Neither the human nor the merfolk knew the true significance behind what was happening now; they just acted on their impulses.
Li Shu admitted he was tempted. To help the merman adapt, the environment in the petri dish was modeled completely after the sea area where the merman was found. But it wasn’t the real ocean. Compared to the vast sea, the space in the petri dish was too narrow for the merman to swim freely.
No matter how precious the merman was, to humans, he was still an alien, an experimental subject. Providing him with a suitable living environment was the best they could do; other needs wouldn’t be considered. Li Shu was different. He wasn’t human and didn’t see the merman as just an experimental subject. In his eyes, the merman and humans were the same.
Although Lu Xi was not the male protagonist of this world, after spending some time together, Li Shu acknowledged his existence. In addition, regardless of how much that dream was related to the merman, he was delighted to have had it.
There were so many people in the base watching. It was obviously unrealistic to directly send the merman back to the sea. The base wasn’t completely isolated from the outside world. If someone ignored the regulations and exposed the news, it would definitely bring unnecessary trouble.
Li Shu didn’t want to get involved in such unnecessary trouble. No matter how powerful the Li family was in this world, one family couldn’t oppose an entire country or even all of humanity. If the existence of the merman was intentionally leaked, the Li family wouldn’t face a good outcome.
Therefore, before eliminating the potential hidden dangers in the base, Li Shu wouldn’t show any intention of sending the merman back to the sea.
If he couldn’t send the merman back to the sea, finding a larger pool for the merman to swim in was still possible. There were several swimming pools in the base. Li Shu asked Gu Li to bring over the relevant information, and he found a relatively secluded one that was rarely visited.
“You know what kind of environment the merman likes, so change the water in this pool,” Li Shu turned the black pen in his hand. He had recently taken a liking to this way of thinking.
“Professor, do you want to take S there?” Gu Li asked hesitantly, holding the documents.
“He must be feeling suffocated after staying in that petri dish for so many days. It’s a good opportunity to take him out to relax a bit and also measure some data,” he unscrewed the pen cap and then put it back.
“But…” It wasn’t that Gu Li wanted to object, but, “S is too aggressive. Will it be safe to expose him to the outside world like this?”
In recent days, the news that two researchers got frightened after approaching the merman without permission had spread throughout the base. Unfortunately, the researchers refused to disclose the details of that day. Everyone just knew they were attacked by the merman. No one knew what happened exactly, so they silently raised the merman’s danger level.
The person who experienced the incident with Li Shu that day was Qin Le’an. Li Shu had specifically instructed her not to reveal the specifics of that day. Besides, Qin Le’an herself wasn’t very clear on what happened to those two researchers. She admired Li Shu very much, so she naturally wouldn’t disclose anything he instructed her to keep quiet about.
Gu Li happened to be assigned another task that day, so she was even more unclear about what happened. She wouldn’t ask about it either. Sometimes, curiosity shouldn’t be too strong. She believed that she would know what she needed to know. She didn’t know that the merman could freely enter and exit the petri dish, or even the lab, as if it were no man’s land.
A few days ago, Li Shu had her make a door card, but she didn’t know it was for the merman. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked this question now.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt anyone,” knowing that Gu Li was concerned for him, Li Shu explained patiently.
‘But I’m afraid he’ll hurt you..’ Gu Li opened her mouth but didn’t say anything in the end. Since the professor had already made a decision, it wasn’t something her words could change.
“I understand, Professor. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”
Changing the water wasn’t troublesome. The tricky part was ensuring that no one entered the area during the merman’s activity time.
Li Shu told Gu Li some things to be mindful of, and she noted them down one by one. Li Shu trusted Gu Li’s handling of tasks. Among the three of them who were around the same age, Gu Li was the most stable.
Once Gu Li had arranged everything, he could take Lu Xi there. There was still a relatively tricky part: Lu Xi was too conspicuous. If he took him out for a stroll, the entire base would know immediately.
There was some distance between the lab and the swimming pool. It was impossible to avoid others completely. He had to come up with a solution.
“Do you have something on your mind today?” Lu Xi rested his arms on the edge of the petri dish, his head on his arms, watching Li Shu pace back and forth in the lab, clearly troubled.
“There is something,” Li Shu climbed the ladder so he could look at the merman without the glass of the petri dish between them. He liked the merman’s eyes.
After briefly explaining his troubles, Li Shu sighed, “it would be great if you could grow legs.”
When on land, legs are much more convenient than a tail. Li Shu had previously hinted at whether Lu Xi had this ability. Anyone who had read fairy tales knew that merfolk could turn their tails into legs after leaving the water. Maybe it was because the merfolk in this world had never been on land that Lu Xi couldn’t grow legs after leaving the water.
Li Shu wasn’t too disappointed with this result. The Sirens in this world were the overlords of the water, and whether they could grow legs didn’t matter to them. In the sea, a tail was far more useful than human legs.
