MASG chapter 181: Extra 21

◎ Xia Yu smiled helplessly. “I’m a little reluctant to part with him.” ◎

Mo An had A’Manqi wrap his arms around his neck.

He had never carried anyone like this before, except Xia Yu. “Hold on tight!”

“Mm! Holding tight!” A’Manqi’s fish tail had not come out yet, and Mo An was carrying him like a human child.

Because Mo An had a dorsal fin and a caudal fin, A’Manqi could not lie flat directly on his shoulders and back and could only lie sideways. Fortunately, Mo An’s shoulders and back were broad and strong. Even with only half the space, he would not fall off. No one knew how many meters long the swimming pool was, but Mo An’s fish tail merely flicked once, and he had already swum to the other end.

“Wow, you’re amazing, you’re amazing!” A’Manqi could not bear to blink.

“This is a 100-meter pool. It’s not even enough for me to swim in,” Mo An said without the slightest exaggeration.

One hundred meters! A’Manqi’s little brain stopped working again. His understanding of numbers had not even reached three digits yet. His small hand traced along Mo An’s dorsal fin. Suddenly, the muscles on Mo An’s back bulged, frightening A’Manqi so much that he immediately did not dare move around.

“You have to be careful. My dorsal fin is the hardest fish spine on my body. When I swim at high speed, it can cut through the bottom of a mechanical ship.” Mo An was not exaggerating. “When you grow up, maybe you’ll have one too.”

Would he have one too? A’Manqi tried touching his own shoulder, but his arms were too short to reach the groove on his back.

Mo An then continued, “The pelvic fins are used to maintain balance. They usually come in pairs. Anyway, I’ve never seen an odd number of pelvic fins.”

“What’s that?” A’Manqi looked at the fish tail again.

Mo An’s fish tail was so long. The splash it raised in the water could easily flip him over. A’Manqi looked at the fins on the fish tail with endless envy. Being a big fish was so good. Big fish had so many weapons on their bodies.

“That’s called the caudal fin. It’s also one of my weapons.” Mo An proudly flicked his tail. “When we encounter enemies in the sea, we use our tails to smack them! Smack them hard!”

So amazing! A’Manqi touched his thigh. His fish tail was finally beginning to transform. Mo An continued carrying him through the water and spread out his elbow fins into combat form. “Look, these are elbow fins.”

“Elbow fins?” A’Manqi touched them. They were cool and icy, like wings. His own fish tail overlapped with the black fish tail, looking so small and thin. If Mo An did not carefully support him, his little tail would uncontrollably sink downward. For a long time, A’Manqi could not speak. He marveled at Mo An’s strength and also at the strange fins all over his body.

“Will I have elbow fins in the future too?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, you won’t.” Yet this was Mo An’s answer. “You might have an caudal fin and a dorsal fin. That depends on your bloodline. But elbow fins are a characteristic of sirens. Sirens like to live in waters deeper than 1,000 meters, and they also like wandering near the sea surface. We’re very fast and are the first-layer warriors of the ocean. We admire strength and are naturally attracted to bloodshed. Elbow fins are an indispensable part of us. Oh, right. Our fish tails are all black, but our black is different from Black Sirens’ black. Look carefully. Mine reflects light.”

As if deliberately showing A’Manqi, Mo An swished his tail through the water. He flipped over, placed A’Manqi on his abdomen, and maintained a backstroke posture.

A’Manqi’s ears seemed to bloom like flowers as he eagerly listened.

On shore, Xia Yu was talking to Xiang Xing. “Have the genetic test results come out yet?”

“They have. I just got them.” Xiang Xing looked at the report. “A’Manqi has four or more branch genes mixed together, but we can rule out mixed blood with sirens. The siren branch is very special. They are all female fish, and the offspring born between female sirens and other branches are mostly sirens too, or at least have some siren characteristics. Their genes are like the dominant trait among mermaids and can overpower the recessive traits of most branches.”

“Then does A’Manqi have a genetic disease?” Xia Yu was very concerned.

Xiang Xing replied easily, “No. The preliminary conclusion is that his inability to swim is only because he’s weak or too young. Or perhaps… psychological factors?”

“That’s great…” Xia Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. “How’s the smuggling case going?”

“Yan Xia is handling that case. I haven’t asked yet. But you know her style. She’ll definitely get to the bottom of it and catch all the masterminds behind it in one sweep!” Xiang Xing had complete faith in Yan Xia’s abilities. “Your location shows you’re at the swimming pool. Are you training A’Manqi?”

“Yeah. They’re in the water right now.” Xia Yu turned around, feeling very gratified. “I understand Mo An. He actually likes A’Manqi very much. He’s also very careful with him and will take good care of him…”

The moment he finished speaking, a little fish with a pearl-white tail and light-purple tail fins shot out of the water like a projectile, then crashed heavily back into it like a cannonball.

“Haha, hahaha, this is so fun!” A’Manqi said in the water. “Again! Again!”

“Mo An!” Xia Yu instantly leaped into the water.

In the end, the one big fish and one little fish were urged ashore by Xia Yu, though neither had played to their heart’s content. The three of them went to bathe and blow-dry their hair together. A’Manqi sat on the edge of the sink, amazed that Mo An’s hair could grow so long, and every single strand reflected light! It was silver!

“When I grow up, I’ll be this pretty too,” A’Manqi muttered softly. “I want Xia Yu to dry my hair too and blow on it for me.”

“You won’t. You won’t have such beautiful long hair.” Mo An started being mischievous again and laughed coldly.

