The Fallen Merman

“Bro, now you have to listen to me.” Bai Chunian pulled his IOA Alliance ID from his belt. He shook off a few stray water droplets and opened it to the page with his name and photo on it. He held it in his mouth and flashed it in front of the Cuban secret agent.

That alpha grit his teeth and didn’t say anything. Even though he was the head of the branch, he still had to obey orders directly from the headquarters. He was just a member of the South American branch of the Secret Service. He couldn’t disobey his superior’s orders. 

Rimbaud was soaking in the water, calmly watching as Bai Chunian’s eyes flickered shrewdly. He was like a child showing off the test scores that he had secured without cheating.

Even though he looked like a 19-year-old youth, it was an undeniable fact that it took less time for him to develop from an embryo than what was printed on his Alliance ID. Although his body and intelligence had been rapidly developed using drugs and technological means, as long as he was a living being, he had a heart, and as long as he had a heart, he was bound to have memories and emotions.

His heart began to beat erratically inside his chest. Rimbaud put his hand over his heart in a daze. He recalled the jolt of electricity that coursed through his veins whenever he looked at Bai Chunian.

Bai Chunian swam over, grabbing his hand, and pressed it to his lips. He said sincerely and a bit apologetically, “Help me?”

Rimbaud fiercely shook the tip of his tail that was twisted into a fried dough twist shape underwater. He hugged the alpha’s neck and bit his lips with his sharp teeth. “I could. But they’re not worth it.”

Bai Chunian licked the blood from his lip and put the other communicator in Rimbaud’s hand.

“President Yan…is he really so important to you?” Rimbaud gripped the communicator. His tail was steadily turning to a faint red shade. He stared at the alpha and asked, “If he and I were to fall into the water, who would you save first?”

In human dramas, the omega would ask the alpha such serious questions. Rimbaud rightfully learned from these that this was an especially important choice in Chinese culture. 

Bai Chunian stifled a laugh: “I’d save you first.”

Rimbaud was a bit pleased. “Why?”

Bai Chunian fiddled with the delicate webbing between Rimbaud’s fingers. “Because if I didn’t save you, you would swim away by yourself, and I’d have no opportunity to hug you.”

“Oh.” Rimbaud considered the logic of this. His heart once again jumped sluggishly. 

A turbulent undercurrent surged towards them. At the same time, they both detected the scent, the Kraken coming back stronger. Rimbaud nimbly turned around and dove into the water, becoming a streak of blue lightning. When he came out of the water again, he had a transparent hydrated steel quadruple rocket launcher in his hands.

The Kraken’s enormous tentacle smashed down towards Bai Chunian. Rimbaud swiftly went in front of Bai Chunian. He shot two rounds of high explosive water bombs and blew the tentacle away.

The Kraken’s body was excessively big. When his tentacle was blown away, his heavy body was still hidden. Consequently, the shear stress created by the impact of the high explosive water bombs directly cut the tentacle in half. The writhing octopus tentacle was blasted into the sky by the water bomb.

“Goon (Leave).” Rimbaud turned his head and aimed the quadruple rocket launcher at Bai Chunian. He shot two rounds of water bombs directly at Bai Chunian. 

The high explosive water bombs won’t cause any direct injuries to the target. When two rounds of high explosive water bombs containing Rimbaud’s M2 ability High Explosive Water Bomb hit Bai Chunian, an enormous amount of force blew him into the sky. Bai Chunian mentally calculated the distance. He had left the attack range of the high explosive water bombs as he crossed over the cargo ship. Like a cat, he landed lightly on the mast without making a sound.

At some point, the two of them developed a tacit understanding. Perhaps it came from understanding the other person’s body and fighting style. They didn’t need to explain their tactics to work well together.

At the same time, the Kraken’s severed tentacle slowly extended, growing back a new identical tentacle.

“IOA Headquarters agent Bai Chunian taking command,” he said while holding the communicator to his lips. “Everyone withdraw southward to Alianan Island and prepare for landing operations. Over.” 

Just as he finished speaking, Rimbaud let out a distant shrill cry. Far out in the ocean, a large number of black dorsal fins approached. A group of killer whales had been summoned to take the agents back. They used their bodies to carry the agents that had been thrown into the water by the waves. They then spread out and jumped towards the Alinan Island that Bai Chunian had mentioned.

