Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 75 Lin Lan is not the mastermind
This "graveyard of information" made up of numbers and codes exudes an ominous aura.

Without hesitation, he entered the core keywords:

【Soul-Suppressing Iron】

The results emerged after a brief delay:
[Codename: Fragment of the Boundary Lock]

Status: Partially lost

[Top-level annotation: Highly related to the "gate" and requires top-secret monitoring. Unauthorized access must be eliminated.]

[Note: The database underwent an emergency revision ten years ago; the original records have been archived (insufficient permissions)]

“Boundary Lock… fragment?” Xu Yan repeated in a low voice. The word carried an ominous quality, far more unsettling than “Soul-Suppressing Iron”.

Chen Zhiwei leaned forward, her slender fingers lightly touching the note, her brows furrowing slightly: "Emergency revision ten years ago... that's too close to the time of my uncle's disappearance." Her intuition had keenly grasped the key point.

Xu Yan took a deep breath, as if gathering immense courage, paused briefly on the keyboard, and then typed the name that had lingered in his heart for many years:
Xu Haoyu

The screen flickered suddenly, as if disturbed by an invisible electric current.

There are no files, no records, not even a single piece of basic information.

Only a cold, programmed message pops up:
Insufficient permissions; related files have been deleted.

It's not missing, it's being erased.

Xu Yan's breathing suddenly stopped, and a cold chill, as if it could freeze his blood, instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He stared at the blank space, and a terrible, involuntary association struck him.

If one day Chen Zhiwei is also targeted by such a force, will her name, her smile, and all traces of her existence in his life also be easily and completely denied by the world in the same way?

The fear brought by this thought is far greater than that of facing hellish demons.

Just then, a cool but firm hand covered his knuckles, which had turned white from excessive force.

“Look at me, senior brother.”

Chen Zhiwei's voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable power, like a beam of light cleaving through the darkness that was growing wildly in his heart.

Xu Yan suddenly looked up and met her clear and bright eyes.

"Listen carefully." Chen Zhiwei said each word slowly and deliberately, her voice trembling despite her tears. "Even if the whole world erases your traces, I will never forget you. Even if they want to erase your name, I will remember it for you. Even if one day everyone betrays you and doubts you, I will still stand by your side."

She grasped his cold hand in return, their fingers intertwined, as if trying to melt her warmth into his blood.

“So don’t be afraid of losing him.” She whispered, her eyes burning with an almost stubborn light. “As long as I’m here, you won’t be denied by this world. You are Xu Yan, my senior brother… the most important person to me.”

“Your uncle’s existence will never be denied because of a few lines of cold code. You remember him, I remember him, this photo studio remembers him… These are more real and more powerful than any record in that database.”

Once my mind had calmed down a bit, a thought flashed through my mind.

Xu Yan retrieved the mission file and entered the mission number that had nearly cost him his life:

[Nursing Home Cleaning Task - Archived Records]

Expand for more details.

His gaze quickly swept over the list of personnel and the operation overview, finally settling on the "Task Assignor" and "Risk Assessment Record" columns.

[Task Assignor: Ghost-Faced Judge]

[Risk Assessor: Lin Lan]

[Risk Assessment: High - Strongly Recommend Cancellation]

[Approval Opinion: Risk assessment rejected. Proceed as originally planned. —Ghost-Faced Judge]

Xu Yan's breathing suddenly stopped, and his pupils contracted sharply.

It wasn't Lin Lan. It was the Ghost-Faced Judge.

He always believed that Lin Lan deliberately sent him to his death in order to eliminate dissidents.

He even harbored deep suspicion and hatred towards her because of this.

But these cold records show that the person codenamed "Ghost-Faced Judge" was...

Lin Lan, surprisingly, was an opponent.

A complex mix of emotions welled up inside him: misguided anger, a sense of awe towards the true enemy, and a... indescribable guilt towards Lin Lan.

All the interpersonal connections he thought he had clearly established were completely overturned at this moment.

"what happened?"

Chen Zhiwei noticed the change in his aura and the sudden stiffness, and asked worriedly.

Xu Yan pointed to the lines of text on the screen that had determined his fate, his voice low and terrifying, carrying a chilling tremor of having discovered the truth:
“I was mistaken. It was ‘The Judge’ who wanted to kill me. And Lin Lan… she tried to stop him.”

Chen Zhiwei gasped, leaned closer to the screen to take a closer look, and her expression turned serious.

"This 'Ghost-Faced Judge'...why is he targeting you?"

Xu Yan stared blankly at her, at the undeniable seriousness on her pale face, and at the reflection of his own somewhat bewildered self in her eyes.

The overwhelming sense of loneliness, of being abandoned by the world, that almost consumed him, seemed to be gradually dispelled by her words and warmth.

He didn't speak, but instead gripped her hand even tighter, as if it were the only coordinates he could be sure of in the turbulent fog.

He turned his gaze back to the screen, the cold notification still glaringly obvious.

But this time, the deep-seated weariness and coldness were replaced by something calmer and more determined.

Anger did not rise; instead, a cold indifference, a clear objective, emerged.

The enemy is not in sight, but deep within that vast, foggy system.

But now, he was no longer facing it alone.

“You’re right.” He finally spoke, his voice low but regaining its strength. “They can erase the data, but they can’t erase the truth. I will get it back, along with everything my father had.”

Chen Zhiwei looked at his straightened back and softly hummed in agreement, resting her head on his strong arm, silently conveying her support.

Under the dim light, something warm and resilient is quietly growing, strong enough to withstand the chill and malice from any dimension.

"Click."

The light bulb swayed gently, its light and shadow flickering like the pulse of a dying person.

Xu Yan suddenly looked up, and under the crack of the dark room door, the black mark was wriggling.

Like a slender parasite that has just awakened, it tentatively explores the boundaries of this world.

At the same time, a very soft sound, like fingernails scraping against rotten wood, pierced his eardrums.

The temperature in the air dropped sharply, and his breath condensed into a fleeting white mist under the dim light.

Chen Zhiwei trembled slightly under the thin blanket, as if the night wind had penetrated her joints.

Xu Yan instantly felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if his heart was being gripped by an invisible hand, and he suddenly missed a beat.

That was not just vigilance, but a kind of... warning stemming from the instinct for survival.

He gazed at the restless darkness, his voice hoarse, as if he were not speaking, but declaring a sentence:
"...Time is running out."

(End of this chapter)