MASG chapter 31

 

In the bedroom, Milian could no longer cry. Despite her height of 190 cm, she was just a mother crushed by grief facing her son’s sudden illness.

“When did he get sick? He was fine yesterday!” Lao Gui had rushed over upon hearing the news.

“Half an hour ago, he was fine. He said he wanted honey cake, and he said he wanted to find work with his two good friends in the afternoon. I turned around to buy the cake, and when I came back, I found that his nose was bleeding.” Milian was already a bit dazed and speaking in broken sentences, but she tried to stay calm. “Last night, I checked his shoulder. It had been injured before and wasn’t fully healed. Could the wound not have been treated properly?”

“Sepsis[mfn]Sepsis is a serious medical condition caused by the body’s extreme reaction to an infection.[/mfn]?” Lao Gui unbuttoned Mi Dou’s shirt.

The shirt was soaked with sweat. The feverish child looked pitiful. His face was red with heat, and his nosebleed hadn’t stopped. The wound on his shoulder had scabbed over. Although it had been a serious injury, it was clear that it had been properly treated; there was no rot or inflammation.

“The wound’s fine.” Lao Gui covered the child with a blanket and asked Milian, “Could it be poisoning?”

“The doctor just left. He drew blood. The results won’t be ready until noon.” Milian sat helplessly at the bedside.

When Xia Yu and Mo An made their way to the bedside, they overheard this, and the adults fell silent, afraid of upsetting Milian’s fragile nerves. She had held herself together for so long, clinging on ever since being separated from her son. Finally reunited, yet things had taken a sharp turn just before any joy could set in.

Xia Yu didn’t have a mother, but he believed that if he or Mo An were in that bed, Professor Wang Qin would be just like Milian.

“Auntie, how’s Mi Dou?” Xia Yu asked quietly. “He’ll be okay, right?”

“Yes, he will. Our bodies are stronger than those of ordinary people. He’ll be fine.” Milian nodded. Genetic modification was the last thread of hope. It was so ironic that she almost smiled bitterly. Those in power freely altered their bodies, rewriting their genes, and called these mutations a gift. But only those who were truly modified had the right to call it a gift.

Now, the only hope she could cling to was precisely that kind of “gift.” She hoped the brown bear genes would give Mi Dou a strong body so he could endure.

Even if it was poison, the antidote could be found once it was detected. Milian looked at the bedside table. The honey cake had cooled, and Mi Dou was still hungry.

But after noon, her hope was dashed. The test report came in.

“Not poisoning.” Lao Gui couldn’t bear to tell her. “It’s ‘Moruote.'”

Milian closed her eyes, the muscles at the corners twitching uncontrollably.

“What’s Moruote?” Xia Yu asked. He had been with Mi Dou and had never heard of it.

“Is it a disease?” Mo An asked. Sirens had diseases, too, especially contagious ones that could pollute an entire sea through their scales.

“It’s a very serious disease that only occurs in genetically modified humans. Natural humans cannot be infected.” Lao Gui himself was a natural human, though he was now part cyborg. “This disease has a very high fatality rate. Without a special medicine, there’s no way to survive. Even Mi Dou’s strong constitution wouldn’t hold up for more than a few days…”

“Stop talking.” Milian stood up again. “I know the power of the Morot virus. People died from it in the mines before. Tell me where I can buy the medicine.”

“Yes, let’s go buy it!” Xia Yu felt slightly relieved. There’s a special medicine. If there’s medicine, there’s hope.

“I already checked. Before that incident, the medicine was fairly common. Now, it’s hard to find.” Lao Gui said that after the purge, medicine became scarce.

Xia Yu turned to look at Mi Dou, who was already unconscious from the fever. Blood was still pouring from his nose, and he would soon suffer severe blood loss if it couldn’t be stopped. Their dream of “growing up together” hadn’t taken a single step forward, and now it was gone.

After navigating the battles in the underground water pipes and the No. 3 power plant, Mi Dou had survived the aircraft cleansing and escaped the leech and fungus men, as well as the Leviathan. After so many terrible disasters, he finally succumbed to an invisible virus.

“Is there really no medicine? Even just one pill? Mi Dou is very strong, just one pill would make him better!” Milian still refused to give up. “Even if he wakes up briefly, have a bite of cake before you leave. He hasn’t eaten yet, he’s still hungry!”

“Calm down,” Lao Gui said, swaying from side to side. “Actually, there’s still a glimmer of hope…”

“Tell me.” Milian couldn’t calm down.

“There’s a long-distance cargo ship. They stocked up on injections before setting sail. I checked, and it contains a special medicine for treating Moruote,” Lao Gui said.

