Jania didn't want her expression to sound impolite. She didn't understand Chi Labin and Zhou Wenxing, especially the latter. However, from a practical point of view, Zhou Wenxing did not harm her, unless he deceived her into going to sea. But what is that for? Is it just to scare her? She didn't feel like a doormat.
However, if she looked at the matter fairly, Zhou Wenxing also saved her once. So to speak. He made the magic star disappear, no matter what method he used. He did save her life, and she never saw him eat any meat. Why can't he be an animal lover? She always felt that she didn't like him very much, and that might be because she was biased.
"Aren't you cold in the water?" she asked a little stiffly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she felt that she was so stupid.
"No." Zhou Wenxing said.
"Zhou is never afraid of the cold." Chirabin said, "Don't worry about that. I heard that he was once locked in an ice cave for half a year."
Before tonight, Zhannia would have thought that Akarabin was bragging. But now she doesn't dare to make a conclusion. Everything that happened just now and now seemed like a dream. She resisted asking because she was not sure whether asking questions rashly would cause trouble for herself. However, both Chi Labin and Zhou Wenxing behaved so normally, as if they didn't feel the need to explain at all. She folded her arms against her chest for warmth, determined to break the ice.
"I may be presumptuous," she said, "but can I ask about something other than animals?"
"Of course, end, you can say whatever you want. But if I were you, I would talk more about animal issues with Zhou. Maybe that will help you in the future. Don't you like wolves? I I think you two are somewhat destined."
This sentence somewhat made Zhannia feel that Chirabin was out of tune. She replied somewhat perfunctorily: "Some other time, Captain. I think now...well, I want to ask what happened just now."
"Which one was it just now?"
"That thing that capsized our boat just now. It...it wasn't Kollein, it wasn't the man I know."
"Oh, indeed. I guess it's not a native species here. This guy looked a little too excited. I guess the guard didn't like it being so noisy, so he threw it at the door."
"You mean the sea monster's guards?"
"That's right. It's an old position, but I heard there's a new one."
"I've never heard of that - I mean the sea monster needs to be guarded."
"I understand where you're coming from, sir. You see, the thing is, the monsters in most horror stories—and I mean the giant monsters, not the ghouls or goblins—they act alone. . They are unique individuals, and some cannot even reproduce. This characteristic is not accidental, it is one of the elements that constitute horror. Monsters and animals are distinguished by human definitions of normal. If a creature is just big, They have some special abilities, but they mate and reproduce like humans, and they also establish societies and groups like humans. It would be embarrassing to call them monsters. Do you think about this? If vampires can only produce offspring with vampires , it is just a kind of bat. If you see a werewolf squatting down to defecate, you will not think it is very scary at that moment. As for the sea monster, the charm of the sea monster is that it reminds people of antiquity and loneliness. In the darkness of eternal loneliness, it lurks alone, suggesting to us the original form of life. Huge, changing, indifferent... It is the materialization of our fear of the ocean."
Akarahama said enthusiastically. The sounds in his mouth really didn't delay the manual work at all. The bamboo raft had already taken shape, and Zhaniya barely felt any violent shaking in the bamboo pile.
"But, end," Akurabin continued, "Have you ever thought about how you would communicate with ants? If you knew how to analyze the pheromones they release, you would be able to know what they are talking about. But how do you do it? Let the ants know what you’re talking about?”
"I've heard of people training ants."
"Food and pheromone guidance. Yes, I guess that might work. But that doesn't actually make the ant colony understand your intention. Do you understand the difference, you know? What the ant colony sees is the bait. It's food obtained through certain actions. It's like a rain ceremony to me. They don't care what you pray to as long as you give them the promised harvest. But if what you want is a To truly understand you, you can only communicate in their own way, because ants cannot become humans. And what about you? You still have hope of becoming an ant. I’m not saying that you really become an ant. It's just an ant, but you can pretend to be an ant because you understand how ants communicate."
