LSDWTWHA chapter 72

Chapter 71

Among those who heard Su Su’s threat, there were indeed some reckless outlaws who were not afraid of death, but before they could make a move, their companions pulled them back. Most of them had come here for work, simply lured by the good treatment; they could freely humiliate the powerless mermaids here, but they did not genuinely want to offend the high-ranking nobles.

Su Su had his arms restrained by two robots, and a binding device was fastened to his head, yet he stood up straight with a proud and calm expression, completely disregarding the people before him.

A sliver of sunlight shone through the narrow window of the outer wall, illuminating him. His black robe highlighted his mysterious and dangerous aura, with the metallic binding device reflecting a golden gleam, making him seem as if he wore a crown upon his head.

The one who ended this deadlock was Mo Lin. He had been on the sixth floor, in a dark room next to the torture chamber. Initially, he just wanted to admire the suffering of a mermaid for some creative inspiration but unexpectedly stumbled into a great performance.

Mo Lin approached the crowd, not even glancing at the disheveled staff or the mermaid on the floor, his eyes captivated by Su Su.

He had always felt that Su Su lacked a certain edge despite being beautiful; there was a softness in his demeanor. Su Su’s appearance was more alluring, but when he was next to Qi Hanyi, his gaze appeared pure and innocent, too harmless. This made his beauty feel somewhat suppressed.

Having just seen Su Su in battle, with a fierce glint in his eyes and a proud lift in his chin as he looked down upon the attendees, Mo Lin felt his heart racing, almost jumping out of his throat.

This was the expression! Mo Lin thought, he should display this sharp and proud demeanor. It made one want to place him upon a throne to worship and also to be scrutinized by those bloodthirsty eyes, willingly pierced through the heart.

Mo Lin found his throat parched, taking a moment to regain his voice: “Let him go. Mr. Su Su is currently just a guest at our training center. When did I allow you to act against him? Your treatment of a guest is quite rude.”

So I am a “guest,” Su Su blinked. The Mo family’s hospitality really is unique.

The rebuked staff quieted down. Mo Lin removed the binding from Su Su’s head, feigning a somewhat helpless expression: “Please don’t be nervous. You will be safe here. However, as a trade, I hope you can comply a bit with the rules, so I don’t have to be put in a difficult position.”

“As long as they don’t provoke me,” Su Su stated. Although he disliked Mo Lin’s pretentiousness, a small shark skilled at gauging circumstances knew not to provoke those he shouldn’t. Like now, while he could invoke Qi Hanyi’s name to intimidate these staff members, he still needed to show some face in front of Mo Lin, the de facto authority here.

“Of course,” Mo Lin responded, raising a friendly smile. He naturally had a sunny disposition, and with such a smile, he was always at ease. He had won the hearts of many mermaids and human girls with his good looks and seemingly harmless demeanor.

“Actually, I would love to spend more time with you, but I have something more important to attend to right now. Shall I come back to accompany you later?”

Unfortunately, Su Su was not charmed by his facade. Compared to Mo Lin’s warm smile, he found himself nostalgic for Qi Hanyi’s ice-cold demeanor.

He replied composedly: “I don’t need company, or perhaps you can provide me with a terminal so I can play some games?”

That demand was, of course, denied. After all, this place strictly controlled mermaids’ access to any communication devices; even their personal terminals had been confiscated.

Due to the recent events, Su Su was ultimately spared from reprimand and was directly taken to the fourth floor. As a male mermaid, he could not be housed with others, so he was assigned to a room alone, the farthest from the elevator.

Dinner was brought into his room; the meal was quite simple, just a can of low-quality nutritional supplement that tasted strange and had the texture of mashed tofu dregs. Even a shark who was not picky could hardly stomach it.

However, Su Su finished it all, understanding the taste of hunger. He would not waste any edible food; he needed ample strength to face the dangers that could come at any moment.

After dinner, with a whistle, all the room doors opened, and Su Su discovered that this floor housed quite a few people. Roughly counting, there were thirty to forty individuals, including Yi Lan, whom he had met on the upper floor, and two others he had seen at the dinner table earlier.

Under the direction of the instructors, everyone formed an orderly line, with the newcomers, including Su Su, at the end.

They were taken to a classroom-like room on the second floor. A documentary about how humans saved mermaids was playing on the screen.

Once the documentary finished, an elderly man appeared, reportedly a professor from some school, and gave them a lecture, repeating the same empty rhetoric, telling them that marrying a human was a gift from heaven, and they should be grateful and serve their husbands well. He also stated that mermaids were an inferior race, and they owed their current lives to the help of humans.

Afterward, he asked the mermaids to stand up one by one to share their thoughts.

The mermaids in front spoke endlessly, confessing how they had failed to care for their husbands and how ashamed they felt. They vowed to correct their mistakes going forward.

Each spoke with tears streaming down their faces.

The newcomers were somewhat lost, unsure of what to say. One mermaid, who previously had not been subdued, finally got the chance to speak up, pointing directly at the professor and rebuking him: “I could have lived freely in the ocean, but now, for a human, I’ve grown legs, given birth, and am trapped in a tiny house, unable to go anywhere. What has that human given me? Betrayal. He shamelessly flirts with human women, even bringing them home and telling me to get lost. Why should I thank him? Do you want such a gift?”

