She Disappeared (Part Two)

At the same time, in his top-floor office, Xiao Lin was studying a document while listening intently to the sounds coming from the surveillance camera.

—The surveillance video in front of him clearly showed Ai Qiqi and his team's large office.

"oh."

He heard it clearly; Shen Huai'an's indifferent voice came through the microphone, clearly responding to Ai Qiqi's earlier question: "I have no objection. If you want to call the police, then talk about it after forty-eight hours."

Shen Huai'an was indeed stating a fact—it couldn't be considered missing for more than two days, and the police wouldn't handle it. Just as Ai Qiqi was about to explode, he added, "However, instead of immediately calling the police, wouldn't it be simpler to go to her house and check on her?"

Yes! How could I not have thought of that?!

Ai Qiqi slapped her forehead, her face instantly turning bright red. Then, without thinking, this loose tongue blurted out, "Chief Shen, how about we go together?"

...

Everyone wisely kept quiet. The atmosphere became extremely awkward.

“I have other things to do. Whoever is willing to make the trip can go and take a look.”

Shen Huai'an seemed completely oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation and naturally changed the subject: "Perfect timing—Ai Qiqi, could you grant me some access permissions so I can look up some information?"

...

Lunchtime.

Everyone had gone to the cafeteria or picked up takeout. A security guard came in and called out coldly, "Come out, the station chief wants to see you."

——————————

"You're here? Have a seat." Xiao Lin had his back to him, scribbling something on a piece of paper. When Shen Huai'an walked over, he saw that Xiao Lin had already turned to the last page, and raised an eyebrow in surprise:

No wonder he was once a genius chief researcher.

To be able to read through that pile of scribbles you wrote so quickly...that's impressive.

“Since you can eat human food, I won’t prepare anything else for you.” Xiao Lin put down the manuscript in his hand and casually pointed to the boxed lunch on the table: “It’s from the cafeteria. If you don’t mind, have some to tide you over.”

His tone was so relaxed, as if he weren't facing a mysterious, unknown being. Shen Huai'an didn't mince words, slowly picking up his chopsticks as he asked, "Do you have any questions about my proposal?"

There was no one else around, so he didn't bother to be polite to Xiao Lin. To be fair, Xiao Lin was like a resident of Lilliput to him. Even if they were the same age, let alone Xiao Lin being young (although Xiao Lin was already over eighty), humans were still just humans, nothing more.

"Let's not talk about this for now."

Xiao Lin smiled, lit a cigarette, and took a drag: "You know that Researcher Yun hasn't come all morning, right?"

It was a completely pointless statement, but in this situation, it was the perfect opening line. Shen Huai'an nodded, his expression frank: "Yes."

Xiao Lin: "You know, but you're not going to do anything about it?"

Shen Huai'an: "Manage?" He seemed to find it amusing: "How can you manage it? Shouldn't this kind of thing be handled by your human police?"

Xiao Lin squinted and pressed, "'You humans?' So Chief Shen doesn't realize that your experiences on land over the past few hundred years have made you one of us?"

"Heh." Shen Huai'an gave a cold snort, tinged with sarcasm. He raised his hand, touching the suppressor around his neck, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Whether I am human or not is not for me to decide, nor for you to decide.

The words may be rough, but the principle is sound. Xiao Lin nodded in agreement, but still couldn't suppress his curiosity:

“However, Yunhe, that little girl…” he said slowly, carefully observing Shen Huai’an’s expression, “Your attitude towards her is quite unusual, so unusual that I almost thought you had fallen in love with her.”

Unfortunately, Shen Huai'an's expression did not change as he had hoped. He didn't even show the most basic micro-expressions.

"But I never imagined," Xiao Lin sighed, somewhat wistfully, "that mermaids are not human after all, and can hardly understand the intense and sincere emotions of humans..."

Shen Huai'an finally reacted this time.

He laughed. He was amused.

"Of course, I won't accuse you of being cold-blooded. Human morality doesn't apply to aliens." Xiao Lin said dismissively, ending his remarks briefly: "However, your cold-bloodedness doesn't mean that humans are cold-blooded—don't worry, she is, after all, a member of GI. As the director, I can't just ignore it."

"Thank you very much, Director."

Shen Huai'an smiled politely: "We've been colleagues for over three years, and she's been quite considerate of me. I hope she's doing well too."

After a dull and unproductive negotiation, Xiao Lin finally brought up another matter. A major one.

"I've reviewed your plan. Theoretically, it's fine; the problem lies in practical implementation..."

Shen Huai'an looked at him silently. Xiao Lin's expression looked conflicted, so conflicted that he seemed unlike the always composed and steady Xiao Lin of the past.

He knew what Xiao Lin meant by what he said next. However, humans are creatures that always lay the groundwork before doing anything.

So he doesn't need to rush.

“…Never mind.” But this time, he miscalculated. Xiao Lin hesitated for less than ten seconds before making a decision that could be described as risky, even rash:

"You have done enough for this matter. I will now personally take charge of the surgery."

