The Fallen Merman

Before sneaking into the safe room, Lu Yan checked all of the guest lounges to ensure that the alpha named Ru Cheng wasn’t present.

He needed to steal a magnetic stripe ID card for Bai Chunian and the others. 

Because the main venue had several separate rooms and spaces, the Danlisailles Palace manager would prepare magnetic stripe cards for the important guests. They would be able to visit the areas which weren’t open to the public, thanks to these special magnetic cards. The CEO of Fangcheng Organization, Ru Ruo, would have such an ID card. Since it was his son, Ru Cheng, who came in his place this time, his father should have given him the card.

The real Prince Shahivi was unable to attend due to illness, but the magnetic card had already been distributed; once the banquet concluded, the card would be deactivated.

However, if guests misplaced their cards, there were extra cards prepared in the safe room.

These extra magnetic cards were locked in the safe, and the security officer was sitting in front of a television, not far from the safe.

Lu Yan was holding his breath, straining to hear any movements from within the safe room. He pulled out a stolen phone from his pocket, put it down in front of the front door, and knocked on the door.

The phone had been stolen from the pocket of a visitor. His J1 ability, Cunning Rabbit’s Cave, can create a blackhole portal into any adjacent space. He merely had to make a black hole in the target’s pocket for the phone to slip out on its own, and he would only need to catch it.

The security officer heard the knocking. But as he opened the door, he just saw the phone on the ground. He paused at the door, knowing it had to belong to a guest who had mistakenly dropped it, and dialed the lost and found department for someone to come and recover it.

Lu Yan had already used Cunning Rabbit’s Cave to teleport to the level below during this short time. Then, from the ceiling of the room, he opened another portal into the safe. He obtained the card pass and quietly left. 

He leaned against the wall, clutching the magnetic ID card, quietly catching his breath. His chest heaved violently and his palms were drenched in cold sweat. This was Lu Yan’s first time doing something like this, and he was both excited and nervous.

The guests were all moving towards the main venue of the Danlisailles Palace, and Bai Chunian was pushing Rimbaud, strolling on the soft carpet.

As they passed a mirror in the corridor, Bai Chunian slowed down his pace, admiring the merman in the mirror out the corner of his eye.

Rimbaud’s lower body was covered by a camel-colored satin blanket. He was covered head to toe in gorgeous and intricate pieces of jewelry. The heavy jewels were causing Rimbaud’s neck to hurt. He raised his head impatiently, asking, “When can I…take these off? Why do I always…act as a disabled? Is it just because I don’t have feet?” 

Bai Chunian bent down, smiling faintly, “Ah, what did your highness say?” The thin silver chain in the breast pocket of his tuxedo jacket dangled gently in the air.

Rimbaud grabbed his collar, pulling him in front of his face, and repeated in a low voice, “I said…my tail…is being dried by this stupid blanket.”

“Sorry, your highness, it’s my mistake.” Bai Chunian slowly pushed him behind the square carved column, went to the front of the wheelchair, respectfully kneeled on one knee, and bent to lift the corner of the blanket. He uncapped the previously prepared bottle of mineral water, and poured it on Rimbaud’s fishtail.

Rimbaud held his head, his iris converging into a thin line. He looked down on him, his fishtail not cooperatively pushing over the bottle of water. “I don’t want to protect Yan Yi, what do I get out of it?” 

“What do you want out of it?” Bai Chunian patiently removed a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and cleaned up the water that had spilled from the bottle. His tone was gentle and obeying, but he was grasping the squirming fish tail in his palm, the tip of the tail exposed by almost four centimeters.

“The reason I came back this time, is to negotiate. To make Yan Yi give you to me.” Both of Rimbaud’s arms were on the armrest. He leaned down, and said, “I’m going to bring you back to the Caribbean to settle down.”

Bai Chunian lowered his head and tidied the inverted scales caused by the blanket. “I still have a lot of things that I haven’t finished.” The long white-gloved fingers folded the scales back piece by piece.

“How would you know if Yan Yi isn’t using you?” Rimbaud asked, raising his eyebrows. “You’re worried that it’ll be dangerous for you to leave the Alliance? You’ve seen it for yourself, I can keep you safe in the Caribbean. You don’t really need the organization’s protection.” 