A huge black shape emerged below the submerged Cuban agent. The black shape lifted him out of the water,the cold black-and-white skin was close to his thigh.

He quickly grabbed the killer whale’s dorsal fin to steady himself. Not everyone got to experience being carried by a giant sea creature. He couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

Rimbaud swam forward not far from him and led the pod of orcas out of the Kraken’s attack range. 

Seeing that the merman could control the pod of orcas, but didn’t seem to have any evil intent, the Cuban secret agent’s hostility towards Rimbaud lessened. He asked him,

“You look like a Frenchman. Are you guys together?”

Rimbaud understood Spanish. He silently translated it but didn’t understand what he meant.

“What do you mean, together?” 

“That he’s your criminal accomplice.” When speaking with someone he considered the enemy, the alpha wasn’t tactful at all.

Rimbaud looked at the island not that far ahead, and muttered in response, “Not accomplice, we’re husband and wife.”

The cargo ship sailed quickly, pushed forward by the orca pod. When it was about 10 meters away from the island, several agents jumped off the deck. They nimbly landed on the shore and pulled the towrope, tugging the boat towards the beach.

Bai Chunian sat on the mast and looked back. The Kraken followed them, moving swiftly underwater. Suddenly, it disappeared. 

This was the Kraken’s J1 differentiation ability, Floating Clouds. It could instantly change its appearance to match its surroundings, making it difficult to quickly identify its position.

“There are steel cable guns in the weapons bay,” Bai Chunian said into his communicator. “Move down and spread out.”

The agents received specialized training, so even though they’d temporarily changed commanders, they could still adapt quickly. If they were faced with a strong experimental subject, fighting alone would just result in unnecessary casualties. For them, cooperative engagement was a required course.

The agents of the South Gate Division moved quickly. Following Bai Chunian’s orders, they used the steel cable climbing guns to descend into the hold of the ship. They firmly fastened the ship to a reef with a wire rope. 

Bai Chunian whistled: “Rimbaud, force him up.”

Rimbaud received the message, turned, and entered the water. He dove ten meters deep. A flickering electric grid formed, with him at the center. He conducted the high voltage electricity through the water towards the Kraken. The burning hot sting of being electrocuted forced the Kraken to move in the opposite direction. As he moved closer to the shore, the water got shallower, and the Kraken’s head gradually appeared above the water.

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The Cuban secret agent turned towards Bai Chunian who was giving everyone orders. He was indolently sitting atop the mast. His black vest and cargo pants were soaked, clinging to the muscles of his upper body and tight waist. A wet piece of hair stuck to his cheek, which he impatiently brushed behind his ear. 

Actually, he wasn’t much different from a normal human youth, except that he was better.

But all he had to think of was how Bai Chunian’s body quickly healed from the bullet wound to still feel a wave of disgust and fear in the bottom of his heart.

Over the past few years that they’d worked for IOA’s South American branch, they’d fought several experimental subjects and lost countless agents. Ferocity, bloodlust, gluttony, and immortality were all synonymous with experimental subjects. The highest caliber bullet couldn’t harm them at all. After having their head blown up, they could still stand and recover. If they lost limbs, they could instantly grow new ones. They were like unkillable demons created as the ultimate weapons of war.

“Oh, uh, you.” Bai Chunian lowered his head and called to him. 

The Cuban agent snapped out of his thoughts: “Beckin, my name is Beckin.”

“Alright,” Bai Chunian said. “Take out your daggers and don’t get distracted. Give me one.”

Beckin took out two tactical knives from his belt and tossed one of them up.

The sharp dagger flashed with a cold light as it spun towards Bai Chunian. Bai Chunian reached out and gently caught the blade. 

After activating Bone Armor, his skin also hardened. Certain armored parts could become invulnerable. However, if he were always in a state of maintaining full body armor, he’d use up a lot of energy. So generally, Bai Chunian only chose to use Bone Armor for vital areas.

Rimbaud once again avoided the octopus tentacles’ entanglement. The transparent rocket launcher in his hand automatically refilled with four rounds of water bombs and fired them at the Kraken one after the other.

