CH 30

Above the water, the white haired angel’s handsome appearance exuded a holy aura. His cold eyes and blood splattered figure did not match the rest of his image. Staring into the depths of the tank, his silver pupils happened to meet Ji Ning’s gaze.

Seeing his perfectly crafted face, Ji Ning immediately recognised where he was. 

This time, the space and time distortions had occurred simultaneously. Not only had he entered his mermaid body, but he had also been transported to the world of the apocalypse novel.

This novel was called ‘Archangel’. It was set in the distant future, after a huge, highly developed planet was destroyed in a technologically advanced war. The core of the planet ruptured, the surface was flooded with magma, and its people were forced to migrate to the asteroid belt beyond the planet, dividing into thousands of separate colonies.

The conditions of the asteroid belt were harsh, the weather was merciless, and survival rates were extremely low. Yet the fleeing humans managed to cling to life by relying on the technologies from their past. During the cruelest days of the war, in order to adapt to the rapidly changing environment, many planetary nations broke the taboo of large scale genetic modification.

One planetary nation, ‘Noah star’, had a research institute responsible for some of the greatest scientific and technological advances on the planet. This research institute also produced the first ‘Archangel’, that is to say, the hero of this novel, ‘Ark’. 

Ark was named after the old fashioned ships that people used to travel on centuries ago. He was not a real human, but a bionic warrior created through genetic engineering, and was the most powerful humanoid weapon in human creation.

At the request of the institute’s benefactor, Ark was created with an angelic appearance and the title of ‘Archangel’, symbolising the angels who guided Noah from the devastation of the flood.

On the other hand, in God’s apocalypse, apart from the creatures who boarded the ark, nothing survived the monstrous flood. Likewise, Ark and the army of Noah star brought devastation to every enemy planet they crossed.

During the endless wars, under the leadership of Ark, Noah’s army was invincible, occupying new planetary territories and rapidly expanding their own strength. The name ‘Archangel’ became infamous, causing Noah’s dignitaries to have further ideas for domination.

They wanted to make Ark a true ‘Archangel’.

If Ark was not only a killing machine, but a symbol of Noah, representing the prosperity and future of mankind, warring colonies would surrender without a fight. They would be able to form a larger, federal state with Noah at its core.

It was during the execution of this plan, that Ji Ning and Ark first met. As a valuable mermaid pet, Ji Ning was given to the ‘Archangel’ by the benefactors of the institute, who wanted Ark to raise him. Their aim was to let Ark experience ‘love’, to give him some vulnerability after he was created so unemotional, only knowing to obey orders and kill.

The staff of the institute were extremely dissatisfied and strongly protested against the idea. They believed that letting a war machine experience feelings would likely lead to dire consequences. 

Yet they needed Noah’s dignitaries in order to achieve their grand ambitions of establishing a federation. The researcher’s objections were therefore immaterial and in the end, they had to compromise. They brought Ji Ning into the research institute and built a grand pool inside Ark’s residence for the mermaid to live in.

Like Ark, who was an android, mermaids also weren’t a naturally occurring species, but were genetically modified.

Mermaids were mainly divided into two categories, the first were warrior mermaids, used as a frontline during ocean battles. The second were pet mermaids, created for their looks, soft personalities, and gentle voices. Ji Ning belonged to the latter category.

When he was given to Ark, the beautiful mermaid emerged from the water and hooked his arms around the snowy haired angel’s neck. With hooded, seductive eyes, he whispered to the angel who seemed a little overwhelmed. 

“Now I’m your property, honourable Archangel.”

For Ji Ning, the process of capturing Ark wasn’t difficult.

Ark appeared to be an inhuman killing machine who only existed to obey orders, but he still had thoughts and feelings. It was just that, in the past, no one had ever cared to ask him about them.

Ark actually had a rather simple personality, like a clean sheet of white paper. All Ji Ning had to do was stain him with his colours. Rather than saying Ji Ning was Ark’s property, it was more like Ji Ning had branded his name across the angel. 

But the current Ark no longer recognised him.

Ji Ning raised his head and blinked, he could vaguely see that the wings of the white haired angel were damaged. According to Huo Wuling, there had been an auction outside, which meant he could more or less guess where they were in the plot.

Ji Ning’s mission in this world had occurred before the original plot of ‘Archangel’ even started. When he completed his task and died, Ark went rogue and committed several capital crimes against Noah star’s laws. He was branded as a criminal and hunted down by several second generation ‘Archangels’.

Although the individual fighting capability of the second generation angels was inferior to that of the first generation Ark, they had the advantage of numbers and could cooperate together with tacit understanding. In the end, they forced Ark into a trap, destroying most of his body in the process. Wounded and dying, Ark fled to a desolate asteroid and was picked up by a man, the second protagonist of the novel. 

