Chapter 87: The Voting Outcome
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Lin Sanjiu would never have imagined that she would be the first person to be suspected.
"That’s why I feel that Xiao Jiu is the most suspicious." Hu Changzai turned his head away from Lin Sanjiu, trying to avoid her eyes. He continued, stammering, "No matter how I think about it, I don’t know how she can discover a way to prevent our abilities from being stripped…"
Lin Sanjiu gaped at him, then she couldn’t help looking at both Hai Tianqing and B.Rabbit. Hai Tianqing suddenly focused his attention on the items on the table, he started playing with a fork as if he had never seen such cutlery before. Whereas B.Rabbit buried his head in his plate, showing only his furry little backside. "Actually, I think that you’re a little weird too…" he said with muted tone.
"Now that you brought this up," Hai Tianqing, who had been silent all this time, finally nodded his head, "I agree. When we were recounting our experiences, she brought up an event which was closest to the time when we entered this pocket dimension."
Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu was so anxious that she felt cold sweat would fall from her forehead any minutes. "Please don’t make such conclusions so quickly! I am really not Mr. Dot!"
Once she said that, Hu Changzai narrowed his eyes and looked at her carefully before he slowly said, "She is not lying."
Before Lin Sanjiu could let out a sigh of relief, B.Rabbit lifted his pair of black eyes and peered at Hu Changzai suspiciously, "Forget it… Isn’t your ability useless right now? Or could it be that you’re Mr. Dot? Maybe you said that on purpose so that she will let down her guard and we would acknowledge you at the same time…"
Hu Changzai stood up from his chair, worriedly. "What do you mean? If that is so, aren’t you even more suspicious? You know that the food might be poisoned, yet you still chose to eat!"
"Bullsh*t! That’s because I’m hungry! Besides, if I were really Mr. Dot, wouldn’t I avoid doing that!"
"Well, not necessarily. Maybe you just want to act like you don’t care because it is easier to get others to believe you that way…"
"Since you are so experienced, then you are definitely Mr. Dot!"
"Rabbit! How could you accuse him, then accuse me? Who do you actually…"
As the squabbling got louder and louder, Hai Tianqing could no longer stand it. "Stop quarreling!" he shouted angrily as he slammed his hand on the table. This shook the silver cutlery and glassware, and a broken wooden placemat fell to the ground.
"You’ll speak one at a time! Just point out your suspicion. Don’t bring up your baseless conjectures!" Hai Tianqing’s voice reverberated through the silent enclosed space, clearly portrayed his gruff Northern Chinese nature. "We all want to know who is the real Mr. Dot. So don’t get angry or anxious if someone else suspects you! Understood!?"
No one said a word, and B.Rabbit finally broke the silence after a while: "I thought about it, and I think that Xiao Jiu can’t be Mr. Dot. You don’t know how many sh*theads tried to catch me and eat me up while I don’t have one of my Active abilities. Xiao Jiu was the one who saved me," while he said that, he stroked his own fur. "Mr. Dot would never choose to do such a unrewarding thing."
"If that’s so, who is it?" Hu Changzai asked as he scratched his head, perplexed.
Lin Sanjiu stared at him and suddenly said coldly, "Aren’t you the one?"
Her words immediately drew the attention of everyone. B.Rabbit and Hai Tianqing turned their eyes to Hu Changzai.
"Just now, I was in a hurry to prove that I wasn’t Mr. Dot so I didn’t think about this carefully." Lin Sanjiu held her own chin as she scrutinized Hu Changzai. She continued with an indifferent expression, "Let’s put it that way. If Mr. Dot chose to be anyone other than you, you would immediately discover his identity once he denies being Mr. Dot, right?"
Hu Changzai nodded blankly, it looked as if he had not caught on to Lin Sanjiu’s track of thought.
"According to Hu Changzai’s personality, he would definitely point out who Mr. Dot is once he discovered something… Even though Mr. Dot could say something to distract the others, this would be too risky," Lin Sanjiu explained to Hai Tianqing and B.Rabbit, "But if Mr. Dot chose to be Hu Changzai, there wouldn’t be this risk."
"Not only will this reduce his risk, but because he knows that we are who we are, he could even act as if he could confirm that we are not lying. This will also help reduce our doubts about him…"
[That’s right! That must be it.] B.Rabbit’s ears twitched as he exchanged a glance with Hai Tianqing.
"On top of that, I found something very odd," Lin Sanjiu said expressionlessly as she looked at the sweat pouring from Hu Changzai’s forehead — whenever she looked at an enemy, her face would turn cold and stoic. "Hu Changzai still hasn't developed the Physical Enhancement passive ability, so how could he survive two months of hunger? Logically speaking, he should have died of starvation!"
