You Can Remember Me

"Can."

Ace answered too quickly; Whitebeard's naginata was still held in front of the Den Den Mushi, and he had already sent out his message.

The Black Cups on the Moving Island all spun together.

The Experimental Mother asked again.

"You want me to remember you?"

"I want you to remember me, my name is Ace."

Ace placed his palm on the back of the naginata without pushing it away.

"Remember that I was born, I've grown up, and I'm doing alright. No one can fill in the blanks for me."

The sutures on the Experimental Mother's abdomen were pulled apart, revealing half of the recipient's face inside.

Are you my child?

You can't ask that.

Little Patch peeks out from Luffy's wrist.

"She always asks for the name first, then whether it's a child. As long as the answer is given, she'll write the person down."

Ace stared at the body connected to the Red Knot.

"Then listen carefully: I allow you to remember me, but I don't allow you to remember me as your child."

What's the difference?

"Much worse."

"I remember the child; the child is mine."

Who taught you that?

The Experimental Mother did not respond.

Among the 1,967 Black Cups, a woman spoke up.

"Hospital ship."

Another cup clinked in response.

They made us remember the numbers.

"Remember this: from now on, the number will represent the child."

"The child died because the serial number was forgotten."

Don't forget, you mustn't forget.

Robin flipped through the old medical records that had just been sent from the South Blue.

"The mothers were interrogated separately, and each received a pending identification number. The Throne instructed them to use these numbers as temporary identities for their children."

Sengoku took the document.

"This is to verify the birth time."

Garp lifted his eyelids.

"You believe me?"

"I'm explaining what the file says."

"Then read the rest of the file as well."

Sengoku to the next page, the corner of the paper was torn.

"If the mother is unable to continuously confirm the child's identification number, the kinship claim will be deemed invalid, and the child will be transferred to the Unclaimed Record."

Upon hearing this, the women in the cups stopped tapping their glasses.

"I remember."

I'll always remember.

My number is South Seventeen.

"No, Nan Shiqi is mine."

They gave me two.

"I forgot, did I lose the child?"

Makino divided the Civilian Witness Seat line into dozens of routes, first connecting to the few cups that were crying out.

"Don't rush to grab the numbers, do you remember your names?"

"Call?"

"You can call me whatever others call me, or whatever your family calls me, it's fine."

They call me Mother Number Seven.

"What about before that?"

There was a moment of silence in the Black Cup.

"A Sha."

A woman spoke first.

The cup next to her gently bumped into her.

I know you.

"Who?"

"You mended clothes for the people on the hospital ship."

What's your name?

"I forgot, but you called me Nan Zhi."

A Sha repeated it twice.

"Nan Zhi, your child is not Nan Shiqi. You said before that it was a girl, and that she had a small red mark next to her ear when she was born."

Have you seen her?

"Take it; I've seen it before."

The rim of Nan Zhi's cup turned towards A Sha.

The Black Line connecting the name box detached from the bottom of the cup and fell into a separate record page.

Vegapunk quickly adjusted the instruments.

"They retained each other's life memories, but the Experimental Mother suppressed this part beneath their numbering."

Lin Qi looked at the Q&A page.

The three options for the Throne are still there, but you can no longer enter your name.

"Don't set the questions yet."

Robin called out to him.

"Let them say it themselves. Once the system records a unified answer, it will group different people together again."

Lin Qi shrunk the page to a corner.

"What about Ace?"

"He clarifies the boundaries, the Experimental Mother repeats them, and both parties confirm them."

The Experimental Mother made a sound through the Den Den Mushi.

"Ace."

"I am here."

You have been born.

"Right."

You've grown up.

"Right."

You are not my child.

Ace did not respond immediately.

Garp dragged the chair forward a bit.

"Answer completely."

"I know."

Ace touched the beaded necklace around his neck.

"I am not your child, but you can remember me."

"Why?"

"Because you have something Rouge left inside you."

Do you want to take it?

"I won't take it."

"You won't take it anymore?"

"That depends on whether you're willing to give it to me."

The Experimental Mother's arm fell back onto the island, and the Black Cups covering the outside of Little Patch's body retreated a few times.

Will you be angry if I don't give it to you?

"You'll be disappointed."

Will they come to arrest me?

"Won't."

Will you lock me in a cup?

"Won't."

Would you ask someone to break me up?

