Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 115 The Approaching Danger

Chapter 116 The Approaching Danger

Jaeger, who had inexplicably started accepting Louise's kind care, accepted the dessert Louise handed him with a bewildered expression. After a long silence, he finally managed to squeeze out, "Um—"

"No, don't force yourself to talk." Louise sighed and whispered, "Don't worry, I understand. I also understand why you stopped talking at first."

Jaeger: ?

What exactly do you understand?

He glanced at Louise, then at Clark, who looked utterly dejected, and thought to himself, "Are the Daily Planet reporters all this good at making things up?"

Now he has no idea what strange extra settings these two added to his social anxiety persona.

Fortunately, although Langdon couldn't verbally complain, he could still communicate with the poisonous fog in his mind.

"Poisonous fog," Jaeger mused in his mind. "Human imagination is truly a wondrous thing."

Poison Mist, who also witnessed everything and had no idea what the two reporters were thinking, said: "—I agree."

Amidst enthusiastic applause, the Escalius Awards ceremony finally began.

The moment the curtain on the stage was drawn back, Jaeger noticed that in addition to a podium for the host and award winners to speak, there was also a strange crystal sword with a bright white and green color hanging above the stage.

"That's the symbol of the Escaliber Award—the Green Cross Sword, which is said to be made from a special crystal."

The toxic fog served as Google's function, Jaeger explained.

"Therefore, not only is the award trophy a green sword with a cross embedded in a wooden base."

"Even at the awards ceremony, this sword will be hung as a symbol to distinguish the Escalius Award from other awards."

Upon hearing this, Yege seemed to be deep in thought.

"I understand, but the problem is—" Jaeger looked at the crystal sword, "why does it have to be hung above the podium? It looks dangerous."

"It seems like it was set up that way on purpose," Poison Mist said. "After all, the most famous story about a sword hanging overhead comes from the Sword of Damocles in ancient Greece."

"The long sword hanging overhead, seemingly ready to fall at any moment, is like a danger that could occur at any time, and also a warning to be prepared for danger even in times of peace."

"Therefore, the judging committee responsible for awarding the Escalius Prize was structured in this way to remind every winning journalist—"

"News happens every second. Never give up your relentless pursuit of news and your continuous climb to the peak of truth because of current honors."

"Uh," Jaeger could only say after hearing the award committee's thoughtful consideration, "But what if, during one of the awards ceremonies, that green cross sword accidentally falls down and crushes the winner to death?"

"Who says there's no such thing as a perfect crime?!"

It must be said that this kind of thing, which seems to have great significance at first glance, but is useless in real life except for causing negative impacts, really exists everywhere.

This reminded Jaeger of his time at a university in China, when he would pass over at least twenty speed bumps every day on his way to the classroom.

At first glance, so many speed bumps seem to be for traffic safety, to prevent students from getting into accidents.

But the problem is—

The places where these speed bumps were installed are all residential areas—residential areas where cars that can drive at speeds of 20 km/h or higher simply cannot get in!

So what's the point of all these speed bumps except to stop students from rushing to 8 a.m.?

In response to Jaeger's criticism, Poison Mist paused for a moment: "It can't fall off that easily, can it?"

"After all, a specially made load-bearing steel wire was used to suspend that sword, so it won't break easily."

"I see." Jaeger stroked his chin and said no more.

Just then, the host began to announce all the journalists who had been nominated for this year's Escalius Award.

Four journalists were nominated, and the winning reports covered a wide range of topics—including drug trafficking, nonprofit organizations, diet pill scams, and even the nuclear crisis.

However, two of the four nominated journalists are from Planet Daily.

One of them is Julian Fay, who reported on violence by nonprofit organizations.

The reporter was sitting at the table next to Jaeger; he was a middle-aged male journalist with considerable experience.

He had meticulously combed silver hair, furrowed brows, and a forced, unfriendly smile.

The other one is Louise Lane, who reported on the nuclear crisis.

"Now, I announce that the winner of this year's Escalius Award is—" The host deliberately dragged out his words, whetting the appetite of the audience.

Jaeger, however, noticed out of the corner of his eye that Louise still looked somewhat nervous.

It seems the Escalius Prize is highly prestigious, or perhaps that report was the result of a lot of hard work.

That's why even Louise, who was better than Pulitzer, showed some anxiety, and even unconsciously crumpled the handkerchief she picked up from the table.

Um?and many more.

That handkerchief —

Jaeger, who had only glanced at it casually, suddenly fixed his gaze on it.

Because there seemed to be some ink smudges on Louise's handkerchief.

These handkerchiefs were distributed by the organizers based on the fixed number of people at each table; they are all white handkerchiefs and are given as souvenirs.

Moreover, Louise had just unconsciously picked up the handkerchief and had no time to write on it.

So, what exactly is that smudge on her handkerchief, which looks like ink stains from writing?

Jaeger was a little puzzled and couldn't help but turn his head to examine it carefully.

Louise noticed Jaeger's gaze, subconsciously looked down, and quickly noticed the unusual handkerchief.

"This is----?"

Louise leaned closer to Jaeger and unfolded her handkerchief only when he could see it in the light.

The moment she saw the words written above, she couldn't help but widen her eyes: "You win, you die."

(If you win, you will die)

(PS: I calculated the word count to be 4800, but if I add 6000 more, 1200 words per chapter is too little. I'll add another 2000-word chapter tomorrow morning. Please forgive me TT.)

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