Milian’s fingers trembled. “Where’s the cargo ship?”

“It’s near Port A, but something’s happened,” Lao Gui said despairingly. “The cargo ship is called… Tide.”

Mi Lian choked on a breath, unable to speak. Finally, there was medicine, but it was inside the Tide’s cargo box. This was tantamount to a death sentence for Mi Dou, announcing his doom in advance. No one knew what was happening aboard the Tide, and no one dared to go aboard.

“The Tide? Is that the… really big ship? It’s anchored… near a lighthouse?” Xia Yu immediately thought of that ship because he had seen it before.

“How do you know?” Lao Gui nodded. “That’s it. There’s electronic corruption on the ship, and we’ve lost contact. The ship won’t dock, and the parts recovery team is preparing to leave. People nearby can hear the people on the ship singing every night, but we have very little information.

“I want to join. When do we leave?” Mi Lian asked.

“Can you swim?” Lao Gui rejected her with a single sentence.

“You stay here and take good care of your child. This time, the team requires its members to be able to swim.” Lao Gui glanced down at the clock. “If there’s time, they’ll be back within 24 hours.”

What team? Xia Yu and Mo An listened closely and grasped the gist of it. The moment Lao Gui turned to leave, they simultaneously grabbed his hands.

“What? You scared me!” Lao Gui exclaimed.

“Let us go together. We can swim,” Xia Yu blurted out. “We can’t just watch Mi Dou die. We have to save him.”

“He might not die. The special medicine will be brought back.” The Lao Gui winked at him. His mother is so worried, you kids should stop talking about death.

“Take us with you! I’m a little jellyfish, and he’s a fishman. We swim faster and better than ordinary people.” In his panic, Xia Yu almost let it slip. The Lao Gui wouldn’t immediately answer such a serious matter. Xia Yu turned back to look at Mi Dou, and his nose started bleeding again.

The honey cake on the bedside table had long since cooled.

“Come with me. Let’s go downstairs first.” The Lao Gui didn’t want to disturb Mi Lian, so he led them downstairs. As the elevator descended, Lao Gui finally spoke the truth: “Your intentions are good, but it’s too dangerous. You have no idea what electronic corruption is…”

“I understand.” Xia Yu repeated what Jingwei had told him once. “After that incident, some people with mechanical parts in their bodies started to change. Anyone could be affected, and then… ‘deformed’ components would appear. We can go in to retrieve the parts and save people. A Ni, isn’t that right?”

Mo An watched the surveillance camera in the elevator. For some reason, he felt like it was constantly watching them. “Yes, we may be young, but we already understand.”

Lao Gui waved his hand. “It has nothing to do with whether you understand or not.

“Then what does it have to do with?” Mo An went straight to the point. Even though Mi Dou wasn’t his contract sibling, that didn’t stop Mo An from wanting to save him. Sirens were not emotionless creatures—on the contrary, their emotions were far richer than anyone could imagine.

“You can ask the team leader when the time comes,” Lao Gui said, clearly refusing. Talos, what kind of trouble did you dump on me? These two brats want to meddle in everything.

When they reached the lobby downstairs, everything was in perfect order. The chaos and grief upstairs hadn’t spread here. Lao Gui led them directly to the back of the big screen, where quite a few people had already gathered.

“How’s the situation with the Tide?” Lao Gui asked a man whose body was half machine.

“Getting ready to depart,” the man, clearly the captain, replied. “How are things upstairs?”

“He’s almost gone. Can you get the medicine any faster?” Lao Gui tried to negotiate.

“Don’t joke around, brother. We’re not even sure if we’ll make it back alive.” The man shook his head and looked down. “And what are those two doing here?”

Before Lao Gui could answer, Mo An spoke up. “We’re going to the Tide.”

“You two? You?” The man looked them up and down. “Get lost. This isn’t a place for kids to play games.”

But Mo An didn’t leave. Instead, he rolled up his sleeve. The man was startled by the sharp spike at his elbow and asked, “What are you?”

“Fishman. I’m fused with fish genes, so I can hold my breath underwater for a long time. If you take me with you, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble during underwater work.” Mo An spoke clearly. It was clearly a negotiation—only by showing their value would they be accepted. Begging wouldn’t work.

Lao Gui was stunned by his logic. How old is this kid? Does he already know how to bargain with adults?

Xia Yu was also surprised by Mo An’s maturity. But, thinking about it, he was a siren—everything strange could be explained. If Mo An had hatched in the sea, he would have experienced life-or-death survival by now—far more dangerous than this. Sirens develop at an accelerated rate once they hatch.

