The Top-Tier Alpha Is Lured and Captured by a Green Tea Merman - Chapter 26

The banquet was not yet over when Pei Yan took the opportunity to make an excuse and leave mid-way. Simultaneously, the young man who had been surrounded and greeted by the crowd saw this and immediately ignored the sycophants around him to follow.

After exiting the venue, Pei Yan saw Xie Yu waiting for him not far away. He hesitated for a moment before walking over.

The man was not as warm or proactive as usual. Instead, he stood there quietly and somberly, watching him without speaking or moving, simply waiting for him to approach.

For some reason, Pei Yan felt a sense of condemnation in his gaze. Those eyes made him instantly hallucinate the other “Xie Yu,” as if he could see him questioning aggrievedly why he had agreed to get engaged to someone else. An involuntary surge of guilt rose in his heart.

He knew he was in the wrong this time. Someone had kindly tried to help him, yet he had publicly rejected that kindness and shamed them; no one would be happy in such a situation.

He stood still in front of Xie Yu, looking like a primary school student who had done something wrong and didn’t know what to do. However, Xie Yu only gave him a fleeting glance and said nothing. Instead, he took hold of him and quickly ducked into the nearby shrubbery, pressing a forefinger to his lips to signal him to remain silent.

Pei Yan was slightly startled but nodded gently to show he understood. However, in the next second, he seemed to spot something and froze—his gaze fell upon a wound on the man’s lower lip.

The position was identical to the bite mark he had left on Xie Yu.

Could it be him…

“Someone is coming,” Xie Yu whispered, looking straight ahead.

His train of thought interrupted, Pei Yan followed his line of sight.

He saw Song Yan stop at the spot where he had just been standing, looking around as if searching for something. Since Song Yan had come out so shortly after him, Pei Yan frowned slightly. Was he following me?

But he had no prior interaction with this man; he had only learned about him from He Bai earlier today.

Perhaps because he couldn’t find anyone, Song Yan seemed unwilling to give up. He stood there for a long time, but finally, having found no trace, he returned to the banquet hall with a cold expression.

Witnessing Song Yan’s fruitless search, Xie Yu turned to look at Pei Yan, his eyes glinting with a hint of teasing. “Commander Pei seems quite prone to attracting trouble, doesn’t he?”

Pei Yan: “…”

What did he mean by “prone to attracting trouble”? He didn’t even know that person named Song Yan.

However…

His gaze fell upon Xie Yu’s lips again. Pei Yan’s eyes were fixed, his whole body tense, and his mind went somewhat blank.

His intuition told him it was impossible for this person to be Xie Yu, but the wound before him, combined with the equally beautiful features and multiple overlapping factors, gave him a faint feeling that this man was Xie Yu.

“I… I have something to ask you.” Pei Yan looked up, meeting his eyes.

Xie Yu hadn’t noticed anything unusual yet. He was relaxed, appearing somewhat lazy. “Ask.”

Pei Yan reached out directly, touching the wound on his lip. “How did you get hurt here? Are you—”

Feeling the warmth on his lips, Xie Yu was momentarily stunned. However, he didn’t show it on the surface; he discreetly avoided the touch and pressed a fist against his lips. “My lover gets jealous easily and doesn’t like me having contact with others.”

Pei Yan’s hand, left hanging in the air, felt awkward. In the next second, his face turned a terrifying shade of red. He lowered his head, his eyes losing focus and his mind becoming a jumbled mess. He wished he could crawl into a hole in the ground right then and there.

Damn it, what was I thinking just now? He had actually forgotten that this man had a lover. He had been so brain-dead as to think the wound was from his own bite. Fortunately, he hadn’t said it out loud, or else it would have been incredibly embarrassing!

Seeing Pei Yan turning as red as a boiled shrimp—even the back of his neck flushed a light pink—Xie Yu almost couldn’t hold back a laugh. His large hand hovered over the nape of Pei Yan’s neck, but he stopped himself just before touching.

Regaining his composure, he shook his head with a chuckle, withdrew his hand, and stood up. “Commander Pei, let’s go.”

“Oh, okay,” Pei Yan replied quickly, following closely behind him.

Because of the palace banquet, the security forces had been partially redirected, allowing the two of them to enter the Imperial Research Institute smoothly.

They stealthily bypassed the guards and pushed open a door. A bone-chilling cold seeped into their marrow. Everywhere they looked, there were mechanical devices shimmering with a cold light and a disheveled bed. Only the mechanical “beep-beep” sounds filled the air; no horrific scenes were immediately visible.

Xie Yu walked straight to the wall and began feeling for something. Suddenly, a certain spot recessed inward with a “click.” The wall, which had appeared seamless, opened to reveal the scene inside.

A stench of blood wafted toward them. The interior space was vast, containing several large cylindrical glass tanks. Each tank imprisoned a mermaid—some with severed arms, others with severed tails. Almost every mermaid was covered in wounds so deep the bone was visible, injuries so severe that even their natural healing abilities could not repair them quickly.

In the center, on a metal bed, lay a green-tailed mermaid. Its beautiful, deep-green pupils had already dilated, staring lifelessly at the pale ceiling.

Pei Yan stared at it in disbelief. This was the very green-tailed mermaid he had purchased at the auction.

