LSDWTWHA chapter 81

Chapter 80

Su Su listened for a long time, sorting out a wealth of information from the dialogue between the High Priest and Yan Bai.

First, Yan San is the person he wanted to investigate, the behind-the-scenes figure of the Dark Tide organization.

Regarding Yan San being the behind-the-scenes person, Su Su had some speculations before, but it was only at this point that he could definitively confirm it.

Second, Yan San was once very familiar with the High Priest and even had a collaborative relationship. However, the relationship between them remains ambiguous. The High Priest opposed Yan San’s current plans, but was constrained by their previous agreements and did not directly intervene.

Third, Yan San has changed significantly, at least in the eyes of the High Priest. He may have initially just wanted to improve the lives of mermaids, but after experiencing unknown events, he became who he is now.

Fourth, the Dark Tide was initially established solely to protect mermaids and did not have any strange plans. These plans emerged after Yan San underwent changes.

Combining what the High Priest had previously said, Su Su had a bold speculation: “What if Yan San is not really Yan San, but rather a transformation by the Bug race? Hmm, that could explain why his plans only benefit the Bug race.”

As soon as Su Su voiced this theory, both the High Priest and Yan Bai, who had been in a tense standoff, froze simultaneously. The previously charged atmosphere eased instantly.

Yan Bai chuckled lightly and looked at Su Su helplessly: “Pfft—don’t guess wildly, I think the High Priest doesn’t mean that.”

The High Priest couldn’t help but smile: “Exactly, I just believe that human hearts are easy to change. Perhaps Yan San’s experiences have made him act more extreme than he originally was; it doesn’t mean he has become someone else.”

Su Su blinked: “Oh really? I thought I had misunderstood. I was thinking, with him wanting to genuinely help the Bug race to destroy us, maybe he is an undercover agent sent by the Bug race.”

Yan Bai shook his head: “My father’s actions and words have never changed significantly; there’s no way he could be parasitized. Moreover… your imagination is quite rich. I’ve never heard of the Bug race having such abilities. And, on the other side of the space station, with thousands of star distances of defense lines, do you really think the Bug race could infiltrate the planet silently?”

“That’s true.” Seeing that both denied it affirmatively, Su Su decided not to pursue the speculation further.

Ultimately, Yan Bai refused the High Priest’s suggestion to send someone off the ship.

After separating from Yan Bai, Su Su contacted Qi Hanyi again, sharing the new information he had acquired and casually mentioning his suspicion that Yan San had transformed from the Bug race.

Su Su treated the matter as a joke: 【The High Priest just said Yan San isn’t the same Yan San he used to be, and I thought she meant he was replaced. So I asked whether he might be a Bug. In reality, she meant that his personality had changed greatly; hmm, it seems I still don’t quite understand human language.】

【Yan Bai said my imagination is too rich, that there is no Bug race with such capabilities. However, I think that’s not necessarily true. The Bug race is so peculiar, with a variety of abilities; perhaps they really have some transformation or disguise skills, but we just don’t know.】

The ship was already approaching the port of Freedom Island. After editing the message, Su Su was about to close the communication.

However, almost immediately, he received a message from Qi Hanyi.

【There is such a Bug race. A few months ago, I saw three of them at the space station.】

What Qi Hanyi mentioned was the incident when data was lost at the space station. After all, involving military secrets, he had never discussed the details of that battle with Su Su.

【Three Bugs disguised themselves as humans, successfully infiltrated the space station post with the help of a defense bureau called ‘Chong Zhou.’ After being exposed, they almost caused mass casualties at the space station through self-detonation. Chong Zhou has much economic interaction with the Dark Tide; following this lead, I traced it back to the Dark Tide organization. If Yan San is a Bug, it would further explain why an organization meant for mermaids secretly communicates with the Bug race.】

In Qi Hanyi’s view, Su Su’s speculation was bold. His logic was simple and crude: the plan benefits someone, so he would suspect that person.

But the simpler and more direct the logic, the more likely it was true. Since those three Bugs could infiltrate the space station, why couldn’t a Bug adept at disguise enter the planet earlier?

If Yan San’s body was indeed occupied by a Bug, perhaps over these years, he has been plotting, seemingly waging revenge for the mermaids, inciting conflict between mermaids and humans, while actually leveraging the mermaid population to realize his own plans.

【Your speculation is not without possibility. If he really is a Bug, he can absorb Yan San and take on his appearance, and then absorb others. Yan Bai, being his adopted son, could very well be the next body he has prepared for himself. He had Yan Bai take you to Freedom Island, possibly to absorb you to gain control of the Baize.】

【Be careful once on the island. If anything seems off, leave immediately and return to the ocean. Yan San has been running shipping operations, yet never set foot in the ocean; he rarely even goes to the docks. If he is a Bug, his weakness might be water.】

Su Su never expected that his casual speculation would receive Qi Hanyi’s affirmation. He even analyzed it substantively.

