MASG chapter 113

 

Mo An didn’t stand steadily and got hit by the backpack.

The backpack was similar to Silver Fang’s weapon pack. Nobody knew what was hidden inside—it was heavy and hard. Mo An thought that the peace around him was not real and that the backpack held a deadly weapon. Then, a thick book fell out from the middle of the backpack’s zipper.

A dictionary that is as thick as a full palm.

The sharp corner of the dictionary hit him on the head. This caused physical damage that was not lethal but was very shocking. Mo An covered his forehead and heard Xia Yu start screaming. Then two more people hurried down the stairs, a man and a woman.

The scene was a mess, even more chaotic than a few minutes earlier when he had parachuted down in front of this seaside house. He looked at everyone around him in a flurry—telling him to come inside, taking out cotton swabs and alcohol—and couldn’t say a single word.

Mo An knew that everything here was fake. The only real thing was Xia Yu. But Xia Yu didn’t remember him at all.

Just a moment ago, he and Lao Gui entered the sleep pods together. After going through some painful experiences, Mo An opened his eyes and saw the sea. But this sea was different from any sea he had ever experienced. It was very shallow, and its water was an emerald green. The waves were white, and the sand was golden. There were no buildings or advertisements like in Qingyao City, and there were no monsters running around like in Yukun City. There was only… scenery, and peace.

And seagulls.

It was too strange. Mo An stopped in the doorway. He had planned to fight and take someone, but everything suddenly became calm and peaceful. Then he felt the verification of new identity information. He would be the son of the man in this house. He was moving here today from a distant city to live with him from now on.

In those few seconds, Mo An was cursing Ling Shi nonstop. Damn it! Was he going to become Xia Yu’s son?!

Even though he had been raised by Xia Yu, he didn’t want a father–son relationship. He couldn’t call Xia Yu “Dad” because he was too embarrassed.

Now… Mo An gradually sorted everything out. A man was putting gauze on his forehead. His name was Zhang Mingqiao, and he looked very gentle.

“I thought you’d arrive at noon. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would’ve gone to the dock to pick you up.” Zhang Mingqiao was very upset. “I said two years ago that I would bring you over. This year, you finally agreed.”

“Ah…” Mo An hesitated before replying, “Ah, yes.”

“This is Xia Li. Just call her Auntie.” Zhang Mingqiao introduced his partner to him. “Xiao Li, this is Mo An. You’ve never met before.”

“Your dad always talks about you. I didn’t expect you to be this tall.” Xia Li walked over holding a drink. “I’m really sorry. I’ve spoiled Xiaoxiao since she was little, and she throws things around a lot. Xiaoxiao, come here and say sorry!”

Mo An always took in new information, and every so often he looked at Xia Yu’s face. Just moments ago, when he wrapped his arms around him again, his heart had nearly stopped beating.

Nuwa, the mechanical war, the mermaid crisis… none of it had anything to do with him. He only wanted—fragile and selfish—to hold Xia Yu forever, even if he struggled, even if he didn’t recognize him at all.

Among all words, “lost and found again” and “it was just a false alarm” are the happiest ones.

Xia Xiaoxiao walked over, not wanting to, but still said “sorry” first. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. I’m the one who caused your injury. But you can’t just hug my brother the moment you open the door. That’s really scary. What if you were a bad person? Then my brother would—”

“Xiaoxiao.” Xia Yu interrupted her, but still couldn’t scold her.

Mo An looked at Xia Xiaoxiao. She looked mostly like Xia Yu. By human standards, they were twin siblings. By jellyfish understanding, she should be the conjoined twin sister in real life. Then the person in the other sleep pod in the laboratory—was it her?

“Okay, I was wrong. Next time, I’ll make sure to look more clearly before I act.” In front of the whole family, Xia Xiaoxiao bowed to the unfamiliar Mo An. After she straightened up, she asked her dad, “Dad, is he older than us or younger? Do I get an older brother or a younger brother?”

“He’s younger than you. He’s your younger brother.” Zhang Mingqiao patted Mo An’s shoulder.

This feeling was strange and unpleasant. Mo An had grown up without a father. He only had Xia Yu. Ling Shi was right. When the new identity information was accepted, the people in the virtual world would accept everything about him.

For example, Zhang Mingqiao completely accepted him, this… son who seemed to have popped out from between stones. No one asked why their last names were different or why they didn’t look alike. He entered with the identity of “Zhang Mingqiao’s son,” and that was who he was.

“So he’s a younger brother.” Xia Yu was still worried about the cut on his forehead. “It’s all because I was too nervous.”

“We’re family. What’s there to blame?” Zhang Mingqiao was clearly very happy. “Starting today, our family will be five people. We’re a big family, and we’re doing really well. The entire top floor is for Mo An. I’ve been cleaning it up for a long time. This afternoon, I’ll go buy some more furniture.”

“Remember to tell the workers to install the air conditioner. He has never lived in a coastal city before and doesn’t know how hot it gets here.” Xia Li was also very considerate. “By the way, how did you transfer Xiao An’s school registration?”

“I’ve taken care of everything. Don’t worry.” Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li were very affectionate. He didn’t want his wife to worry about anything. “He’ll be in the same high school as Xiao Yu and Xiaoxiao. Later, I’ll drive them there.”

Wait, he still had to attend high school? Mo An didn’t know about this. In the real world, there had always been no step-by-step schooling. People only needed to upgrade their chips to master knowledge, and work in society had nothing to do with academic degrees. If he had to talk about studying at all, he had learned a lot during those years at the control center.

