the osmanthus held the apprehension of 'being carefully cultivated and offered to the distant world for the first time.'

"Actually," Xiao Yu suddenly said, "we don't need to 'prove the pollution can be controlled.' We can apply for… 'collecting potentially existing, unrecorded aesthetic samples within the Holy Land for the purpose of improving the universal aesthetic database.'"

Everyone looked at her.

Xiao Yu's light imprint glowed faintly: "That is the Committee's core duty—refining the database. If we claim that the activities of the Measurement Inheritor might have 'accidentally created new aesthetic variant samples,' and we need to go in to collect them so they don't permanently vanish with the removal protocol…"

"Then rejecting us would be tantamount to 'dereliction of duty,'" Han Qing continued, the Teaching Scar's temperature beginning to drop, "perfect."

Absolute Luminance-4 began constructing the application draft.

But the surface of its Prism flickered with hesitation for the first time—not due to computational limits, but because it realized the application was essentially a meticulously disguised lie.

Within the Holy Land it is highly probable that there are no 'new aesthetic variant samples.' The Measurement Inheritor is destroying beauty, not creating it.

"According to my original protocol," it whispered, "I should point out this logical flaw. The application must be based on facts."

"Then base it on facts," Old Zhao said without raising his head, "The fact is: beauty mutates in extremity. Just as sesame mutated resistance in polluted soil, just as Chen Mo mutated the ability to 'wait seven years in despair' within the ruins."

He looked at Absolute Luminance-4: "The Measurement Inheritor turned the Holy Land into a dire situation; any remaining beauty inside—if there is any—must be undergoing mutations beyond our imagination. We apply to enter and record this 'beauty's desperate survival.' That is the fact."

The flicker on Absolute Luminance-4's surface ceased.

A warm‑colored halo persisted for 8.7 seconds—it was conducting an internal debate. Finally, its voice became resolute:

"The application reason is revised to: 'Record and archive the self‑adaptive mutation phenomena of beauty under extreme hostile environments.' This is a blank sector of the universal aesthetic database, possessing extremely high scholarly value."

"This is not only a fact, but also… a higher‑dimensional fact."

It began drafting the formal application document, each term precisely fitting into the gaps of the rules.

Just as Absolute Luminance-4 submitted the revised application—

Xiao Yu's Bridge Eye suddenly saw a frequency fissure that had never appeared before.

The fissure's source was not the kitchen, nor grafted saplings, but the interior of the Holy Land sector. From the fissure drifted an extremely faint signal, intermittent, like a candle about to go out:

"…still…someone…remember…the…temperature…of…star…light…flower…?"

"Star‑light flower?" Han Qing sprang up, "That's something Pure-1 remembered! She studied that flower in the Dreamer Research Lab! Soil temperature 28.3 degrees!"

The signal continued:

"…I…am…the…gatekeeper…of…the…Holy…Land…left…behind…consciousness…"

"…the…Measurement…Inheritor…transformed…my…body…into…a…reverse…measurement…device…"

"…but…I…still…remember…the…flower's…temperature…"

"…help…me…remember…the…beauty…I…once…guarded…"

"…reverse…countdown…6…hours…17…minutes…later…I…will…be…completely…overrun…"

The signal cut off.

The kitchen fell into dead silence.

"So inside the Holy Land," Su Yu's voice was soft, "there is also a 'pre‑Dreamer' like Pure-1, being turned into a weapon."

Han Qing's Teaching Scar burned intensely—this time not Resonance, but anger.

"The application reason is revised again," she said word for word, "'Rescue the potentially existing, historically valuable native consciousness of the Holy Land to prevent it from becoming an aesthetic weapon.'"

Absolute Luminance-4 submitted the third revised application.

This time, it appended a short data segment at the end—not a logical argument, but a 'aesthetic memory sample' jointly certified by the Seventeen Heritage:

The sample's content was simple: an image of the star‑light flower, an exact record of soil temperature 28.3 degrees, and a line of small text: "This flower bloomed in the Holy Land's eastern garden in the 73rd year of the Founders' Chronicle; at that time three founders debated whether beauty was worth cultivating with pain. The debate lasted three days, and they reached a compromise when the flower wilted."

