LSDWTWHA chapter 66

Chapter 65

The little shark fell into a deep sleep, slowly changing under the influence of the medication.

Qi Hanyi quietly watched him through the glass, repeatedly recalling what Su Su had just said.

Su Su liked him. Qi Hanyi was not unaware; Su Su never hid his feelings, expressing his happiness and sorrow straightforwardly. But because of this, he wanted to hide—he had to hide.

From the moment he sank into that dark, cold deep sea, he knew that his parents had already left him behind.

His grandfather took him in, providing for his basic needs and teaching him how to navigate life, but in return, he required absolute obedience and satisfactory results.

From that moment on, he had to be responsible for his own life, no longer having anyone to shield him from the storm. After nightmares, there would be no songs to lull him back to sleep; when he was ill or sad, no one would indulge him in laziness; no one cared about his emotions, and no one paid attention to his joys or sorrows.

Before that incident, although he seemed more mature than his peers, he still occasionally revealed a childlike side. But after that incident, he gradually became the emotionless, tireless work machine he was now.

Because he knew he had to be this way to survive.

Qi Hanyi looked at a corner beside the fish tank, where the shark plush toy A Yin, brought back by Su Su from the old house, lay quietly. Looking at it reminded him of the little shark from back then. He often thought that perhaps that kind little shark only carried him while his heart had long been buried in the cold deep sea.

How could someone without a heart respond to a heartfelt affection?

Qi Hanyi stubbornly sealed away all his emotions, and now he didn’t even know how to perceive his own feelings.

When he learned that he suffered from mental force collapse syndrome, Qi Hanyi even felt a sense of relief; he finally had an excuse to lay down his burdens and rest. But now, he wanted to live.

He wanted to wait until after revenge, until everything was in order, to think carefully about what came next for him and Su Su.

But not now. He had seen his mother die from coughing blood; even a mermaid like her could be so heartbroken because of her feelings that it led to her demise. If he were to die from mental force collapse, making Su Su grieve for him, how could he bear that?

Qi Hanyi waited for Su Su to transform from a shark into a mermaid and then into a human, to fish him out of the tank, dry him off with a towel, and gently place him on the bed.

Su Su’s sleeping face was completely different from his awakened, bristling form; he looked both beautiful and obedient.

By the time Qi Hanyi came back to his senses, he had unconsciously kissed Su Su’s forehead, then his nose, and lips. He kissed with deep reverence, his expression resembling a believer bowing at the feet of a deity, and also like prey enchanted by a siren.

The gentle breath of the other interrupted Qi Hanyi’s movements.

He snapped back to reality, suddenly realizing what he had done. He awkwardly pulled Su Su’s blanket up and quickly walked out the door.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Su Su opened his eyes.

He had already woken up when Qi Hanyi was wiping the water off him, using all his acting skills to endure until the moment Qi Hanyi’s kiss landed on his lips, causing his breath to become slightly irregular.

But he did not open his eyes, nor did he reach for Qi Hanyi to explain why he kissed him.

Su Su didn’t even know why he pretended to be unaware; if he had to say, it was probably because when Qi Hanyi kissed him, he suddenly had a vague feeling that Qi Hanyi was sad.

After lying down for a little while longer, Su Su got up to get dressed. Dinner was ready, and after days of cold war, they rarely sat together again to share a meal.

“My earlier actions were wrong; I shouldn’t have unilaterally put you in a protected position.” At the dining table, Qi Hanyi broke the silence first, his voice recovering the usual businesslike tone: “If you want to go, then go. Before that, I will tell you everything I have found out here.”

Su Su looked up in surprise, with rice grains still stuck to the corner of his mouth. He stared at Qi Hanyi as if he suddenly didn’t recognize him; earlier, the other’s attitude had been so firm that he hadn’t thought he would relent.

Qi Hanyi reached out to wipe the rice grains off Su Su’s mouth, pondering how to explain the complex interests involved.

He had seen Su Su play games and knew very well the way Su Su liked to take risks to reap maximum benefits, which worried him that in reality, he would also put himself in danger. But at the same time, Qi Hanyi knew that Su Su was very good at utilizing known information to maximize his advantages. So if he couldn’t keep Su Su in a safe place, he could only provide as much information advantage as possible.

