The Fallen Merman Chapter 4

Published at 5th of August 2022 01:27:01 PM

Bai Chunian only had a small apartment of 100 square meters in the city. He often didn’t go home when he went on missions. The small apartment looked very empty, only a few half-eaten snacks and ashtrays full of cigarette butts piling up on the coffee table in the living room.

He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sat down by the end table, twisted the cap off, and drank half the bottle. He picked up the lunch box he ordered last night and took a few bites, then turned on the TV to watch the news. The merman was thrown carelessly on the floor.

“Take that bandages off your body,” Bai Chunian ordered as he ate. “It’s dripping water, the floor will get soaked.”

The merman listened attentively in puzzlement, guessing what Bai Chunian meant, and pointed to the bandages on his body. “Gua?”

“Don’t talk if you can’t talk. You think you’re very cute when you’re like that?”

Actually, the merman couldn’t fully understand Bai Chunian’s language. He could only understand certain simple words that he often heard. He relied on body movements and expressions to guess the alpha’s meaning.

So in the eyes of the merman, what Bai Chunan said was, “%@＜－【％[email protected]） You<+-%%×-very cute%+.”

The merman nodded and held up the tip of his slender tail in the shape of a heart to Bai Chunian.

Bai Chunian wiped his face tiredly.

The merman’s movements, when he wasn’t underwater, could be said to be quite clumsy. He twisted his body and laid down by the end table. He glanced at the things on the table, and suddenly took a fancy to the half a bottle of water that Bai Chunian had in his hand. He thought it was good, so he took it and studied how to open the bottle cap for a moment. Without any warning, he violently stuffed the front end of the water bottle into his mouth. With a crunch, he bit off half of the bottle along with the cap and ate it, then took two graceful sips to quench his thirst. He ate the remaining half of the bottle without extra effort.

Bai Chunian no longer cared about him.

After finishing the last bite of his meal, Bai Chunian bent down and grabbed the merman’s tail. He dragged the omega into the bathroom, opened the shower, and sprinkled cold water on the merman’s face. He helped him rub the stains on his face with rough movements.

The merman was quiet and tried to cooperate and stay still as much as he could. However, when Bai Chunian pulled out a pair of scissors from the drawer, squatted down, and grabbed the merman’s slender wrist with the intention of helping him cut off the bandages around his body, the merman started to struggle and flail about.

An alpha’s strength was always greater. Bai Chunian grasped the omega’s wrist tightly. “Don’t move, the bandages are so dirty, they’re disgusting. I’ll cut them off, and replace them with a clean one.”

The bandages on the merman’s body were to moisten his skin when he was out of the water. The wet bandages around his upper body could prevent skin dryness, dehydration, and sunburn.

The merman stared at the scissors in Bai Chunian’s hand in a daze and was frightened at the sight of the sharp blade. He wanted to pull his hand back. The two were of the same level because even if Bai Chunian was an alpha, he wouldn’t exert too much power to suppress him. However, when the two of them tugged at each other, the merman not only broke free of his hand but also accidentally swept Bai Chunian’s face.

It looked like giving the alpha a slap in the face.

“Rimbaud!”[1]

“Aa?” The merman didn’t use much strength. He wasn’t aware that he had done something wrong. So he was stunned when he heard the other man call out his name.

Bai Chunian’s face turned gloomy. He picked out a bundle of bandages from the medicine box and threw them to the merman.

“I don’t care, do it yourself.”

Bai Chunian wasn’t used to taking a bath, so there was no bathtub in the bathroom. He filled the washing machine with water and let the merman soak in it so as not to let him die from dehydration. He closed the bathroom door and went out to watch TV.

The news channel was broadcasting the explosion in the ruins of a suburban playground. Medical personnel covered the corpses in the ruins with white cloth and carried them out one by one. The police and firefighters set up a cordon around the perimeter to safeguard.

Bai Chunian had been serving as a special mission commander in the Alliance for three years. It was easy for him to avoid or destroy all surveillance equipment when designing escape routes. No one could search for clues.

The cell phone screen lying next to him flashed twice, and the number had the remark “Boss”. President Yan Yi called. Bai Chunian considered for a while, took a deep breath, and answered the call.

Yan Yi’s voice on the phone was somewhat serious: “Where are you?”

Bai Chunian replied in a low voice: “Home.”

“You took a special experimental subject to your home and unplugged his suppressor without authorization?”

“Yes, so what?” Bai Chunian said impatiently, “I have worn that thing before, it’s unbearably painful.”

“You have also seen how dangerous he is. Take him back to the Alliance laboratory for examination immediately. The destructive power of a special experimental subject is uncontrollable.”

“He’s quite well-behaved.” Bai Chunian absentmindedly fiddled the cigarette butt in the ashtray. After a long time, he pursed his lips and promised, “I’ll look after him, he won’t go out and destroy things.”

