My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 67

“What’s wrong?” Lin Jiqiu sat up.

Cheng Ran walked in and handed him the tablet. “I traced that external link to the final server. Not overseas, but domestic. It’s right here in our city, less than ten kilometers from the office.” He paused. “But that server itself doesn’t store instruction data; it only stores historical archives. I looked through the contents, and they’re related to the Qin Dynasty.”

Lin Jiqiu took the tablet; the screen displayed an image. It wasn’t a modern document, but a photograph of bamboo slips. The characters were in seal script, some parts blurred, but most were still legible. His gaze fell on the characters; the first line contained four characters—”Heavenly Palace Bureau Order.” He looked up at Cheng Ran. “Heavenly Palace Bureau?”

Cheng Ran nodded. “This is the most crucial file in the server I cracked. The bamboo slip records the establishment process of the Heavenly Palace Bureau. The Heavenly Palace Bureau was an institution established in the Qin Dynasty, responsible for managing Originium technology. The First Emperor personally approved the establishment edict, using the name ‘Heavenly Palace Bureau.’ It’s not the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.”

“Then what about the ‘Taichangsi’ we found earlier—”

“It might be the cover name for the Heavenly Palace Division. The Heavenly Palace Division is the core, the real institution that controls Originium technology. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices is just its shadow in the imperial court.”

Lin Jiqiu’s finger lightly swept across the screen, zooming in on the bamboo slip. The imperial edict’s handwriting was firm, possessing an undeniable force in its strokes—”I have observed the celestial phenomena and obtained a divinely ordained artifact from the Eastern Sea. It is not of this world, but a stone from beyond the heavens. It can benefit all people, and it can also overturn the world. Therefore, I have established the Heavenly Palace Office to manage this artifact, observe its use, and pass it on to future generations. It may not enter without an imperial edict, nor leave without a decree. Those who disobey will be executed. The Heavenly Palace Office is directly under my jurisdiction and is not subject to the regulations of any other officials.”

“The Heavenly Palace Administration. It is directly under the Emperor and is not subject to the system of officials.” Lin Jiqiu read those lines aloud. “It has been independent since the Qin Dynasty.”

“It has continued from the Qin Dynasty to this day.” Cheng Ran opened another window. “The archives of the Heavenly Palace Bureau record all of this. Although there are gaps in the timeline, the overall structure is clear. With each change of dynasty, the Heavenly Palace Bureau changes its name and identity, but the core has never changed—to protect Originium technology and ensure that it is not misused.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned against the headboard, her fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the tablet. “The Heavenly Palace Division. Not the Court of the Northern Star.”

“The Court of the North Star may be the modern name for the Heavenly Palace Bureau. The Qin Dynasty people called it the Heavenly Palace Bureau, and the Court of the North Star that we hear about now may be its name on the outer layer.”

“And what about Polaris?”

Cheng Ran shook his head. “The bamboo slips don’t mention Polaris. That name probably came about later. The early leader of the Heavenly Palace Bureau was called ‘Director of Astronomy,’ which was later changed to ‘Polaris.'”

Lin Jiqiu handed the tablet back to him. “Any other discoveries?”

“Yes.” Cheng Ran turned to another page. “The account A-017 also left a record in the Tiangongsi system. That account wasn’t created in recent years; it existed a long time ago.”

“how long?”

“The earliest record is from twenty years ago.”

Lin Jiqiu’s fingers stopped. “Twenty years ago. Around the time of my father’s accident.”

“The timing matches. A-017 is probably on par with, or even better than, a telescope. He has been using that account, through Zhang Wen’s identity, to control the system’s production instructions. This has been going on for twenty years without interruption.”

Lin Jiqiu remained silent for a long time. Twenty years ago, his father found something on the chain of the Heavenly Palace Division, and then it was erased. Twenty years later, Lin Jiqiu also found A-017 on the same chain, and found the Heavenly Palace Division’s bamboo slips. He thought of a word—”cycle.” Like the same gear, after turning twice, it returned to the same tooth position.

“Chengran, can that account A-017 be traced back to its specific user?”

“Not for now. But the bamboo slip mentions one piece of information—early core members of the Heavenly Palace Division communicated through specific methods, including a code system in addition to tokens. The bamboo slip doesn’t record the specific code content, but it mentions a key concept: ‘star position’. Each core member has a fixed star position, which corresponds to a code name. A-017 might be the code for a certain star position.”

“Star position. Is it related to the Big Dipper?”

“Very likely. The Big Dipper is the core of the Heavenly Palace Division’s faith. The seven stars correspond to the seven major branches of the Heavenly Palace Division. A-017 may not belong to the seven stars, but rather to one of the executors under the seven stars. Its mission is to use the identities of Zhang Wen and others to manipulate the operation of the lower levels.”

Lin Jiqiu stood up and walked to the window. The flower shop across the street wasn’t open yet, and the café staff were moving chairs. Morning light shone in from the east, casting long shadows from the eaves. He stood there for a moment, then turned and walked back. “Does the bamboo slip mention the source of the Originium?”

“No. The bamboo slip only says ‘the artifact of destiny was obtained from the East Sea,’ without going into details about its origin. The Heavenly Palace Bureau probably doesn’t know where the source stone came from either.”

“The Qin people salvaged it from the depths of the East China Sea. They didn’t know who built it, nor why it was there.”

“That’s why they call it the ‘weapon of destiny’.”

Lin Jiqiu placed the tablet on the bedside table and sat down. “The Heavenly Palace Division. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The Northern Star Court. Three names, the same thing.” He paused. “What we’ve found now is closer to the core than ever before. Originium, the Heavenly Palace Division, A-017. All the clues are connected.”

“It’s connected, but there’s still a gap.” Cheng Ran looked at him. “We still don’t know who the current leader of the Heavenly Palace Division is. We don’t know the true origin of the Originium. We don’t know who the user of A-017 is.”

“Then continue the investigation.” Lin Jiqiu stood up. “Send me a picture of the bamboo slips. I want to take a good look at what else is written on them.”

Cheng Ran nodded, turned and walked out of the room. Lin Jiqiu stood by the window, looking at the brightening sky outside, holding the bamboo slip photograph in her hand—”Heavenly Palace Bureau of Documents”.

The characters carved by people in the Qin Dynasty have survived to this day.

He went downstairs. Ah You was busy in the kitchen, steam rising from the pot on the stove, the range hood humming. Ah Zuo was behind the counter, holding a file. Seeing him come down, Ah Zuo looked up. “Boss, Brother Cheng sent over something new. ‘Tiangong Si’?”

“Yes. The organization that has continued from the Qin Dynasty is the true form of the Northern Star Court.”

A-Zuo didn’t press the matter, tidied up the file, and set it aside. A-You brought out noodles from the kitchen and placed them on the coffee table. “Boss, what is the Tenguji?”

Lin Jiqiu sat down and picked up his chopsticks. “This is what we’re looking for.”

He lowered his head and ate a few bites of noodles, then looked up again. “Chengran, this afternoon, decipher all the characters on the bamboo slips. Qin seal script, I need to understand every single character.”

“It’s already being done.”

Ayou looked at Lin Jiqiu, then at Cheng Ran, and said nothing more before turning and going back to the kitchen. Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the coffee table and turning the soup in the bowl golden. Lin Jiqiu finished her bowl of noodles, put down her chopsticks, and looked out the window.

The Heavenly Palace Master. He silently repeated the name in his heart, as if chewing on a bitter seed. A name chosen by the Qin Dynasty, an echo even more ancient than the Court of the Northern Star. He would find its full face. Whatever that face might be.