Bai Chunian’s hands paused slightly.

Rimbaud looked at him, waiting for an answer.

His tail tip was suddenly wrapped in something wet and warm. A tingling sensation spread from the tip of his tail to the top of his head. Rimbaud’s grip on the armrest tightened, and he looked at Bai Chunian with wide eyes.

Bai Chunian had his tail in his mouth, the barbed tip of his tongue he had since birth twisted and scraped the slender tail. 

Rimbaud covered his mouth. Although mermaids are lustful and are kinky by nature, making that kind of sound when there are so many strangers around would be degrading to the reputation of the sea people, so he could only frown and endure.

Finally, the agitation from his tail tip subsided. Bai Chunian protruded his tongue. The delicate tail tip was twisted into a bow tie.

“Hmm, looks nice. I practiced a lot of times with the headphone cable.” Bai Chunian supported the bow tied tail in his palms and used the white handkerchief to wipe it clean. He raised his eyelids and asked honestly and innocently, “What were you saying just now?”

“Nothing.” Rimbaud turned away from him, his mouth still covered. When he raised his tail to see the cute bow tie, he felt suffocated by the desire to be enraged but lacked the ability to be so. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Due to the particularity of the guests today, everyone would need to go through a strict and thorough check before the guards would let anyone into the venue. Bai Chunian pushed Rimbaud to the security gate, observing the situation behind him using Rimbaud’s reflective hair accessories.

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Remaking the card would almost certainly necessitate him re-establishing his identity. “It’s in the handbag,” Bai Chunian said respectfully with a bow. 

The guard found the ID card that was under the handbag and handed it over to Rimbaud with both hands.

Rimbaud took the card and handed it to Bai Chunian with the card between two fingertips, and casually commented, “Nowa noliya bigi. (At least this human being knows a little bit of etiquette)”

Bai Chunian put the card into his jacket pocket and pushed Rimbaud into the main venue.

This place was more spacious and luxurious than you could imagine. The bright illuminating lights made the entire area shine brilliantly. Desserts and red wine were served on a long European-style table. An intricate 10-layered cake was seated next to the long table, decorated by fondant masters with snow-white swans and roses. 

Alphas and omegas who could be recognized as an upper class with one glaze were smiling faintly with goblets in their hands, walking slowly between the crystal display stands that held top-notch jewelry.

Occasionally, several prominent merchants and nobles would strike up a conversation with them. Rimbaud would naturally say some nonsense in merfolk language, forcing Bai Chunian to deal with these greetings. Fortunately, he learned a lot about business from Uncle Jin; whether it was the economic, financial, or international situation, he could talk about each a little, but he still had to go under the table to look through the Youdao dictionary on occasion. His performance as a royal deacon was also excellent.

But when they mentioned the death of a high-ranking boss, Bai Chunian had no idea. He also didn’t know this powerful-sounding boss, so he didn’t know what to say. He could only go with the flow and quickly glance over the topic.

An alpha in a pinstriped shirt passed by, holding his omega and walking towards the Diamond Exhibit. Bai Chunian recognized him as Ru Cheng. When he pushed Rimbaud and inadvertently passed by Ru Cheng, Ru Cheng vigilantly protected the handbag in the omega’s hand. 

Bai Chunian, “The object is still in the handbag, they went towards the Diamond Exhibit.”

Bi Lanxing’s voice came from the communicator. “I’m in position, Chu-ge, what’s your position?”

Bai Chunian replied in a low voice, ”I’m close to the half swan fondant cake.”

? Half? 

Bai Chunian glanced at Rimbaud. He was gazing sadly out the floor-to-ceiling window, his left cheek bulging and wriggling, obviously chewing on something.

Han Xingqian was sitting in the monitoring room, the two security officers were knocked out and tied up in the lockers.

He was maneuvering the security footage, searching the entire place, and finally found traces of Ru Cheng near the Diamond Exhibit. Eight sets of diamond jewelry worth tens of millions were displayed in the Diamond Exhibit, but it was obvious that Ru Cheng’s mind was not on the jewelry at all, instead, he hurriedly walked through the corridor with his omega’s handbag.

The Maple Leaf Tea Room was one of those that required a magnetic stripe ID card to enter. There was hardly anyone in there because the dinner was about to begin. 

