Military Headquarters Duty Room.

Duke, who had just been hung up on during the video call, scratched his head and looked at the person beside him: “Shen Zhichu, I think the Boss is mad at me again.”

Sitting at the workstation next to Duke was Shen Zhichu.

Shen Zhichu was the other adjutant from the Marshal’s office.

He had a refined appearance and, compared to the rough-around-the-edges Duke, a much calmer personality. As a result, he was responsible for almost all of the paperwork.

The secret mission previously carried out on Planet Tarl was also led by Shen Zhichu, who guided the reconnaissance team to track and photograph the buyer of 1.5 tons of Medusa.

During that operation, the reconnaissance team had been blocked by a magnetic storm, and Shen Zhichu had sustained an injury. He had to stay in the medical capsule the entire night before he could get out.

Upon hearing Duke’s words, Shen Zhichu looked up from his neural interface with a hint of helplessness in his voice:

“…Did you forget the Marshal doesn’t like answering unnecessary questions?”

Duke scratched his head again:

“I was just a little curious… This time you can’t go on the patrol because your mental sea hasn’t recovered, but it seems like the Marshal wants to bring another adjutant along.”

Shen Zhichu’s gaze returned to the screen, his tone cool:

“Maybe the Marshal’s finally had enough of you and wants someone to replace you.”

Duke tapped on the desk, responding seriously:

“Don’t talk nonsense, alright? I mean, sure, I’m a bit lively, but I’m not annoying, okay? My professional skills are solid. Where else could the Marshal find an assistant more competent than me?”

Shen Zhichu:

“…Ah, yes, yes, of course.”

After quickly dispatching the Marshal’s recent orders via his neural interface, Duke muttered again while staring at the screen:

“Yu Bai… Huh, why does that name sound so familiar… Old Shen, do you remember if there was an intern named Yu Bai who joined the military department this year?”

“Yu Bai?” Shen Zhichu thought for a moment and shook his head.

“No.”

Duke wanted to say more, but Shen Zhichu clearly had no interest in their superior’s personal affairs.

He stood up and adjusted his sleeves:

“I’m going out for a smoke. Coming?”

“No, no, I’ll wait for a reply from the logistics department,” Duke shook his head and called after him, concerned,

“Is your injury better? Can you smoke?”

“A minor injury,” Shen Zhichu’s footsteps were already fading into the distance. “Mostly just want some fresh air.”

—

The hallway of the military headquarters was especially quiet late at night. Only the cold, impersonal white light from the overhead fluorescents illuminated the silence.

Adjutant Shen greeted a few colleagues on duty with a smile, then made his way alone up the stairs to the rooftop.

The night was deep. On the rooftop, only the sound of the wind could be heard howling past.

Once alone, Shen Zhichu could no longer maintain his calm demeanor. He covered his mouth, bent over, and started coughing violently.

It was a long while before he straightened up, took out a suppressant vial and a handkerchief from his coat, injected himself with the medication, and carefully wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Only the wind accompanied him.

The weather was good tonight. Looking out from the rooftop, one could see a sea of lights stretching far into the distance.

Shen Zhichu stood there quietly for a while, then pulled something else from his pocket.

It was about the size of a palm, very thin and light. Under the clear moonlight, it shimmered like a rare treasure, glowing with a beautiful silver sheen.

…It must be dead by now.

Shen Zhichu thought, staring at the scale.

No matter whose hands it ended up in, that mermaid likely didn’t live long.

It was rather troublesome—although it wasn’t very wary, it was surprisingly strong and mentally resilient.

Even with the scale in hand, Shen Zhichu had to struggle to smuggle it into the auction house.

Now, if he destroyed this scale, no one would ever discover his secret.

…Unfortunately, he didn’t know what that mermaid had grown up eating, but this silver scale, despite its delicate appearance, was incredibly tough.

He had tried many methods, but none could destroy it.

And he didn’t dare to discard it carelessly.

So now, the scale had become a hot potato.

…He would have to find a chance to completely destroy it.

While thinking, he lit a cigarette.

—

On the other side of the capital, at the Marshal’s residence.

Yu Bai, asleep, was dreaming again.

This time, it was still about his past life.

The little mermaid, although living alone in the sea, wasn’t idle every day.

He had one task to do each day— To use his spiritual power to purify the pollution of the deep sea.

Yu Bai actually no longer remembered when that green pollution first appeared.

At first, he hadn’t known his spiritual power was limited, so he always pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion.

The direct consequence of that was his body remained in a constant state of weakness.

His five senses became dull, and at its worst, he almost completely

lost his vision, only able to vaguely discern the outlines of his surroundings.

The green pollution would also scorch his scales, causing great discomfort.

It was under those conditions that he pulled that man out of the sea.

