Huo placed a sketch of a provincial relay station on the council table. The station fed command signals into a barrier that protected a town on the river. The Registry could use it to call militia or close roads. A strike on the relay might stop the order, but the barrier itself could also fail.
“We should disable the seal before the Registry uses it against the town,” Huo said. “The outer ward might stay active if we cut the command line.”
Qinghe leaned over the drawing. “You said might. Show the whole formation before we decide.”
Huo laid out a larger plan. “The seal sits in the relay chamber. Two channels carry its commands to the barrier. The outer formation is fed by another line. If the team isolates the seal, the defense should remain.”
Gu He studied the drawing. He took a charcoal stick and traced the two command lines. “This channel can be separated from the ward. I can make a diagram for the team, but I need to inspect the actual station before I can say how long the work takes.”
“It is guarded,” Huo said. “We can’t walk in and study it.”
“Then we need the guard schedule and a town engineer who knows the chamber.”
