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Chapter 33: Being a Mermaid is Too Happy
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Kiramekineko
When Norman arrived at the military headquarters, he met Mu Chen downstairs and they walked into the military building together. Norman’s eyes swept over a long, thin cut on Mu Chen’s cheek, and his eyes flashed with surprise.
Mu Chen touched the wound and shrugged helplessly. “I wanted to try the effect of Little Silver’s food after he sang, but he was too wary and didn’t let me grab the fish. He was very angry, so I had to let him leave some scars to make him feel better.” He paused here and asked Norman, “How did you observe the utilization of An An’s spiritual power?”
“Better than expected.”
Mu Chen’s face flashed with joy, and thinking of Little Silver, asked the key point, “Is An An willing to give you the food that has transmitted spiritual power?”
“I got it all.”
“He’s too good!” Mu Chen looked envious, then his thoughts turned. “Ask An An if he can persuade Little Silver to share food with me.”
“Okay.”
Mu Chen hesitated for a moment and said, “If An An can do it,” he looked to Norman, “try to get An An in touch with the rest of the mermaids.”
Norman said, “I’ll talk to him and follow his wishes.”
Mu Chen nodded in favor. “Of course.”
An An’s ability was a surprise to them, and although An An was good and obedient, they couldn’t make An An do anything he didn’t want to. After all, it would be a great loss to them if An An became angry and stopped being friendly.
As soon as the elevator reached the floor and the doors opened, the two felt a strong sense of agitation, with the sound of yelling and fighting coming from the left. Norman’s face sank slightly and he walked out with a step.
“Let go of me!” A tall officer’s face was red, his eyes glowing with red blood, and two soldiers to his left and right grabbed his arms and held him firmly in place by the back of his shoulders.
“Major General,” Norman spoke without expression, “if I remember correctly, you should be in the second hospital right now.”
Jim, who was yelling, froze for a moment at the sound of his voice and looked over at him. Jim’s eyes flinched for a moment, and then his thoughts were quickly taken over by mania. “Your Majesty, I want to apply to return to the fifth district! I’m just a little short of merit to apply for a mermaid!”
Norman’s tone was cold and hard. “Back to District 5 to die?”
“I’m not going to die.” Jim shook his head and began to struggle violently again, his violent emotions hit his reason, the red blood in his eyes deepened. “Your Majesty, you give me a new soothing agent, just one! I’m really only a little short of a mermaid!”
Norman looked slightly moved, expressionlessly sizing him up.
Mu Chen wrinkled his eyebrows. “Who said there is a new type of soothing agent?”
Jim’s body leaned forward and was instantly controlled by the soldier. His eyes were wide and his expression was frantic. “I knew it! You don’t want to disclose it, you want to have it all to yourselves, don’t you?” He raised his voice and questioned, “Without the new nutrient, how could His Majesty have fought for so long in the fifth district!”
Mu Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say it was An An’s work, but Norman was still on the blacklist, so it was not good to explain this and did not speak.
The adjutant walked quickly to Norman’s side and asked, “Your Majesty, how should we deal with him?”
Norman took out a nutrient made of pure food and handed it to the adjutant. “Give him a drink.”
The adjutant was stunned, Drinking?
The next moment his eyes burst into a strong color: there really was a new type of soothing agent! He took the nutrient, his hand vaguely trembling, trying to control the excitement, worried that his hand would exert too much force, and the bottle would be broken.
Jim stared at the nutrient, his eyes full of desire.
Norman said lightly, “It is still in the test phase and can not be sent for mass production. The side effects are unknown, so it is up to you if you drink it or not.”
Jim’s face struggled, but finally could not resist the desire, nodded vigorously and, his voice hoarse, said, “I’ll drink it.”
He took it from the deputy’s hand and drank the entire nutrient.
Norman’s face was expressionless, his eyes fixed on Jim.
Jim was in a spiritual riot, and even the second hospital could not treat him. They could only wait for his spiritual downgrade and give him a sedative to soothe his rage. He had been thinking on the road, when was the best time to expose pure nutrients, and now it was exposed earlier than he expected, but the timing was good.
Since they all thought the research institute had developed a new soothing agent, he could use this rumor. He also wanted to see if the pure nutrients would have an effect on the spiritual riots of the Siao people.