That man was lucky— when Yu Bai reached him, the escape pod hadn’t yet sunk into the polluted zone.

But the pod’s structure had suffered severe damage from the impact, with cracks spreading across its surface. As Yu Bai swam over, bubbles were already escaping in streams from the fractures.

At the time, his vision still hadn’t recovered, and he had to rely on the last bit of his spiritual power to squeeze through the cracks and clumsily drag out a human in a protective suit.

That human had apparently lost consciousness from the impact and didn’t move at all, letting Yu Bai pull him by the leg in a rather comical fashion up to the shore.

It was also a bright moonlit night. After pushing the man onto the beach, the little mermaid collapsed beside him and fell asleep, completely drained.

When Yu Bai awoke, it was already noon the next day.

He discovered he had been tied to a tree near the shore.

The human had taken off the bulky protective suit. In the daylight, the little mermaid could only just make out the rough outline of the person.

“…Who are you?”

He heard the other ask.

It was a clear, youthful voice, with a touch of immaturity and obvious tension.

“Why did you save me?”

But since they didn’t speak the same language, Yu Bai didn’t understand a word.

He could only sense the nervous emotion from the tone of the other’s voice.

So he tilted his head slightly and gave that human a friendly smile.

Seeing the little mermaid’s innocent smile, the other person was silent for a few seconds before asking, “…Do you not understand what I’m saying?”

Yu Bai really didn’t understand.

Mermaids had particularly sensitive touch, and the rope that young man used to tie him was a bit rough, chafing his wrists painfully.

He tried to struggle a little but failed to break free, only ending up hurting himself more.

The pain made him instinctively flick his tail, and his beautiful silver tail fin stirred up a small pile of sand.

Dry and scorching.

As time passed, the noon sun became increasingly intense.

The little mermaid didn’t like this hot and dry environment.

Heat would slowly dehydrate his tail, putting him into an extremely uncomfortable state.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the sunlight seemed to grow even more intense.

He could feel the moisture in his tail fin rapidly evaporating, and the nearby scales had begun to ache faintly.

The pain made him frown unconsciously.

But for some reason, it was getting quieter and quieter around him. The human in front of him also fell silent.

Then that faint pain gradually turned into a familiar cramping sensation.

Yu Bai: …Hm?

His vision gradually focused, and the little mermaid rubbed his eyes to realize he was now in a bedroom.

He let out a small yawn, then his expression froze.

The pain in his tail— no, his leg— was very real.

He was curled up at the edge of the bed, and the leg pain was the same numbing ache from before.

It felt like someone was poking tiny needles into his calf over and over.

It hadn’t been noticeable while he was asleep, but now that he was awake, the cramping pain in his calf became sharp and distinct.

Within just a few seconds, Yu Bai felt like the pain could almost make him cry.

He sucked in a light breath, frowning, and slowly sat up on the bed, then cautiously began mimicking what Fu Linyuan had done last time.

A cool palm pressed against his calf.

“Hiss—”

He wasn’t sure if he’d done it wrong or if something else had gone wrong.

Instead of relieving the pain, the massage only made it worse.

The tightly clenched muscles pulled on more and more nerves, and after a while, even his toes began to hurt.

Yu Bai: …

He was a little confused and a little panicked.

He’d only experienced something like this before in the lab.

…Could it be the lab people had found him again?

Or… had he always had some kind of underlying condition?

When Fu Linyuan pushed the door open again, what he saw was the little mermaid sitting at the edge of the bed, frowning fiercely at his own leg, looking utterly miserable.

The slim little leg was tightly tensed, and even the round, pearly toes were curled.

The abnormal spasms in his calf made Fu Linyuan instantly realize— it was another cramp.

Hearing the door open, the suffering little mermaid looked up with teary red eyes.

His ear fins drooped dejectedly, and his eyes, misted with water, were full of confusion and grievance.

…It really hurt.

He pitifully pointed at his leg and began gesturing at Fu Linyuan.

I did it just like you did— so why does it still hurt?

Fu Linyuan: “…”

Fu Linyuan: “…The pressure was wrong.”

He walked over in a few steps and sat down beside him.

One hand pressed down on his knee to straighten the leg, and the other gently laid on the cool calf.

“Mn—”

When Fu Linyuan pressed down, the burst of pain made Yu Bai let out a small cry and instinctively grabbed the man’s shirt.

But soon, the sharp pain quickly faded, replaced by a bearable soreness.

The little mermaid’s voice was already soft, and the way he whimpered with a bit of nasal tone sounded oddly like he was being coquettish.

Frequent cramping wasn’t a good sign.

The Empire’s Marshal lowered his gaze, thinking—

…Better start ordering an extra bottle of milk starting tomorrow.