Chapter 201: Volume 1 Chapter 201: Mermaid? Merfolk? (18)

He hung up the communicator, the A-rank captain said: 'Below is the forbidden zone; even if she went down she would die, we don't need to chase her, continue the patrol.'

Jiang Zhi kept falling, unable to see the bottom, going deeper and deeper; when she reached the deepest part, she fainted.

When she woke up, pure white mist filled her vision; she tentatively reached out with her hand, but touched a cold, transparent pane of glass.

A voice sounded beside her ear.

'What do you want to see?' that voice asked her.

Jiang Zhi thought for a moment and asked: 'Why was the merfolk king captured by them?'

As the words fell, the white mist dissipated; she plunged into the sea, surrounded by darkness with no light, yet she felt no shortage of oxygen, as if what lay before her was a dream.

Yes, it must be a dream, just a dream.

Before her appeared a youthful merfolk; its fish tail was a deep dark color like night, flashing with a faint, illusory golden light. It lifted its head, saw the human girl slowly sinking into the sea, and swam over, swaying its tail.

The girl clung to it as if grasping a lifeline, her limbs tightly wrapping around its body; the little remaining oxygen turned into bubbles that rose upward.

The youthful merfolk carried the girl to the shore; having never seen a human before, it quickly let go and hid behind the rocks.

The girl awoke, startled, looking at its fish tail behind it, and asked: 'Are you a mermaid?'

The youthful merfolk didn't understand her words, blinking blankly; its peerless visage lowered, its black hair soaked in the sea swayed like seaweed, and its snow-white skin made it look as beautiful as an ocean spirit.

'You are a mermaid!' she declared firmly.

The scene shifted; the youthful merfolk and the girl met often, until the girl turned eighteen, when she gave it a promise.

'I am your partner; from now on we will be together for life.'

The scene shifted again; the youthful merfolk was captured, while the girl who personally led the people over stood not far away, coldly looking at it and saying: 'Forget me.'

No—don't—

Endless despair and sorrow instantly flooded Jiang Zhi's heart; she didn't understand why she felt so awful, as if that merfolk were herself, she clutched her chest, her heart aching as if being torn by a knife.

Don't—don't abandon me—

Zhizhi!!

She suddenly woke up, still not free from sorrow, she wiped the corner of her eyes; tears streamed down, warm and moist.

777 anxiously said: 'Host, are you alright? I've been calling you for ages, you ignored me! What's wrong with you?!'

Jiang Zhi shook her head: 'I'm fine.'

Afterward, the merfolk in this laboratory endured decades of torment—its scales peeled off, its blood drained, its limbs chopped off, its skull crushed.

It remained alive, but the endless bodily torture gradually shaped it into a demon's likeness.

'Did you see that?' a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her; Youchi stood behind her, raising both hands to turn her head in a certain direction.

There, several merfolk were locked up; iron chains pierced their spines, their eyes gouged out, and periodic pain caused them to gradually lose the memory of hatred.

Jiang Zhi struggled free of his restraints, turned around, and looked at him in disbelief, demanding: 'Who are you?'

Youchi—no, it should be the villain merfolk; the disguise fell from its face, revealing an extremely handsome visage before her eyes, the blood-red mole at the corner of its eye vivid and alluring.

'Zhizhi, you want to know the secret hidden in this laboratory more than anyone else—why? Could it be that you once knew other merfolk?' it asked doubtfully.

Jiang Zhi frowned: 'When did you start disguising yourself as Youchi?'

The merfolk slowly approached her: 'The day after arriving on the island, Ning Nongyan was me; when you were bound and thrown onto the beach, Youchi was also me.'

'Alright.' It smiled gently, without a trace of aggression: 'Zhizhi, can you answer me now?'

Jiang Zhi hadn't expected it to tell her so easily; she pressed her lips and said: 'I don't know; when I saw this island, I felt very familiar.'

This is the truth, and it has nothing to do with the original host; it is Jiang Zhi's own thought.

When she boarded this island, she always felt as if she had been here before.

But she was absolutely certain that this world was her first time coming here.

Moreover, that tear-shaped mole on the villain merfolk's face—she really wanted to touch it; this has always been something she wanted to do.

The merfolk narrowed its eyes, its pure black pupils flashing with a chilling cold: 'Is that so? I'm also quite familiar.'

This island, and the person before her.

It has forgotten many things—why it hates this laboratory so much, why it guards the island and continually searches.

It seems to be searching for something, yet it doesn't even know what it is looking for.

Until seeing her, its first thought was to drag her to a deep-sea den, hide her there, lock her away forever, and not let her leave.

This inexplicable thought left it bewildered.

Lurking in the sea, it secretly gazed at her as she walked onto the cruise ship's deck, even unwilling to expose itself, just wanting to see her a little more.

But now, the longer it spends with her, the more its hatred surges again, wanting to destroy this laboratory and destroy her.

【Congratulations, Host, for completing side quest one: finding the secret of this laboratory.】

【Side quest two begins: destroy this laboratory, time limit one hour.】

Jiang Zhi: 'Making things difficult for my Panghu?'

【If the Host gives up, they will be eliminated outright!】

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice echoed in her mind.

Jiang Zhi, capable of both yielding and standing firm, said: 'Sorry.'

777 listened, heart pounding: 'Host, if you destroy this laboratory, the male and female leads on the island will also be in danger.'

Jiang Zhi sighed: 'I know.'

She now has countless questions in her heart.

The biggest problem is that dream just now—it's too familiar.

Inside, although the girl's face cannot be seen, she is truly too familiar, as if the girl were herself.

What a ghostly thought.

"Are you zoning out in front of me?" The merperson had already walked up to her face, long fingers stroking her cheek, sliding down her skin, stopping at the back of her neck to give a gentle but firm pinch.

Jiang Zhi snapped back to attention, her focus entirely on the final side‑quest mission, she pondered and asked: "Do you have a name?"

The merperson was momentarily dazed, then after a while shook their head.

Jiang Zhi said: "Then let me give you a name."

She propped her chin, smiling, and said: "Which name do you prefer, Zhang Da Pao or Zhang Da Whale?"

The merperson had a blank expression: "I don't like either."

Jiang Zhi sighed regretfully, then said: "Well then, how about calling you Ating? Does that work?"

Ating: "Not bad."

Jiang Zhi, having finished naming, said: "Ating, I'm going to destroy this lab now—can you help me?"

Ating leaned in, tongue tip extending to lick their lips, that god‑like stunning face filled with evil charm, bewitching the heart: "Promise to be my partner, and I'll help you."

Jiang Zhi almost got ensnared by it, heart pounding, she looked away and spoke righteously: "You don't like this lab yourself, do you?"