Chapter 371: The Wonderful Adventures of Whale Whale (II): There’s Another Expert!
The questions of how the great whale had grown legs and come ashore, or where he’d gotten his clothes, could be set aside for now. Everly felt that the most urgent thing was to go to the ultramarathon in person and bring Kesuye, who had accidentally gotten mixed into the race as the lead runner, back home.
Although apart from his hair and eye color, everything else about him looked no different from an ordinary human in the footage, who knew whether turning from a whale into a human might leave behind some little giveaways, like a tail or fish scales? If any of those things were exposed on camera and aroused unnecessary suspicion, it would be a disaster.
And even if nothing was exposed, could Kesuye, a great fish from the ocean, really run on land for three whole days? What if, like the merfolk in novels, he ran until he dehydrated and collapsed into a dried, salted fish?
In any case, Kesuye looked like an exceptionally simple-minded fish. He was the kind of creature who made you worry no matter how you looked at him.
With that thought, Everly pulled out her phone and called Orff.
By this point, Orff had already earned his master’s degree and had followed Misha’s footsteps to settle down in the town of Lemot. Not long after Everly called, Misha came barreling over to Everly’s house, driving her bright red secondhand sports car with Orff in the passenger seat.
After working as a guide for more than half a year, Misha’s skin had become considerably darker, taking on the tanned complexion popular among white American girls. Her features had always been striking, while her university studies had added a touch of intellectual sophistication. Combined with her healthy tan, she now looked full of vitality, sparkling like a diamond in the desert.
Working hadn’t dampened Misha’s enthusiasm for life. The moment the door opened, Everly only felt a whirlwind sweep past her. When she turned around, Misha had already bounced onto the living-room sofa and was cheerfully greeting Old John.
After saying hello, she floated over behind Everly and began urging her to set off.
“Come on, come on, come on! Let’s go, let’s go! We’re going to rescue the little whale!”
By this point, the mild-mannered Orff had only just finished locking the car. He walked up to the front door with his laptop in his arms and greeted Everly and Old John somewhat shyly.
“Good evening. On the way here, I managed to hack into the website’s backend and get the live coordinates of the broadcast. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“In that case…” Old John, who had been bored for quite some time on the sofa, stood up with his keys in hand. “Let’s all go together.”
A minute later, the four of them left the house and climbed into Old John’s large Jeep Cherokee. Old John took the wheel himself, and they set off toward Kesuye’s location.
On the way, Everly and Misha continued searching for all kinds of information related to “Everly” and the ultramarathon.
Originally, a mountain ultramarathon held in only three western states wouldn’t have caused much of a stir. Unfortunately, Kesuye was simply too good-looking.
A uniquely charismatic beauty participating in an extreme sporting event was attention-grabbing enough. But what really made him stand out was his incredible stamina. Despite arriving half an hour late, he had relied purely on his own ability to overtake competitor after competitor, climbing all the way from dead last into the ranks of the frontrunners!
As one bullet comment put it:
[With a story this inspiring, athletic ability this incredible, and a face this magnificent… falling in love with him is as easy as breathing!]
As more and more people began discussing him, some self-media outlets and influencer accounts caught the scent of traffic and jumped on the bandwagon, making livestream clips and short videos.
On top of that, local news outlets had coincidentally chosen footage showing Kesuye’s face when reporting on the ultramarathon. And so, after a full day of publicity, Kesuye—under the name “Everly”—had already become something of a minor sensation in the sports community, while also bringing a surge of attention to the Western 200 Ultramarathon as a whole.
By this point, anyone returning to the livestream would find that the number of viewers had already doubled. People who had heard about Kesuye through various channels had flocked to the livestream, and dense waves of bullet comments streamed across the screen from beginning to end, completely obscuring the footage.
Through the livestream camera, it was even possible to see that some fans living nearby had already driven out to follow the race in person. Whenever Kesuye ran past, groups of men and women stood behind the barriers, holding up their phones and shouting excitedly at him. Some even reached their hands over the barrier, trying to touch Kesuye.
Everly: “…”
This was straight-up celebrity treatment. Why was Kesuye so popular with people…?
Well, okay. He really was pretty cute.
Especially in his big, fat-whale form. He was usually gentle and mild-mannered, occasionally making little “whimpering” sounds at Everly to act spoiled. Whenever he encountered dolphins or seabirds, though, he’d rush over and mischievously tease them. Ninety-nine percent good-natured with just a tiny one percent streak of mischief—it was like a little hook that tugged at people’s hearts, making it impossible not to follow him with their eyes.
Apparently, when it came to appreciating cute things, everyone shared the same aesthetic sense.
Unfortunately, Kesuye didn’t seem particularly fond of all the attention. When people reached toward him like zombies trapped behind cage bars, he frowned slightly and edged closer toward the center of the road.
[AAAAAAH! Everly is so awesome even when he’s frowning!]
[He makes me feel like I’m a huge piece of garbage, but why is my heart suddenly beating so fast…?]
[I’m falling in love! I’m falling in love!!!]
[I want his ￥@# to *!&@ me…]
The netizens’ thought processes were a little strange. Kesuye’s frown of displeasure didn’t drive them away. Instead, it sent the comment section into a collective frenzy. All kinds of chaotic comments flew across the screen, and some were so obscene or violent that the system automatically censored them into gibberish.
Looking at the screen full of prohibited words, Everly pulled her phone farther away and couldn’t help making the classic “subway, old man, looking at phone” expression.
“We’re almost there. Just a little farther,” Old John’s voice came from the front.
Everly tore her eyes away from the livestream and looked out the window.
