The elevator door opened, revealing a long passage. At the end of the passage was a heavy security door.

The temperature dropped sharply, it was cold and damp, and there was a faint smell of formaldehyde in the air.

After exiting the elevator, Gu Lin was led by the town mayor through the long passage.

Everything here was novel, and even though it was just a passage, Gu Lin looked around curiously.

They walked all the way to the end of the passage. The mermaid town mayor entered a string of numbers on a keypad lock on the wall, and the heavy security door opened to one side.

Gu Lin watched the town mayor enter the password, extending a short little finger.

He thought these numbers were like the elevator buttons. He grabbed two of the town mayor’s fingers and shook them, saying, “Mayor-yeye, cub wants to press the elevator too.”

Who could resist a little baby acting cute and spoiled?

The town mayor, seeing him holding up his short little hand, softened. He picked up the little treasure.

“Grandpa will tell you the numbers, and you press them.”

Thinking for a moment, he asked, “Little doll, do you know numbers?”

Gu Lin nodded his little head, speaking very seriously, his childish voice clear and tender: “Know numbers.”

He knew ten numbers.

9527: ??

Livestream: ??!

Cub, you need to have a clear understanding of yourself!

The town mayor actually believed him, specifically instructing him: “These buttons are hard to press. You need to use a lot of strength, or they won’t go down.”

Gu Lin nodded obediently: “Mm-hmm!”

The mermaid town mayor, treating it as humoring his little grandson, was surprisingly patient, smiling as he said the first number: “8.”

Although Gu Lin knew ten numbers, he was still a bit unfamiliar with them. So, hearing Mayor-yeye say 8, he started searching for it on the number pad. He searched for almost half a minute and still hadn’t found it.

What did 8 look like again?

The town mayor’s eye twitched.

This didn’t look like someone who knew numbers?

Gu Lin usually learned numbers in sequence, from 1 to 10, like a little rhyme, very easy to remember. He recognized them all together, but individually, he wasn’t so sure.

Thirty seconds without a reminder was the limit of the mermaid town mayor’s patience.

Just as he was about to prompt him, Gu Lin finally found the number with two circles.

He remembered that two circles were 8.

Seeing Gu Lin’s little hand press the correct 8, the mermaid town mayor inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t been this nervous even when he had the tattooed man chop up the mermaid with the cleaver earlier.

The cub remembered that Mayor-yeye had said to use a lot of strength, so when his little hand pressed down, he used a lot of force. This wasn’t a problem, except that when this little finger poked down, the number 8 button was actually pressed in, and it didn’t pop back up.

The mermaid town mayor’s kind smile froze on his face: “?”

Huh?

Gu Lin tilted his head.

Why did it go flat?

What happened?

The mermaid town mayor was stunned for a few seconds, then quickly tried to pry it out with his hand, but the number 8 button wouldn’t come out.

Mermaid Town Mayor: “!”

He grabbed Gu Lin’s little hand and looked at it, examining it carefully from all angles. It was indeed just a soft little hand.

He then squinted at Gu Lin.

Gu Lin blinked his big eyes, his face full of innocence and guilelessness.

Mermaid Town Mayor: “…”

It was indeed just a little baby.

After thinking for a long while, the mermaid town mayor gave the only possible reasonable explanation for the current situation: “Doctor Yu’s equipment is too old. It’s time to replace it.”

The livestream chat was about to die of laughter.

[Hahahaha, holy crap, I’m dying of laughter. Serves you right for kidnapping children! This is your karma!]

[Doctor Yu: I’m not taking the blame for this]

[Thinking of how the mermaid town mayor specifically told him to use a lot of strength, I’m dying of laughter]

[Hearing him say to use a lot of strength, I knew something bad was going to happen. Sure enough, the button is gone, hahaha]

[This old liar has no idea about the cub’s divine strength]

The mermaid town mayor didn’t take this unexpected situation to heart. It was just a button, right? It wasn’t like he could blame this little cub for a mere button!

He pressed the remaining numbers and carried Gu Lin into the mermaid base.

As soon as he walked in, Gu Lin was stunned by the scene before him, his eyes widening.