“Then please take me too.” Xia Yu quickly followed suit. “I’m an excellent swimmer.”

“No, they’re too young,” Lao Gui interrupted.

“Joining the team gives you points, right?” Xia Yu immediately raised his price. Lao Gui turned to look at him again. At that moment, he no longer saw them as clueless kids.

“If you take us, we’ll give you half our points,” Xia Yu said directly to the half-mechanical man. “Please take us with you.”

After a few seconds of silence, the man accepted the deal. “We leave in twenty minutes. Come join the assembly.”

That settled it. But Lao Gui didn’t agree. He pulled them back into a corner. “You two better think this through. The Tide is infested with electronic corruption. It’s not a game for you to play.”

“We know,” Xia Yu nodded.

“Besides, I can’t go with you. I can’t swim.” Lao Gui told them. “Talos told me to look after you. Now you’ve gone and landed me in this mess.”

“But we have to go,” Xia Yu said firmly.

“Why? You’re too arrogant. You’re overestimating yourselves!” Lao Gui snapped.

“Because… if we don’t go, I don’t believe anyone will risk their life to get the medicine. Am I right?” Xia Yu’s voice was calm yet sharp. “Fixing electronic corruption and saving lives is dangerous enough. Why would they take an extra risk to find the medicine? To them, Mi Dou is just a random kid—his life doesn’t matter. People die every day. But to us, he’s different. He’s our best friend, and we’re the only ones willing to save him.”

“You…” Lao Gui was speechless.

Not far away, the parts recovery team had already gathered—about a dozen men and women, all fully equipped and likely skilled in their own way. Lao Gui recognized some of them, but he didn’t know them all by name.

Who among them would risk everything to retrieve a special medicine just to save Milian’s son?

The two little ones were right—none of them would.

Twenty minutes later, Xia Yu held Mo An’s small hand and stood among the assembled team. Lao Gui was still negotiating with the captain—the half-mechanical man known by the codename Silver Fang and the team leader.

When the time came, Lao Gui could only step aside. “I’ve already told Silver Fang to look after you. Remember—while they deal with the electronic corruption, just find the medicine. If there’s danger, run. Don’t talk to anyone on the ship.”

“Okay, we understand. Please take care of Aunt Milian and Mi Dou for us until we return.” Xia Yu wasn’t confident, but he couldn’t let Mi Dou leave on an empty stomach for no reason.

Mo An didn’t say goodbye to Lao Gui. He was still thinking about the strange vision in his mind. No matter how things turned out, they were still going to board that ship. Who had arranged all this?

As he thought about it, Mo An looked toward the security camera at the gate. Its red light was glowing.

When it was time to leave, everyone boarded the vehicles—eighteen adults in total. Xia Yu held Mo An’s hand tightly in the back row and stayed alert as they left.

The low-flying transport vehicle glided smoothly. When they reached the port, the sky was overcast, though the wind wasn’t strong. The waves were about half a meter high, and two speedboats were waiting on the shore. After disembarking, the twenty people split into two groups and boarded the boats. Through the thin mist, they could see the lighthouse.

The Tide was not far away. The entire ship was visible, with water clearly seeping inside and the sea rising above the cargo ship’s waterline. The vessel stood motionless.

As the boats drew closer, the mist turned pale. Mo An suddenly gripped Xia Yu’s hand tightly.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Yu whispered.

“I can feel my kind,” Mo An whispered back.

The closer they got, the clearer it became. Singing reached their ears, drifting on the waves. Countless dark reefs appeared, stretching before the bow like the spines of beasts. The sea darkened, corroding the Tide’s paint.

The cargo ship loomed before them like a steep strait.

Through the mist and song, the two speedboats reached the rope ladders hanging from the Tide. The deck was slick with moss and seawater, and the ropes were covered in condensation, making them hard to grip. Everyone fell silent. The moment they boarded, a heavy pressure filled the air.

“All right, everyone, check your gear,” Silver Fang ordered.

The sound of preparation filled the air as each person immediately checked their weapons. Mo An’s eyes were drawn to a lifebuoy on the deck covered in scratch marks.

“Don’t wander off. Something’s wrong,” Xia Yu said, pulling him back.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Mo An said softly. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s one extra person.” Xia Yu counted again—yes, there were nineteen adults on board.

 

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Acargoreng: Hello everyone, I’m here to bring a little sad news. My other translation, “But He’s Beautiful,” had to be taken down because of a DMCA problem. I’m planning to move it to my Ko-fi page instead. Once everything is decided, I’ll make another announcement.
Thank you all for always supporting my works 💕