Chapter 86 It's so good you're not dead

The mission to help the salmon mermaid tribe successfully reproduce has been completed, and the reward has been issued.

Should you choose to leave the beast world?

Yuanyuan looked at the cubs swimming among the rocks, then at the skeleton at the bottom of the water, and shook her head.

She crouched down and whispered to the mermaid babies, "I'll stay with you a little longer, and then I'll leave after you've gone."

The mermaid babies seemed to understand, swam around her once, and then swam towards the deeper waters.

Yuanyuan watched the cubs disappear into the distance, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and prepared to respond to the system and leave.

Just as she turned around, she caught a glimpse of a faint silver-red color moving slightly in a large, sunken crevice in the distance.

I'm not sure if I'm seeing things.

Without even taking off my shoes, I jumped into the water and ran quickly, almost tripping several times.

By the time she reached that area, her clothes were soaked.

The little figure peered into the crevice between the rocks.

She really is a mermaid.

A mermaid about the same height as him.

He was stuck deep in the crevice, with only his tail showing. His scales had fallen off, leaving only a blood-red patch.

Yuanyuan dug him out of the crevice. His tail twitched slightly, his chest rose and fell weakly, and he was clinging to life with only his last breath.

Yuanyuan then realized it was a fish.

"Fish? Fish?"

It's really hard to describe the feeling of losing something and then getting it back.

Yuanyuan held him tightly in her arms, warming him with her small body, her voice trembling with tears as she called his name over and over again.

"Fish, don't sleep! Wake up!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to watch the cubs grow up? If you don't open your eyes soon, they'll all be gone."

The fish seemed to hear his call, but only gave a weak groan without even opening its eyes.

Yuanyuan held his cold body, feeling as if her heart was breaking.

Having finally seen a glimmer of hope, she didn't want to face death and separation again.

"System! System! Please save him!"

"He's not dead yet, he's still breathing, please save him!"

【Yuanbao, mermaids' lives end after giving birth, which is their destiny. I cannot defy the laws of nature.】

"I don't believe it! You're so capable, you must have a way!"

[Yuanbao, don't cry. Our system can't interfere with the laws of nature either.]

Yuanyuan cried even harder, "Didn't you say the rewards for this mission were very generous?"

I don't want those rewards anymore. I'll give you all the rewards, just please save the fish, okay?

He was my first mermaid friend, he can't die!

She looked down at the fish in her arms; his breathing was growing weaker and weaker, and the rise and fall of his chest was almost invisible.

"System, please... save him!"

She wouldn't be so heartbroken if she hadn't seen him still breathing.

[A strong desire from the host has been detected, and the host's task completion rate is extremely high, triggering special privileges. All task rewards can be consumed to exchange for a "life extension" opportunity, reversing the mermaid's near-death state.]

"I knew you could do it."

The system paused before finishing its unspoken message: "[He will lose his mermaid reproductive ability and will no longer be able to return to the ocean; he must remain in freshwater for life. Confirm the exchange?]"

"Confirm redemption".

Yuanyuan agreed without hesitation. "Better to not be able to go back to the ocean than to die," she said.

Otherwise, she really couldn't accept it. She clearly wanted to help them continue their lineage, but she ended up killing them.

If she hadn't appeared, they might not have been able to come here to raise their offspring so quickly.

That way, they wouldn't all die here.

Even the witch died.

Their witch doctor never needed to reproduce or come to the freshwater area, but because of her, he came.

But they will remain here forever.

These past few days, she has often wondered if what she did this time was the right thing to do.

Should we not have brought them here instead of leaving the ocean?

If they hadn't left the ocean, they would at least still be alive.

...

A soft white light enveloped the fish's body.

Yuanyuan felt that the fish in her arms was not so stiff anymore. The rise and fall of his chest gradually returned to its previous frequency. His tightly closed eyes moved slightly, and a thin layer of new skin slowly grew from the places where his scales had fallen off.

Not long after, the white light dissipated.

Yu Na slowly opened his eyes, his dark eyes still filled with confusion. He looked at Yuan Yuan, who was holding him, and called out weakly.

"Yuanyuan?"

"Fish, you're awake?"

You're finally awake!

Yuanyuan burst into tears of joy, hugging him tightly as if he would disappear if she let go.

"Thank goodness, you're not dead, that's wonderful."

Yu Na blinked, looked at Yuan Yuan's red and swollen eyes, then looked at the skeletons around her and the empty cracks in the stone, and slowly remembered everything.

He weakly raised his arm and touched Yuanyuan's face, his voice weak, "I...I'm not dead?"

"No!"

Yuanyuan wiped away her tears and said with a smile, "You're still alive, and you'll keep living. You'll be able to see the babies born and watch them swim back to the sea."

Fish's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again. He moved his tail and found that he was much weaker than before, and his body's instincts had disappeared.

Even without Yuanyuan saying a word, he knew he couldn't go back to the sea.

"Fish, come with me? I can take you to many, many places."

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings, Yu Na shook her head and refused, "Yuanyuan, I can't leave."

His voice was weak, “This is my birthplace, this is my final resting place.”

He turned to look at the scattered white skeletons, his eyes filled with melancholy: "They're all left here. I want to stay with them."

Yuanyuan's heart sank. "But there's no food here, and not even any plankton around. What are you going to do?"

The rainy season will arrive soon, and it will be even harder to find food then.

"My body is still so weak; I simply can't stay here any longer."

Yu Na lowered her eyes and said in a very low voice, "I know."

“But I can no longer go back to the ocean; this is the only place I can call ‘home’.”

He paused, his voice choked with emotion, "Perhaps in my heart I can witness the birth of a new cub again."

"Without food, you won't survive this winter."

Not to mention seeing his clansmen again.

"If you leave with me, you can come back to see them later."

But if you stay here, you'll barely survive, let alone wait for them to return.

Yu Na remained silent, her gaze falling once more on the skeletons.

"Thank you, Yuanyuan, but I really don't want to leave."

He looked up at Yuanyuan, "You don't need to worry about me, I can find food myself, even if..."

Yuanyuan raised her voice a few decibels in her anxiety, "What are you looking for?"

There's absolutely no food here. Do you really think you can defeat the wild beasts in the forest?

Yu Na's body stiffened, and her eyes flickered, but were quickly replaced by determination.

"Yuanyuan, I'm sorry."

He said softly, "I know you mean well, but I really can't let go of this place."

“Your people would certainly prefer you to live, not to perish here with them,”