Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Lu Yan was a man of decisive action.

This was best demonstrated by his first day, where he'd taken out two of those dog-like security guards. Every night since, he'd lurked by the shore, waiting for a chance to thin their ranks.

If he weren't worried about surveillance exposing him, he wouldn't have minded sneaking up to the 7th floor and dealing with the true source of the rot. The main issue was the sheer number of guards; he wasn't confident he could take them all.

For several nights in a row, security personnel had been found dead on the sands of Mermaid Bay.

Without exception, they'd been picked clean to the bone by the mermaids.

When the feeding was done, the mermaids would sing into the night, a haunting dirge that sounded like a requiem for the departed.

Mermaid Coast had been forced into a temporary lockdown, drawing a chorus of complaints from disgruntled tourists.

The security team wasn't idle. They'd tried to counter him. But they couldn't compete with Lu Yan's cheat-like BUG of a talent.

[Don't go tonight. There's an ambush waiting.]

So Lu Yan abandoned his plans, staying in to sleep.

To keep his usual circadian rhythm, he forced himself to stay in bed from 1 AM until 1 PM.

The boss was furious. He even began to suspect a traitor within the security ranks.

"If it weren't for me, you'd still be a cripple," he roared at the security captain before him. "I pay you hundreds of thousands a month to work for me. I even pulled strings to get a researcher to perform your fusion surgery. And now, when I ask you to find the killer, you come up empty? Useless!"

A priceless antique porcelain cup shattered against the floor at the captain's feet. "I refuse to believe the killer can turn invisible! Is it a ghost?!"

The captain stared at the porcelain shards for a long moment before speaking, his voice low and measured. "He doesn't need to be invisible. And there are no ghosts. So the man must be able to dive."

The captain's surname was Yang, given name Tianxin. A combat-type Awakener with a spiritual power threshold of 3700. He'd already reached the C-Class standard.

A combat-type, C-Class. Out in the wider world, he'd be a highly sought-after commodity.

He found Xu Guanyue, reached into the water without ceremony, and dragged the merman out by the throat.

"Six days. Every night someone died, you were the one feeding the fish. Don't tell me you saw nothing."

Xu Guanyue possessed two respiratory systems and could breathe through his gills. But being choked and hauled from the water still brought on a familiar, suffocating dread.

His fishtail thrashed wildly in the water. Sharp nails scrabbled at Yang Tianxin's neck, but they couldn't budge the man's iron-like arm.

"I… really… saw… nothing…"

Xu Guanyue managed to force the strangled words from his constricted throat.

He was genuinely on the verge of death. His eyes had rolled back, showing the whites.

Finally, Yang Tianxin released his grip, looking down at the gasping merman.

Fresh wounds, scales ripped away, marred Xu Guanyue's tail. The boss must have lost his temper again.

Without the protective scales, the pink, raw flesh of the grey tail oozed blood, the circular wounds looking like fingernails that had been torn out.

"You won't be feeding the fish anymore," Yang Tianxin stated flatly. He turned and walked toward the door.

Xu Guanyue clung to the pool's edge, coughing painfully, the taste of iron lingering in his throat. "Captain Yang!"

Yang Tianxin paused and turned back, his expression slightly questioning.

"You must know what the boss has been doing all these years…" Xu Guanyue's vision was blurry. "You've helped me more than once. You should know right from wrong. Why aid a tyrant?"

Yang Tianxin tilted his head slightly, considering. "He's a bad man to everyone else. But not to me. Besides, for people like us, are ordinary humans really our kind?"

The boss was right. If not for him, Yang Tianxin would still be a cripple with useless legs, confined to a bed.

He had been a long-distance runner. A car accident had taken his legs.

The boss had paid for the advanced metal prosthetics.

"My talent is… 311—Lone Wolf." A hint of nostalgia colored Yang Tianxin's tone. "The first time I used it, I lost control. Turned into a giant wolf and couldn't change back for hours. My mother screamed and called the police. The misunderstanding was cleared up later, but I saw it in their eyes… fear. Monsters like us… everyone fears us."

This time, Yang Tianxin didn't look back.

Beneath the hem of his black security uniform trousers, a section of metal ankle was visible, devoid of skin.

