Chapter 29 The Little Mermaid
Yu Li followed Bai Chuan to a closed research institute in the Free Alliance area.
After waiting for Bai Chuan to sign, Yu Li followed the staff through three heavy explosion-proof doors.
The air becomes thicker with each deeper level.
When the last gate was unlocked, a special smell mixed with the salty smell of sea water and the cold smell of metal instantly hit us.
This is the smell carried by deep-sea species, very similar to the scent he smelled on Qi Sheng.
Enter the elevator.
The elevator descended so quickly that Yu Li's eardrums buzzed.
He subconsciously grabbed the handrail, his knuckles turning white from the effort.
Bai Chuan stood beside Yu Li, the blue light of the holographic glasses outlining his sharp profile in the dim elevator.
"We're going somewhere."
Yu Li's voice was particularly clear in the enclosed space.
Bai Chuan raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "You'll know when you get there."
As he finished speaking, the elevator suddenly trembled and stopped, and Yu Li staggered forward a step.
The rusty fence gate slid open to both sides, and a strange wind mixed with the smell of motor oil, disinfectant and some kind of corruption blew in.
He saw the end of the corridor.
A rusty metal door stood before him, with thick cables wrapped around the door frame, like the tentacles of some mechanical creature.
Yu Li didn't dare to move forward.
He remembered that this place was very similar to the laboratory that had once locked him up.
"What's wrong? Qi Sheng is still waiting for you inside." Bai Chuan said.
"I don't want to go anymore..."
Bai Chuan turned to look at him, his eyes narrowed into a line behind the holographic glasses, "Don't you want to know what Qi Sheng wants to do by buying you?"
"..." Yu Li shook his head, "He rescued me..."
"Save you?"
Bai Chuan smiled and said to the staff, "Turn on the lights."
In an instant, the surroundings were filled with light.
Yu Li's pupils contracted, and the moment they adjusted to the light, he found himself standing in front of a huge curved glass.
On the other side of the glass, a red mermaid was imprisoned.
His body was slender and pale, with only his tail being blood red.
The entire glass tank was filled with light red liquid, like diluted plasma, which was slowly eroding the mermaid's scales.
There were several transparent tubes inserted into his fish tail, and unknown liquid was flowing in the tubes, which looked like some kind of neurotoxin or a carrier of electric current.
The mermaid's gills expanded and contracted violently, and every breath was accompanied by painful spasms.
His lips trembled, but no sound came out, only a string of tiny bubbles escaped from the corners of his mouth.
Yu Li placed his palm against the glass, and the cold touch ran up his back along his fingertips.
The mermaid seemed to be looking at him with dilated pupils.
Yu Li wanted to save him, but he was powerless.
"If it's such an environment..."
Bai Chuan's voice was filled with sarcasm, "Do you think Qi Sheng will come? Or..."
He paused deliberately, "Will he make it in time?"
"Qi Sheng..." Yu Li then remembered that Bai Chuan said Qi Sheng was also here, but he didn't see him.
"Where is Qi Sheng? I want to see him."
"Instead of meeting him, you should first see what you were supposed to experience."
Suddenly, the robotic arm on top of the tank hummed and the electrodes dipped into the water.
“Sizzle——”
A dazzling blue light exploded, the liquid boiled instantly, the mermaid's back suddenly arched, her tail flapped wildly, and her scales peeled off in the electric current and scattered in the scarlet water.
A breath of almost collapse finally came out of the mermaid's throat, "Sylas vi!"
“Vaelis shonti…”
Yu Li anxiously pressed his entire body against the glass tank.
But he suddenly realized that the trapped mermaid seemed unable to hear the sound waves he made.
Bai Chuan had already walked to Yu Li's side, "Child, since Qi Sheng saved you, you should repay him and return to your hometown as soon as possible instead of causing trouble for him."
"If you were discovered by some profit-seeking organization, you would end up like him."
Bai Chuan spoke in a comforting tone, and continued, "You will be controlled by the Freedom Alliance, medical companies, marine research institutions...
Any organization that wants to master biotechnology would be very eager to obtain a living mermaid for research."
He turned to Yu Li, his eyes both compassionate and cold: "Your scales can be used to extract immortality genes, and your blood can be used for medical treatments... If you stay here, you will be disassembled into a specimen in the laboratory."
"How long can Qi Sheng protect you?"
Bai Chuan lowered his voice and poked the glass tank, "You will be like him, unable to even unlock your own neural locks, trapped in the experimental chamber and tortured to the point of being worse than death..."
Yu Li's eyes were moist and red, like coral soaked in sea water, but his clenched fists were shaking stubbornly.
"Qi Sheng wouldn't be like you guys."
His voice had the soft ending unique to mermaids, but every word was clear.
Bai Chuan frowned. He didn't expect that this little mermaid would dare to interrupt him?
Yu Li's fingertips unconsciously scratched tiny marks on the glass, even though he was clearly scared to death.
The ear fins were trembling slightly, but they still looked at each other with their wet eyes.
"You humans are pathetic."
His voice held the unique tremor of a deep-sea creature. "We've spent hundreds of years of civilization developing the most foolish research method."
Bai Chuan'an's expression froze slightly, and he frowned at the mermaid in front of him.
It seems that he thinks differently.
The lights in the laboratory suddenly flickered, making Yu Li's scales shine slightly.
He took a deep breath, trying to pull himself away from the horrific scene he had just seen.
Then he straightened his slender back and turned the pages of "Biosocial Research on Mermaid Populations" which he had finished reading last night in his mind. He had the ability to remember everything he read.
Those obscure and difficult professional terms now became his little weapons.
