She disappeared (Part 1)

Half an hour ago.

"Director Li, um..."

"Ah, it's Researcher Xiaoyun." Li Liguo, holding a teacup, was about to leave when he was unexpectedly blocked by Yunhe, who had been "waiting for him for a long time." He was caught in a dilemma, unable to vent his anger or not, so he could only suppress his temper and force a smile.

"Um, well, I..." Yunhe hesitated, but had to speak: "Director Li, how is the X79...?"

"Oh, you mean that?" Li Liguo took a sip of tea, then waved his hand: "It's been recycled!"

Recycle.

This is slang at the GI Research Institute, meaning "on-site harmless disposal." Overwhelmed by the shock, Yunhe didn't react immediately, even asking blankly, "What did you say?"

"Hmph." Li Liguo was getting impatient. However, considering that she was Shen Huai'an's nominally responsible researcher, he still feigned politeness and said, "She just died, she died on the operating table!"

Yunhe's fake smile finally froze on her face. And tears welled up in her eyes.

"Well, you were in charge of X79 before, right?" Li Liguo grinned and patted her shoulder with his free hand. "Researcher Xiaoyun, you can't let your emotions get the better of you—you know the rules of the institute, right?"

Of course she knew.

Researchers are prohibited from developing any unreasonable emotions towards experimental subjects, and are forbidden from interfering with the established experimental plan or disrupting the experimental procedure for any reason. Violators will be dismissed, and all losses caused to the research will be investigated.

So she shouldn't have asked.

“But,” Yunhe choked up, “it was the experimental subject I was in charge of for three years…”

"Alright!" Li Liguo glared at her impatiently. "Researcher Yun, I don't remember you being this unreasonable before, right? X79 is an artificial species cultivated by the institute. It is its inherent mission and its glory to dedicate itself to human scientific research! If you really think your research lab is empty, I'll assign you a new one another day, okay?"

Yunhe was stunned by his long speech. Just when Li Liguo thought he had convinced the girl, she slowly raised her head, and then…

"You beast," she sneered, then turned and walked away.

——————————

After tearfully recounting everything that had happened, Yunhe wiped her already swollen and red eyes, only then realizing that she had actually thrown herself into Shen Huai'an's arms.

? !

She instinctively tried to push him away, but unexpectedly, this damned merman was incredibly strong and easily pulled her into his arms.

"It's alright," he said softly. "I'm here."

I am here.

Just those two gentle words immediately comforted the woman who was crying incessantly. Yunhe wiped away her tears, her face flushed with lingering fear, and said, "...I've really offended Old Man Li this time. Am I doomed...?"

"Um?"

Shen Huai'an casually raised his hand and touched her hair, his tone unintentionally even carrying a hint of doting: "You dare to do it but not admit it, Lady Yun?"

"you……!"

Yunhe was about to curse "Damn it!" when he suddenly looked up and met the mermaid's beautiful peach blossom eyes.

Even in human form, Shen Huai'an is so beautiful.

She was lost in thought when she suddenly snapped out of it, quickly shoving him away. Her face flushed even redder, but her mouth remained stubbornly defiant: "So what! I'm just an ordinary wage slave, is it wrong to cherish my job?!"

After saying that, she suddenly had a fit of madness and slapped herself across the face!

"Damn it! Damn it, what a bastardly world!"

Yunhe suddenly broke down again. She squatted down, clutched her head tightly with both hands, and then pounded her head with her fists!

"I'm so sorry, Er Gou, I'm so sorry—!!!!"

She growled, "I'm useless! I'm sorry, I'm just a nobody, I'm useless..."

Shen Huai'an didn't stop her. He just quietly watched her emotions fluctuate, sometimes calm, sometimes collapsing, her thoughts drifting back to more than two hundred years ago.

——————————

"I still have a lot to teach you."

Lying on the bed, Shen Huai'an coughed weakly, laughing between coughs. His face was ashen, but his voice was still clear and coherent: "What a pity..."

Celestis stood before his bed. Her long, silver hair cascaded over her shoulders and down to the floor. This mermaid, beautiful to the point of being almost otherworldly, simply gazed at him quietly—

Or rather, watching him slowly die.

“I’m sorry, I can’t save you.” Cyresis’s face showed a hint of the newly learned expression called “guilt,” and her voice was very soft: “I broke my promise.”

Shen Huai'an had been suffering from a chronic illness for a long time, relying entirely on medication to prolong his life; but the reason why the incurable disease of carbon-based organisms is incurable is precisely because it is incurable. Even he could not defy fate.

This lesson was taught to him with his life.

"It doesn't matter……"

Shen Huai'an gave a pale smile and reached out to grasp its "wrist": "Do you still want my name?"

“If you would still like to give it to me, I would be happy to,” Celesius said with a smile.

"well……"

Shen Huai'an coughed violently a few more times, black blood gradually seeping from the corner of his mouth. Celestis simply sat down on the edge of the bed, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his "finger," and said gently, "Rest."

