TTAETSC Chapter 27.1 - The Candy Was Poisonous?!

Translator: Deyonna

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A few minutes ago, all three people in the car had thought tonight would be a wasted trip.

Unsure whether their guess had been wrong, Ma Lin hadn't hidden the chip inside the signal car at all. Either someone had taken the chip ahead of time, or Ma Lin had hidden it too deep to be found quickly.

Whatever the reason, the final outcome was failure. But unexpectedly, things took a sudden turn—

The key chip that none of the three of them could find, despite their carpet-like searching, suddenly appeared without warning in the arms of the "little jellyfish."

Chip…

"Chi chi chi... Chip?!!"

For a moment, all three people in the car were stunned.

Chen Xinyue's expression showed clear excitement. She was usually calm and serious, but in moments of great ups and downs, when she suddenly found hope amid despair, it was hard for her to control herself.

The woman kept glancing at the rearview mirror, watching the chip the "little jellyfish" held up high in Yuan Ye's hand.

Jon was excited too, but his injuries were too severe and painful. After weakly uttering the word "chip," he couldn't speak anymore.

Even Yuan Ye was stunned for a full ten seconds before he realized that the "little jellyfish" was holding the recording chip they had been searching for in vain!

He moved the little octopus into the palm of his left hand, then used his right hand to take the chip the other was holding up high.

Yuan Ye first examined the appearance carefully, confirming that it was indeed a communication recorder's chip. Then he quickly but meticulously checked the model serial code, confirming that it did not belong to any of the recorders in those four vehicles.

In that case, there was a ninety percent chance this was the chip from the communication recorder in Bard's team's signal car!

Yuan Ye raised his eyes and gave Chen Xinyue a look of confirmation.

She had been paying close attention to Yuan Ye's changing expressions, and she understood the meaning behind that look almost immediately.

She had gotten the answer she wanted most.

—It was the thing they were looking for!

This chip would record the time and location of the signals sent by the communication device, along with important details such as the recipient's area code.

In other words, as long as they had this chip, they could use the information inside to find the mastermind behind this incident.

The rims of the woman's eyes reddened slightly, and her hands gripping the steering wheel tightened until they almost turned white.

"Thank… Thank you. Thank you."

Her voice was hoarse, so she had to repeat herself.

At one moment, she looked at Yuan Ye in the rearview mirror, and the next, she glanced at the "little jellyfish" in his palm.

The little octopus sensed her gaze and turned back. Chen Xinyue's eyes seemed filled with a kind of joy and gratitude, like a drowning person grasping at a straw.

He subconsciously held back his usually exaggerated and childish movements, crouching slightly and reservedly in Yuan Ye's palm.

But the next second, Yuan Ye turned him around.

"Where did you find it?"

"..."

The little octopus scratched his head.

Ah, this question.

Let's rewind twenty minutes—

At that time, Ye Yunfan had searched through all the spare tires but had not found the chip. At that moment, he had also suspected that someone had taken it ahead of them.

But soon, Ye Yunfan overturned that guess.

Because if anyone really wanted to search for the chip, no one would be faster than himself, who had been told the hiding place by Ma Lin in person.

And now, when the search results contradicted Ma Lin's answer, the only possibility was that the "common ground" between the two was not common ground after all.

Just as when Ma Lin mentioned the signal car earlier, the signal car he meant wasn't Bard's team's signal car, as they had assumed, but the one used to set up the temporary signal station.

So this spare tire was likely the same.

It should not be the spare tire under the cars that Ye Yunfan had first thought of.

A spare tire that wasn't a spare tire… but it must still be a tire, surely.

With this in mind, the little octopus immediately widened his search, inspecting the tires of all four signal cars and finally focusing on the left front tire of the main control vehicle.

Although this tire looked no different from the others on the outside, with wear and dirt similar to the rest, it was the only tire without mud in its tread grooves.

You see, the temporary signal station was set up halfway up the mountain, and the vehicles had driven on dirt roads to get there. It was impossible for the tread grooves not to have compacted mud inside them.

So the only explanation was that this tire had been newly replaced after the vehicle came to a stop here.

A newly replaced... tire!

Facts proved Ye Yunfan's guess very accurate this time. He reached out his tentacles and searched for seven or eight minutes, quickly locating the chip inside a layer of the tire's inner sidewall.

The little octopus was extremely excited, but soon he calmed down.

—Because the item couldn't simply be taken out.

He couldn't be sure whether there were people out there watching.

So the little octopus made himself a little bigger, hid the chip under his belly, and curled his tentacles around it to conceal it, waiting for Yuan Ye to come and get him.

This was really inconvenient. If he could speak, he could simply shout and call someone over.

Although the process had been a bit convoluted, the final outcome was still good.

But now the little octopus, who had no mouth to open or make a sound, didn't know how to explain things to Yuan Ye.

After thinking for a while, a light bulb lit up above his head.

Then he shrank himself, curled into a ball, trying hard to resemble a tire, and rolled back and forth in Yuan Ye's palm.

