Gu arrived in the capital with the original anchor theory and copied maintenance records. He placed the sealed cases on the engineering table and asked that the seals be checked before they were opened. Two capital engineers witnessed the count.
Yan and Qinghe compared the original diagrams with the central schedule. Wei secured the door and kept the Registry copies separate from the archive originals so later changes could be traced.
Gu identified a missing appendix describing how the old network’s relays were meant to be maintained. The schedule omitted three crews listed in the original theory. Bai matched the missing crew numbers to the transfer orders and found that the records changed after the ceremonial wall project began.
“The crew numbers are here,” Bai said, tapping the ledger. “The later schedule leaves them out.”
“That shows the record changed,” Wei said. “It does not yet show where each crew went.”
Gu agreed. He checked the names against the island folios and found one repeated in both records. The crew had repaired an outer relay before the Registry reassigned its remaining members. The report did not say whether they completed the second job.
Qinghe laid her independent circuit diagram beside the old channels. “Does this follow the original paths?”