Han Xingqian, “He is bringing the ‘sunflower’ catalyst to the Maple Leaf Tea Room.”

“Copy that.” Bai Chunian slowly pushed Rimbaud, also heading toward the Diamond Exhibit. He ordered in an undertone, “Lanxing, mark both of the paths from Maple Leaf Tea Room to the inside and outside of the venue, and see which route he chooses to take.”

Black vines sprouted from all ten fingers of Bi Lanxing’s hands and wrapped around his body. He’d become one with the plants outside Danlisailles Palace’s walls, and not even the searchlights could find him. His vines were very pervasive. The tiny branches and leaves burrowed into the corridor, these vines would be able to sense even the slightest breeze of wind, and pass on the information to Bi Lanxing.

Bai Chunian and Rimbaud reached the Diamond Exhibit. At this point, Ru Cheng had already come out of the Maple Leaf Tea Room, still clutching that handbag. 

Bai Chunian, “Begin to take action.”

Bi Lanxing’s black vines crawled into the Maple Leaf Tea Room’s door lock. An alpha dressed as a cleaner walked to the Maple Tea Room’s door with a bucket and a rag, as seen on the security monitor. He scanned the card, but the door did not open because the door lock was stuck by the vines.

Lu Yan had already crept into the Maple Leaf Tea Room from the adjacent room after the door was stuck. He was frantically searching the tea room, his forehead breaking into a cold sweat. Finally, he found the ‘sunflower’ catalyst Ru Cheng had hidden in a hot water dispenser. It was an orange powder that came in a glass bottle with an opaque coating on the outside.

Lu Yan was kneeling on the ground, his gloves on. He set the two bottles from the hot water dispenser on the ground before pulling out a row of yellow-red pigment blocks. Grinding down a similar amount of powder with the mini noiseless grinder, he mixed together amounts of the pigment to match the color of the catalyst powder, and then poured it into the previously prepared glass bottles. 

Han Xingqian stared at the monitor and rushed in a low tone, ”Slow rabbit, move faster.”

The alpha outside was getting impatient. He hit the door hard, asking loudly whether there were any people inside, and whether the door was locked from the inside.

“This color is extremely difficult to blend…” Lu Yan’s hand was trembling constantly as he continuously checked the color of the pigment with the two bottles of sunflower catalyst. He replaced the real bottles of catalyst with the fake ones after ensuring the color matched, putting them into the hot water dispenser and then bent over as he cleaned the pigment powder that was left on the floor with tissue.

The cleaner alpha outside the door tried scanning the card again, and Bi Lanxing had to let go of the vines that held the lock. When the alpha opened the door and went inside, there was no one in the room. 

The alpha pulled down the brim of his hat, carrying a bucket, and pretended to clean. He opened the hot water dispenser and took out the glass bottles from inside. He uncapped them and glanced inside, then immediately poured them into the sticky bomb that was in the bucket.

The security cameras could not see what was happening in the Maple Tea Room, so Han Xingqian could only use the time that passed to calculate the actions of the person.

Bai Chunian had his eyes on Ru Cheng who was leaving. Ru Cheng looked like he was in a hurry, obviously not having any intention to stay at the venue, looking like he wanted to leave this place.

“Xiao Xun, don’t let Ru Cheng leave.” 

“Yes.”

Xiao Xun lay on the roof of the high tower outside of the Danlisailles Palace, unmoving. A shadow had just come into his field of vision.

“The President is here.” Xiao Xun temporarily shifted the protection target onto Yan Yi, “There is no abnormality.”

A faint odor wafted into the air. Xiao Xun’s sense of smell was also very sensitive, but after he sniffed carefully, the odor disappeared again. 

The greyhound’s gland’s hunting instinct caused him to feel heightened vigilance. He warned everyone, “I think there is something around here, I’m not sure yet, just be careful.”

Bai Chunian said, “It could be Ru Cheng’s ally, I don’t sense anybody, they are probably closer to you. Be careful.”

“Rimbaud, you watch the situation in the venue, I’ll go meet the President.”

“En.” Rimbaud replied lazily. He raised his bowtie tail, admiring it. 

Rimbaud got off the wheelchair, shook off all of the pieces of jewelry on his body, used electromagnetic adhesion to get on the ceiling, and crawled toward the main venue.

