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A low, labored breathing sound came from the exhaust duct outside the Director's Office window.

The filter hadn't been changed for three months, and the air blowing in had a dry, rusty smell and Ozone.

Lynn sat behind his cold-rolled steel desk, picked up the teacup beside him. The instant coffee inside was empty, with only a few blackened coffee grounds remaining.

Three stacks of documents were neatly piled up on the right corner of the table.

The topmost document is the quarterly asset scrapping approval form sent by the Internal Affairs Inspection Office.

Lynn didn't look up; his right hand gripped the chrome-plated fountain pen, the nib pausing briefly on the blotting paper.

The footsteps stopped two meters outside the door.

Secretary Xiao Zhou knocked twice on the open door, holding a gray plastic file basket in her hand.

"Director, this is the emergency authorization document issued last month when Director Hela was temporarily in charge of the official seal."

Xiao Zhou stepped forward and placed the file basket on the left edge of the table.

The edges of the paper sheets in the basket were somewhat rough, hardened edges left after they had been exposed to moisture and then forcibly dried by the dryer.

Lynn closed the pen in his hand, the cap making a very soft click.

"Wasn't the Archives Division supposed to put it into storage as usual?"

Xiao Zhou's hands hung at his sides, and the cuffs of his uniform were wiped clean.

According to Article 19 of the Management Committee's "Wartime Materiel Disposal Regulations," all stubs of temporary allocation vouchers for field defense must be personally verified and stamped with a "void" seal by the Director's Office before being put into storage.

How many portions are there in total?

"Seventy-four documents, all of which were passes and temporary secondment slips issued by defense zones at level three or above."

Xiao Zhou opened the top register and handed over a pen.

"Director Hela is urging us to hand over the inventory list, Commander Ke'er of the Black Crow Guard is coming at 2 PM to pick up the receipt."

Lynn glanced at him.

Xiao Zhou's demeanor was very proper, his breathing was steady, and his feet were together, a typical standing posture for Management Committee office worker.

On the surface, there is no flaw to be found.

Lynn didn't take the pen; instead, he reached out and pulled the thick stack of emergency authorization documents out of the basket.

The paper rubbed together, making a dull rustling sound.

"What's the rush? The verification and stamping are for the dead; the living need to see compliance."

Lynn opened the drawer and took out an inkwell and a scrap stamp with a hard wooden handle.

"You help me turn the pages, and I'll check them one by one."

Xiao Zhou's fingertips twitched almost imperceptibly, and then he stepped forward in response.

"Yes."

The first page contains the Defense Zone Dispatch Center's approval document regarding the allocation of fuel to Supply Station No. 7.

The red mark is clear, and the edges have the gravity indentations characteristic of the Hela administration period.

Lynn glanced at the amount and the approval date, then stamped it with a void stamp.

Xiao Zhou immediately reached out and turned the first page.

The movements were very light, the fingertips brushing against the corner of the paper, so practiced that there was not the slightest hesitation.

The second page details the wear and tear on the outer patrol boats.

The third page is the allocation form for water purification agents issued by the Logistics Department department.

The pages turned one by one, and the only sounds in the office were the thud of the stamp hitting the table and the gentle breeze as the papers were turned.

When he turned to page forty-one, Xiao Zhou's finger lingered on the corner of the paper for an extra half second.

That was a letter of authorization for the temporary management of the deep space communication frequency band.

The document contained only two lines of text, typed on an old-fashioned typewriter. The ink ribbon was worn out, and the edges of the letters had tiny ink bleeds.

Below the main text is the broken sword seal of the Stability Maintenance Office, the vermilion ink seeping into the back of the paper, without any trace of forgery.

Lynn's gaze shifted from the main text to the binding line.

The official documents of the Management Committee are bound with three-hole thread using special cotton and linen blend waxed thread.

The binding of this document is very tight, and the knot is a standard field knot.

Lynn did not stamp it.

His index finger rested on the bottom edge of the page, his fingertip slowly gliding over the page number in the lower right corner.

It was a line of extremely small typewriter type.

[Page 2 of 2]

Xiao Zhou stood by the table, his gaze fixed on Lynn's right hand, which had stopped moving.

"Director, is there a problem with this?"

Lynn didn't answer, but turned the page upside down with his left hand.

Behind the paper, there was a semi-transparent typing paper attachment.

The header of the attachment is very clean.

[Top Secret External Connection Permission: Special Channel Certificate L-03 Activation Order]

The signatory's section prominently displays the rectangular seal of the Liaison Office, along with a seal across the seam of Hela's custodial seal.

The entire set of procedures was complete, and even the file transfer number for Zero Storage Room was stamped neatly.

Without the preceding backing sheet, this single sheet of paper would be completely undetectable as to any irregularities.

But Lynn's gaze lingered on the bottom right corner of the page.

The type there was also very small, and the ink was slightly darker than on the previous page.

[Page 3 of 2]

The only sound in the office was the low hum of the central air conditioning vents.

Xiao Zhou's Adam's apple bobbed, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the line of incorrect page numbers.

In an official document system, a two-page document can never legally have a third page.

Unless this third page was forcibly inserted after binding.

Lynn pinched the corner of the third page between his fingers and gently rubbed it.

