Chapter 578: Bonus Questions

“Have we made the ‘Bonus Questions’ too difficult? Look at them, they’re all becoming so cautious…”

Lina looked out at the field from the ‘audience’ and then turned to ask.

This was actually the effect Wayne wanted. Hearing her, he gestured for Lina to relax, “If they’re sent out, the risks they’ll encounter might be even greater and more hidden. It’s good to let everyone raise their vigilance beforehand. It’s better than having problems later.”

Inessa also nodded in agreement: “The difficulty of these Bonus Questions isn’t too great, and the penalties aren’t severe. I think they’re quite gentle.”

At this point, the third match of the ‘Single Battle’ was underway. Willie, Other Sound, and Vibration, who were about to compete, were currently completing their ‘Bonus Questions’ before the fight began.

For fairness, these Bonus Questions were thought up by the partners individually. Emma and Chef Parker, who weren’t competing, also contributed, and the question types were quite varied.

At first, the Agents didn’t take the Bonus Questions seriously, thinking that no matter how flashy they were, the victory would ultimately depend on a clash of raw strength.

Wayne then deliberately put Inessa’s ‘Observation Question’ in the first match. The contestants would receive an identical dried herb specimen and needed to observe it, choose one part from the root, stem, leaf, or fruit, and then eat it before starting the fight.

To be honest, the question Inessa posed was quite clever.

The herb was an ‘import’ she specifically got from the Exorcist Association; it wasn’t native to America. However, Inessa had taught all the relevant knowledge points for identifying its toxicity during her classes at the Detective Agency, making it a practical application of the learned content.

Some people might be average at studying but have good physical fitness. This question also had a suboptimal solution: as long as they could withstand the toxicity and still win in the Arena with a negative status, they wouldn’t get ‘bonus points’ but could at least secure a victory.

And that herb was actually ‘valuable all over’; the most toxic part was the leaves, and the harmless part was the root system—when fresh, it could be dug up and eaten to quench thirst.

The stem had thorns and would cause numbness if eaten, while the fruit wasn’t considered ‘poisonous’ but, when dried, was a powerful laxative for severe constipation.

So, Sanders, who was originally confident of victory, unfortunately chose the fruit, leading to the worst outcome:

He didn’t choose the correct root system, so he got no points for this question; this thing wasn’t poison, so the targeted antidote was ineffective; then his stomach started rumbling, and even a fool could guess that his opponent should fight a ‘guerrilla war’ or ‘prolonged battle’ with him.

Finally, to avoid the tragedy of soiling himself in public, Sanders had to surrender and forfeit his planned effortless victory.

He pulled out the white handkerchief representing ‘surrender,’ threw it, clutched his stomach, and turned to run towards the toilet downstream of the river. It wasn’t a complete ‘social death,’ but it would likely be recorded in the ‘Detective Agency Joke Collection’ in everyone’s minds…

So, with such a vivid precedent, it was not surprising that the remaining Agents became extremely cautious about the ‘Bonus Questions’.

The scene returns to the field at this moment.

At this moment, Willie and the others were facing Wayne’s ‘deduction question’.

The question wasn’t difficult: five people, A, B, C, D, and E, each said a sentence, and then, based on the logical relationships between them, they just needed to find the one who was ‘lying’.

This question followed a ‘first-come, first-served’ model. Each option corresponded to a small box; the person who made a decision first could choose first, while those with the same option needed to explain their reasons sequentially after everyone had chosen.

The first person to choose correctly with sound logic received bonus points, and the box also contained a $20 Double Eagle gold coin as a small gift.

Choosing the wrong box or being a step too slow naturally didn’t earn bonus points, but in the box for option B, representing ‘Iron Good Guy,’ was Peter the Spider—deduction might be unreliable, but it couldn’t be too outrageous.

“Ah—”

As soon as he grabbed the box marked with the letter B, Other Sound’s scream immediately rang out.

The sound even had a reverb, almost echoing around the mill. His palm swayed back and forth, and Peter the Spider at his fingertips wouldn’t shake off, like a crab clamping onto a person.

Seeing this, Liam, his teammate, immediately slapped his thigh in the waiting area, “He should have chosen D. Oh no, is Other Sound doing this on purpose, just to perform drinking upside down for us tonight?”

“Huh? Isn’t it C?”

Liam turned to explain to his teammates: “The testimonies of A and E are consistent with each other, from which it can be inferred that C’s statement is also correct. So, if we go through the logic, the true sequence of events should be…”

His voice faded. Wayne, watching the group huddle together from a short distance, felt quite relieved.

The question itself wasn’t difficult; given enough time, many people could eventually figure it out. It was merely a competition of who reacted faster. Emma could answer instantly during the ‘internal test,’ and Willie, who had already been assigned to handle cases, didn’t take too long to answer on the spot.

The crucial thing was Liam’s side, which Wayne was most worried about. At this moment, they finally showed a bit of ‘teamwork’.

During this transitional period, he didn’t expect them to make the First Office flourish after their rotation. Just being able to stabilize operations without incident would be considered a contribution to the main base.

Looking again, the mixed-race maid assigned to Lina was slowly regaining consciousness once more—she had fainted once when Emma ‘looked up,’ once when Liam was transparent and then ‘visible,’ and again when Soften collapsed into a puddle.

It was fortunate that Inessa was experienced in handling such situations; otherwise, this Little Black Girl would have already been sent to the hospital, instead of Emma using medicated oil to fumigate her with a small bottle.

This time, as soon as her eyes met Wayne’s, her whole body reflexively trembled backward.

Wayne couldn’t help but almost lose his composure: “We have a restaurant in Richmond that’s about to open. If you really can’t adapt, provided you can keep it a secret, we can arrange for you to work there.”

The Little Black Girl wasn’t very brave, but she had a bit of resilience in her character. Hearing this, she quickly sat up, “I’m fine. Please let me continue working at the Plantation.”

Hmm…

Wayne and Inessa exchanged glances, then looked at Lina, “Alright, just don’t scream from nightmares in the middle of the night. You should have a general impression of our Detective Agency’s special circumstances by now. If you cause any trouble, we will take measures to eliminate the impact.”

The Little Black Girl nodded repeatedly, bowing halfway while sitting and kneeling, “Thank you very much, I will work hard.”

This was not something that could be solved by simply ‘working hard’…

However, Inessa thought she might not want to leave a place she was familiar with, while Lina was convinced that this girl must have ‘feelings’ for the other slave who escaped with her that night, probably siblings or lovers.

In inconsequential situations, the Detective Agency was willing to respect the personal wishes of its employees—primarily because of the current situation in America, where the public was generally not yet accustomed to dark-skinned ‘shop assistants.’ Even if she were sent to the restaurant, she would probably only be able to help in the back kitchen.

Given the high value of the beautiful mixed-race slave, let it be for now.