It was already close to midnight. The vehicle was currently traveling along a desolate stretch of highway, with nothing in sight for miles in either direction. Apart from the area illuminated by the headlights, only a scattering of distant lights could be seen.
The car headed toward those lights, and before long, they reached an intersection where two highways crossed.
The lights they’d seen earlier were coming from several vehicles parked at the roadside. Their owners were holding up their phones and gathered at either end of the neighboring racecourse, which had been cordoned off with fluorescent tape, patiently waiting for the ultramarathon runners to approach.
Old John parked the car on a flat patch of wasteland. The four of them got out one after another, put on their masks, and then followed the example of the others, taking up positions along the edge of the course.
“They’re coming.” Orff, who had been fiddling with his iPad, suddenly spoke.
At his warning, an SUV traveling at low speed emerged from the end of the road first. Its roof was open, and a cameraman was standing halfway out through the opening, holding a powerful light and a camera as he continued filming what was happening behind the vehicle.
Not far behind the SUV, someone was running alone along the road.
Truly alone.
As night gradually gave way to the early hours of the morning, the runners who had been going all day had one by one stopped at the aid stations along the route. Some were eating, some were sleeping, and others were tending to their injuries.
Only Kesuye showed no sign of hunger or fatigue.
After running for an entire day, the swing of his arms and the distance covered by every stride remained exactly the same, as though each movement had been measured with a ruler.
Even the cameraman following him was getting tired. Kesuye, however, remained expressionless, without a single bead of sweat on his forehead. His blue-ringed eyes stared straight ahead into empty space, as though he were completely immersed in his own world, utterly unresponsive to everything happening around him.
Come to think of it, with his silent, stoic demeanor and unwavering gaze, he actually did give off a strong sense of conviction. No wonder people had let their imaginations run wild and decided that Kesuye was some kind of “ascetic bravely marching forward alone to raise public awareness of environmental protection.”
Everly was inwardly mocking the whole thing when Kesuye, who had been lost in his own thoughts, suddenly seemed to sense something. His eyes shifted, and he looked straight toward where Everly was standing.
Their gazes met across the space between them. Kesuye froze for a moment.
Then, like ice breaking apart on a river or clouds clearing after rain, his cold, expressionless face suddenly blossomed into a brilliant smile.
“Everly!”
The runner shouted and abruptly changed direction, abandoning the race in progress as he immediately ran toward Everly.
“Everly! Everly! Everly!”
Seeing Kesuye approach, the fans gathered outside the course assumed he was chanting along with them and interacting with his supporters. They instantly became more excited than ever.
It was just like being at a concert. The fans squealed and jostled one another, shouting Kesuye’s “name” while raising their hands diagonally overhead and enthusiastically flashing the classic rock-fan hand gesture. Some even leaned most of their bodies over the barrier, trying to give Kesuye a high five from a distance, nearly losing their balance and falling over in the process.
The scene descended into utter chaos.
Everly: “…”
How weird! It was seriously weird hearing a whole crowd of people shouting her name in unison!
For a moment, Everly really wanted to disappear into the crowd and pretend she didn’t exist. But the last shred of her conscience stopped her.
Otherwise, Kesuye would be way too pitiful. All alone, unfamiliar with the human world, stranded in the middle of a racecourse, unable to get so much as a bite to eat or a drop of water, while people wildly misinterpreted everything about him. Somehow, he’d been turned into an environmentalist pioneer engaged in performance art and an inspirational symbol, attracting all kinds of attention and interpretations that he never should have received…
Compared with that, suffering a little embarrassment didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Besides, she was wearing a mask. They were shouting “Everly,” so what did that have to do with Everly herself?!
Suppressing the urge to run away, Everly stood there expressionlessly, silently waiting.
Kesuye coldly ignored all the fans shouting and screaming around him. He ran straight up to her, his tall body leaning forward slightly as his long silver-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall. His slightly melancholic, downturned eyes carefully examined Everly for a moment before curving into a smile.
“Everly, I found you!”
The moment he smiled, the gloomy, world-weary aura surrounding him vanished without a trace. No joke—at that moment, Everly genuinely had the illusion that she was looking at a big dog wagging its tail.
To be honest, she quite liked dogs. Buddy, for example.
Her heart beat rapidly twice in her chest. Everly hooked a pinky beneath her mask and briefly revealed a smile of her own to Kesuye.
“Kesuye, long time no see.”
“Who’s that girl?”
“What are they talking about…?”
“Isn’t he going to keep running?”
The surrounding fans began chattering among themselves, whispering and exchanging puzzled looks as they voiced one strange question after another.
Everly didn’t like being the center of attention. She pulled Kesuye a little closer and lowered her voice, telling him to find the staff, withdraw from the race, and go home with her.
Kesuye had always followed Everly’s requests without question. He happily agreed. Just then, because of the commotion along the roadside, the staff in the tracking vehicle stopped the car and came over as well.
The three groups moved farther into the wilderness, away from the crowd, intending to have a proper conversation.
Suddenly, a piercing police siren shattered the silence of the night.
A moment later, to everyone’s astonishment, a police car flashing red and blue lights pulled to a stop in front of them.
The two police officers got out of the car and showed their badges. After exchanging a glance, they approached Kesuye with clear purpose.
“Mr. Everly, we’re law enforcement officers from the Gilosha Police Department. At present, you’ve been identified as a person of significant interest in an ongoing homicide investigation. We’d like you to come with us to the station and cooperate with the formal interview and investigation.”
With that, they flanked Kesuye on either side, effectively trapping the bewildered whale between them in full view of everyone.
Everly: “…”
There’s another expert?!