The Fallen Merman

Bai Chunian zoomed in on the camera. After clearly seeing who the pilot wearing goggles and headphones was, he picked up his communicator. “Remove alert level 3. Everyone disperse.”

He stepped down from the detection platform and stood there as the waves lapped against the shore. He put on sunglasses and looked up into the sky from a distance. 

Before the helicopter arrived, Uncle Jin called.

Bai Chunian picked up. Lu Shangjin’s voice was somewhat impatient. “Lu Yan—that kid—had me teach him how to fly a helicopter for two weeks. Today, when I had spare time to go meet a friend, he got on the helicopter and flew away. Quickly go and check on him. Don’t get knocked down by the anti-aircraft defense.”

It was very rare to see Uncle Jin so anxious. Bai Chunian gazed at the silhouette of the helicopter slowly appearing on the horizon. “I detected a rabbit-painted helicopter.”

Lu Shangjin: “Oh, yeah, it’s that one. I bought a whole set of them. I had the livery designer base the design on a Holland rabbit, Angolan rabbit, and Jersey rabbit. Now, there’s a whole brood of rabbit helicopters in my courtyard. He flew off in the lop-eared shorthair rabbit one.”

“Ah, this.” Bai Chunian thought for a moment. “How about I take care of things for a while? You see, his school is also on vacation. It’s not a bad thing to play on the island for a while during the vacation.”

Lu Shangjin muttered to himself for a long time.

“With that temper, how long will he stay at your place?”

“Let’s say it’s just for fun.” Before Bai Chunian considered anything else, he first had to find a way for the rabbit to stay. 

Bai Chunian listened to him debrief his assistant. After a while, Lu Shangjin said, “I’m giving your school 100 million to improve the accommodations and build a dessert shop.”

“No need ah, Uncle. The conditions of our accommodations here are very good.”

“A dormitory of only 40 square meters can be called good?”

“? Is it not?” 

He heard Lu Shangjin mutter to himself, “Seems like little alphas shouldn’t be raised frugally. I was careless.”

“Uncle.” Stunned, Bai Chunian became lost in thought and kicked away some shells at his feet.

“Alright,” Lu Shangjin said. “Oh, wait until things have calmed down, then come home. When you have some free time, I’ll teach you how to manage some spare companies.”

“No need. I’m not short of money.” 

“There’s never anything wrong with learning. You can’t be in the Search Division your whole life. Once you’re over 28-years-old, being an agent is difficult. There are plenty of young people waiting to replace you. You’re not immortal.”

Bai Chunian had nothing to say to that, but he responded softly.

After making things clear, Lu Shangjin pinched the bridge of his nose. He told Yan Yi about Lu Yan flying to the training base.

Yan Yi’s tone was more relaxed than he thought it would be, and even a little relieved. 

“Let him go.”

The rabbit helicopter on the horizon slowly flew over. Bai Chunian directed him towards the island’s tarmac. Lu Yan landed steadily. After the helicopter’s propeller stopped, it was automatically put away, resembling two rabbit ears drooped over the sides of the aircraft. It was a unique design; very innovative.

Lu Yan jumped down. He was wearing a flight suit, headphones, and goggles. He really looked not bad at all.

Bai Chunian crouched down and waited for him. He lazily raised his fist. The lop-eared rabbit omega hurried over, and they bumped fists. 

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.

Bai Chunian looked up and asked, “Young master, did you come looking for me to play? Or did you cross the ocean to reunite with your childhood sweetheart?”

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“Yo mbegrf,” Djl Jtecljc ijeutfv.

“Po la’r gfjiis cba, atfc P’w ifjnlcu.” Oe Tjc kjr rxfqalmji. 

“No problem,” Bai Chunian replied easily. “Oh and, Uncle Jin also sent over 100 million. He was scared you wouldn’t be able to live comfortably. He wants me to rebuild the trainee’s dormitory.”