Like a sudden clap of thunder, these words shocked everyone, and their expressions changed. Hu Changzai looked at the suspicious faces around him and finally sighed after some time, "I can explain, but I am sure none of you will believe me."
B.Rabbit stared at him solemnly and said, "Just tell us."
"When the maze first appeared, I really felt like I was going to die immediately after 43 days of hunger. However, during the week when Xiao Jiu was unconscious for a week, I had to feed her some cracker paste a couple of times every day, so I had the habit of keeping a packet of crackers in my pocket. At first, I survived on the crackers. Executive Hai knows about it."
Hai Tianqing nodded, confirming what he said. Lin Sanjiu was stunned, she didn’t know that something like that would happen...
"However, every minute is equivalent to one day, so how can a packet of crackers last me for one month?
"That’s why I said that you will not believe me." Hu Changzai sighed, "When I finished the packet of crackers, I became weaker and weaker. It was difficult to even walk, and in the end, I lost Executive Hai and the others. Just as I fell to the ground and thought that I would die of hunger, I developed the Physical Enhancement passive ability. This was how I survived until Executive Hai came back for me…"
[Isn’t this too much of a coincidence? Just when no one was around, he developed the Physical Enhancement at that critical moment?] Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"You didn’t tell me about this?" Hai Tianqing frowned and said suspiciously.
Hu Changzai gave a wry smile and said, "The others were around at that time!"
No one could verify Hu Changzai’s explanation. Everyone grew silent again as none of them could make a confident choice. After thinking for some time, Lin Sanjiu was reminded about the reality of their situation when she felt a sharp hunger pang. That bit of fish she just ate seemed like nothing considering the days of hunger. Enduring the bouts of dizziness caused by her low blood sugar, she grabbed a pen and her voting paper. Without looking at Hu Changzai, she said, "If we continue discussing, we will all die of hunger. I’m not discussing this any longer. Let’s just vote."
Hu Changzai suddenly panicked. He looked at B.Rabbit then at Hai Tianqing, before he pleaded, "You won’t vote me, right? I am really not Mr. Dot…"
Lin Sanjiu ignored his desperate expression and quickly wrote down a name on her voting paper. Spurred by her action, Hai Tianqing also lowered his head and also wrote a name on his own voting paper. B.Rabbit could not write with his paw, so he looked around and paused at Lin Sanjiu before choosing her to write on his behalf. "Xiao Jiu, help me write that name. I want to vote for him."
Hearing that, Hu Changzai was totally dejected, "We’re finished. We will need to play the fifth game."
Within a few seconds, as he moaned and sighed, there were two pieces of red paper and one white paper in the middle of the table. The two members of the Red Team and Hai Tianqing had finished voting.
Even if he was the primary suspect, he still had to vote. Hu Changzai looked at his other three companions. He finally clenched his teeth and wrote a name on his voting paper before placing his vote with the other three pieces of paper.
Once the four pieces of paper were placed in the center of the table, all of them were so nervous that they could hear their own hearts beating. Lin Sanjiu’s throat felt dry. She suddenly doubted her previous conjecture and looked at Hu Changzai with unease. She couldn’t resist any longer and said with a soft voice, "It’s time to vote… Hai Tianqing, why don’t you reveal the votes?"
The tall, muscular man kept his silence for a few seconds before he reached for the votes hesitantly. He opened the first vote — it was Hu Changzai’s vote.
The name "B.Rabbit" was written on the white piece of paper. B.Rabbit scoffed at it disdainfully as he threw a sidelong glance at Hu Changzai. "Did you choose me out of desperation?"
"No… No… I just thought that the person least likely to be the culprit would usually be the right person… That’s how it is with novels, right?" Hu Changzai gave a feeble excuse.
Hai Tianqing coughed to grabbed everyone’s attention once more. He opened the second vote, which was his.
The rough handwriting on the paper showed the name: "Hu Changzai".
Hu Changzai was not surprised, he just gave a resigned sigh. Next, Hai Tianqing was going to reveal the votes from the Red Team. They did not know who Lin Sanjiu and B.Rabbit voted for.
Hai Tianqing used his large fingers and carefully pried open the third vote. "Hai Tianqing" was written clearly on that piece of paper.
"You must be joking?" His brows suddenly furrowed as he stared at Lin Sanjiu. Now, three of them each had one vote. That is to say, there could only be one suspect…
Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath as she looked at the fourth piece of paper. When it was turned over, the name: "Hai Tianqing" was revealed. Absolute silence enveloped the entire enclosed space.