Only One Can Leave

Who wrote it?

A Hui's left hand was still outside the door, the broken iron wire hanging down to the ground along the door frame.

"I write."

Mo'er answered.

"When?"

"Before Inverted Cup."

"You knew all along?"

"Know."

"So you made me the gatekeeper."

I'm letting you go.

There are six locks on the door, how am I supposed to get in?

"There was no lock in the first year."

A Hui tore off the cloth from her wrist, revealing several old wounds.

"The first year, you shouted from below, saying, 'Wait one more day.'"

Mo'er remained silent.

"Another lock was added the following year, and you said it would be fixed soon."

"A Hui."

"In the third year, I couldn't hear you anymore, and two more doors appeared on them."

A Hui grabbed the door frame, and the rust fell into the water.

"From which year did you start planning to have me go out in your place?"

"Day 1."

"Then why did you make me wait?"

A cough came from underground.

"Because I want to go out too."

A Hui's hand fell down.

No one answered in the Tavern; even Buggy closed his delivery ledger.

Lin Qi picked up the Coaster; the words didn't burn his hand, but the line of rules at the bottom seemed to sink deeper and deeper into his mind.

"Only one can go, what's the basis for that?"

Vegapunk created the Inverted Cup structure.

"The entrance and the Total Echo share a load-bearing line. If the Gatekeeper leaves, the Maintainer must remain below to cover for him."

"Where's the Maintainer coming up?"

"A Hui will be dragged into the well by the door lock."

Replace the load-bearing line.

"It can be exchanged."

"That's what Mo'er said."

A Hui immediately asked, "What should we use?"

"A living person."

"Shut up."

I'm referring to the original rules.

"The original text also needs to shut up."

Lin Qi flipped the Coaster over.

"The Inverted Cup and held up because the Echo has nowhere else to go."

"Right."

"If every sound returns to its original place, does the cup still need someone to hold it?"

"The Echo will travel through the Terminal, Throne can follow the line to find the person in distress."

Nami took over the conversation.

"It's been found; the second batch of names has been unearthed."

"Locate only the region."

Robin marked several places where Cup Voice on the map of the East Blue.

"If Total Echo are played out, the location of every victim will be revealed."

Akainu looked at the deployment map at the Navy Seat.

"The navy can deploy simultaneously."

"You don't have time to cover all the islands in the East Blue."

Dragon overlays the Revolutionary Army's strongholds one by one onto the map.

"The Revolutionary Army isn't enough either."

Buggy lifted the delivery route.

"Why are you looking at me? Sending ships to deliver goods is fine, even trying to steal people from the Throne is fine, but you have to tell me where you're going."

"If I tell you now, the Throne will know too."

Shanks tapped the edge of the map with the back of his hand.

"Hide the receiving point first."

How to hide it?

"Mo'er could hide his cries for help in Inverted Cup, and we can hide our Echo in the records of ships, islands, and people."

Speak like a human being.

"Establish a temporary receiving point in each area, where locals will listen in and then transcribe the list into a paper form."

Buggy glanced at the flight path and muttered a couple of things to himself.

"Seven sea routes, more than forty transit islands in the East Blue, and I can only handle a maximum of twenty."

"Red-Hair are in charge of the New World routes."

What does the East Blue have to do with your New World?

"The Total Echo may not only be from the East Blue."

The names on the Coasters gently bumped together, revealing two overlapping engravings at the bottom.

After examining it, Mia said, "Shanks is right, this Coaster only shows the East Blue; there are other seas below it."

Lin Qi turned to look at A Hui.

Do you know?

"Mo'er didn't tell me."

"He doesn't know."

The old man underground took over the conversation.

How many floors are there below?

"Five floors."

"The Grand Line is also there?"

"Have."

"What about Sky Island?"

"An Echo is coming down."

The scene of Jinbe looking at Fish-Man Island.

"Seabed?"

"Yes."

Maps of the five sea areas were spread out by all parties, and the rescue efforts that originally surrounded the Foosha Village expanded outwards along the remaining lines of the Sky Screen.

The voice from behind the Black Gate intervened again.

[Illegal transfer of Echo will distort global records of human life.]

Nami looked up and said, "When you wrote a living person as a tax collector, why didn't you mention the falsity of the records?"

"The Navy Seat has instructed all branches to maintain records of missing persons within their jurisdictions."

Akainu's command was transmitted through the Navy channel.

"The rhythm of the Cup Voice announced by the Sky Screen will be used as the verification standard; rescue targets must not be brought into unilateral interrogation rooms."

Sengoku glanced at him.

"Should the last sentence also be included in the command?"

"Want."

There will be opposition within the Navy.

