Chapter 1761: Mermaid Care Guide 33

The early morning was about to end.

Lin Juan's office light stayed on, the desk scattered with several documents, each of which he had flipped through many times, the paper curled and creased.

His eye sockets reddened from staying up, Lin Juan let out a weary sigh, feeling uneasy and unable to understand why Jin Chen had left these few documents for him to read.

The documents that Jin Chen had dropped when he hurriedly left the rooftop the previous night were every word and sentence related to events from ten years ago.

His thoughts were a tangled mess, Lin Juan suddenly missed Jin Chen's embrace, at least enough to let him calm down and catch a few breaths.

He lowered his head, fingers tucked into his hair, brow and eyes weary and drooping, the wounds on his body again throbbing faintly.

——

"Boss, where… where is this?"

Just as dawn broke, Xu Yi forced himself awake against the biting wind, shivering and pulling his collar tight, "Where did you bring me, sir?"

"Boss, you wouldn't sell me off to vent your anger, would you?! I can still contact the You Team to ransom someone, right?!"

Jin Chen temporarily didn't understand humans' aversion to the cold, wearing only a black coat despite the freezing morning wind, his aura somehow upgrading this dilapidated residential building by a notch.

"Looking for clues." Jin Chen grabbed him and walked inside, urging bluntly: "Hurry up, go smash the door."

Xu Yi: "……"

"Whose door am I supposed to smash?! Is this even legal? … Well, forget it—I forgot mermaids don't follow the law."

Xu Yi felt terrified and anxious, with the dread of having boarded a pirate ship only to discover the captain wasn't human.

Not daring to smash the door, Xu Yi steeled himself and knocked.

"Hello?"

Jin Chen: "……"

Protagonist (the receptive partner), a coward.

For the side quest, bear with it.

Jin Chen lifted his leg and kicked.

Xu Yi turned his head in fright, coming face to face with the middle-aged man behind the door.

Jin Chen whipped out a rope from his coat pocket.

Two hours later.

An abandoned, empty factory that couldn't be found on any satellite map.

Xu Yi crouched on the ground, numb, looking at the tied-up Chinese and foreigners, matching each face to the information on his phone one by one.

Good, exactly—each one could make the Blue Star biogenetic science community tremble with just a stomp, yet they were all bound in a row.

Jin Chen dragged over a chair, sat down, casually glanced at the row of constantly struggling people, and said, "Stay quiet, I'll question you one by one."

As he spoke, dozens of ice condenses formed in the air, their tips glowing a deathly blue, pointing straight at their most vulnerable necks.

Everyone's complexion changed, and they quickly realized that what stood before them was not human at all!

Jin Chen shook the paper, which listed the questions Ling Gun Gun had organized after digesting the data, and asked, "Who was the person who, ten years ago, worked with Lin Dashu on screening high-intelligence animal genes?"

Among them, three people's expressions darkened as they gradually understood what was going on.

"Good, you answer."

Jin Chen cut the incantation on the lips of the white-haired old man, lifted his gaze to stare at him, his eyes cold and stern, and asked, "What did Edmond do ten years ago? What is the truth behind the high-intelligence animal collective frenzy incident, and how is it related to him?"

The white-haired old man dared not move; even a slight shift made him feel the bone‑chilling cold of the ice spikes, sweat beading on his forehead as he truthfully said, "I'm indeed a colleague from their lab… but I can't access the specifics—I only know… Edmond truly, truly held a grudge against Dashu, whenever it came to the genetic experiments things were always off, and later Edmond even formed his own experimental team; the rest I'm not sure about."

"Alright, you may live."

Jin Chen sliced through his bonds with a wave of his hand, gave a slight nod, and politely said, "Please go."

Old man: "……" I have no idea what kind of place this is—I'll go wherever!

But being able to survive is a good thing; he shakily rose to his feet, and despite his age, he was nearly scared into a heart attack.

"If you answer correctly, you can leave—next…" Jin Chen scanned the row, picked out the one trembling uncontrollably, and said, "You come."

That person trembled even more, spilling out words like beans in his desperation to live.

Xu Yi dutifully recorded the audio, and when he cautiously glanced at the Mermaid Boss's face upon hearing the last few sentences, it was indeed grim.

Doctor Lin, truly tragic.

【Side Quest Progress: 95!】

【All that's left is to safely send the protagonist (the receptive partner) away from headquarters, expose the experiment's truth, and the side quest will be complete!】

——

Headquarters base.

After Jin Chen finished his business and returned, he saw the breeding building in utter chaos.

"Hey, who blew this place up?"

Jin Chen, eager to look inside, his tone still a bit excited, instantly saw You Zhuoran rushing over with a fierce aura.

"Where have you guys been? You've been playing hide‑and‑seek all morning!"

Jin Chen, bewildered by the question, gave him a proud sideways glance and said, "None of your business."

Xu Yi didn't dare say that, shrank his neck toward You Zhuoran's side, and whispered, "We… we went for a walk?"

You Zhuoran would believe it only if there were ghosts.

You Zhuoran had no time to blame, frowned sternly at Jin Chen, and said, "The high‑intensity python went berserk; this whole floor was affected, and only after suppressing it did we discover that the red mermaid was injured."

"Dr. Edmond values the little red mermaid highly; he probably also reprimanded Lin Juan—you should go check on him."

Jin Chen immediately asked, "Reprimand?"

"Usually it's just deducting performance and writing a report, but Edmond treats Lin Juan specially—he likely wants him to lead a few more surgeries." You Zhuoran, not too familiar with headquarters affairs, could only give a vague answer.

But now that Jin Chen understood the truth, hearing the term "lead surgeon" made him angry, and he decided to go beat that old immortal to a pulp.

Jin Chen went straight to Lin Juan's office, and on the way glanced at the white wolf king curled up in the iron cage, perpetually devoid of will to live.

"Alright, don't go over there and cause trouble." You Zhuoran grabbed the collar of Xu Yi, who wanted to sneak away, his tone somewhat dangerous, "By the way, tell me what kind of walk you took, from dawn until noon."

"You... eh?" Xu Yi suddenly noticed the blind spot, tilted his head and smiled, asking him, "How did you know I left at dawn?"

You Zhuoran: "..."

Thinking of that already cold breakfast, You Zhuoran pinched Xu Yi's face in annoyance, "You still have the nerve to ask."

"Wow, you have no idea what big thing the big shot took me to do!" Xu Yi finally found someone to confide in, wishing he could give all his fear to You Zhuoran as well.

The two walked out side by side, bickering.