MASG chapter 106

 

Seven days later, Talos’s ship was getting closer and closer to Yukun City.

Over the past few days, all of the mermaids on the ship had finished listening to Xia Yu’s story. They were shocked by the feelings between him and Mo An, and Little Star cried quite a lot. Previously, they had only guessed that Mo An was raised by humans. However, they had never imagined that he had been raised by a child back then.

When Xia Yu took him away from the research institute, Mo An knew nothing about the outside world and had no relatives or support.

No matter what kind of fish heard this, it would break their heart. As a result, everyone became more urgent about rescuing Xia Yu, and they all expressed their willingness to contribute.

Yan Xia also contacted them at this time.

“Where are you now?” He had already returned to the office, holding the rear position and helping to stabilize the situation. “Tell Doudou his mother is with me. She’s very safe.”

Mi Dou, listening from the side, immediately felt relieved.

“We’ve reached the sea area where the incident happened last time.” Talos glanced at the compass.

Yan Xia held her electronic eye between her teeth and looked at the screen in her hand. “You mean the incubation ground from the last incident?”

“Yes,” Talos replied.

“There should only be one shipping route to Yukun City, and it must be followed exactly as the previous route.” Last time, however, they set off from the Frozen Island and only managed to reach this point at most. Beyond that, they had no confidence at all. At that moment, Mo An was also on the deck. The sea was calm, completely different from last time.

Right beneath their ship, at a depth of around 3,000 meters, was an incubation ground. No one knew if the Double Tails had rebuilt their home or whether Xi Ban was among them.

“I’ll connect Ling Shi’s signal. She’s made some major discoveries recently.” Yan Xia tapped the screen a few times, and the screen in her palm immediately shrank.

Talos’s side received the signal right away. “Ling Shi, is that you?”

Ling Shi: [Of course it’s me. How has everyone been lately?]

Mi Dou replied listlessly, “Pretty good. We finally got one back. How about you? How’s your safety situation?”

Ling Shi: [I’m very safe. I have a program deadlock.]

“Who gave it to you?” Mo An asked.

Ling Shi: [I don’t know, but most likely my creator. The program deadlock prevents Nuwa from changing my base code. It’s like having a separate room in the world of artificial intelligence that she can’t enter. As long as I pull all permissions back into this room, I’ll be absolutely safe.]

“Why does it feel like you still have something else to say?” Talos caught the implication.

Ling Shi: [Right now, my permissions have been minimized. I can only communicate with you. I can’t provide any services, including camera intrusion. After you land in Yukun City, I won’t be able to help you much either. The remaining functions are mainly limited to companionship. In terms you understand… I’ll cheer you on.]

“I knew it.” Talos laughed. “Nuwa wouldn’t allow you too much freedom.”

Ling Shi: [But I’m not that obedient either. Listen to me. I’ll take you into Yukun City.]

Mo An immediately perked up. “Do you know how to get in?”

Ling Shi: [I decompressed a file package related to East Sea knowledge and calculated a step-by-step route. Nuwa wants to stop me, but I’ve already hidden myself. As long as I don’t extend my ‘signal tentacles,’ she has no authority to interfere with my actions. Thanks to my creator—otherwise, Nuwa definitely wouldn’t have let me off.]

“Hearing you say that makes me feel much more at ease. I really don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” Mo An said.

Ling Shi: [Wait, am I a person?]

Ling Shi: [What a strange way to put it. No one has ever said I’m a ‘person.’ I’m just an artificial intelligence.]

Ling Shi: [All right, the way you put it makes me feel very novel. I don’t have human emotional models, but I believe I share quite a few commonalities with everyone. Now, Talos, please connect me to your navigation system. I need to perform a passive connection.]

“Okay.” Talos carried the projector into the main control room.

Ling Shi: [Connecting…]

Ling Shi: [Connection successful. Preset route established. Please pay attention to maritime safety.