The paper is relatively thick and has a slightly rough feel. It is high-grade official document paper produced by the Seventh Laboratory of the Department of Technology, rather than the lightweight mimeograph paper commonly used by the Stability Maintenance Office.

"Xiao Zhou."

Lynn's voice was calm, without a trace of anger.

Xiao Zhou stood up straight and lowered his eyes.

"Exist."

Where were these archives sealed during the period when Hela was in charge of the seals?

"Director, the original document is kept in the Stability Maintenance Office Office's confidential building, guarded by two guards from the Black Crow Guard."

Xiao Zhou spoke a beat faster than usual, but his answers were very clear.

"At eight o'clock this morning, during the change of shifts at the Internal Security Patrol, Commander Ke'er personally escorted the guards to the Inspection Office. My subordinates signed for the documents at the mailroom half an hour ago."

Was the seal tampered with when the package was signed for?

"The seals are intact. Special Envoy Thomas from the Inspection Office personally inspected the seals, and my subordinates checked the number of items according to regulations. There are exactly seventy-four, not one missing."

Lynn nodded, his expression remaining calm.

He picked up his pen and drew a line on the white paper, the ink flowing out smoothly.

"You've done a compliant job; the number of items is indeed correct."

Lynn gently smoothed out the extra third page.

"But the binding hole on this transfer order is a size larger than the previous two pages."

Xiao Zhou stepped forward and looked closely.

There is a very fine white indentation around the edge of the round hole through which the cotton and linen waxed thread passes.

Those are marks left by applying pressure twice with hole punch pliers.

The original document only had two pages. After it was bound, someone cut off the hidden knot at the bottom, stuffed this third page into the interlayer, and then re-threaded it through the original eye of the needle.

To pass through the thickened new paper, the person making the work used a thin Steel Needles to widen the hole.

The technique was very meticulous, almost perfectly matching the original thread.

Unfortunately, he had calculated the seal and the format of the document perfectly, but when he was rushing to create the typewriter master, he forgot to modify the automatically incrementing page number macro in the footer.

Page 3 of 2.

Such absurd errors are usually overlooked by the clerks stamping the forms in the Management Committee's vast and complex routine verification process, who often mistake them for typist mistakes.

Once Lynn stamps the cancellation stamp, this extra L-03 certificate issuance form will legally be archived in the historical archives.

If the communication port of Satellite No. 7 were to malfunction afterward, and everyone were to trace the source and investigate thoroughly, only one conclusion would be reached.

This was a fait accompli that Lynn personally confirmed when she was processing the write-off documents.

Lynn released her hand from the paper and leaned back in her chair.

The chair made a slight creaking sound.

He didn't call the security guards, nor did he question Xiao Zhou about why he hadn't noticed the page number conflict when signing for the package.

Within the Management Committee, forcing a pawn, who is out in the open, into a corner only yields a few meaningless false confessions, which serve no other purpose.

Moreover, someone who could slip a fake page into a confidential file right under the noses of the Black Crow Guard could not possibly be someone a mere confidential secretary could instruct.

"Put this set of documents on the table for now."

Lynn picked up the invalid stamp, put it back in the drawer, and closed the latch.

Xiao Zhou raised his head, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.

"Director, Commander Ke'er will be here at two o'clock to request the receipt..."

"Let him come."

Lynn picked up the cup of black coffee, which had long since gone cold, and took a sip.

"Tell Ke'er that there's a page numbering error in the seals that Director Hela handling. To Stability Maintenance Office, these files need to be reviewed by three parties and recounted."

Xiao Zhou stood still, his fingers pressed tightly against the seam of his pants.

"So... should the Department of Technology and the Liaison Office issue Assistance Investigation Notice?"

What kind of investigation request should be issued?

Lynn put down the cup, the porcelain bottom hitting the steel table with a crisp sound.

"Is a piece of scrap paper with misaligned page numbers worthy of being the head of the labor department?"

Lynn pulled out the extra third page and pinned it to the outside of the cover with an ordinary paperclip.

"Go and get the original sealing strip from the Archives Division. Right in front of the mailroom clerk, reseal this entire set of volumes exactly as it was."

"Director, this is what we need to do..."

"Since someone wants to use Hela's seal to open the Liaison Office."

Lynn looked up at Xiao Zhou, her gaze as calm as a stagnant pool.

"Then I'll personally take this genuine document to the Stability Maintenance Office and ask Director Hela to verify it in person, to find out when she lent her Broken Sword Seal to the Department of Technology."

Xiao Zhou lowered his head, a fine layer of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Understood, I'll take care of it immediately."

Xiao Zhou picked up the file basket, bowed, and left the office.

The door closed again, creating a slight breeze that stirred the half-exposed piece of typing paper on the corner of the table.

Lynn remained seated in her chair.

He reached into his inner pocket, his fingertips touching the fragment of the confession he had brought back from the ruins.

Both items were made using the same type of specialty paper.

The genuine seal on the broken sword is stamped on the original; the red clay has seeped into the fibers, making it impossible to fake.

So, was this extra fake page already infiltrated before it entered Hela's secret files, or was it casually brought into the iron cabinet through the main entrance during the days the Black Crow Guard was guarding it?

Lynn stared intently at the screw on the doorknob, its cold light reflecting off it.

It seems that Hela's subordinates were already riddled with holes.