“Celesis, I…I hope you…”

Shen Huai'an's breathing suddenly became rapid. He gazed at the mermaid's breathtakingly beautiful face before him and said with all his might:

"Never...trust...human beings!"

These were also the last words he spoke in his life.

Human death is essentially no different from the death of other animals. First, the limbs gradually stretch and straighten, the pupils dilate, and after exhaling the last breath, the body enters a process of gradual stiffening. Celesius placed his hand on his gradually cooling forehead and closed his eyes.

In that instant, he saw all of Shen Huai'an's memories from his short life.

Limited by physiological limitations, human memory is incomplete. But he could see it clearly: in the "image," a teenage Shen Huai'an stood in the crowd, smiling at the camera—probably taking a high school graduation photo; a twenty-something Shen Huai'an wore a doctoral cap, carrying a bag of souvenirs, and walked towards the university auditorium; a thirty-something Shen Huai'an was already a member of the research institute, arriving at his own laboratory with an excited expression, patting the isolation glass in front of him like a child seeing a new toy—

Behind the glass partition was a werewolf. A werewolf covered in wounds, skin and bones, with various IV drips inserted all over its body.

Then, the scene showed him arguing with other people. During the argument, he suddenly started coughing violently…

Then, he strolled along the beach and "bought" him from the ignorant fishermen that afternoon.

...

"Thank you," Celestis said softly. "I will always remember your words."

And his appearance gradually underwent a dramatic change—

It's becoming more and more like the dead humans in front of me.

——————————

"Alright, Yunhe."

Seeing that she was almost hitting her own head until it was swollen, he finally snapped out of his reverie, gently stopped her, and grabbed her wrist.

"That's not your fault. Don't punish yourself for someone else's mistake."

"..." Yun looked at him through teary eyes. She suddenly asked a particularly provocative question: "Can I hit you to vent my anger?"

Shen Huai'an burst out laughing.

"Okay." He considerately took her hand and placed it on his chest. "Not enough? Then give me a few more."

"Pfft!"

Yunhe couldn't help but laugh at him, momentarily forgetting her grief, and instead widened her eyes to complain: "Seriously, Lao Shen, are you a masochist? Stockholm syndrome?"

Of course not.

Shen Huai'an didn't give her a direct answer. He simply looked at her tenderly—just as he had done to the human Shen Huai'an over two hundred years ago—and then patted her shoulder:

"You don't need to worry about Li Liguo. Just rest well these next few days and don't think too much."

Also, I'm very sorry about what happened with Er Gou.

But he couldn't bring himself to say it. He was never able to say it.

——————————

That evening, on her way home from get off work, Yunhe passed by the dessert shop she knew best, as usual.

Actually, because of Er Gou's death, she had no appetite. But for some reason, she inexplicably glanced inside.

"Come in," she heard a voice inside her say. "You need to treat yourself to some snacks, don't you?"

After wandering in somewhat dazed, she noticed that the store's environment seemed a little different from usual—albeit better and more comfortable than she remembered. The cashier had also changed; a beautiful woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, a slim waist, and a shapely bottom—a typical Western beauty.

"..."

Yunhe was never a social climber. She gave the pretty shop assistant an awkward smile, then turned to pick out a cake, only to be startled by a man's voice suddenly sounding behind her:

"Cloud researcher, did you miss me?"

Yunhe suddenly turned around!

The next second, she suddenly felt dizzy, as if she had been injected with some kind of hallucinogenic drug—but in reality, nothing like that happened. However, the saleswoman who was supposed to be standing behind the counter greeting customers was, at that moment, just like that…

He "teleported" behind her and looked at her with a smile.

Yunhe was unable to respond any further. She simply staggered back a few steps, only stopping when her back hit the wall.

She had already recognized "her".

Therefore, it's not hard to guess what "she" wants to do next.

But……

Will Shen Huai'an and the others feel sorry for themselves?

——————————

Yunhe didn't come to work the next day.

Elsa was the first to discover this. She immediately called Yunhe—unsurprisingly, the call didn't go through. She sent a message, and unsurprisingly, it went unanswered.

"She's missing, what do we do... what do we do..."

It was 10:00 AM. Unable to contact Yunhe's colleagues anytime soon, they began to panic. Someone suggested reporting it to Director Li (Li Liguo), but Elsa immediately rejected the idea: "He wouldn't care about something like this! Let's call the police!"

"Call the police?" Zhang Can retorted coldly, "Have you forgotten the institute's rules? Without the permission of the relevant department leader, you are not allowed to contact any external units!"

"Hey, hey, Sister Can, aren't you going a bit too far with what you said?"

Aiqiqi immediately stood behind Elsa, cheering her on with great loyalty: "What if something happens to Sister Yun? That's a matter of life and death! Don't be so obsessed with rules that you've gone mad!"

...

While everyone was making a fuss, the person who should have spoken out remained silent at their desk, typing away as if nothing had happened. Somewhat disapproving, Ai Qiqi strode over, slamming her hand on the desk, her tone still relatively polite:

"Um, Chief Shen?" He suppressed his anger, barely maintaining his usual pitiful demeanor: "Do you have any ideas?"