At the priest's question, Xia Lun frowned slightly. He thought back for a moment, then said, "I don't know why it attacked me either. Maybe it was because of where I was standing?"
"There's another possibility. Could that monster have been someone who held a grudge against you?" Geliide asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you have any enemies aboard this ship?"
Xia Lun blinked. He had no memories from before entering the dungeon!
Though he knew nothing about his predecessor's experiences, he closed his eyes and pretended to think hard. A moment later, he shook his head.
"I'm not sure. I may have offended some people, but I doubt anyone hated me enough to want me dead."
The old man glanced at Xia Lun with his remaining eye, then said coldly, "Let's not make this complicated. To be safe, we should eliminate the uncertainty and kill the three remaining crewmen from the whaling ship."
Xia Lun looked at the old man. He knew the old man was deliberately playing the villain and taking the blame for him. There were things Xia Lun could not say, but the old man had no such reservations.
Even so, Xia Lun shook his head. "There's no need. Just be prepared for the possibility."
He had never shied away from violence or even killing, but executing people who had done him no wrong over a possible risk went too far against his principles.
Of course, he would not hesitate if the situation became desperate. For now, though, it was still under control. Besides, using violence indiscriminately could turn people against them.
Even pirates made up of desperate outlaws wanted some basic assurance of their own safety.
At Xia Lun's refusal, the old man nodded slightly.
"Then where will we get the bodies for the monster tomorrow?" the priest asked suddenly.
"We'll throw down two people who died in yesterday's storm," Xia Lun said. "We don't need to keep feeding it fresh corpses."
"But the monster..." The priest trailed off.
"Slice the sausage," Xia Lun said. "We'll push its limits bit by bit. If we stop feeding it outright, it'll set the whale oil alight and take us down with it. But if we start by giving it bodies that aren't fresh, it won't start a fire. It's only threatening us because it wants to survive."
The priest stared at him, dumbfounded. He studied Xia Lun carefully. "So the day after tomorrow, you'll give it just one body? And after that, feed it every other day?"
"If things go smoothly, yes." Xia Lun smiled. "We'll keep raising the stakes a little at a time. By the time it realizes what's happening, the changes will have added up."
"Slicing a sausage... That's an apt way to put it." Geliide took a puff on her pipe, sounding faintly surprised. "Each slice looks thin, but if you keep cutting, eventually the whole sausage is gone."
"Of course, if it backfires, you could call it 'giving an inch and taking a mile,'" Xia Lun said, trying a second dry joke. Unfortunately, no one laughed right away this time either.
He waited a while, but the room stayed silent. Finally, unwilling to let it go, he asked, "Uh, was that joke not funny?"
"You made a joke just now? When?" Captain Geliide looked surprised.
"I get it. That line itself was the joke. Pretty dry." The old man paused. Though he had not understood it, he obligingly forced out three laughs. "Ha. Ha. Ha..."
Only the priest still looked baffled. "What's funny about it? It wasn't funny at all."
"..." Xia Lun had nothing to say.
I guess my sense of humor really is unusual.
"That joke was pretty dull." The captain took a puff on her pipe and shook her head with a smile. "Is there anything else you need to announce?"
"No. Let's get started." Xia Lun fell silent for a moment. "In four days, we'll show our hand."
Once they had agreed on a plan, the survivors aboard the whaling ship immediately set to work under the direction of several key pirates. Through quiet whispers and small actions, a plot against the monster began to unfold, orderly and unnoticed.
At dusk, however, as Xia Lun watched the main ladder leading up to the hatch and considered what to do, an unexpected visitor arrived.
The Doctor, wearing broken glasses and a fawning smile, appeared with the priest.
"He said he wanted to see you, but he wouldn't tell me why." The priest pointed at the Doctor, hesitation in his voice. "Be careful, Xia Lun. He's gone mad, so don't take what he says too seriously."
Behind the Doctor's broken glasses, his gaze remained vacant and unfocused, his eyes like those of a dead fish. At the priest's words, he merely chuckled. "Heh, heh, heh... Thank you for bringing me here."
"Want an orange?" Xia Lun asked gently, taking out a shriveled orange.
"Oh, an orange." The Doctor was slow to react. After about three seconds, he finally reached out and took it.
He moved like a gear in need of oil, his bones giving a teeth-grating creak with every motion. "Xia Lun, I came to see you for one reason: to thank you."
"Thank me?" Xia Lun raised an eyebrow.
"Yesterday, in the storm, the overseer whipped me. If you hadn't stepped in, I would've been thrown overboard." The Doctor's clouded pupils slowly contracted, and a little life returned to his gaze. His gaunt face shifted as if some lever had clicked back into place, forming a stiff, withered smile.
That smile is ridiculous. This guy looks like he's trying to imitate a human, Xia Lun thought.
Despite that thought, he smiled back. "We're all in the same boat. We should help each other."
"No." The Doctor opened his mouth and swallowed the orange whole, peel and all, then began to chew slowly. "Nothing is simply owed. Kindness must be repaid. I'll help you."
"Getting well would be a huge help." Xia Lun's mouth twitched at the sight, and he shook his head. "If there's nothing else, I need to get back to checking our course."
The Doctor licked his lips. Sticky orange juice dripped slowly between his gums.
He gave a soft, strange chuckle. Then he lowered his head, and a cold glint flashed across his cracked lenses. "Oh, Xia Lun, don't go yet. You have half of the Evil Flesh Codex on you, and I can tell you how to read it."
Xia Lun's expression did not change, but shock jolted through him.
The Evil Flesh Codex... This Doctor knows how to read the Prayerbook of the Drowned?!
Before you continue