After a moment, Qi Hanyi started with the events themselves: “The proxy gaming incident this time was orchestrated by the Mo family, led by Mo Shan, the eldest son of the Mo family. He is the heir of the Mo family and the chairman of a chamber of commerce. Mo Shan embodies a typical merchant mindset, placing great importance on profit. The surface goal of this operation is to control the betting game and obtain high returns.”

“If that were the case, he only needed to use a proxy to play; there was no need to instruct those three in the program to target me,” Su Su thoughtfully analyzed. “Does he know about your relationship with me and deliberately set a trap for you here?”

In the face of Su Su’s quick understanding, Qi Hanyi found it easier to explain: “That’s right; he likely expects me, or more accurately the military, to distance myself from you. This way, he can immediately produce evidence to confirm our relationship, and then public opinion will completely turn against us, allowing him to easily rid himself of the military’s control over ‘Star Wars.’”

“In fact, Mo Shan, who is responsible for the operation of ‘Star Wars,’ has always been dissatisfied with the military’s prohibition on the exchange of gaming currency and reality; he is using this incident to pressure me. In matters of profit, even if the plan fails now, he won’t let it go easily.”

Su Su nodded, agreeing with his thoughts. However, he still didn’t quite understand: “‘Star Wars’ operates based on data provided by the military, so breaking away from the military should give him greater profits?”

Qi Hanyi served Su Su some dishes while the latter had been too busy questioning to eat: “Most of the recharge revenue from ‘Star Wars’ goes into the military’s coffers, and the actual profit for the Mo family, after deducting operating costs, is not substantial at all. So he wants to open the gaming currency to reality to tap into additional profits through some hidden channels that the military can’t trace.”

Su Su gnawed on the duck leg that Qi Hanyi had served him: “So when one plan fails, you worry he will move against me at this gathering, looking for some leverage to threaten you? Why can he attend the banquet; is his wife also a mermaid?”

“That is not the case, but the club hosting the banquet is a property of his family.”

“Moreover, as far as I know, next to that club is the Mermaid Training Center run by the Mo family, where they utilize some abandoned mermaids for—let’s say—some illicit mermaid business.”

“The Mermaid Training Center? What exactly is that place?” Su Su recalled that Yan Bai had mentioned this place, and it seemed that the mermaids there led miserable lives.

Qi Hanyi was reluctant to describe the conditions there, but he felt Su Su deserved to know:

“On the surface, it claims to be a place for the shelter and training of mermaids. If humans feel their mermaid partners are not obedient enough, or if their mermaid partners cannot differentiate for a long time, they would be sent there for training and transformation.”

“Additionally, mermaids who escape marriage, trigger the law, or are abandoned by their human partners, or whose human partners have died, are also sent there.”

“In reality, the training there is tantamount to torture, and those transformed mermaids are more like terrified victims than trainees. To avoid returning there, they naturally learn to be compliant. Those mermaids who have lost their partners are treated like slaves, and after a period of training, they are sent to the Mo family’s clubs to become special service staff, catering to sophisticated clients there.”

“During your visit to the club, you should also see a few such mermaids. The so-called annual gathering is merely a pretext. The purpose of the banquet is to allow those nobles who have already married mermaids to bring their mermaids along, letting them witness the power of the Training Center, so their mermaids will behave obediently at home.”

Su Su seemed to understand. He could also comprehend why Yan Bai exhibited such anger when referring to this place. If he were confined in such a place and subjected to humiliation, he would probably hate to kill everyone inside.

However, he wasn’t one of them, so he knew and understood, yet he felt neither anger nor hatred.

He just felt slightly confused: “Is there no one opposing this?”

“Naturally, there are.” Qi Hanyi replied. He vaguely remembered that his father had once detested such places and had always hoped to abolish these training centers. Unfortunately, he did not succeed; all he could do was avoid bringing his mother to such places.

“But the supporters are more numerous and are of higher status. They are either participants or beneficiaries; they will shield all related discussions and eliminate anyone who dares to oppose them. In mainstream thought, mermaids are considered the private property of human partners, so this kind of issue hardly garners any concern. Even if it became a public scandal, it wouldn’t stir much controversy.”

