The Fallen Merman

As his consciousness matured, Bai Chunian gradually reclaimed control over his body. He quietly sat in the incubator, dipping his head to look at his hands.

Both his hands and legs had yet to fully anthropomorphically evolve, and from the reflection in the glass he looked somewhat intimidating. Indeed, he looked like a mutated monster. 

Bai Chunian tucked his claws under his chest and abdomen, laying on the ground in a daze. The alloy chain on his body was cold and heavy, and the electric shock collar on his neck pressed on him so hard that he could not raise his head.

He vaguely remembered that he had experienced these before and that this was merely a memory that resurfaced in his mind, but he could not wake up no matter what. He was trapped in the mess that was his consciousness. No matter how he bit or thrashed, he could not escape and was overwhelmed by trembling fear.

The lock on the incubator opened and a researcher in a full-body protective suit bent over and unlocked the chain on his body, before carrying him out and putting him into a handcart. The researcher clipped a collar onto him and walked towards the vivarium.

This was his first time interacting with another experimental subject. The other party was a Dodder-type omega in the incubation stage with plant-type glands that had the ability to entangle others and loot them.

That childish face suddenly awakened Bai Chunian’s darkest and filthiest memories. The Dodder-type omega had also just evolved from a larval stage into the cultivation stage and his appearance resembled a three or four year old child. Although Bai Chunian’s physique was also in a similar state, a fight between a vicious beast-like alpha and a non-toxic plant-type omega completely lacked suspense and had an obvious result.

Bai Chunian, who had entered the vivarium for the first time, was at a loss for what to do. Seeing the joy of his companion lessened his fear and he crawled over to curl up with them and seek comfort.

However, the vivarium was connected to a vaporiser and a mania-inducing drug diffused into the vivarium. The two experimental subjects stimulated by the drug bit and fought each other, covering the floor of the vivarium in blood.

Till now, Bai Chunian did not remember where the Dodder-type omega went, only remembering that at that time, the Dodder-type omega vanished, and his stomach was very full. 

The sudden recollection of that scene was so intolerable that Bai Chunian covered his mouth. When the researcher carried him to the vivarium, he struggled and used the claws on his hands and feet to grasp the opening and refused to enter.

The Dodder-type omega sat in the vivarium and tilted its head, dumbly watching Bai Chunian resist through its big doe eyes.

“I’m not going in, let go of me!” Bai Chunian forcefully thrashed for a while and his blade-like claws tore a long and narrow gap in the protective suit of the researcher.

His resistance triggered an alarm, and within a moment, a group of researchers in protective suits rushed in with security personnel. They used steel spears to force Bai Chunian’s four limbs and neck to be still and injected him with sedatives. 

Bai Chunian used both hands to prop himself off the ground, instantly using his Bone Armor ability on his wrists and broke the steel spears by twisting them. He leapt onto the researcher nearest to him, biting frantically. The protective suit tore under his sharp teeth and the fragile human body within could not withstand a single attack.

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.

When he touched the shoulder of that researcher, the researcher was instantaneously crushed into a single blood-red glass marble. After that, those near him all were squeezed by the surrounding air and space into black and red glass marbles that fell to the ground.

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Behind them, troops of Red Throated Bird soldiers were in hot pursuit. A large number of Red-Throated Bird members had been gathered by M Harbor. Once they received news that the train cargo had been intercepted, they immediately dispatched reinforcements in an attempt to kill these IOA agents.

However, their arrival was poorly timed, and they had obviously underestimated their opponent. The ambushing soldiers who swarmed up were instantly transformed into a patch of blood-red glass marbles. The dense glass marbles fell to the ground like hailstones, some breaking and some rolling into crevices.

While unconscious, Bai Chunian was still able to cast his M2 differentiation ability, Annihilate. Its strength had already fully exceeded the level that it should have had, without making any physical contact, and even without knowing its name, once someone moved near to him, they would die.

Rimbaud, who was the closest to him, carried the unconscious Bai Chunian as he moved away from the crowd, so the strength of Annihilate was exerted upon Rimbaud indiscriminately. However, the effect on him was merely the formation of a layer of glass on the surfaces of his skin, causing the scales on some parts of his body to be damaged and fall off instead of directly turning him into a glass marble. 