The once vibrant and beautiful mermaid was now breathless, discarded like a cold object. It was a bloody mess, its body riddled with hole after hole—a truly miserable sight.

The mermaids trapped in the glass tanks heard the commotion and began to thrash about restlessly. The water surged violently, causing secondary injuries to their wounds. Blood flowed out, forming ribbons of red in the water until the liquid turned murky.

“Stop moving…” Pei Yan said, unable to bear the sight, though he didn’t know how to comfort them. In their eyes, he was no different from the humans who researched them.

Hearing his voice, the mermaids swam even more frantically, and the murky water grew redder.

At that moment, a low chant drifted through the air. The notes were deep and melodious, carrying an ancient mystery that caused those who heard it to instinctively calm down.

The agitated mermaids immediately settled. Their wounds began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye. They turned in unison to look at Xie Yu as if they had found their pillar of support, bowing in deep respect.

“I will save you,” Xie Yu said. He spoke in the mermaid tongue, but strangely, Pei Yan could understand it.

Upon hearing this, the mermaids spoke in one voice.

“King, you have finally come to save us.”

“These humans are truly cruel; they actually capture us for research. They bind us, carving our flesh with knives and draining our blood every day. Many of our kin have already died miserably at their hands.”

“They constantly harm us for their own benefit. King, let us wage war against the humans. Such brutal creatures are no longer fit to rule this land.”

Hearing this, Pei Yan’s pupils contracted. He opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a single word. He had no right or standing to stop them; after all, in their eyes, he was also a heartless executioner.

“King, there is a human beside you! Do not be deceived by him!”

The mermaids looked at Pei Yan with hostility. Waves of Alpha pheromones laced with killing intent swirled in the air, pressing toward him like an overwhelming tide.

Xie Yu’s eyes turned sharp, and the wave of pheromones was instantly annihilated in the air.

“King…”

“He is my Queen,” Xie Yu declared with resounding authority.

The mermaids all showed expressions of shock. “King?”

One by one, they pressed against the glass tanks, their noses twitching slightly as they carefully identified the scent in the air. Their expressions changed instantly. That human seemed to be undergoing a transformation, and the power circulating within his body belonged to the deep sea.

Assuming Xie Yu had said those words just to protect him, Pei Yan knew he could no longer remain silent. He made a promise to the mermaids: “I guarantee that I will investigate this matter thoroughly. I will restore your freedom and will not let a single person who tortured you go unpunished.”

In contrast to their previous arrogance and anger, the mermaids now lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

Pei Yan looked at Xie Yu in confusion.

Xie Yu explained, “They do not dare to offend their future Queen.”

Pei Yan said thoughtfully, “In the end, it is we humans who have done wrong. I hope you can give me a chance, and give those innocent humans a chance. I will make sure those who harmed them get what they deserve.”

Xie Yu looked at him coldly. “Do you think you have the ability to contend with the Imperial Family?”

Pei Yan looked up sharply, his voice firm. “I will do my utmost to expose this and return a peaceful deep sea to you.”

“I can choose to believe you,” Xie Yu nodded slowly. “But my time is also limited. I hope Commander Pei can speed up.”

“Alright.” Pei Yan took off his wristband and scanned the research institute, copying the scenes inside. He said to the mermaids in the glass tanks, “Endure a little longer. I will see you safely back to the deep sea.”

After a moment of silence, Xie Yu suddenly asked, “Have you thought about the consequences of failure?”

“…No.”

Xie Yu let out a cold laugh. “Then Commander Pei is truly noble.”

“Do you think humans value their own interests or those of our mermaid race? Knowing that our flesh and blood have healing properties, will they release us back to the sea, or will they intensify their hunting? Commander Pei, do not be too naive.”

Knowing he was being mocked, Pei Yan didn’t get angry. Instead, he argued, “Not all humans are cruel.”

“But why should I believe the words of you humans and stake the lives of my kin on your species?” Xie Yu’s mood turned gloomy.

“I…” Pei Yan didn’t know what to say, because what the other said was indeed true.

Xie Yu suppressed his anger, but his target wasn’t Pei Yan—it was the hypocritical Imperial Family. He calmed his emotions. “Fine. Let’s head back first. Don’t alert the enemy.”

With that, the two quietly left and then parted ways.

The moment Pei Yan left, an elderly man appeared out of thin air. He knelt piously on the ground. “King, we can no longer delay. The deep sea is already showing signs of collapse. Since his heart belongs to the humans anyway, why not just—”

His face was full of malice as he spoke, but he was suddenly cut off. The elder made a few “he-he” choking sounds, unable to make any noise. He understood this was Xie Yu’s doing. His eyes were full of urgency, hoping their King would understand his painstaking efforts, but Xie Yu did not forgive him.

“I have my own arrangements for this matter. It is not your place to tell me what to do.”

Having said that, he vanished from the spot.

After attending the gathering, Song Yan changed back into his white coat and returned to the research institute. He opened the secret chamber. The faint, familiar scent in the air caused him to pause. After careful identification, he became even more certain, and a smile curled onto his lips.

He had been thinking about personally tracking the person down and finding a way to bring them back for research. He hadn’t expected them to walk straight into the trap and come here on their own.

It seemed that now, he only needed to wait quietly.