"You mean the bionic robot?"
"Ah, yes, that's a good idea. An ant robot can crawl and run, and you've also made a pheromone system for it that looks just like the real thing. By commanding your ants, you can have deeper interactions with the ant colony. Communicated. But a new problem comes again, the end. When you put your ant into the ant colony, you suddenly find that it is still not welcome. Other ants find that it is not a member of the family, and it releases pheromones The method is very suspicious, and it also falls into suspended animation from time to time - because its program needs maintenance, and you have to replenish it with pheromones regularly - even though you give your ants a way to communicate, you still can't make them willing to accept it. You. They may even try to kill your ants. What are you going to do at that point? Are you going to kill a few of them to give them a good scare? Or are you going to give them more? So much food and benefits, so that they regard you as a saint among ants?"
When Chirabin's ape-like face smiled at Zhaniya, Zhaniya already understood that what they were talking about actually had nothing to do with the ant group. Even the best entomologists can't really understand how ants think. Everything they can do is based on anatomy and behavioral observations, and it's a long way from those who understand the complexity of neural thinking. not enough. Ants have complete brains, Jania thought, but they have no religion, no imaginary meaningless rain-making rituals, and they are not intimidated or threatened by the death of some individuals. Akurahama wasn't talking about ants.
"I'll get an agent," she said. "I'll get a few real ants to trust me and do things for me. They won't be suspected, and if they break... they're dead or unusable. Now, I can replace them with new ones. They're easier than building a robot ant."
"Exactly! You are very good at playing the ant game, sir. I think you already understand what I mean. A sea monster without style just needs to open its mouth to eat, but a sea monster with style has to make its own Mechanical ant. The way it makes machinery is not that clever, not even as clever as we just assumed. The ant it makes is very fragile and can even be destroyed by the most ordinary individual in the ant colony, so it has to Make sure that your mechanical product does not face the ant colony directly. It does not face the ant colony directly, but at the same time it needs to be controlled - and that means it needs a real ant to guard it."
Jania looked at him silently. In the dark night, illuminated only by the moonlight, Akurabin's unique skin color had a frightening effect, as if he had been skinned.
"Why do I need the ant colony to understand me?" she asked. "Why would I do it if its understanding of me wouldn't do me any good?"
"That's a good question. But I can't answer. Most of us are not interested in ant colonies. But do you really don't want a group of ants that obey you? I really hope that there will be a group of ants that listen to me. Commanding ants will definitely make them do a lot of interesting things."
"They can't do anything too hard," Jania said. "If you ask them to carry something, they might tire themselves out. They can't be used to spy or listen... Ants have very weak eyesight and they can't spy for you. Intelligence. It's almost impossible to teach them to recognize another person, or to make them do complex tasks like stealing keys or poisoning, unless you place them very close to keys and cups, but then you'll lose Might as well do it yourself. On our scale, they can't help much."
"I wouldn't ask these little things to do this kind of thing. If I could direct them, I might ask them to rehearse a play. There are as many actors as there are actors, and I don't have to worry about not being able to pay. As long as they are In terms of the needs I can make, I am simply omnipotent. Isn't this their greatest value? They can't do anything for you, but you can do anything for them. You can enjoy playing God in front of the ant colony. Who Wouldn't you like to play God? Except maybe God himself. But these are my thoughts. If you want to ask why the sea monster does what it does, I can't answer it. It becomes a question of value. Like I just said , I'm not good at dealing with what should be. As for the guy who capsized our boat just now, I guess he was a captive - sometimes you lock up the anteater and leave it there so that the ants don't get to it and you don't want it to Where to go. But our guard has a good heart, or he is very negligent. He leaves a way for the ants that encounter the anteater, as long as they are not poisonous bad ants. "
Zhannia turned her head quietly and glanced at Zhou Wenxing's arm again. Akurahama didn't seem to think anything was wrong. He gently pushed the thing in his hand, and the bamboo raft, which seemed to be conjured by magic, slid into the water. Jania didn't even notice when the raft was ready.
