After Lu Wenchuan woke, the Oracle Tower began collapsing faster.
It was not the ground giving way, but those invisible lines snapping. In the Evidence Room, the Green Gate Core Fragment went completely dark. The bronze door beneath the Old TV Tower's foundations crumbled to ash. Atop the Old Clock Tower, the hands that had stood still for fifteen years suddenly advanced one notch, and then the entire clock face split apart. In the well at the Xu Family Old Residence, the last trace of white light sank to the bottom and never rose again.
The monitoring screens at Headquarters returned to normal one by one.
The Deputy Captain sat before the computer, his eyes bloodshot, but his voice much steadier than before.
"The Old TV Tower's signal is gone."
"The Old Clock Tower's signal is gone."
"The Xu Family Old Residence's signal is gone."
"The signal from Green Gate's Level B4 is gone."
Song Zhixia stood beside the Medical Vehicle, letting no one approach Lu Wenchuan and Xu Zhihan. Lu Wenchuan had only just woken and still could not speak properly; she held him down and gave him two injections. The bleeding from Xu Zhihan's hand had just stopped. The half Silver Nameplate had crumbled completely into powder and been placed in a small glass box.
Lu Wenchuan looked at the box.
"It broke."
Xu Zhihan lowered his eyes. "Yes."
"Lin Wan gave it to you."
"What she gave me wasn't this nameplate."
Lu Wenchuan looked at him.
Xu Zhihan closed the box.
"It was a name."
Lu Wenchuan fell quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Then it's still here."
Xu Zhihan looked at him.
"Yes."
Listening to them, Song Zhixia felt her temple twitch.
"You two can spend less time sharing your insights right now. Survive tonight