163: Chapter 163 The Central Line Rejects the Old Name

The Sound Return Ash in the iron tray jumped three times.

The first was very light.

The second was rather cold.

The third brought out a bit of white mud.

E-19 held the chalk board against his chest.

He pressed the edge of the board, leaving white marks.

Nami arranged the Deducted Sound Return Code, Old Name Counter-Pull Powder, and Sound Return Ash into a short line.

"No name replenishment."

White Mud Tooth poked out from the shell crack.

Its sharp teeth clamped onto a grain of grayish-black fine sand.

A Short Code floated up:

[Old Name protects shell.]

Jona gripped his pen.

"It changed its tune."

"Protection doesn't work either."

Nami stacked the Old Seal Unreplenished, New Number Unclaimed, and Witness Fee Unpaid on top.

"The old name shall not enter the shell."

White Mud Tooth bit onto "Old Name".

A low clicking sound came from beneath the iron tray.

One. Two. One.

Kahns looked up.

"Sound of the Old Certificate Room."

The Station Master pushed the medicine box back.

"This sound carries the room base."

A Black Code floated up:

[Room base can certify name.]

Nami didn't rush to block it.

She lifted the iron tray slightly by half an inch.

A circle of dark gray imprints was revealed on the bottom of the tray.

The dark gray imprint was not a name.

It looked like the grid pattern pressed by the floor tiles of the Old Certificate Room.

There were three gaps on the outer ring of the grid pattern.

One looked like the edge of an Old Seal.

One looked like a Marine wax seal corner.

The last one was covered by white mud, showing only a speck of black.

Nami didn't wipe it.

She placed the Old Seal Back Ash next to the grid pattern.

The Old Seal Back Ash was not sucked in.

It stopped at the outer edge of the grid pattern.

Kahns said in a low voice: "Outside the shell."

"Correct."

Nami pointed the shadow of the silver needle for Jona to see.

"The ash stopped at the outer ring, it didn't enter the shell crack."

Jona immediately added:

Base imprint remains on the outer ring.

Shell crack did not receive ash.

White Mud Tooth ground its sharp teeth against these two lines of text.

It couldn't bite through.

Jona leaned in.

"Base imprint?"

"The base imprint outside the shell."

Nami handed him the chalk.

Jona wrote:

Base imprint is outside the shell.

Old name does not enter the shell.

White Mud Tooth immediately turned toward those two lines.

E-19 flipped the chalk board over.

There was a tiny dot on the board.

The dot was below the character "After".

Nami understood.

"There is still a base."

E-19 nodded.

He didn't speak.

White Mud Tooth bit toward the chalk board.

Nami pulled the board back.

"Witnesses do not enter the mouth."

Rake's soft rope lay horizontally outside the chalk board.

"The board also owes a rope fee."

White Mud Tooth was blocked by the rope, and a bit of white mud fell from its sharp teeth.

A Short Code floated up:

[Old Name refuses replenishment seal.]

Jona sealed the bag.

The Black Code did not retreat.

It crawled along the bottom of the iron tray.

[Rejecting name means abandoning the shell.]

"Not abandoning."

Nami took out the Shell Replenishment Sound-Breaking Seal.

"The shell is not full."

She sprinkled Shell Crack Mute Powder next to the dark gray imprint on the bottom of the tray.

"But it won't be replenished by the old name either."

The Station Master lightly touched the dark gray imprint with a silver needle.

The silver needle picked up a bit of ash.

There was a smell of old paper in the ash.

There was also a faint smell of Marine wax.

Kahns frowned.

"6th Branch Old Certificate Room."

Nami nodded.

"It didn't come because of the name itself."

Jona wrote:

Old Certificate Room base imprint.

Mark left outside the shell.

Person's name not replenished.

White Mud Tooth suddenly shut.

A short, muffled sound came from the shell crack.

Like someone knocking their knuckles inside.

E-19 pressed the chalk board against the tabletop.

After.

Dot.

Further back, a horizontal line slowly appeared.

The Station Master said in a low voice: "He wants us to look behind the base."

Nami didn't let anyone touch the shell crack.

