DA chapter 43

The others were not as fast as Lin Jia and Yan Xu. After Lin Jia circled the inpatient building once more, the other four had finally finished searching.

They were now on the third floor, waiting for the others on the other side of the building connected to the VIP ward.

This position had been carefully selected and could be considered a uniquely advantageous location. Looking left, they could catch a glimpse of the VIP ward. Looking right, they could keep an eye on the nurses’ station. As long as they kept their voices low, neither side could hear any sounds from here—unless what was inside the VIP ward was not human.

Seeing the four of them gathered there, Lin Jia came over with his two logistics followers. When the others saw the three people from Sharp Knife coming, they did not initially show any intention to communicate until Yan Xu appeared in sight and someone called out, “Captain Yan.”

Yan Xu walked over casually.

The others immediately began talking about the clues they had found. A man with pierced ears said, “There seems to be a sound coming from the VIP ward on the third floor.”

Another man, middle-aged with a mole on his brow, continued, “The door seems to be locked. We didn’t dare approach rashly.”

Then the pierced-ear man spoke again: “We searched the inpatient building but couldn’t find a key.”

The man with the mole added, “It’s not just the key; the entire inpatient building is empty. There’s no medicine or medical equipment at all. Sigh. It looks like the only clue is this VIP ward, but it’s strange as well. From outside the inpatient building, we discovered that this ward has no windows. All the other wards have them, but this VIP ward on the third floor has none. Because the inpatient building is so empty, we couldn’t find any hospitalization records either, so we don’t know what’s going on inside the ward.”

The man with the pierced ears and the man with the mole on his face spoke one sentence after another, making it hard for the others to interrupt, so everyone simply waited for them to finish.

The man with the pierced ears said, “The Soup Surface is ‘Her abdomen bulged; she is going to become a mother again.’ The woman mentioned in the Soup Surface should be inside the ward. She should be close to giving birth. The sounds coming from inside are very much like panting caused by physical discomfort.”

The man with the mole said, “Since the woman already existed before the Fishman question, the Fishman question should be related to the woman.”

They finally finished speaking and looked eagerly at Yan Xu, waiting for his opinion.

But before Yan Xu could respond, someone offered a different perspective. A man with slightly long, wavy hair said, “How can we directly ask a Fishman question related to the woman? Right now, she’s confined to the VIP ward. After asking the question, there’s no telling if that restriction will be lifted.”

Accompanying the curly-haired man was the oldest of the eight people involved this time, a man of about fifty years old with quite a bit of white hair showing among his strands.

The white-haired elder said, “You also said the woman existed before the Fishman question. NPCs like her are more dangerous than materialized NPCs. There’s no reason to directly ask the Fishman question related to her. I think it’s better to be cautious.”

“Then tell us—what Fishman question should we ask?”

As the pierced-ear man and the mole-faced man said, there were no key discoveries in the inpatient building. The curly-haired man and the white-haired elder did not know how to ask the Fishman question.

Probably because his opinion had been refuted, the mole-faced man said disdainfully, “Not talking anymore? Since you don’t know what Fishman question to ask, then don’t question people who actually have ideas.”

Afterward, the mole-faced man’s disdainful gaze swept toward the three people from Sharp Knife. Sharp Knife had existed in the Underwater Wold for a long time. Instead of growing stronger over time, however, it had become sluggish.

Xiao Yao was considered someone fairly recognizable within Sharp Knife, so the mole-faced man knew him and knew that Xiao Yao was reckless and lacked brains.

Slowly, the mole-faced man’s gaze landed on Lin Jia.

He paused.

Lin Jia lifted his eyes slightly, glanced at the man with calm indifference, and then moved his gaze away, uninterested. He placed it on Yan Xu afterward.

At that moment, the mole-faced man noticed that Lin Jia had very slightly frowned.

As he followed the shift in Lin Jia’s gaze, he saw Yan Xu leaning bonelessly against the wall. He had taken out his revolver again and was playing with it repeatedly.

Clearly, he had no interest in their argument, including the statements from the mole-faced man and the man with the pierced ear.

The mole-faced man: “…”

His name was Jin Jian. The man who entered Fish Belly with him was named Jin Jie. The two were brothers, two years apart.

Seeing Yan Xu like this made the two who had just been full of spirit, become like deflated balloons.

“Captain Yan, about the Fishman—” The Jin brothers touched their noses and handed Fish Belly’s lead to Yan Xu. “What should we ask?”

They asked carefully. The curly-haired man and the white-haired elder also looked at Yan Xu eagerly.

Though it was only a question, Lin Jia, who was watching from the side, saw that these people all unconsciously revealed nervous emotions. Even Xiao Tian and Xiao Yao, who were nearby, carried a trace of tension.

Of course, Lin Jia knew the reason.

The Fishman question was the most important thing in Fish Belly. It was the key to solving the mystery, yet it was also an abyss that could swallow people up. They had to ask the Fishman question yet could not let it become the blade that killed them.

He looked at Yan Xu, who was called the Mad Dog.

If he went mad, how could he care if the Fishman question became a blade that harmed lives?

These people hoped Yan Xu would handle the problem, yet at the same time feared and guarded against him.

Lin Jia held the cat with one arm and stroked its head with the other from time to time.

His gaze remained on Yan Xu. He was curious to see how Yan Xu would handle people who wanted to use him while also guarding against him.

“Gulu gulu gugu gu——”

“Gululululu——”

Feeling the slight vibration in his hand and the unexpected purring, Lin Jia paused and lowered his head.