"It's done." Chirabin said, "Let's go, we have to go back before dawn."
He took the lead and jumped onto the bamboo raft, and then asked Zhaniya to jump off as well. The raft is very narrow and can only accommodate two people sitting in the front and back respectively. When Zhaniya sat firmly at the front end, the entire bamboo raft sank worryingly. But it finally bore the weight. Zhaniya touched the bamboo pile next to it. It seemed to be only half of its original size, and the hole torn by Akurabin was right next to her arm. An idea suddenly popped into her head.
"Captain," she said, "can I take a piece of bamboo with me? I mean these are the rest. I want to take some as a souvenir."
"Of course that's no problem, no problem. If you find it inconvenient, you can take the entire raft with you when we get ashore. But I have to tell you first, you won't be able to keep this thing for long."
"Will it go bad quickly?"
"That's not necessarily the case. If you keep it well, I think you can use it as a pen holder. But if you want to use it as a weapon, like Zhou just used it, I'm afraid that can't be done. Its vitality is The support comes from elsewhere, and once it's separated from its owner, it's just a beautiful piece of wood."
"Who is its owner?"
Akarahama smiled and raised his head, shaking it like a long-necked bird. Jania stared at him a little doubtfully, feeling that he seemed to be pretending to be stupid or playing a riddle.
"Let's skip this question." Akarabin finally said, "I didn't mean to whet your appetite. But if I told you tonight, it might bring you big trouble."
What bigger trouble could there be than nearly being murdered by a monster that looked exactly like Kollein? Jania said in her heart. But she was careful not to ask, because she saw that Akarabin would not reveal anything more. She saw something strange that she would never forget tonight. Although she still had many doubts, she would always try to figure them out in the future. But the prerequisite is that she must survive tonight.
Go back to shore. Return to the warm embrace of civilization and bed. This longing now took over Jania's mind. She felt around the wound on her calf and knew that she would have to disinfect and bandage it after she returned, and perhaps do some blood tests. She began to look back and forth, trying to see if there was anything that could serve as an oar.
"Oh, no, there's no need." Akurabin said, "I didn't want to scare you. Not in this way. But since you've seen it, let's not play that trick. You Look, Zhou has some special abilities. That’s not to say I don’t have them, but he’s a little more special than me. That’s why my sponsors always ask him for help. Not only is he proficient in herbalism and psychotherapy, he’s also a An excellent magician."
The bamboo raft started to move. It was not moving with the waves, but gliding in one direction with some kind of steady push. Jania almost thought she was in an electric rowing boat. But it was impossible for the electric rowing boat to be silent. She leaned over and looked into the water, only to see that the water was as black as ink.
"Head," Akurabin said with warning, "don't get too close, you will fall into the water. And I have to say, it is very rude to expose a magician's tricks in person. Have you heard of that magician? A joke with the parrot? You don’t want him to destroy our ship, right?”
Zhannia sat up straight and turned to look at Zhou Wenxing. She was not surprised to find Zhou Wenxing following the bamboo raft. The swimming ring she had stuffed into him was just a joke and had no effect at all. He glided across the water like a ghost, maintaining the same speed as the raft.
Observing this scene gave Jania a gradual realization. But that was not primarily about Zhou Wenxing, but about Chirabin: Chirabin had been joking with her. He let her fill in the perfunctory inflatables, the talk of ant colonies and sea monsters. Maybe this man has a twisted sense of humor, or maybe being outspoken really causes some kind of trouble. He didn't tell her the whole truth, but he deliberately told the lie very poorly. He was just teasing her. So when the little wooden boat was overturned, when the monster threatened her with a shark, where did Akarahama disappear to? No matter where he was hiding, Demon Star Argo did not find him, but he watched the monster tormenting her leisurely until Zhou Wenxing jumped out of the shark. That's no coincidence. This man who looks like a red-skinned devil has some nasty and nasty tastes.