The young man was completely surprised by the move. He immediately set the chip aside and held the little octopus with both hands.

Woozy, woozy.

The little octopus rolled several times and suddenly felt a bit dizzy.

Plop—

The little octopus spread flat, his pair of moist, blue, large eyes gazing at Yuan Ye with a misty and somewhat expectant look.

How about it, do you understand?

The young man stared at him without blinking, completely unresponsive.

Ye Yunfan: "...?"

A little tentacle formed a question mark.

No, what about their earlier tacit understanding?!

Yuan Ye, what about the Ren and Du meridians you opened up earlier?!?

He had been trying so hard to perform, so obviously!

But at this moment, Yuan Ye completely lacked the awareness to interpret what he needed from the "little jellyfish's" performance.

His attention was entirely on the rolling "little jellyfish."

The familiar feeling from before returned. Yuan Ye felt his chest burn slightly, as if something inside were melting.

The youth still vividly remembered when the little guy had peeled off his glove, leaving him in a sorry state. He also remembered making a firm resolution at that moment to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

But now…

Yuan Ye suddenly felt a strong urge to touch, to feel this "little jellyfish" that always made such strange movements.

Or, when it curled itself into a flat dumpling, he wanted to reach out and give it a pinch, to make it squeak.

Or flip the little guy, who was still dizzy, onto its back, exposing its milky soft belly, poke it with a finger, and give it a gentle rub.

Humans are truly strange creatures. When they find a cute creature adorable, their heart rate rises, their breathing quickens, and their body temperature climbs. At the same time, they feel a strong protective instinct and a desire for intimate contact such as touching, stroking, and hugging.

At the same time, opposing thoughts also arise, the urge to squish* and bully. The reason for the latter…

*Like the feeling that you want to squish an adorable puppy to death because it's so cute

—It is because the brain is overwhelmed by cuteness.

Yuan Ye was in this state now.

A strong desire to touch and protect, and an inexplicable urge to bully, rose from the depths of his heart. They intertwined like silk threads, layer upon layer, densely packed and tangled in the young man's heart.

Seeing that Yuan Ye truly did not understand, the little octopus, who had worked hard without complaint, curled up again.

At that moment, Yuan Ye didn't understand what was happening to him either. But this strange, intense desire felt like a demon's whisper, tempting him to reach out his sinful hand.

—He pinched the little octopus tire that rolled halfway.

"Jigu, jigu~"

The wet, slippery, soft little body did make that sound when squeezed.

Ye Yunfan: "...???"

He looked up, bewildered and shocked.

What's wrong? Why did he suddenly pinch him?

Yuan Ye discovered for the first time that he needed a great deal of effort to flatten the corners of his upturned lips.

"Cough…"

The young man reluctantly cleared his mind of the cluttered thoughts and returned to the business at hand. After two seconds of thought, he recalled the front tire of the main control vehicle that the "little jellyfish" had refused to leave.

"Are you saying you found it inside the tire?"

"!"

The little octopus's attention snapped to him at once. He felt that the tacit understanding between himself and Yuan Ye, which had died out, had been revived, and he nodded happily.

Yuan Ye did not ask further about how the "little jellyfish" had found the chip inside the tire.

Because this little guy had always liked collecting all kinds of metal pieces. As soon as it entered the car, it searched every nook and cranny for them.

So finding the chip in the tire was not surprising. It might just be good luck, or perhaps it had some innate talent for finding metal.

Ye Yunfan had been watching Yuan Ye's expression. Seeing that he did not show an inquiring or puzzled look, he confirmed that his false octopus persona had served its purpose.

At the same time, he cautiously glanced at Captain Chen.

The "little jellyfish" that liked metal pieces had found the chip hidden in the tire, and Chen Xinyue didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

After all, it had always liked her identity tag.

Anyway, the chip had been found, and the other trivial details were not important.

After confirming that no one had any suspicions, Ye Yunfan breathed a sigh of relief and checked his stamina value.

[Stamina Value: 190/355]

It was probably the running around to search for the chip and his increased size. His stamina dropped by more than twenty at once.

It was like skipping dinner for nothing.

Sigh—

Octopussigh.jpg

The little octopus curled up and nestled in the young man's palm to rest, wondering whether he should ask for a midnight snack once they got back.

Perhaps, after experiencing the danger of his stamina dropping to zero before, Ye Yunfan always wanted to stock up, preferably eating his fill in one go.

The "little jellyfish" curled up in the palm, looking unusually well-behaved without its usual antics. Yuan Ye couldn't resist reaching out to touch its soft head.

Perhaps, with the groundwork laid in the previous two times, the touch through two layers of gloves no longer provoked an overly strong reaction in him to the point that Yuan Ye was starting to like this feeling.

Ye Yunfan, who was being touched on the head, had no special reaction, because the touch was very gentle, cautious, and solemn in its probing. It did not make him feel repulsed.

Moreover, he was now a baby octopus.

Just go ahead and touch.

Ye Yunfan adapted well.

Having experienced hardship in childhood, he had become the kind of person who could survive anywhere.

☰