Chapter 1539

NO．154：Feathered Serpent Is Cunning and Greedy

Strictly speaking, a plastic stool in a room full of sofas can only be called bullying.

Aomo proactively brought out this kind of seating that is rarely seen when hosting guests, yet is indeed prepared, which is a kind of sincerity.

It is similar to the sincerity of self-punishing with three cups at a wine table; sitting alone is even more an expression of 'I will not interfere,' attempting to lower the growth rate of the girls' anger meter toward that 'flower-plucking man' the more they look at him.

And……

He had to guard against the possibility of a 'dispute veering off track, suddenly intensifying to the point where he must declare his stance.'

When the question 'Which side will you help?' arises, even someone as eloquent as a demon would be at a loss, but for now…… he silently gazed at Xin Tiaoqi, that pink-haired JK sitting alone on the only single sofa in the quartet, appearing quite like a guarded noble.

It is unclear whether it is concern or indifference, but she herself clearly appears pleased and happy.

At this moment, she unknowingly assumes a stern, sharp expression modeled after someone, slowly scanning, and when her eyes meet Aomo's, she bares her teeth and grins maliciously, yet also makes him feel somewhat…… Tang.

This is actually a good omen, Aomo thought.

Qielienina and Lingdu are merely putting on an act, merely serving as witnesses; meanwhile, Ishamara is too lazy to care about these complicated matters, her mind likely calculating when she can continue to come over for affection and warmth; the real potential problem is still Xiaoqi.

Although Bixite's matter is something he had already mentioned to her long ago, akin to a preventive measure, but Baxi and Hol Haiya are clearly another matter entirely.

Of course, Baxi may not count; in Aomo's impression, Baxi has always been intensely interacting with Qi, to the extent of being like the inner sea that was to be CPU'd back then; having come this far, it is hard to say Qi is innocent.

In contrast, Hol Haiya…… in the staff roster that the agency will refresh, Xiaoqi most rejects Hol Haiya.

This is most easily understood.

Aomo, who once thought his understanding of the Feathered Serpent was a misconception, now re-examines and can clearly see she never joked.

Hol Haiya has never concealed her purpose, and furthermore strives extra hard to assist himself, completing all work entrusted to her; beyond that, she actively builds good relations with everyone at the agency, and recently even 'led away' the Baxi who had been clinging to Qi, which in Xiaoqi's eyes is largely pure provocation.

Someone who can help Aomo more than you can.

Someone who can rally everyone's support more than you can.

Even the girl you have been cultivating but never actually pushed forward, she dares to push forward.

Complete suppression, even his current sitting posture is relaxed and self-assured against Qi's feigned solemnity, moreover specially crossing his arms, seemingly unconsciously squeezing that already deep ravine…… was this shirt-and-skirt set changed under the exoskeleton outerwear today for this purpose?

…Perhaps it was over-interpretation…… when Hol Haiya's gaze, seemingly noticing his own, glanced sideways with a most standard neither-smiling-nor-frowning expression, Aomo silently withdrew his gaze, thus thinking.

But his withdrawal went unnoticed as everyone present silently lowered their eyes at the same time.

Then nothing happened.

Ling, wearing a T-shirt, merely lifted the wine gourd and took two sips.

Texas, likewise wearing a shirt and outer jacket, merely silently adjusted his sitting posture to a more solemn arm-crossed pose.

Ishamara slightly turned her head to glance at Sirius beside her, then immediately resumed staring at Aomo.

And Sirius was still subtly gazing at the withdrawn gaze, self-reflecting: 'If we are to understand it this way, then we must assume she had already calculated this confrontation segment; this would mean she had calculated whether I would seek Arturo or simply planned to confess……' Aomo felt this was probably a coincidence.

Could it be because my final battle attire is still fastened too tightly?

Didn't I also wear a sports vest during physical training!?

Sirius, feeling clearly that he is not inferior, glanced at everyone present, inadvertently making a certain Juanzhang who did not look around feel a sense of mockery.

?

Retrospectively glancing at everyone after the fact, yet never seeing the suspect Huaiya's hands crossed——this is truly her habitual action. She, who always frowns while scrutinizing reports at the crime scene, only feels that everyone is suspicious, everyone is not trivial!