His voice was still soft and didn't seem to be aggressive at all.
He tried to raise his voice a little. "Mermares have a lifespan three times longer than yours and a reproductive capacity ten times greater than yours. Yet you choose to use this unsustainable research method of 'torturing mermen to death as living specimens'?"
He leaned close to the glass, staring at his dying fellow inside. "Do you know why your genetic engineering program hasn't made any breakthroughs in thirty years?"
The lights in the lab flickered suddenly, as if in response to his anger.
"Because you treat your life as disposable!"
"With every generation we reproduce, our genes evolve naturally. Rather than draining a mermaid dry, it's better to establish a breeding population. This is the more sustainable way of research."
"This is the content of 'Biosocial Studies of Merman Populations' written by your human biologists. Haven't you read it?"
Awkward.
Very embarrassing.
“…”
Only then did Bai Chuan realize that he had been taught a lesson by a mermaid.
"The book says: Only living mermaids can create infinite possibilities, while dead specimens will only make your technology forever remain at the level of anatomy."
The air seemed to suddenly stagnate.
This time, Bai Chuan was really thinking seriously about what Yu Li said.
In fact, he just wanted the little mermaid to give up and leave Qi Sheng.
Just now, he was worried that he might scare the little guy and let Qi Sheng know about it and have a big fight with him.
Now it seems that this seemingly weak little mermaid is actually stronger than he thought.
Seeing that he was silent, Yu Li continued, "You can't be a fool who kills the chicken to get the eggs. You must learn sustainable development, so..."
"Can you please let him go?"
Bai Chuan looked at Yu Li without saying anything.
He suddenly realized that Yu Li not only memorized the contents of "Biosocial Research on Mermaid Populations", but was also applying the negotiation skills of human society -
Demonstrate common interests first, then make psychological appeals.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of crazy banging on the door.
"Yu Li!! Are you in there? Open the door! Open the door now! Or I'll tear down this lousy place of yours!"
Yu Li wanted to send a message to Qi Sheng, but the message on his phone kept spinning around and around, and he couldn't send it...
Bai Chuan signaled the staff to open the door.
They quickly took the elevator back to where they came from.
Qi Sheng saw the little mermaid slowly sliding out of the elevator. He rushed over, his face full of worry, "Are you okay? Who brought you to a place like this?!"
Qi Sheng looked up and saw Bai Chuan, and was even more surprised, "Brother Bai, why are you here?"
Yu Li continued Qi Sheng's words, "I just ran into Brother Bo, he said he could have a physical examination here, so I came over for a physical examination."
"Why come to this shabby place for a physical examination? You must go to the best hospital!"
Qi Sheng looked Yu Li up and down nervously, "What did these idiots check on you? Did they touch you?..."
Bai Chuan raised his voice to remind: "Qi Sheng, please be careful about your identity outside."
"...I understand." Qi Sheng still listened to Bai Chuan's words and immediately said, "I'll pay attention next time."
Bai Chuan looked at Yu Li, but didn't continue what he wanted to say. He walked around them and headed towards the door.
"By the way, you haven't been home for a long time. Go back this weekend."
When Bai Chuan turned around, he saw Qi Sheng lifting up Yu Li's shirt and pulling it in public.
He could only remind her, "Bring your mermaid with you. Since you like her, show her off in front of your brother."
Qi Sheng took this to heart and said, "Thank you, Brother Bo!"
Turning around, Major General Qi hunched his waist and pressed himself against Yu Li, deliberately rubbing against him and saying, "Did you hear that? My brother asked me to take you home. Do you know what going home means?"
Yu Li shook his head.
mean……
I'm going to your house to negotiate with your brother Bo.
Before the elevator door opened, Bai Chuan stuffed a business card into his hand and said, "Your suggestion is very good. We can keep in touch at any time. As for this mermaid, I will arrange for him to live in a comfortable place. You don't have to worry."
…
Qi Sheng said excitedly: "It means you will meet your parents-in-law soon!"
"I was raised by my brother and sister-in-law. An elder brother is like a father, and an elder sister-in-law is like a mother. Do you understand?"
Yu Li was held by Qi Sheng's hand and walked out the door, "I don't understand, you mean...brother is equal to father, sister-in-law is equal to mother?"
"Yes, that's what I mean!"
"Then why don't you call your brother Dad? And your sister-in-law Mom?"
The two of them pretended to be calm and walked out of the research institute.
Qi Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just a metaphor, an analogy..."
Fortunately, the mermaid didn’t notice that there was another mermaid hidden inside, otherwise if he found out that I bought it, I really don’t know how to explain it.
"Yeah! I understand a little bit."
I hope my fellow tribesmen can hold on. Will Bai Chuan keep his promise?
However, I remember that soaking in the red solution didn't hurt, but it did erase my memories. Because now I can't even remember how to get back to the deep sea...
"Can I meet your family tomorrow?" Yu Li blinked and looked at Qi Sheng expectantly.
Qi Sheng appeared calm on the surface, but his heart felt as if he had fallen into boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius and was being boiled!
It was so hot that the hair on his body almost melted!
Today is Thursday, tomorrow is Friday, and the day after tomorrow is Saturday.
He couldn't even wait for a day!
I'm so anxious to meet my parents...
He simply—
Love me so much!
My precious mermaid must be thinking about how to give birth to a child for me right now!!
Otherwise? Try not wearing masks next time?
"By the way, Qi Sheng, did you pass the exam?"
Yu Li suddenly remembered Qi Sheng’s exam, looked up, and stopped him expectantly.
It's as if they are expecting a "role model" to be born.
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