Volume 19, Chapter 44: Going Deep Into the National Barrier

After signing the guide contract, Aduo and Sauter became my guides. The reason why I hired two guides at a time was mainly because I was afraid that if I lost a guide on the way, at least I would be able to move normally. Otherwise, if something happened The guide died halfway. Although I wouldn't get lost by myself, it would be very troublesome whether I explore by myself or go back and find a guide, so I decided to hire two guides at a time. Save yourself the trouble.

"What do you call the guest?" the two guides responsible for taking me asked after signing the contract.

"Purple sun." I replied.

"Ziri? Is it the same name as the president of the Frost Rose Alliance?" the hunter player named Sauter asked in surprise.

To be honest, I'm more surprised than him now. Whether he knows me or not, I won't be surprised, but he clearly knows that the name Ziri corresponds to the position of President of the Frost Rose Alliance, but he doesn't recognize me standing in front of him. It would be easier if he had never heard of me before, but since he knows that I am the president of the Frost Rose Alliance, there is no reason why he wouldn't recognize me? I didn’t use the camouflage technique. Is there anyone who wouldn’t recognize the Shenlong Suit with such a dazzling equipment?

"Since you know that I am the president of the Frost Rose Alliance, how can you not recognize me?"

"What? Are you the president of the Frost Rose Alliance?" The player looked at me up and down for a long time as if he was surprised, and then said with a look of disbelief: "Don't tease the guests, Ziri is ours Idol in the eyes of Chinese players, your equipment is indeed very cool, but it is so different from Ziri’s equipment. Even if I only watched a few combat videos of Ziri, I wouldn’t mistake that equipment for you, right? "

"Holy crap, where did you watch the video? Did you think the enemy I was fighting was me?"

"I'm not a fool. How can I not tell which side is my own?" Sauter said excitedly: "In that video, President Ziri summoned his dragon demon pet to fight together. This is How could I get this person’s sign wrong?”

"Then what do you think is different about the Ziri in the video you watched?"

Sauter stared at me for a moment and then shook his head and said, "I can't explain clearly. Anyway, you are different from the Ziri in the video I saw." At this point, he seemed to have thought of something and turned to face that person. The famous archer mm said: "A'duo, tell me, you should have seen President Ziri's battle video, right?"

I originally thought that I could be redressed now, but I didn’t expect that the girl named A Duo actually opened her mouth and said: "I don’t know if what I saw is the same as what you saw, but President Ziri in it is indeed talking to the guests. You are different. President Ziri’s equipment is mainly in dark black, red, and purple. Although there is a lot of black on your armor, the bright colors are too bright. There are many, and the whole thing looks different. And President Zi Ri has wings, how can you be President Zi Ri if you don’t even have wings?”

"Sote, A'duo." The guide who led the team who signed the agreement with me suddenly said sternly: "Are you so suspicious of the guest? Even if he is not President Ziri, you don't have to say that he is ugly. Are you coming? Take them on the road quickly. We make money as guides by our skills, so don’t waste their time."

Damn, what this old guide said was fair enough, and it sounded like he was defending me, but the problem was that he clearly didn't recognize my identity like those two!

"Hey, where did you watch the video? I am really Ziri."

"Okay, okay, as long as your guest says so." The old guide replied, but the more he talked, the more anxious I became.

"What do you mean I say yes? I am!"

"Yes, you are Ziri. Okay, A'duo, Sauter, take the guests up the mountain quickly."

"I..." Before I could finish my words, I was carried up the mountain by two guides, but I came back after not walking for a while.

When the old guide saw us suddenly coming back, he immediately came over in confusion and asked, "Why are you back?"

Seeing that the old guide was showing signs of getting angry, Sauter quickly explained. "We took the wrong route just now. The guest has to go through the mountain."

The old guide, who was already showing signs of getting angry, immediately yelled at Sauter angrily: "Are you right that this is the guest's goal? You are a guide, and you lead the way without asking where the guest is going. You What kind of guide is this? Hurry up and if you make another mistake, I will deduct your salary."

"Let's go, let's go!" Sauter was scolded by the old guide and almost jumped up. A'duo took the opportunity to slip across the platform to the intersection on the other side and waved at me, obviously not wanting to be caught by the old guide. Judging from her scared look, the old guide who led the team must have been accumulating power for a long time, making all the young guides working under him scared to death.