He patted the mermaid town mayor with his little hand, his little voice excited: “Mayor-yeye, cub wants to get down!!”

The mermaid town mayor, seeing that this little doll was attracted by the scene before him, immediately raised his eyebrows, feeling a sense of satisfaction like a grandpa taking his grandson to the aquarium.

The difference was that the aquarium had many kinds of fish, while here there was only one kind of fish—

Mermaids.

The space in front of them was very large, you couldn’t see the end at a glance. It was neatly arranged with rows upon rows of glass walls, three meters high. The glass walls were divided into countless small compartments.

And in each small compartment, there was a mermaid.

The mermaids were immersed in some kind of blue solution, their eyes closed, their long hair spread out, their faces beautiful, their bones slender.

Some of their fishtails were complete fishtails like Zhuang Mu’s, while some were split from the fin, but the split parts were visibly merging into a whole.

These mermaids seemed to be asleep. Because there were so many of them, and they were all immersed in the blue solution, although they were very beautiful, they looked extremely strange, making people inexplicably terrified.

Gu Lin, however, wasn’t afraid. He looked at these mermaids, which were beyond his counting ability, and let out a “Wow,” spreading his short legs, deng deng deng running inside.

“Mayor-yeye, there are so many yuyu here!”

Gu Lin ran in front, and the mermaid town mayor followed behind, his hands behind his back, watching his little grandson jump and skip.

–

Meanwhile, at the Mermaid Hotel.

Except for the Double-Cap Big Shot, who hadn’t slept, the other players woke up one after another.

As soon as Lin Xingchi woke up, he didn’t realize Gu Lin was missing at first. Gu Lin was so small that lying in the bed, at first glance, you couldn’t even see him.

Waking up, he was a little dazed for a moment. After becoming a little more awake, Lin Xingchi rubbed his temples, feeling like he had never had such a tiring sleep.

He had slept for how long, and he had been chased by the Split-Tail Mermaids in the fog for how long.

He had been dreaming the whole time, the level of realism comparable to sleep paralysis.

He knew this town was up to no good. Sure enough, there was something wrong with the food.

They must have used sleeping pills as seasoning!

And he would dream of the mermaids in the fog. This definitely wasn’t just sleeping pills, but some other drug.

Lin Xingchi woke up for less than a minute, and the door was knocked on, first twice, then dududu a violent knocking, very urgent.

Lin Xingchi was startled, seeing that there was no movement on the dumpling’s bed, he thought the dumpling was not awake, so he got out of bed, and went to open the door.

Before he even reached the door, he saw his livestream chat.

[The cub is eating lunch at the hospital. He will return after eating. Do not worry. An auntie who loves the cub]

[The cub and Mayor-yeye are looking at yuyu. He will return after looking. Do not worry. An auntie who eats one cub at a time]

[The cub is riding his beloved scooter! He will return after riding. Do not worry. A kind auntie who sent this message to all the players]

Lin Xingchi: “??!!”

Holy crap!!!

Lin Xingchi didn’t bother to open the door. He immediately turned back to check if the dumpling was still on the bed.

He was worried that the dumpling had been wrapped in the quilt. He first carefully lifted the quilt, seeing that it was indeed empty, and Gu Lin was nowhere to be seen. He then grabbed the quilt and shook it, but nothing fell out.

He wasn’t on the bed, so he bent down and looked under the bed. Still nothing.

He even, in a moment of desperation, picked up the pillow and flipped it over.

[Stop looking, he really went to the hospital. It’s been over an hour. Where would you find him now? Laughing to death]

[The cub is small, but a pillow can’t hold him. 666 for looking under the pillow]

[Dagege, don’t worry, the cub will come back after eating!]

The knocking on the door became even more urgent.

Lin Xingchi could only go open the door first.

As soon as the door opened, Su Qiao’s anxious face appeared behind it.

“The dumpling is missing!”

“He went to the hospital!”

“And the mermaid town mayor is looking at fish!”

Several sentences, the two of them almost spoke in unison.

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Su Qiao: “…”

Wow!