She turned the iron tray half a circle.

Sure enough, there was a shallow mark behind the dark gray imprint.

The shallow mark was covered by white mud, revealing only a small corner.

A Short Code floated up:

[Can open behind the base.]

The general signature chain jingled softly.

The chain hook hung down from the edge of the black cloth.

[Open base, join lines.]

Nami pressed the Three-Line Transposition Seal in front of the iron tray.

"Middle Line last."

The chain hook paused.

The Right Bottle also swayed slightly.

The Left Line Outer Grid Passage Seal emitted a faint white light.

The three lines were all hooked by the two characters "Open Base".

Nami pushed the Water-Carrying Ash, Right Pull Un-issued Seal, and Old Name Counter-Pull Powder to the front of the Middle Line.

"The failed evidence is still here."

The Black Code bit "Failed".

She immediately pressed the Prohibit Reuse narrow paper on top.

"Do not use failure as a method."

White Mud Tooth retreated half an inch.

kahns old hammer pressed against the edge of the iron tray.

"Take the base imprint?"

"Only take from outside the shell."

Nami let the Station Master pick up the ash with a silver needle.

The silver needle scraped a bit of old ash from the edge of the dark gray imprint.

The old ash fell into a small bag.

A Short Code wrote:

[Old Certificate Room base imprint.]

Jona sealed the bag.

As soon as the bag opening was closed, the smell of old paper drifted out again.

Nami turned the bag opening toward the outside of the iron tray.

"The smell won't enter the shell either."

Jona added:

Base imprint stored outside.

Shell interior does not receive.

Old smell does not continue name.

Seal in another bag.

Sealed.

White Mud Tooth wanted to stretch out again.

E-19 suddenly flipped the chalk board over.

There were no characters on the board.

It was a short horizontal line.

The short horizontal line was broken at the end.

Nami stared for two breaths.

"He is saying, the name line is broken."

She wrote:

Base imprint can certify source.

Cannot continue old name.

White Mud Tooth bit onto "Source".

A Black Code floated up:

[Source is name.]

"No."

Nami took out the old rubbing paper from the outer ring of the Source Seal, exposing only a corner.

"Source is the road, name is the person."

The Black Code refused to retreat.

It bit out another line:

[The road can carry people.]

Nami pressed the Outer Line Not Arrived on the old rubbing paper.

"The road hasn't arrived."

She then placed the Witness Fee Unpaid next to it.

"The person hasn't signed either."

E-19 flipped the chalk board over.

The short horizontal line below the character "After" became clearer.

There was a break at the end of the short horizontal line.

Nami looked at Jona.

"Write 'break'."

Jona wrote:

Name line break.

Cannot continue/connect.

White Mud Tooth pounced on the two characters "Break", but was blocked by the Old Name Refusal-to-Replenish Seal.

The Station Master used a medicine spoon to hook the edge of the iron tray.

"Medicine does not replenish breaks."

kahns old hammer knocked on the tabletop.

"The road does not eat people."

The Station Master added: "Medicine does not eat names either."

Rake laughed.

"Accounts eat money."

Nami looked at him.

"Correct, the character fee is not settled."

Jona covered "Source is name" with the character fee tag.

The Black Code slowly faded away.

A Short Code floated up:

[Base ash outside the shell.]

Jona sealed another bag.

The iron tray quieted down.

The Deducted Sound Return Code fell back beside the Sound Return Ash.

The Old Seal Unreplenished did not move again.

Nami separated the Old Name Refusal-to-Replenish Seal, Old Certificate Room Base Imprint, and Base Ash Outside Shell into three bags.

"Middle Line confirmed."

The Station Master asked: "Can it be saved?"

"It can be saved in parts."

Nami arranged the Left Line Outer Grid Passage Seal, Right Two Low-Position Return Grid Seal, and Old Certificate Room Base Imprint into three points.

A gap was left between the three points.

The general signature chain jingled softly behind the black cloth.

It couldn't find a place to land.

Nami raised her hand and pressed the outer edge of the three points.

"Next step, three-line partial salvation takes form."