Jania closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. To be fair, she thought, not many people her age could see such a thing. Akarabah showed her a door leading to a strange place, which is extremely precious for those who love adventure, and he was not lying about this. And after all, he did not ask her to drown in the water or be eaten by a ferocious monster. She could still return to the shore safely, unless she died of bacterial infection in the wound.
"What are you doing, Tsutomu?" Chirabin asked.
Jania opened her eyes and said, "Nothing."
"You didn't look very well just now."
"I'm adjusting my attitude towards things," Zhannia said, "It's just some psychological counseling."
"You're doing all this yourself? That's great. But you really don't want to talk to a professional?"
Zhannia looked back at Zhou Wenxing again. After gaining insight into some of Chirabin's behavioral patterns, Zhannia felt that her sense of smell had become sharper. She realized that Chirabin mentioned Zhou Wenxing more than once. It was not just him chatting with Zhou Wenxing, but also guiding Zhannia to talk to Zhou Wenxing. He even suggested topics for Jania. why? What kind of "fate" could she have with Zhou Wenxing?
"Um... no," she said, "I'm better now. But I wanted to talk about animals, about wolves. That would make me feel better."
"You really like wolves, sir."
"I don't like it enough to live with wolves. Not anymore. I've heard of people who can blend in with wild wolves, but I haven't learned that technique. I've only seen lone wolves in the park... …I thought we might still see wild wolves in the mountains.”
Zhaniya looked at Zhou Wenxing with twinkling eyes. She didn't expect him to answer, but Zhou Wenxing was indeed listening to her chat with Chi Labin. Zhou Wenxing nodded slightly as she stared at the horrific remains of his arm.
"Yes," he said. "I've seen wolves."
Zhaniya looked at Akarahama, who seemed to suddenly be interested in the sight of the skyline. She felt a little weird, but continued: "Do they have the intention to attack you?"
"No, I feed them occasionally."
"With poultry?"
Zhou Wenxing shook his head. There was a gentle expression on his face. Jania repeated the question before he answered, "Not from animals."
"You feed them grass and fruits?"
"They wouldn't take this food from a stranger."
"That……"
"Use the thing just now," Zhou Wenxing said, "that is, what you call a monster."
Zhannia knew that the expression on her face was stiff for a few seconds. "So," she said, "you're a monster hunter, right? You use your cantrips to hunt monsters all over the world?"
"Nothing like that, I don't like dealing with monsters."
But you emerged from the shark's belly and gave the monster a stick - Jania swallowed these words back in her stomach. She vaguely understood that this might be illegal, and Akarabin reminded her not to expose the magician's trick. She recalled screaming when Zhou Wenxing appeared. It wasn't fear so much as it was an outlet for chaos and depression. But she screamed anyway, as if she wasn't the one to confront her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend with a pistol. Thinking back on the incident made her regretful. She said almost angrily: "Then you kill the wolves to feed them?"
"No, it's just that I don't know how to dispose of the body. There is too much flesh and blood left. If it is not disposed of, something else may be born. But that is not the original purpose. I just do it as a last resort."
"What kind of last resort?" Jania asked.
She didn't know if this was a taboo question, but the words came out of her mouth. She immediately peeked at Akarahama, who was still studying the skyline with great interest. But Zhou Wenxing turned his face and asked in a tone of asking for advice: "Why would you do something as a last resort?"
"I...I try to avoid doing anything that I have to do."
"What if it can't be avoided?"
Jania wanted him to give a more concrete example. But when her eyes met Zhou Wenxing's brown eyes, she suddenly realized what he was talking about. Her coming here tonight was not entirely voluntary, at least she would not have been willing to hang out with two strange men in the middle of the night. She was here because Zhou Wenxing threw a bait to her, and that was the source of her misfortune tonight.
"You have a brother," she said hesitantly, "and he's seriously ill."