After A'duo and I walked to the right intersection over there, Sauter finally escaped the old guide's scolding and ran over. Seeing the sad look on his face, I almost couldn't help laughing.

"Okay, guests, let's leave quickly. If the captain catches us again, he will have to skin us." As soon as Sauter saw us, he yelled for us to leave quickly.

I suppressed my laughter and followed this guy into the mountain road and headed into the mountains.

According to Sauter and Aduo, the mountain path we are walking on should lead to the back of the mountain. As for how to go back there, that is not something Sauter and the others can understand.

"Aren't you a guide? Why don't you know how to go behind the mountain?" After learning that they didn't know the road behind the mountain, I looked at Sauter and A'duo in surprise and asked.

A'duo explained: "We are indeed guides, but we have never taken a guest as far away as you before. I heard from the seniors in our guide team that some people have indeed been to the back of the mountain before, but they are here I have been working as a guide for more than a year, and I have met three people in total who want to go to the back mountain."

"Isn't there a lot of traffic here? Why did it take so long for the three of you to go to the back of the mountain? And didn't your captain say that you two are the most powerful guides under him? Why do you still have seniors?"

It was Aduo who still explained: "That's it. Regarding our strength, the captain didn't lie to you. The two of us have the highest level in the team and the strongest combat effectiveness, but the two of us as guides are only more than four Over the past few months, as far as the guide profession is concerned, we are the kind of people who are not old but are still new. There are seniors in front of us and juniors behind us.”

I nodded and said, "That's it."

A'duo continued: "The flow of people you mentioned is actually correct. The flow of passengers here is indeed very large, but there are really very few people who go to the back of the mountain. There is a national barrier behind Wanya Mountain. You have not entered. Those who have passed through the national barrier area may not know that in this game, there are usually super-level monsters on the national boundaries between countries. To use a sentence, that is: there are as many bosses as dogs, and mythical beasts are everywhere. What do you mean? How many people here have nothing to do? Besides, Wanya Mountain covers hundreds of miles in radius, and the area is astonishingly large. Generally, tourists can only stay for a week before leaving. It’s good to spend such a little time wandering around the front mountain. Not many people go to the back mountain, let alone cross it.”

Sauter also helped: "Yes. To be honest, I doubt whether I can reach the back mountain in the three days you set. In my opinion, three days is not enough at all."

"You can't make it through the 200-mile mountain road in three days?" I asked in disbelief.

Seeing that I didn't believe it, Sauter immediately said: "Yes, it is a mountain road of more than 200 miles, but let alone three days, if we can go there in five days, we will run fast. This mountain road is different from the flat land. If it is on the prairie, If you equip yourself with a better mount, let alone three days, it will pass in less than 200 miles in an hour. But this is Wanya Mountain! We are not exactly walking, we will definitely encounter more or less along the way. If we encounter some monsters of level 900 or level 1,000, we have to take a detour. This process will undoubtedly waste time. There are also some terrain obstacles such as cliffs and cliffs. If we want to get over, It will take a lot of effort. If you calculate two hundred miles based on the speed on flat ground, it does not take that long, but in the mountains, three days is definitely not enough."

After listening to Sauter's words, I stopped arguing with him and nodded to express my understanding. It’s not that I agree with his point of view, but I understand why. According to him, it would indeed take more than three days to take an ordinary player through this mountain, and even the five days he mentioned are conservative estimates. The biggest reason for this is what they call Warcraft.

For me, unless I encounter a regional guard or a regional boss, ordinary wild monsters do not pose a threat at all. But the problem is that that is my standard. For ordinary players, since wild monsters generally have terrain adaptability advantages to the areas where they appear, many players will still suffer a loss even if the levels are equal. For example, if a level 900 player encounters a level 900 ice giant, it goes without saying that you will definitely not encounter an ice giant in the desert, and a place where you can encounter an ice giant will definitely freeze your jaw off. In this extremely cold zone, even two level 900 players may not be able to defeat a level 900 ice giant, so encountering local wild monsters in the wild is generally troublesome.

These guides usually take ordinary players out for action. If they encounter low-level monsters, we can just deal with them together, and it won't waste much time. But if you encounter high-end goods, it will be miserable. If you can avoid being discovered by the other party and waste several times the time to go around in a big circle, you are lucky. If you are discovered and chased all over the mountain, it will be completely ruined. Therefore, in such a place, the time required on the road cannot be simply divided by the distance divided by the speed. The time calculated in that way will definitely be inaccurate.

