The Unfinished Lin Qi

"Don't let the line touch him."

Robin spoke first.

Lin Qi stood beside the Black Line, without retreating.

"It has been confirmed."

"Confirmation does not equate to validity."

"The second line has also been confirmed."

The second row was stripped of five seats.

"There is no name in the third line."

Mo'er said, "Because it's still waiting for you to finish it."

Lin Qi looked down at the Black Line at his feet.

What should I supplement?

"Name."

"I already have a name."

"Lin Qi is just the name you're using right now."

"What does it want?"

Mo'er shook his head.

"I have no idea."

A Hui stared at Mo'er.

You know the rules for the Handoff Point.

"I know the Old Ship rules."

"You said all Maintainer should know."

"Maintainer are not Custodian."

"So you've never looked at the lower-level records?"

"I've seen it once."

"When?"

Before the shipwreck.

A Hui grabbed his collar.

What did you see?

"A person without a face."

"Don't talk about that."

He stood at the bottom of the ship, holding a Blank Handover Page in his hand.

Why didn't you tell me?

Because you were still behind the door then.

You told me you were the only one on the ship.

"I thought it was enough that you survived."

"You decided for me again."

Lin Qi raised his hand.

"Don't argue."

A Hui released Mo'er.

He wants you to get off.

"I know."

"You can't go."

"I know."

"Then why are you still standing there?"

The line hasn't touched me yet.

Nami pushed the map aside.

"Lin Qi, answer me, did you even consider going down just now?"

Lin Qi glanced at her.

"I've thought about it."

"Why?"

"Because a third person might know how the Throne sews the name back onto the child."

"Is this your reason?"

"There's one more."

"Explain."

He knows why I came here.

The communication channel fell silent.

Mo'er stared at Lin Qi.

You can't ask.

"I didn't ask."

"You've been targeted by it."

"It's been watching me ever since I opened that Black File."

That's different.

What's different?

Mo'er did not answer.

Lin Qi picked up the Blank page and walked to the Black Line.

"Can the third person hear me?"

The Black Line did not move.

"You are neither human nor a record."

The Black Line trembled slightly.

"You are a handover project that wasn't fully completed."

The Black Line moved forward half an inch.

The Lingering Voice tapped three times on the communication terminal.

Lin Qi asked, "What did you say?"

Lingering Voice, "He said, don't define him."

"Then let him say it himself."

Lin Qi placed the Blank page on the deck.

You can write.

The Black Line did not touch the paper.

"Can't write?"

The Black Line recedes slightly.

No hands?

The Black Line receded a little further.

"No name?"

The Black Line stopped.

Mo'er said, "Ask him if he has any memory."

Lin Qi tapped on the deck.

"Just now, I remembered it."

The bottom of the boat turned back slightly.

"Two moments, no memory of it."

There was no response.

"Thirdly, the memory belongs to someone else."

There were three thuds from the bottom of the boat.

Mo'er closed his eyes.

His memories have been taken away.

Who took it?

All around.

"World Government?"

Two times.

"The Custodian?"

Two times.

"Maintainer?"

One time.

Mo'er's expression changed.

A Hui turned to him.

"You accessed his memories?"

"I don't."

He chose you.

"It wasn't me."

"You are the Maintainer."

"I'm responsible for sending out the sound, not for retrieving the memories."

The Black Line moved forward again.

This time, I encountered Blank page.

A line of text appeared on the paper.

[Maintainer Mo'er has confirmed that the Third Person is not on board.]

Mo'er reached out to tear it.

Lin Qi pressed his hand down.

"Don't tear it."

"It's using me to prove it."

You said he didn't belong on the ship.

He never belonged on the ship.

You've seen him.

"Seeing him doesn't mean he's on the ship."

"The Throne will transform what we've seen into what we've received."

"Therefore, it cannot be written."

Lin Qi looked at the Black Line.

What do you want me to write?

The words on the paper disappeared.

[Please confirm if Lin Qi is his original name]

Nami said, "Don't answer."

Lin Qi did not write anything.

"This isn't asking why I came here."

"It went around it."

"It's verifying identity."

Mo'er said, "Once you confirm, the handover can be completed."

"What if I don't confirm?"

It will keep asking.

"Just keep asking."

Nami said, "You can't let it keep asking; the White Ship's reception relationship is still shrinking."

Lin Qi looked up at the White Ship.

The sound from various receiving points has become chaotic.

Some people were saying their own names, some were pausing halfway through, and some were repeating the same word over and over.

Lingering Voice said, "They heard another voice."

Whose is it?

"A child."

"Say what?"

"Their names are not theirs."

"The Third Person has begun to speak," Mo'er said.

Lin Qi turned the Blank page over.

"Make him say it to me."

There was no sound.

Black Line runs through the page, writing a line on the back.

[Lin Qi is not Lin Qi]

A Hui looked at Lin Qi.

Do you know what this means?

I know it wants me to keep writing.

"You're not Lin Qi?"

My name is Lin Qi now.

What was your original name?

Lin Qi looked at the line of text.

"I don't remember."

Mo'er said, "It's waiting for this answer."

I don't need to answer.

You've already answered.

I'm talking about now.

The words on the paper continued to appear.

