After stealthily planting a kiss,
Shu Tang cautiously observed the mermaid’s reaction.
Noticing no signs of waking, she quickly fled the scene of the crime,
Pretending as if nothing had happened.
Like a kitten that had accidentally broken a glass, she nonchalantly walked by.
Humming a tune, she returned to her bedroom, drew the curtains, fluffed the quilt, and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, in the darkness,
The monster, intending to numb the kitten with sleep and slyly test her, slowly opened its eyes.
But it did not move.
It was as if it had turned into a statue, completely still,
Until a fine rain drifted in through the window.
Then, the monster hesitantly reached out to touch the place that had been kissed.
What was that?
That night, unlike usual, the monster did not return to the bedroom to curl up around her as she slept.
The cat’s affection, like cat fur scattered all over the sky, leads to a series of chain reactions—
Boldly passing by.
And the master of this Bastille, tormented by the cat fur,
The monster wandering in the late night, puzzled over the meaning of that kiss.
That night, the people in the forbidden area noticed that the long-stable psychic power values began to fluctuate.
Ever since Shu Tang became the therapist for subject 001, the data on the screen had been extremely stable, so stable that people began to wonder privately—
Had Shu Tang learned some miraculous healing techniques from somewhere?
However, what no one expected was that besides regular treatments, Shu Tang simply spent her days in the forbidden area, letting 001 feel the wind and soak up the sun.
It was merely her presence that had brought this fierce monster, which had been volatile since its awakening, into a prolonged period of calm.
This calm had allowed the monster to regain its sanity and even recover part of its memory.
Just as everyone was worried that a psychic power outburst might reoccur after two months—
The values gradually stabilized again, like a rollercoaster smoothing out after a climb.
The monster that had been lingering at the door finally decided to go inside.
“He” approached Shu Tang, his dark eyes fixed on her, puzzled as he looked at her lips.
Then he extended his cold finger and touched her lips.
Soft, warm.
But the monster slowly withdrew his hand and hissed lowly at her.
As if asking, “What is that?”
Although the exploration had yielded results, the monster, still not very familiar with human society, couldn’t understand the meaning of this kiss.
—Did she want to eat him?
…
The next morning, when Shu Tang got up for breakfast, she found that the mermaid kept staring at her teeth.
The monster thought: Does she really think she can devour him with such weak biting force?
Shu Tang wondered: Why is he staring at her like that, does she have food in her teeth?
Nervous, she immediately went to brush her teeth.
Finally, the mermaid withdrew his gaze from her teeth.
However, half an hour later, the mermaid’s finger was injured again.
While cutting salmon, the cold, pale finger slipped accidentally, causing a spot of blood to appear and a long cut to form.
Both were in the kitchen at the time, preparing to store the prepared salmon in the fridge. Due to the warming weather in South Island City, freshly caught prey needed to be processed quickly to prevent spoilage.
The mermaid held up his finger, lowered his eyes, and carefully watched Shu Tang’s reaction.
Indeed, the mermaid’s blood was very sweet and had a strong attraction to many pollutants. Even a drop of it in the sea would attract many sharks from the ocean floor.
When mermaids need to lure an enemy, their own blood is undoubtedly the most enticing.
Shu Tang was initially panicked, pulling the mermaid’s hand under the tap to rinse it with cold water for a while.
Suspicion followed.
She found the band-aids and antiseptic solution she had brought from the hospital and treated the wound simply.
Then, she hesitantly looked at the fish for a while, seemingly wanting to say something but stopping herself.
Shu Tang: Did he do it on purpose?
She had some understanding of the mermaid’s fighting abilities.
Shu Tang internally struggled fiercely: Is this really him being coquettish?
The mermaid watched her staring blankly at his finger, a flicker of realization passing through his dark eyes. In fact, this fierce monster wasn’t angry; it even felt somewhat intrigued.
She hesitated for a while, then lifted “his” finger and blew on it.
Mermaid: “…”
Shu Tang: “Ah, this is really fatal.”
After hesitating for a while, the mermaid finally confirmed: she didn’t want to eat “him.”
Shu Tang didn’t know that the fierce monster’s thoughts were very brutal: if she wanted to eat “him,” the mermaid wouldn’t mind being fed occasionally.
Instead, when Shu Tang showed that she didn’t want to eat “him,” this deep-sea monster felt puzzled.
After dinner, the mermaid went to inspect his territory in the sea, checking for pollutants.
Usually, an hour later, Shu Tang would call out to the mermaid on the sea surface, and they would go for a walk on the beach, hand in hand, performing “photosynthesis.”