Lu Yan’s hands shook in fear, “I don’t want that, I don’t want that. Send it back. I want to be like a normal person who only has tens of millions.”

Bai Chunian, “… Actually, you could reduce it a bit more.”

Lu Yan hesitated. “A couple million? But then I wouldn’t even be able to afford a house. Wouldn’t I be ostracized?” 

Bai Chunian gave him a dorm key. “Just say that your father is self-employed. No need to say anything else. They also won’t ask.”

“….” Lu Yan thought for a moment and struck his palm with his fist. Let’s go with that then.

“Then… If there are people who seem like those bullies from before, can I hit them back?”

“You can, but only in combat class.” Bai Chunian stood up. “But once you hit others, you have to allow them to hit you back. The rules wouldn’t just protect you.” 

“Alright. I hope they fight back.”

Lu Yan excitedly shed the t-shirt and pants from home and took off all his accessories. Once he changed into the special training uniform that Bai Chunian threw at him, he left with him.

Lu Yan was walking beside Bai Chunian when he suddenly noticed the blue fish mark that went from his shoulder to his chest. However, it didn’t really resemble a tattoo. He could smell the faint scent of Himalayan musk rose emanating from the mark.

“This is…a mark?” Lu Yan touched it in astonishment. “Aren’t you an alpha?” 

Bai Chunian put on his sunglasses. “I’m happy with it.”

“Since I was young, my father always told me not to let an alpha casually mark me.” Lu Yan looked at Bai Chunian’s mark for a long time. “Wouldn’t any alpha be unhappy at being marked by an omega?”

“Says who? Laozi likes it very much.”

There were a lot of students in today’s combat class. The whole morning combat class was very physically demanding, and people were easily injured. Sitting at a round table and drinking tea in white uniforms were a Samoyed omega and an Elderberry alpha, both with healing abilities. They helped students who were accidentally injured during training. 

Bai Chunian led Lu Yan inside. The little Samoyed omega holding a cup simpered at him. “Instructor Bai, want to play billiards later?”

“Can’t, I’m busy.” Bai Chunian waved at the two doctors and headed over to the bar.

The combat instructor, Dai Ning, was at the bar, smoking. The tactics instructor, Hong Xie, was off that day, but he came over specially to show off his favorite student’s new tactics to Dai Ning.

“Look at our Lanxing.” Hong Xie nursed a martini and lifted his phone to record, wishing he could stick it to Dai Ning’s face. “Look at how accurate the timing of this vine placement was. Ai, sometimes I really feel like I have nothing left to teach him, but in the end, he’s still young. He’s only 17 years old. These days, I have to study new tactics to teach him.” 

Dai Ning blew a smoke ring at him. “Scram.”

“How idle,” Bai Chunian went over and held onto both their shoulders. “Ning-ge, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

Dai Ning took two to three drags of his cigarette and then stubbed it out in the ashtray. “The bad one.”

Bai Chunian: “Aiya, listen to the good one first.” 

Dai Ning glared at him. “Then why the heck did you let me choose?”

Bai Chunian dragged Lu Yan over. “I’m giving you a child to handle. He’s a 15-year-old, M2-grade, lop-eared rabbit omega.”

Dai Ning choked and turned to examine Lu Yan.

Lu Yan’s rabbit ears perked up. “Greetings, Instructor. I am Lu Yan.” 

This last name was a sensitive one. Dai Ning asked again, “Your last name is Lu?”

Lu Yan hurried to add, “My father sells cupcakes.”

“Oh.” Dai Ning sized him up thoroughly.

Instructor Hong Xie rested his chin on his hand and watched the scene unfold. “En, pretty good. Too bad he’s a young omega. For close combat, you need to be an alpha. An omega wouldn’t have the strength. You might as well send him to me to learn war tactics.” 

Dai Ning shot him a glance. “Enough is enough ah.”