Rimbaud bit Bai Chunian’s collar tightly. Though his body was in extreme pain, he couldn’t cry out, he didn’t want to drop Randi.

Lu Yan, Bi Lanxing and Xiao Xun distanced themselves from them, while Han Xingqian blocked them off from Bai Chunian. His unicorn horn grew by a few centimeters, and under the barrier he cast, he prevented Bai Chunian’s Annihilate ability from affecting them. However, a layer of glass still formed on Han Xingqian’s back.

Han Xingqian calmly ripped off the piece of glass on his back in order to prevent the corrosion from spreading. A layer of his flesh and blood was removed together with the glass piece and so he used his self-healing ability to slowly recover.

Xiao Xun hurriedly went to assist Han Xingqian, putting the latter’s arm around his neck and leading him into a small cave to take shelter from the wind. 

“Han-ge, be careful.” He took off his jacket and used it to cover Han Xingqian’s back, impulsively releasing some soothing pheromones to alleviate his pain.

Xiao Xun knelt formally by his side and took out medicines for dressing wounds from his backpack. In an orderly manner, he helped Han Xingqian take care of his wounds.

Han Xingqian, who was clothed in his jacket, sat in a daze.

At this point, the only option was to contact headquarters and report the situation. After establishing contact, it was Yan Yi who personally replied. 

“Is progress smooth? How is Xiao Bai?”

“The goods have been cut off.”

Yan Yi: “That’s good, send him back to the Medical Association Headquarters immediately, there should still be a way to save him. I’ve already instructed Professor Zhong to prepare the equipment in advance.”

“It got detonated, all of the cargo has been blown up.” 

Yan Yi’s end was silent. After a long while, his indifferent voice carried a trace of surprise and trembled: “Blown up?”

Han Xingqian helplessly held his forehead and closed his eyes: “Xiao Bai was stimulated and went rogue, indiscriminately killing people. Rimbaud is dragging him deep into the forest.”

“You protect the rest of them well, I’m personally coming over.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Xiao Xun used drinking water to wet some gauze and helped Han Xingqian clean his wound. Then, he applied some hemostatic agents to control the bleeding. He hesitated for a long while, then gathered the courage to ask Han Xingqian: “Rimbaud and Instructor Bai, are they different from us? Even if their differentiation level is high, still, their abilities are too strong, unlike that of a naturally cultivated differentiation ability.”

Han Xingqian had been thinking of a way to control Bai Chunian’s situation, completely putting Xiao Xun in the back of his mind and forgetting about him. Just when he was about to answer, the sound of footsteps sounded from outside the cave.

At first they assumed it was Lu Yan and Bi Lanxing, but unexpectedly, it was an unfamiliar face. An omega with tousled curly hair peeked at them and walked in. The two butterfly antennas on his head bobbed here and there, and he smiled squintily, asking: “Excuse me, where is Bai Chunian? I got lost following him.”

Xiao Xun stood up, on alert, and grabbed his sniper rifle to aim at him, speedily activating his J1 differentiation ability, Universal Dashboard, to check the intentions of the person before them. 

Domino waved his hand continually, smiling: “Ya, lil’ kid, call your parents out to speak with me.”

Han Xingqian responded: “That would be me.”

Domino extended his hand: “Experimental Subject 2412, I’m glittery like gold, Sunset Morpho butterfly-type glands. You can call me Domino.”

Han Xingqian did not expect that he would so honestly reveal his identity, calmly gazing at him and asking: “Is there an issue?” 

“I heard that Golden Silk Spider was nearby and I specially rushed over to M Harbor to help out, just in time to watch Divine Envoy go on a rampage. Initially, I wanted to help him recover, but it turns out that Experimental Subject No. 857, Electro-optic Phantom, took him away. He even ran so fast that I got lost trying to follow them.”

“Stop delaying, Divine Envoy has already been stimulated and has already entered the deterioration stage. It won’t be long before you’ll be left with a super beast.” Domino gestured exaggeratedly on tiptoes, “A super big one that can topple a helicopter with one bite. Everyone near to him will one-by-one begin to turn into glass marbles.”

