The Fallen Merman

“Tsk…I was careless.” Bai Chunian recalled the details of the ATWL exam. He’d held a preconceived notion and considered Lu Yan as a target of protection, having him sit and wait for the head reapings. In reality, he didn’t give him any opportunity to perform in the first place.

Each person’s differentiation grade wasn’t as audiovisual as the manifestation of biological gland characteristics. One could see it only when they would be using the differentiation ability corresponding to the grade, or when intentionally displaying their grade in the form of pheromones. If one person planned to hide their grade, it would be impossible for ordinary people to tell. 

Glands could be preserved away from the body and checked for transplant compatibility. Although gland hunters were almost eradicated under the Alliance’s crackdown, there certainly would be brave men under bestowed rewards. Nobody dared to gamble with their children’s lives.

Their parents probably already told them repeatedly not to reveal their differentiation grades, especially in a place like the ATWL exam, where crooks were mixed in with honest folk. Because once targeted, even if the enemy was also M2 differentiated, the difference in experience from age, combat experience, psychological disposition, and proficiency in the control of differentiation abilities on both sides were unnatural factors that could determine victory or defeat.

He cooled down and thought. What could he do even if Lu Yan was now at M2 differentiation? Although not many special trainees in the training base had reached M2 differentiation, the number wasn’t zero. Although Lu Yan was young and had the adaptability to be strong, his identity was there. Not even mentioning the President for now and only talking about Uncle Jin, it was impossible for Uncle Jin to agree on his baby son participating in this type of difficult and dangerous training.

He weighed out the pros and cons for a long time. In the end, he still gave up and continued to teach Bi Lanxing the concept of the overall situation, pulling down the electronic screen and drawing a team positioning sketch on the screen.

Bi Lanxing took out a pen and notebook and rested his upper body on the table to take notes.

Bai Chunian pointed to the diagram he drew on the screen and said, “Your J1 ability Poison Ivy Armor is classified as a protective type of ability. For the activation method, it belongs to the sequential instantaneous type, which requires you to clearly determine which teammate is in the closest position to danger. You can look at the positioning drawings for different types of teams I gave you.”

He spoke very quickly. Bi Lanxing stared at him, nodding, nodding, and nodding.

Bai Chunian: “What are you looking at me for, look at your drawings.” 

Bi Lanxing hurriedly bowed his head to look at the drawings and recorded the important points into his notebook.

Bai Chunian: “The same protection type ability, He Suowei’s J1 ability Total Lunar Eclipse is ranged protection. The size of his lunar disk is only enough to obstruct himself and one or two team members. So when your teammates face such an enemy, you shouldn’t protect the teammate closest to the lunar disk first, because the lunar disk protects that teammate while also providing shelter from the enemy’s attack path. At this time, you should dress the teammate, who isn’t obstructed from the attack path by the lunar disk, in armor.

Bi Lanxing flusteredly turned over the drawings while taking notes, engrossed.

Bai Chunian knocked on the screen: “Why are you looking at the drawings, look at me. He Suowei isn’t written in there.” 

Bi Lanxing was confused and disoriented.

In the evening, Bai Chunian turned off the screen that he drew full of tick, circle, and cross symbols of unclear meanings and drank a mouthful of water. Ever since, Bi Lanxing had lowered his head, changed to a new pencil lead, and never understood the latter half of the lesson.

Djl Jtecljc mibrfv atf qlif bo vgjklcur lc tlr tjcv: “Kbvjs P ajeuta sbe 16 afjw jrrfwyilcu obgwr jcv 45 asqfr bo kjsr ab tjcvif atf qgbafmalbc asqf vloofgfcaljalbc jylilas. Kbwbggbk, obiibk sbeg wjif rfclbgr lcab jmaeji mbwyja.”

Dl Ojczlcu kjr jrabclrtfv: “Dea P mjc’a wfwbglhf la jii lc bcf cluta…” 

“Snfc lo sbe wfwbglhfv la, atf kjafg lc sbeg ilaaif ygjlc klii oiert la jkjs.” Djl Jtecljc ifjcfv obgkjgv bc atf ajyif ab qja tlr tfjv, “Vb ab ecvfgrajcv la, sbe cffv ab wjxf sbeg bkc jcjisrlr jcv ecvfgrajcvlcu bo fjmt yjaaif. Po sbe’v qea atf qblrbc lns jgwbg bc Elwyjev olgra veglcu atf mbcogbcajalbc klat Zfverj’r Ssfr, er, Xtbra Lecalcu Kfjw, jcv Ccs Ciqtjr Lfgf kbeiv’nf mbwqifafis bqfcfv atf olglcu ilcf jcv kbeivc’a tjnf cffvfv atja CJ ybbrafg jcv ojra gfmbnfgs rfgew. Rba atja fnfgsatlcu lr olcf ktfc sbe klc. Qtfc sbe qfgofma fnfgs vfajli ab atf eawbra, atfgf klii yf cb qbrrlylilas bo ibrlcu.”

