MASG chapter 172: Extra 12

◎ Nuwa: [Don’t worry. I didn’t monitor you at all last night.]
◎

 

The scent of the mermaid breeding period lingered everywhere: in front, behind, left, and right. Xia Yu carried it on his body as well. He walked back to the bedside, just as he used to do with his younger brother as a child. With one motion, he lifted Mo An’s blanket.

The smell was already strong, but once the blanket was lifted, the scent rushed over again. Xia Yu had no choice but to open the window first, in case the scent caused some kind of taboo effect on them again. Then, he returned to the bedside and grabbed Mo An by the ear. “Get up!”

Only then did Mo An open one eye. Since he hadn’t withdrawn the tear membrane, he couldn’t sense how bright the surroundings were.

“Hurry up and get up.” Xia Yu wanted to push him, but, helplessly, Mo An’s body was too large. “I already saw the aircraft land. It must be Boden bringing people over. We have a lot to do today. I…”

“Not getting up. Stay and sleep with me a little longer.” Mo An unexpectedly reached out and wrapped an arm around Xia Yu’s neck, pulling him back under the blanket.

“Get up already!” Xia Yu couldn’t indulge his nonsense anymore. “My clothes are all gone. What am I supposed to wear when I go out later? I can’t exactly go out wearing a skirt, can I?”

“Then wear my clothes. I’ll wear the skirt.” Mo An slowly propped up his upper body. His silver hair cascaded like a waterfall over his strong back muscles, like a silver ocean with rising and falling waves.

Beautiful, really beautiful. Xia Yu briefly became absorbed in his younger brother’s looks, then said seriously, “How could that work? It’s all your fault. You absolutely can’t do this again in the future.”

Nuwa: [Do you need me to dispatch a drone to deliver clothes for you?]

Both Xia Yu and Mo An jolted at the same time. Under the shredded cloth, his wristband was pinned beneath it. The two young men had tasted the forbidden fruit and gotten carried away in the moment. They forgot that Nuwa was still there.

Nuwa: [Don’t worry, I didn’t monitor you at all last night.]

Jingwei: [And she even turned off my monitoring permission.]

Nuwa: [Because I knew you would definitely secretly monitor.]

Jingwei: [You really are…]

Xia Yu let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry, I forgot about you two. I’ll pay attention in the future.”

“Right now, I’m in the breeding season. Maybe I’ll breed at any time, so you absolutely mustn’t eavesdrop.” Mo An jumped down from the bed. His agile body faced the sunlight outside the window. Completely naked, he stretched his arms lazily. His coming-of-age ceremony had been too happy and exciting.

By the time Xia Yu’s body had become half-transparent, revealing everything clearly, Mo An’s head and reproductive organ were so hot that his mind turned blank.

Male fish in the breeding season are sensitive and attentive to their partner’s emotions at all times. Mo An was no exception and immediately used his personal device to dispatch a drone to deliver clothes. A quarter of an hour later, Xia Yu finally put on suitable combat clothes. While he stood before the mirror, tidying his hair, the fish followed him dejectedly and hugged him from behind.

“What now?” Xia Yu reached his hand behind him and patted the fish on the head.

“Sad.” Mo An spoke directly. “During breeding season, I become more sentimental. Right now, I kind of want to cry.”

“No way?” Xia Yu immediately turned around. Sure enough, Mo An’s eyes were red with tears. “Don’t cry, don’t cry…” He hurriedly wiped the corners of Mo An’s eyes with his palm and sleeve while standing on tiptoe. “Didn’t I already say it… a few minutes is also very impressive.”

“What few minutes? That was only my first performance!” Mo An seriously refuted.

Xia Yu patted him: “It’s okay.”

“Of course it matters. That was my first time. Only my first time… Later, I got better.” Mo An muttered, “Later, I got better, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you got better later. You’re the best.” Xia Yu wiped away his tears, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Then why are you crying now?”

“Separation anxiety. I’ve got separation anxiety.” On this point, Mo An did not deceive him. “If you leave more than a few meters away from me, I feel uncomfortable. I think this may be in our nature. Once the breeding season begins, male fish stick to their partner until their child is born.”

Xia Yu was speechless. This was not a joke—they had no way to have a child.

Would the male fish’s breeding season never pass if there was no child?

“Don’t be anxious. Let’s ask Xi Ban. Or we can ask Mi Dou to find some medicine to suppress anxiety.” Xia Yu coaxed softly. Unexpectedly, the large mermaid bent down, picked him up, buried his face in Xia Yu’s chest, and sobbed.

My heavens! Can Haisiruo tell me how to solve this? Xia Yu touched the side of Mo An’s neck—it was burning hot.

Half an hour later, Xia Xiaoxiao finally brought people upstairs. The first thing she saw was her younger brother, safe and sound. She let out a sigh of relief, then looked farther back and saw Mo An taking deep breaths.

“What’s wrong with him? Is he uncomfortable? Should he go back and get checked?” Xia Xiaoxiao was shocked. To be honest, she and Mo An had fairly deep feelings for each other; they had spent every day together in Penghu City.

Before Xia Yu could respond, Xi Ban shook his head. “Breeding season. I knew it would be like this…”

Hmm? A’Dairi perked up his ears to listen. This was a lesson they could not escape.

“Will separation anxiety really happen? What should I do?” Xia Yu walked to Xi Ban and quietly asked, “Need medicine?”

“No need for medicine, need a child.” Xi Ban whispered in Xia Yu’s ear. “All our instincts exist for survival and reproduction. Male fish only begin to weaken their breeding season reactions after confirming that the fish eggs have survived to ensure the continuation of the species.”