Even that sole high school student at the scene is a figure who, though slightly smaller in comparison, still has sufficient proportions as a developing young adult, appearing as one with boundless prospects.

Who the hell!!

I am only a bit younger than you guys! I have grown much larger than before! And why don't your shoulders ache when carrying this kind of thing!!

She firmly believes that just now someone was thinking something very rude; this ultimate vigilance, capable of detecting malice regardless of scale, is what she has honed through countless work sites.

At the same time, it also makes her more efficient in case investigations, often able to wait until those criminals hiding at the scene themselves reveal a flaw.

As for now……

Because there is no one capable of rising to the level of a criminal, thus no one capable of easily distinguishing the crowd, her dissatisfaction finds no outlet, instead colliding with Aomo's subtle gaze.

Good! I still missed this kind of suspicion!

"?"

Aomo, who had just noticed Sirius's gaze and consequently looked toward Huaiya, was suddenly met with her indignant stare, leaving him somewhat dazed.

Although her appearance does have a few traces of cute youthfulness, this is largely also what he silently observed to be the current most confused direction.

He cannot help but again marvel at how women's thoughts are always so hard to fathom; when they become secretive, their demeanor is like a barfly, not like that sofa-sitter who actually has drinking etiquette; at first glance, when drunk, it is merely being bolder in handling affairs, merely using alcohol to put on airs.

But those in the bar are purely seeking trouble, like making you guess coin heads or tails; regardless of right or wrong, you, the naive one drawn into this, must bear the burden.

Welcoming a round of mockery, or an angry fist born of shame.

Amidst this atmosphere, that fist naturally cannot arrive, and even the other's gaze becomes hazy, evidently lost in self-reflection, then immediately feeling somewhat apologetic toward himself.

Miss Huaiya truly is a model; this self-contained yet rationality and intellect that absolve him of suspicion surprise him somewhat, but the demon has already learned his lesson, long since silently directing his gaze toward that training senior used for balance, seeking a kind of atmospheric balance amid the interrogation there.

Interrogation, only interrogation; only on the path of attacking the opponent can one avoid being attacked by the opponent and obtain the desired result.

Merely on the surface, he is merely glancing at the light screen, pretending not to have heard the girls' conversation.

To be honest, this is a very contradictory topic.

Although this began with the posture of a four-person joint trial, this is not truly a court of law; otherwise, a full female court would be enough to make the sole male faint (x).

This court is not only fake, but also something you should not listen to——even though it is face-to-face confrontation, the women's battlefield remains inaccessible to men.

Unless the situation has already become exceptionally clear, at which point the defeated seek outside aid, or the victors call for outside witnesses to witness the fall.

But you cannot not be present, for this is an emotional issue directly related to you; you should be here, and must be here, otherwise it does not count as a formal segment capable of settling the relationship, at best merely a woman secretly squabbling behind a man's back.

In this sense, Aomo is not even a symbolic figure; he is not the rib on the cross hung for convenience so believers can confess, but rather……

A trophy.

Literally.

Convenient for the victor to take down immediately after victory.

So, after he had already been arguing disrespectfully with his superiors in the underground of Central Tressen, and then had to be interrupted and stopped by this side, did a winner emerge?

Probably not.

This encounter was essentially not a battle, but a discussion of qualities—debating whether one could coexist, whether one could tolerate "intense encounters, including in bed"—so victory and defeat did not exist from the start; only the degree of mutual concession that should be agreed upon.

And given that everyone already had some direct or indirect acquaintance beforehand, the only issue lay between Hollehaia and Xin Tiaoxi.

The two most greedy individuals, who also could not stand each other, how could they reach agreement?

Obviously, it required introducing an external enemy.

Then...

Is there such an external enemy?

Indeed there is!

When Aomo was suddenly called by name and had to genuinely focus his attention toward this side, what he saw was everyone staring at one person.

And he, just like that person at that moment, was utterly bewildered.

Because that person was one he had judged to be merely in training, still in a CPU-like state, not yet detached, left there to be dragged along—the symbol of Sirius.