The Love-Hate and Grudges Between Me and the Mermaid - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Can heavy rain dilute the blood inside a person’s body?

Two days had passed since that sacrificial-style “God-feeding” ritual.

The moment the anomaly was discovered, although the police quickly subdued the instigators, it was a step too late.

The superficial skin of those people had long been corroded by the rainwater. Their bodies withered at a speed visible to the naked eye; muscles clung tightly to bone, curling into fetal clumps.

It was as if their blood had been siphoned dry.

The fake Mayor was also nowhere to be found.

Were there any survivors?

Yes.

Lin Ling put on a mask and sterile suit before entering the Intensive Care Unit. At the very back lay a single survivor.

“How is she now?”

Tang Xingran glanced at Lin Ling. “Still alive.”

Lin Ling: “Then when will she—”

Before she could finish, Tang Xingran added immediately: “She’s dying soon.”

Lin Ling: “?”

Tang Xingran explained: “Her hematopoietic function is destroyed. No matter how much blood we transfuse, she’s beyond saving. Moreover…”

As she spoke, she pulled back the white sheet, revealing the survivor’s head. Her facial features were no longer distinguishable; the entire face looked as if it had been hacked off with a blade, leaving only a few hollow pits.

Those were where the eyes and nose used to be.

Moving downward, the survivor’s body looked like sun-dried fruit weather-beaten, parched, and wrinkled, as if she would crumble into shards at a single touch.

“Is there really no way?” Lin Ling pressed on stubbornly. “We need to understand the situation at the time to take measures to capture the culprit and give their families an explanation.”

Yet, in the depths of her eyes, there was no reverence or pity for the dead, nor joy for the living; there was only a fanatical obsession with experimental data.

“No,” Tang Xingran shook her head. She couldn’t quite understand people like this. She covered the body with the sheet, her gaze resting lightly on the survivor. After a long silence, she uttered: “I’m sorry.”

It was unclear whether these words were meant for Lin Ling or for the survivor about to pass away.

Lin Ling dazed for a moment, pausing before giving a formal reply: “Don’t be like that. You’ve done your best. Use the remaining time to get some rest.”

After saying it, she felt a twinge of regret. Just as she was about to say something else, Tang Xingran gave a soft “Mm,” packed her things, and walked out.

Lin Ling stood there. After a few seconds, as if remembering something, she jogged to catch up. “Dr. Tang, in your opinion, how did this accident form?”

“What were your preliminary investigation results?” Tang Xingran asked, stripping off her gloves and sterile suit.

“That involves top-secret matters. I’m afraid I cannot answer.”

“Then in the natural world, which creature do you think drinks blood?” Tang Xingran changed into a standard medical protective suit and pushed the door open. No matter how much Lin Ling called after her, she didn’t look back.

Lin Ling stopped calling and pondered Tang Xingran’s words.

Which creature in nature drinks blood?

Leeches, mosquitoes, lampreys, bats…①

Could this anomaly have originated from these creatures?

Lin Ling returned to the car and opened her laptop to search for data. Before long, Kara and Yoshitani Kaede also returned.

Their investigation seemed to have gone poorly. The car door was yanked open roughly. Insects that had managed to crawl from the ground into the dark crevices of the door were startled, scrambling to crawl out and deeper into hiding.

“Oh, disgusting bugs!”

Kara let out a frustrated cry. “I really don’t understand—with so many people available, why did the Empress have to send us!”

“The Lower District is absolutely nauseating!”

“Do you know what they give you when you buy milk tea here? Used tissue paper! Do you know what’s on it? Snot, feces, blood, urine stains!!!”

Since that policy was enacted in the Lower District, Kara knew the living environment would be absurd, but she hadn’t expected it to be this absurd. Her voice grew uncontrollably agitated. “My god, I simply can’t imagine how these people survive!”

Yoshitani Kaede remained silent, merely taking out disinfectant wipes to clean the door handles and seats for her, shooing away the bugs.

Lin Ling closed her laptop and gave a light laugh to soothe Kara. “This shows the Empress’s plan is successful. Our experiments will soon achieve a breakthrough. The genes of all humanity will be improved, and we will never have to fear nature again…”

“Let’s get in the car first. It’s not convenient to talk here.”