Bai Chunian jumped out of a window.

Bai Chunian climbed in through the lounge window as Yan Yi had just taken off his jacket. When Yan Yi turned and saw him, he slowly placed the jacket on the clothes hanger and went to pour two cups of hot tea.

Bai Chunian stood up straight, and reported in a light voice, “Boss, I received news that the Red-Throated Bird would launch an attack on Danlisailles Palace tonight. I have brought the team to stay here in advance, just in case.” 

Yan Yi passed him a cup of hot tea and held the other cup of tea in his hand as he sat down on the sofa, then he gave a weary frown, “I know, got the news when I got off the plane.”

“Ah, should I not have acted without orders?”

“No.”

“…” Bai Chunian licked his lips, “Did I do something wrong?” 

“No.” Yan Yi’s voice was a little hoarse, it could be because of staying up late but there were dark circles under his eyelids, which made him look a little haggard.

“I made some proposals at the international conference. There was no one who disagreed at first, but the always neutral International Prison and the International Police Department suddenly jumped out against my proposal.”

“Oh.” Bai Chunian wasn’t surprised after hearing that news, because he never had any hope about that. Giving the experimental subjects an independent identity, he knew it was impossible just from thinking about it.

“We should take it easy.” Yan Yi sighed softly. 

A gentle scent of brandy slowly wafted through the room, and Yan Yi’s exhaustion eased a little.

Bai Chunian straightened his back, stood with his hands behind his back, and released a comforting pheromone for him at an unambiguous distance.

“When I first came, you taught me that nothing could be done overnight. I know you’ve tried your best. Leave the rest to us.”

Yan Yi’s tense look relaxed and he nodded, ”This time,the Red-Throated Bird brought a special bomb catalyst, which would increase the explosive power of an ordinary bomb by tenfold. However, their ultimate purpose is not just to shake my prestige, but to take advantage of the chaos to transport a batch of prohibited goods.” 

“We have successfully secured the sunflower catalyst, but the goods you are referring to…?”

“I am also not sure what the goods are specifically, but it is definitely related to the new medicine created by 109 Research Institute. The cargo will be dispatched from M Harbor. You will need to intercept this batch of goods.”

“I got it.”

At this moment, Lu Yan was carrying the two bottles of sunflower catalyst in his pocket, and was hurrying to deliver them to Han Xingqian. He held a wine tray and passed by the main venue silently. 

Lu Shangjin stood in front of a jewelry display cabinet that was custom-made for Yan Yi, holding a goblet and admiring the details of the design. A small-sized waiter passed by, and Lu Shangjin raised his glass lightly, signaling the waiter to take it away.

Lu Yan raised his head, his eyes just meeting with Shangjin’s gaze.

…

Lu Shangjin’s lips twitched slightly. 

Before Lu Yan had time to explain, Han Xingqian’s warning suddenly came from the communicator in his ears, “They’re here, about forty people with masks, red bulletproof suits, armed with shotguns and submachine guns, and their target is to attack the main venue.”

Bai Chunian responded, “Minimize casualties. For freedom.”

“For freedom.” A response came from the communicator. 

Han Xingqian’s indifferent and calm voice came from the monitoring speakers in all corners of the main venue, asking the guests to immediately find cover and lie down, and that they were not allowed to run around. After speaking in Chinese, he repeated the warning in several common languages.

Lu Shangjin knew in advance from Yan Yi that there would be an attack, and immediately called in the Anti-Explosives Squad, but it would take time for the team to arrive, and right now, he couldn’t make a sound.

He never thought he would meet Lu Yan in this place.

Suddenly there were muffled sounds coming from the windows, and several sticky bombs were suddenly on the bulletproof floor-to-ceiling windows of Danlisailles Palace. After the the beeping of the bomb was heard, there was a sudden sound of a deafening explosion. The windows were shattered by the strong explosion and tiny shards of glass flew everywhere. 

The shards of glass that were propelled by the blast wave flew like bullets, and some panicked guests screamed and ran around the place. The blasted glass pierced through their faces, spattering flesh and blood and causing immediate death.

The power of bombs without the real sunflower catalysts was already not weak. If the power of this scale of detonation was increased tenfold, then the entire Danlisailles Palace would have probably been razed to the ground.

