Seeing Gu Lin and the mermaid town mayor walking in hand in hand, all the players were stunned.

Their gazes slowly moved down, seeing that Gu Lin’s little hand was actually holding two of the mermaid town mayor’s fingers.

All the players: “…………”

What was going on? Why did this scene look a little heartwarming?

If this wasn’t a horror instance, they would have mistaken the pair at the door for grandfather and grandson.

The front desk jiejie‘s smile widened, and her voice became even sweeter: “Welcome to the Mermaid Hotel.”

The mermaid town mayor was kind and gentle towards Gu Lin, but he wouldn’t be towards others.

His gaze, flashing with a cold light, swept over all the players, finally landing on Li Nan, who was paralyzed on the ground and screaming.

The town mayor raised his hand and made a gesture to those behind him. Then, two medical staff wearing white coats came in carrying a stretcher.

The two medical staff walked directly to Li Nan, put Li Nan, who had turned into a mermaid, on the stretcher, and carried him away.

All the players: “…”

Holy crap, they just carried him away?

All the players’ faces changed drastically.

Did this mean that once you turned into a mermaid, there was no chance of clearing the instance?

Li Nan obviously thought of this possibility too, and his screams became even louder, the screams echoing from outside.

Because he had called out “Beautiful jiejie” a few more times, he got more food than the other players, but he was also the first to turn into a mermaid.

But soon, Li Nan’s voice stopped abruptly. It was unknown if the medical staff had done something to him.

Lin Xingchi said, “Wait a minute, where are they taking him?”

The mermaid town mayor had returned to being that strange old man with a fake smile. He narrowed his eyes and said, “That’s not something you should worry about.”

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Why did it feel like this scene had happened before?

Lin Xingchi didn’t dwell on it. He looked at the dumpling.

Gu Lin also looked at dagege. He let go of the town mayor’s hand and ran happily towards Lin Xingchi, opening his short little arms: “Dagege.”

When he got close, Lin Xingchi bent down and picked him up, and even lifted him up high.

Gu Lin, the master of fairness, didn’t waver, and looked at Su Qiao: “Jiejie.”

Su Qiao smiled and ruffled his soft, fluffy little head.

The mermaid town mayor, whose hand suddenly felt empty: “…”

The mermaid town mayor’s mouth twitched, and the wrinkles on his old, bark-like face deepened.

The other players couldn’t help but sigh.

They didn’t expect that the cub, who they initially thought would become the NPCs’ afternoon tea, not only survived until now, but had also managed to cozy up to the biggest NPC in the instance?

Having delivered the little doll, the mermaid town mayor didn’t want to stay long.

Before leaving, he handed the several large bags of fruit he was carrying to Gu Lin.

Gu Lin got down from Lin Xingchi’s arms, deng deng deng ran to the town mayor, and took the fruit with both hands.

The mermaid town mayor, facing Gu Lin, once again transformed into Mayor-yeye: “Little doll, Grandpa is leaving.”

Gu Lin waved his little hand: “Goodbye, Mayor-yeye. Go slowly, and be careful.”

Hearing this, the mermaid town mayor was gratified.

The other players, however, gasped.

This little doll was truly fearless in his ignorance.

The town mayor looked at this cub who knew how to care for others, and thought for a moment: “If there are any little pearls, Grandpa will bring them to you immediately.”

Gu Lin’s eyes lit up: “Thank you, Mayor-yeye.”

Everyone else the entire time: “…………”

How exactly did he manage to cozy up to the biggest NPC in the instance? To the point where the instance BOSS was personally helping him find pearls?

Wait, from the sound of it, even the mermaid town mayor couldn’t get pearls?

If even the mermaid town mayor couldn’t get pearls, perhaps there really weren’t any real mermaids in this town.

Before leaving, the mermaid town mayor looked at the other players again, a cold and evil light flashing in his eyes: “After the fog rises, stay in your respective rooms and don’t wander around.”