However, although I knew that those so-called monsters posed no threat to me, I had no intention of defending myself against these two. We talked about my identity for a long time but couldn't explain it clearly. Now I have to explain to them that I'm not afraid of those monsters and they won't believe it. Instead of wasting that time, it's better to wait until next time when I encounter them and kill the monsters directly. Be direct. Facts speak louder than words, and it is much easier for them to see my strength than for me to tell them myself.

"Okay, let's go quickly. If we encounter a monster, you two will warn me."

"Of course." A'duo said seriously: "It is the main responsibility of our field guides to detect dangers in advance and warn guests. We are professionals in this regard, so you can absolutely rest assured."

Aduo was indeed not exaggerating. They were indeed professionals in discovering monsters. We walked less than half an hour after leaving the platform when we ran into a passing monster. Across the distance, Aduo and Sauter pulled me behind a rock on the roadside, and then Aduo whispered to me: "There is a blue sheep in front of you, a level 650 monster. Do you want to kill it?" Or should we wait for it to pass?”

"Why wait for it to pass?" I asked in surprise.

Sauter explained: "This is because the strength of each guest is different. Some guests are just here to play, or they are not good at fighting. It takes time to deal with this thing. Some people find it troublesome, so they don't want to attack it. Because the rock The sheep itself is an active-attack monster, so those who don't want to attack the blue sheep will wait for it to pass before leaving. This saves trouble. Of course, for us, the strength of the blue sheep is very average, if you want to kill it, no problem, If you let the two of us help, it will only take a few dozen seconds at most. Of course, because you signed an agreement before that you don't have to fight, there is an extra charge for us to take action. "

While they were talking here, the blue sheep over there had already wandered out of a forest. I didn't listen to the two guides at all and just stepped out from behind the rock and waved my hand. The head of the blue sheep on the opposite side was instantly separated from the body. Got home.

A'duo and Sauter didn't expect me to run out suddenly. When they reacted and followed me, they found that the blue sheep's head was missing, but its body was still standing there, with blood all over its neck. Squirt out in spurts.

Originally, I thought that if these two naturally stupid guides saw me killing the blue sheep in an instant, they would have a more intuitive understanding of my strength. Who knows, I still underestimated their natural stupidity.

"Hurry and take cover."

Just when I was proudly preparing to receive the surprised inquiries from Aduo and Sauter, what I waited for was a scream. At the same time, Sauter actually threw me to the ground and dragged me back behind the rock. .

"What's going on?" I was still confused after being dragged behind the rock. Didn't you just kill a monster with over 600 levels? As for such a big reaction? Besides, if I kill a monster, why do they still look like they are facing a formidable enemy? Could it be that……?

Sure enough, Sauter desperately pressed me behind the rock while he poked his head around to observe the surrounding environment. At the same time, he nervously said to me: "Hide quickly. The only weapon that can kill the blue sheep in an instant and prevent the other party from reacting in time is Monsters above level 1,000. Damn it, this place is so close to the entrance, how could a monster above level 1,000 escape? Shouldn’t that kind of thing only be found deep in the mountains?”

"Um..." I poked Sauter, and then waited for him to turn around before saying, "Did you make a mistake?"

"Make a mistake?" Sauter thought to himself and said: "The head of the blue sheep is gone, but the body is still standing. The speed of the monster attacking it must be so fast that the blue sheep can't even look at it. You can see it, otherwise there would be no such effect. It is indeed wrong to say that. It is not a monster of level 1,000, but a boss of level 1,200 or above. No, we will all die here. , I'll stay here for a while, and you can go first."

"Okay, okay, I've been defeated by you two." Seeing that A'duo actually wanted to come over and pull me away as Sauter said, I quickly stood up and said, "That blue sheep was not killed by a monster."

"It wasn't killed by a monster? What could it be? Another player?"

"It's a player, but not another player. I killed that blue sheep." These two idiots have no ability to associate at all. If they don't explain the facts directly, they will not be able to understand any need from your words. information for reasoning.

"Did you kill him?" Sauter looked at me blankly for a while, and then suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahahaha, stop joking. You just left less than a second ahead of us. Where did you find the time to take action?"

