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Chapter 052: “Sometimes, I find that humans are scarier than Pollutants.”
This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Kikiji, and proofread by Kris Xian.
Fish scales growing directly out of the flesh couldn’t possibly be faked.
Lu Yan’s face was also persuasive enough.
Xu Guanyue’s eyes were suddenly filled with pity. “Then you’re even worse off than I am.”
“For many years, Boss has always wanted a real, evolved Mermaid.”
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“The current Mermaids in the Mermaid Clubhouse are actually transformed from Ostae injected with Mermaid genes…” Xu Guanyue said. “I don’t know what you’ve seen in the brochure, but real Mermaids don’t have genital atriums, only a complete fishtail. Because they’re Pollutants, they don’t need to excrete and even the cloacas1 have degraded. Those genital atriums, like those “Mermaids” have, are artificial.”
The boss was a mad pervert. He enjoyed calling in strong, handsome Mermaids just to pull out their scales.
Xu Guanyue had been working in the Mermaid Clubhouse for more than 30 years. The scales on his body had already been broken and grown back, grown back and then broken. He had witnessed many secrets known only to insiders.
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“Mbl alypsd qsa nbsspkdt y tsse-zssjkdt bwxyd yp y alplahl Ylaxyke kp clnywpl vbl cspp vbkdjp vbyv y rlaqlnv pjkd oswze cakdt sdl nzspla vs ‘Qse.’ Rv oswze rascyczu xyjl kv lypkla vs clnsxl y alyz Ylaxyke vss.”
“Tl clzklhlp vbyv alyz Ylaxykep yal kxxsavyz yde rspplpp talyv rsola,” Dw Qwyduwl pyke pzsozu. “Jyple sd vbl cspp’p sod osaep, bl ldnswdvlale y pbkroalnj kd vbl rypv yde oyp alpnwle cu y tszeld Ylaxyke. Gqvlaoyaep, vbl cspp wple bkp ldvkal dlv osavb vs srld Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl, obknb byp clld elhlzsrle wr vs vbkp eyu. Tl pyke vbyv bl’p oykvkdt qsa vbyv tszeld Ylaxyke vs pokx cynj.”
Xq nswapl, xydu rlsrzl vbswtbv vbyv vbkp oyp y pvsau nalyvle cu vbl cspp vs pnyx rlsrzl’p xsdlu.
“Lsoyeyup, vbl plzlnvle Ylaxykep yal yzz bwxyd. Ylaxyke tldlp yal plnalvzu yeele vs vbl oyvla pswanlp vblu wpl altwzyazu. Ju vbl 15vb eyu, vbl Ylaxyke tldlp nsxrzlvlzu vyjl shla. 20 alplahl Ylaxykep okzz cl zsnjle wr kd yd yiwyakwx yde ywnvksdle sqq cyple sd vbl nszsa sq vbl pnyzlp vblu taso swv. Mbl cspp bkxplzq yzps ryavknkryvlp kd vbl ywnvksd…. Mbl alplahl Ylaxykep yzz lhldvwyzzu eltldlayvl kdvs alyz Ylaxykep.”
“Mblpl Ylaxykep, lhld vbswtb vblu’al Vszzwvydvp, nyd sqvld cl psze qsa pju-bktb raknlp, clnywpl vblu’al clywvkqwz clusde clzklq.”
[Kwpv y cwdnb sq qykzle ekpvsavle pwcflnvp,] vbl Fupvlx pdllale. [Vlaqlnv lhszwvksd nyddsv cl vbyv pkxrzu scvykdle.]
Mblal oyp ds pwahlkzzydnl kd vbl oyvlap.
Dw Qwyduwl pyke vbyv bl oyp tskdt vs vbl clynb vs qlle vbl Ylaxykep.
At night, when the boss was asleep, his control over the Mermaids weakens, so it’s easy for the Mermaids to attack people. After the death of several breeders, the job of feeding the Mermaids every day fell on him and a few other mutinous Ostae.
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The Mermaids’ feed came from Slaughterhouse and consisted of minced human flesh mixed with something else.
The Slaughterhouse sold meat countless every day, yet it’s unknown where they manage to get their hands on so much raw material.
“The boss himself is only an Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold of around 3,000,” Xu Guanyue said. “Therefore, he rarely leaves the 7th floor.”
“These Mermaid Pollutants, why do they obey the boss?” Lu Yan couldn’t help but ask.