The professor shook his head helplessly: “Stubborn and disrespectful to your elders, minus ten points.”

He quickly operated on the interface, and a red mark appeared next to the girl’s name, stating: Awaiting Instruction. Soon, a robot entered and dragged the defiant girl away.

The girl seemed to realize what she was about to face, crying and trying to escape, but a binding ring was quickly placed upon her head, and in a moment of pain, she lost the will to resist.

When it was Yi Lan’s turn to speak, she stammered, unsure of what to say.

She also thought that the video and the old man’s speech were nonsense; deep down, she still resented her husband and couldn’t change her views just because of a few hours of others’ preaching. But she did not dare to voice it for fear of punishment, so she could only repeat the insights she had heard from others.

But it didn’t quite fit her situation, sounding somewhat off.

“It seems you have absorbed some of it, but your insights are not profound enough, and you need to continue your education.” The old man typed a few notes on his terminal, deducting three points from Yi Lan’s display score. On the screen, beside her name, a note appeared: One Day of Fasting.

Everyone had shared their experiences, leaving only Su Su who had not yet spoken. The old man, perhaps having heard of Su Su’s achievements from others, did not plan to call him to speak but intended to skip to the next topic.

But Su Su wouldn’t allow it. He had been listening intently for half the time and had a lot of insights to share, especially as he had never experienced a human classroom before; this was his first time, and how could he not enjoy the fun of being called upon to speak?

So, Su Su raised his hand high, desperately trying to make his presence known: “Teacher, I haven’t shared yet! Teacher, you haven’t called on me, Teacher, I have very profound insights!”

The elderly man’s wrinkled face twisted as he reluctantly acknowledged Su Su: “Then go ahead and share.”

Su Su jumped up excitedly, and under the gaze of many apathetic mermaids, he spoke fluently: “I think what you said is very true; without a human partner, I wouldn’t be here today. Although I wasn’t a mermaid before, I was worse than a mermaid; I am a mermaid hybrid. Before taking any mermaid medication, I looked just like a shark. I was smaller than my kin and often bullied, not even enough to eat, and I had to be careful not to appear too weak, or I’d be gobbled up by my unsated kin. Until I discovered that mermaids could be kept by humans every day, living in a house without having to do anything, just being able to eat to my heart’s content every day.”

The expressions of the mermaids present began to change; they felt forced into marriage and encountered the wrong people. They already felt miserable, yet someone actually envied them.

And the old man felt somewhat puzzled; wasn’t Su Su supposed to be a troublemaker? He had expected an argument, yet it seemed he was rather agreeing with him.

Su Su ignored the others’ scrutiny and continued sharing his story: “I thought to myself, what a blissful life this is! How I wish I could be a mermaid. How I wish I could marry a human! I don’t want to strive anymore; I just want to be a useless little creature, living at home and waiting on hand and foot!”

“So I devised a plan to replace the mermaid princess Yi Qing, who was about to marry, and marry Qi Hanyi instead.”

“You all know Qi Hanyi, right? The admiral of the Empire and the heir of the Qi family. It’s said he has always hated mermaids, which I only found out later because I never felt he hated me.”

“Qi Hanyi is really so good; since being with him, I’ve never experienced hunger again. I get enough to eat at every meal; human food is delicious, even better than the tastiest tuna. Qi Hanyi never disliked my appetite, even when there was a time when I ate a lot more than usual, he never complained.”

“Actually, I’ve always been curious about what he wants from me. I’m a male mermaid and cannot bear children for him, and being a mermaid hybrid, turning into a human can’t cure his illness. But even so, he has always taken care of me.”

“He doesn’t need anything, yet he treats me so well.”

“When I wanted to play games, he knew it wasn’t allowed, yet he not only didn’t stop me but even bought me a nutrient capsule, taking the blame for it.”

“When I wanted to pilot a real starship, he approached the emperor to propose that mermaids be allowed to be starship pilots.”

“I dreamt of the White Zephyr, and he personally paved the way for me, setting up competitions in the game to create a stage for me to showcase my abilities.”

Su Su was so moved by his own words that he wiped the corners of his moist eyes, passionately saying: “Marrying a human is truly wonderful; he has brought me everything I desire without asking for anything in return. I don’t even know how to repay him…”

“Alright, alright!” The professor, unable to tolerate any longer, interrupted Su Su’s speech. It had started to sound normal, but by the end, it took a turn.

What he intended to instill in these mermaids was that regardless of how poorly their partners treated them, they should endure and be grateful to their partners, yet Su Su had only recounted the things Qi Hanyi had done for him.

A high-ranking admiral was actually treating him with such kindness, making those who mistreated their mermaids and resented them for not being obedient appear even more despicable.

The mermaids couldn’t voice their thoughts openly, but they were astonished, as if they didn’t know that humans and mermaids could interact in such a manner. Some of them had genuinely blamed themselves for the wrongs, believing that human partners should be aloof and that it was their own greed that led to desires for equal love that got them sent here for punishment.

Now they discovered that it wasn’t that mermaids who married humans were destined to suffer; they had merely encountered scum.