A’Manqi pouted pitifully. “Why…”

“Because once your hair grows long, I’ll shave you bald. Hehe.” Mo An lowered his tear membrane and spoke in a frightening, low voice, leaning closer with an oppressive presence. In the end, Xia Yu grabbed him and pulled him back to continue drying his hair.

A’Manqi was so frightened that he covered his head, afraid Mo An would shave off all his hair at any moment.

After the three left the swimming pool, Xia Yu received a message from Yan Xia and handed A’Manqi in his arms to Mo An. “Take him to play for a while. I’m going to see Yan Xia.”

“Any leads?” Mo An asked softly.

Xia Yu nodded. “I trust Yan Xia’s work. I’m just worried there’s a major financial group backing it. That could make things difficult to wrap up.”

“Then go ahead. I’ll take care of him.” Holding A’Manqi, Mo An and A’Manqi walked Xia Yu to the elevator entrance. “Bye-bye. See you later.”

“Bye-bye! See you later!” A’Manqi waved his little hand. The moment the elevator doors closed, he turned and asked Mo An, “Where are you taking me to play? Back to the swimming pool?”

Mo An thought for a moment and walked to the three-dimensional map. “Do you want to go to the children’s activity room? There are lots and lots of kids there.”

Unexpectedly, A’Manqi reacted with resistance. “I don’t want to… I don’t want to be with other kids.”

That reminded Mo An of something. A’Manqi could not walk, and he was also very sensitive inside. “Alright then. I’ll take you somewhere adults go to have fun… hehe. I’ll show you something really good.”

“Yay! Long live the sirens!” A’Manqi happily waved his little fists, twisting his shoulders back and forth.

Meanwhile, Xia Yu had just met up with Yan Xia. “Any leads?”

“See for yourself.” Yan Xia tapped the air a few times, and the largest projector in the office automatically switched on. The three-dimensional database split into two sections, one with text and one with video materials. In the footage, people were conducting experiments, placing countless embryos into liquid nitrogen.

“Good news. We’re carrying out an international manhunt. None of them will escape.” Yan Xia twirled a pen in her hand.

“A major financial group is backing this, isn’t it? Otherwise, they couldn’t have made it this big.” Xia Yu speed-read through page after page of confidentiality agreements.

“Not just financial groups. There are politicians involved too. Their ultimate goal is still human evolution. They’re trying to extract superior genes from other species. Fortunately, we managed to ruin this disaster before it succeeded.” Yan Xia happily wanted a cigarette, then suddenly remembered she had quit smoking.

“These people… they’re never satisfied.” Xia Yu could not understand.

“Once they have supreme power and wealth, of course they want to live forever.” Yan Xia was not surprised at all. Things like this had existed throughout history. “What are you planning to do with A’Manqi?”

Xia Yu smiled helplessly. “I’m a little reluctant to part with him.”

“Thinking of raising him? You’ve always been like this. You were the same with Mo An back then.” Yan Xia had already guessed.

“If he wants to return to the sea, I’ll send him back. Or when Xi Ban returns… I’ll have Mo An escort them back to the hatching grounds. But if he doesn’t want to leave, then… raising him won’t really a problem. After all, I’ve already raised one before.” Xia Yu was torn.

The conversation with Yan Xia lasted half an hour. When Xia Yu left the office, he was in an excellent mood. He could not wait to see them and immediately activated his wristband. “Jingwei, help me locate them. I’m going to find them.”

Jingwei: [Ah… um… this… this…]

Xia Yu stopped walking. “What’s wrong? Did Mo An take A’Manqi somewhere? To the lighthouse?”

Jingwei: [No, no. What I mean is… I’m a little surprised by this location.]

“Just tell me. What is there left that I haven’t seen?” Xia Yu said confidently.

Inside the bar, Mo An sat on a swivel chair with A’Manqi sitting on his lap. “Right, now raise your hand.”

A’Manqi raised his little hand. The dancing figure in front of him proactively took it and began spinning in circles around them. “Is she talking to me? She touched me!”

“She’s virtual, but she has a virtual body temperature.” Mo An swirled his cocktail glass. “Is it fun?”

“So fun!” A’Manqi shook the glass of juice in his hand.

“Cheers!” Mo An clinked glasses with him.

“Cheers!” A’Manqi bumped his glass against Mo An’s with a ding.

When Xia Yu walked up behind them, he saw the big fish and little fish watching an electronic dancing girl’s performance together. Very good. This was indeed something he had never seen before.

“What are you two doing?” Xia Yu smiled as he draped his arms over their shoulders. “You two are having so much fun. Why didn’t you tell me so I could join in and be happy too?”

Xia Yu? Xia Yu came back so quickly! Mo An stiffly turned his head, just in time for the electronic dancing girl to bend down and kiss him. “I’m done for…”

A’Manqi also turned his head and copied him. “I… I’m done for too!”

Xia Yu smiled as he patted both fish heads. Very good. So you like watching electronic dancing girls, huh? The upper beam is crooked so the lower beam leans, huh?[mfn]上梁不正下梁歪 (The upper beam is crooked so the lower beam leans) is a idiom that refers to the idea that those below imitate those above. If a parent, leader, teacher, or senior behaves improperly, the people under them will follow their example.[/mfn]

 

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Author’s Note:

Xia Yu: Both fish can sleep in the bathtub tonight!

Mo An: No, wife! A’Manqi insisted on watching!

Fish fry: Huh?