Xu Guanyue shook his head, “I don’t know.”
The System laughed, [Oh, I know, because the Mermaid gene is extracted from the boss’ own body.]
According to what the System said, Mermaid Island was a relatively closed-off space — the people inside could not get out, and the people outside, often, could not come in.
Phones had no signal. There were surveillance cameras everywhere outside. The boss was staying on the 7th floor and never leaves. The security team was made up of Enlighteneds, and on the side, he’s also raised a group of obedient Mermaids.
He needed to think of a way to kill the boss and those guards.
Lu Yan did not know how to navigate the sea. He followed Xu Guanyue to the bay where the Mermaids were resting. Dozens of Mermaids were there, sleeping on their backs at the surface of the water like sea otters.
After smelling blood on the wind, the Mermaids opened their eyes one after another, and let out a howl in a manner completely different from their behavior during the day. They were similar to wild beasts.
No matter how beautiful they were, they were just low-level Pollutants without rationality in the end.
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“Be careful, don’t get too close,” Xu Guanyue said to Lu Yan. After a while, he still felt worried and asked him to hide behind the reef.
He threw the feed into the sea and the Mermaids opened their mouths, digging in greedily.
The blood squeezed out of the feed overflowed through the gaps of their slender, white fingers.
[For Pollutants, eating humans is their instinct,] the System said. [It is as normal as a human having meals.]
“Humans die if they don’t eat. Is that the case for Pollutants?” Lu Yan said, “High-level Pollutants can retain their human sanity. If Tang Xun’an’s mutation degree exceeds 100, will he soberly eat humans?”
[In my opinion, yes. Pollutants won’t die if they don’t eat, but their strength will surely decrease. Furthermore, hunger…. How can it be so easily endured?]
[But why are you suddenly curious about this?]
Lu Yan still hadn’t figured out how to answer the System’s question before the sudden beam of a flashlight put him on guard.
He dove below the sea.
Two security guards held up their flashlights and passed by him carelessly, never realizing that there was actually someone there.
“It’s been a day, right, Newbie? Gege will bring you to find two Mermaids and have some fun.”
“Ge, they’re all Pollutants you know….”
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“What are you afraid of? These Pollutants only have a pollution value of four or five hundred, and you, a guy with a spiritual power threshold of more than a thousand, are still afraid? Did you really commit a crime before being rejected by the SpecOps Division? You got no courage at all.”
“I… I was arrested for molestation before. It left a criminal record,” the security guard said. “Damn, the person who reported me to the Ministry for audit must’ve been a stinkin’ woman — it’s not even rape. I was just in the subway and touched a few times.”
Lu Yan swam beneath the surface, following close behind the two of them.
When the two security guards saw Xu Guanyue, they were not afraid. They greeted him cheerfully and picked a blue-tailed female Mermaid.
They dragged the Mermaid to the neighboring woods. One was in charge of holding down the Mermaid and the other was in charge of unbuttoning his pants.
Lu Yan came out this time without a knife.
Fortunately, after several evolutions, his physical strength was much higher than that of the Enlighteneds of the same level. Not to mention that during the Headquarters Training Center’s combat class, Lu Yan had learned many skills that didn’t require a knife to kill someone.
The two security guards didn’t even have a chance to make a noise before Lu Yan twisted their necks.
The blue-tailed Mermaid was freed from her restraints, yet she did not attack the only living person still present.
She looked at Lu Yan with her limpid blue eyes and quickly bursted into tears. Her tears fell to the ground and turned into pearls.
As if she was trying to vent all of her anger, the Mermaid let out a cry of grief, lunged at the bodies of the two security guards, and ferociously tore at them with her teeth.
The faces of the two security guards were quickly bitten into a bloody mess.
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Not only was Lu Yan not afraid, but on the contrary, he even found this blue-tailed Mermaid’s bloody face quite beautiful.
The Mermaid dragged the two corpses back to the bay. From beginning to end, she never attacked Lu Yan.
Lu Yan said to the System, “Sometimes, I find that humans are scarier than Pollutants.”
In the Western Sea, a frigate was sailing across the vast ocean surface.
The sea breeze was blowing nicely today, and the sun was also very warm.
Bai Qiushi narrowed his eyes and watched the drones fly to and from the frigate overhead.
“Has the island still not been found?” he asked.
Behind him, the head of the Logistics Department Director of S City’s Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was covered in fine, cold sweat.
