MASG chapter 101

 

Nixida stopped in the seawater. For the first time, he felt pressure from his own kind.

“This is…this is…” The seawater pushed him away again, and he had to swim hard to get back. The seawater was like an endless river of scales, and it had become her toy and backdrop.

“This is the Snake Woman.” Gulynas swam to his side and sized up the hybrid. “You’ve never seen her before?”

Nixida’s thoughts were in chaos. He was still caught up in the life-or-death struggle of being besieged by ecological weapons, his nerves stretched taut. Yet, in an instant, the ecological weapons sank to the bottom of the rift, posing no immediate threat. Then, this mythical branch appeared, leaving him dazzled and completely unprepared.

“Why is she so big?” he asked Aibaoyin.

“Because she is hunting Leviathan. That is the Snake Woman’s mission. Leviathan hunts the next generation of mermaids—until death, never resting.” Aibaoyin didn’t find this strange at all. For such a massive being, the vast ocean was merely a piece of her territory. “The Snake Woman is the mermaid who chases Leviathan. You cannot predict her arrival or her departure. But when she comes to your side, she will definitely let you see her.”

Nixida looked up again. This enormous deep-sea creature had only one mission: to hunt the mermaid’s natural enemy. “Then why did she come? Was it because of the disturbance just now? I get it—she helped us!”

Kuni swam over, her voice hoarse. “No, she wouldn’t. The Snake Woman never cares about these things.”

“Then how can I communicate with her?” Nixida pressed on.

“Try swimming to her and see if she’s willing to communicate with you.” Kuni pointed in a direction. “But you have to be fast. She swims very quickly.”

No matter how fast, she couldn’t be faster than a siren, right? There was no time to hesitate—Nixida didn’t hesitate. Seawater slammed against his face and body. The resistance was like a wall pushing him backward. One moment of carelessness and he would be shoved straight into the rift. Nixida could only search for flaws in the flow of the water. The deep sea would always give mermaids a few small hints. Violent tail swings gave him the ability to push back. He stretched his arms forward, feeling the movement of the ocean.

Like a fish.

He was a fish.

All along, he had thought of himself as a product of human society. It was only during this period that his mermaid attributes had truly awakened. Nixida swam against the undercurrent. Sometimes he was exhausted, swimming forward a dozen meters only to be knocked back several dozen more. But these setbacks were insignificant because he was chasing the person from his memories.

The memories he hadn’t yet recalled were crucial to him; they were a part of his life. He had to retrieve them!

No matter why he had forgotten, nothing could stop him from remembering everything again. Deep within his memories, there had to be someone. He blinked, and he could already see the back of that person—just one step away, hazy and indistinct.

A stronger current swept him up. Nixida adjusted his direction using his asymmetrical tail fin. The dorsal and back fins of an adult mermaid helped him keep his balance, while the sharp, hard elbow and abdominal fins handled left and right. Faster—faster. Nixida had already forgotten his objective. All of his attention was fixed on the figure at the back of his mind.

Who was that person? Male or female? What did they mean to him? Would he be able to return to their side when that person turned around? Could he regain that closeness without distance?

Amid this endless longing, Nixida surged forward in one final burst and reached the Snake Woman.

The current vanished. The resisting force and the water walls instantly collapsed, turning into buoyancy that lifted him instead.

He hovered before the Snake Woman. Compared to her, he was tiny—only about the size of her head. He was exhausted. He had never been this tired yet never felt more exhilarated. The moment their gazes met, Nixida felt the ocean’s love and freedom.

And their equality—a gaze tinged with divinity.

The Snake Woman stopped, though her rhythm never ceased. Her massive golden scales emitted a dim glow in the seawater, unable to hide their beauty. Her eyes were also golden and larger than Nixida’s head.

“I am Nixida. I really…” It took him nearly five or six minutes before he could finally speak.

Blood seeped from his gill slits once more. Swimming at such extreme speeds had injured them, but it was a small price to pay. He carefully placed his hand on the Snake Woman’s eyelid, and his fishtail turned into a gentle sway.

The Snake Woman said nothing, but her gaze was filled with compassion and watched everything gently.

“Tell me what I should do, okay? What should I do? What exactly should I do?” Nixida’s arms began to tremble.

He originally had many words and requests. You are the Snake Woman; you possess life and wisdom. I’ve heard that you’re an immortal being, so you must know how to restore memories. You must know. Please help me. There is someone in my memories, but I can’t remember what they look like, their smile, or the warmth of our interactions. I only know that we belong to each other.

They are very important to me, but I can’t find them anymore.

Even though the words were already at his lips, these words that supported Nixida could not be spoken. Only pain and longing remained, turning into sharp blades that slammed into him once again, leaving huge scars across his chest and lower back. The sea-blue crystal hung quietly around his neck, saying nothing as well, yet reflecting the Snake Woman’s golden light as if speaking to him.

“What should I do?” Nixida shook his head. He didn’t want to cry, at least not in front of the Snake Woman.

The Snake Woman tilted her head slightly to the side.

“What should I do? Tell me. Please tell me.” Nixida stayed where he was.

He thought the Snake Woman wouldn’t answer him, but after swimming forward several meters, she turned back and touched his scar with the sharp horn on her head. The cross-shaped scar on his chest clearly showed that he had escaped death.

Nixida lowered his head.

At the instant their bodies touched, he seemed to see the Snake Woman’s mouth open. Her huge mouth moved slightly, and dense bubbles rose. The vibrations of those bubbles produced a special deep-sea sound meant specifically for mermaids to hear and understand—other creatures could neither hear nor understand it.