After Sauter said this, I directly picked up Eternity and transformed it into a whip sword form under the surprised eyes of Sauter and A'duo, and then said: "Watch it." After I said the last word When I was writing, my wrist suddenly flicked, and then instantly returned to its previous shape. People with bad eyesight couldn't even tell that I moved.

After waiting for a few seconds, Sauter reacted and asked in surprise: "What did you want us to see? Nothing happened?"

I didn't say anything, but stretched out my hand and gently tapped the rock next to me, which was as big as a van. I heard a bang and the rock instantly shattered into pieces of stone chestnuts on the ground, and each piece of gravel was no more than one. The size of a glass marble.

Seeing that Sauter's expression changed from indifferent to surprised to shocked, and finally nervous, I quickly said: "Stop shouting about monsters. If you still don't believe it, just point to a target and tell me to cut it into pieces." You can still cut it into strips, or you can powder it.”

This time, without waiting for Sauter to speak, A'duo directly pointed to the rock behind the fallen blue sheep and said: "It's just that rock. If you can attack that rock while standing here, I believe you can." The ability to kill blue sheep at this distance."

A'duo seems to be a bit smarter than Sauter. She didn't believe that the most important thing about me killing the blue sheep was distance. The blue sheep was still more than ten meters away from where we were, and what I was holding was just a sword. Although it is not impossible to attack a target more than ten meters away with a sword, it requires shooting sword energy or something, and that kind of thing is generally very powerful. Even after killing the blue sheep, it will be on the mountain or behind. There are obvious marks left on the rocks, and there will be explosions and other effects. It cannot be as silent as I did before.

After listening to A'duo's request, I directly pushed Sauter to the side who was still in a daze, and then raised my hand to swing the Eternal Sword. The Eternal Sword was now in the form of a whip sword. With this swing, it immediately decomposed and stretched, and swept across it. The rocks in the distance were retracted in an instant, too fast to be seen clearly, but the rocks on the opposite side of the mountain road that protruded from the mountain suddenly cracked open, and one of the half-suspended rocks actually fell off from the main body. It rolled down onto the road, leaving a smooth, mirror-like cut surface on the main body of the rock on the mountain wall.

"Gah..." A'duo and Sauter heard a hiccup-like gasp at the same time. Apparently they had never seen such a fast and powerful attack before. The most important thing is that my attack range is too scary. It's obviously a warrior-like equipment, but it can actually attack a target more than ten meters away, and it's so powerful. It's really scary.

"Do you believe it now?"

The two of them nodded desperately, and Aduo quickly turned around and pointed at me carefully with a finger and asked: "Then you said before that you are..."

"Ziri. I didn't lie to you. I am really the president of the Frost Rose Alliance. Although I don't know where you watched the video, I am who I am."

A'duo nodded and said: "That's right, your weapons are exactly the same as those seen in the video, it's just your equipment...?"

I suddenly thought of a question, and then asked tentatively: "Does the video you saw have a time? Did you say when the video was?"

A'duo and Sauter quickly fell into deep thought, and finally reported an accurate time, and I only understood what was going on after a moment's recall. The video they saw was actually a record of my early battles together. At that time, the equipment I wore was not a divine dragon suit, but a magic dragon suit. The Shenlong suit I am wearing now was upgraded from the Magic Dragon suit as a national weapon when the country was promoted. Before the transformation, the Demonic Dragon suit was an evil equipment, so it was natural that it was darker in color. Although the Shenlong suit is based on the Demonic Dragon suit, it has been modified after all, and the appearance and color will be somewhat different. These two people have not seen my recent battle videos for a long time, so they admitted their mistake.

After figuring out my identity, Aduo and Sauter's performances were obviously different. Firstly, their enthusiasm increased significantly, and secondly, our way forward was completely changed. The reason why we were moving very slowly before was entirely because Aduo and Sauter wanted to be on the lookout for any monsters nearby, so they didn't dare to move too fast. But after knowing my identity, their courage obviously increased in a straight line. I don't care about the monsters, just rush forward. If there are monsters, I will take care of them as soon as possible.

Because we didn’t need to take care of the monsters blocking the road, we could move super fast. Later, in order to speed up, I even summoned the steel claws and lent them to Aduo and Sauter, while I rode Ye Ying myself. .