*

For the next several days, the system relayed continuous danger warnings.

Lu Yan had no choice but to lay low, ordering the mermen to cease their activities as well.

Day 10.

The prospective mermaids began sprouting scales.

The resort's hired promoters circulated among them, relentlessly preaching about the horrors of the Pollution Disease. How terrible the fate was for those who mutated and couldn't receive proper treatment.

The poor souls now growing scales either sweltered in long sleeves despite the summer heat or simply shut themselves in their rooms. They counted the days until their return, pinning their hopes on applying for free treatment at the Pollution Disease Control Center.

National healthcare covered the full cost of Pollution Disease treatment.

After days of this propaganda, this fact had become as ingrained as looking both ways before crossing the street.

Lu Yan had considered trying to enter their dreams with a warning. But for some reason, though the patterns on the human-skin parchment remained, they seemed inert, refusing to merge fully with his own skin.

Without fusion, he couldn't use the talent.

A tense, oppressive atmosphere settled over Mermaid Island, a storm waiting to break.

Day 14. The final day of the trip, and the day before their scheduled return.

The mutation level among the prospective mermaids was now severe. Some had scales creeping up their inner thighs; the faces reflected in their mirrors grew more flawlessly beautiful by the hour.

Being beautiful should have been a cause for joy. Instead, they stared at the increasingly unfamiliar faces in their mirrors with a deep, unsettling dread.

Lu Yan polished his dagger with a napkin, his reflection cold in the mirror as the system briefed him.

[On the final day, staff will inject a lethal dose of anesthetic into the rooms through the ventilation system.]

[Once complete unconsciousness is confirmed, you'll be loaded into sealed iron cages and taken to the 7th floor for auction. Both the boss and the Golden-Tail clients will be there to bid.]

[Security will be present. Several have spiritual power thresholds higher than yours. However, you possess talent 167—Regeneration. As long as you avoid a direct confrontation with the security captain, trading injury for injury gives you a decent chance of winning.]

The system's tone was uncharacteristically tense. [To be honest, I still think your strength is lacking. But the arrow has left the bow. It's too late to run now.]

Lu Yan set the knife down, the face of the security captain forming in his mind.

He still went to the dining hall for meals. One day, he'd felt a gaze like a hawk's talons settle on him.

The system had informed him it was because the boss had taken a particular liking to him, sparking this 'Mr. Yang's' curiosity.

Yang Tianxin. C-Class Awakener. Spiritual power threshold: 3700.

Talent: Lone Wolf.

[This lone wolf has no idea that the person who hit him and fled the scene on that rainy night, causing the accident that took his legs, was the boss. Hence his unwavering loyalty to the Mermaid Resort.]

The entire resort building was crisscrossed with waterways to facilitate transporting the mermaids.

If all went well, Xu Guanyue would lead the mermen upstream to join the fight.

Even stripped of their talents, the mermen weren't completely powerless. In a situation like this, any extra strength was better than Lu Yan fighting alone.

10 PM.

Lu Yan patted some water behind his ears. The moisture helped keep him alert, allowing him to hold his breath longer thanks to his gill slits.

The exhaust fan sealed shut. Air vents opened. The door locked automatically. White mist began billowing from the room's corners.

Fearful of their scales being seen, the prospective mermaids wore thick clothing. Lu Yan was no exception.

He concealed his thin blade within his jacket's lining. Then, he chose a clean spot on the carpet and lay down.

Roughly an hour later, the door unlocked.

Two staff members wearing gas masks entered. They lifted Lu Yan, secured him inside a cage, draped a white cloth over it, and wheeled it toward the service elevator.

This elevator only went up to the 5th floor. From there, security would escort them to the 7th floor for the auction.

The others were genuinely unconscious. Only Lu Yan was pretending.

His original plan was simple: stop pretending once he reached the 7th floor. Use the element of surprise and the brief time advantage to deal with the guards transporting him, then start cleaning house in order.

But a slight complication arose.

Inside the elevator, Yang Tianxin—who should have been guarding the boss—stepped out.

His eyes swept over Lu Yan's cage. He addressed the guard. "Leave this one. I'll handle it."