Chapter 48: It’s Okay
Deng Xi drove the flying chair. Because it was too dark, he learned from what the little mute had taught him before and turned on the light on the flying chair.
The light on the flying chair was lit by a light strip embedded in the crevices. After Deng Xi turned it on, the entire flying chair lit up, but because it was blocked by the crevices, the light was not bright, only illuminating a small corner by the table.
But the room was no longer so dark.
The mobility chair flew to the side of the suspended table. The small green light next to the operating system was flashing, as if urgently reminding him of something.
But Deng Xi’s entire attention had been attracted by the small conch shell on the table. He tentatively reached out his hand and gently touched the small, blue-green conch shell, very carefully, afraid that the small conch shell, which had already been broken once, would break again.
Deng Xi reached out his fingertip again and poked it slightly.
The small conch shell also swayed. Because the fixed base was only a small round platform, with a single shake, it tilted and fell, rolling on the suspended table.
Deng Xi frantically reached out his hand to stop it, but because he was sitting in the flying chair, when he straightened up, his soft fish tail couldn’t exert any strength. By the time he had propped himself up, it was already a step too late.
The small conch shell fell to the ground with a “clatter,” all alone.
His breath instantly hitched. Deng Xi frantically looked down at the ground. His gaze paused for a moment. He saw that next to the small conch shell that had fallen to the ground, a dozen or so empty test tubes were lying in a chaotic mess.
Further away on the ground was an overturned, silver-white briefcase. The green test tubes that had originally been placed inside had all rolled out, and dozens of doses of medicine were scattered on the ground.
Deng Xi remembered it.
This was the medicine that Bunny had taken, the gene-suppressing drug that looked very much like a nutrient solution. He didn’t know what Dr. Li had meant by a gene-suppressing drug.
But Deng Xi remembered.
He remembered that after Bunny had only taken a small tube, he had hugged his drooping ears in pain and had kept crying and telling Dr. Li that he was “in so much pain.”
Deng Xi realized something, and his heart suddenly clenched. He was like a fish that had been stranded on the shore and was dehydrated, futilely flapping his tail fin. His gills, which were hidden under his golden hair, were of no use on land. He could only watch helplessly as he died of suffocation.
He took a deep breath of the oxygen in the air and counted the empty test tubes on the ground.
A total of fifteen.
The little mute had drunk fifteen doses of medicine at once.
But a single dose was already so, so painful.
Deng Xi closed his eyes. He was suddenly a little afraid to face it, just like three years ago in the ocean, when he had faced the silver-tail who had lost his reason. Now, he was many, many times more afraid than at that time.
So scared that he wanted to hug his big tail and curl up in a tightly closed, dark shell, and never come out.
The moment he closed his eyes, a heavy impact suddenly sounded in the darkness. After the muffled sound, it returned to a dead silence.
Deng Xi frantically opened his eyes to look, and then he trembled uncontrollably. His blue eyes widened in panic.
In the dimness, a cold, tightly closed treatment pod stood quietly. Through the transparent cabin door, he could see that it was filled with a translucent green solution.
Deng Xi remembered this color.
This was the tranquilizer that the bad guys had injected into him every day when he was in a daze after being captured by the humans.
The physical memory of that time seemed to have instantly returned to the present Deng Xi. He seemed to have become the same as at that time. His breathing was frozen in the seawater, and his tail fin couldn’t move at all. He could only drown and sink to the bottom, his spirit always imprisoned in the dimness, his head splitting with pain, and he was so nauseous he wanted to vomit.
Deng Xi clutched his abdomen. The moment he pressed his palm on it, the nauseating feeling of wanting to vomit instantly intensified. He retched several times while holding onto the flying chair, but he didn’t throw up anything.
He could only, in the midst of the intense physiological reaction, uncontrollably shed tears. In his tear-blurred vision, Deng Xi saw the silver-tail, who was locked in the treatment pod, with his head lowered, as if lifeless. His human legs were locked in the restraint, and in the gap between his separated legs, there seemed to be a mucus connecting them, faintly visible, as if it wanted to sew the two legs back into a fish tail.
But because of the restraint, the human legs could never become a closed fish tail, just like the silver-tail’s fish tail had been forcibly cut into two legs, and could never be changed back.
The silver-tail was oblivious. Only when he felt the splitting pain in his legs would he subconsciously struggle, hitting the treatment pod in front of him, and then quietly sinking back into silence.
Deng Xi couldn’t see the silver-tail’s expression now.
Because the silver scales had almost covered the silver-tail’s entire body, even his face was almost covered in scales. He seemed to have truly become an ugly monster.
But it shouldn’t be like this.
Deng Xi let out a beast-like whimper.
His little mute should be swaying his bright silver fish tail in the ocean. The silver scales would sparkle, as beautiful as a starry night sky.
In any case, it shouldn’t be like this.
Treating a sickness was not to turn oneself into this.
The flying chair, which had been flashing with a green light, suddenly switched to a rapid red light. After flashing a few times, it dimmed and went out. The glowing flying chair instantly went black and fell to the ground with a “clang.” Because its energy had been exhausted, it stopped operating.
Deng Xi also swayed a few times. He didn’t know what had happened. In the darkness, he frantically tried to drive the operating system, but no matter how he tried, the flying chair was firmly stuck on the ground and could no longer fly.
The treatment pod was hidden in the darkness again.
