Chapter 3497: A Study of Cats and Dogs (56)

This meal was eaten on pins and needles. Of course, it was mainly Tan Da who was on pins and needles. Schiller ate his vegetables in a leisurely manner. Aisha finished a steak larger than her own head in a few bites and ran off to the backyard to play.

Schiller was certainly not a vegetarian, but he truly disliked adding sauces when eating vegetables, especially Western-style sauces like mayonnaise, salad dressing, or vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette, as the name suggests, is a sauce made of oil and vinegar. Yet, this kind of sauce is already the healthiest and lowest-calorie option among all Western sauces. The others, like mayonnaise and salad dressing, are pure fat.

Moreover, Americans are particularly fond of adding lethal amounts of sugar to mayonnaise, making it both sweet and greasy. Once smeared over vegetables, one cannot taste the original flavor of the vegetables at all; it just tastes like a mixture of fats, which really didn't suit Schiller's palate.

Of course, he had recently discovered the benefit of this habit: it could, to a great extent, avoid being poisoned by others.

Poisoning is also a delicate matter, especially when using non-lethal poisons. The dosage and state must be controlled very precisely; otherwise, it might not take effect, or it might kill the person outright.

In this case, high-temperature food is not a good choice. As everyone knows, high temperatures easily cause chemical products to undergo property changes, which will mostly weaken the drug's efficacy and fail to achieve the goal of precise control.

That is to say, a steak or soup fresh out of the pot is not very suitable for poisoning. It is possible that the poison added with a calculated dosage might undergo a property change under high heat, failing to poison anyone and wasting a great opportunity.

Therefore, the best places to strike are naturally cold dishes, including bread, salads, appetizers, drinks, and the like.

Being able to poison drinks is, of course, the best, but sometimes the conditions aren't right, or the target is already on guard and neither drinks alcohol nor water, making it very difficult to succeed.

If one must choose a dish to poison, a vegetable salad is actually the best choice.

However, poisoning the vegetables directly is not feasible. On one hand, it might be uneven; on the other hand, vegetables themselves have little flavor, while many chemicals cannot be made completely colorless and odorless. Human sense of smell and taste are sensitive enough that one might taste it the moment it enters the mouth.

To mask the taste, it is best to put it in something with a stronger flavor. The best choice is actually the salad dressing in the vegetable salad—it's not high-temperature, the flavor is relatively strong, and the intake can be controlled when mixed into the salad. Most importantly, it's easier to handle; just put the poison in and stir it, without needing any extra actions.

Schiller had already seen that Tan Da must have put something into the mayonnaise. But he really didn't refuse to eat it because he saw this; it was purely because he simply didn't eat mayonnaise at all.

Some might say: "Since you've already poisoned it, why not just mix the sauce into the vegetable salad? If they don't eat it, they have to eat it, right?"

But this is the special nature of a certain type of antisocial personality. They are very confident, even arrogant, to the point of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Even knowing that doing so might fail, they just want to take a gamble. Because if they win even like this, it can prove that God is on their side, that they are the chosen one, the messenger sent by God to punish mortals, and prove that what they are doing is right.

Of course, if the other party doesn't follow the script he envisioned, he easily becomes annoyed and angry.

Just like now. Under Tan Da's repeated sales pitch, Schiller still didn't touch that bottle of sauce, and his expression became somewhat ugly.

"Professor, I have kindly taken you two in, providing you with lodging and food, but you are unwilling to taste the unique sauce of the Tan family. This is not a polite way to behave!"

"Sorry, I am a vegan."

With one sentence from Schiller, Tan Da had to swallow his full belly of anger. Looking at his expression, it felt like he was about to explode.

In fact, at least in the United States, veganism didn't just become popular later. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, there were already very clear classifications, and there was a strong tendency toward political correctness in this regard. Questioning someone else's diet is quite rude and offensive; even on major occasions, the other party could just walk away.

Since Schiller had said so, what else could Tan Da say? He turned and left directly. Schiller finished his meal, and he didn't return, showing none of the previous enthusiasm.

Discovering that Tan Da wasn't there, Aisha snuck back and whispered, "I was scared to death when I saw that patch of green on the table; I thought he would serve broccoli. Fortunately, he didn't."

"Yes, fortunately not," Schiller said, "otherwise you would have had to eat it all."

"I wouldn't eat it; that stuff has a weird taste, it's disgusting." Aisha wrinkled her nose, then continued looking at Schiller, "This guy is definitely not right. You keep saying we'll leave tomorrow morning, so he will definitely make a move on us tonight."

"Are you scared?"

"How is that possible? I mean, if he makes a move tonight, do you need me to lend a hand or something?" Aisha gestured.

"Rest assured, no need," Schiller smiled and said.

After finishing the meal, Schiller took Aisha out. After all, since it was agreed to go to the wheat field to find aliens, it wouldn't make sense not to go out for a stroll.

