Chapter 2
In the alley next to the Mermaid Center, there were a few stalls selling mermaids.
Many people came here to try their luck, hoping to find a bargain among the mermaids discarded by the Mermaid Center.
At one small stall, number 55 and another mermaid were squeezed into a cramped fish tank, it was difficult even to turn around.
Someone stopped in front of the tank, and the fishmonger immediately started his enthusiastic sales pitch:
“Customer, you’ve come at the right time! This blue one was put here for sale by the Mermaid Center. You can’t lose by buying it!”
The customer bent down for a closer look: “Really? It’s so thin, and its tail has scars. It wasn’t raised well, was it?”
Number 55 pouted and poked its head out of the water, giving him a sideways glance.
“?”
The customer rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, number 55 looked like any normal mermaid, its eyes devoid of intelligence.
The customer pointed at number 55: “It seems to understand what I’m saying…”
The fishmonger laughed: “Impossible! Even if you doubled a mermaid’s intelligence, it still wouldn’t understand our language.”
“But it just glared at me!”
“It must be your imagination.” The fishmonger shrugged indifferently. “Even if it understood someone saying bad things about it, a mermaid’s non-aggressive claws could at most scratch our skin!”
Number 55 puffed up its cheeks and swiped at the glass in front of it.
Its nails were rounded and couldn’t leave a single mark on the tank wall.
‘Child, never reveal your abilities. Pretend to be an ordinary mermaid to survive…’
“If only I could extend my claws.” A string of mournful bubbles erupted from the tank. “I’d scratch this small fish tank and go back to the sea to find fish to eat…”
Number 55’s stomach was too empty to muster much strength, and it drooped its fins, listening to the fishmonger and customer talk about it as if it were merchandise.
“I’ll test its soothing ability.” The customer reached into the tank as he spoke.
Number 55 wasn’t in a good mood. The fins on its elbows flared as it growled lowly at the person.
The customer flinched and activated his mental seascape to suppress it, quickly touching the blue tail.
The mental seascape possessed by humans is like a tree. Every time energy is released, it draws on its life force. Over time, this tree gradually withers, and the death of the tree also means the death of the human.
Mermaids have the ability to soothe.
Through touch, a mermaid can sense the channels of the mental seascape and water the tree inside, keeping it alive.
The strength of the soothing ability is equivalent to the thickness of the water pipe watering the tree. Those with a large water flow are called high-grade mermaids.
The customer withdrew his hand, his eyes twitching:
“This one’s soothing ability is too weak! Calling it low-grade is being generous.”
Low-grade mermaids at least have a trickle, but he just felt a few drops…
The customer touched the other mermaid in the tank. The water flow irrigating his mental seascape was normal, albeit average:
“I’ll buy this other one. You almost fooled me!”
The fishmonger laughed dryly and explained: “I didn’t lie to you. The blue one really came from the Mermaid Center…”
It was a season of unpredictable weather. The twin blue moons hid behind the clouds, and a light rain began to fall, pitter-patter.
Human optical brains have a built-in rain-shielding function, a transparent protective membrane forming an umbrella above their heads.
The fishmonger leaned forward, letting the optical brain umbrella shield the two mermaids.
The other mermaid moved under the umbrella. Number 55 gave up its spot and surfaced to be rained on.
It straightened its body, resting its chin on the tank wall, lost in thought:
The last time I saw rain was in the ocean…
When I was young, I was forced to leave my clan and became a “common mermaid” in my master’s laboratory, undergoing training such as learning human language.
In order to hide my intelligence, which surpassed that of ordinary mermaids, I didn’t dare to complete the tasks too well, always waiting until the other mermaids reacted before following suit.
Until now, my master has finally become completely disappointed in number 55, the “poor student” mermaid.
Abandoned by my clan, abandoned by my master, deemed too undesirable to be sold…
A raindrop landed on its eyelashes. Number 55 blinked a few times, and the raindrop clung to the tip of its icy blue eyelashes, reflecting the light from outside the alley.
Number 55 stared longingly at the beam of light: Raindrops, you’re so gentle, can you give me a home?
…
A figure appeared at the end of the alley, drawing closer, its tall form cutting through the rain and light.
The water droplet hanging from number 55’s eyelashes fell, turning into a drop of ink, dyeing the night even darker.
It’s him!
The world-weariness hidden deep within the newcomer’s aura made number 55 recognize him instantly:
It was the man who had gazed at it from outside the aquarium.
“Uh… another one buying a mermaid. Business is good today, boss.”
Because of the backlight, the customer couldn’t see the newcomer’s face.
He sensed the other’s mental seascape and said tactfully, “That low-grade blue mermaid in the tank might be just right for you.”
The first impression between people comes from sensing each other’s mental seascapes.
Wen Ming’s damaged mental seascape was as weak as number 55’s trickle of soothing…
The fishmonger squinted, sizing up Wen Ming’s clothes, mentally labeling him as “poor”:
“Customer, I’ll give you a 50% discount today. This mermaid, originally priced at 1,000 star coins, you can take it for 100. How about it?”
