Floor 114’s file arrived with an industrial-gray border.

[Floor 114: The City That Forgot Its Builders] 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Type:

Urban ruin / labor memory / merit theft / foundation collapse.

Estimated Duration:

5 Tower days.

Warning:

A tower that forgets its foundation will fall from below.]

Qin Mo read the warning and looked strangely offended.

"Finally. A floor about appreciating support work."

Qin Lian said, "You feel represented?"

"Yes."

The floor opened in a magnificent city of high towers, bright bridges, and elegant plazas. Statues of kings, generals, and scholars stood everywhere. But beneath the streets, the foundations cracked. Workers’ quarters were abandoned. Names of builders had been scratched from records.

Mission:

[Main Mission]

Prevent Builder’s Collapse before city foundation fails.

[Sub-Missions]

1. Recover 50 builder names.

2. Repair 5 foundation pillars.

3. Expose merit theft records.

4. Prevent citizen panic.

5. Defeat the Glory Architect.]

The city’s rulers had claimed credit for everything. The builders’ descendants lived in poverty. The foundation spirits weakened because no one remembered who had built the city.

Qin Mo became unusually intense.

He led the investigation.

They recovered names from hidden stone marks, old tool handles, buried ledgers, and foundation inscriptions.

Qin Yuheng handled public order and negotiated with city officials. Qin Yuchen protected repair teams. Qin Lian found hidden record vaults.

The Glory Architect, Level 67, was not a warrior but a merit thief. It wore robes covered in stolen names and used public praise as armor.

Qin Mo fought it with formation records.

"You cannot build with erased hands," he said.

The final battle took place beneath the city, where foundation pillars cracked. Qin Mo restored builder names to each pillar. The Glory Architect weakened as stolen names returned.

Qin Yuheng struck only after Qin Mo broke the merit theft core.

SSS evaluation.

Rewards included:

[SSS Grade Foundation Merit Recognition Stone]

[SSS Grade Support Contribution Ledger]

[SS Grade Forgotten Builder Name Chisel]

At the Qin Estate, these were immediately integrated into family and guard systems.

Gu Tianhe approved strongly.

"Armies survive because nameless people do work correctly."

The Support Contribution Ledger improved Silent Heaven logistics morale.

Outer craftsmen, formation assistants, healers, cooks, scouts, and low-ranking guards began receiving clearer recognition.

This was not sentimental.

It was strategic.

People whose work was seen were less likely to be stolen by resentment.

Qin Mo placed the Foundation Merit Recognition Stone in the formation workshop.

Then pretended he did not care.

Everyone knew he did.

Floor 115: The Hall of Hollow Applause.

A continuation of reputation pressure, but at city scale. Leaders made decisions for applause rather than survival. Qin Yuheng restored decision-making based on truth and consequence. Reward: SSS Applause-Independent Governance Crystal.

Floor 116: The Court of Unpaid Debts.

This floor distinguished real debts from predatory debts. Not all debts were false. Some obligations should be honored. Qin Yuheng had to repay rightful debts while breaking exploitative ones.

Reward:

[SSS Grade True Debt and False Debt Scale]

This became a major legal tool for Qin family and allies.

Floor 117 file arrived.

[Floor 117: Crimson Talent Auction]

Type:

Black market / stolen talents / body-soul grafting / rescue and evidence.

Warning:

A talent sold once leaves scars even when returned.]

The room became silent.

Talent theft.

This was deeply connected to Blood Sun’s child and talent harvesting methods.

Yu Qingmei insisted on high caution.

Lin Xian’er requested auxiliary entry.

This time, the Tower allowed it.

The Crimson Talent Auction would require market knowledge, contract detection, and combat.

Qin Yuheng accepted.

The floor opened inside a hidden underground auction where stolen talent fragments, bloodline sparks, class seeds, and future potential bundles were sold to masked buyers.

The mission was not simply to destroy the auction.

They had to rescue victims without shattering talent fragments.

Lin Xian’er’s face was colder than Qin Mo had ever seen.

"This is not trade," she said. "This is butchery with bidding numbers."

The auction began.

Qin Yuheng watched from the shadows.

And for the first time in many floors, killing intent stirred.

Controlled.

But real.