Chapter 49

Chapter 49

After disembarking, Lu Yan received a keycard.

Only then did he learn that clients of the Mermaid Club were also tiered.

Someone like him, who only paid the one-million ticket fee, belonged to the lowest tier of client: the "Grey-Tail." Above them were "Blue," "Red," and "Gold."

The Grey-Tails were numerous, relegated to standard guest rooms. They existed as a control group, a baseline to enhance the experience for the truly wealthy.

Three million bought a Blue Tail. Ten million, a Red Tail. Fifty million, and you swam with the Gold Tails.

Even the standard rooms, however, met five-star suite standards.

A section of the floor, about a meter wide, was made of transparent glass. Beneath it, pink-tinted seawater gently swayed, a beautiful, mesmerizing sight.

Lu Yan unpacked his bow and arrows from the suitcase, hanging them on the headboard. "The rooms are so close to sea level. Doesn't the club worry about the tide?"

[No. The pollutants here control the water. And even if the tide did rise, the first to drown would be you Grey-Tails on the bottom floor.]

Drowning wasn't Lu Yan's concern; he just didn't want soggy sheets in the middle of the night.

He inspected the room thoroughly. No surveillance. But when he stepped onto the balcony, the long-absent sound of tides washed over him.

Back when he first merged with the Kingfish, the roar of waves had been a constant companion. As his spiritual power threshold increased, that negative buff had gradually faded. He hadn't heard such noise in a long time.

But this... Lu Yan focused. It wasn't the sound of the Qu Sea from before.

The system drawled, [It's the tide of Mermaid Bay.]

At six PM sharp, a staff member in uniform knocked and delivered dinner.

Lu Yan's sense of smell was sharp, particularly reactive to the fishy scent of aquatic creatures.

He detected it—a faint, briny odor on the server, masked beneath crisp patchouli.

"Good evening, sir. As it's your first day on Mermaid Island, we took the liberty of providing dinner, along with a map and guidelines. Additionally, the buffet on the second floor is open twenty-four hours, at no extra charge. Will you be dining in this evening?"

"Sure."

The attendant stepped forward, placed the tray on the table, bowed deeply, and left.

A stainless steel cloche covered the plate. Lu Yan lifted it. The red meat inside sizzled, rich fat popping, its savory aroma filling the air. A steak, garnished with sprigs of rosemary, accompanied by a mound of cheese and a side of cherry compote. It looked tempting, delicious.

He smelled it again. This wasn't meat from any normal livestock. It was pollutant flesh.

It hadn't even been processed by the Research Institute. The pollution value was over five, well beyond safe consumption limits.

Lu Yan could eat pollutants. The extra mouth was precisely for that.

Yet, seeing pollutant meat plated like fine cuisine somehow killed his appetite.

He couldn't help but recall the records he'd read.

Every year, some tourists visiting Mermaid Island ignored warnings, stubbornly swimming out to the deep waters, only to vanish.

"Will the food be like this for the next two weeks?"

[All the meat on this island is pretty much the same, dear. You could go vegetarian. At least the plants are safe~]

His appetite was diminished by the pollution, but he couldn't just stop eating.

So, after settling in, Lu Yan headed for the second-floor restaurant.

The dining hall looked no different from the lavish buffets he'd seen on TV.

The only notable feature was the large performance platform at the center. Besides a symphony orchestra, it featured a sunken pool of water.

An exceptionally beautiful Red-Tail mermaid smiled, slender fingers plucking a harp.

He had cascading, wave-like curls, wore a Grecian-style performance robe, and a necklace of woven pearls and gemstones around his neck. His crimson tail, nearly two meters long, completed an image of melancholic allure.

A single glance from him had several wealthy patrons shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

[Red-Tail Mermaid. E-Class pollutant. Pollution Value: 300. Status: Controlled.]

[Talent: Allure.]

[Mutation Direction: Mermaid Transformation, Beauty.]

Lu Yan was surprised. "Being excessively good-looking is a mutation direction?"

[Excessive beauty can burn people too. Want to try pain-free enhancement? Mermaid Island Cosmetic Center awaits.]

Lu Yan picked up a plate, loading it with vegetables, fruit, and eggs.

Without meat, he'd have to rely on fatty fruits and high-protein eggs for nutrition. Thankfully, the island's supplies were plentiful.

"'Controlled'? What does that mean?"

[Literally.]

"Who's controlling it?"

[The mastermind. The shady businessman. The capitalistic fiend who belongs under a streetlamp.]

"The owner of the Mermaid Club?" Lu Yan thought for a moment before asking.

[Stop asking. Rules say no spoilers.]

A staff member approached Lu Yan, speaking softly. "Sir, I noticed you haven't selected any main courses. May I make a recommendation?"

"No need. I'm a Mahayana Buddhist, currently a lay practitioner. Vegetarian only."

The server looked genuinely surprised. "A master! My apologies... but Master, we have many mermaid performances here... they might conflict with your precepts. Perhaps you should...?"

He'd worked on Mermaid Island for years. This was his first Buddhist.

Lu Yan pressed his palms together. "Do not worry. I am free of such worldly desires. The flesh is merely organic matter, a product of deluded attachment."

The server: "..."

Not many people dined in the restaurant that evening.

As Lu Yan ate, the chair opposite him scraped back.

"Hi, I'm Shang Zhou." The young man across from him smiled. "A travel vlogger."

Shang Zhou was quite good-looking.