The strong attack of the high explosive water bombs directly drove the Kraken up onto the beach, trapping it. It was like a mountain that had burst open and fallen. The whole island seemed to shake. Waves buffeted the island and submerged most of the tropical vegetation before slowly ebbing.

Bai Chunian ordered at once: “Fire the steel cable guns. Target the tentacles. Agents One to Eight keep the tentacles from breaking free by intertwining them.” 

After he said that, the steel cable guns were fired one after the other. The claw guns with nailheads penetrated the thick tentacles while trailing strong cables. The eight agents were each responsible for tightly winding each steel cable over the slimy tentacles. The Kraken was nailed to the shore and couldn’t move at all.

Since each tentacle could think independently and regrow, cutting off all the eight tentacles would be useless. The advantage of an experimental subject at the maturity stage over an experimental subject at the cultivation stage was reflected in the intelligence of the subject. Hence, Bai Chunian chose to have it temporarily lose the ability to think. That way, the threat would be a lot weaker.

“Beckin,” Bai Chunian said into his communicator. “Take your dagger and go on his back. Try to find his eyes.”

The Cuban agent was a alpha. He held a dagger backwards in each hand. His powerful legs let him easily climb onto the giant octopus head and find his rectangular eyes. He raised his muscular arms and drove the knife in. 

Bai Chunian mentally estimated his speed. When Beckin stabbed the dagger into the eye, he flung his left hand downward. The dagger spun out and sank deep into the octopus’ other eye.

The octopus temporarily lost all senses.

“Beckin, cut the eye open. Destroy the brain first.”

“Understood.” Beckin answered in a low voice. 

He knew that even commanders with years of combat experience would still need to develop tactics step-by-step when working with unfamiliar experimental subjects. However, Bai Chunian clearly already had a complete set of tactics in his head. None of his moves were exploratory. Rather, he knew in advance how to raise a non-existent progress bar.

His skill as a commander was astonishing. If he wasn’t an experimental subject, perhaps he’d have been a worthwhile friend.

Beckin was very good at using twin daggers. He nimbly found and damaged the Kraken’s brain. This time the octopus’ body started to shake substantially.

Bai Chunian frowned and said into the communicator, “Everyone evacuate and maintain at least a 5-meter distance from the Kraken.” 

The Kraken’s skin chaotically changed color and dark blue rings gradually appeared on its body. The rings emitted a bright blue light.

Kraken’s M2 differentiation ability, Homologous Transformation: Allows it to switch its characteristics to those of a similar species. He switched his “big blue octopus” attributes with those of the “blue-ringed octopus”. The blue-ringed octopus was highly venomous, with venom potent enough to kill humans.

Beckin still hadn’t gotten down from the Kraken’s body when it became covered in mucus, making it hard to gain leverage.

The Kraken struggled fiercely and used all its strength to wrench one of its tentacles free from the steel cables. It frantically slapped its body, hoping to pull Beckin down and put him in its mouth. 

Upon seeing this, Bai Chunian jumped down from the mast and in between the tentacle and Beckin. He grabbed Beckin’s belt and threw him down. In one leap, Rimbaud launched himself high in the sky to catch Beckin. His fish tail wrapped around his body to toss him onto the shore.

Beckin was thrown onto the rocks on the beach. He rolled on the sand a few times before getting up. He saw Bai Chunian almost get caught by the tentacle. He reached out and grabbed that powerful tentacle, but very quickly and suddenly loosened his grip as if he’d been burned.

The enhanced variant venom instantly corroded the skin of Bai Chunian’s palm, rotting it down to the bone. Bai Chunian gripped his wrist in pain, his forehead veins bulging.

Rimbaud suddenly jumped out of the water and bit Bai Chunian’s clothes, dragging him into the water. When they resurfaced, Bai Chunian’s hand was already as good as new. 

Beckin stared stiffly at the chaos caused by the experimental subject. Slowly, he held his own arm.

Just now, if Bai Chunian had not gotten between them in time to block that blow, the majority of his arm would have already been corroded by the venom. Perhaps even his whole body would have turned into a puddle of venom. He wasn’t afraid of death, but that kind of death would have been unavoidably painful.