Walking along the country path, passing through layers of wheat fields, they arrived at the edge of the pit again. Only this time, the male police officer was standing on the opposite side of the large pit. He was looking down at the soil turned up at the edge of the pit, lost in thought.

Schiller didn't take Tan Da seriously because this guy was a nobody, and his thoughts could be seen through at a glance. But he had to be cautious about every police officer in this town, because any of them could be the Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onzz.

This male police officer who appeared frequently before his eyes was very suspicious. Schiller knew he was either J'onn or Ma'alefa'ak.

But the key lies in whether he is J'onn or Ma'alefa'ak.

Currently, Schiller had no way to judge. One reason is that the two are identical twins, and the Martians' shapeshifting ability is at the molecular level. Even if Gray Mist were here, it would have to rely on the power of an Outer God to distinguish the differences in their souls to tell who is who.

On the other hand, using psychoanalysis to analyze a telepath is not entirely accurate, because their ability to fake emotions is several levels stronger than ordinary people, and they can even replace memories directly. One must have long-term contact and collect a large amount of information to make a judgment.

Of course, Ma'alefa'ak is not without weaknesses. Just looking at this person's experience, one can see that he is a very extreme antisocial personality. This extremity is carved into his bones.

Still the same saying, emotions can be performed, memories can be tampered with, but personality is very difficult to change. This kind of extreme personality is even more "it is easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature."

It's just that to explore the secrets of the other party's personality, one needs more contact. Having more contact with a telepath also makes it easy to expose oneself. Schiller must be extremely careful.

Therefore, upon seeing the figure on the other side of the pit, Schiller quickly wove the thoughts in his brain, took Aisha, and walked over slowly, telling him some reports about aliens.

The police officer was stunned for a moment when he saw them walking over, then said, "You left his house so quickly? You didn't alert him, did you?"

"We just came out to take a look," Schiller said.

The police officer frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with Schiller's indifferent attitude. Schiller asked, "Where is your partner?"

"He is by the side of the road, he didn't come over," the police officer said.

"Coincidentally, before you came, two police officers, a man and a woman, knocked on Tan Da's door and warned us not to run around, preferably not to go to town, as it's very chaotic there. It completely contradicts your statement."

"Are you doubting me?"

"No. Because contradictions are also very normal. Mr. Tan Da is suspicious, and it doesn't conflict with the town being chaotic. It's just that our timing for coming here wasn't very fortunate."

"You should leave that house," the police officer said, "for the safety of your daughter, you should also leave."

"If we leave there, where else can we go?"

"Drive away overnight," the police officer continued, "you can buy the nearest plane ticket and rush to the airport as fast as possible; it should still be in time now."

"But I want to see aliens!" Aisha suddenly shouted, "If I don't see aliens, I'm not going anywhere!"

Schiller cooperated by showing a helpless expression. The police officer also sighed and said, "You should teach your daughter well. Now is not the time for making a scene."

"I promised her," Schiller played the role of a father as well as he could, saying, "She begged me for a long time, and I made a guarantee to her. If I break my promise now, it might leave her with psychological trauma. However, I also told her that if we don't see aliens tonight, we will leave tomorrow morning."

"What if you see them?"

"What are you talking about?" Schiller said with some surprise, "Where would aliens come from? Isn't it all just hearsay from those people?"

As soon as the words fell, Aisha started wailing, sounding very dissatisfied. Schiller had to hurry to coax her.

At this time, the police officer walked over. Schiller looked at him with some vigilance. The police officer suddenly took a hairpin out of his pocket.

It was a pink hairpin with a small strawberry stuck on it, and there were signs of wear from being worn.

"This was left behind by the missing little girl," the police officer said, pursing his lips, "she is about the same age as your daughter, and about the same age as my daughter. She and her mother have been missing for three days. If you continue to stay here, you and your daughter might also go missing."

Schiller took the small hairpin from his hand. The surface of the hairpin had been wiped clean, and the plastic material reflected a faint light.

"Were that mother and daughter also here for travel?"

"No, they wanted to go to another attraction in Colorado, just passing through here, and were resting. Then they went missing, and they haven't been found yet. This hairpin was found at their residence."

"Why did you keep it? Withholding evidence privately could lead to you being prosecuted."

"I understand. It's just that my daughter also has one similar to it."

"How old is she this year?"

"If she were still alive, perhaps..."

"Sorry," Schiller apologized first. He remembered that the Martian Manhunter had a wife and children, but whether it was a son or a daughter, the comics didn't specify, and some versions were different.

But this alone could not determine that he was the Martian Manhunter. Because Ma'alefa'ak knew that he had a wife and daughter, and this kind of painful emotion of looking at objects and thinking of people could also be imitated.

Schiller returned the hairpin and said, "I know very well what we are doing. I also believe I have the ability to protect Aisha."

The police officer looked at him deeply and said, "I hope so, may God bless you."

Watching Schiller's figure leading Aisha away, the police officer's hand holding the hairpin tightened slightly. After a long while, he seemed to have made a decision and walked quickly toward the outside of the wheat field.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3498 =====