When Ye Ying was first summoned, Aduo and Sauter wanted to say that there was no way to ride a horse in the mountains, but they fell silent when they discovered that Ye Ying was just flying. As for the steel claws, this guy’s claws are really good for climbing mountains. Although there are no suction cups on its claws, firstly, its center of gravity is low, secondly, this guy's claws can dig into rocks to fix itself, and thirdly, the twelve strong and powerful tentacles on the back of the steel claws can definitely ***Use as a fixture in nearby rocks or mountains. Not to mention just steep mountains, even vertical cliffs, steel claws can climb directly.

With the mount, the speed is obviously different. The three of us are running rampant all the way. I don't even bother to look at the monsters whose level is lower than 1,500. They are all killed in one blow. As for the higher-level monsters, I am a Didn't even come across it.

To be honest, it is actually safer to fly across the border when crossing the border. Of course, this means that you have a flying mount that can fly to high altitudes. National dividing lines are generally three-dimensional. There are interception layers not only on the ground, but also in low-altitude areas and underground. There are many advanced creatures three-dimensionally distributed on the section of this dividing line, so you can pass by simply thinking that they can burrow into the ground or fly. National borders, that's just a dream. However, my mission this time is to investigate what bad things those Russians are planning to do. It is not about simply crossing the border, so I can't fly from the sky, otherwise there would be no need to go to such trouble.

Originally, according to Sauter and A'duo's plan, it would take at least five days to cross Wanya Mountain. However, due to the speed of the mount and my combat effectiveness, this time was shortened to three hours. This was because they did not know my identity before. The time was wasted a lot of time by the two of them. However, the relaxing journey ends there.

"President Ziri, we have to be careful from here on. Although you are indeed very strong, this is not a general leveling area but a national barrier, so..."

"I understand this. I have crossed the national barrier before, and I am still aware of the dangers involved."

Although the Wanya Mountain behind us and the unknown mountain range in front of us are so closely connected, one sentence is more suitable to describe this place - one step back is heaven, one step further is hell.

Although the two mountains are close together, Wanya Mountain behind us belongs to the tourist leveling area, while the unknown mountain range in front of us belongs to the national barrier.

As the name suggests, the tourist leveling area is a place for players to travel or level up. The monsters here are for players to watch and hunt. Although the monsters in the leveling area can kill players, as long as the players themselves are not reckless, being killed by monsters is generally rare. But a national barrier separated by just a mountain is another story.

Unlike the sightseeing and leveling areas that are designed to make players happy, the purpose of the national barrier is not for players to play. Its purpose of existence is to block players from free passage between the two countries, which is one of the system interference rights. If we use a real-life analogy, the tourist leveling area is equivalent to a dangerous playground with a high casualty rate, while the national barrier is a military restricted area. No matter how dangerous the amusement park is, it is still an amusement park. If one of 10,000 people enters and dies, it is considered too many. However, for a national barrier, if only one of 10,000 people enters and one can come out, it is considered too many. Therefore, the two are not the same concept at all. Even though they are very close together and even the terrain is similar, anyone who treats them as the same existence is simply seeking death.

"Okay, now it's time for you to play your role." I said to Aduo and Sauter: "Come on with your skills and let us avoid detours."

A'duo said with some uncertainty: "Um...we have actually never been here, but the dangerous creatures in the national barrier are only those creatures. The geographical environment should still follow the rules of terrain gradient, so we can only help you prevent some accidents. You have to deal with the harm caused to the environment and the rest by yourself.”

I nodded and said: "That's natural. The monsters in the national barrier start at level 1,000. You are definitely not strong enough to fight here. But don't worry, it's not a problem with me here. You just need to find a way for me." That’s it.”

"That's no problem, just where are you going?"

I thought about it and said, "My current goal is to cross the national border, but if there is anything strange, please tell me. I'm not sure what my final goal is yet."

Since we are looking for clues, we naturally cannot determine the target. However, with the ability of the two guides, if there is an abnormality, it should be easier for them to find it than me. After all, they know the terrain and environment here better than me.

Because of the dangerous nature of the national barrier, it is obviously not possible to move forward on a mount. Moreover, we are searching for abnormal situations and not rushing, so the speed of the mount is not needed. Withdrawing the Steel Claw and Ye Ying under the reluctant gazes of A'duo and Sauter, I directly summoned the flying dart and Bailang. Originally, when exploring the mountain forest, summoning rose vines and pioneers would be helpful, but considering that this is a national barrier area and there are high-level monsters underground, in order to cause less trouble, I did not summon pioneers and rose vines. In the same way, air units cannot appear, because the national barrier is a target that blocks all passage. If I don't summon flying units, generally no flying units will cause trouble for me, but as long as I release a flying unit, there will be immediately A group of flying monsters rushed over. I'm here to explore, not to fight, so it's better to keep a low profile.