Perhaps he had truly stumbled onto something? If so, he had to remind Yan Bai to prevent him from being robbed of his body when caught off guard.

With this thought, Su Su hurried to Yan Bai’s room and decided no longer to hide the fact that he had been secretly communicating with Qi Hanyi, promptly showing Yan Bai the content of the conversation.

“Let me be clear, I don’t mean to stir trouble between you and your adoptive father, but Yan San might really be a Bug!”

Yan Bai’s first reaction was disbelief, but as he read through the communication’s contents, his expression gradually grew serious.

“Qi Hanyi said my father has secret dealings with the Bug race? And has economic ties with their infiltrators among humans? I’ve never heard of this before.”

Compared to Qi Hanyi, who was in an opposing position, Yan Bai still trusted his adoptive father who raised him since childhood.

Verifying this matter was simple. If Qi Hanyi had traced economic dealings involving Chong Zhou, Yan Bai could likewise look into it if he wanted.

Yan Bai called Lin Dian, planning to have him investigate if there really were such economic interactions through the internal system.

“No need to investigate, I know of Chong Zhou.” To Yan Bai’s surprise, Lin Dian replied directly upon hearing this name, “He is an informant placed in the defense bureau by the boss, and I secretly modified his confidentiality level by hacking into the military’s system.”

Yan Bai’s expression faltered. Previously, he had thought despite not being blood-related, Yan San had always treated him better than a biological son, never hiding anything from him. Since he began working, he had given Yan Bai the greatest authority possible.

Yan San always said, “You are the future of the Dark Tide and the future of the mermaids. The responsibilities given to you now are to better train you.” Yet, regarding Chong Zhou, Yan Bai was completely in the dark.

After confirming some details with Lin Dian, it turned out that a few months ago, when Yan Bai was carrying out a decoy mission, Yan San indeed contacted Chong Zhou once, and the timelines exactly matched when Qi Hanyi was tasked with an emergency mission.

Yan Bai was covered in cold sweat for the first time, realizing that the person he trusted most had grown somewhat unfamiliar.

Lin Dian generally only showed interest in system-related matters, allowing Yan Bai and Yan San to make decisions on other matters. Therefore, he merely assisted with Chong Zhou without knowing the specifics.

But investigating further was simple.

Lin Dian had always been responsible for the Dark Tide’s internal communication system. Once Yan Bai said to check, Lin Dian quickly extracted information related to Chong Zhou and the specifics of his missions.

Chong Zhou himself was a human with a very clean background. From the footage, he looked refined, attended Imperial University, and had excellent grades. This was why he could smoothly enter the defense bureau.

However, in reality, he was a high-IQ criminal who took pleasure in murder. He killed almost every month, escaping Imperial investigations the first three times through various means. Until the fourth time, when he murdered a mermaid affiliated with the Dark Tide organization. The Empire’s Monitoring Department couldn’t find him, but Yan San located him through a signal left by that mermaid.

Subsequently, after some time of surveillance, Yan San gathered a wealth of evidence regarding his murders.

Yan San offered him two choices: either join the defense bureau to work for himself, receiving money, freedom, and even catering conditions that allowed him to satisfy his desire for killing without being discovered, or the evidence would be handed to the Security Department, and he would be sentenced to death.

Chong Zhou chose to enter the defense bureau, even knowing that this meant helping mermaids deal with humans. But he would rather choose the latter than die along with everyone else.

The subsequent missions given to Chong Zhou were mostly about helping the Dark Tide cover their tracks or act as a whistleblower. Only once was it particularly special: Yan San had him modify the data of three space station guards right before the intelligence leak occurred.

Once the investigation reached this point, even if Yan Bai was emotionally reluctant to accept it, he had to consider the possibility that Yan San was disguising himself as a Bug.

Otherwise, if Yan San were a mermaid, how could he allow a murderer who had harmed mermaids to become a member of the Dark Tide? This matter was utterly incomprehensible to Yan Bai.

Yan Bai changed his mind and called back the High Priest, agreeing to her request—to hand over the rescued mermaids to her care.

Naturally, the High Priest was delighted with this outcome. She had not initially left too far, and upon receiving the information, immediately returned, bringing a group of mermaid guards responsible for assisting in the custody of the mermaids.

After handing over the rescued mermaids, the High Priest curiously gazed at Yan Bai: “I’m quite curious—what made you change your mind in such a short time?”

However, Yan Bai did not wish to reply. He felt very chaotic; on one hand, emotionally, he still hoped there might be some misunderstanding involved, but rationally, he had to act for the sake of others’ lives, addressing the possibility of Yan San being a Bug.