Jim drank the nutrient. His emotions were very deep, and his spiritual sea was ready to explode. After drinking, it was like a flood of clear water ran through him and everything became quickly calm, as if he had been granted a new life. At the same time, his heart’s raging emotions also gradually dissipated, the blood in his eyes quickly receded, and his raging facial expression returned back to calm. His thoughts returned, and he first felt regret and guilt for his previous unreasonableness, and was shocked by the effect of the nutrient.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty,” Jim stumbled over his words and bowed his head in shame.
Norman’s face was serious, but his heart was a little surprised. The effect of the nutrient was beyond his expectation, and the treatment of spiritual riots was fast and effective.
The people around him were not as calm as he was. Their faces were hiding excitement, staring at the empty bottle in the deputy’s hand, like they were looking at a treasure.
Mu Chen was also surprised and happy; this kind of nutrient was too significant for the military department. There had been many amazing people in the military department, yet most of them fell midway before they could shine.
Almost all of them, because of the spiritual riots during battle, could not receive timely treatment, and eventually, their spiritual force downgraded from genius to mediocrity.
Some people were resilient and able to accept the truth, but there were also many who gave up on themselves.
Pure nutrients could be carried around and used at any time. With it, they won’t even have to worry about spiritual riots, and also could go to war more fearless, no longer afraid.
Norman withdrew his eyes from Jim’s body, thought for a moment, and ordered the adjutant, “Send him to the second hospital, test his spiritual sea condition, and issue a full report.” He paused for a moment, and his voice slightly deep, added, “Record his previous behavior and punish him according to military regulations.”
The adjutant nodded and arranged for the soldiers to take Jim away and send him to the second hospital.
Mu Chen asked in a whisper, “An An gave you the food he made?”
Norman nodded and headed to his office.
Mu Chen stood in place for a second and also went back to his office, secretly hoping that An An would persuade Little Silver to share the food with him.
Norman sat down and looked at his schedule first. As he was looking at it, a special beep sounded from his terminal. He immediately knew it was a message from the little mermaid and opened it to check.
After Norman left, An Jin ate his breakfast and saw that he had plenty of spiritual power left, so he used his ability to purify the remaining food. He estimated the spiritual power and thought he could ask Norman to prepare more food later.
It would be a waste of spiritual power if he didn’t use it anyway. He wanted to do what he could for Norman so that he could spend Norman’s money more openly. His blue tail wagged as he swam through the colorful passageway to the garden pool. He rested his hand on the shore, carefully observed the land where the seeds were planted, and seeing no impurities, he turned into the water and swam two laps leisurely.
At seven-thirty, he put on his helmet and entered the holographic world. He swept his vision, saw no Duran, and saw a stranger.
“Hello.” The man was elegant looking and greeted him in a gentle manner. “I am Arlo, the head of the holographic company. His Majesty said that you do not want to reveal your identity. I will also stay here while you handle the food in the future so as not to arouse the suspicion of others.”
An Jin greeted him politely. “Hello.”
Arlo was about to say something when the teenager suddenly disappeared, and he froze, Offline?
An Jin opened his terminal and sent a message to Norman: [Do you know Arlo?]
Norman quickly gave a reply: [He is the boss of the holographic company, he does not know your real identity, only your ability.]
Worried that the little mermaid was upset, Norman quickly sent another message: [He will not reveal your abilities and can be trusted.]
The reply was accompanied by a picture, an image of Arlo’s holographic world.
An Jin made sure Arlo wasn’t lying and replied with a cute smile: [I got it.]
He finished sending the message, put his helmet back on and went online. Arlo was still in the same place.
An Jin smiled shyly. “Sorry, I lost connection for a second.”
Arlo had talked to Duran before, and Duran was worried that the holographic company would hold his buddy responsible, and kept emphasizing that his buddy was young and his family was poor.
Arlo heard the “lost connection” explanation, and couldn’t help but believe Duran’s words a few more points. You know, in the interstellar era the network is very stable, you can’t lose connection! How far remotely did this kid live ah! He said, “Mr. An, if you have financial difficulties, you can withdraw your income. Of course, I am also willing to provide you with help.”
An Jin quickly waved his hand. “You misunderstand, I do not lack money.”
Arlo was skeptical, and he gently suggested, “Mr. An, I know a helmet with a very stable network, do you want me to recommend it?”
“No,” An Jin said, a little embarrassed, “just call me by my first name, no need for honorifics.”
Arlo said that this was not enough to show his respect, and finally changed his mind when An Jin insisted.