Would an experimental subject also think it hurt?

Beckin couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild. At first, he thought Bai Chunian and the Kraken were the same kind of monster. But that didn’t seem to be the case. There were more differences between them than just their shape. 

The Kraken was also slowly healing. Soon enough, it had freed two of its tentacles. The nimble tentacles stretched out into the water to chase Rimbaud. The other tentacle kept randomly stabbing around Bai Chunian, forcing him to dodge and use up his strength.

Instinct compelled Beckin to pick up his daggers and hurry over to Bai Chunian’s side.

Humans with mantis-type glands were all good at wielding swords since their arm muscles were quite developed. Just as the tentacle was about to wrap around Bai Chunian’s leg, two daggers flashed coldly, cutting the tentacle into three pieces.

Bai Chunian seized the opportunity to get out of the Kraken’s attack range. 

Beckin landed on the opposite side with a dagger in both hands.

Bai Chunian looked at him. He made a sign often used by agents: “Nicely done.”

Bai Chunian smiled at himself generously. Beckin hesitated to say anything in response.

However, Bai Chunian’s attention was already back on the Kraken, constantly monitoring the Kraken’s movements. He warned the several agents closest to the Kraken, “He’s changed again. Change position and find shelter.” 

Bai Chunian’s perception ability was the best Beckin had ever seen. It seemed like everyone was in his control.

Beckin thought, fortunately he wasn’t the enemy. He slapped his head again and told himself it wasn’t the time to be thinking such things.

The Kraken’s body changed to a bright scarlet. Once again, he used his M2 ability, Homologous Transformation. This time, he turned into a flamboyant cuttlefish, which was also very venomous. With each transformation, the Kraken regained a substantial amount of its strength.

The rocks on the shore were smashed in the wake of the Kraken’s frantic struggle, and it regained free use of its tentacles. It then used them to move its heavy body off the beach where it was stranded and towards the sea. 

However, its escape route was already cut off by Rimbaud.

After having its brain damaged, the Kraken was unable to think tactically. It could only rely on its tentacles’ random thrashing. But Rimbaud’s form was both small and nimble, quickly weaving between the tips of all eight tentacles. Suddenly, he leaped out of the water. The black clouds fluctuated, and darkness enveloped the sea. It seemed like there was about to be a thunderstorm. Atmospheric pressure plummeted, and everyone on the shore found it more and more difficult to breathe.

Lightning in the clouds wrapped around Rimbaud’s body. Once he was full of dazzling blue electricity, he dove into the water. A completely transparent manta ray leaped out of the sea. Lightning flowed throughout its snow-white skeleton, and a dark blue heart resembling an ore , beat within its skeleton.

Even Bai Chunian was stunned. All his focus was drawn to the divine creature. 

The manta ray fell into the sea. Lightning burst from where he fell into the water. The Kraken was engulfed in electricity, and a burnt smell filled the air.

The lightning suddenly disappeared, but the sky was still shrouded in darkness.

After a moment of tranquility, spikes suddenly rose up out of the ocean. Spikes several meters long and bearing electricity penetrated the Kraken’s body like ten thousand arrows. Its three hearts were pierced at the same time.

The Kraken had long been forced into a dead end. Its final death cry carried for several thousand of meters. 

The water spikes melted and slowly flowed off the damaged body of the Kraken. The dark clouds dispersed, and a ray of light illuminated the shallow waters.

A military helicopter bearing the IOA’s symbol had arrived at Alianan Island as reinforcements, but by the time they arrived, the battle was almost over.

The pilot accessed communications and loudly asked Bai Chunian, “You took care of an experimental subject at the maturity stage?”

“No, no. I was only responsible for a small matter.” Bai Chunian answered with a light smile, gesturing a centimeter distance with his index and thumb. 

The helicopter was busy bundling the Kraken’s body into a transport container, then flew back to the branch’s base. Rimbaud floated to the surface. He spit out the water in his mouth and, with a grunt, crawled to the shallows, shaking out his hair.

Bai Chunian crouched down beside him and rubbed his head. “Turns out you’re really just a small manta ray ah. Flat and cute.”

