Chapter 58: Mr. Thumb, Don't Look Back
Rocky looked at Isaiah, leisurely drinking tea in front of him, tightly pressing his lips together and remaining silent.
"Bishop Rocky." Isaiah put down his teacup and slowly said, "You seem to be very nervous?"
"Nervous? What a joke, why would I be nervous?" Rocky, like a cat startled into bristling, retorted, "Who do you think you are? I am the illustrious Eastern Bishop of Rhein, why should I fear you?"
"I said nervous, not afraid." Isaiah smiled and let his gaze drop, "I know my question might be offensive, but your reaction is just a bit too obvious."
Rocky instinctively lowered his head, only to realize that his leg under the table was shaking uncontrollably, causing the tea on the table to tremble incessantly.
He remained silent for a moment, then stiffly defended himself, "I'm not nervous, I just have a bit of... hyperactivity."
"Oh~ understood, understood." Isaiah nodded with a smile.
If anyone else had shown such an expression to Rocky, he would have slapped them, but Isaiah was different. Remembering the scene of destruction from last night, Rocky's anger instantly disappeared.
Rocky truly didn't want to deal with Isaiah, especially since he guessed that Isaiah already knew his identity. In that case, he wanted to avoid him as much as possible.
So initially, when Isaiah sent Mina to invite Rocky for "tea", Rocky's first thought was "this old fellow is going to make a move on me", and he immediately refused. But he didn't expect that only a few minutes after he refused, Isaiah would come in person.
In broad daylight, with representatives from various churches watching, continuing to avoid him would truly be a disgrace to Rhein, and make him appear guilty.
Thus, Rocky begrudgingly agreed, but chose a very open place where he could see Heavenly Voice Obedience when he looked up. It was surrounded by the eyes of various churches and the Contract Land, emphasizing his clear conscience... and safety.
"Mr. Isaiah, what exactly do you want from me?" Rocky decided to be proactive and asked firmly, "If there's nothing, please excuse me... I have many things to attend to."
"No rush, Bishop Rocky." Isaiah laughed and said, "It's just a cup of tea."
"Then why won't you find someone else? Why insist on drinking with me?"
"Because we are the same kind of people." Isaiah gave Rocky a meaningful look, "Wouldn't you agree?"
Rocky's eyelid twitched.
Such an obvious threat prevented Rocky from loudly insisting on leaving, lest Isaiah expose him as well.
"What do you want?" Since the cards were already on the table, Rocky stopped pretending and lowered his voice, coldly asking, "Do you plan to make a move against me here as well?"
"I've never intended to make a move against you. In fact, the only Corpse Block in Taoyuan Village that interests me is the other eye."
"So you already have three Corpse Blocks but still want that eye?" Rocky said, "Aren't you being too greedy?"
"That's the crux of the matter," Isaiah said, "In truth, I haven't gotten those three Corpse Blocks at all."
When Rocky showed a "are you kidding me" expression, Isaiah still remained calm.
"I know you don't believe me, and I will tell you the truth, but before that, can you tell me one thing?"
"What?"
Isaiah looked into Rocky's eyes and asked slowly, "Has the Hand Eye activated Taoyuan Village after all that?"
Rocky frowned slightly, "Why should I tell you?"
But this reaction in Isaiah's eyes was already an answer.
"He's alive after all." Isaiah said softly, then slowly raised his left hand under Rocky's suspicious gaze, "If I told you that night I only got this one finger, would you believe me?"
Upon hearing this, Rocky frowned even more, clearly not understanding what Isaiah meant. But once he realized, his eyes gradually widened.
...
And Rocky's change in expression naturally didn't escape Bai Wei's distant view.
Bai Wei wasn't surprised that Isaiah approached Rocky, after all, Rocky was the only open Corpse friend from Isaiah's perspective.
If possible, Bai Wei believed Isaiah would rather directly find himself or Diana instead of Rocky.
But Isaiah had no choice; now surrounded by enemies, Rocky was his only potential ally.
The question was now how he would convince Rocky to believe him.
Bai Wei wasn't in a hurry, watching leisurely.
...
And after listening to Isaiah's narrative, Rocky's expression was very complicated.
Because he felt this account was a bit too ludicrous, how the Tongue and Hand Eye were the same person, how everything was orchestrated by Hand Eye, it felt like it was insulting his intelligence.
But precisely because the story was so outlandish, Rocky couldn't help but wonder if it might indeed be true.
And the only way to prove it was...
Rocky lowered his head, looking at Isaiah's left middle finger.
"Show me the proof." Rocky said, "Just prove that this finger is genuine, and I'll believe you."
"I will prove it, but not now." Isaiah said calmly, "You must know, around here there are devices everywhere that test Visas's power, and as soon as I use the Rule, it would immediately be detected."