Deng Xi seemed to have returned to the day when he could only watch helplessly in the ocean as the little mute was taken away.
If he couldn’t fly, he couldn’t fly.
He was still that little merman who couldn’t do anything and was useless on land.
Deng Xi propped up his soft and weak fish tail with his arms. He wanted to open the treatment pod and let out the little mute who was locked inside.
But he didn’t have human legs and couldn’t walk on the ground. After propping himself up, Deng Xi realized that he couldn’t get out of the flying chair with his own strength.
A merman’s strength was simply too small.
Deng Xi tried his best to lift his fish tail, but it was to no avail.
The flying chair also swayed with Deng Xi’s movements. Finally, when Deng Xi’s strength gave out and he fell heavily into the flying chair, the flying chair also shook violently, and Deng Xi, who was inside, fell to the ground with a “thump.”
The intense pain of falling to the ground instantly washed over him.
Tears fell again due to the physiological pain.
Deng Xi fell in the darkness. His curly golden hair was stuck to his wet face. He couldn’t help but curl up, his body trembling pitifully. He took a few deep breaths in a small voice, and his sobs were almost squeezed out of his throat.
If he had to cut his tail to turn into human legs, Deng Xi thought, then he was willing.
His blue eyes closed tightly as if to escape.
Deng Xi never wanted to just watch helplessly in place, his tears falling one by one.
That was too useless.
He curled up his big tail and, almost on the verge of a breakdown, recalled what the little mute had taught him at that time. Deng Xi touched his own tail, measured it with his fingertips, bit by bit, and with a trembling voice, squeezed out a few words, “Foot, leg, knee…”
Over and over again.
Time and time again.
It was useless.
Just like at that time, it was of no use at all.
Deng Xi hugged his tail, and his whole body curled up. He wiped all his tears on his tail.
What should he do?
What should he do?
The door of the treatment pod was too high. With just his fish tail, he couldn’t reach it at all, nor did he have the strength to open the locked door.
Deng Xi didn’t even know how to get in front of the treatment pod now.
Because the flying chair had stopped operating and was no longer spraying a water mist, his tail would soon become dry, and with a single movement, many fish scales would fall off.
Deng Xi whimpered a few times.
Almost helplessly, he thought, the ocean that had been protecting him ever since he had hatched from his merman egg, could it help him again?
A merman in trouble would subconsciously seek help from the ocean that had nurtured them. Deng Xi allowed his mental sea to spread. It was as if he had instantly returned to the deep sea. His nose was filled with the salty, damp scent of the seabed, and a gentle sea breeze brought the sunlight and blew slowly.
In a daze, Deng Xi seemed to hear a very, very light sigh in his mental sea. It was as if it were his own illusion. Just as he had come back to his senses from that sigh, he felt that the touch of his hugged tail seemed to have changed.
Deng Xi opened his eyes slightly.
Under the Jiaoren silk, he saw a pair of human legs. They were as soft and weak as a fish tail, but at least they could let Deng Xi walk on land.
Deng Xi’s eyelids curved. With a tremble, another tear fell. He said a light thank you to the ocean in his heart.
Deng Xi struggled to get up.
Because it was his first time walking, his weak legs were still not very proficient. The moment he eagerly took his first step, he fell to the ground again.
These legs couldn’t run, nor could they jump.
Even walking was so difficult.
Deng Xi got up again and again, and fell to the ground again and again. The legs that had just transformed were soon covered in purple bruises, and the skin was even broken, oozing a sticky blood.
After an countless number of times, Deng Xi finally fell in front of the treatment pod. He held onto the treatment pod with all his might, slowly got up, and gripped the cabin door tightly.
The design of the treatment pod door used a pressure difference.
A person outside the cabin could easily pull it open, but a person inside could not push it open no matter how hard they tried, unless the treatment pod automatically ended its operation.
Deng Xi easily pulled open the cabin door.
Before he could react, all the tranquilizer in the treatment pod gushed out. After the cabin door was pulled open, the restraint that was locking the silver-tail also quickly unlocked automatically.
Deng Xi stood in a pool of sticky tranquilizer. The oblivious silver-tail in the treatment pod suddenly fell towards him.
His already unsupported legs made Deng Xi fall to the ground at once. The heavy silver-tail pressed on him, carrying a cold, damp aura. After he was no longer suppressed, his human legs also quickly turned into a bright silver fish tail.
The slowly opening silver eyes revealed a pair of beast-like, slitted pupils.
His body was in a lot of pain.
But Deng Xi curved his eyelids very lightly.
He was not afraid at all.
Even though he was now facing a silver-tail who had no reason and did not recognize him.
Deng Xi hugged his little mute very, very tightly. The silver scales that covered the silver-tail’s entire body made this hug also painful.
This feeling of a foreign object woke the drowsy silver Jiaoren up. He sluggishly reached out his Jiaoren claws and slightly touched his own face.
What he felt was not smooth skin, but a face full of chilling scales.
The silver Jiaoren seemed very confused. He subconsciously tilted his head, making a movement that was a residual muscle memory, not understanding how he had become like this.
A tear after another overflowed from his blue eyes.
Deng Xi’s eyes curved into a smile. He rubbed his soft cheek against the scales on the silver-tail’s face, not minding at all and pressing tightly against the silver scales.
His voice also became very soft.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s okay no matter what you become.”
I will still hold you tightly.