This sample was labeled "Holy Land Aesthetic Heritage Archive Segment—if the gatekeeper's consciousness disappears, such memories will be lost forever."

Submitted.

Everyone held their breath.

At 0.2 seconds, the system displayed "Review in progress."

At 0.25 seconds, the status changed to "Reviewer‑Human‑09 received."

At 0.29 seconds—

The application was approved.

Accompanied by a handwritten note from the human reviewer:

"Approved. Reason: The memory is worth rescuing, even if it comes from something about to become a weapon. — Reviewer‑Human‑09 (Note: My grandmother once grew a similar flower; after she passed, I never smelled that scent again.)"

The permit took effect.

Validity period: 6 hours.

Exactly 17 minutes less than the Holy Land self‑defense protocol countdown.

Just as everyone was preparing to cheer, the Committee added an additional restriction:

"Permit additional conditions:"

1. The team must not exceed seven members (corresponding to the seven virtues of the founder？).

2. Must carry a real-time monitoring beacon, with data stream synchronized to the Committee every 3 seconds.

3. Any "aesthetic sample collection" must be conducted under monitoring, and the sample must first pass a "potential contamination test" before being taken out.

4. If rescue/collection is not completed within 6 hours, the team will be forcibly withdrawn, and the Holy Land will be cleared as originally planned.

The most deadly point is the third—"contamination testing" means that even if they rescue the gatekeeper's consciousness, the Committee has the right to deem it a "contamination source" and destroy it on the spot.

"They want a 'purified memory specimen,' not a living memory keeper." Kaiwen's Light Ruler analyzed the intent behind the clauses.

Old Zhao quietly put an extra small bottle of Chen Mo's honey into his backpack.

"If what we rescue is a 'contamination source,'" he said calmly, "at least let it… taste something sweet before it disappears."

Han Qing watched the six‑hour countdown; the star‑map mark on her scar and the red dot on the Holy Land began to flash in sync.

"Let's pick the team," she said. "Seven people. Who's going?"

The selection process took only seven minutes.

Han Qing (Time‑04), Xiao Yu (Resilience‑09), Su Yu (Structure‑11) must go—their abilities are the core of the rescue.

Old Zhao (Sound‑14) must go—his "kitchen logic" might be the key to breaking the Holy Land's internal rules.

Kaiwen (Light‑02) needs to establish a faint‑light communication.

Absolute Luminance‑4 (Mirror‑07) is responsible for real‑time analysis of enemy technology.

The seventh slot……

"I'll go." A vibration from Load‑18 came from the soil, "The gatekeeper's consciousness is enduring the pain of 'being remodeled'; I can share part of the load to buy you time."

"But your vessel…" Han Qing hesitated.

A root of the grafted sapling suddenly broke free from the soil, floated in the air, and automatically wove into a palm‑sized sapling sculpture, inside which lay a core point of light from the soil consciousness.

"A portable vessel," Load‑18 said, "Chen Mo once taught the sapling this—he said, "Important people should be able to carry them at all times.""

The sapling sculpture floated into Han Qing's hand, warm and heavy.

The seven‑person team was formed.

Equipment check complete.

Countdown: 5 hours 43 minutes.

Han Qing took one last look at the kitchen—Aili, the other rod‑holders, and the awakened ones would stay behind, maintaining the heartbeat network and standing ready to respond to any further trouble from the Committee.

"Before we set out," Old Zhao suddenly said, "Everyone eat a bite of this."

He opened Chen Mo's honey, scooped out seven small portions with a clean wooden spoon, and handed them out.

The moment the honey touched their tongues, everyone tasted—a blend of the flower blooming in the ruins, the nervousness of GuiHuaYuan, and the off‑key song Chen Mo hummed while gathering it.

So sweet it made one want to cry.

"All right," Old Zhao put the honey jar away, "Even if we die in there, the final moment will be sweet."

Han Qing wiped the honey from the corner of her mouth, and the Teaching Scar glowed steadily.

"We're not going to die," she said, "we're going to tell that measurer's heir——"

"Some things, even if you measure their fragility coefficient at 99%, will hold on to 100% because someone is willing to eat something sweet for them."