Chapter 56: Tracker
The air seemed to be heating up.
Deng Xi, who had been alone in the ocean for years, didn’t know that he was a little merman who liked to hug before he came to the human world. But when he was close to the little mute, he would feel a very comfortable feeling. The convergence of their body temperatures and the mingling of their breaths would make Deng Xi feel very safe and warm.
It was completely different from when he hugged the blue whale or the little dolphin. There was no seawater, and it was dry and gentle.
Even when they hugged in the ocean, it was very comfortable.
Deng Xi was incoherent and asked tentatively, “Then can we hug for a little longer?”
Si Jisheng clearly had not considered that Deng Xi would push his luck. He was speechless for a moment, but still restrained himself and had Deng Xi sit properly.
Deng Xi swayed his legs in disappointment. He bent down to poke the little jellyfish in the shell and chatted with it. “Little jellyfish, look, my tail has turned into human legs.”
The treatment solution had worked in these few days. Many of the bruises on Deng Xi’s legs had disappeared and healed, leaving only a faint layer. His knees under his overalls were pink, and the half of his calves that were exposed above his white socks had no excess fat and were smooth and fair.
It had become as beautiful as his tail.
Si Jisheng opened his comm and clicked on a video that his subordinate had sent, placing it in front of Deng Xi.
Deng Xi looked over curiously.
The blue screen showed a top-down view. The person filming was on a flying ship in mid-air, recording downwards.
The first thing that appeared was a vast ocean. The deep blue surface of the sea seemed to be hiding some behemoth.
It wasn’t until the seawater was stirred up by a giant fin, creating a huge wave, that Deng Xi saw who was lurking under the surface of the sea. He grabbed the little mute’s hand in pleasant surprise and pointed at the blue screen with wide eyes. “It’s Big Whale!”
Si Jisheng “hmm”-ed. “I thought you would want to see it.”
This was what Si Jisheng had had the military personnel record when they were preparing to leave. The blue whale seemed to know that the humans in the sky were looking at it and, without warning, spouted a high column of water.
The camera was instantly covered by the huge splash, leaving wet droplets, and a few chaotic human voices could be heard.
Deng Xi laughed so hard he fell onto the little mute beside him. “Big Whale is making trouble again.”
“But it doesn’t have any ill intentions.”
The clear and ethereal whale’s call echoed throughout the entire ocean and lingered in the entire sky. The huge blue whale floated on the surface of the water and let out another low cry.
After Deng Xi heard it, he was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh and said softly, “Alright.”
Si Jisheng knew that the merman species could communicate with intelligent sea creatures. He asked, “Can you let me know too?”
Deng Xi was momentarily dazed. “Doesn’t Little Mute understand?”
Si Jisheng was slightly stunned, and his fingertips suddenly tensed.
Jiaoren, of course, did not have the merman’s language talent.
Deng Xi didn’t think much of it. He thought it was because the little mute couldn’t speak before, which was why he hadn’t communicated with sea creatures and couldn’t understand what Big Whale was saying.
He explained, “Big Whale is saying that I should remember to come back and play with it in the future.”
Deng Xi was in high spirits. “Can we still go back to the ocean to play in the future? Will Little Mute come with me to find Big Whale?”
After Si Jisheng had calmed down, he did not immediately agree. “If there’s a chance.”
Deng Xi pursed his lips in disappointment.
Si Jisheng continued, “I’ll take you on vacation after I’ve successfully arranged for a leave.”
Deng Xi’s lips curved into a cheerful smile. “Pinky promise!”
Before Si Jisheng made the pinky promise, he said again, “But you can’t stay in the ocean forever. You have to come back with me.”
Deng Xi “hmm”-ed twice. “I won’t abandon Little Mute and let Little Mute be all alone in the human world.”
“No matter what happens?”
“Never!”
Under the continuous safety training, Deng Xi was able to walk slowly by himself, holding onto the buildings, after three days. But every time, he couldn’t walk for long before he would be exhausted again and need to sit down and rest.
But he finally didn’t have to ride the flying chair every day.
After his leg injuries had healed, Si Jisheng would also accommodate him and sleep with Deng Xi in the ocean at night. More often than not, if the little mute was not around, Deng Xi still liked to turn back into his fish tail and play with the little jellyfish in the ocean.
Today was the weekend.
The little merman, who didn’t have to go out, was curled up in his shell and slept until the sun was high in the sky.
He vaguely sensed the light shining in from the crack of the shell. Deng Xi moved his eyelids, then turned over, his back to the crack, and continued to sleep soundly.
Not long after, the shell was suddenly knocked on.
Deng Xi vaguely felt the sound and subconsciously curled up, covering his ears.
Let him sleep a little longer.
Just a little while.
After a pause, the shell was knocked on again.
Si Jisheng waited quietly for a while. Just as he was about to knock a third time, the tightly closed shell was opened a crack by the little merman inside. The sleepy Deng Xi rubbed his eyes and obediently sat up.
Not a single bit of morning grumpiness.