“There’s no one…in the Caribbean sea that can challenge me.” Rimbaud tilted his head and his tail curled up to indicate a millimeter. “Although, the humans played a minuscule role.”

“Hey.” 

Behind them, someone called out to him.

Bai Chunian turned around and saw Beckin. His soaked clothes were covered in sand. He stood not far away, somewhat ill at ease, awkwardly holding his daggers. The wheat-colored face was rubbed by the reefs, a bit of skin split open.

“You led well,” Beckin said uncomfortably. “Just like a real commander.”

“I am a real commander.” Bai Chunian stood up and stuck both hands in his pockets. “It was just a battle without casualties. It’s no big deal.” 

“You’re very magnanimous.” Beckin praised him unskillfully, but when he saw Bai Chunian stand up, he still took two cautious steps back.

Bai Chunian observed his wariness and his smile faded. He licked his lower lip stained with fishy, salty sea water and replied with indifference, “No need to force yourself to approach me.”

As he spoke, his expression suddenly changed. The nerves in one of the Kraken’s cut off tentacles still hadn’t completely died off and it suddenly spasmed and jumped about. The tentacle, dripping with venom, slammed down. Bai Chunian instinctively rushed forward to get it under control. Even though he knew the Kraken’s venom was very potent, it was better for him to get hurt and then heal rather than someone else getting killed.

That was what Bai Chunian had thought, but his lower abdomen was suddenly cold. Something ice-cold had stabbed him. 

Bai Chunian slowly turned his head and looked into a pair of frightened eyes in surprise.

Beckin let go of his daggers with shaking hands. The blades were deeply inserted in Bai Chunian’s lower abdomen and had torn open a wound.

“Why did you suddenly rush over? What were you going to do? Don’t underestimate the speed of human’s reflexes.” Beckin resolutely stared at him. He didn’t feel like he’d done anything wrong.

But gradually, his confident tone started to waver and he slowly backed away. He fell down on the gravel-filled beach. He tried to convince himself that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but the facts were undeniable— 

From the corner of his eye, he saw a tentacle fall from his ear and Bai Chunian’s hand covering his forehead.

After being blocked by Bai Chunian, the tentacle, struggling on death’s door, lost all of its strength and fell to the ground and didn’t move again. The venom rubbed Bai Chunian’s forearm that he had extended as cover and severely corroded his skin, immediately exposing the ghastly white bones.

Beckin’s mouth hung open, but he couldn’t say a word. He sat on the ground and stared at Bai Chunian in a daze.

Bai Chunian’s corroded hand took longer to heal, because the daggers were contaminated with a lot of the Kraken’s entrails. The old wound was torn and became slightly infected. 

He grabbed the handle of daggers using his left hand with the exposed white bones. He slowly pulled them out of his lower abdomen and threw them onto the ground. The light in his eyes started to dim and he looked at Beckin with a somber gaze.

Rimbaud also didn’t expect this sort of accident to happen in just a few seconds. He rushed to Bai Chunian’s side and embraced him. He covered his ears in a panic.

Beckin felt guilty for his mistake, “I thought…he… Can’t he heal?”

Rimbaud turned his head towards him and bared his fangs, hissing, and threatened him not to come any closer. 

The communicator lit up. Headquarters asked, “How’s it going?”

Bai Chunian said with a gasp, “Phase 2 and 3 of the mission are both completed. Please give orders.”

Yan Yi could hear that Bai Chunian’s voice was abnormal and asked him through the communicator, “How are your injuries? I will send a doctor for you.”

“Ugh… it’s nothing….” Bai Chunian sneered. “I was bitten by a dumb dog protecting its food. Over.” 

Rimbaud laid him down. He lay down next to the wound on Bai Chunian’s stomach and extended his tongue, licking it. He inspected the wound. Fortunately, it wasn’t very big. Judging from his own experience, the infection wouldn’t be very serious.

It was both painful and pleasing to be licked by his soft tongue. Bai Chunian closed his eyes and endured a different kind of pleasure.

Rimbaud extracted a very thin hydrated steel wire from the water and sewed up the wound to staunch the bleeding.

“It hurts. Let it be. It hurts.” 