If it were yesterday, the mermaid would ignore the little liar’s fake talk of “photosynthesis,” very naturally come ashore, indulging her to hold his hand.
When the time was almost up, Shu Tang called out on the sea surface, “Little Rose, let’s go for a walk!”
Usually, hearing her voice, the mermaid would quickly come out of the water.
But today, this fierce monster was filled with confusion.
So hearing her voice, he did not immediately respond to Shu Tang.
Her gaze, her movements, the joy when she secretly held hands.
All seemed like signals, this little cat asking for something from the monster.
However, the mermaid couldn’t be sure what she was asking for, and naturally, he couldn’t give it.
There was also a deeper concern.
If he didn’t even know what it was—”he” could not know either, the thing she wanted, did “he” really have it?
Due to the mermaid being half an hour late emerging from the water, Shu Tang missed their scheduled study time and they both missed a “photosynthesis” session.
She felt a bit disappointed and muttered, “Let’s go again tomorrow,” as she glanced at the sun outside.
At first, Shu Tang did not connect this event with the incident of the stolen kiss the night before.
It was only when she went to see the mermaid during her break, as usual, that she noticed something was off. The mermaid cast his eyes down, avoided making eye contact, and closed his eyes instead of engaging with her. Even the mermaid’s tail didn’t swish as it usually did.
Shu Tang was momentarily taken aback.
She felt uneasy.
She glanced at the mermaid once, then again.
Eventually, she decided to test the mermaid’s reactions.
Several plans flashed through her mind, but in the end, Shu Tang chose the most straightforward approach.
She leaned in close to the mermaid, pretending to kiss his cheek—
She felt a sudden tension in the creature’s body.
The mermaid’s tension was subtle, but she caught it.
“He” knew.
She nonchalantly moved past him, picked up a glass of water, and took a sip.
Shu Tang was stunned for a moment.
Then she turned back to her studies, continuing until she was on the second page, when she started to feel a heavy mood fermenting in her chest.
The mermaid knew about her stolen kiss and began to avoid holding hands and making eye contact with her.
She noticed the sky outside turning gloomy and quickly pulled the curtains closed.
She muttered, “The weather is really bad today, is it going to rain again?”
She felt the tall figure behind her wanting to say something.
But no sound came out.
At that moment, the mermaid was like a poor adult with only three coins in his pocket, facing a child wanting to buy a fancy cake he had never heard of before.
Watching her sulk.
He counted his only three coins over and over again.
Still unsure if it was enough to buy her little cake.
And so, he felt an unprecedented embarrassment.
Unfortunately, this embarrassment was indescribable.
Because once he spoke, it would reveal his utter poverty.
The two of them had thus fallen into an unprecedented cold war.
Shu Tang sat in the living room, only leaving a small lamp on, nestled in a corner next to the curtain.
Her mind was a mess, as soggy as if soaked by the heavy rain outside.
For lunch, she didn’t eat the salmon prepared by the mermaid.
Instead, she rolled up her trouser legs and went to the beach to pick crabs.
The mermaid followed her at a distance that was neither too far nor too close.
She looked at the crab pinching her and began to wildly shake the insensitive creature off.
As a result, her finger swelled up from being pinched.
At that moment, she was lifted up.
The crab was taken away.
Shu Tang struggled out of the mermaid’s hands and continued sullenly with her bucket to pick more crabs.
Actually, her strength was minor compared to the mermaid’s, but seeing her angry, the mermaid still let go.
This time, it took her over an hour to collect enough crabs for a meal.
And another hour to clean them thoroughly.
By the time she was ready to eat the crabs, she was ravenously hungry.
The mermaid placed a dish of finely sliced silversides beside her.
Shu Tang was hungry, but she didn’t touch the plate of silversides at all.
At dinner time, Shu Tang wanted to cook porridge.
However, both the rice and green beans were nearly finished, so she dug out a pack of hard bread from the corner of the fridge and continued to work on her papers.
On the last set of mock questions, Shu Tang scored 85 points.
This score was entirely sufficient for her to pass the qualification exam.
But she didn’t seem very happy.
When it was time to tidy up and go to bed,
Shu Tang packed up her things and moved to the room furthest from that bedroom.
In fact, she did this because she felt that if she slept with “him” again, she would not be able to sleep all night.
She barricaded her room’s door with a large cabinet, then spread out a temporary mat on the floor.
Actually, no one had slept in this room before; it was a bit cold and damp. As she closed her eyes, she remembered that stormy night, the abandoned power station was just as damp.
She thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but she actually fell asleep quite quickly.
Outside the door, the mermaid stood silently at the entrance.
He waited until he could hear her long breaths before gently pushing the door open.
“He” felt the resistance.