"Let them come find me."

Dragon has converted the Revolutionary Army's hidden liaison points into Echo receiving stations.

"Teams in various regions must not seize victims, name victims, or register their affiliation under the guise of rescue operations."

Buggy grabbed a pen and wrote a few large words on the cover of the delivery ledger.

"I only have one rule: anyone who dares to charge storage fees can jump into the sea themselves."

Shanks said, "You just said it wasn't free."

"I only charge for the goods; people aren't counted as goods."

"That's a good statement."

"Do I need your praise?"

Makino tore out the old ledger pages from the Foosha Village and distributed them to the villagers.

How many can the village receive?

The Village Chief counted the people inside the house.

"One person takes a note, let's start with twenty."

The Old Carpenter stuffed the plane back into his tool bag.

"I learn to read slowly, so please give me a shorter name."

Genzo took two pages.

I can remember three.

"Don't be stubborn, it'll be troublesome if you remember just one wrong thing."

"Remember those two."

Lin Qi looked at the Blank papers that were gradually covering the table.

"Mo'er, are there enough receiving points?"

"Still lacking."

How much difference?

There are 1,762 Total Echo.

Buggy's pen fell onto the ledger.

"How many?"

One thousand seven hundred and sixty-two.

"You carried so many all by yourself?"

After A Hui finished asking, there was still no answer from underground.

"Mo'er."

"Um."

"You hear that every day?"

"I could hear it a few years ago, but I can't hear it completely anymore."

What are they all saying?

Most people ask if anyone is outside.

A Hui sat down on the floor inside the door, leaning against the door panel.

How did you answer?

"Knock on the cup."

"You can still move your hand?"

"One of them can move."

A Hui looked down at his left hand, which had already been freed from the wire.

"You could keep knocking, why didn't you call me?"

"I called it."

"I didn't hear you."

"The Throne sent my voice into the Total Echo."

Naji held up the record.

I've heard of it.

Mia read for him, "Naji said he heard an old man tapping a cup four times in Cold Room, meaning someone was there."

The Chao Bei also raised its shell.

There were four voyages at sea.

The Ju Bei held the cup and gently tapped it four times.

The Muqiao responded with the table leg, and the lamp, having found the spot left by the empty key, also tapped out the same rhythm on the edge of the bed.

All around.

Children rescued in various parts of the East Blue have given the same response.

A Hui sat behind the door, her lips moving a few times.

"I thought you hadn't called me."

"It's called every day."

Why didn't you knock a few more times?

My hands are sore.

"Serves you right."

"Um."

A Hui lowered his head, picked up the bowl of water from the ground, and drank it all in one gulp.

How many more receiving points are needed?

Robin tallied the number of submissions from each party.

"310 naval units, 270 Revolutionary Army units, 190 pirate and merchant ship units, and the number of civilians registering voluntarily is increasing."

Is that enough?

"We're still short by over four hundred."

"We can still pick up passengers from the Foosha Village."

Makino opened the Tavern cabinet and took out an empty wine list that had been accumulating for years.

"Each drink menu leaves an Echo, and there are hundreds more in the Tavern."

Why are you leaving so many empty wine lists?

Lin Qi asked.

"A certain boss often falls asleep halfway through doing the bookkeeping, so he has to get a new sheet."

"Don't expose their weaknesses now."

The villagers spread the wine list all over the table, and even pasted paper on the empty wine barrels by the wall.

The voice behind the Black Gate began reporting the Terminal load.

[Echo reception exceeded license limit.]

Lin Qi tapped on the computer, which was turned off.

Nobody asked for your permission.

[The question setter's privileges will soon be revoked.]

"Release it."

[Live stream will be closed.]

"Close."

The protected person will lose the right to public witness.

"The reality record has been caught."

You will lose your referee status.

"I originally owned Tavern."

The Golden Light faded from the last corner of the computer screen, and the Sky Screen above the Foosha Village went completely dark.

Secondary screens around the world also lost their display, leaving only lists and maps that had been copied from various parties.

The oil lamp in the Tavern illuminated a Blank menu on a table.

Mo'er's voice came from underground.

"Now the Throne is nowhere to be seen either."

Lin Qi looked towards the entrance under the table.

"Can I Inverted Cup now?"

"Able."

"Are there enough receiving points?"

"One more to go."

"Where?"

The five layers of engravings on the Coaster unfold in sequence, with records already accessed from the Four Blues, the Grand Line, Sky Island, and Fish-Man Island.

The last Echo Line did not point to any island.

It climbed up the table leg and landed on A Hui.

Mo'er said, "The last receiving point was him."

A Hui raised her head.

Whom should I pick up?

"I."