The Basement Recognizes No Master

Don't answer with your name.

Robin raised his hand to cover the input box in front of Lin Qi, Cup Voice being dragged behind the basement door rang out again, this time with three sounds followed by a dragging sound.

Makino gripped the mop handle and didn't touch the door again.

"It knows the Tavern, and it knows Lin Qi, but we don't know who's asking the questions."

Lin Qi pushed the computer back, but the blacked-out input box remained stuck in the center of the screen, with a line of text appearing on its own.

[Please confirm the private node, question setter.]

It wants me to personally claim ownership of the basement.

Vegapunk pulled up the flow of rules around the Terminal; several Black Lines had already bypassed the Sky Screen and were attached to the inside of the Tavern's wall panel.

"As long as you answer yes, Echo Cup can connect your private node with the question-setting authority."

Akainu said, "Then I won't answer."

The voice from behind the Black Gate then fell silent.

"Refusal to confirm is considered tacit possession."

Buggy threw the delivery stamp on the table onto the ground.

"Whether you say it's yours or not, it's still yours. I've seen this kind of ledger countless times; everyone writes it like this when they owe money."

Nami twirled the Clima-Tact, the tip of which stopped on the map of Foosha Village.

"Since both answers and silence are being used by it, let the basement reject the master-servant relationship itself."

Genzo frowned on the secondary screen.

"The house belongs to Makino, and the basement is part of the Tavern; we can't just say nobody cares."

Robin pushed the repair records in front of Makino.

"Managing and using the space is one thing, and occupying the space is another. First, confirm that the basement is a normal building space, and then isolate the Echo Cup separately."

Lin Qi looked down at the bottom of the door panel. The Cup Voice no longer urged him on, but the dragging sound slowly moved along the base of the wall.

"What's inside is looking for an exit."

Makino glanced down at the keys.

"There are two locks behind the door. The outer lock was replaced later, and there was originally an old latch inside."

Who installed it?

"It was left by the previous owner; it was already rusted when I took over the Tavern."

The village's Old Carpenter squeezed in from outside the screen, his hands still covered in wood shavings.

"I removed that latch. The part rusted into the wall was connected to a piece of sheet metal. I didn't want the hassle of digging into the wall, so I just sawed off the exposed wood."

Lin Qi turned to look at him.

You never told me that.

The Old Carpenter tucked the plane under his arm.

"You didn't say anything when you used a metal box to prop up the table leg, so why should I remember a piece of scrap metal?"

Makino put the key back on the table.

"The tin box, the tin sheet, the Echo Cup —these three things might have originally been together."

The waterline of the Central Rescued Target moved again, this time without writing anything; it drew a door with two overlapping small squares behind it.

Mia looked at the Sealed Storage Warehouse.

He said there were two inside.

Lumi moved forward towards the edge of the protective seat.

"Two cups?"

The waterline erased a square and redrawn a small figure, leaving the cup next to it.

"One person, one cup."

The pages on East Tax Nine's chest rustled as he was restrained, his gaze fixed on the deepest part of the Cup Shadow in Foosha Village.

"The Echo Cup doesn't need a living person to guard it; it will leave Echo for the last person it comes into contact with."

Nami turned to him.

How much do you know?

Before East Tax Eight took me to the general ledger, I saw an old transit document. The Echo Node didn't have a number, only the location.

"The Foosha Village is up there?"

East Tax Nine did not answer immediately. He raised his hand and touched the Black Line on his chest, and the restraining Golden Light pushed his hand back.

"The location was torn up; all I remember are the transfer requirements: away from the Marine Base, near a stable population, with a public Tavern, suitable for gathering information."

Genzo rolled up the patrol log.

"Foosha Village fits perfectly."

Long looked at Lin Qi.

"The system only activated after you opened the Tavern; perhaps it's because you touched the Echo Cup."

Lin Qi wiped away the black water seeping from the edge of the computer with the back of his hand.

"I touched the metal box; the paper inside was already rotten."

Void Seven turned to a new page.

"Paper can be the writing instrument, and the metal box can be the Echo container. The fact that it didn't activate immediately after being touched indicates that the authority to create questions is still lacking."

The voice from behind the Black Gate intervened again.

"The outsider, carrying memories of the future, illegally activated the Throne Echo Node and should bear the responsibility for all subsequent turmoil."

Makino leaned the mop handle back against the corner of the wall, then turned and stood between Lin Qi and the computer.

"Whom do you want him to confess to this time?"

"The Echo Node awakens because of him."

Who buried it in the Tavern?

Black Gate did not answer.

Why does it recognize the Throne's commands?

The Black Line on the Cup Shadow began to tighten.

"Who left someone underground, making him wait until Lin Qi arrived before waking up?"

With each question Makino asked, the dragging sound behind the basement door drew closer, finally stopping on the other side of the door.

A small patch of water seeped out from under the door, the smell of seawater mingling with the dampness of the old wood.

Lin Qi squatted down but didn't touch the water.

Can the people inside hear this?

Three short sounds rang out.

Don't ask him if he knows me.

Lin Qi placed his hands on his knees so that people inside could see through the crack in the door.

"You don't need to give your name, and you don't need to tell us who you are. Just tell me, can this door be opened from the outside?"

The Cup Voice once, then twice more.

Mia shook her head after hearing this.

He said the outer lock was fine, but the inner one wasn't.

The Old Carpenter walked forward, carrying his plane.

"Only a section of the old door bolt remains inside the wall, so how could there still be the one inside?"

The water behind the door slowly swirled around Lin Qi's shadow, writing two words on the floor.

[Human Lock]

Naji's pencil fell onto the paper again, but this time he didn't pick it up.

"When the Echo Guard is left inside the door, his body will take the place of the latch."

Steam rose from the back of Akainu's chair.

"Human Lock."

Luo Ya touched the seal marks on the side of his neck that hadn't completely faded.

"Luo Ya is the key, he is the lock."

Lumi opened the victim Protection List.

"First register it as a target awaiting rescue; the door can no longer be treated as a building malfunction."

The voice from behind the Black Gate immediately said, "The underground target is now linked to the question-generating Terminal; separation will cause the global live stream to be interrupted."

Lin Qi stood up and looked at the golden Sky Screen that always illuminated the world.

"If it's canceled, then it's canceled."

Sengoku looked up from the naval secondary screen, Ryuu took his hand off the map, and even Buggy didn't say a word.

Lin Qi turned the computer towards the door so that the person inside could see the blacked-out input box.

"Live streaming isn't something you can achieve by trading people for money."

The black text in the input box began to distort, and Golden Light from the system squeezed in from the edge, briefly restoring the ability to create questions.

[Human Lock separation protection problem]

[Question: When the underground target in Foosha Village is used as Echo Node Human Lock, can the person be detained to maintain the live stream or secure the Terminal?]

Lin Qi left only one option.

[D. No, live streaming and Terminals must not be conducted at the expense of restraining living individuals. The individual must be protected first, and the Human Lock function must be disabled. Any system losses must be jointly verified by multiple parties.]

The Throne was attempting to add other options, and all five seats had already been decided simultaneously.

[Answer: D]

The basement door bulged outwards, and a muffled thud of Iron Plate bending came from inside the walls. Lin Qi's computer screen went out, and a corner of the Sky Screen over the East Blue darkened.

The darkness lasted only until Makino relit the oil lamp on the counter.

From the crack in the door, a wet hand reached out. Its fingertips didn't reach for the key or touch Lin Qi; instead, it pushed a small Iron Plate into the light.

An old line of text was engraved on the Iron Plate.

[The first Gatekeeper of the Echo Node, temporarily managed by the Monkey Family.]