[Length of imprisonment: -1280]

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"Pulse stopped, pupils not reflecting light, send to the dissection room for autopsy, next."

The speaker coldly gave the order, while holding a pen in his hand to record the time of the mermaid's death, and checked the box for "pulse stopped, consent to autopsy".

Two researchers came over and carried away the three-meter-long, blue-scaled, dead mermaid. Less than five minutes later, another mermaid was brought in.

It is a rare golden tail.

The man glanced up at the golden-tailed mermaid, handed the record sheet to his assistant, put on gloves, used instruments to fix the mermaid's head, and began the examination, checking from head to tail, not even sparing the genital cavity.

The mermaid was tortured to the point of near death, devoid of even the emotions of hatred and resistance. She stared numbly at the medical light, awaiting death.

They took out a special needle and injected medicine into the mermaid.

The golden-tailed mermaid's expression gradually contorted, her fists clenched tightly, veins bulging, and the strength she exerted during her struggle was terrifying. Dr. Zhou pressed a button to the side, and a transparent isolation shield slowly rose, soon confining the mermaid to a small space.

Wait until he calms down.

Perhaps it would be an hour, or perhaps a day, when Dr. Zhou would have his students observe the data while he went to submit today's report to his superiors.

Upon reaching the pupil recognition area, Zhou Xiaohai aligned his eyes with it, and with a "beep," the fully automatic mechanical door opened, revealing a long white corridor. He quickened his pace and arrived at the director's office.

I didn't see anyone, so I put the documents on the table.

I heard hurried footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw a student in a white coat and mask running up to me, saying urgently:

"Dr. Zhou, Engineer Li and his team have caught a silver mermaid! You should go and take a look."

"What's there to get excited about? Silver mermaids are not uncommon in the institute."

The man crossed his arms and spoke with obvious impatience. He disliked having restless colleagues in the office, as it greatly affected his mood.

"No, Qin isn't here. You should go and see him. He can speak human language! And, and..."

Before I could finish speaking, all that was left was a blur.

Human language! There are actually mermaids who can speak human language!

Zhou Xiaohai, this research fanatic, wished he had eight legs to run to. He arrived at the observation room, used his pupils for recognition, and as the door opened, he saw columns of water filled with all sorts of mermaids.

Just caught, full of energy, constantly smashing the glass.

It is extremely aggressive towards humans.

After being captured for ten days, they stayed quietly in the water column. Some curled up into a ball, some blew bubbles, and some even smashed glass, but they were much weaker.

Captured for more than a month.

Most of their scales were gone, and their bodies were covered in wounds, some from needle marks and others from their own injuries. They were lifeless, only showing a little emotion when they saw humans.

The ferocity was gone from their faces; only deep fear remained.

Going into the inner room, they saw a silver mermaid. The mermaids they captured were usually three to four meters long. Zhou Xiaohai obtained the test data and found that this mermaid, including its tail fin, was only 1.90 meters long.

Short is one thing, but this is the first time Zhou Xiaohai has ever seen someone fat.

The female mermaid has a soft waist and a slender tail, and her face is a masterpiece sculpted by God.

Male mermaids are strong and robust, with prominent abdominal muscles and a more Western-looking face. They are wild creatures, and their eyes always have a strong sense of aggression, making them look very unapproachable.

This mermaid had golden curly hair, a chubby face, and unlike other mermaids whose pupils matched the color of their tails, his eyes were jet black.

With her head tilted to the side and her innocent and naive appearance, Zhou Xiaohai's heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked away. The mermaid's face and voice were extremely alluring to humans, and Zhou Xiaohai was always wary of her.

This little mermaid is so harmless, it makes you completely unsuspecting.

Once he got involved, he didn't dare to think about the consequences.

"Hello."

Everyone present gasped. Mermaids? There really are talking mermaids! Zhou Xiaohai steadied himself and went to look at the little mermaid. As he looked at her, his heart softened, and he unconsciously softened his voice when he asked her a question.

"You speak human language?"

(Can you speak human languages?)

Nan Yu: "..."

Upon arriving in this world, due to his mermaid genes, some of his memories were formatted. The system implanted a chip in his brain, enabling him to recognize a few simple Chinese characters.

All I know in English is "hello".

"You speak human language?"

Zhou Xiaohai repeated.

The little mermaid tilts her head: ?

Perhaps language is not universally understood, but body language can reveal a lot. Zhou Xiaohai guessed that he couldn't understand, so he switched to a few more languages. Little Mermaid: ?

The more I talked, the less hopeful it seemed.

Zhou Xiaohai hurriedly asked those present, "What did you hear him say?"

Engineer Li: "Hello, isn't that a language?"

Zhou Xiaohai: "..."

I'd say it's barely acceptable.

A little disappointed.

"Hungry."

He only made one sound, so everyone thought he was calling out. Mermaids often do this, so it's not surprising.

"Hungry."

Touch your belly and pat it.

"Hungry."

It wasn't until the third time that someone noticed, "Is he... saying he's hungry?"

The fervor that blazed in Zhou Xiaohai's eyes was like that of a gambler in a casino. "Quick, is there anything to eat? Are you really hungry?"

The research institute has prepared small fish, which are the mermaids' food.

There are also small biscuits (feed) for female mermaids; males generally don't eat them.

The researchers brought over a bucket of fish and used pliers to give it to the little mermaid. The little mermaid's hands were locked, so she could only open her mouth and say, "Ah—"

Everyone was very excited and fed the fish to the little guy.

His mouth looks small, but the fish disappears as soon as it enters his mouth; he doesn't even need to eat it bite by bite.

Not full, it couldn't move its hands much, but it could touch its belly. It patted its belly and made a sound, then opened its mouth again to eat the small fish.

He fed them about ten fish in a row. These were no small fish; each one weighed at least a pound. Li Gong's lips twitched slightly. No wonder they were so fat. They had eaten the whole bucket and were still opening their mouths.

"Okay, I believe we can learn more valuable things from this mermaid. Thank you for your hard work, Engineer Li."

The fishing team leader patted Zhou Xiaohai's arm. "It's up to you now. How many died today?"

Zhou Xiaohai: "Two."

Engineer Li: "Use it sparingly, salvaging one is no easy feat."

Zhou Xiaohai: "They are utterly useless."

Engineer Li sighed, shook his head, and prepared to leave. Just then, the mechanical door opened, and a tall figure entered. The man was wearing a white coat, had a cold and stern demeanor, and was very reserved. He rarely smiled, and everyone felt a strong sense of oppression as soon as he approached.

"Qin Suo".

"Qin Suo".

The visitor was Qin Ye, the head of the research institute.

"Hmm, I heard they caught a talking mermaid?"

Qin Ye was called to a meeting, but he rushed back before he even arrived. He had never seen a talking mermaid in the ten years he had spent at the research institute.

Even with training, the mermaids in the lab can't speak human language, if that were truly possible...