In terms of experimental technique, if Shen Huai'an claims to be second in the Federation, no one would dare claim to be first. Moreover, Xiao Lin is quite old; personally leading an experiment lasting three hours demonstrates exceptional skill.

Shen Huai'an raised an eyebrow again.

"Fine," he said nonchalantly. "It's your decision. Is there anything else?"

"Then you should prepare for the exploration of the temple ruins in half a month."

Xiao Lin said kindly. Shen Huai'an raised his eyes slightly and asked in return, "And then?"

Then.

A month ago, Xiao Lin had made a "private agreement" with Shen Huai'an. The agreement was that as long as Shen Huai'an could help the GI Research Institute find the temple ruins and excavate all the "ancestral relics" in the ruins, he could continue to live freely on land as a human, no longer being regarded as an experimental subject, or even as a different species.

What an enticing bait!

So Shen Huai'an agreed immediately, very readily.

"Then, of course I will keep my word and give you your freedom. You can rest assured."

——————————

Where am I...?

Yunhe slowly opened her eyes and met a pair of blue eyes.

A pair of exceptionally beautiful blue eyes, as blue as the sky.

"You're awake, Researcher Yun?" The owner of the eyes—a very handsome young man (but a naked man, too uncivilized)—was currently supporting himself on either side of her. Yun felt her legs were extremely numb, as if something heavy was pressing down on them. What was it...?

It wasn't until she saw a huge fish tail, at least two and a half meters long, swinging towards her that she finally realized what this "person" in front of her really was.

"Holy crap!!!"

Startled, Yunhe instinctively tried to jump up. Unfortunately, her legs were terribly numb, and she couldn't even sit up for a while. The man—now called a "male mermaid"—easily pressed her back onto the "bed" with just one hand.

"What's the rush? Are you in such a hurry to become my partner?"

"Go to hell!" Although Yunhe didn't have the strength to stand up, his voice was still full of energy: "Where the hell did you come from, you dugong spirit, running around scaring people?!"

Dugongs, these seemingly clumsy and round sea mammals, were once believed by humans to be the true form of "mermaids." The mermaid was so enraged by her words that she almost blew smoke from her head. She immediately bared her teeth, and two sharp fangs flashed coldly in her mouth.

"You reckless human," he sneered, "If you dare move again, I'll rip your cute little head off!"

After saying that, he opened his mouth and bit down on her neck without warning!

The bite was so forceful and brutal that Yunhe instantly felt as if her carotid artery had been bitten through, and the foul smell of blood immediately filled her nose. She was about to scream when her mouth was immediately covered.

"Don't make a sound," the mermaid said coldly. "Human screams are annoying."

——————————

Two days have passed.

Perhaps someone has already secretly reported it to the police—at least three people, as far as Shen Huai'an knows, have done so—but so far, there has been no news.

Seven days later, everyone in the office had lost hope. Aiqiqi seemed to have secretly contacted the police a few more times, but the police only said they were still investigating and then hung up; then that afternoon, Aiqiqi was disciplined—

The reason is simple: it was a blatant violation of regulations, involving contacting external units without informing the immediate supervisor.

How easy is it for a person to "disappear completely"? So easy that with just the punishment of Ai Qiqi, everyone seemed to have forgotten that there was once a researcher named Yun He at the GI Research Institute; it was as if she had never existed in this world.

That's human nature.

This is the civilization that humankind has built.

Of course, after that, the attitudes of all the researchers in the gene-editing team, including ELsa and Aiqiqi, towards him seemed to change considerably. They seemed to become indifferent, or perhaps they were afraid.

Shen Huai'an could completely understand why they acted this way.

Because that's what human beings are like.

As he finished get off work, he finally completed the last part of the report, leaned back in his chair, stretched, and glanced at the surveillance camera pointing directly at him.

"Have you seen enough?" He smiled slightly. He knew that Xiao Lin on the other end of the monitor could hear what he was saying.

After that, he ignored it and got up to get his coffee. The coffee machine was one of the few blind spots in the surveillance system. He slowly adjusted the coffee flavor while placing his hand on his chest.

Xiaoyun.

——————————

"Xiaoyun".

Yunhe was grimacing at the raw fish and crabs in front of him when he suddenly heard a familiar voice echo in his heart.

It's Shen Huai'an! My God, his telepathic ability is still so effective?!

I have limited time, so please listen to me.

You have a GI bio-tracking chip implanted in your body, so Xiao Lin knows your location. But they want to use you to investigate the Golden Scale's lair and, incidentally, probe my background.

Your situation is safe for now, but do not provoke any of the golden scales. They regard humans as inferior beings and could endanger your life at any time.

Don't be afraid, Xiaoyun.

His voice grew increasingly gentle, a gentleness ingrained in his very being through centuries of deliberate imitation.

Wait for me for four more days, and I will save you. Until then, please take good care of yourself.

—The transmission abruptly ended there.

Sink Huai'an! Sink Huai'an...

Yunhe unconsciously clenched her fists. She tried to hold back the urge to cry, but in the end, the tears still flowed uncontrollably.