Deng Xi’s voice was still drowsy from just waking up, sticky and mushy. “Why did you knock on the shell?”
Si Jisheng gestured for Deng Xi to look at the sunlight on the surface of the sea. “It’s already very late.”
The prepared breakfast had been placed by the side of the pool for a long time. The sauce was about to solidify, but no little merman had come to eat.
The little jellyfish had already caught some plankton from the ocean and had finished eating, but Deng Xi was still not awake.
Si Jisheng had no choice but to go into the water and wake Deng Xi up.
Deng Xi blinked his eyes in a daze, looked up at the sunlight that was shining into the sea and making the surface of the water warm, and his translucent golden gills slowly flapped once, as if a little guilty.
Deng Xi let out a string of small bubbles, blinked his clear blue eyes, and his blue tail fin rested on the side of the shell, swaying gently, trying to cover up the fact that he had become a little lazy bug today.
Si Jisheng gave him a way out. “Come and eat breakfast.”
Deng Xi nodded his head.
The silver-tail flicked his tail fin and slowly swam towards the surface of the sea. Deng Xi followed behind like a little tail.
Breakfast was ordinary raw, thin fish slices and a few raw oysters.
While Deng Xi was eating, Si Jisheng took off his comm and opened the blue screen to operate something.
Deng Xi moved closer to the silver-tail, and like a little hamster, he bit the fish slices one by one, eating very slowly.
Ever since Deng Xi had realized that he would no longer be hungry and could eat delicious food every day, his eating speed had slowed down, unlike before when he would finish a whole fish in a few bites. Under Si Jisheng’s supervision, Deng Xi had corrected this bad habit a long time ago.
“What is Little Mute doing?” Deng Xi looked around curiously. In these few days of studying with Bunny, he had learned more and more characters.
Deng Xi read out, one by one, “Tracker?”
Si Jisheng acknowledged with a sound. “It’ll be assembled soon.”
Deng Xi didn’t quite understand. “What’s this for?”
Si Jisheng did not explain immediately. After it was assembled, he opened his own comm. The two blue screens showed the exact same interface. In the center of a green, silk-like, circular network that extended in all directions, two small red dots were pressed tightly together.
He put the comm back on Deng Xi’s hand and said, “This is us.”
Deng Xi asked in a daze, “Are these two little red dots us?” After getting an affirmative answer, he poked the transparent blue screen in the air with some novelty. He tapped the left side and saw his own comm light up. “This is me.”
Si Jisheng nodded.
Deng Xi then tapped the small red dot next to it. “This is Little Mute!”
Si Jisheng nodded again. “Its data is updated in real time.”
Deng Xi blinked his clueless eyes.
Si Jisheng taught him, “Shall we swim a circle and see?”
The silver-tail and the blue-tail flicked their tail fins in the seawater. Under the light that pierced through the surface of the sea, they flashed with a fragmented light. Even though their swimming speed was not fast, they still created a colorful line in the turbulent current they passed through.
They left the pool under the glass room, passed through the reef channel under the sea, and came to the open ocean.
The comm was not turned off. On the blue screen, the two small red dots that were pressed tightly together were moving in the green network.
Deng Xi noticed and stopped. “It’s moving with us!”
Si Jisheng also stopped flicking his tail fin. “Swim another circle by yourself and see.”
After Deng Xi had swum a certain distance, he looked at the little mute behind him. The two small red dots on the blue screen were still pressed together.
He tentatively stirred up the seawater again and swam towards the reef beach in the distance.
Not long after he had swum, Deng Xi noticed something was wrong.
The two small red dots that were pressed tightly together had separated!
The one on the right was still in the same place, while the one on the left was following Deng Xi’s movements. When Deng Xi swam to the left, the small red dot also followed to the left. When he went to the right, the small red dot also followed to the right.
So magical!
This way, even if he couldn’t contact the little mute in the future, he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to find him!
Deng Xi swam even further, until the silver-tail behind him had almost shrunk to a blurry figure, then to a star-like speck of bright silver, and finally disappeared completely.
At this time, Deng Xi had already arrived above the reef beach he had seen earlier. Deng Xi swam to the surface, turned a circle, and then looked at the blue screen in a daze.
He was preparing to test it.
Just as Deng Xi was about to turn back in the direction of the other small red dot, when he sank below the surface of the sea, he saw a faint flash of silver on the reef beach further down.
Deng Xi blinked in a daze, then looked back at the empty ocean behind him. He remembered that that was the direction where the little mute was.
This should be the silver light reflected by the light. He tentatively swam back. After seeing the two small red dots get closer, he happily flicked his blue tail fin.
By the time he had swum back to the waiting silver-tail, Deng Xi was exhausted, and his breathing was a bit ragged. But he said happily, “I know how to use it!”
Si Jisheng nodded slightly. “With the tracker, in the future, when I’m busy and can’t reply to your messages in time, you can go and play by yourself. You don’t have to tell me, but you have to be safe.”
“You can also follow the tracker to find me.”