The cell phone placed on the table lit up, and Bai Chunian picked it up to take a look. It was a short video sent by the Passenger Pigeon omega. The internet on the island was always poor, so the short video needed a long time to load, but he could vaguely see a blue-tailed merman from the freeze-frame.

“You go back. No need to take the night wrestling class.” Bai Chunian absentmindedly swept his hand toward Bi Lanxing.

He packed up his notes and left, leaving Bai Chunian before the table, tweaking his ears, scratching his cheek, and waiting for it to load. 

Finally, the video was ready to play. When he clicked on it, it was of Passenger Pigeon and his husband’s bedroom with Rimbaud sitting before the crib, holding Passenger Pigeon’s baby and gently rocking it to soothe it.

The Passenger Pigeon’s voice was very agitated in the background: “It’s over, it’s over ya. Now the whole house is full of soothing pheromones. Not only did my baby fall asleep, but the families in the whole building with babies also fell asleep. The group of neighbors in the building were all discussing whether the Virgin Mary Omega had descended to rescue the parents tormented by their children.”

The video was a little shaky, Rimbaud sitting sideways before the crib with blonde hair covering the side of his face, only to reveal the straight tilted nose bridge and slightly curled eyelashes. The soft light penetrating through the muslin curtain before the bed reflected on his snow-white skin. The little baby gnawed on his fingers, sleeping serenely in his embrace. Bai Chunian was fascinated.

Half a day later, he sent a message to Rimbaud: “What are you doing at my colleague’s house?” 

After a while, Rimbaud replied with a voice message without urgency nor slowness: “Buligi aino berta.” (Nurturing your child).

Bai Chounian scrunched up his face to look at his phone.

Then, he immediately called the Passenger Pigeon.

Bai Chunian: “Shit, did you talk some useless rubbish with him?” 

Passenger Pigeon was confused: “No, he asked me if I slept with you in the same breeding box. I said no, we only slept in the same tent. He then followed me to my house to help me take care of the baby. These high-level soothing pheromones are really strong. Even I’m sleepy.”

Bai Chunian rubbed his face tiredly.

Passenger Pigeon: “What’s wrong?”

Bai Chunian: “It’s nothing, work at your inspection division properly. Don’t think about transferring to my search division, your brain capacity isn’t suitable.” 

Rimbaud still stayed at the Passenger Pigeon’s house. The Passenger Pigeon’s alpha husband, a painter, came back from doing a still life drawing to find an extra merman in his house. Astonished, he circled Rimbaud a few times to look him over.

At 9:30 pm, when the sky was already completely dark, Passenger Pigeon tactfully indicated that he and his husband wanted to rest, but Rimbaud didn’t care that much, engrossed in holding the baby and releasing soothing pheromones.

Frightened by his persistent eyes, Passenger Pigeon was a bit uneasy as he recaptured the baby back from his embrace to his embrace: “Rimbaud, it’s very late right now. I’ll have my husband take you home.”

Rimbaud sat coldly beside the bed sideways and looked at him indifferently. Soon after, he got up and changed into a bolt of lightning, leaving the house. He threw Passenger Pigeon a ‘failing to appreciate his kindness’ look before he left. 

After Rimbaud left, Passenger Pigeon had his husband chase after him to see him off. He stayed behind to change the baby’s disposable diaper and unexpectedly found that the baby’s little allergy rash had completely disappeared. The naked eye could see that the skin became more soft, smooth, fair, and clear.

“This is…how could this be?”

When Passenger Pigeon set out after he settled his child, wanting to send Rimbaud off together, Rimbaud’s shadow had already disappeared outside the door.

Rimbaud sat alone on the rooftop. At this time, the night sky was like a cage enveloping the earth, and dark clouds obscured the stars and moon. His lonely swaying fishtail shined bright in the darkness, each section of his bones clearly visible. 

He faced southeast, gazing at the silhouette of the hilly building to the southeast through the haze as if he saw the faintly discernible notice lights of the aircraft looming on the upper floors of the 109 Research Institute.

“What did you leave in there?”

The alpha’s voice suddenly appeared beside his ear. Rimbaud raised his head in surprise, and a person stood beside him without him knowing or sensing it. Bai Chunian, still wearing his training base military instructor’s uniform, stood at the edge of the rooftop. A one hundred meters tall building and rushing traffic under street lamps were beneath his feet.

“Nothing. Actually… it is no longer…useful… I just… want to take it back… as a souvenir.” Rimbaud swung his tail in boredom and struck an arc of electricity in the darkness. “And conveniently… kill them.” 

