Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 84: You’re Right
This time, Xiong Jie couldn’t stop his hands from trembling.
The lie detector still didn’t go off, which meant all of Jiang Che’s doubts were the real deal, not a single shred of falsehood mixed in.
Fanben took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward the door. "Alright, guys, wrap it up."
He felt like this was the worst interview he’d ever done—not only did he get nothing useful, he got tangled up himself.
At this point, he was starting to wonder if maybe he was the one with issues.
"Captain Fan, we haven’t done the physical test yet..." Qin reminded him softly.
Fanben took another deep breath, then turned and looked at Jiang Che.
"Dungeon..." He wasn’t even sure what to ask. He turned to the viewers in the livestream. "Anyone got questions? I can ask for you."
He hadn’t watched Jiang Che’s livestream all the way through. Honestly, at the crucial moments, the other survivors were way more interesting.
The first time he saw Jiang Che standing at the escape exit and not leaving, he thought his own heart might actually stop from sheer frustration.
Even if he hadn’t watched it all, he knew this kid just kept lucking out the whole way through.
Fools have their blessings. It wasn’t even the first time he’d had the exit open right in front of his dumb face.
After everything that had just happened, he honestly didn’t have anything else he wanted to ask Jiang Che.
Luck—now that’s something you just can’t copy.
[Ask him what those two balls he got were. If he won’t say, guide him into saying it.]
Seeing the comment on the bullet screen, Fanben nodded.
Xiong Jie leaned over to look, and when he saw the message, his face went sour. "Aren’t these questions going a bit too far?"
"Aren’t skills supposed to keep you alive? Even if Jiang Che is a psycho, he shouldn’t have to tell them these things, right?" Xiong Jie frowned.
"GM Xiong, isn’t this all for the good of humanity’s survival?" Fanben grinned and looked over at Jiang Che. "Can I ask, when you picked up those two little mud balls in the swamp, did any notifications pop up in your head after you got them?"
His lead-in was smooth enough that Jiang Che instantly remembered the two little balls his wife had prepared for him—sure enough, when he touched them, two notifications popped up in his mind.
He’d gotten two new skills.
"Jiang Che, you don’t have to say anything." Xiong Jie snorted. He didn’t believe the Flying Tiger Squad folks would dare try anything live on camera anyway.
"We’re sharing how to get those things, not what they actually do," Xiong Jie sneered, leaning in toward the camera.
"Somebody spills the beans now, and after this, none of you will be able to keep your secrets when you get out alive, either."
The chat fell silent, but Fanben’s expression didn’t change one bit.
He wouldn’t push a normal person, but Jiang Che was clearly not normal—no harm in pushing him a bit.
"Or is it you don’t want him to reveal his skills because you want to keep using him for your own safety?" Fanben shot back at Xiong Jie.
"That’s one way to look at it. I’m just looking out for my own interests here. The kid trusts me for now—if he spills everything, how’s he gonna take a bullet for me in the future?" Xiong Jie shrugged, but only he knew—when it came down to it, he’d probably still end up shielding Jiang Che.
"See, kid? He’s just using you," Fanben said, not missing a beat.
Jiang Che listened to them go back and forth and could clearly hear the barbs flying.
Seeing Fanben staring at him provocatively, he nodded, "That just means I’m valuable."
He was just here to work for Uncle Xiong—that only worked if he was useful, right? Working for someone is just trading your value for money, isn’t it?
Plus, it was his parents who’d introduced him to Uncle Xiong.
Other people might screw you over, but your parents definitely wouldn’t. If Uncle Xiong said not to reveal his skills, then he wouldn’t tell anyone what they were.
Xiong Jie looked at that earnest expression and couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry—he really couldn’t figure out how Jiang Che’s brain worked.
But one thing he could feel for sure: Jiang Che really trusted him.
"That counts as using you?!" Fanben asked, incredulous.
"If you’re valuable, people use you. What can you do with someone useless?" Jiang Che replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"...Pff!" Fanben took a deep breath. "Kid, how about working with me? I’ll definitely keep you safe, but if I need you, you’ll need to step up."
"Stick with me, you’ll be more valuable than with him," Fanben said, thinking he’d made a good case.
Xiong Jie listened to him trying to rope Jiang Che in, and for some reason, had a really strong feeling—
That Fanben was absolutely not going to succeed.
"Then answer my earlier questions first," Jiang Che stared at Fanben, puzzled. At least Uncle Xiong was someone his parents had introduced; they’d said he’d take him out and help make money.
Parents’ friends might not always have the best conditions, but at least they were reliable.
He wasn’t looking for shortcuts, either—he knew there was a lot he didn’t understand. The important thing now was to take things step by step.
Of course, if someone else proved their abilities better than Uncle Xiong’s, he’d consider switching.
But only if they actually proved it.
Xiong Jie slapped his own thigh, completely unable to hold back—this time, he actually burst out laughing.
"You’re just not good enough," Jiang Che said when Fanben stumbled for words and shook his head.
Guess parents’ recommendations really were more reliable.
Fanben couldn’t help but laugh out of sheer frustration. All the way up through the ranks to captain of Flying Tiger Squad, all he’d ever heard was, "You’re amazing," "Unbeatable," "You’re going to be one of the elites," "Give it time..."
He’d heard that kind of praise a thousand times. He was young and had cleared three dungeons.
All those compliments were well-earned. But this was the first time in his life someone had told him, "You’re just not good enough."
Just because he couldn’t answer three questions?
He wanted to bring Jiang Che over to his side for another reason too—he was also eyeing that Life Essence Jiang Che had snagged.
Flying Tiger was an official organization, flying the banner of helping humanity survive.
If they rushed to scoop up info and snatch resources from survivors every time someone got out, pretty soon, no one would ever share anything—first thing after escaping a dungeon, they’d all just run and hide.
That wasn’t how the organization rolled.
And he didn’t have the right to break the rules anyway.
Flying Tiger might be chaotic or even useless, but that wasn’t his call to make.
"Test, test, test! That’s enough questions. Run them through and then let’s go," he said, waving his subordinate over for the test.
He said "test" several times in a row. After this, he was never taking another assignment from the psychiatric hospital again.
While he was thinking this, he heard a soft, lingering girl’s voice from behind him, footsteps light as air.
"You’re right—sashimi really is just dead fish. Life is like slices of a dead body; they’re wrong about everything."