"Are you here from the Red Book lottery too?" he asked.

To him, Lu Yan didn't look wealthy enough to afford the million-yuan entry fee.

He had no idea the other man had just bought a school district apartment for nearly thirty million, taxes included.

"No," Lu Yan said after a moment's thought. "There was a lottery? How many spots?"

"Yeah. Twenty total. Tens of thousands reposted; I got lucky." Shang Zhou pulled out his phone, then made a surprised sound. "Huh, the lottery post is deleted. Probably over." He smiled again. "Can I get your contact? I came alone too. We could explore together."

The system stated coldly, [He's gay. Also, those tens of thousands of reposts were all bots. Only twenty living people were 'chosen.']

[These chosen ones, male and female, are all good-looking without exception, and all come from unfortunate family situations. Orphaned, victims of son-preference, estranged from their families—unloved, uncared for. Simple real-world ties, easy to handle if they disappear. Just pay off the right people.]

Lu Yan rarely added contacts, but he agreed.

Mermaid Island felt off. Strength in numbers, and he needed sources of information.

Besides, with Shang Zhou's looks and the system's background info, he already looked like a fish on a chopping block in Lu Yan's eyes.

After agreeing to "explore the island together tomorrow," they parted politely.

The second floor held the restaurant. The third floor offered various wellness services: foot baths, ear cleaning, massages.

After dinner, Lu Yan couldn't resist checking out the third floor. He emerged feeling refreshed.

"The technicians here are really skilled," he remarked. "On par with the veteran TCM doctors in our hospital's rehab department."

The service was enthusiastic, the private rooms spacious. A first-class experience.

The system was stunned. [You... you actually seem to be here on vacation?]

Lu Yan figured since he'd already spent a million, a little enjoyment wasn't unreasonable.

Starting from the fourth floor, the club was off-limits to Grey-Tail visitors. Unless Lu Yan chose to immediately upgrade for another two million.

[Fourth floor: casino. Fifth floor: choose to 'achieve life's great harmony' with a mermaid, or other options if mermaids aren't your thing. Sixth floor: presidential suites for Gold-Tails. Seventh floor: club headquarters.]

[Also, the fourth floor opens to all visitors in the final days. That's why Mermaid Island was built near the Aonan Administrative District.]

Lu Yan didn't pay up. He chose to return to his room to sleep.

Before leaving, he had wedged a slip of paper in the door crack—invisible from outside. Now, as he opened the door, the white paper fluttered down. Only a single crease remained visible on its surface.

Good. No one had been inside.

The bed was a Simmons, extremely comfortable. But Lu Yan's paranoia flared. He kept feeling a presence. He opened the wardrobe multiple times, even checked under the bed. Nothing but empty space.

He asked the system, "Anyone here?"

[Not currently.]

"So there will be later?"

[Possibly.]

This kept Lu Yan lying awake from 11 PM until 3 AM, wide-eyed. His hands were under the covers, gripping the C-Class spiritual weapon, "Fang," tightly.

3:20 AM. Utter silence.

The tourists who'd been partying on the beach had all returned to their rooms. Lu Yan still couldn't sleep, the relentless tide sound in his ears.

And then, he heard it. A tapping on glass.

Lu Yan opened his eyes, sat up. The motion-sensitive bedside lamp flickered on, casting the room in a dim, yellowish glow.

He looked toward the source of the sound.

A webbed, frog-like hand slapped desperately against the glass floor.

It stirred some unpleasant memories.

But Lu Yan had seen worse. He picked up his knife and walked over, looking down at the glass from above.

A hideous, piscine face was pressed against it. The dead-fish eyes betrayed no emotion, but the frantic slapping of its hands spoke of urgency.

This fish-man was different from the ones in K City. It had no teeth. From its head, like an anglerfish, grew a stalk ending in a glowing orb that pulsed with a faint blue light. The head was broad, the humanoid body beneath it narrow and frog-like. Its body was crisscrossed with deep, clean cuts, as if chunks of flesh had been neatly excised. Some wounds had already festered, the stench seeping through the glass.

It was the stuff of waking nightmares.

Seeing Lu Yan, the creature opened its maw wide, revealing a hollow cavity—no teeth, not even a tongue.

It was trying to show it meant no harm, unaware of the sheer, grotesque horror the gesture invoked.

Fortunately, Lu Yan was unfazed.

[Domesticated Meat-Fish. One of the aberrations on Mermaid Island who have retained their sanity. Also a 'lucky' tourist from a previous batch.]

The system sighed. [It smells the 'fish' on you. It came to lead you away, to get you off the island. They can push you out of these waters. What happens after that… they can't guarantee.]

"Them?"

[Over the decades, there are probably a few hundred of these meat-fish.] the system explained. [The meat the Grey-Tail tourists eat is carved from these fish-men. After eating it, some awaken as Evolvers. Those lucky ones are then selected to become meat-fish. Evolvers are hardier, less likely to die. The streetlamp capitalist has a twisted sense of humor—he won't let their Pollution reach 100%, won't let them fully become mindless pollutants. He keeps them in this… in-between state.]

[These meat-fish have tried to escape. But the Siren's song always lures them back. A few lucky ones who made it out were swallowed by the pollutants in the deep sea.]

[So, they banded together. Trying to help others escape the same fate. Pity not everyone appreciates the gesture.]

Almost as soon as the system finished speaking, a piercing shriek tore through the silence from a nearby room—

"Help!! There's a monster!!!"