The Cup Shadow of Foosha Village
"Don't touch that ledger yet."
Robin's reminder had barely finished when Makino used her elbow to stop the sliding ledger. The page stopped at the Lin Qi's Tavern section, but there were several damp cup stains at the bottom.
Lin Qi stared at the blacked-out input box, his fingers leaving the keyboard.
"It's not here to check the accounts; it's using my Terminal to change the mapping."
Vegapunk pulled the East Blue Index to the center of the Sky Screen, and the row of black Cup Shadows below Foosha Village magnified accordingly. Each cup had a thin line attached to its bottom, which eventually converged into the Tavern's underground.
"These lines appear too neatly, but their origins don't match up."
Nami pushed Cocoyasi's old tax map aside and pointed to three markers on the outskirts of Foosha Village.
"The village entrance well, the dock warehouse, and Lin Qi's Tavern —all three places are listed Cup Shadow' entrances to the village,' yet the village's old records have never been kept in the population registry."
Makino pulled the ledger closer to herself.
"The only things in the Tavern's basement are the food and medicine Lin Qi bought; I have the key."
The sound from behind the Black Gate fell along with the Cup Shadow.
"The person who set the question previously built an underground refuge under a private name without disclosing its full purpose to the world. It is now under takeover as an abnormal public welfare event."
Lin Qi's expression slowly darkened as he looked at the newly appeared words.
"We already had one trial; you didn't get a charge against me by taking my draft, so now you're taking the basement."
Akainu raised his hand, and the black bead in front of the Navy Seat curled up at the edges from the heat.
"Having already passed a public review, the Throne has no right to convict again."
Dragon turned the map of Foosha Village towards the Navy Seat.
"The problem lies in the basement itself. The Cup Shadow needs a real-world embodiment; the Throne cannot be taken over with just a single line of false accounting."
Makino took the key out of her apron pocket and placed it on the table.
"I'll go open the door."
Lin Qi reached out and pressed the key down.
"You stay in front of the Sky Screen; the Civilian Witness Seats cannot leave. I'll go."
"You are the person it is looking for now."
Makino didn't let go; the key remained between their palms.
"Get out of there. Who can guarantee that the door won't record you as the Receipt?"
Buggy peeked out from across the Pirate Seats.
"Find someone who isn't on the books to open the account. Many of my crew members can't even write their full names."
Shanks picked up his glass, but without drinking, he put it back on the table.
"Even if you can't write your full name, you're still a person. Don't use crew members to test things out."
Buggy turned and yelled, "I'm offering a solution! Tell me yours!"
"Don't open the door first."
Robin magnified the cup print at the bottom of the ledger page, revealing several dates through the broken rim of the cup.
"These dates correspond to the times Lin Qi purchased emergency supplies. The Throne labeled each batch of supplies as a cup. Once the door is opened by the original purchaser, all the supplies could be interpreted as a human containment chain privately set up by the question setter."
Makino removed her hand from the key and turned to look at the Tavern's purchase order.
"I Receipt the grain, the village doctor helped test the medicine, and the basement was built by the village carpenter. There's nothing that only Lin Qi knows about."
Genzo squeezed into the frame from the secondary screen of the Foosha Village, holding the patrol log in his hand.
"I watched those moisture-proof wooden planks being unloaded at the dock, and the taxes were paid. If anyone says they're Tibetan cabinets, let them come and ask me first."
The village doctor held up a stack of prescriptions in front of the screen.
"The quantity of medicine is only enough to temporarily treat the villagers; there is no equipment to maintain a low temperature, nor is there any material for Personality Seal."
Vegapunk added several pieces of corroborating evidence to the index; the rim of the Black Cup receded, but the bottom remained firmly embedded in the Tavern floor.
"The physical goods can be verified, but the Cup Shadow hasn't disappeared; there are still things there that haven't been covered up by the accounts."
The waterline of the Central Rescued Target moved again; first, write down the two words left behind earlier.
[Besides]
Mia placed the codebook close to the screen.
"The direction will be written later."
The waterline turns towards the Foosha Village, and then a small square is drawn around the location of the Tavern.
Lin Qi looked at the box and reached for the old drawer on the side of the computer, Makino pressed down on the edge of the drawer first.
What did you remember?
"The day the basement was finished, before the system appeared, I found an iron box inside the wall."
You didn't tell me.
"There was only a mushy piece of paper inside; I thought it was some junk left over from an old Tavern."
Makino didn't scold her. She pulled the drawer open and took out a repair logbook stained with wine from the bottom.
Why do you think it's unimportant? Where did you put it?
"To support the legs of the table at the very back of the basement."
Buggy turned his face toward Shanks.
"He used things from the Throne to prop up the table legs?"
Shanks looked at Lin Qi.
"This is something he would do."
Lin Qi didn't respond to Buggy's words. He flipped to the last page of the repair log, where a line of scribbled notes was revealed.
[An old tin box and a piece of rotten paper, to be kept for now.]
A voice then interrupted from behind the Black Gate.
"The question setter admits to possessing the Throne Archives; the Foosha Village Cup Shadow Takeover is established."
Akainu's hand landed on the edge of the seat, and the black bead was pushed away by the heat wave.
"Acknowledging the discovery of an item does not equate to acknowledging knowledge of its origin."
Long looked at Lin Qi.
Can you still remember what was written on the paper?
Lin Qi closed the drawer, his palm remaining on the wooden board.
"The paper was soaked down to just a corner; I saw a cup mark and two words on it."
Nami pressed, "Which two words?"
"Echo."
The water in the central cup immediately overflowed the rim, and all the Black Cups in the Sealed Storage Warehouse simultaneously turned towards the Foosha Village, producing a neat clanging sound from the bottom of the cups.
Naji grabbed the edge of the blanket, and the pencil in his hand rolled off the paper.
They've talked about the Echo Cup before.
Luo Ya looked up.
Explain yourself.
Naji bent down to pick up the pen, and it took him several attempts to finally grasp it back in his hand.
"The first batch of people were turned into key tokens, the second batch were dismantled into the livelihood chain, and the Echo Cup was responsible for sending the deleted SOS messages back to the Throne."
The Void Seven page of the document flipped open by itself, revealing a Blank Receipt box.
"If the Echo Cup had remained in Foosha Village, the arrival of the Terminal here might not have been random."
Suddenly, the sound of a glass rolling came from the basement of the Tavern, rolling all the way down to Lin Qi's feet.
Makino picked up the key, but instead of heading towards the basement door, she handed the ledger to Genzo first.
You hold it for me.
Lin Qi stepped aside to block the doorway.
"The door can't be opened yet."
"I know."
Makino took a mop handle from behind the counter, stretched it along the floor crack, and gently touched the basement door.
The cup inside the door stopped.
Immediately afterwards, three short bangs came from below.
The Chao Bei raised its shell, and the Ju Bei hugged its own cup tightly, with responses coming from both secondary screens simultaneously.
Mia turned to the last page of the Sea-Drift Codebook, and the color drained from her face.
That wasn't the sound of the Throne being counted.
Lumi asked, "What did it say?"
Mia listened to those three sounds again.
It's asking, is the person outside Lin Qi?