Wen Ming’s original clothes had been soaked by the aquarium incident, so he had changed into the clothes temporarily provided by the Mermaid Center—
A spare staff uniform.
Wen Ming, mistaken for a worker, looked at number 55. The tag on the mermaid’s ear was gone:
“Why is it here?”
“The Mermaid Center asked me to sell it.” Faced with Wen Ming’s aura, the fishmonger was a little intimidated and answered truthfully, “If you like it, you can go through the adoption procedures now.”
Wen Ming’s gaze lowered, his brow furrowing: “Why is it injured?”
Number 55 quickly folded the tip of its tail over itself, trying to hide the scars.
“It’s a mermaid rescued by humans. It was already injured.”
The fishmonger grew impatient: “Asking these questions is useless. Try its soothing ability, and if it’s suitable, then buy it…”
“Ding!” Wen Ming’s optical brain flashed with an incoming call request.
He nodded to the fishmonger to wait a moment and walked a few steps away before answering.
“Mother.”
A virtual screen, visible only to Wen Ming, appeared in front of him, and an elegant woman with her hair in a bun asked:
“Well? Did you buy a mermaid?”
Wen Ming paused for a second, and the other party immediately sighed: “I urged you to go to the Mermaid Center, not to admire the underwater world!”
Dai Rong, Wen Ming’s mother, was a medical researcher whose main research project was:
Rare diseases of the mental seascape.
“Your mental seascape is not optimistic. If you delay any longer, the pain attacks will become more and more frequent. Are you really…”
Dai Rong suppressed the pain in her brow: “Are you going to let yourself end up like your father?”
Wen Ming’s tone was flat: “Mother, you know, even mermaids can’t alleviate it.”
Wen Ming had inherited the same rare mental seascape disease as his father. When soothed by a mermaid, both he and the mermaid would only feel pain.
Touching even the highest-grade mermaid would cause unbearable stinging in his mental seascape.
“But without a mermaid’s soothing, you’re just slowly dying.”
Seeing Wen Ming’s expression devoid of any expectation for life, Dai Rong became even more anxious: “Try again. If you don’t buy one, I’ll send one to your doorstep!”
“No need.” Wen Ming’s eyes flickered as he tugged at his ill-fitting collar. “I’ll buy one.”
“Really?”
Under Dai Rong’s skeptical gaze, Wen Ming turned off his optical brain…
While he was on the call, the fishmonger was handling the paperwork for the previous customer, chuckling:
“That’s strange. His mental seascape is so weak, yet he acts like a big shot. He really scared me for a moment.”
“He asked so many questions, is he going to buy it or not?” The customer looked in Wen Ming’s direction. “Why is he on his optical brain now?”
The fishmonger: “I’ve seen plenty of these poor customers. They can’t afford it, so they have to call to borrow money.”
“He can’t even come up with 100 star coins? He’s wearing a Mermaid Center uniform. Looks like working for the rich doesn’t earn you much.”
“Yeah…” The fishmonger echoed, looking down at the tank, meeting number 55’s attentive gaze, and pausing.
“This mermaid really seems to be able to listen…”
Wen Ming’s footsteps approached, and the fishmonger temporarily ignored the sense of discomfort of number 55, focusing his attention back on the customer:
“Have you decided? This is the lowest price you’ll ever see. Seize the opportunity!”
The flamboyant sales pitch didn’t interest Wen Ming in the slightest.
He stopped about a meter away from the tank and slowly raised his hand towards number 55.
The mermaid sharing the tank with number 55 seemed to sense something terrifying and thrashed frantically, bumping against the tank walls…
Wen Ming’s hand hovered in mid-air, not moving forward.
Even high-grade mermaids were reluctant to soothe him, let alone a low-grade one that showed resistance just by his approach.
But as a “mermaid insulator,” Wen Ming had encountered a special mermaid today—
When the aquarium broke, his hand had cushioned the blue mermaid’s head from hitting the ground, making direct physical contact, yet his mental seascape hadn’t felt any discomfort.
The blue mermaid hadn’t shown any pain either, instead flicking its tail, conveying goodwill…
Wen Ming wasn’t sure if the special circumstances at the time were due to the brevity of the contact.
So when he caught sight of the mermaid staring blankly in the rain in the alley, his life, which had been steadily heading towards death, presented an unknown fork in the road…
“Ouch, what’s going on?”
The fishmonger was suddenly splashed with water and activated his mental seascape to suppress the agitated mermaid.
Number 55 was also affected by the mental seascape, clutching its head in discomfort.
Wen Ming’s voice sharpened: “Withdraw your mental seascape.”
The fishmonger instantly felt like he was back on the military training grounds of his student days, standing at attention, his energy completely withdrawn: “Yes, sir!”
“Ugh…”
Number 55 rubbed its forehead, easing the lingering sting from being suppressed.
Hearing the mermaid’s whimper, Wen Ming hesitated, his hand, which had been about to touch it, beginning to retract…
“!” Number 55’s eyes widened, and it quickly leaned forward, grabbing his hand.
Too much! At least try before rejecting me!
