Chapter 51

Chapter 51

[I admire your courage. Frankly, I also recommend you stay. Because aside from that cruise ship, no one gets off this island.] The system drawled. [But I should remind you—while the land security on Mermaid Island is mediocre, the golden-tailed mermaids in the sea are no pushovers.]

Lu Yan didn't answer the system. Instead, he addressed the fish-man. "I'm not leaving. I intend to destroy this island."

A stunned expression flickered across the fish-man's fully monstrous face.

The best outcome they had ever dared imagine was helping survivors escape.

This was his eighth year as a fish-man.

Back when they were still human, their comfortable lives had allowed the "meat-fish" the luxury of learning love, courage, and responsibility.

After being reduced to these ugly creatures, many had tried to resist.

Some had secretly infiltrated the Mermaid Club, trying to steal a phone to send a message. Others spent years grinding their fingernails flat, carving a few lines of text onto the reef to drag tourists over to see. Some attempted to flee the pink-tinged waters, but no matter how far they swam, they always circled back to the same spot…

Over the decades, some meat-fish met gruesome deaths, beheaded as a warning. Some, unable to bear the despair, chose suicide.

Others simply turned coat, joining the very faction that had made them into these monsters—the Mermaid Club.

This stretch of sea felt quarantined. Beneath the waves, aside from their own kind, there was nothing. Many fish-men survived on seaweed and kelp.

But by joining the Club, meat-fish only had to help the staff catch others for butchering to earn a full belly. They no longer had to carve flesh from their own bodies.

This fish-man didn't blame them.

After all, even fish-men needed to eat.

They had grown accustomed to the darkness. So much so that when Lu Yan spoke of destroying the island, his first instinct was denial.

[He says it's impossible.]

[The Club has been here for decades. No one has ever successfully escaped. It's like a circular snow globe, trapping everyone inside.]

[And the Club's owner can control the mermaids. Those mermaids are pollutants. Far stronger than us meat-fish.]

"I'm an Awakener from the First District Special Operations Department," Lu Yan told him, producing his employee ID. "Trust me."

When this fish-man first came to Mermaid Island, the Pollution Disease hadn't been this severe. He'd never heard of any Special Operations Department.

Yet, seeing the national emblem on the ID, the fish-man jolted. Excitement flashed in his eyes, and they grew visibly moist. He gestured for Lu Yan to wait—he wanted to share the news with the others before deciding their next move.

Lu Yan glanced at the width of the glass, then dove directly into the water.

His perspective shifted. His night vision worked underwater, but it took a moment to adjust. He stopped breathing through his nose. No sense of suffocation came. After his first fusion with Wang Yu, he'd discovered his ability to hold his breath underwater had become extraordinarily long. Since the gill slits appeared behind his ears, returning to the water felt more like coming home.

Fish-men lacked vocal cords and couldn't speak in air. But beneath the surface, Lu Yan heard a series of "glug-glug" sounds.

[He's asking how long you can hold your breath.]

Lu Yan didn't open his mouth, avoiding a mouthful of seawater. He simply motioned for the fish-man to lead the way.

The fish-man brought him to the meat-fish gathering grounds.

From a bird's-eye view, Mermaid Island resembled a swimming fish—one half of a Taiji symbol. The Mermaid Club sat on the fish's head. The beach and other entertainment facilities lay along its back, while the cruise ship docked near its belly.

The meat-fish lived far from the island itself, in a kelp forest. Deep red fronds, broad as giant seaweed, drifted gently with the current—a serene, almost fairy-tale world.

It was the last shred of tenderness Mermaid Island offered.

The fish-man emitted a few strange clicks from his air bladder.

Fish-heads emerged from the kelp. Some showed severe mutation, their bodies carved down to near skeletons, eyes vacant, radiating decay. Others retained more human features, though their heads were flattening, limbs shortening, lips protruding.

They looked eerily like the "Deep Ones" of myth.

[Those with low mutation levels are Awakeners who manifested just in the last year or so,] the system explained. [When physical abnormalities first appear, the owner sends the island's 'doctors' to offer 'treatment.' The doctors claim it might be accidental pollution and urge immediate care. Meanwhile, other staff pose as tourists, spreading horror stories—'a friend dragged to a Prevention Center and burned alive'—to break down mental defenses.]

[Then the doctor reappears. Says they know a researcher from a Puta… ahem, from a Research Institute. Can help cure the Pollution Disease, but it's expensive.]

[These people are wealthy. Sometimes, the higher the price, the more they let their guard down.]

[So they sign consent forms. Get taken to the cruise ship for 'talent excision surgery.' A complete scam, quite sophisticated!] The system's tone was exasperated. [And this one-two punch always fools someone.]

[After the surgery, when the anesthesia wears off, they wake up to find themselves turned into fucking fish-men.]

"How does the talent transplant surgery actually work?"

In Tang Xian'an's dream, Lu Yan had spent three months with other researchers learning pollutant transplantation procedures. But the mechanics of talent transplantation were new to him.

[There's a specialized surgical instrument—a beak from a specific pollutant. No real skill required.]

[Insert the beak into the top of the skull. It automatically extracts the Awakener's pineal gland. Takes about forty minutes. Remove the beak, then freeze the gland for transport and storage. Unscientific, right? But human talent is indeed housed there.]

