168: Chapter 168 Review outside the Third Line Gate

Three echoes pressed against the black cloth, not merging into one.

The sound of the Wooden Tablet Three fell first.

The Right Bottle exhaled half a beat slower.

The sound of the iron plate clasping pressed in at the end.

Nami placed the Three-Line sequence seal in the middle.

Three small strips of paper—Left, Right, and Middle—were pressed onto the outer side of the seal.

She did not let any of the papers touch the R-1 door-outer box.

"Review the position outside the door."

Short Code floated up:

[Three lines verified together, can enter the same door.]

"Different."

Jona had already learned to write the restrictions first.

Left first.

Right next.

Middle last.

Each waits outside the door.

Rake pulled back the three short ropes by half an inch each.

The gray rope toward the Wooden Tablet Three bag.

The wet rope toward the Right Bottle.

The black rope toward the iron plate.

The ends of the three ropes hung off the edge of the table, like three untied ship cables.

Black Code bit onto the gray rope.

[Left Line has arrived at the door.]

Wooden Tablet Three knocked once long and twice short.

The sawdust inside the bag mouth moved slightly.

Nami pressed the Outer Grid breach powder and the Left Line Outer Grid channel seal in front of the gray rope.

"The Left Line has reached the Outer Grid channel, not inside the door."

The Station Master poked the sawdust with a silver needle.

"Cold."

Jona wrote:

Left Line waits for the line outside the door.

Outer Grid not yet exited.

Wooden Tablet Three does not turn to true name.

Short Code floated up:

[Left Line waits for the line outside the door.]

Jona sealed the bag.

The gray rope calmed down.

Black Code turned toward the wet rope.

[Right Line can follow the door.]

The white water in the Right Bottle swayed gently for half a circle.

The second suction at the bottom of the bottle did not sink.

Nami lined up the backwater root-breaking powder, the Right-Two low-position return-grid seal, and the Right Line preemptive seal in front of the wet rope.

"The Right Line only waits for the low position."

The Station Master measured the scale on the bottle wall with a silver needle.

"It did not cross the board."

Jona wrote:

Right-Two low-position wait line.

Return grid does not go out of bounds.

Preemptive seal cannot be transferred for audit.

Short Code floated up:

[Right-Two low-position wait line.]

The white water returned to its original position.

The wet rope stopped shaking.

Black Code finally crawled toward the black rope.

[Middle Line can supplement name for verification wait.]

E-19 pushed out the chalk board.

The board surface was empty.

Only that short horizontal line was pressed at the very bottom.

Nami looked at the short horizontal line.

"He even collected the character 'After'."

Kahns said in a low voice: "Afraid it might bite the characters?"

"Yes."

Nami placed the Old Name rejection seal, the Old Certificate Room bottom seal, and the shell bottom ash in front of the black rope.

"The Middle Line waits for the bottom seal, not the old name."

Jona wrote:

Middle Line bottom seal wait line.

Old name not supplemented.

Short Code not continued.

A dull clanking sound came from the iron plate.

Short Code floated up:

[Middle Line bottom seal wait line.]

The black rope hung steady.

Three new evidence bags were arranged in a very shallow arc.

The arc opening faced outward.

Not toward the station door.

The general signature chain clinked again behind the black cloth.

[Three waits form a row.]

Nami did not let Jona write "row".

What she wrote was:

Three waits do not form a team.

Separate lines do not merge into a row.

The hook of the general signature chain peeked out from under the black cloth.

Rake immediately laid the soft rope across.

The rope end did not touch the chain hook.

It just blocked the position where it could land.

"Who is it trying to hook?"

"Hooking a team."

Nami prepared the blank seal for the Three-Line External Review, but did not stamp it.

Black Code floated up again:

[Separate lines can be reviewed together.]

"The total review is missing four strokes."

Nami lined up the unpaid rope fee, unpaid word fee, unpaid witness fee, and bridge stop fee under the chain hook.

The chain hook ground out a layer of black ash.

Kahns used the back of the old hammer to scrape off the black ash.

Short Code floated up:

[Total review has not dropped ash.]

Jona sealed it separately.

The general signature chain did not retreat far.

It crawled up along the black cloth, revealing a small receipt shadow.

There were three blank spots on the receipt shadow.

The blank spots were perfectly sized to fill in the new waiting positions for the Left, Right, and Middle Lines.

Black Code floated up:

[Review receipt.]

"Do not want the receipt."

Nami pushed the three evidence bags outward by half an inch.

"External review only leaves a seal, does not take a receipt."

Kahns asked: "Does the receipt also collect people?"

"It collects signatures."

Nami pressed the unpaid witness fee onto the receipt shadow.

"To collect signatures, find the witness first."

The receipt shadow extended a corner again, wanting to touch the external card verification seal.

Rake's soft rope blocked it diagonally.

"It wants to use the previous seal."

"The previous seal only verifies cards."

Jona wrote:

Card verification seal does not serve as a review receipt.

Review seal does not serve as an entry voucher.

The two seals do not overlap.

The Station Master poked the edge of the receipt shadow with a silver needle.

The shadow made a soft, shattering sound.

A layer of fine ash fell off.

Short Code floated up:

[Review external return ash.]

Jona sealed it separately.

Nami turned the mouth of the ash bag outward.

"External return, do not return to the station."

A few grains of fine sand leaked out from under the black cloth.

The sand grains divided into three piles.

Left pile, three grains.

Right pile, three grains.

Middle pile, also three grains.

Short Code floated up:

[Same number means same review.]

Nami turned the small hourglass used in the previous batch upside down.

"Even with the same number, the timing must be staggered."

She used the tip of her pen to push apart the three piles of sand.

Left pile, left three grains.

Right pile, left only two and a half grains, the half grain was scraped into powder.

Middle pile, left one grain, the rest sealed in a bag.

Jona wrote:

Left wait, three.

Right wait, two and a half.

Middle wait, one.

Same number voided.

Rake looked at that half grain of sand powder.

"Does half a grain count?"

"It counts as being interrupted."

Short Code floated up:

[Review staggered-time sand.]

Jona sealed the bag.

The general signature chain finally stopped grinding the receipt shadow.

There was one grain of sand left inside the black cloth that hadn't fallen.

It hung between the three bags.

Short Code floated up:

[Remaining sand can supplement same review.]

Nami laid her pen tip across.

"Record the remaining sand separately."

Jona wrote:

Remaining sand does not belong to the three lines.

Does not compensate for time difference.

Does not count as same review.

The Station Master caught that grain of sand with an empty bag.

Short Code floated up:

[Review remaining sand.]

After Jona sealed the bag, Nami wrote two more lines on the back of the bag.

Remaining sand faces outward.

Must not fall back.

The sound of the chain inside the black cloth lowered a bit.

The Station Master nodded.

"The time difference has stabilized."

Rake shook out the three short ropes.

The rope ends did not touch each other.

kahns old hammer pressed on the outermost circle.

"The lines have also stabilized."

The three rope shadows separated further, leaving no landing spot for the general signature.

The outer circle is more stable.

Only then did Nami let the blank seal land on the outer circle of the three evidence bags.

The seal did not stamp the middle.

It only left a half-circle of light red on the outer ring.

Short Code floated up:

[Three-Line External Review Seal.]

The Station Master let out a long breath.

"The review has passed."

"What passed is the outside of the door."

Nami flipped the back of the review seal to show him.

There were four more characters on the back.

Not yet entered station door.

A little more blood seeped from Night Ember's palm.

He did not raise his hand.

The blood was absorbed by the back of the chair and did not fall onto the sea chart.

A white line suddenly bulged on the right side of the black cloth.

That white line did not touch the three lines.

It wound toward the old shadow of the External Audit Ship.

Short Code floated up:

[Doorway can be audited.]

Nami sneered.

"The External Audit is here."

She moved the Right Line preemptive seal to the very front.

"Next step, intercept the signature."