“Leviathan—”

The vibration made Nixida’s chest go numb; even his heart muscles resonated along with it. When the word ended, the Snake Woman turned around and swam away. This time, she was moving so quickly that Nixida could not track her. Because of her large size, she disappeared without a trace in a short amount of time.

The current sent Nixida back above the rift.

“How was it? What did the snake woman say to you?” Aibaoyin immediately asked.

“She told me…Leviathan’s name.” Nixida touched the hardened scar on his abdomen. “She knows this scar was left by Leviathan. She will help me seek justice. She said that Leviathan made me unable to remember.”

“And then?” Aituoda was even more excited than Nixida. “Aren’t her eyes especially beautiful?”

“They’re beautiful, like the gathered light of the ocean. But she didn’t say anything else; she just left. Yet, I felt calm. It’s strange. I’m not as restless as I was a moment ago.” Nixida couldn’t say whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. “She made me certain that I’m about to regain my memories. Wait—what about those ecological weapons?”

He was still concerned about this matter. They absolutely could not be allowed to climb up.

Qiuman was patrolling near the rift. “There shouldn’t be any problem. Those things exploded deep inside the rift, and the bubbles couldn’t rise. But why did they all die at once?”

“If it wasn’t the Snake Woman, then who was it?” Nixida muttered to himself.

Kuni thought for a moment, then asked, “Could it be related to the mycelium?”

Nixida swam in circles above the rift. In the end, he could only come up with this answer. “It should be. Maybe their mycelium all died at the same time, so we got this chance. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, please don’t start a war again. Our enemy is not each other.”

These words plunged the surroundings into silence. The two branches that had been at each other’s throats just moments ago retreated to their respective territories. Clearly, they had figured out the sequence of events.

“All right. As a leader, I apologize to you.” Qiuman spoke first. “Please forgive my recklessness and ignorance.”

“As a leader, I accept your apology.” Gulynas did not press the matter further. “And please forgive our impulsiveness and offense as well. We possess human weapons, but we will not use them against our own kind. Although we are mixed blood and yearn for land, we deeply understand our origins and will not forget that we are mermaids.” After speaking, she turned and swam toward Nixida. “Thank you for your selflessness.”

“I only did what I should have done.” Nixida smiled faintly.

“To thank you, my territory will be open to you from now on. You can come live here anytime. You are a hybrid; I am mixed-blood. Neither of us is a pure-blood mermaid. I know what it’s like to have no sense of belonging.” Gulynas accepted him.

“Thank you. If I have time, I’ll stay in the deep sea for a while. But the most urgent matter is searching for the Abyssal Beast.” Nixida also liked the deep sea, but that wasn’t enough to tempt him. He just couldn’t figure out why all the ecological weapons died at once.

In the institute’s cafeteria, Mi Dou squatted to examine a strand of mycelium. “Exactly as I expected. This isn’t one kind of fungus, but two. One kind is harmless. It just needs human corpses to produce nutrients, and its derivatives can prevent decay. The other kind ate a lot of the first kind’s mycelium. I don’t even know what it’s called.”

Lao Gui and Silver Fang had already dropped down from the ventilation duct and were now standing among a group of corpses. The harmless fungus completely controlled the corpses, sometimes even imitating their movements and speech.

“So, you’re saying that the one who asked for help just now was this fungus?” Lao Gui asked as he walked over to Mi Dou. “To think something like this could happen.”

“Yes, it wanted us to help it kill the creature inside of it.” Mi Dou pointed at the blood-red meatball that Lao Gui had pierced. “The black mycelium are the tentacles of this meatball. They should have all been lab samples. No one has managed this place for very long, so they escaped. This meatball is also a mother body.”

“You mean it has offspring bodies, too, right?” Yan Xia held her gun.

“Yes, it definitely has offspring bodies, but they should all be dead by now.” Mi Dou nodded confidently. “No matter where its offspring were, what they were used for, or what form they took, they must be dead now. Once the mother body dies, the offspring bodies have only one fate.”

“Thank you… thank you…”

After Mi Dou finished speaking, the ring of corpses controlled by the harmless fungus collectively smiled at them, vaguely imitating their accents. If they hadn’t done this, everything would’ve been fine, but once they did, all four of them instantly broke out in cold sweat and got goosebumps that were impossible to hide.

“Ah… you’re welcome, you’re welcome. Now, we’re leaving. You behave, stay here, don’t run around, and definitely don’t kill anyone.” Mi Dou said goodbye to the carrion-eating mycelium, then followed Yan Xia and the others as they continued toward the X-series laboratory.

The rest of the journey went smoothly, and they didn’t encounter any strange creatures again. When they finally reached the entrance of the X-series laboratory, Mi Dou sniffled, wanting to cry.

“Don’t cry. We’re just one step away from success.” Lao Gui clicked his tongue. “You kids really love crying.”

“This is where Xia Yu and Mo An grew up. Just thinking about it makes me feel awful.” Mi Dou rubbed his eyes. “So, how do we open this door? Should we force our way in, or should Yan Xia try to get authorization?”

Yan Xia took off her tactical gloves. “I’ll try first. If it doesn’t work, then—”

Before she could finish, the metal door in front of them slid open with a swish.

The surveillance device on the door briefly changed from a red light to a blue light.

Blue again? Yan Xia waved at the door. “Thanks, Ling Shi.”

Ling Shi didn’t respond, but the light on the surveillance device quietly flickered, showing three short, three long, and three short changes.

 

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Tiny spoiler: it’s not Ling Shi 👀