Lu Shangjin’s only thought was to take Lu Yan into his arms and completely protect the bunny with his body, using his back to block all the shards of glass, and then reach out to search for the pistol hidden under the display cabinet.

But Lu Yan didn’t shiver in his arms as he would do before. Instead, he got out of his arms, grabbed the gun in his hand, and shot a sticky bomb that was thrown at him. At the same time, a shard of glass flew through the air, and a bloody cut was drawn on Lu Yan’s soft, pale face. 

The bomb exploded, causing his ears to buzz. Lu Shangjin watched as Lu Yan jumped out of his arms, rushed out in the face of the explosion, and dragged an omega who was hit by some glass behind the cover of the long table that was overturned.

The shattered glass hit Lu Yan’s back. Although he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his suit, he was still shocked by the impact and stumbled, but he didn’t take cover; he just turned around and said to Lu Shangjin, “Dad, I still caused your jewelry exhibit to become like this. I thought I could do better.”

A pitch-black vine swung in from the broken floor-to-ceiling window. Lu Yan jumped, took the two Uzi submachine guns that Bi Lanxing threw, held one in each hand, and jumped out of the burning floor-to-ceiling window.

At this time, Yan Yi called Lu Shangjin’s phone, and asked about Lu Shangjin’s situation, “How’s your side?” 

Lu Shangjin stood up, brushed the dust off the hem of his suit, looked at the window where Lu Yan disappeared, and said in a hoarse voice, “He is exactly like you.”

“En.”

“I’ll go take a look.” Lu Shangjin picked up the pistol from the ground and checked the chamber expertly, his gentle eyes for many years growing colder.

“Xiao Bai is also here, but don’t worry. Come and meet with me first.” 

On the highest roof of Danlisailles Palace, Bai Chunian was squatting on the upper edge of the white stone railing, having a clear view of the chaotic situation below.

“Rimbaud, where’s Ru Cheng?”

Rimbaud replied indifferently, “He is running around, I will drive him to the courtyard. Need…to kill?”

“Don’t kill.” Bai Chunian stared at Ru Cheng’s luxury car parked outside the courtyard. “I want to see where he is going.” 

“Han-ge, find an opportunity to withdraw. Lu Yan, Lanxing, exit from the side and gather near the distant signal tower.”

“Xiao Xun pay attention to remote alerts.”

“The second phase of the mission has been received. The target is planning to transport prohibited goods through M Harbor. When the Anti-Explosives Squad is in place, we will evacuate to intercept the goods.”

“Okay.” 

Han Xingqian saw from the surveillance room that the members of the Red-Throated Bird who were wearing masks and red bulletproof suits were rushing into the Danlisailles Palace, so he got up and left as he took advantage of the chaos. If not, he would get stuck in chaos.

Xiao Xun had been on the tower for more than four hours, but he was still highly vigilant and motionless. It was extremely difficult to be discovered in the dark, and it looked like he had merged together with the tower.

Without Bai Chunian’s order, Xiao Xun didn’t do anything, even if he was sure that he could snipe the target. He could only stare blankly into the high-powered scope.

But on another signal tower about 800 meters away, a white shadow flashed past the scope. Xiao Xun frowned slightly, moved the muzzle lightly, and aimed at the unknown object on the signal tower. 

It was a person. To be precise, it was a man whose face was covered with a mask and wore a red bulletproof suit. Just by looking at his uniform, he knew that it was a member of the Red-Throated Bird terrorist organization.

But his appearance was actually very strange. It was obvious that he was tall and slender, but not strong. He might be an omega. The most confusing thing was that he was carrying a strange thing on his back, which seemed to be a human-shaped object. It was bound tightly with white silk, like a human-shaped cocoon. This guy stood motionless on the signal tower with the snow-white cocoon on his back, holding a rifle in his hand.

“Found a dangerous target.” Xiao Xun whispered the location and data, “General analysis of life data: 100%, remaining physical strength: 100%, remaining gland energy: 100%, emotional ratio: melancholy 50%, sadness 40%, bored 10%.”

Suddenly, Xiao Xun’s voice paused. 

Xiao Xun saw that mysterious value again—

Food intake: 99.97%