126: Chapter 126 Nagakura Awaiting Trial

The iron box with the half key clicked softly.

It was not the box lock. It was the black and white teeth inside the box knocking.

Jona clutched his recording board, his eyelids twitching rapidly.

"Can keys also knock codes?"

Kahn pressed his ear against the box lid.

"It is not that the key is knocking, but that something outside is calling to it."

Nami dragged the iron box to the center of the nautical chart.

The bottom of the box was pressed against a Half-bridge fee receipt, the lid was stuck with a rubbing of an empty bottle base, and it was wrapped in a layer of blue salt sealing cloth.

Three layers were not enough.

Black characters emerged from the deck beneath the iron box.

[Name Warehouse pending trial, half key awaits ownership.]

The Station Master pushed the medicine chest back.

"It judges the key first, not the person."

Nami said: "The Name Warehouse only collects things that can be remembered. Once a key has an owner, it can trace the name through the owner."

Jona lowered his head and wrote: The half key must not have an owner.

After writing, he looked up again. "Then who should I write down as the custodian?"

"Don't write anyone."

Kahn immediately said: "Write down the custody fee."

Nami looked at him. "You reacted quickly this time."

"Owing money can save the ship, of course I learn fast."

The black characters of the Name Warehouse crawled along the deck. They bypassed the iron box, did not touch the blue salt sealing cloth, and only looked for the old wax on the corners of the box.

The iron box sounded again. One light. Two heavy. The half key was responding to the Name Warehouse.

Night Ember reached out and pressed the box lid. The black characters stopped immediately.

Nami raised her hand. "Don't use the Black Flag, and don't press the box."

Night Ember withdrew his hand. "Can it smell me?"

"Yes. The Broken Bridge trial has already recorded you once."

E-19 sat inside the Gate Line, holding a chalk board in his hand. "The Name Warehouse is not asking about the key."

Nami looked at him. "What did you hear?"

E-19 pressed his ear to the board. Wooden Tablet Three knocked after a long time. One long. Two short. Pause. One short.

"He says there is someone inside reciting a name."

The Station Master's expression darkened. "Reciting whom?"

E-19 shook his head. "I can't hear clearly, it sounds like an old name, but also like a new number."

Nami took out the half-name sealing wax of Wooden Tablet Three, placing it far away, not near the iron box.

"The Name Warehouse is not the same as the Injury Grid. The Injury Grid collects pain, medicine, and injury owners. The Name Warehouse collects old names, new numbers, and witnesses."

Jona's hand paused. "Witnesses can also be collected?"

"Yes."

Wooden Tablet One and Wooden Tablet Two knocked once simultaneously.

The Station Master immediately thickened the wet cloth on the cabin door. "Children, cover your ears."

Jona asked in a low voice: "What about me?" "You, seal your mouth."

Kahn patted his recording board. "Even with your mouth sealed, your hands can still work."

The black characters of the Name Warehouse had already crawled to the left side of the iron box. [half key outside, requires old name verification.]

Nami pushed a blank small tablet over. The tablet only had four characters written on it: Name not disclosed.

The black characters bit the small tablet. The edges of the tablet immediately turned black, as if soaked in ink. A Short Code emerged: [Old name missing.]

Nami pushed the second one. New number not claimed.

The black characters turned to the second one, paused for half a breath. [New number missing.]

Jona felt his back tighten as he watched. "It's missing two things, yet it still won't leave."

"Because there is a third thing." Nami pressed the third tablet against the ledger. Witness owes fees.

The black characters of the Name Warehouse flared up suddenly. It first recognized "Witness", then got stuck by "Owes fees", and the black lines twisted into a ball on the tablet surface.

The half key inside the iron box finally stopped ringing.

The Station Master whispered: "Three missing one, stop."

Nami nodded. "Name Warehouse three positions confirmed."

She drew the three small tablets into the nautical chart, placing them behind the Left Anchor cabin door. Old name. New number. Witness.

Rake asked: "Open it?"

"Do not open the Name Warehouse," Nami said, "only look at the boundary between the Name Warehouse and the Injury Grid."

The Station Master fastened the medicine chest. "The Injury Grid at least talks about pharmacology, but the Name Warehouse only talks about filing."

Nami nodded. "The Injury Grid can be delayed, but the Name Warehouse will change things. Once a person is changed into a new number, if people outside call the old name, it will instead become a witness."

Jona felt his palms go cold hearing this. "So there is a risk if we call him too?"

"Calling the full name carries a risk. Using Wooden Tablet designations, knocking codes, and sealing wax on the internal ledger are all safer than calling out directly."

E-19 hugged the chalk board tight. "I will remember Wooden Tablet Three."

"Remember Wooden Tablet Three, do not remember the old name." Nami looked at him, "You are a witness, not the pen of the Name Warehouse."

E-19 nodded vigorously. Wooden Tablet One and Wooden Tablet Two each knocked once.

The Station Master said: "They understood."

Nami pressed another layer of wet cloth on the cabin door. "Then none of you give pens to the Name Warehouse."

Kahn took out an old copper wire. "Can the half key touch the edge?"

"Yes, but it cannot be inserted."

Jona whispered: "That sounds very expensive."

"It is indeed expensive."

Nami opened the iron box containing the half key by a crack, not taking the key out, only letting the black and white teeth show halfway.

The black characters of the Name Warehouse immediately turned back. [half key awaits ownership.]

Nami pressed the three missing-item tablets into the box crack simultaneously. "Old name missing, new number missing, witness owes fees. half key in custody, pending verification."

The black characters could not bite down. They could only shine down along the black and white teeth of the half key.

An extremely thin line emerged on the deck. The line extended from the outside of the Left Anchor cabin door to behind the door, stopping in front of a small blue and white tablet.

The Station Master's expression changed. "fake injury tablet."

The small tablet only had a shadow, no physical object. Behind the shadow was another, darker door.

Jona swallowed his saliva. "Is that the Name Warehouse?"

Nami shook her head. "That is the outer edge of the Name Warehouse."

Night Ember looked at the shadow of the black door. "Is Noel in front of the door?"

Wooden Tablet Three knocked one long, two short. Pause. One short. E-19 translated very slowly.

"He is in front of the fake injury tablet, not inside the Name Warehouse."

The Station Master closed his eyes. "He hasn't gone in yet."

Nami immediately wrote this sentence into the ledger. Noel is in front of the fake injury tablet, not yet entered the Name Warehouse.

The black characters wanted to bite the two characters "Noel". Nami tore off that corner of the page.

Jona was startled. "The ledger!"

"Public ledgers cannot have names written in them." She stuffed the torn page corner into the sealing wax box. "Internal ledger, sealed shut."

The black characters of the Name Warehouse didn't bite the name, turning instead to bite Jona's recording board. Jona clutched the board and retreated. "I didn't write it!"

Kahn placed the old hammer in front of the recording board. "The recording board owes a word fee."

The black characters paused for a breath. Nami said coldly: "Word fee unpaid, record has no owner."

The black characters retreated. The half key inside the iron box became quiet again.

The Name Warehouse pending trial was not completed, but it spat out a circle of black powder. The powder fell on the iron plate, forming six small codes: [Injury tablet first trial.]

The Station Master covered the iron plate. "Next round, it will push out the fake injury tablet."

Nami put away the three missing-item tablets. "Then we will judge the fake injury tablet first."

Night Ember looked toward the Left Anchor. The shadow of the black door under the water slowly shrank back, leaving only the faint shadow of the small blue and white tablet.

The shadow was very thin. Yet it was pressed right against Noel's knocking code.

One long. Two short. This time there was a little extra noise. It was as if other injuries were leaning onto him.