As soon as the dart appeared, it immediately attracted A Duo's attention. After all, the image of the dart is so popular with girls. Generally, eight out of ten girls are unable to resist this kind of furry little thing with a pair of invincible star eyes. Moreover, the big tail of the dart is really fluffy, even if the boys see it, they will not be able to resist it. I can't help but want to go up and rub it.

Seeing A'duo about to hug him, Fei Dart immediately glanced at me. When he found that I had no expression, he immediately appeared on my shoulder, making A'duo rush towards the branch between him and squatting. null.

"Eh?" A'duo, who didn't catch it at first, was slightly surprised. However, after discovering the dart that appeared on my shoulder, he immediately came over to hug me, but I reached out to block it.

"Boomerang is a combat reconnaissance pet, not a toy pet, so he doesn't like strangers to hold him."

"Oh." A'duo was a little disappointed and gave up on hugging Fei Dart, but his eyes never left Fei Dart's body.

Seeing that she was so obsessed, I had to let Fei Dart leave for a while, otherwise Aduo wouldn't be able to work. "Boomerang. Go check if there are any dangerous creatures nearby." Boomerang nodded after hearing my words, and then he disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Can it transmit magic?" Aduo asked me in surprise when he saw the dart disappear instantly.

I shook my head and said: "The special ability of the dart is to move at the speed of light. Because the speed is synchronized with the light, when he moves, the light cannot reflect normally on him, and you cannot see him. In fact, Even if you can see the reflected light from his body, your eyes' dynamic vision cannot keep up with his speed, and in the end you will still be completely unable to see his movements."

"Moving at the speed of light?" Sauter was startled when he heard this word. "Isn't that invincible? If he keeps running, who can catch him?"

I nodded and said: "Unless it can be trapped by an instantaneous enchantment skill, as long as the dart doesn't want to fight, then no one can do anything to him. After all, the speed of light is too fast. Even if he doesn't escape, no one can do anything to him." It is impossible to attack him. However, the attack power of the dart is very low, so although it is fast, the overall combat power is not high."

"With this speed, it is enough even if there is no attack power at all." After finishing speaking, Sauter added: "By the way, I heard that President Ziri has many magic pets. Why did you summon just two of them?"

"The key to whether a beast tamer is strong or not is whether he can choose the right familiar to fight according to the environment, rather than throwing out all the familiars in any scenario. The sea of ​​​​arms tactic is only suitable for necromancers who specialize in skeletons. The profession of animal trainer is not based on quantity."

"Oh, learned."

In the following time, with the help of Aduo and Sauter, we shuttled all the way through the mountains and forests. Some dangers caused by special terrain on the ground were discovered by Aduo and Sauter and dealt with in advance. As for Warcraft, , thanks to the super scout Dart, all creatures over level 2,000 were bypassed by us in advance. Although I can defeat any monster below level 2,500 by myself, this is a national barrier area after all. I don’t want to attract a group of monsters in the middle of the fight and fight with monsters here, unless you bring 20,000 to 30,000 high-level monsters. Players, otherwise don’t even think about it.

"It's weird." A'duo and I were walking smoothly, but Sauter suddenly muttered to himself at a wild fruit on the ground.

The game "Zero" has a food setting. Basically all creatures in the game, including players, need to eat. Among them, in order to provide convenience for players who are good at gathering, there are often some edible fruits in the wild, and most of these fruits are also liked by book monsters. Because these fruits, which have no special properties other than filling their stomachs, are of various types and widely distributed, these things usually do not attract people's attention, but Sauter is obviously very interested in the fruit in front of him.

"Saote, what's going on?" I walked up behind Sauter and asked.

Sauter looked back at me hesitantly, and then said, "Didn't you ask us to tell you anything suspicious?"

"Yes, I said that. Do you think this fruit is suspicious?"

Sauter nodded and said, "It's indeed suspicious."

I took the crushed fruit and looked at it with confusion, and then said: "Is there anything suspicious about this? Isn't it just a crushed fruit?"