“Because Yan San could be a Bug. If he is, his existence will pose a significant threat to both humans and mermaids. Handing these mermaids over to him would mean increasing the number of hostages.” Su Su spoke about this matter without any burden.

“This is merely speculation, and we cannot be sure.” Yan Bai struggled to argue.

“Thus, we need to think of a way to verify this matter.” Su Su looked at the High Priest: “For this matter, we may need the cooperation of the High Priest and the Mermaid Kingdom. If Yan San truly is a mermaid, Freedom Island will not be safe; we’ll need to escape back into the sea and certainly require someone to assist us in returning to the Empire.”

Although the High Priest was surprised by this reasoning, given that even Yan Bai acknowledged this possibility, it indicated they must have obtained very strong evidence.

“I sincerely hope this is true,” the High Priest sighed, reminiscing about the Yan San who had once shone with light, proposing to establish an organization to protect mermaids. At least this way, it indicates the Yan San she had known had not transformed into someone unrecognizable.

“If Yan San truly has a problem, we will be willing to assist you in leaving Freedom Island and convey the information to the Imperial military.”

Yan Bai then turned to Su Su: “How do you plan to verify it? Conduct a physical examination on him? I’ve seen the annual physical examination reports of my adoptive father; he ages like a normal old man, gets sick, and aside from that, there are no abnormalities.”

Su Su thought of a simple and crude approach: “Bugs generally have strong combat power. If he receives a fatal attack, he might expose his true nature.”

Yan Bai firmly refused without a moment’s hesitation: “Just for this possibility, I cannot let you lay a hand on my father.”

Lin Dian nodded in agreement. Among the entire Dark Tide, the two individuals he felt closest to were Yan San and Yan Bai. The young man rarely took a moment to think beyond protocols: “Perhaps we can concoct a drug that only affects Bugs, and have the boss take it. If he’s human, it will have no effect.”

However, the High Priest, who was more knowledgeable about drugs, quickly dismissed this plan: “We don’t have Bug biological samples. Besides, the physical constitutions of Bugs vary greatly; something that is effective against one type may not be against others.”

“Why don’t I test him?” Yan Bai suggested. He needed an answer and didn’t want to harm his adoptive father, so he decided to take that risk upon himself. “As Qi Hanyi analyzed, if he is indeed a Bug, I could be the next body he has prepared for himself. If I display defiance to his plans, break free from his control, or even aim to split the Dark Tide in half to stop him at all costs, he would definitely choose to absorb me in advance.”

“If he indeed takes action against me, it would prove he truly is a Bug. If not, then this speculation wouldn’t hold.”

After finalizing the plan, Yan Bai calmed down completely: “Su Su, you have difficulty walking on land now. If Yan San is indeed a Bug, the most dangerous person would be you. Therefore, you should stay with the High Priest and wait for Lin Dian’s signal. If something goes wrong with me… or if I’m ‘okay,’ yet he’s dead, you must inform Qi Hanyi about this matter, allowing the military to send people to Freedom Island to kill every living one among us at all costs. You must promise me to save as many of these mermaids as possible; they mean no harm. They simply chose the wrong path, just like me.”

“If we survive, it means he poses no threat.”

Su Su shook his head repeatedly: “No way, even if he truly is a Bug, we already hold the upper hand. Don’t you want to come up with a more thorough strategy? Is it necessary to walk into danger?”

“You don’t understand, Su Su. Even if he is indeed a Bug, these years… he was the one who picked me up, raised me, taught me how to be a person, and guided me hand in hand in doing things.” Yan Bai stated, “If he truly is the enemy, if he is a Bug, then I can do nothing but sacrifice my life to repay his nurturing kindness.”

“Make it clear for yourself: if he is indeed a Bug, then his raising you is solely for his benefit. Teaching you these things and giving you power is all for paving the way for himself. It is like… if a person raises a pig only to slaughter it for meat, should the pig still feel gratitude and wait to be slaughtered?” Su Su became infuriated enough to blurt out without thinking.

While the analogy sounded harsh, it had some merit. Yan Bai was unable to counter him and fell silent for a moment.

Su Su sighed, not expecting that one day, he would also strive for someone else, almost willingly heading towards death: “Let me do it; I’m inconvenient on land, which could actually lower his guard. Qi Hanyi mentioned his weakness might be water. So, let’s place me in a house close to the sea, and install mechanisms on the floor. I’ll deceive him into thinking Qi Hanyi has bound the control rights of the Baize to me, bait him, and if he attacks me, I’ll immediately activate the mechanism to escape.”

“Yan Bai, you can mobilize some Dark Tide members for the recovery operation, which would make it more convenient. Once I activate the mechanism, you’ll support me on the other side, helping me return to the sea.”

“If he doesn’t attack me, you can explain to him that we were merely testing; I don’t actually have control over the Baize.”