Xia Yu widened his eyes. “But I…”

“We’ll think of another way. The stronger a mermaid’s reproductive ability, the greater the separation anxiety. This is also our racial instinct. He isn’t pretending. It’s a reaction he can’t even resist himself.” Xi Ban rubbed Xia Yu’s cheek. If Xia Yu’s body could retain marks, Xi Ban believed that he would definitely be covered in traces today.

The moment Xi Ban finished speaking, Mo An walked straight over from several meters away, held Xia Yu’s hand again, and stood behind him.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Love-struck.” Boden happened to bring people upstairs. “Another day, I’ll properly listen to your love story. Right now, we… handle business first?”

Right, there was still business. Xia Yu pulled Mo An to Boden and looked at the researchers behind him. “I thought it would be at night. Daytime works too?”

“It has nothing to do with time; it has to do with the mantle’s reaction. This whole month has been an active period. We cannot miss the opportunity.” Boden put away his glib tone and told his colleagues, “Move it up to the rooftop balcony.”

The rooftop balcony had already been protected, the platform reinforced, and fixed ropes tied around the statue to ensure it would not tilt and shatter. Jennifer’s stone statue was indoors and easier to preserve, but Talos was different. If even one piece of the statue shattered, he would be missing part of a limb when he woke up.

If the statue’s head fell off, no one could save him.

So everyone was especially careful, not only in movement—even breathing was light, trying not to change any details here. Talos looked toward the sky; clearly, his final battle had taken place in the air. Xia Yu swept away the dust on Talos’s body with professional tools, just like an archaeologist.

There were three energy converters, placed in an equilateral triangle with Talos at the center.

“Are you confident?” Xia Yu looked uneasily at the control device in his hand.

Boden lowered his head and looked at him. “What do you think?”

“I’m a little scared.” Xia Yu replied honestly. “What if the energy overloads and Talos’s stone statue can’t hold up? I mean, if something… explodes, or cracks? He isn’t a statue; he’s a living person.”

Although Mi Dou said nothing, his expression had already proven everything. Everyone wanted Talos to return quickly, but now that the day had arrived, there was no guarantee that the experiment would succeed. Boden only shook his head, and his colleagues immediately began clearing the area. Xia Yu’s group could only retreat near the stairway entrance.

On the balcony, only Talos and Boden remained.

A full, curved, three-dimensional projection spread out completely. To the left was a full view of Earth. The deep blue lines clearly distinguished land and ocean, as well as important mountain ranges and islands. In the center was a glowing orange sphere representing the planet’s endless energy. It rotated, a planet in the boundless universe that possessed spiritual energy.

The experiment began.

Xia Yu thought the experiment would be grand and majestic, perhaps accompanied by a deafening sound that would cause vibrations in the seawater. However, the result was the exact opposite of what he expected. The experiment was quiet, like a gentle breeze, its presence not particularly strong. Yet, the temperature in the attic began to rise, and before long, sweat appeared on everyone’s palms.

At that moment, the energy converters began to glow. The light started out faint but soon became impossible to look at directly. Xia Yu closed his eyes. Mo An lowered his tear membrane. Mi Dou and Lao Gui turned away. The others lowered their heads.

Boden had already prepared himself. A special helmet-like device protected his entire head. The light from the three converters shone directly on the stone statue, gathering above its head into an even more dazzling sphere of light—like an artificial sun.

Except this sun was dark red.

The experiment lasted more than ten minutes. The sphere of light gradually dimmed, and its warmth began to fade. The indoor temperature began to fall until it returned to normal. Just as Boden removed the helmet, Xia Yu opened his eyes.

“The energy is still not enough, sigh.” Boden sighed.

Xia Yu quickly stepped over. “How can it not be enough? Didn’t you say this was the active period of mantle activity?”

Mo An closely followed behind Xia Yu, becoming his shadow.

Boden wiped the sweat from his forehead. Even his bear ears were soaked. “Even active periods fluctuate. We need to catch the most active moment. But with our current predictive ability, we can only narrow it down to a few days this month. Clearly, if we want to successfully awaken a gargoyle, we need to know the exact moment when mantle activity reaches its peak.”

“What should we do?” Xia Yu thought hard. “Nuwa, Jingwei, can you predict it?”

Nuwa: [Sorry, but regarding everything about Earth, I cannot make perfect predictions. I serve humanity, yet my understanding of Earth is limited.]

Jingwei: [We are artificial intelligence. Perhaps real living creatures have stronger intuition. I heard that before a major earthquake, living creatures give warnings. Why don’t you try that?]

That really was a good idea… Xia Yu began planning in his mind, but something on the sea surface caught his attention. Right below the lighthouse, a misty white fishtail slowly slid past like white paint sinking into the sea.

“Who’s there?” Xia Yu pointed and asked.

At his command, Mo An rushed to the balcony railing in two steps and dove into the sea. More than ten seconds later, bubbles began churning on the surface of the sea, clearly showing that something was coming up. Xia Yu gripped the railing nervously. “Mo An? Mo An!”

Mo An was the first to emerge, except he was gripping a fishtail in his hand. “Caught it! It’s a white siren!”

The white tail swayed in his hand as the slender white siren slowly surfaced, revealing its naturally long and thin face.

“107?” Xia Yu recognized him instantly!

“Hi… I hope everyone’s been well.” Mo An firmly held 107, who flapped around.

 

---

[Author’s Note]

Mo An transformed into a fragile, sensitive little fish. Sob, sob, wife.

Xia Yu: …………