Hearing Nero's straightforward question, the expressions of Mr. Hua and Madam Hua in the room both twitched unnaturally.
March also leaned closer and whispered in Nero's ear, "Nero, you're being too direct!"
Nero blinked and looked at March in confusion.
It was a bit direct, but he didn't think there was any problem with it.
Since they had just arrived, even if they wanted to casually chat about something else, there wasn't really any topic to talk about. And in the end the conversation would circle back to this question anyway.
As for the two people in front of them, they still looked relatively calm at the moment, so there was no need for extra comfort.
———
[In The Real World]
"Nero, why are you so direct!" Siberian Duck complained with a helpless laugh while looking at the game screen.
[Dan-heart Eternal: Nero is just like this, the key point is that he 'doesn't understand the hardships of the human world.']
[Nero's Sword: Nero has a simple mind, what's wrong with being a bit direct?]
[Aha's Messenger: The way Nero handles things is just like his jumping slash, simple and direct. It emphasizes efficiency.]
[Nero Is My Husband: I understand now. If you want to confess to Nero, you can't beat around the bush. Maybe directly telling him you like him is much more effective than going around in circles and doing a bunch of things! And he's so simple and straightforward that you won't have to worry about awkward conflicts after dating!]
[Glue Man: You're already thinking about dating, huh? As expected of Brother Yellow Pee. Your angle of thinking is completely different from ours.]
[So Handsome I Get Beaten On The Street: It would be hard for misunderstandings to happen because of awkwardness and such, but on the other hand, Nero's bluntness means that when he thinks there's something wrong with you, or you think something is wrong with him, he'll say it directly. The frequency of fights might be higher.]
[Nero Is My Husband: There's such a good thing?]
[Nero Is My Husband: Nero is so good-looking. Nero's hands and feet are all small, soft, and fragrant. If those hit me, it would probably feel amazing. I can't even imagine it!]
[Nero Is My Husband: If Nero is willing to scold me while stepping on me, that would be even better. I absolutely wouldn't be able to control myself!]
[Nero Is My Dad: That's insane, Brother Yellow Pee.]
[Bluetooth Disconnected: I just saw a cloud shaped like a cow's thing shooting into the sky. Brothers, does anyone have a pig head?]
[Glue Man: Feels like Brother Yellow Pee's alt account is not far from being muted.]
———
[In The Game]
If an ordinary person were as blunt as Nero, acting as if no one else existed, it would be normal for people to hold a grudge. Not receiving good expressions from Mr. Hua and Madam Hua would also be the expected result.
However, this child's unique advantage made up for this shortcoming.
Saying the world judges by appearance may sound shallow, but it has its reasons. Saying the world doesn't care about appearance is simply self-deception.
When a child is good-looking enough, people naturally want to get close to them. Even if they speak bluntly and say something uncomfortable, it will only be regarded as having a simple and honest personality.
After that, Madam Hua and Mr. Hua didn't mind Nero's blunt offense and began to explain how Watson disappeared.
Watson's disappearance was very sudden and had no warning signs.
He had only mentioned one day that he was going to the Starskiff Haven to pick up an outworld friend named Sherlock.
But who would have thought that once he went there, he never came back.
The group quickly finished the conversation. Afterwards, they went to several other households that had also suffered from the strange phenomenon.
In some of these homes, someone had disappeared. In some cases, after the disappearance, someone saw a wandering shadow.
In others, they saw someone identical to themselves. There were also cases where identical people returned home together.
After many visits and investigations, Qingque summarized the actual findings and made a simple list, "Watson, disappeared while going to the Starskiff Haven to pick up a friend."
"Su Bi, disappeared while working at the Starskiff Haven."
"Xiao Nan, after disappearing, someone saw him wandering around the Starskiff Haven."
"Ma Shan, saw a short-lived friend who had already passed away at the Starskiff Haven."
"Liu Bihua, someone saw two Liu Bihuas discussing business matters together. Afterwards the two of them went together to the Starskiff Haven to prepare industry logistics."
"Li Tong, three days after leaving home, a friend saw two identical Li Tongs return home. Both Li Tongs invited neighbors and friends to the Starskiff Haven for tea, saying they opened a small tea stall there. Both Li Tongs have now been detained in the Shackling Prison under supervision."
"Song Ziwen, disappeared after going to work at the Starskiff Haven. Seven days after the report was filed, he returned home. He seems unaware that he had disappeared. The Realm-Keeping Commission has sent people to closely monitor his every move now."
"…"
The list Qingque made was quite long, but the important information, such as names, what they experienced, the strange phenomena around them, and what they were doing before the event, was all summarized in single sentences.
"From this list, the scope of our investigation has already been reduced several times."
Mr. Yang looked at the list Qingque made and said, "In almost all the cases, the Starskiff Haven appears. Clearly, this is where we should continue our investigation."
"But the Starskiff Haven is not small. Even investigating just that one place will take a lot of time and effort," Qingque said. "I think we need a more efficient method."
Nero rested on his elbow and lay sideways on Black Cutter, listening to everyone talk while waiting for the more thoughtful ones among them to come up with a solution.
Huohuo's eyes darted around twice. She gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and said, "How about going to the Artisanship Commission to borrow a few Diting?
"Since we've locked onto the Starskiff Haven, and many people later showed signs of wandering around there... maybe we can use that to find them.
"Diting are mechanical creations developed based on the five senses of foxians. In terms of sensitivity to smells and such, they're even better."
"We can ask those families for some clothing or items that the targets used before, and let the Diting track them through scent..."
"Great idea!" Qingque said. "That reduces the search range again!"
"Hehehe..." Huohuo smiled shyly.
"In that case, I'll go to the Artisanship Commission!" Nero said. "Riding Black Cutter is faster. Just wait here for a bit!"
After saying that, Nero rode Black Cutter and suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving behind only a streak of black light cutting across the sky.
Ordinary people need to ride starskiffs when traveling between the various realms, but Nero flying directly with a sword was much more convenient.
After Nero flew away, March stretched lazily. With a relaxed expression, she leaned toward Stelle and said, "This mission feels much easier than I imagined. We ran around and quickly sorted out the clues, and in the end it doesn't seem like it'll take much effort.
"Honestly, I have this surreal feeling like the mission is already about to be completed. Everything just flows naturally. It's going so smoothly! There's no challenge at all."
Hearing March's words, Stelle nodded and said, "As Dan Heng would say, this is the difference between being prepared beforehand and not being prepared."
"Up to now, everything we've done can actually be seen as preparation work before starting the investigation."
"If it were your usual style, you'd probably start investigating all the different realms of the Xianzhou without thinking about anything."
"If you weren't extremely lucky, even if the locals didn't misunderstand you, you'd probably end up wandering in circles somewhere."
As for being mocked for doing things without a plan, March was already used to it.
This time she simply stuck out her tongue at Stelle, trying to act cute and get away with it.