At the mention of the Empress and their great cause, Kara’s anger subsided significantly. “Fine. For the sake of humanity, I’ll endure a bit longer.”

Afterward, they exchanged information and found it was mostly the same. After grabbing a bite in the car, Kara suddenly remembered something. “I heard about someone.”

Kara rummaged through her bag and pulled out a photograph, placing it before the three of them.

“Someone said that minutes before the incident, a black-haired woman hurriedly dragged a blue-haired woman away. They were acting sneaky, as if conspiring.”

“I suspect…” Kara looked at the expressions of the other two and whispered, “She,”

Her slightly chubby finger pointed at the blue-haired woman in the photo. “Might be the culprit behind this accident.”

A good eye she had picked the one with the most explosive combat power between the two, but she guessed wrong.

The accident certainly had nothing to do with them.

The blue-haired woman only wanted to live a good life with the black-haired woman.

She didn’t care whether the others lived or died.

Lin Ling didn’t know whether to tell the truth. If she did, it would touch upon top-secret events again.

If she didn’t, they might waste a vast amount of time on these two people and miss the golden opportunity to capture the S-rank anomaly.

Yes, the escaped anomaly was rated S-rank.

The third S-rank anomaly of the Empire.

But before she could finish her thought, Yoshitani Kaede turned the key and drove toward the address on the back of the photo.

“Holy crap, we’re actually going? I was just talking!” Kara’s vision went dark. She was just an ordinary person who liked researching weird gadgets; when it came to catching anomalies and interrogating suspects, she was absolutely useless!

Why did Yoshitani Kaede actually listen to her?

“We’re just going to take a look. It won’t take long.” While they spoke, the car stopped at the destination. Yoshitani Kaede got out first and opened the doors for Kara and Lin Ling.

Kara acted hesitantly. “But we don’t have an arrest warrant…”

“…” Lin Ling took a deep breath. “We’ll look first. We can only get a warrant if there is solid evidence.”

Kara: “Oh.”

…

It’s over!

Bu Yan stood in the kitchen. A casual glance outside revealed a military truck, and her heart jumped into her throat.

The Empire’s Prime Minister sent people to catch her!

She just spoke a bit of truth, was it really necessary? She had already deleted the post, yet a month later, they still came to arrest her!

But Yan felt exhausted. She picked up a knife and started thumping it against the cutting board. Ian had just finished processing a fish in the backyard; entering the kitchen and seeing Bu Yan’s frantic state, she hurriedly snatched the knife away, fearing she would cut her hand.

“Bu Yan, be careful,” Ian said exasperatedly.

But Yan snapped out of it, glanced at Ian, then rushed to the storage room to find a lock, putting a double security measure on the door.

“What’s wrong?” Ian followed her out.

“Someone is coming to catch me,” Bu Yan said mysteriously. “Ian, do you remember me saying I’m not from here?”

Vaguely.

Bu Yan continued, “I also said this world would enter the apocalypse.”

Ian nodded, remembering completely now.

But Yan had also said to not kill her, for the sake of their relationship as wives.

At the time, Ian thought her identity had been exposed, so she blocked Bu Yan’s memories and modified her cognition.

But the modification didn’t seem very successful.

Ian stared into Bu Yan’s black eyes. Her gaze moved down, fixing on her tempting red lips.

Today, Bu Yan seemed to have applied something called lip glaze…

So beautiful.

I wonder what it tastes like to kiss her.

Will it be sweet?

Did that mermaid kiss her?

Ian watched Bu Yan quietly, her gaze sorrowful and fearful, as if she were listening very seriously to the other’s account of the world.

When Bu Yan reached an exciting part, she would cooperate by frowning or opening her mouth wide, appearing as if she were frightened.

But in reality, her mind had wandered far away, wondering if she should modify her again.

Make her a bit more obedient, a bit more submissive, a bit more trusting of the Alien God. Ideally—

Make her forget that mermaid too, so she only remembers her, and only loves her.

With only her left in her world.