The cat in his arms quietly looked at him as if to say, “I just learned it!” Cats purr when they feel comfortable.

Lin Jia remained expressionless.

Idiot.

The others were also drawn by the cat’s purring and looked over. Ignoring them completely, Lin Jia lowered his neck slightly and continued petting the cat. He clearly didn’t intend to join in when everyone sought Yan Xu’s help, nor did he plan to steal Yan Xu’s spotlight.

The brief attention quickly returned to Yan Xu. Compared to why the cat was purring, they wanted to know even more what Fishman question Yan Xu planned to ask.

At that moment, Yan Xu truly became the center of attention.

Yan Xu finally stopped moving his hand and straightened his back. Only when his back was fully straightened did he open his mouth under everyone’s gaze:

“Is the person inside the ward a woman?”

One question.

Everyone was somewhat confused, wondering why Yan Xu would ask such a question.

But the Jin brothers nodded anyway. “The woman from the Soup Surface should be the one inside the ward.”

Yan Xu met everyone’s gaze and asked again, “The one inside the ward is the woman from the Soup Surface?”

Only then did the mole-faced man and the pierced-ear man realize that Yan Xu was questioning them.

For some reason, they sensed an interrogation in Yan Xu’s tone.

Before they could figure out its meaning, Yan Xu asked for the third time: “Are you sure the one inside the ward is the woman mentioned in the Soup Surface?”

The mole-faced man and the pierced-ear man did not know what Yan Xu meant by asking three times and did not dare answer yes or no for a moment. Instead, Xiao Yao was bolder and said, “Probably. The sound inside the ward sounds like someone groaning.”

Yan Xu laughed twice.

Xiao Yao was completely confused, not knowing why Yan Xu had asked or why he had laughed. He thought his answer was fine.

What exactly is this mad dog Yan Xu doing?

Everyone fell silent. In the silence, Lin Jia opened his mouth. “Too many things sound like human groaning—kittens, foxes. Are you sure the person in the ward is a woman? Or are you sure the ‘ta’ in the Soup Surface must be a woman?”

“Isn’t giving birth…” Jin Jian was about to refute Lin Jia, but he abruptly stopped halfway through.

The others’ expressions turned serious, and Xiao Yao suddenly realized it as well.

The Soup Surface was: Her abdomen bulged; she is going to become a mother again.

Because the Fishman is the one announcing it, they had no way to be sure that ‘ta’ was really ‘she,’ and not ‘he’ or ‘it.’¹In the raw, the pronoun is written as “ta,” which does not specify gender. Since the Fishman is speaking, only the sound “ta” is heard, making it impossible to tell whether it means “he” (他), “she” (她), or “it” (它), as all three share the same pronunciation. The listeners, however, instinctively interpret it as “she” (她) because of the idea of giving birth.

Their habitual thinking made them assume that pregnancy meant “she” and that “she” must be female.

But this was Fish Belly—strange and absurd.

Who said the person in the ward had to be the woman from the Soup Surface? If they had directly asked about the possible “she” in the Soup Surface and the person in the ward was not the protagonist, wouldn’t that mean they would have materialized the protagonist from the Soup Surface while an NPC was already inside the ward?

Upon realizing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spine. They had almost stepped into a spiral of death!

Only Lin Jia remained calm.

While the others worried about the Fishman question, Lin Jia observed Yan Xu.

From the cat’s fragmented words and reactions, Lin Jia thought the cat was Yan Xu. However, he could not be certain because Yan Xu was not a fool, yet the cat revealed foolishness at every moment.

Even if the cat’s memory was fading, Yan Xu’s desire to leave the Underwater Wold should not have made him this foolish.

This was the main reason Lin Jia could not confirm that Yan Xu was the cat.

But now…

He also thought Yan Xu was foolish.

Idiot.

As for what was inside the ward, Lin Jia leaned toward it being the protagonist from Soup Surface. However, without seeing it personally, he could not confirm whether the protagonist was human.

Since the protagonist already existed in the Soup Surface, a related Fishman question could be asked. Even if the person in the ward was not the Soup Surface protagonist, materializing the Soup Surface protagonist and accelerating Fish Belly’s progress would not be a bad thing.

However, Yan Xu’s three questions revealed his attitude.

To be cautious, he did not plan to ask about the “she” in the Soup Surface because Yan Xu had to be responsible for the others.

Idiot.

Having such an attitude toward people who wanted to use him—if that wasn’t foolish, then what was? It was exactly like the cat’s foolishness.

Lin Jia continued to pet the cat. When the cat tried to make a comfortable “gulu” sound, Lin Jia pinched its mouth shut, preventing it from making a sound.

No matter how much the cat praised itself, Lin Jia only believed what he saw. He had many thoughts in his heart. If Yan Xu really was the cat, that wouldn’t be bad—much better than Deputy Chen. Since Yan Xu could take responsibility for people using him, there was no reason he wouldn’t take responsibility for Lin Jia.

However, there was still some evidence missing to prove that Yan Xu was the cat. Lin Jia lowered his gaze and looked at the cat.

Since Yan Xu wanted to take things slowly inside Fish Belly this time, it was perfect—he needed to find more evidence and accompany Yan Xu as he played along slowly.

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  In the raw, the pronoun is written as “ta,” which does not specify gender. Since the Fishman is speaking, only the sound “ta” is heard, making it impossible to tell whether it means “he” (他), “she” (她), or “it” (它), as all three share the same pronunciation. The listeners, however, instinctively interpret it as “she” (她) because of the idea of giving birth.