An Jin finished dealing with the food impurities, politely said goodbye to Arlo, and went offline.
Arlo silently sighed. Mr. An is so good-tempered, he doesn’t have the attitude of a high ranking person at all.
—
The news about the new soothing agent, as if it had wings, quickly spread in the military department, and the military department’s atmosphere was unprecedentedly warm. Norman held the end-of-month meeting in accordance with the tradition of the military department, and the eyes of the generals almost set him on fire.
After discussing various military matters, the generals exchanged glances.
In His Majesty Norman’s style, when things were done, the meeting would be adjourned and then he’d leave, so if they didn’t take the opportunity to say something, they were afraid His Majesty would leave.
The second corps chief could not resist. “Your Majesty, I heard that the new soothing agent is still in the testing stage,” he said with a straight face, “I want to apply to be an experimental subject. I will absolutely cooperate with the researcher’s work and report on the experience of taking it.” He spoke with a strong voice, “I am willing to sign a waiver of liability, and I will bear any adverse consequences.”
Cunning!
The rest of the army chiefs in the room inwardly despised him.
The news that Admiral Jim had taken a soothing agent and that his spiritual riots had improved within three minutes had long been spread throughout the military, and they had seen His Majesty’s recent state clearly.
The only way to get the soothing agent was to talk so righteously!
“I am also willing!”
“Don’t argue, let me do it!”
The meeting room suddenly became lively, and they all scrambled to be the “test subject”.
Norman raised his hand, and in an instant, everyone was quiet.
“The current production is very low, and there can not be mass production,” Norman said as he swept his eyes over everyone, “just talk about how to distribute.”
“Divided equally among the legions?”
“No, each legion has different quarters and different needs for soothing agents. It’s not fair, divide it by contribution!”
Each person had their own ideas, and eventually they voted to develop a nutrient distribution model.
Using military merit and spiritual sea state as the criteria, the technical department listed the most reasonable formula, and the resulting values were ranked from top to bottom: the person with the highest military merit and the worst spiritual sea state would have the priority of getting the nutrients.
The generals did not object to the small number of new soothing agents, and this was a very reasonable distribution.
Military merit consumed spiritual power, and those with high military merit had critical spiritual sea states and should rightfully have priority. Of course, also because their military merit could not compare to His Majesty’s, if they were close to spiritual riots, he would certainly be the first to get the soothing agent.
“Establish the application board as soon as possible in the military department intranet.” Norman’s tone was serious as he ordered, “Use a spiritual sea state audit mechanism, and if a false report is found, cancel the application.”
The relevant departments of the Ministry of the Army were busy at once.
Norman finished the meeting and went back to his office to deal with military affairs, and did not stop until noon. He took out an ordinary nutritional supplement, drank it, and got up to go to the training room.
On the way, a female officer walked past him, and he stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look at the female officer’s tied up hair, thinking, Wouldn’t the little mermaid’s hair feel less messy if it was tied up too?
“Your Majesty.” Mu Chen saw Norman, approached, noticed Norman’s gaze, followed it, and whispered, “You fancy her?”
Norman said seriously, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Then don’t stare at her. It’s lunch break,” Mu Chen swept his eyes around, “others will misunderstand if they see it.”
Mu Chen said, still a little curious, “What were you looking at?”
“Her hair,” replied Norman.
“Huh?” Mu Chen wondered.
“An An feels that his hair is messy and wants to cut it.”
Mu Chen sighed, and his tone could not hide his envy. “You don’t even take him to take care of his hair, and he is still so close to you. Your old mermaid’s on edge, probably just waiting for him to appear.”
Norman looked slightly moved, inexplicably pleased by this statement.
Mu Chen pointed in the direction of the training ground, his eyes leaping to his original intention. “A mecha sparring session?”
The older you get, the worse your spiritual sea state gets, and it’s been a long time since they’ve had a mecha sparring session.
“You seem to have a lot of spiritual energy.”
“Yes,” Mu Chen smiled, “although I could not grab Little Silver’s food, he sings to food every day. I stand next to him, and my spiritual power has also increased, so my spiritual sea state is very good. “
The two went into the training ground and fought soundly, and after a quarter of an hour, ended the fight.
Mu Chen jumped off the mecha and smiled. “Thanks for your mercy, otherwise I would have lost badly.” His eyes fell on Norman’s black mecha Wolf, his eyes expectant. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had SSS mode on, hasn’t it? Do you want to fight in SSS mode while you have enough spiritual power?”