If that were all, the victims would just be severely weakened. They wouldn't turn into fish-men.

But then, the unscrupulous doctors inject a hormone serum. Also extracted from a pollutant.

The owner, for instance, injects himself with "mermaid genes." These Awakeners, naturally, get "fish-man genes."

A crowd of meat-fish gathered around Lu Yan.

Those with low mutation levels curiously edged closer upon seeing him. But the more heavily mutated fish-men glared with open hostility.

The guiding fish-man let out a series of "glugs." Soon, the younger fish-men's faces lit up with joy, joining in the chorus. The older ones, however, maintained a faint but steady animosity.

It resembled a large school of fish convening. Compared to the beautiful mermaids' songs, these fish-men's sounds were grating.

The guide seemed puzzled.

He couldn't understand why the older fish-men seemed unwelcoming. Their mutations were too advanced, their thoughts murky. They just repeated a single word: "Liar… Liar…"

Lu Yan didn't understand, but the system did.

[Ah. They seem to have mistaken you for someone…]

The relatively calm atmosphere shattered with the arrival of a mermaid.

"You fools really never learn," the mermaid sneered. "Don't forget. The boss loves giving hope, then crushing it."

Lu Yan looked toward the voice.

A grey-tailed mermaid approached, carrying a large creel on his back filled with live, wriggling fish and fresh vegetables.

Compared to the fish-men, this mermaid was strikingly handsome, his features sharp and bold.

The guide fish-man let out a frightened "glug" and hid behind Lu Yan.

[This mermaid is Xu Guanyue. He was originally a fish-man too, then defected. Joined the Mermaid Club. Now he's in charge of harvesting meat-fish. Hard to label him. A good guy? He aids the enemy, butchering his own kind with practiced ease. His years of service earned him an injection of mermaid genes, transforming from an ugly fish-man into a pretty mermaid.]

[A bad guy? Without him skimping and scavenging to feed them daily, half the fish-men here would have starved. He also secretly assisted in several past escape attempts.]

[Over the decades, quite a few meat-fish joined the Club—about a hundred. Because he could endure exceptional hardship, he's now the most successful among the defectors.]

Speech was impossible underwater. Lu Yan found a reef and climbed onto it.

Xu Guanyue opened the creel, releasing the fish, allowing the meat-fish a moment to feed. Then he too surfaced.

"I'm an Awakener sent by headquarters," Lu Yan stated, keeping it brief. "Mermaid Island is a black-market talent transplant surgery den. You were all Awakeners, subjected to the procedure without your knowledge."

Xu Guanyue's expression remained blank. "I know. I escorted some of them to the cruise ship for surgery myself."

Lu Yan studied his face. "If it wasn't you, someone else would have done the job. Don't blame yourself."

Xu Guanyue was just another disposable cog in the machine.

He could have refused the job, but someone else would have taken it. He did it so the others who remained might have a sliver of space to survive.

The owner probably knew his thoughts, but he didn’t care.

An Awakener without their talent was just a human with slightly better reflexes. No match for his precious mermaids.

“About fifteen years ago,” Xu Guanyue’s expression hardened back to ice. “Someone else came to Mermaid Island. Said he was an Awakener, promised to get us out. I remember him. Looked a lot like you. Not the same person, though. You don’t carry that… stench.”

“The man you met was my biological father,” Lu Yan replied. “He committed countless evils in his life. Now he’s a pollutant. I’ve been hunting him. I intend to kill him.”

Xu Guanyue’s lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes burning with a hatred that had settled deep into the bone. “We trusted him. Because of that trust, half the fish-men here died. They killed each other. He and the owner stood on the deck of that cruise ship, pouring champagne into the sea to celebrate. The waters of Mermaid Bay turned from green to pink. I will never forget that sight.”

His hands clenched into fists.

Lu Cheng had lied to them. Claimed he was an Awakener with spatial abilities, that the reason the meat-fish couldn’t leave was a spatial barrier. He said he could break them out.

When hundreds of fish-men gathered at the edge of the coastal waters, Lu Cheng changed his story. His power wasn’t strong enough, he said. He could only take half.

That’s when the mermaids—the pollutants—began to sing. Their song hooked into the fish-men’s deepest desires, their darkest corners.

They wanted to go home.

Who among them was a saint? Everyone wanted off this cursed island. In that madness, the stronger fish-men turned on the weaker ones who refused to step back, tearing them apart.

The final result was the two masterminds, roaring with laughter on the deck.

[Your father really is a piece of work,] the system commented. [I recommend expedited execution.]

“I plan to,” Lu Yan said.

After recounting the painful memory, Xu Guanyue’s gaze turned wary. “So. How do you prove this isn’t another trick?”

As he spoke, several fish-men with extreme levels of mutation emerged from the kelp.

The flesh had been carved from their bodies until they were nearly skeletal, but their mouths were full of fresh, needle-sharp teeth.

If the answer didn’t satisfy them, these fish-men wouldn’t mind tearing Lu Yan to shreds.

[Show them your scales,] the system murmured. [Tell them you’re one of them. With your face, it’ll be very convincing.]

Lu Yan pushed up his soaked sleeve. Golden scales shimmered into view along his forearm. “I am this year’s chosen mermaid.”