“…” They didn’t think that the mermaid town mayor’s specific reminder was out of kindness.

It was more out of a kind of protection for “goods.”

–

After the mermaid town mayor left, all the players gathered in room 44.

From the conversation between the mermaid town mayor and Gu Lin earlier, this little cub clearly also knew that Split-Tail Mermaid tears couldn’t turn into pearls.

He had gone to the hospital, perhaps he had obtained key clues, certainly much more than the players who had slept all morning.

After Li Nan turned into a fish and was carried away, there were now only six players left.

Excluding the Double-Cap Big Shot standing by the window, the four players gathered around the bed, forming a circle, staring unblinkingly at the little dumpling sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Gu Lin held a bottle of milk in his hand. Being watched by four people while drinking milk, he was completely unaffected, totally stable.

Adults were strange. What was so interesting about watching him drink milk?

[I knew it. The cub holds so many clues, now all the players want to get clues from the cub]

[I didn’t expect that the one with the fastest progress in exploring the plot would be the little cub. In comparison, the other players are even more useless]

[But the cub himself doesn’t seem to care much. It depends on whether these big wastes can ask the right questions]

[Damn, several big wastes are relying on a child less than two years old to carry them. It’s their good fortune to have the cub]

Everyone was anxious and eager to know what Gu Lin knew, but they didn’t have much hope.

After all, he was a cub less than two years old. Even if he saw something, heard something, he might not remember it. Even if he remembered, he might not know how to express it to them.

And, very likely, very crucial clues, this little cub might not have paid attention to, and might not even know they were clues.

Putting clues aside for now, Lin Xingchi said, “Dumpling, how did you run off to the hospital?”

The situation everyone was worried about, that Gu Lin wouldn’t be able to express himself, clearly didn’t exist.

Gu Lin was clear and logical, his childish voice crisp: “Cub woke up hungry. I called dagege, but dagege didn’t respond, so I ran out. Zhuang Mu-gege rode a scooter and took cub to the hospital to chi fanfan.”

Zhuang Mu-gege?

Everyone remembered. It was the mermaid xiaogege they met on the way to the hotel earlier, the second most beautiful mermaid in Mermaid Town, the mermaid with a complete fishtail.

They had encountered that mermaid before, he was riding a scooter to the hospital, presumably working at the hospital.

They didn’t expect Gu Lin to be so clear in his narration, explaining the situation in just a few sentences.

Of course, they wouldn’t know how Gu Lin, such a small cub, ran out, and why that mermaid xiaogege named Zhuang Mu rode a scooter to take Gu Lin to the hospital for a meal.

There was no need to delve into the reasons. It was nothing more than this cub being too cute, making everyone love him.

After all, the mermaid town mayor was going to personally find pearls for him. It seemed not surprising that other NPCs were conquered by this little cub.

Song Ran remembered what the aunties on the bullet comments said, that Gu Lin and the mermaid town mayor were looking at fish, and just now Li Nan was also carried away by medical staff.

It was very likely that these newly born mermaids were all taken to that hospital.

Song Ran: “Xiaogui^[1]T/N: Xiaogui literally means “little ghost” but is often used as an affectionate term for a child, similar to “little rascal” or “little one.”, what kind of fish did you and the mermaid town mayor see?”

Gu Lin, drinking milk, looked at Song Ran: “Cub is not xiaogui.”

Song Ran: “…”

Others: “…”

“Pfft—”

The others couldn’t help but laugh.

The atmosphere instantly relaxed and became lively.

Song Ran’s eye twitched. It was time to cozy up to this little cub. He patiently explained, “Xiaogui is like xiaozai, xiaobudian, xiaoluobotou, it’s all a form of address, it doesn’t mean you’re really a little ghost. Got it, xiaogui?” ^[2]T/N: Xiaozai, Xiaobudian, Xiaoluobotou are all terms of endearment for small children.

