107: Chapter 107 Fake Shirai Diagram

The shell of the stolen map did not return. The fake White Well map, however, did return.

It was buoyed to the side of the ship by a grey-white bubble. The paper surface had thinned, and the supply Old Seal had been covered by three layers of white frames. A small seal had also appeared on the corner of the white frame.

Nami picked up the corner of the paper with tweezers. "White Well has received the map."

Jona poked his head over. "Did they believe it?"

"Half-believed it."

Kahn crawled out from the rudder box. "What about the other half?"

Nami flipped the paper over. On the back, there was an extra line of cold-white Short Code. [Source Pending]

Rake frowned. "They want to supply the source?"

"Yes." Nami put the fake map into an iron tray, "The fake supply point doesn't have a Source Seal; White Well wants the Evidence Warehouse to add one."

Jona's eyes lit up. "Then the Source Seal will be sent out?"

"It won't be sent to our hands." Nami looked towards the right front Evidence Warehouse opening, "It will be sent to the location the fake map points to."

Kahn looked down at the rudder. "We can't go to the fake location."

"No need to go."

Nami cut off the corner of the Black Flag shadow she had traced yesterday and pasted it onto the back of the fake map.

Night Ember raised an eyebrow.

Nami said: "Your shadow has already been stolen once. If it gets stolen again, it will feel familiar."

Jona whispered: "Can shadows be used for fishing, too?"

Kahn said: "If you can fish for words, why can't shadows be fished for?"

Rake changed the hookless rope to a three-strand soft line. The first strand held the fake map, the second held Grey Gull Old Seal powder, and the third held an Old Navy brass button.

Nami pointed to the sea chart. "We aren't taking the Source Seal itself; we are taking its landing point first."

Night Ember asked: "Is the landing point enough?"

"Enough to find the path. The Source Seal has a seal face and a seal back. The seal face stamps the map, and the seal back connects to the Shell Recognition Position Two."

E-19 looked up from inside the hatch line. "Will Shell Recognition Position Two know?"

"If he is still awake, yes."

The Station Master looked at him immediately. "You are not allowed to listen for too long."

E-19 put his earplugs back in. "I only listen to Short Code."

Wooden Tablet One knocked once in the cabin.

The Station Master sneered. "They don't agree."

E-19 lowered his head. "I'm wearing them."

Nami pushed another pair of earplugs towards him. "Spare."

E-19 looked at the earplugs. "I'm not a child."

The Station Master closed the medicine kit. "There is no age for the wounded."

Jona whispered: "Can this sentence be recorded too?"

"Record it." Nami said, "Post it on the hatch door later."

The fake map entered the water again.

The white frame emitted a cold light upon hitting the water, drifting towards the front right like a piece of thin ice. The Evidence Warehouse did not swallow it immediately. A thin white line extended from underwater, circling the fake map twice.

Nami lowered her voice. "It's verifying yesterday's traced shadow."

Night Ember raised his hand, and the Black Flag shadow landed on a corner of the water surface.

The thin white line paused.

The old shadow on the back of the fake map and the new shadow on the water surface overlapped.

The Evidence Warehouse believed it.

The black water on the front right opened a narrow slit, and a small square seal extended from the shell crack. The square seal did not fall; it just hovered above the fake map, waiting for a response from Shell Recognition Position Two.

Rake gripped the soft line. "Now?"

Nami shook her head. "Wait for the seal back to light up."

Two thin grooves slowly emerged on the back of the square seal.

One led to the Evidence Warehouse.

One led to the shell crack.

A very light knocking sound came from the shell crack.

One short. One short. Stop.

E-19 stiffened even through the earplugs.

The Station Master pressed on his shoulder. "Only say the code."

E-19 closed his eyes. "He says, don't let the seal face touch the real map."

Nami immediately pressed the real map into the iron box.

The square seal fell.

A White Well supply Old Seal was added to the fake map.

At the same instant, Rake retracted the first soft line. The fake map was pulled half an inch, and the Source Seal only stamped the corner of the paper. As the seal face shifted, half of the thin grooves on the seal back were exposed.

Nami sprinkled the Grey Gull Old Seal powder into the water.

The powder stuck to the thin grooves on the seal back, revealing a small arrow.

Kahn cursed after seeing it clearly. "It connects to the lower layer of the shell crack."

Jona drew it quickly. "Lower layer of the shell crack, Shell Recognition Position Two."

The Evidence Warehouse sensed the seal face was misaligned, and the white membrane tightened suddenly. The fake map was torn in half, and the Black Flag shadow inside the paper shattered into several pieces.

Night Ember reached out.

Nami said: "Don't press it."

"I'm not pressing it."

He pushed the flag shadow aside, revealing another patch of empty water.

The Evidence Warehouse's white membrane chased after the fragmented shadows.

Rake seized the opportunity to retract the second soft line.

The end of the line brought back a bit of the seal back powder.

The powder was not white. It was grey-black.

Jona looked at the iron tray. "Why is the back of the Source Seal black?"

The Station Master picked up a bit with a needle. The tip of the needle did not turn white; instead, an Old Navy blue emerged.

Nami placed the Old Navy brass button next to it. The colors were identical.

"The Source Seal didn't originally belong to the Evidence Warehouse."

Kahn said: "Belonged to the Old Navy?"

"At least it was maintained with Old Navy ink paste." Nami sealed the seal back powder into an evidence bag, "Shell Recognition Position Two might be an Old Navy clerk, or an old branch evidence officer."

Rake retracted the third line.

Only half of the Old Navy brass button remained. The other half had been bitten off by the Source Seal, leaving a small White Well seal on the edge.

White Well Short Code floated on the water surface. [Seal addition failed] [Shell Recognition Position Two awake]

The deck quieted down.

Jona swallowed. "Waking up is a good thing, right?"

The Station Master said: "Not necessarily. Once awake, it will hurt."

Wooden Tablet Three knocked one long and two short in the lower cabin. Noel.

Wooden Tablet One followed by knocking two short.

E-19 translated. "They said, Shell Recognition Position Two is awake, the Medicine Warehouse will drip the second line."

Nami wrote the second line to the lower left opening of the Medicine Warehouse. "So the Source Seal is connected to the second medicine line."

Night Ember looked underwater. "Steal the seal first, or cut the line first?"

"Steal the seal first."

Nami pressed the fake map fragments into the iron tray. "Without the Source Seal, cutting the second line will only make the Medicine Warehouse change its name and replenish it."

Kahn touched the rudder box. "The ship can approach the right opening once."

"Once is enough."

Jona asked: "What if it's not enough?"

Nami looked at him. "Then delete that sentence you just said from the records."

"I'm deleting it now."

The Evidence Warehouse underwater spat out a string of white bubbles. Inside each white bubble was a piece of the shredded fake White Well map. The fake supply Old Seal on the map was covered densely with white frames, like an assignment that had been seriously corrected by an enemy.

Nami pushed the white bubbles aside one by one. "The more serious they are, the more it shows that this fake path is enticing enough."

Rake said: "The real path?"

Nami sprinkled the seal back powder onto the lower layer of the sea chart's right opening.

The grey-black powder slowly connected into a thin line. The end of the line did not go to R-1. It first wound towards the shell crack.

In the shell crack, Shell Recognition Position Two knocked again. This time, he knocked the Old Navy distress code.