Now there was still one important question: Where was Lao Gui?

His own login point was right at the door of Xia Yu’s house, so where had Lao Gui gone? What was his identity? Had he also gone to be someone else’s son?

But for now, Mo An could only wait and watch. He couldn’t expose anything. After the short welcome speech, Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li went upstairs to clean, Xia Yu continued making breakfast, and Xia Xiaoxiao was in charge of watering the plants. Everyone had a very clear job. Soon, Xia Yu brought a bowl of milk cereal rings and a spoon shaped like a little fish.

“I’m sorry. I was too nervous just now,” Xia Yu said.

Mo An looked at him longingly, already unable to hear his voice clearly. And after they hugged earlier, he didn’t show any signs of being poisoned. In the virtual world, Xia Yu was just an ordinary high school student. He wasn’t a jellyfish hybrid and didn’t have toxins. Here, they could freely touch each other.

“Don’t worry, Xiaoxiao didn’t mean to bully you. She’s actually very easy to get along with,” Xia Yu was still apologizing for his sister.

“No, no problem,” Mo An said stiffly. Every sentence made his chest hurt. It was great news that he and Xia Yu weren’t going to be father and son, but becoming brothers with no blood relation was still too strange.

“Let me see if the wound is still bleeding,” Xia Yu said, putting his fingertips on Mo An’s forehead.

Mo An immediately stopped thinking. Forget it—brothers it is!

“It’s not bad. It’s not bleeding anymore,” Xia Yu examined him, curiously. “Our mom and your dad got married eight years ago, but Xiaoxiao and I have been living here with mom since we were little. I heard you used to live in Qingyao City.”

“Hm?” Mo An took a deep breath. His virtual identity was from Qingyao City?

“I’ve never been to Qingyao City,” Xia Yu smiled. “That’s the most advanced city in the country, so it must be hard for you to adapt after moving here. The people here are simple and kind, but life isn’t as easy. If you need anything, let me know. We can take one of the two daily ferries to buy it.”

“…Okay, thank you, Xia Yu.” Mo An slowly started to be able to talk again. At this moment, only Haisiruola would know how much willpower he used to stop himself from hugging him.

Xia Yu put more ointment on his wound. He felt that Mo An was looking at him strangely. It was as if he were using all his strength. “Your hair color is really special. Why is it silver?”

“My god…” I was born with silver hair. Mo An stopped himself midway. “I’m always thinking about how to dye it…”

Xia Yu laughed and touched the tip of his hair. “You really are from Qingyao City. You’re so trendy. Later, we’ll go feed the fish. After that, we can leave.”

Mo An lifted the big bowl and took a sip of cereal. “Feed the fish?”

“Yeah… ah, you don’t know yet, right?” Xia Yu pointed out the window. “We added a fish pond two years ago. We raise freshwater fish, saltwater fish, and ornamental fish. They can all be sold. This place has plenty of seawater and fish—everything you could want.”

So that was it. Mo An quickly learned the information, thinking about how to chat more with Xia Yu. After eating the cereal, Xia Yu put on rubber rain boots. Mo An jumped up right away. “What are you going to do?”

The shout surprised Xia Yu so much that he shuddered.

Mo An was just reacting without thinking. He was afraid Xia Yu would disappear right in front of him. “I was born with a loud voice, sorry. What are you changing your shoes for?”

Xia Yu rubbed his ears. “Yeah, it really is loud. My ears are numb… Of course I’m going to feed the fish. You eat properly first.”

“I’m full. I’ll go with you,” Mo An said firmly. He would not let Xia Yu leave his sight.

“That works too. Let’s go together.” Xia Yu didn’t say no. He also wanted to help his younger brother from the big city get used to this relaxed lifestyle as soon as possible.

Leaving the small villa and walking a few hundred meters east, Mo An got his wish and saw a huge fish pond. It wasn’t just Xia Yu’s family. The people who lived here mostly raised fish, living close to the sea. Xia Yu was already very skilled at this kind of work, leading Mo An between the ponds. “These fish are carnivorous. Some grow fast, so you have to separate them at different times, or the bigger ones will eat the smaller ones. Be careful when you see really big fish—sometimes they bite people.”

“Okay, I’ll remember, Xia Yu,” Mo An said, not listening at all, only staring at the back of his head.

Xia Yu had no idea. The rubber rain boots walked along the edge of the pond, the wind brushing his face. Strangely, in the past, as soon as he came over in the morning, the fish would swarm up, eager to jump out of the water to get food. Why was the water surface completely still today?

There wasn’t just one pond—several ponds were quiet. All the fish seemed to have gone to the bottom and hid, which made the area unusually quiet.

“Strange, where are the fish?” Xia Yu crouched down, confused about why the fish were scared. Mo An also bent down, put his hand in the pond, and moved the water around a little. He quickly saw the fish at the bottom of the pond acting like it was dead.

So it turned out that in this virtual world, he was still a mermaid!

Ding-dong—the bell on the small courtyard gate rang. Xia Yu looked over and said, “Oh, what a coincidence. Dad said that raising fish was too hard, so he hired a worker. Today is the day of the interview. Let’s bring him in first.”

“Okay.” Mo An turned around with a bitter smile and looked at Lao Gui, who also had a bitter smile. So you’re the one raising fish for my family.

Lao Gui stood at the gate, feeling very sad. What on earth was Ling Shi doing?