“Hmm.” After hearing Qi Hanyi’s description, Su Su somewhat understood Yan Bai’s intense animosity towards humans. At the same time, a new suspicion arose in his mind. He had just stuffed a big mouthful of rice and was eager to speak without chewing thoroughly: “The Mo family isn’t the true mastermind behind this, right? Earlier, even you didn’t know about my connection with the whitefin shark, so it shows that Yan Bai’s account was very secretive; the Mo family shouldn’t have been able to trace it.”

“Hmm.” Qi Hanyi raised his hand to pour Su Su a bowl of soup, his eyes carrying some encouragement: “Take your time; don’t choke.”

Su Su took the soup and gulped it down, finally letting out a long breath: “Is it Yan Bai? Or rather, the people behind him—did they give my information to the Mo family? Yan Bai has always displayed animosity towards humans; he also tried to indoctrinate me with this mindset. It seems he might hope to use me to do something detrimental to humans.”

“But they failed, so they want to eliminate me?”

“You guessed it right. According to my investigation, Yan Bai and his family’s maritime business have close ties with an organization called ‘Dark Tide’ on Freedom Island. A few months ago, this organization colluded with the Insect Clan, causing confidential information from the space station to be stolen. The assassins you encountered on your way to deliver the marriage proposal should also be their people. Yan Bai’s contact with you, giving you the ‘Star Wars’ account, was not purely innocent.”

“But I don’t feel that Yan Bai is a bad person.” Su Su’s suspicions were confirmed, but he did not feel happy; he had always regarded Yan Bai as a friend.

Qi Hanyi felt a soften in his heart and comforted, “Perhaps Yan Bai truly wants to help you, striving to sway you in hopes of saving your life. Directly using you against me would more align with their interests.”

“Hmm, I think so too.” Su Su immediately perked up again: “What exactly do they want to do?”

“It should be related to the Bai Ze ship.” Qi Hanyi’s expression became serious as he stated as neutrally as possible: “Also, many years ago when my mother killed my father, she asked about the Bai Ze ship’s login permissions. I highly suspect she might have been brainwashed by this organization, or she might have initially been sent by this organization to deal with my father.”

“How could they do that!” Su Su stood up abruptly, his eyes instantly turning red, tears welling in his eyes, his teeth clenched as if he was about to go to the Dark Tide organization and eat mermaids alive.

Qi Hanyi had already accepted this fact, so even when it was mentioned, he could restrain his emotions. But he hadn’t expected Su Su to react so strongly.

Qi Hanyi stood there, momentarily taken aback: “How could you…”

“Splash!” Su Su’s tears gushed forth from his eyes, he sniffled and, with a choked voice, said: “Why? Your father was such a, such a good person; he treated mermaids so well. Why did they have to do this?”

“If it wasn’t for that, if it wasn’t like that, you wouldn’t… wuwu.” Su Su cried, unable to articulate his words, his mind flooded with the memories of pulling that boy from the sea, the moment when he was nearly breathless, and the despair in his eyes when he woke up.

He had seen it, he had experienced it. That man taught Qi Hanyi the Book of Songs, lecturing him on what it meant to be human, his tone so gentle. He gave himself a name and fed the little fish. He even tried to change the future of mermaids, conveying profound truths. A man so good, so good—why did he have to die at the hands of such trivial hatred? He had done nothing wrong from beginning to end.

Qi Hanyi could have been so happy, but in a single day, he lost his father and then his mother. He sank in the deep sea, nearly losing his own life. For so many years, he had lived a painful life alone.

“I’m fine, it’s all in the past; don’t cry, don’t cry…” Qi Hanyi was somewhat at a loss. It was the first time he had seen Su Su cry. In his eyes, although Su Su had a somewhat delicate appearance, his character was actually quite strong. He could hardly understand why Su Su remained indifferent to so many stories of mermaids but cried so heartbrokenly over his father’s death.

“Wuwu, I… I must find the murderer!” Su Su buried his face in Qi Hanyi’s shoulder, wiping his tears while hiccupping, speaking in broken phrases: “As long as I’m here, they won’t succeed.”