But still easily pushed the cabinet open.
In fact, “he” knew that if she found out he had been carried back, she would be even angrier.
But it was too cold and damp here, and spending the night might even lead to a cold.
So, the tall figure picked her up, along with the blanket, and placed her back in the bedroom.
The mermaid opened the refrigerator, staring at Shu Tang’s empty snack section.
Then, he stepped away from the forbidden area.
…
In the heavy rain, there was a knock at Chen Sheng’s duty room.
Opening the door, Chen Sheng saw a tall figure.
The tall figure was holding a big fish that had been contaminated, about the length of an adult man’s arm, dripping black blood.
Due to this contamination, the deep-sea overlord, to ensure the safety of the kitten in his nest, would patrol his territory daily for contaminants.
Thus, he occasionally encountered patrol fleets wandering just outside his territory. Since they did not enter his domain, the monster merely watched them coldly for a few days, then realized they were also searching for contaminants but to no avail.
So today, the deep-sea overlord chose a contaminant as a bartering item.
Chen Sheng was stunned for a moment.
Due to the previous experience, he suppressed his excitement and said, “Founder, you…”
But as his voice fell, the tall dark figure had already placed the big fish in front of him and then walked past Chen Sheng expressionlessly towards the resting hall of Zone 01.
In a way, this monster’s emotions were very scarce.
He had no curiosity about the outside world, and even less a sense of identification with the humans outside.
At this moment, there were guards and therapists eating late-night snacks in shifts in the hall.
Due to “his” sudden appearance, the place became very quiet.
The mermaid calmly swept over them; “his” gaze on every blade of grass was the same as his gaze on people: devoid of emotion or fluctuation.
Before meeting Shu Tang, the mermaid rarely showed any emotion, except for intense aggression when provoked.
Shu Tang thought the mermaid had changed, but in some ways, he really hadn’t.
His indifferent gaze swept over everyone, sending chills down their spines, and silence filled the hall.
—He had just always been very obedient to her.
The mermaid walked straight past them.
Expressionless, he went to the pantry and packed up all the snacks and pastries Shu Tang liked.
Chen Sheng escorted him out, following the mermaid and saying:
“Founder, you can just take whatever you want in the future, no need to trade with pollutants.”
The mermaid paused.
Then vanished into the rain.
*
When Shu Tang got up in the morning, she found herself in her bedroom bed.
Subconsciously, she put on her shoes, preparing to search for the mermaid as usual.
But halfway downstairs, she suddenly remembered yesterday’s events.
Her exhilarated mood was instantly doused.
In the Bastille, Shu Tang did not see the mermaid.
She opened the curtains and looked at the heavy rain outside.
—In this weather, he had gone back to the sea again.
She instinctively wanted to complain, but then she thought:
Perhaps she had always been assuming too much.
Just like a fish isn’t afraid of getting wet in the rain.
It’s actually cats who fear the rain.
She always arrogantly projected her own worries onto him, but it was just needless fretting.
On this dreary rainy day, her mood was as gloomy as if it could wring out water.
She went to the kitchen, planning to continue eating the leftover half loaf of bread.
But when she opened the fridge—
A pile of snacks poured out, clattering at her feet.
There were boxes of tiramisu, various biscuits, and even milk powder and instant coffee.
She stood there, stunned, for a long time.
She was actually quite hungry, her stomach even ached slightly from the hunger.
She made herself a cup of hot milk and ate the box of tiramisu.
The stomachache gradually subsided.
She looked towards the door, but the mermaid she was waiting for never came back.
So, like yesterday, she continued to curl up in the corner and work on her problems.
—Actually, it was quite nice this way. Her job in the forbidden zone was easy, and she still had time to solve problems and write exams, without having to work early mornings and night shifts like before. There was nothing to complain about.
And “he” was really very good.
So, maintaining the status quo was quite fine.
Thinking this, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
She thought, by the afternoon, by the night, she could adjust herself and reconcile with “him” as before.
It was past ten when Shu Tang heard the sound of the door opening.
With no TV or radio on, the Bastille was extremely quiet.
It was stormy outside, and when she heard the mermaid approaching, the water dripped off him.
Today, the mermaid didn’t bring any fresh prey but was carrying a large metal box.
Normally, Shu Tang would be very curious, but this time she restrained herself and didn’t glance that way.
Until the tall figure came up to her and set the large box down at Shu Tang’s feet.
Shu Tang could feel the damp moisture from outside emanating from “him”.
The mermaid left again.
But this time, he disappeared at the end of the hallway.
Shu Tang decided not to look. But the corner of her eye occasionally caught the box, and suddenly it seemed to her like it was shaped like a safe.