“Don’t you like my tail?” Hearing the regret in Li Shu’s voice, Lu Xi’s eyes darkened.
“Why would you think that?” Li Shu pointed through the glass, right where the merman’s tail was. “I just think it would be more convenient to live on land with legs.”
“You don’t need to worry about the problem you just mentioned. Did you forget my ability?” Lu Xi smiled. His smile was like ice and snow melting, a beauty that struck the heart.
“Ability…” Li Shu murmured in a daze. Yes, Lu Xi could control the human brain. He could easily make people ignore his presence.
He had been thinking wrongly. This world wasn’t a completely modern one. There were many forces beyond scientific explanation here. Among them, the power of the merman was the most prominent.
With such a great cheat, the problems he worried about weren’t problems at all.
In his dazed state, Li Shu lacked his usual sharpness and coolness. His features were delicate, and at this moment, they showed a bit of softness. Lu Xi approached, held Li Shu’s face with his hands, getting closer and closer…
By the time he came back to his senses, Li Shu saw a flawless, stunning face up close and almost forgot to breathe. His heart pounded violently. He could see his reflection in those crimson eyes, and only his reflection.
At this moment, Li Shu had an illusion that he was the merman’s treasure, the merman’s beloved. But this thought lasted only a moment and was quickly dismissed.
Looking down, he saw Lu Xi’s rosy lips, the delicate jawline, the sensual Adam’s apple moving… His heartbeat quickened even more. Li Shu thought: Am I being seduced by a merman?
With a slight blush, Lu Xi stared at the palm of his hand, clearly feeling the warmth of the skin it was holding. The merman’s temperature almost never changed. Lu Xi was very curious about Li Shu’s reaction and couldn’t help but lean in to investigate.
The face before him kept enlarging, and Li Shu suddenly took a step back. However, he was standing on the ladder and nearly fell down. Lu Xi was quick, and he reached out with his long arm to firmly hold him in his arms.
The two were pressed tightly together against the glass of the petri dish, with their upper bodies unobstructed, and Li Shu’s rapid heartbeat was transmitted to Lu Xi through their skin.
“Thump—Thump—”
Lu Xi thought Li Shu was scared, so he ran his hand down Li Shu’s back, as if soothing a frightened cat.
Li Shu didn’t understand why his heart was beating so violently, as if it would leap out of his chest. Leaning in Lu Xi’s arms, the merman’s relatively cool body temperature was just right to cool him down.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was tranquil and beautiful.
Qin Le’an opened the door and walked in, and happened to see this scene. She stood at the door, hesitating whether to pretend she didn’t see anything and leave directly. At the same time, she struggled to hide her shock. She had always thought that S’s attitude towards the professor and them was completely different. Was this the reason?
She stumbled backward in a daze and accidentally knocked something over. She hurriedly tried to catch it, but it still fell to the ground.
The small sound of the object hitting the floor was clearly audible, startling the two embracing individuals. Li Shu quickly withdrew from the merman’s arms.
By the time Qin Le’an put the object back in place, Li Shu was already standing in front of the petri dish, his expression as cold and indifferent as ever.
Lu Xi dived back into the water. Reflecting on the feeling earlier, it wasn’t an illusion. The moment he held Li Shu again, he felt his empty heart being filled. It was a feeling from the depths of his soul. Now, he only wanted to rush out of the petri dish and hold Li Shu again, preferably with his tail wrapped around the young man’s legs so that he couldn’t leave.
The longing in his heart continued to grow, and the once-calmed malevolent thoughts resurfaced. He wanted to take this person back to the deep sea, hide him in his lair, so he could only stay by his side, seen and touched by him alone.
Suddenly meeting the merman’s crimson eyes, Qin Le’an quickly averted her gaze, lowered her head and kept her eyes obediently focused on the floor.
It was too terrifying. With that level of possessiveness, Qin Le’an had no doubt that if it weren’t for the professor, she would have been torn apart by the merman.
Qin Le’an had come to report the research progress. Yi Ziqi was immersed in the experiment and didn’t respond to calls, so Qin Le’an had come by herself first.
Li Shu had his back to the petri dish and couldn’t see the merman’s gaze, but he could vaguely sense that the merman was watching him, and he could feel that hot gaze on his back.
Trying his best to ignore Lu Xi’s gaze, Li Shu listened to Qin Le’an’s report. Qin Le’an had made great progress; when she first arrived, she needed guidance, but now she could handle things on her own.
“Professor, no, it’s bad—”
The lab door opened, and Gu Li came in holding a newspaper, looking anxious and losing her usual calm demeanor. She hurried over breathlessly, and handed the newspaper to Li Shu. “Professor, look.”
There was no need for Gu Li to explain, Li Shu had already seen it. In the large picture in the center of the newspaper, a creature with a human body and a fish tail suddenly broke into the camera and was photographed without any preparation.
The existence of merfolk had been exposed in advance.