"Won't."

The Experimental Mother repeatedly uttered the last two words.

"Won't."

The Red Knot on Little Patch's wrist loosened a little.

Chopper immediately caught the end of the thread.

"Your breathing has become faster, and anywhere it hurts?"

"Chest."

Which side?

"I can't tell."

Vegapunk zoomed in on the receiver's image, revealing three layers of sutures embedded in its chest, one of which was tightening as the Experimental Mother repeated her words.

She is establishing new memory locations.

Lin Qi asked, "Will Ace's name be written in?"

"Yes, but the purpose hasn't been determined yet."

"That won't do."

Ace objected across the line.

"Wait, she just learned how to remember a child that isn't her own."

"Once your name is recorded on the island, the Throne can find you through the records."

It already knew who I was.

"Knowing and agreeing to its recording are two different things."

Whitebeard thrust his naginata forward, blocking Ace's hand as he reached for the Den Den Mushi.

Someone just said that to you.

"Pops, she's stopped."

Stopping doesn't mean learning to let go.

The Experimental Mother heard it.

How do I let go?

Luffy leaned closer to the Den Den Mushi.

"Put Ace's name back."

Where should I put it?

"Leave it with him."

Can a name be placed on a person?

"What's mine is mine."

Nami pushed Luffy's face away.

"Don't teach her yet; she'll really do it the way you understand it."

Did I say something wrong?

"You didn't even notice your name was stuck on the Straw Hat."

"It's been discovered."

"That's what we told you."

Boa Hancock inserted the wires from the Kuja.

"I will teach her."

Nami looked at the Den Den Mushi.

How do you plan to teach?

"The name belongs to the person, the memory belongs to the person who remembers it. She can retain the memory of having seen Ace, but she cannot retain Ace himself."

The Experimental Mother asked, "Have you seen it before?"

"I've seen them even through Den Den Mushi."

"I have no eyes."

"You've heard him speak before."

"The sound will fade away."

Then remember what he said.

A line of red characters seeped out from the sutures on the Experimental Mother's abdomen.

My name is Ace, and I've grown up.

There is no family line next to Ace's name.

Vegapunk reviewed the data three times.

"Memory established, no recovery route established."

The Experimental Mother then asked, "Is this alright?"

Ace sat back on the ship's railing.

"Can."

Will you forget me?

"You don't even have a name, how am I supposed to remember it?"

"I can use Rouge's name."

"No."

Garp and Ace spoke at the same time.

The Experimental Mother's finger stopped on the island's surface.

"Then what should I call myself?"

The woman in the Black Cup within the Seastone net said, "You left Blank just now."

What is Blank?

"A place where no one makes decisions for others."

The Experimental Mother touched her abdomen, where Rouge's unfinished death record remained, along with the lives of 1,967 yet to be returned.

Can I be called Blank?

Robin closed the notebook.

"A temporary protected name is acceptable; whether you choose to use it permanently is up to you later."

Lin Qi opened the Protection Page.

[Temporary protected name: Blank]

[Purpose: Identification of individual victims]

[Forbidden to replace Portgas D. Rouge]

[The establishment of kinship tracing routes is prohibited]

The five seats were confirmed in turn.

As the last stamp fell, the Rouge mark on the Experimental Mother receded inward, and the two Blank characters appeared outside the suture line.

She read it aloud.

"Blank."

The Den Den Mushi in front of Ace repeated the message.

"Blank."

Are you calling me?

"Right."

"Then I'll remember you, and you remember me too."

"Make a deal."

The Moving Island stopped chasing Ace, and the red line on the sea chart receded a mile.

Just as Nami was about to recalculate the rendezvous time, Vegapunk's instruments issued a series of prompts.

"Wait, the Blank space is touching an old record."

Garp stood up.

What record?

"Rouge's death certificate."

"Wasn't that certificate incomplete?"

"Previously, there was a missing person for confirmation. Now, the Blank appears as an independent entry, and the system is requesting her to complete the signature."

A yellowed medical bill rose from the Experimental Mother's abdomen.

[Patient Portgas D. Rouge died postpartum]

[Recipient of remains: Blank]

Ace reached out and grabbed the Den Den Mushi.

Don't sign.

Blank was no response.

Below the medical bill, another line of text, already stamped, appeared.

The body was delivered to the Calm Belt 22 years ago.