“This is what happens when you trust humans. Remember this,” Rimbaud said gloomily, his expression cold.

He was convinced that Bai Chunian wasn’t in danger, so he sewed him up a bit faster. Unknown to Bai Chunian, his ears popped out from the pain, the white fluffy ears drooped down against his hair.

“Just a minor infection. I’ll be fine after taking some anti-inflammatory medicine. What are you worried about? You’ve hurt me worse than this,” Bai Chunian said listlessly after taking a breath of cold air.

“I saved you. He attacked you. It’s not the same.” 

Bai Chunian forced a smile. “How did you save me?”

“I let you leave. I stayed.”

Rimbaud slowly said a long sentence, “Merfolks are a lascivious species, but I only slept with one alpha.”

“Why me?” 

“You were.. both pure and loyal.”

“We only slept together for half a year, just half a year. You aren’t making a mistake?”

“One glance was enough. I didn’t need half a year.”

Rimbaud extended his arm out in front of him. He ticked the last line of the memo engraved on his forearm with his fingernail. It read, “Love Bai Chunian”. 

That President was very good at reading people. Young people with loyalty engraved on their soul were few and far between. They were also fragile. If you make a mistake and hurt them, they won’t trust you again.

After he finished suturing, Rimbaud cut the water thread. He softly licked the tip of Bai Chunian’s ear.

An itchy feeling like an electric shock made Bai Chunian shiver. Inopportunely, his pants grew tighter and his ears drew back instantly.

“Does this make you… feel loved?” Rimbaud asked intently. In his eyes, all he could see was him. “I learned…how to lick fur.” 

“Fuck….” Bai Chunian lifted a hand to cover his eyes.

He was tense all over and his voice was hoarse. “I’m serious. I’m hard and I feel like fucking shit. Someone should stab me again.”

He wasn’t very good at expressing satisfaction and shyness. Even though, in his heart, he was excited, he didn’t show it immediately. He sat up, took Rimbaud’s hair and licked it. He licked his eyebrows and the hair at his temples.

The tip of his tongue was covered in barbs. Even the places he licked gently would still turn red from irritation. After licking, he felt distressed again. 

The doctor in the rescue helicopter rushed over and carried him away for treatment. Rimbaud didn’t stop him. He understood that human medical technology was much more advanced than theirs.

Once the rescue helicopter was gone, Rimbaud stretched out his long tail and wrapped it around Beckin’s throat. He leaped backwards into the water. He swam into the depths of the ocean, dragging a surprised Beckin with him.

Beckin struggled to pull off the tail wrapped tightly around his throat. The pain of suffocation twisted his facial features.

From time to time, Rimbaud let him go only to quickly swim over and wrap around him again. He wantonly toyed with his cowardly prey. He said, slowly and cruelly, “You guys are so weak, trying so hard…when hurting us, like ridiculous little insects. I won’t let you die so easily. I’ll let the ocean crush you slowly.” 

The communicator in his hand suddenly lit up. Rimbaud frowned and stuffed the communicator into his ear.

Bai Chunian’s voice came out clearly from the device.

“Rimbaud. Let them go.”

Rimbaud grit his teeth in disdain. He loosened his fishtail, letting Beckin float upwards. 

At that moment, waves were surging near the surface of the water. Suddenly dark clouds appeared along with strong winds. The tide flooded the island. The agents that hadn’t had time to evacuate were swallowed up by the sea, tumbling in the waves. Only when someone was truly submerged by the sea, could they truly feel the ocean’s wrath as well as their own powerlessness.

Instead of responding to Bai Chunian, Rimbaud called headquarters.

The President allowed his phone call, and both calmly and patiently waited for him to finish speaking.

Rimbaud’s deep voice was filled with hostility and dissatisfaction. 

“The Kraken wasn’t able to hurt him. He’s injured because of your stupidity.”

“I didn’t raise him…to be bullied by humans.”

“Your grade is higher than mine, but the land is not greater than the sea. Which one do you like? A thunderstorm landing, an iceberg melting, or an endless high tide?”

“Heal him. Return him to me.” 

Yan Yi was silent for a long time.

The sound of an electric current could be heard from the communicator:

“Calm down, Your Majesty.”