Actually, Dai Ning was also not too optimistic about an omega learning to fight. Even though he himself was an omega, the kangaroo gland was clearly stronger biologically than that of a lop-eared rabbit. Lop-eared rabbits were the weakest ones among the rabbits. They were very easy to frighten or injure them.

“15-years-old is too young.” Dai Ning squeezed Lu Yan’s bones. “Have you trained before?”

Lu Yan nodded. “I think I’m pretty good at it.” 

Dai Ning hesitated for a moment. He picked up a pair of new protective fighting gloves and handed them to Lu Yan. “Let’s give it a try. I won’t hit hard. You don’t need to be scared.”

Bai Chunian sat down in Dai Ning’s seat and watched the show. He asked the waiter to push a glass of whiskey on the rocks over. He said to Lu Yan, “Go all out. This is a good teacher.”

Lu Yan agreed.

The two of them put some distance between each other. Dai Ning curled his hand in his direction, indicating that they could start. 

Since Bai Chunian said he should go all out, Lu Yan didn’t hesitate. He took the initiative to launch an offensive.

He had a very dainty figure and was also soft and flexible. What was even more astonishing was his speed. He definitely inherited the rabbit gland’s superior running. In less than a second, he was in front of Instructor Dai Ning.

Dai Ning was an experienced fighter. Just as Lu Yan was going to hit his vitals, he deftly blocked. However, Lu Yan’s fist didn’t land on the arm he used to block, but vanished.

Even Lu Yan’s entire body disappeared. 

He was very fast. Even Dai Ning didn’t see where he went.

The second he disappeared; a black hole silently appeared behind Dai Ning. Lu Yan got out of the hole and lightly touched Dai Ning’s shoulder with his fingertips. “You don’t have to go easy on me. I really am good at this.”

Bai Chunian let out a whistle. “Ning-ge, show him what you’re made of.”

Hong Xie’s attention was also drawn to the nimble little rabbit. He turned to lean on the bar, and they watched the show together. 

A gleam appeared in Dai Ning’s eye. He tightly wrapped on a hand wrap and prepared for the second round. He grew serious, and felt his blood faintly heat up.

Lu Yan knew how to assess his opponent’s strength, so he didn’t use the blitzkrieg strategy they used at school. When Dai Ning threw a punch, he quickly flashed left and right. Dai Ning’s punches were quick and crafty. Ordinary students wouldn’t be able to last even 15 seconds in the face of Instructor Dai’s onslaught. Even when Bi Lanxing first faced Instructor Dai, he wasn’t able to make three moves.

Time passed and Lu Yan didn’t have a scratch on him.

The audience saw clearly; Lu Yan accurately dodged each punch. His figure was constantly flashing around Dai Ning but hadn’t been hit yet. 

Hong Xie put down the glass, body leaning forward, and focused on observing the teenager. “Damn, all this kid’s skill points went into dodging. That kind of play can exhaust someone.”

Lop-eared Rabbit gland’s associated ability, “Supersonic:” Could accelerate to 100 kilometers instantly. It would only take 3.2 seconds to accelerate to the speed of sound and only 6 seconds to go supersonic. The effective range was within a radius of 9 meters, centered around where the ability was activated. If the range was exceeded, the user would have to accelerate once again. If the acceleration process was interrupted, the user would have to start over again.

Bai Chunian had never paid attention to Lu Yan. During the ATWL exam, he behaved so much like an average young master who was trying to avoid doing something clumsy that even Bai Chunian misjudged him.

Lu Yan endured Dai Ning’s most powerful first round attacks entirely by dodging. When Dai Ning paused to take a breath, Lu Yan launched a fierce offensive. 

He was never greedy with his punches. As soon as he hit Dai Ning, he immediately switched positions to not give him a chance to retaliate.

Dai Ning quickly discovered the limitation of Lu Yan’s associated ability. As they grappled, he deliberately dragged Lu Yan out of position. Suddenly, they exceeded the range of his speed-up effect and Lu Yan immediately slowed down. When it did, he suffered a ferocious punch to the stomach.