Gu Lin puffed out his cheeks, turning into a little pufferfish again.

He understood, but he didn’t want to be called xiaogui.

Song Ran, focused on the mission, returned to the topic: “Okay, xiaogui, what did you see at the hospital? Tell your geges and jiejies.”

Gu Lin glanced at him: “And Song Ran-shushu.”

Song Ran: “…………”

Damn, was Yu Qing’s embarrassment now his turn?

He was only twenty-three this year. They were all peers. Why were the others gege and jiejie, but he was shushu? His face wasn’t dark, and he didn’t look old!

Lin Xingchi, Su Qiao, and Xia Xue couldn’t help but laugh. Sure enough, the little cub always brought surprises.

Even the Double-Cap Big Shot, who had been standing silently by the window, chuckled lightly.

Song Ran took a deep breath, secretly reminding himself that it was time to cozy up to this cub. Shushu it was, it was better than heilian-shushu (black-faced uncle).

Song Ran forced a smile: “Okay, quickly tell gege and jiejie, and me, shushu, what you saw and heard, xiaogui?”

Gu Lin said, “Mayor-yeye took cub to see a lot of yuyu. Those yuyu were sleeping in blue water. I wanted to ask Mayor-yeye for little pearls, but Doctor-shushu said that those were all fake yuyu, artificial fish, and their tears can’t turn into little pearls.”

Hearing this, all the players’ eyes widened.

But they didn’t interrupt Gu Lin, holding their breath, quietly listening to Gu Lin speak.

Next, Gu Lin bababa recounted everything he had seen and heard at the hospital.

He even repeated Yu Youmian’s words completely, word for word.

When Gu Lin said there were real mermaids, all the players were energized, their breathing becoming lighter.

There were real mermaids, so they still had a chance to get pearls and clear the instance.

Gu Lin: “Doctor-shushu said, that real yuyu, he…”

Huh?

What was that word?

The little cub had a thoughtful look on his face, thinking for a while.

Oh, he remembered.

“Slipped.” ^[3]T/N: In Chinese the literal word used is “foot slipped” – jiaohuá – which sounds very similar to the word for “cunning” – jiaohuá. This is the source of … Continue reading

Saying this word, he even slipped his little foot, vividly.

Others: ???

Song Ran: “Wait, slipped? Isn’t it a mermaid? Where did the feet come from?”

Gu Lin frowned. That’s right, yuyu didn’t have feet.

But that’s what Doctor-shushu had said to him.

The little cub was truly meng (confused), and drank another mouthful of milk. Better to drink nainai.

At this time, the Double-Cap Big Shot’s voice sounded: “Cunning?” (jiaohuá)

The others instantly understood. Gu Lin was young and couldn’t distinguish between “slipped” (jiaohuá) and “cunning” (jiaohuá).

Gu Lin nodded: “Mm-hmm, it’s hidden away.”

[What a jiaohuá!]

[Hahahahahahahaha slipped]

[I’m dying of laughter. I’m a new auntie. The little baby is indeed true to his reputation, hahahaha]

[But I still have to praise the cub. He can’t even read, but he can memorize such a large paragraph [Reward Points x100]]

After talking about the mermaid base, Gu Lin started talking about the meal, mentioning Yu Youmian and the mermaid town mayor’s conversation.

Gu Lin: “Mayor-yeye said, he wanted to transfuse cub with Zhuang Mu-gege’s serum, to turn cub into a little mermaid.”

Players: “…”

The information content of this sentence directly caused all the players’ pupils to shrink.

Gu Lin was young and hadn’t started school yet, so he couldn’t connect the context.

According to that Doctor Yu, mermaids needed the serum of a real mermaid to be successfully transformed, and the mermaid town mayor meant that transfusing Zhuang Mu’s serum could transform mermaids.

Connecting these, the possibility that Zhuang Mu was that real mermaid was extremely high.

Besides, he also had a complete fishtail.