Bai Chunian was a subject in the ninth-grade of maturity. Having a higher grade of maturity than the other experimental subjects, coupled with his stronger abilities, it would be easier for him to slip into the deterioration stage. If strongly stimulated, it would be possible for anomalies to arise in the direction of his development.

Han Xingqian supported his injury as he stood up: “What are you planning to do?” 

“My M2 ability, Butterfly Phantasia, has a transfer-type ability and can change the progress of events in the consciousness of a person. It can save a person but can also destroy them, entirely by my will.” Domino smiled squintily, “Actually, him entering the deterioration stage benefits us too, but now is still not the time to sacrifice Divine Envoy, therefore, only I can save him.”

Xiao Xun’s expression was stiff. In the data of this butterfly omega, the last item was an impressive Grade 6. This indicator as well as his food intake all pointed to him being an experimental subject.

He also had a little bit of understanding on basic knowledge about experimental subjects. The amount of food eaten represented the progress that each experimental subject had made in their cultivation stage to the maturation stage. The level represented the strength of those who had already entered the maturation stage. Everything made perfect sense to him.

Domino suddenly looked towards him, his butterfly antenna gently lifting Xiao Xun’s chin: “What are you scared of? We were created by you ah. I’m very open and have never been ashamed of my existence, I’m even going to write it down to show you.” 

Xiao Xun anxiously plucked off the antenna on his skin, but when his hand touched Domino, Domino’s body scattered into a gold mist.

The golden mist re-condensed into Domino’s body at another spot. Between his nails was a butterfly with fiery red wings. The butterfly’s wings were filled with all of Xiao Xun’s memories, captured in the form of golden-coloured data.

“Oh, thank you for the directions, I’ll take my leave first.”

Domino spread open a pair of golden-red butterfly wings on his back and disappeared from the mouth of the cave, leaving behind a pile of shimmering gold dust. 

Bai Chunian was dragged into the depths of the jungle in the valley by Rimbaud. A layer of glass had formed on Rimbaud’s body. Every movement he made tore off a few blue scales, revealing tender red flesh beneath.

Bai Chunian lay on the ground and Rimbaud curled around his body, continuously kissing him and stroking his hair.

Bai Chunian was still in a deep sleep, battling with the messy memories in his head. He desperately resisted the researchers who rushed over to restrain him, using Annihilate to twist and squash them into glass marbles. However, an overwhelming number of people charged at him without pause, using steel spears to stab his body, pressing him into a pool of his own blood.

A fiery red butterfly flew in from the open laboratory door and landed on the top of Bai Chunian’s head. 

Immediately after, a stream of water poured into the laboratory, engulfing everybody in the flood. Cold water poured into his nose, suffocating Bai Chunian and sapping the energy from him, and the water began to drag him to the ground.

The chaos in his ears disappeared. Only a strange, long beeping sound could be heard, suffusing his entire being with a sense of calmness.

In the water, a pair of arms caught him. After he was drowned, his instincts took over and he tightly clung to the person, hugging them closely. Oxygen mixed with a light fragrance of Himalayan musk rose filled his nose and allowed him to breathe again.

“Randi.” 

The blue merman swam upwards slowly, hugging closely to his chest a youngster who had yet to relinquish his innocence, pouring soothing pheromones into every bone in his body.

The young teenager tightly clung to the only body that had ever provided him with safety, curling up in his arms.

Rimbaud stroked his soft hair and brought his head close to his chest. Hugging him, the duo floated to the water surface.

Bai Chunian tightly clutched his arm, his sharp fingernails scraping bloody scratches into Rimbaud’s skin. With a stutter, he asked, “A-are you going to kill me.” 

“I won’t.”

“I feel uncomfortable.” Bai Chunian firmly wrapped his arms around his neck and pleaded, “Save me.”

Rimbaud gently patted his back. “Be good.”

Bai Chunian was greatly comforted and peacefully rested in the crook of Rimbaud’s neck. His young bones began to lengthen, sharp claws evolving into ten distinct fingers with joints and legs gradually growing slender and straight. His white hair became ebony black and even his facial bone structure changed into that of a human face. 

Rimbaud crooned in his ear, his soft and magnetic voice whispering lovingly, “Siren blasyi kimo, fanshi, tlanfi, haosy, claya siren milen.”

(Siren can bless you with good looks, talent, health and even the ability to hear oracles)