The Oceanographer's voice drifted out to sea on the wind. Xia Lun lowered his eyes, picked up a second fish with his left hand, and slowly scraped off its scales with the kitchen knife in his right.
"Since you suspect I'm the killer, aren't you afraid I'll kill you to keep you quiet?"
The Oceanographer pushed up his glasses and gave a shy smile. "I weighed the risks. If you killed Ailot, we're all going to die sooner or later. If you didn't, coming clean might earn me some goodwill."
"Admitting that sort of calculation makes it a lot less effective."
"With your abilities, you'd see through me anyway. I might as well be honest instead of trying to hide it."
97
Xia Lun raised his eyes slightly.
The selfish Oceanographer had said something Xia Lun hadn't expected. He gave him another look.
"Open a water pouch and pour it into the pot."
The Oceanographer acknowledged him, deftly tore open a pouch of drinking water, and poured it into the Jade Wolf Pot.
Xia Lun chopped off the fish's head, then flicked the knife back to sever its tail. With a twist of his wrist, he removed its spine, and chunks of tender white flesh dropped into the water with a series of plops.
"Light it now?" the Oceanographer asked ingratiatingly, taking out a lighter.
"Go ahead."
Click. Fwoosh!
The orange flame flickered in the sea breeze. When it touched the pale-blue waxy fuel, it flared into a roaring fire. Hot steam slowly rose from the surface of the water.
Xia Lun stretched comfortably. Since there was still a long time before this round of the Scenario ended, he decided to chat with the Oceanographer while the food cooked.
He also wanted to try playing by the Investigator's "normal rules"