Lu Yan fell and took the opportunity to roll away and dodge Dai Ning’s next vicious leg sweep. 6 seconds was very short. Lu Yan quickly sped up again until he was as fast as a blink. Dai Ning repeated the same trick to suppress Lu Yan.

All the surrounding students were drawn to the fighting arena they were in and came over to watch. 

Bai Chunian glanced at his watch. Almost three minutes had passed.

Lu Yan gradually seemed to lose strength. He lacked endurance, so each time he would prioritize finishing as quickly as possible. It was only when facing a strong opponent that he would choose to grapple. But he hadn’t met many strong opponents. Both his fathers were very powerful, but they were very busy and often tired, so Lu Yan never asked them to help him train.

Moreover, during practice time at school with his classmates, he would restrain himself. Usually, he didn’t do anything but would still be targeted by a group of people. If he injured anyone, it would be troublesome.

At the moment when Lu Yan halted, he was pinned to the ground, and held in a headlock by Instructor Dai. He was exhausted, paralyzed, and panting on the ground. 

Lu Yan’s eyes were red. He gasped and laughed dumbly. “I’m really happy, Teacher.”

Bai Chunian clapped, “Well done.”

Instructor Dai pulled Lu Yan up, held him by the shoulders, and said, “Not bad.”

Actually, he really wanted to stick Lu Yan in his family registry, for fear of the other instructors snatching him away. 

Dai Ning held Lu Yan’s shoulder again and released soothing pheromones to restore his strength. He was on guard when he said to Bai Chunian, “What bad news do you have? I’ll say upfront that there’s no way I’ll be letting this child go.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Bai Chunian finished the remainder of his whiskey. “I just wanted to say that this kid is Lanxing’s little boyfriend.”

Hong Xie spit out his cocktail and laughed so hard he spit bubbles. “Yo, in the end, he’s still our family.”

Lu Yan refused in a low voice, “I’m not….” 

Dai Ning went around him and gently touched Bai Chunian, asking softly, “You really want me to teach him?”

“Don’t worry. Make some arrangements for him. I have something to do so I’ll leave first.” Bai Chunian said some things to Lu Yan before pushing open the doors and leaving.”

Actually, he wanted to go back to his residence and rest a while ago, but he had to finish his work first. He finally returned to the instructors’ dormitory in the evening. He nestled into his leather sofa, picked up his laptop, and watched the playback of the midday news multiple times.

He picked up a pen and spelled out what the merfolks were saying using pinyin. He noted it down in his notebook. On the TV, there was a part where the scientists translated and another where he relied on his experience communicating with Rimbaud to understand a few words. He also used what resources he was able to get to roughly translate. 

“Aband… banda… a….” Bai Chunian rubbed his hair with the pen cap. “What? What is that snapper rattling on about? He’s so close to my Rimbaud, he really deserves death.”

There were a few sentences he still couldn’t make sense of.

Bai Chunian twirled his pen and thought for a long time. Suddenly, he called the profiling instructor, Zheng Yue. Zheng Yue answered, “Chu-ge, I’m in class.”

“Continue with your teaching. Have that clownfish in your class come out.” 

“What clownfish… Ah, you’re talking about Yu Xiaocheng. Alright, where are you? I’ll have him go over.”

“Just have him come out. I’ll go over myself.”

Bai Chunian hung up, rolled up his notebook, and prepared to leave. Suddenly, he received a reply from the President.

“Special Operations Experimental Subject No. 809, Kraken, has entered the western Atlantic Ocean. We’ve detected a tendency to land. Give me a reasonable investigation plan by tomorrow evening.” 

[Staff Corner]

Hello! I once again apologize for the delay in [gets_down_on_my_knees.jpg]

As I said before, some of our members are busy with RL/going through some personal issues, hence our updates might be slow, unfortunately. We’ll try our best to get back on top of things(hopefully;;;).

Again, I’m really sorry for the delays. 

—Potato