As soon as Ling Shi logged in, Talos’s ship changed direction as if it had gained a mermaid’s sense of direction. It headed straight toward a certain place. The route indeed led to Yukun City’s port, but instead of advancing in a straight line, the ship looped around.

Mo An nervously gripped the railing. Last time, they were only one step away from reaching Yukun City.

“Don’t be nervous.” Talos noticed the change in his expression. “As long as we follow the jellyfish’s guidance, everything will be answered.”

“Okay.” Mo An began to relax, but the memory of separation was too tragic for him to completely let go. “By the way, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you. What exactly are you?”

“Hahaha, why would you ask that?” Talos almost choked on his saliva. “We’ve known each other for so many years. Why are you suddenly curious about this?”

Mo An thought for a moment. “It’s probably because… you were able to negotiate with Leviathan, but I couldn’t. Among the mermaids, only the Snake Woman has that authority. The other branches wouldn’t dare think about it, yet you negotiated with him once. I used to think you were an ordinary human. Thinking about it now, I underestimated you. There were signs long ago. The fact that you could enter Power Plant No. 3 meant that you were destined to be more than an ordinary human.”

Talos knocked his brown pipe against the railing and skillfully refilled it with tobacco. “Have you ever heard of ‘gargoyles’?”

“No.” Mo An shook his head.

“Gargoyles are an ancient species of monsters on land. Logically speaking, we can only stay on land.” Talos looked toward the sun. “Sunlight is our mortal enemy. We can only move at night. When daytime comes, we turn to stone.”

“Then you are…” Mo An pondered for a moment. “Are you also a hybrid?”

Talos nodded. “My father was human, so I’m only a half-blood gargoyle. But that doesn’t stop me from having gargoyle abilities. I can even sail on the sea! We are the kings of land, while Leviathan is a monster of the sea. If he comes onto land, he might not be more powerful than I am. We have such great power, so naturally, we must maintain our position. Gargoyles must remain neutral during wars; otherwise, we’ll be punished. One more thing: the greatest skill of gargoyles is guarding secret buildings.”

“Secret buildings… Power Plant No. 3?” Mo An summarized it all. “You could go in because you were guarding that place for someone? Who was it?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that, starting with my mother’s generation, Power Plant No. 3 has been a place we must protect. Back then, a lady made a deal with my mother—that’s all.” Similarly, the lighthouse is just as important as Power Plant No. 3. I can’t leave Qingyao City for too long; otherwise, I’ll turn into a lifeless stone.” Talos took a puff from his pipe. “That’s all I know. I hope you can help me unravel these secrets.”

Mo An felt a mix of emotions. He had thought he would find answers with Talos, but instead, he encountered two more mysteries: the mysterious lady and the lighthouse.

“What are you talking about?” Mi Dou came over, holding the detector. “The number of Blue Jellyfish is still increasing along the East Sea coastline. They’re waiting for us.”

“Yes, Xia Yu must be waiting for us, too.” Mo An looked in the direction of Yukun City.

With Ling Shi’s help, Talos’s ship successfully arrived at Yukun City’s port eighteen hours later.

However, everything here was even more terrifying and unsettling than Mo An had imagined.

Yukun City was an abandoned city filled with mystery and death. As a maritime hub, it once had a glorious past comparable to Qingyao City’s. Now, it wasn’t even as good as Frozen Island, revealing cold, gloomy desolation everywhere. It was just evening. Before officially entering the port, Mo An spotted the Blue Jellyfish.

The density was extremely high, far exceeding the jellyfish forest from the last battle with Leviathan.

With just a quick glance, Mo An saw more than one jellyfish with a head diameter of over two meters. There were big and small ones—the smallest weren’t even as big as his fingernail.

“So many.” Mi Dou took out binoculars. “This time, you really can’t tell which one is Little Blue anymore…”

“You’d be strange if you could!” Talos didn’t want to hit the kid, but that was reality. How could you distinguish one jellyfish from hundreds of millions?

Mo An returned to the cabin and found his companions. “All right, we’ve arrived at Yukun City’s port.”