She was a bit curious, and also a bit apprehensive.
After hesitating for a while, she still opened the large box.
And out tumbled numerous federal bills.
It could be said that Shu Tang had never seen so much money in her life.
—Did he rob a bank?
She was very nervous, her first reaction was to take Little Rose and flee to the pollution zone to see if they could escape the federal manhunt.
She was frustrated with her subconscious thought.
But soon, she noticed traces of water and seaweed on the safe.
The ocean is heavily polluted and shipwrecks often occur, leading to prohibitively high salvage costs. As a result, countless ships have sunk over the centuries.
So it wasn’t that he was robbing a bank, but rather, he found something in the ocean.
Shu Tang looked at the Federal bills inside and carefully examined their era, realizing these might be a box of antique bills.
Of course, a mermaid wouldn’t be able to distinguish the differences between each edition of the Federal bills.
Although such a large quantity of antique bills was valuable, auctioning them would be very troublesome. An ordinary person like Shu Tang auctioning them would also face the risk of having the source of the bills investigated.
However, “he” gave her this box of items just to please her.
Shu Tang put the money back into the safe, found the large wardrobe, and hid the big safe behind it.
It was an indescribable feeling.
She hesitated for a moment, then took out a large towel from inside.
She went to the kitchen and looked at the tall figure.
—They hadn’t spoken all day.
Hearing her footsteps, the figure stopped.
His hair tips were still dripping with water.
She placed the towel on the table and closed the door.
—She still wasn’t happy.
The tall mermaid quieted down for a while, lowered his head, and looked at the large towel she had brought.
After a long time, he picked up the towel and dried himself off.
…
After the rain stopped, Shu Tang felt claustrophobic in the Bastille, so she went to the beach for a walk.
The beach was moist after the rain, and the sea breeze finally dispersed the stifling heat.
But she found it hard to alleviate her low spirits.
She thought the mermaid would follow her at a distance like yesterday, but after waiting for a long time, she heard no movement.
In her gloom, she kicked the shells around like cans.
Suddenly, a whale call came from the sea.
She was startled and realized the sound was coming from not far off at sea.
Thus, Shu Tang climbed onto the rocks to look out at the sea.
She saw the ocean and the horizon, and a sperm whale leaping from the water, creating a huge splash.
—It was the same sperm whale that Shu Tang and the mermaid had seen when they went to the power station, escaping from the pollutants.
And somehow, whether by luck or not, it wasn’t even parasitized by pollutants and appeared in this area of the sea a few days later.
She stood on the rocks, gazing at this scene.
She remained silent for a long time.
Perhaps the calls of this creature evoked images of the vast deep sea and the primordial past.
She quieted down.
The monster did not know what to give back to Shu Tang for her needs.
“He” pulled out the only three coins he had, hoping to buy back her little cake.
But the monster found that she was not pleased by wealth, had no interest in eating him, and did not seem happy even after seeing the whale.
The monster reevaluated his barren world, unable to find what she wanted.
Thus, “he” hesitated to approach the dejected little cat.
As she turned her head as if sensing something—
She indeed saw that tall figure disappear into the darkness.
…
Shu Tang originally planned to make up at night, but for some reason, she did not calm down throughout the day.
Instead, at night, her intense emotions were fermented and magnified.
It was as if she had found a huge treasure, known only to her, that the dragon wanted to take away and hide in its large pocket.
But it found itself too small to drag it away.
Thus, the more valuable the treasure seemed, the sadder the dragon became.
That night, Shu Tang, having moved to sleep in the living room, tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
And that stifling discomfort was gradually turning into anger.
Just like the dragon, knowing it couldn’t carry the treasure away and ready to give up—
The treasure started to peel, revealing even more precious gems inside.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, rising from her bed.
In that moment, all thoughts of reconciliation vanished.
She decided to embark on a perilous revenge.
She put on her slippers and walked towards the second floor.
Indeed, the mermaid was in the bedroom.
In the darkness, “he” did not open his eyes.
After she stormed in angrily, “he” could clearly sense her every move in the darkness without making a sound.
She didn’t turn on the light but instead took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed.
She leaned in furiously to stare at “him.”
This fierce mermaid seemed very quiet, leaning against the corner of the wall with his eyes closed, his expressionless face as usual showing little emotion, his pale lips looking a bit dry, and his long hair still damp, seemingly moistened by the rain outside.
He looked like a blue rose wet from the rain outside.
She stared at this mermaid for a while.
A cat’s desire for revenge is very strong.
So even though she knew he was probably still awake,
She still moved in angrily—
On the cold cheek of the blue rose:
Chu.
Chu Chu.
Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu.