DA chapter 44

“What should we ask for the Fishman question…”

Amid everyone’s lingering fear, Xiao Tian muttered.

It was a question she was asking herself. They had already wasted quite a bit of time in the inpatient building. Although the Fishman question was dangerous, it was impossible not to ask. It was the key to pushing progress forward and finding the Soup Base.

But what exactly should they ask?

The “ta” in the Soup Surface was undoubtedly dangerous, so they couldn’t ask about it directly. The only clue in the building was the VIP ward on the third floor. Xiao Tian knew that figuring out what was inside the ward was key, but it was locked shut with no windows, so they had no way of knowing what was inside. Even if they wanted to use the Fishman question to get close to the ward, they had no starting point.

Beside her, Xiao Yao thought Xiao Tian was asking him. He thought for a moment and said, “Ask what kind of hospital this is.”

His answer drew several gazes.

Xiao Tian looked at Xiao Yao in confusion.

Xiao Yao looked back at them. Lin Jia and Yan Xu were not among them. He noticed Yan Xu openly observing Lin Jia.

Such direct staring was impolite. Based on his understanding of Lin Jia, Xiao Yao thought he would say something cold.

However, Lin Jia, who had clearly noticed Yan Xu’s gaze, only briefly made eye contact with him before lowering his head to pet the cat.

Xiao Yao: “… ”

The two of them were like bystanders in Fish Belly, not participating at all in the discussion of What exactly should be asked in the Fishman question? Xiao Yao was full of question marks. For some reason, he felt like these two were exchanging glances.

“What’s the meaning of this Fishman question?” Jin Jian did not quite understand. Seeing that Xiao Yao had not explained anything for a long time, he asked.

However, because he already had a preconceived impression of Xiao Yao, his tone was not good, giving listeners the sense that he was questioning something.

Xiao Yao shifted his gaze from Lin Jia and Yan Xu to Jin Jian, looking unhappy.

“The only clue right now is inside the ward. Don’t you want to figure out if the groaning inside is a person or something else? But do you dare get close to the ward?”

Xiao Tian understood, “Brother Xiao means we should use the hospital type to judge what’s inside the ward!”

Xiao Yao glanced at the Jin brothers and said, “Only my little sister understands. People from other teams can’t even think this through.”

The Jin brothers looked bad. The curly-haired man thought for a moment and said, “Even if we find the answer to this question, it still won’t be conclusive. There’s no rule saying people can’t stay in an animal hospital or that animals can’t come to a human hospital. As Captain Yan said, we can’t be influenced by habitual thinking. Besides, the Fishman question can only be a yes-or-no question. There are only three safe Fishman questions each day, so every question must be carefully considered. If we don’t ask the right question, the wasted Fishman question will very likely be…”

He looked pessimistically at everyone and swallowed nervously. “…A foreshadowing of our failure.”

“To hell with your foreshadowing,” Xiao Yao cursed. “Then what do you suggest we ask?”

The curly-haired man stopped talking again.

Xiao Yao said, “You should have some ability before questioning others, right? What are you doing? Just showing that you have a mouth?”

The Jin brothers had also been refuted by the curly-haired man before. Although they disliked Xiao Yao, they had to admit that he had hit the nail on the head.

However, they still felt that the Fishman question should be approached with caution. Xiao Yao’s question was too casual.

So, all eyes turned to Yan Xu.

Then, they all noticed that Yan Xu was looking at Lin Jia.

“Captain Yan?”

Jin Jian called softly.

But Yan Xu still looked at Lin Jia, a smile of unclear meaning hanging at the corner of his lips. “Fishman question: What do you think?”

He was asking Lin Jia.

Xiao Tian and Xiao Yao knew of Lin Jia’s strength, so they weren’t surprised that Yan Xu asked him. Still, they found it strange — Yan Xu actually asked Lin Jia?

The others did not know Lin Jia, so when Yan Xu asked, they all began sizing Lin Jia up.

Especially Jin Jian. He had sized Lin Jia up before and found that, aside from being slightly better-looking and having some presence, he was nothing special. After all, the Sharp Knife Team was only like that—people with some ability wouldn’t join the Sharp Knife Team because they’d only be drained by its burdens.

However, Yan Xu’s question made Jin Jian size Lin Jia up again.

Thanks to Yan Xu, Lin Jia became the center of attention. He put the cat down, raised his head, met Yan Xu’s eyes, and said, “The nurse must know what kind of inpatient building this is.”

Xiao Yao let out a breath of relief. It seemed that he had gotten close to Lin Jia’s thinking this time.

The ward was the only clue. Figuring out what was inside was the key right now. Even if the contents of the ward were not the “ta” in the Soup Surface, they were still extremely important. There was no reason for the Fishman to place an unimportant NPC in Fish Belly.

After relaxing, Xiao Yao found it strange again why Lin Jia was being so cooperative with Yan Xu. First, he let Yan Xu observe him; now, he was answering Yan Xu’s questions.

“What if the nurse isn’t human?” the curly-haired man said again.

Since Lin Jia’s response was a result of Yan Xu’s question, the curly-haired man’s retort was relatively tactful. The implication was that Lin Jia was too rash.

Whatever was inside the ward was dangerous. If something that dangerous could be locked inside, then the nurse could not be harmless either. Materializing another dangerous NPC just to figure out what was inside the ward did not seem like a worthwhile trade-off.

Lin Jia glanced at the curly-haired man. Every Fishman question was like this: first they did not dare ask, then when the Fishman mutated they became anxious. Lin Jia could not be bothered to deal with it. He glanced at his watch. “Searching the hospital took a lot of time. What does Captain Yan think?”

He clearly did not care at all about other people’s objections.

Yan Xu said, “Then let’s do it like this first.”

Meaning he also did not plan to care about others’ opinions.

After discussing it, the two were about to look for the Fishman at the consultation desk on the first floor of the inpatient building. The others looked at each other but had no choice.

The Fishman question had to be asked, and they had no other ideas.

So, they could only follow.

Xiao Yao stood where he was. Xiao Tian took a few steps forward, then turned around. “Brother Xiao, what’s wrong?”

He noticed that Xiao Yao had been staring at Yan Xu’s back with an expression that was hard to describe.

Xiao Yao shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

He started to follow the others but stopped after two steps. He raised his head and stared at Yan Xu in the crowd once more.

Xiao Tian was a little worried. “Brother Xiao, what exactly is wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just…” After a moment of thought, Xiao Yao asked, “Do you know why Yan Xu asked Lin Jia’s opinion?”

Xiao Tian guessed: “Because Brother Jia is strong?”

Xiao Yao replied, “Didn’t you notice how these people treat Yan Xu’s words as the absolute truth? It’s ‘treat as absolute truth,’ right? I didn’t use the idiom incorrectly, did I?”

Xiao Tian nodded.

Xiao Yao continued, his expression complicated: “Asking Lin Jia for his opinion in front of so many people—doesn’t that lower his credibility?”

Xiao Tian asked, confused, “Brother Xiao, what are you trying to say?”

Xiao Yao replied, “Inside Fish Belly, groups are clearly separated from each other. Without one core person, disagreements easily happen. There are only three Fishman questions, and extra ones bring danger, so everyone cares about Yan Xu’s opinion. But right now, Yan Xu is pushing Lin Jia into the role of the core person. That way, when the Fish Spirit is distributed later, Lin Jia will have speaking power—provided Lin Jia can carry that core role. This Fishman question is exactly one chance.”

What Xiao Yao said was not hard to understand. Xiao Tian thought about it and asked, “Why is Captain Yan doing that?”

Xiao Tian asked right at the key point. Xiao Yao said, “Exactly. That’s what I can’t figure out either. Why is Yan Xu doing this? The only thing I can think of is that he’s testing Lin Jia’s strength.”

Xiao Tian: “Why does Captain Yan want to test Brother Jia’s strength?”

Xiao Yao became nervous. “He can’t have taken a liking to Lin Jia and wants to arrange for him to enter the Management Office, right?”

Xiao Tian asked, “Isn’t that a good thing? If Brother Jia can enter the Management Office, then he’ll be secure afterward.”

Xiao Yao shook his head. “How is entering the Management Office a good thing? Broken Cloud disbanded mainly because Deputy Chen entered the Management Office.”

He was thinking from the standpoint of the Sharp Knife Team. He and Boss Zhou both knew that Lin Jia’s membership in Sharp Knife was only temporary; he was just looking for a place to stay. He couldn’t see Lin Jia as part of the team. Currently, Boss Zhou was trying to keep Lin Jia at all costs. If Lin Jia were to enter the Management Office, with his personality, he absolutely would not remember old ties and give Sharp Knife any favors.

Xiao Yao became more worried, thinking this way, and quickly stepped forward to catch up with everyone.

On the first floor of the inpatient building, everyone had already arrived at the consultation desk.

The Fishman had been waiting a long time. Its bulging compound eyes rolled inside its sockets, sweeping across everyone.

Knowing that Lin Jia didn’t care about others’ opinions, the curly-haired man could only settle for second best. He lowered his voice and asked, “Then how should we ask the nurse about the Fishman?”

Lin Jia simply said, “Ask whether the nurse knows.”

The curly-haired man thought over Lin Jia’s answer while Jin Jian showed a moment of stunned realization. Using the nurse alone to determine what was inside the ward felt like using a butcher knife to kill a chicken. However, if the nurse knew everything about the inpatient building, then this Fishman question was appropriate.

Even if the nurse did not know, the Fishman question would not be wasted. At least they could learn about the situation in the ward from the nurse.

Jin Jian’s gaze toward Lin Jia became complicated. He also understood why Yan Xu had asked Lin Jia’s opinion.

Lin Jia did not care how others looked at him or what they thought of him. He looked at Yan Xu and asked, “What does Captain Yan think?”

When Lin Jia directly addressed him, Yan Xu shifted his gaze away. “Mm.”

After receiving Yan Xu’s response, Lin Jia did not hesitate. He stepped forward and stopped in front of the Fishman.

Facing the Fishman’s strange smile, he asked lightly: “Does the nurse know all the conditions of the inpatient building?”

Everyone behind Lin Jia had their eyes fixed on him.

Yan Xu observed Lin Jia more openly now.

He noticed many things.

Lin Jia’s thoughts were clear and free of hesitation and caution. However, he lacked patience and had a cold temperament, doing whatever he wanted.

How could this kind of person join a team in Underwater Wold? Lin Jia clearly had the strength to swallow an entire Fish Spirit alone. He didn’t need to cooperate with a team at all, let alone distribute the Fish Spirit to them after obtaining it.

Moreover, this person did not need him at all. Alone, he could act tyrannically in Fish Belly.

If someone acts contrary to their usual behavior, they must have a reason.

Yan Xu first paid attention to Lin Jia because he felt Lin Jia had a purpose. After two encounters in Fish Belly, it seemed that Lin Jia really did have a purpose.

But this person’s target was not Deputy Chen—it seemed to be him? Otherwise, Deputy Chen would have been the one invited, not him.

Yan Xu narrowed his eyes. He suddenly became very curious about Lin Jia. What did Lin Jia want from him?

His life, or…?

Yan Xu thought about when he might have offended Lin Jia enough to want his life.

It wasn’t Yan Xu’s fault—he had offended too many people. The only conclusion he could draw was that someone wanted his life. Other possibilities were difficult for him to imagine.

While Yan Xu was thinking, the Fishman answered.

Lin Jia asked: “Does the nurse know all the conditions of the inpatient building?”

The Fishman answered: “Yes.”

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