“At the time, Mr. Lu had reported to us that he was traveling to Mermaid Island. According to the tracking device, he eventually disappeared at the junction of the Ao Nan Archipelago and the high seas.”
“We obtained satellite images and expanded the search area,” the Director continued. “We’ve sent people to the nearby islands by helicopter to search for him, and even now we still haven’t found any traces of Mr. Lu.”
Bai Qiushi’s brows furrowed in displeasure.
His household registration was located in S City. After graduating from the Headquarters Training Center, he successfully joined the SpecOps Division of S city, area number 2. He’s worked there for many years, and now he’s the leader of the SpecOps Division’s 2nd Team.
Bai Qiushi was typically responsible for dealing with any pollution incidents that occurred in numbered areas that began with 2, and on occasion, he would be recruited by Headquarters to work in other places to solve pollution disease cases that were difficult to resolve locally.
For example, Bai Qiushi was also responsible for the pollution of parasitic fish in K City that took place before.
“What about the information regarding the Mermaid Clubhouse?”
The director took out the documents. “It has been sorted out. The Mermaid Clubhouse is a private club founded by wealthy foreign businessmen, registered in Ao Nan, and recruits tourists from the Mainland. It’s located on an island.”
“The entry fee is 1 million. In the business circle, membership in this clubhouse seems to be very popular…. Many bosses use it as favors.”
Bai Qiushi said, “So, what you mean is — a questionable clubhouse relating to pollution disease has been open in the Western Sea for 47 years. Every month, its ship departs from S City’s port, setting off right under our very noses. Moreover, we didn’t know what was going on at all? We don’t even have any real information on them?”
The director’s head dropped even lower in response.
Bai Qiushi patted the director’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Forget it. How can this be blamed on you? It’s all because those Pollutants are too strong. What’s more, this Mermaid Clubhouse is obviously completely isolated. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be unable to find it after searching for several days.”
“I heard that Director has invested in the stock market and made a lot of money recently. You’ve even bought a flat worth hundred of millions in the S city, which is really enviable. Didn’t your son lose his finger because he was gambling in Ao Nan a few years ago?”
“No, this is all due to my negligence….” For some reason, more cold sweat appeared on the director’s forehead.
On the morning of the 15th, when Lu Yan sent a message saying that he was going to the Mermaid Clubhouse, he had already noticed things were heading in a bad direction.
However, at that time, Lu Yan had already boarded the cruise to Mermaid Island.
The Director suppressed this news as much as possible and prayed every day that Lu Yan would come back smoothly after 15 days.
The boss had assured him that the returning tourists would have vague memories under the siren’s song, only remembering that they had a pleasant vacation on the island. After so many years of observation, the director found that this was indeed the case, and he had relaxed his highly-tensed heart.
Nevertheless, he didn’t expect that Bai Qiushi would come to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center merely a day after Lu Yan disappeared. Moreover, he had taken control of everyone and interrogated them, starting from the person-in-charge.
“I know this very clearly. As a director of the logistics department, you’ve always left things to luck, and you didn’t know exactly what you are dealing with. Nowadays, high-end clubhouses using a few Pollutants to add to the fun can almost be regarded as normal. And then, when the first person was killed, you already knew there was no way you could turn back anymore.”
“To be honest, if my colleagues in A City hadn’t asked me to come in order to check in on why Mr. Lu hasn’t returned any calls, I wouldn’t have even known that he’s not even in S City anymore.” In Bai Qiushi’s eyes, four silver eyeballs scurried around, strangely seductive.
A smile appeared on his face. “You better pray that Lu Yan is fine, otherwise, I would be extremely worried about your loved ones. Or did you think that sending your wife and son abroad would allow you to sit back and relax?”
“I won’t raise a hand against you. You’re an ordinary human and I possess power much greater than you. I will control my emotions and ensure my power does not reach beyond the law.” He was not very tall, so he stood on tiptoes and patted the director’s head. “But if you’ve turned into a Pollutant, there would be no issues right?”
The director’s knees weakened, and he knelt on the ship deck.
The author has something to say:
PS: Bai Qiushi is the A-class Enlightened who appeared in the Parasitic Fish Arc in K City, and the one sent by Headquarters for assistance. His abilities are Barrier, Elephantine Pressure, and Teleportation. 172cm in height, wearing 6cm height-enhancing shoes.
Proofreader’s Note
*looks away in embarassment*
Hehe, Happy New Year!