Norman’s eyes moved slightly and he shook his head. “There is no need to waste spiritual power.”
“You are too relentless!”
He didn’t force himself, after all, he couldn’t even beat the SS mode Skywolf.
The two then separated to train separately. Norman was practicing when his communicator rang. He scanned with his eyes and saw that it was the director of the Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and also the director of the second institute, Hans, calling.
He was not surprised. He stopped his training and picked up, and said respectfully, “Mr. Hans.”
Hans was in his seventies, an advanced age in the Siao, and few people were still working at that age. However, Hans had always kept his job, and he had participated in the development of almost all the soothing agents currently on the market. At the same time, he was also Hornád’s teacher.
“Your Majesty!” said Second Dean Hans in a low voice, “Can you explain to me when I developed a new soothing agent? How come I don’t know it myself?”
“Mr. Hans, have you read Jim’s spiritual sea diagnosis report?”
“Of course,” Hans intoned, realizing he was now questioning, cleared his throat and whispered, “you should probably explain that to me.”
He had spent a long time comparing Jim’s spiritual sea data to make sure that the “new soothing agent” Jim had described was indeed working well before contacting Norman.
“If you have time, we can meet in person.”
“I’ll be at the War Office in a minute,” replied Hans.
Ten minutes later, Norman met in his office with Hans, the director of the Second Academy, who, from his appearance alone, was no more than fifty years old.
Norman didn’t wait for Hans to question him and took out a nutrient. “Mr. Hans, this is the new soothing agent. The provider doesn’t want to reveal his identity, and it makes the most sense to claim to the public that it was developed by the research institute.”
Hans took the nutrient, opened it and smelled it, and his eyes lit up. “Pure nutrient, no alpha material.”
“Yes, you are very professional. This is indeed a nutrient, and there are no impurities.”
Hans put the cap on the nutrient bottle. “The term impurities is indeed more relevant than alpha substances.” He stared at Norman and asked, “Your Majesty, can you refer me to the provider?”
His life’s work has been devoted to the study of soothing agents, and he looked at Norman with extra expectation.
Norman shook his head. “He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself.”
Hans looked disappointed. “I wonder what he calls himself?”
Norman mused, the word An was too easy to associate with, and said, “Mr. A.”
Hans looked at the nutrient in his hand. “Then let’s call it the A soothing agent.” He thought of something, and his gaze was a beast. “He was the one who was making the grilled meat in the holographic world, and it was not an effect caused by a bug?”
Norman nodded. “Yes.”
Hans breathed a little faster, easing his excitement. “It seems Mr. A does have the ability to make food with restored spiritual power.” He inquired, “Your Majesty, have you tried to recruit him?”
Norman’s mind recalled the little mermaid’s well-behaved appearance. A smile flashed in his eyes and quickly faded. “He is willing to provide pure food to the best of his ability, but not to let his existence be known.”
Hans pondered, “Maybe he has some concerns. His Majesty can try to persuade him.” He said cautiously, “Never press people with power: those who have the ability are of a very strange temperament. It is already rare that he is willing to help.”
Norman thought of the little mermaid’s good temper, and the corners of his mouth curved imperceptibly. He mentioned the business. “Mr. Hans, you choose a suitable time to announce the news of the new soothing agent, making sure to emphasize that it is not easy to make and difficult to mass-produce, and give priority to supplying the military department.”
Hans nodded. “If Mr. A changes his mind, be sure to introduce me first.” Norman agreed, and Hans had a flash of insight and asked, “Your Majesty, the food Mr. A provides, are there any impurities in the seeds?”
“No, the seeds have been sent to the Institute of Botany.”
Hans showed a smile. His tone full of longing, he said, “I hope they grow pure.” His hand holding the nutrient tightened. “His Majesty, this Type A nutrient, how about giving it to me for research?”
Norman nodded. It was originally for Hans to study.
Hans left the military ministry with a smile on his face and could not help but make the military ministry people suspect that His Majesty had allocated huge research funds to the research institute.
An hour later, the research institute announced the latest strong soothing agent, Type A soothing agent, and all of a sudden, the internet was full of discussions about Agent A. Many people felt that the name was too arbitrary. Hans coldly grunted when he saw it, it was a supreme tribute to Mr. A!