“Xiao Bai, do you want me to file for a search and seizure warrant?”

“……”

“…”

Just as Bai Chunian was thinking of wrangling with President Yan, another call came in. Bai Chunian glanced at the screen and immediately said to Yan Yi: “Boss, Uncle Jin is looking for me. I have something to do. I’ll hang up first. I guess it’s something urgent, I’ll call you back later.”

Yan Yi hadn’t yet spoken his second sentence, but Bai Chunian already hung up the phone. Before he could heave a sigh of relief, Lu Shangjin’s call came in again.

“Uncle Jin, what’s the matter?” Bai Chunian was so dizzy from this mess that he massaged his temples while answering the phone.

Lu Shangjin didn’t specify the situation on the phone but asked Bai Chunian to go to his company to find him.

Bai Chunian wearily picked up his coat, took off his gun, and went out with his car keys.

Lu Shangjin was the current boss of Feiying Group and a powerful figure in the International Business Federation. He was an alpha and the husband of President Yan Yi. For Bai Chunian, he was both a boss and an elder. Bai Chunian was usually taken care of by Uncle Jin. The several million-dollar sports cars in the garage of the villa were all sent by him.

Lu Shangjin waited for him in his lounge. He was an over 40 year old alpha, and his figure was properly maintained. He wore a suit and coat, leisurely browsed through the documents with his coffee at the mahogany table.

“Feel free to sit down, there’s no one in the company today.” Lu Shangjin asked his assistant to bring some fresh fruits and cut it for Bai Chunian, “What task has Yan Yi assigned to you in the past two days.”

Bai Chunian used a silver stick to pick a seedless cherry to eat, and answered faintly, “Some miscellaneous tasks in the Alliance.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Yanyan later to let him give you a holiday.” Lu Shangjin smiled, “There’s something, help me out a little.”

Bai Chunian raised his eyebrows, “You[2] can say it directly.”

Lu Shangjin pushed an exam application form: “My son will take the ATWL exam soon. He wouldn’t listen to me even if I told him. Most of the candidates in this exam are alpha. I’m worried a small omega like him will be easily injured. Even if he wouldn’t get wounded physically, his self-esteem would suffer, and as a father, it would hurt me too.”

ATWL exam, the Advanced Team Warfare Level exam was done in groups. They were allowed to use all firearms and tools in the examination room as they wished. They’d be counted as passing the exam if they could survive for 48 hours. To meet the minimum standard, they also need to complete random tasks to earn bonus points. At the same time, candidates were allowed to fight among themselves, and the outcome would depend on their strength.

Bai Chunian choked all of a sudden: “You mean, you want me to take the student exam? Come on! What if I beat those bunch of brats and make them cry!?”

This kind of examination was actually not fair. Rich and powerful families could always have some way to be at an advantage. They would ask a few powerful thugs to go in and look after their children. Three protectors would inevitably grant their children good grades. There was even an industry chain on the market specializing in collecting money to form a team, but it was expensive and families with ordinary backgrounds couldn’t afford it.

Lu Shangjin didn’t think so: “Aren’t you still under 20? Besides, whoever told you to beat them until they cry? I asked you to take care of my son a bit. Act a little, don’t appear too strong, be a bit stupid, and don’t hurt my son’s self-esteem.”

Bai Chunian thought for a moment: “Okay, but I also want to ask you something.”

Lu Shangjin made a sound while looking through the documents.

“I have a friend who made a small mistake and is now hiding in my house. I’m afraid Boss will get angry and catch him back.” Bai Chunian’s face didn’t even flush as he spouted nonsense, “My friend is also very strong. How many people are missing from your son’s team? I can take him in to hide. After 48 hours, maybe Boss will calm down. It’s good to hide for a while.”

“What kind of friend?”

Bai Chunian weighed and replied: “He has no legs, so it’s not easy for him to walk. ”

Lu Shangjin looked pensive: “Oh… a disabled person, so pitiful. Okay, it’s not a problem, I’ll talk to Yan Yi. What is he up to, arresting a child, and a disabled child at that? Outrageous.”

Bai Chunian breathed a sigh of relief. After a while, he went home to see how the fish was doing.

When he unlocked the front door, he smelled the scent of laundry detergent. Bai Chunian froze. With a splash, he stepped on the pooling water on the floor.

Bai Chunian’s heart thumped as he followed the outflowing water to the bathroom door.

Pushing open the bathroom door, a large bubble of laundry detergent flew out, covering Bai Chunian’s face. On the ground was an emptied bottle of blue moon shell laundry detergent. The floor and walls were covered in foam and water. The washing machine was turned on and Rimbaud sitting inside it got strung along, spinning around in a circle.

“Ancestor!” Bai Chunian pinched himself furiously.

Chapter end