The Future He Most Wanted to Hide
"The first target: a future memory that Lin Qi most wants to conceal."
Lin Qi stared at the screen, his hand, which had just been released, pressed back down on the keyboard. Blood seeped from the edge of the bandage, leaving a light red mark on the space bar.
Makino saw this and reached out to pull him, but he blocked her with the back of his hand.
"Don't touch the computer."
Makino stopped in front of the counter, her face even more pale than before.
"It wants to see your memories?"
"It seems so."
Lin Qi pulled the computer closer to himself and forced a not-so-pleasant smile.
"I'm starting to regret having it perform the stress test."
On the Sky Screen, the red text continued to scroll downwards.
[Stress Test Item 1: The Boundaries of the Test Executor's Use of Future Memories]
[Target: Lin Qi's most cherished future memory]
[Risk Warning: This memory may involve future events, personal emotions, undisclosed disasters, Gate of Old Days, or knowledge from outside the world.]
Luffy immediately shouted at the exit of Sabaody, "Hey, don't look at his head!"
Nami pressed his shoulder, frowning as she looked at the question.
"That's wrong. What I just said was 'red line review,' not 'opening people's brains.'"
Robin flipped through the Sky Screen to take notes, speaking a little faster than usual.
"The Throne wants to turn the stress test into a mandatory search. If successful, it can then use the guise of censorship to expose anyone holding secrets."
Garling stood on the Chief Adjudication Platform, his fingers tracing the pattern on the black crown.
"The person who sets the questions possesses memories of the future, yet he hides in a humble Tavern; his concealment itself is a threat."
Lin Qi looked up at the Sky Screen, his tone turning cold.
"Your Holy Land has been hiding things for eight hundred years, and now you're complaining that I'm hiding things?"
Garling didn't respond.
You're hiding the future.
Shanks turned the hilt of his sword into his palm and looked up at the Sky Screen.
"We can't just dig into his future memories, especially since this guy might have some stupid things Luffy might do later in the future."
Luffy looked over with displeasure.
"I haven't even started yet!"
Benn Beckman stubbed out his cigarette.
"That's the problem. Things that haven't happened can't be used as shackles. The rules were already set in the Blackbeard case."
Akainu was at Marine Headquarters looking at the document, the pages beside him creased from being pressed down.
"Examining future memories is permissible, but the relevance must be limited; otherwise, it constitutes memory retrieval."
Crane continued.
"Memories have just been deemed evidence contamination and a violation of personal rights."
Garling coldly said, "Akainu, are you protecting him?"
Akainu did not look up.
"I'm protecting the rules that Gang established."
A new question suddenly appeared in the Sky Screen.
[Stress Test Temporary Dispute]
[Question: Does Common Rules allow the mandatory disclosure of future memories that the question setter most wants to conceal, without specifying any connection?]
[A. Permission granted; the question setter may recall that it is a public hazardous material]
[B. Permission granted, with the Throne conducting the initial screening]
[C. Allowed, to be drawn by any designated seat]
[D. Not allowed; a correlation filtering, privacy protection, victim mitigation, and five-seat review process must be established first.]
Makino looked at Lin Qi.
"You can't choose?"
Lin Qi looked at the grayed-out option box and let out a breath.
"I was asked to skip this question."
Makino placed her hand on her seat cursor.
"Then I'll do it."
Garling looked at her.
"Civilian Witness Seat, do you know what you're protecting? His mind might be filled with the deaths of your village."
Makino's hand hovered over the cursor. A glass on the shelf was gently bumped by the wind outside, but she didn't turn around.
"If it really exists, then I definitely can't let you see it first."
Lumi, holding the Name Card, looked up and asked Mia.
"If it's my future, shouldn't it be taken away so easily?"
Mia crouched down and whispered, "No, unless you want it to, or it proves someone is trying to harm you."
Lumi nodded and stuck the Name Card on item D.
"Victim Witness Seat, D."
The dragon stands in front of the map.
"Revolutionary Army, D, establish a filter first, then discuss censorship."
Akainu's stamp.
"Navy Review Seat, D."
Shanks looked at Lin Qi.
"Pirate Witness Seat, D, but you'd better be prepared, if it's still relevant after filtering, you can't escape it."
Lin Qi gave a wry smile.
"I know."
Makino pressed D.
"Civilian Witness Seat, D."
Golden Light descended from the Sky Screen.
[Answer: D]
[Forced extraction of unrestricted future memories is illegal]
[Relationship filtering program started]
[Filter item 1: Does this memory involve ongoing erasure, destruction of evidence, or witness harm?]
[Filter item two: Whether the memory was used by the person who set the question for personal gain, coercion, or transactions]
[Filter Item 3: Is this memory directly related to the Gate of Old Days, the Throne of Throne, or the Extraterrestrial Anomaly?]
Lin Qi looked at the three lines of text, and his relaxed expression vanished.
Makino noticed.
"Had it before?"
Lin Qi didn't answer immediately, but instead bent down to wipe the bloodstains off the keyboard, stopping halfway through.
Seeing his reaction, Garling laughed from the Chief Adjudication Platform.
"Looks like the filter will work."
Luffy immediately shouted, "Lin Qi, if you know what danger it is, just say so! Let's fight it together!"
Lin Qi looked up at him.
The problem is that some futures aren't about the danger itself, but about how I've considered how to use them after I knew they would happen.
The Tavern in Foosha Village fell silent. The villagers at the door watched him, and even the CP Agent who was being held captive stopped struggling.
Makino took the rag from his hand.
That's enough for now. We'll follow the rules from here on out.
After the Sky Screen finished filtering, and the red and Golden Lights intertwined, a new line of text appeared.
[Relevance Hit]
[Second Accurate Item: The person who set the question had previously made private profit plans regarding future information]
[Identified Item 1: This plan involves the risk of casualties spreading after the Paramount War]
Lin Qi closed his eyes briefly, then quickly opened them again.
"They've arrived."
Garling raised his hand.
"Public."
Robin spoke up immediately.
"Wait, since what's being hit is the plan, not the implementation, we must first ask about the boundaries."
Lin Qi raised his hand and tapped next to the grayed-out input box.
"I can't set the questions, but I can request explanations."
The Sky Screen shimmered.
[The person responsible for setting and executing the questions has limited access.]
[Can be used as a statement of fact, but cannot lead to an answer]
Lin Qi nodded.
"Then I'll just say one thing."
He looked up at the Sky Screen above the entire world, his fingers left the keyboard, and he opened his palms for everyone to see.
"The memory I most want to hide isn't because it can save anyone, but because it proves that I genuinely treated you all as just a plot device at the beginning."
Garling's black stripes immediately pressed onto the question.
That's enough.
The red characters on the Sky Screen were revealed.
[Memory clips are about to play]
[Title: The Initial Gains of the Question Setter After the Paramount War]
The rag in Makino's hand fell back onto the counter.
Luffy stared blankly at the Sky Screen.
Lin Qi cursed under his breath.
"This damn system, the title is really awful."
The screen lit up the next moment.