—
At six o’clock in the evening, Norman walked into the mermaid room and saw the little mermaid floating in the water, looking intently at the terminal virtual screen, with a thoughtful face. An Jin heard the movement and looked over. His eyes lit up instantly, his tail wagged deftly, and he quickly swam to the shore and tilted his head to look at Norman. He pointed to the food on the shore. “I’ve made them all delicious! You can have it all.”
After a pause, he raised his hand, thumbnail against the ring finger, then a small nail tip, and said, “Just leave me a little bit of dinner.”
Norman thought he was so cute that he squatted down and rubbed the top of the little mermaid’s head. “Choose what you like to eat, and then I will make a nutrient out of the rest.”
An Jin said with a look of anticipation, “I want to grill it, can I?” His tail wagged, he turned around lightly, his back next to the pool bank, the same direction as Norman, and then raised his wrist to Norman.
Norman’s eyes swept over the various grills on the screen, then looked at the little mermaid.
The little mermaid’s face was small, and his ears were white, delicate and small.
An Jin pointed to the two grills at the top. “Which one do you think is better?”
Norman understood why the little mermaid was torn before. “No need to buy.” He put his hand on the back of the little mermaid’s shoulder. “I’ll show you the kitchen.”
An Jin turned sideways and looked up at him. “I’ve been there during the day and there’s only one machine in there.”
He had spent a lot of time during the day reading, exercising his water skills, and taking a break to drive the mobility scooter around the first floor.
Norman explained, “A shipment of kitchen utensils just came in.”
An Jin, with joy in his eyes, lifted his hand and obediently allowed Norman to pick him up.
When he tilted his head, his eyes swept over the mobility scooter. He froze, and in case his nails hurt Norman, he carefully touched Norman’s arm with his fingertips. “I’ll drive the mobility scooter.”
Norman was slightly stunned, he hadn’t thought about the mobility scooter, he just wanted to carry the little mermaid to the kitchen out of habit.
An Jin was also a little embarrassed, he seemed to be used to being carried by Norman, if not for the mobility scooter, he was afraid he would not have remembered—he can move on land.
Norman gently put the little mermaid into the mobility scooter, and the little mermaid’s clear, soft voice rang out, “Turn on.”
An Jin started the scooter and looked at Norman. His eyes fell on his slightly wet clothes. “Do you want to change your clothes?”
“It’s okay, it’ll dry soon. Let’s go.”
An Jin instructed the mobility scooter, “Go to the kitchen.”
Once the mobility scooter was in action, it continued to move at a rate of one meter per second.
An Jin had studied it and knew how to adjust the speed, but since he was indoors, he didn’t change it and kept the speed Norman had set. Norman walked quickly, the two people side by side, and An Jin had the illusion of two people walking side by side. This made him inexplicably happy, and he turned his head to look at Norman.
Norman thought that the little Mermaid was excited to be able to use the kitchen, and thought to himself that the little Mermaid was so easily satisfied. Soon, the two arrived at the large, clean kitchen.
An Jin was surprised to see that the kitchen, which had been empty during the day, was now a very different place, very alive.
Electric rice cooker, frying pan, soup pot, oven, barbecue grill, hot pot pot…almost all the kitchen appliances. Of course, these things and modern differences, he could recognize since, when he was looking up to buy a barbecue grill, he was shopping through the kitchen supplies mall.
In addition to the appliances, the cooking table knife rack, with a variety of knives, through the transparent glass door of the cupboard, he could see many different shapes of plates and bowls, as well as a variety of spoons, chopsticks.
What surprised An Jin most was the strange robot at the door.
The robot was medium-sized, with silver skin, black eyes, and a white apron with a word written on it: “chef”.
An Jin turned his head to look at Norman. “He can cook?”
Norman nodded. “It was finished two days ago already, but the recipes have not finished being collected. Once the recipes have been updated, I will give it an upgrade.” As he spoke, he opened the terminal and the virtual screen popped up, full of finished pictures of various dishes.
An Jin’s eyes lit up, and his head unconsciously stretched over and came closer.
Norman then moved a small half-step in the direction of the small mermaid to close the distance between the two. “What do you want to eat tonight? After you choose, it will buy the necessary ingredients according to the recipe, and then make the finished product.”
An Jin was slightly flabbergasted and looked at Norman with surprise.
In other words, he could not only eat food in the future, but also not have to make it himself.
This was also great!
In this world, being a mermaid was too great!