[Original name missing]

[Original place of origin missing]

[Birth record missing]

[Death record missing]

Nami snatched the Blank page.

This is not your information.

"It's its."

Robin took a closer look.

There is no subject on the page.

"So it can blame all the missing parts on me."

Lin Qi reached out and took the paper back.

"Third Person, you don't have a real name?"

The Black Line did not move.

"You don't have a place of origin?"

One time.

"You have no birth record?"

One time.

"You have no death record?"

One time.

Lin Qi asked, "When did you appear?"

There was no response.

He changed the question.

When you first heard the sound, was the ship still at sea?

Three times.

Before the shipwreck?

One time.

"After the shipwreck?"

Two times.

"You appeared during the shipwreck?"

There was no response.

Mo'er said, "Ask him if he's here because of me."

Lin Qi looked at him.

Are you sure?

"If it weren't for me, the third person wouldn't be at the bottom of the ship."

What did you do at that time?

I opened the last lucky cup.

What's inside?

Mo'er placed his hand on A Hui's shoulder.

"A child."

A Hui asked, "You saved him?"

I heard him crying.

"Then what?"

He wouldn't let me open the door.

"Why?"

He said someone was waiting for him outside.

"Who?"

He said it was me.

A Hui looked at Mo'er.

You've already met the third person.

That's another child.

You said there was only one.

I thought it was him.

What do you think?

Mo'er did not avoid A Hui's gaze.

"His voice sounds just like a third person's."

The Black Line suddenly moved forward.

It got tangled in the corner of the Blank page.

A very small picture appears on the paper.

A child is sitting in a cup.

Another child is standing outside the cup.

There was a door that couldn't be opened in between.

There was a single character written on the door.

[Forest]

Lin Qi reached out to touch the pattern.

Nami grabbed his wrist.

"Don't touch it."

"I was just watching."

"It wants contact."

How can I know the answer if I don't try it?

"Ask first."

Lin Qi withdrew his hand.

"Is 'Lin' on the door my surname?"

The Black Line did not respond.

"Is it Third Person's surname?"

One time.

"Is that the surname of the Handoff Point?"

Two times.

"Is it fake?"

Three times.

Lingering Voice, "He said, Lin is the door."

Robin said, "A surname was broken down into a door symbol."

Mo'er looked at the diagram.

There was a Black Gate on the ship back then.

"You've seen it?"

"Every Transport Ship has it."

What lies behind the Black Gate?

"Tank/Handover Records."

Why have you never mentioned it?

"I thought it was just a storage door."

Do you still think so now?

Mo'er said, "When that door is closed, you can hear sounds coming from inside."

Whose voice is that?

"Children."

Lin Qi picked up his pen.

"Then open the door."

A warning immediately popped up on the Throne.

[Opening the Black Gate will result in the retrieval of all incomplete records.]

[Please confirm whether you wish to continue]

Three options are shown below.

[A: Keep the Black Gate closed]

[B: Activated by Maintainer Mo'er]

[C: Initiated by Custodian East Tax Nine]

Lin Qi didn't rush to add any more options.

Nami said, "All three of them are shifting the blame to others."

"It will also reclaim incomplete records."

"Cannot be selected."

Lin Qi asked, "Can you open the door for the third person?"

The Black Line moves forward.

A line of text appeared on the paper.

[The door only recognizes Lin Qi]

Mo'er grabbed Lin Qi's shoulder.

You can't drive it.

"The door must recognize me."

It recognizes the Echo within you.

"Then I'll leave the Echo outside."

"Cannot be kept."

Has anyone tried it?

"I."

You didn't succeed.

So you won't succeed either.

Lin Qi looked at the Black Line on the door.

"Then I'll try another method."

He added a fourth option to the question.

[D: The Black Gate must not be verified by any person in any capacity. First, all incomplete records inside the gate must be copied as independent evidence. Then, the affected party inside the gate will decide whether to open it.]

Nami immediately said, "That's fine."

Dragon confirms his Revolutionary Army Seat.

Akainu has been confirmed Navy Seat.

Makino has been confirmed Civilian Witness Seat.

Lingering Voice the confirmation of the Medical Seat.

Buggy concluded by asking, "The Pirate Seat has passed a resolution. Who will pay for the paper money used to copy the records?"

"You."

"Then I'll choose D."

Five votes were cast.

The Black Gate did not open.

The Black Line on the door had broken.

A series of knocks came from deep within the hull.

Cover your ears Lingering Voice.

"Too many."

Lin Qi asked, "What's wrong?"

"Everyone inside is knocking."

What are they saying?

They all claim to be Lin Qi.

On the communication terminal, Lin Qi's computer screen was covered with a layer of black water stains.

The watermarks coalesced into new words.

[Number of Third Presence: 1,968]

[Of these, 1,967 are awaiting their names.]

[One of them was waiting for Lin Qi]

Mo'er held onto the railing.

"The third person is not a single person."

A Hui looked behind the door.

Who was the last one?

The black water on the screen continued to flow.

The people waiting for Lin Qi had already arrived outside the door.

Footsteps could be heard on the deck of the White Ship.

No one came up the gangway.

The footsteps came from behind Lin Qi.