“I’ll help you.” Bai Chunian squatted down, lowering his eyes to look toward the ground at the unending flow of vehicles going back and forth. “But there are conditions.”

“With me, you, is not enough.” Rimbaud’s look was cold. “Experimental subjects, too much.”

Bai Chunian laughed, fingertips leisurely tapping to the beat in his palm. He was also surveying the southeast from above.

“Let’s talk about something else first.” Bai Chunian suddenly turned his head and asked, “Why did you go to my colleague’s house?” 

Rimbaud wasn’t concerned and randomly looked at his nails, “You tell me.”

Bai Chunian laughed in exasperation, “You think that child has something to do with me?”

Rimbaud raised his eyebrows: “One, breeding box, already slept with someone, not rare.”

“What a mess.” Bai Chunian cooled his face, “You’re not angry?” 

Rimbaud lifted his tail tip and lightly sweeped the alpha’s lower jaw: “In a community… nurturing… is the king’s duty.”

“King? You want to be a king, right?” Bai Chunian gripped Rimbaud’s wrist and pulled hard, lifting the entire fish onto his shoulders, leaping out of the rooftop. He took Rimbaud with him as he rapidly plummeted, his feet lightly tapping the awning of the building across the street and ejecting his body more than ten meters away vigorously. He jumped back and forth between the two buildings a few times, finally borrowing a few safe landings on the roofs of vehicles speeding past, dashing away in the direction of his home.

After entering the apartment building, Bai Chunian kicked the door open and threw Rimbaud onto the bed, easily bending the iron art decorative fence at the head of the bed like origami. He tightly fastened Rimbaud’s hands above his head, using the firm bars to lock them in.

Rimbaud struggled twice to break free and failed, inexplicably frowning and attentively watching the alpha pressing on his body. 

The time they’d known each other couldn’t be considered short. But actually, Bai Chunian showed more tameness and dependence in front of him to the extent that it had people often forget that he was a fierce alpha.

Bai Chunian asked as calmly as he could: “Where are your invoices and certificate books? Give them to me.”

Rimbaud was surprised by his request: “Why?”

“I’ll keep them for you.” Bai Chunian rummaged through his bedside cabinet drawer, “Where are they? Give them to me.” 

“For what reason.” Rimbaud cocked his head.

“Give them to me!” Bai Chunian was somewhat careless and roared. Rimbaud trembled, caught off guard. He frowned, staring at him: “You… order me?”

Although Rimbaud’s hands were locked up, the most flexible tail wasn’t under control.  Extending before the two horizontally, the dazzling blue light accumulated on the tip of the tail, pointing at Bai Chunian’s throat like a high-voltage stun gun before the alpha’s neck shaking to threaten him.

Bai Chunian straightfordly held his rich and powerful lighting tail with his hand. 

However, the high-voltage current didn’t strike him to a wisp of charcoal. Instead, it was extinguished in his palm, and even Rimbaud’s entire fishtail lost its brightness.

Rimbaud’s eyes, which have always been unruffled, flashed with a hint of panic.

Bai Chunian lifted his lower leg to press his randomly struggling fishtail down. He leaned over to press on his body, cupped his face, kissed it, his tongue crudely licking open Rimbaud’s tightly clenched jaw.

“Wu…” Rimbaud squirmed, saliva flowing from the corners of his mouth, “Hot.” 

“The king takes responsibility for laying eggs, right?”

“…So hot…”

“What kind of king are you?” Bai Chunian extended the tip of his tongue to lick clean the saliva at the corner of Rimbaud’s lips. He curved his eyes to tease his prey, “Like the kind painted in storybooks? Do you have a throne of coral and pearls embedded together?”

“I do…” 

“Then can I fuck you on it?”

Rimbaud’s body shuddered when he heard those words. There was a kind of anger that came from being blasphemed, but the tip of his tail could only tremble and curl weakly on the alpha’s arm.

The two were deadlocked for more than an hour. The white skin of Rimbaud’s neck and shoulders were covered with pale red teeth marks. He laid on his back with his eyes half closed, panting.

Bai Chunian laid beside him wearily, his hand resting on the inner edge of the iron railing that cuffed Rimbaud’s hands, lest it rub the omega’s skin broken. 

He took a speedboat from the island to the shore, then drove back downtown, spending more than four hours. He didn’t even have time to go to the toilet during the trip. In addition, he spent the entirety of today teaching classes in the training base. He was actually already very fatigued. He curled up on his side in the bed, his forehead pressed against Rimbaud’s shoulder. His arm rested on his waist, sniffed the omega’s scent, and went into a lethargic sleep with red circles around his eyelids.