“What do you plan to do next?” Aibaoyin asked.

“We’re going to enter the city and look for Xia Yu. But it’s too dangerous. I can’t drag you into it.” Mo An replied. “After we land, Talos’s ship will return to the sea under Ling Shi’s control. You should disembark then. Don’t get off near the shore. There are countless jellyfish around right now. They won’t hurt me, but I can’t say the same for you.”

“All right.” Kuni knew that they could only help Nixida up to this point. “We’ll pray for you in the sea and look forward to the day we meet again.”

“We definitely will. I’ll bring Xia Yu back and introduce him to my family.” Mo An was also reluctant. “Please continue to help me look for my two companions. One is a double-tailed named Xi Ban, and the other is a white siren. He’s a bit troublesome because he’s lost his memory. He only remembers that his name is 107.”

“Okay, leave this small matter to us.” Aituoda said earnestly. “Protect yourself well. We’ll definitely meet again in the sea. May Haisiruola bless you!”

“Mm!” Mo An nodded firmly. He had many names: Mo An, A Ni, and Nixida.

The harbor’s entry channel was packed with shipwrecks. Clearly, when something first happened in Yukun City, countless people had tried to escape this hellish place by passenger ship. But perhaps they fled in too much of a hurry and crashed into each other. They failed to escape and were trapped here instead.

Through the portholes of the wrecks, one could see skeleton after skeleton.

Talos’s ship slowly sailed in and finally stopped at a relatively distant spot. “All right, this is it.

“Yukun City…we really made it.” Mi Dou was extremely cautious.

Mo An also had experience patrolling the outskirts of Yukun City, though his memories of the city itself were limited to his childhood. After the incident, everyone clearly remembered it as a dead city—no one could enter or leave. Drones couldn’t penetrate it, and humans observed every single sight within the city for the very first time.

One of Mo An’s feet stepped onto the metal plate of the dock.

The plate was covered in rust and had corroded into many holes from acid rain. Dark brown plants occasionally grew out of the holes, but they were species Mo An had never seen before—most likely mutated. The sky was blood red, deeper than fire clouds. Mo An raised his head and looked at the metal city ahead. All the buildings had been reduced to skeletal frames.

The frames were covered in thick, dark green plants.

“Looks like no one’s been here for a long time.” Talos looked around.

“The jellyfish are retreating!” Mi Dou looked down at the detector. “They’re gone!”

“Yes, they were only responsible for guiding us here. Once we arrived, they were supposed to retreat. Besides, they can’t really help anymore anyway.” Talos took out the communicator. “Yan Xia, we’ve arrived. My ship will take the mermaid back, then meet you at the lighthouse. Is Lao Gui coming?”

Yan Xia’s voice came through intermittently. “Yes… Lao Gui… Lao Gui will bring weapons. Don’t act rashly for now. Wait to regroup.”

“Even if we wanted to act rashly, we couldn’t.” Talos flipped the bird at the vast, empty city. “You have no idea how desolate this place is. We don’t have a guide, and Ling Shi isn’t usable right now. The worst plan is to search—we’ll have to check building by building.”

“Wait!” Mi Dou exclaimed again. “One didn’t leave!

Didn’t leave? Mo An instantly turned around. Talos’s ship was already sailing away. Just minutes ago, the elusive Blue Jellyfish had covered the sea surface, but now its light had completely faded. However, one was still glowing on the sea surface. It appeared to be using all its strength to swim toward the dock, but the waves kept pushing it back.

Mo An made a quick decision and ran over to scoop it up.

After picking it up, he took off the glass bottle from his waist, filled it with seawater, and carefully placed the jellyfish inside. Beneath the jellyfish was a pink diamond, reflecting its blue light.

“Little Blue?” Mo An suddenly asked.

The jellyfish lit up once.

“Did you come to guide us?” Mo An asked again. “Can you sense Xia Yu?”

The jellyfish lit up again.