This was where the plot of the original novel began. That man was a mercenary, neither good nor evil. He picked up the damaged Ark, intending to disassemble the android but unexpectedly discovered that Ark wasn’t yet dead.

Although the man didn’t know Ark was the famous Noah star Archangel, he could easily tell that Ark seemed to be powerful, so he rescued him and took him back to his home.

As an android, Ark had extremely powerful self healing capabilities. Even though most of his body was destroyed, he was able to slowly heal himself back to top physical condition. However, his head had been badly injured, damaging his memory storage and corrupting his memories. He couldn’t remember that he was an Archangel, or the reason why he was attacked.

The second protagonist was carefree by nature. He didn’t care about Ark’s past and was only concerned with money. After Ark’s injury had mostly healed, he took the powerful Ark to follow him as a mercenary. He took on various tasks and let Ark complete them for him, so Ark could repay him for taking care of him when he was injured. 

This seemed to be the part of the novel Ji Ning had arrived in. Ji Ning had read the original novel and vaguely recalled a job they completed that involved an auction. After retrieving information about the novel from Future, he found this was indeed the case.

This was an underground black market auction, filled with the worst kinds of people. The second protagonist had brought Ark here to slaughter everyone at the venue, so they could steal away the auction items. As one of the items himself, it seemed that Ji Ning could be considered their trophy.

After a short while, a second head emerged at the top of the tank. It was a handsome man with red hair, the second male lead, Fu Ji.

Seeing the blurred silhouette of the mermaid underwater, the red haired man raised an eyebrow and patted Ark’s shoulder with a grin, “That intel was right, that’s definitely a mermaid. We’ll make a lot of money from this one.” 

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Ji Ning felt lightheaded due to the stench of the corpse. He began to swim upwards, unconsciously. Huo Wuling grabbed his wrist and asked gently, “Would you like me to kill them?”

“No.” Ji Ning shook his head slightly, “I know one of them. We used to be friends. He’s lost his memory and won’t recognise me, but he shouldn’t hurt me.” 

After all, pet mermaids were gentle and sold for a good price, they had no reason to hurt him.

As for the possibility of being sold, Ji Ning wasn’t worried. He would soon return to Gu Chen’s world, and he had Huo Wuling with him. Now that he needed Ji Ning alive, Huo Wuling would definitely stop others from hurting him.

“This place seems to be another world, but you say that you have friends. Have you been here before?”

Huo Wuling pinched Ji Ning’s jaw, his smile harsh, “Are you really just friends?” 

“Whatever you want to think.” Ji Ning pushed his hand away, flicked his fishtail, and swum upwards.

“You used to be so obedient but now look at you. You’re so fearless.”

The attractive dark haired man scolded him with no real anger, following leisurely behind Ji Ning. “What was the point in coming to this world, just to meet your friend? Or do you have another task?”

“I was sent here by accident, I didn’t expect this to happen.” Ji Ning said, “I’m only swimming up because I don’t want to stay here.” 

Huo Wuling shrugged slightly and smiled but said nothing.

Ji Ning swam up to the surface. As soon as he emerged from the water, a metal collar was wrapped around his neck, connecting to a slender chain held by the red haired man.

“Hey little fish, although this situation is a bit sudden, you just have to understand one thing: the two of us are your new masters.”

Fu Ji forced Ji Ning’s head upwards with the chain. When he saw the mermaid’s face, he let out a light whistle and grinned, I’ll make a lot of money from you, what a beauty. Ark, what do you think, isn’t he beautiful?” 

He elbowed the angel’s. The angel’s indifferent gaze swept across Ji Ning’s face and froze. Suddenly his eyes widened and he was unable to make a sound for a long time.

“Hey…”

Fu Ji was irritated by the lack of response from his companion. He turned to look at him in frustration, but the next moment an expression of alarm filled his face at the sight of the angel.

Ark’s expression hadn’t changed but without looking away from the mermaid, tears flowed out of his icy silver pupils, dripping down his face. 

“…So you can also cry.” said Fu Ji, with a complicated expression, “Do you know him?”

“I have no idea.”

Ark used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears and lowered his head.

He didn’t understand why he was crying, or why his heart was beating so quickly. 

The angel stared at the mermaid, before asking, “Did we…use to know each other?”

The mermaid smiled and replied, “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Ark was confused and asked, “Why ‘maybe’ instead of ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”

“Because if you don’t remember anything, it’s pointless to speak about the past.” 

Huo Wuling’s translucent figure appeared suddenly in the air, smiling gleefully.

Ark and Fu Ji reacted quickly, sensing the danger of the situation and fired several shots toward him. Huo Wuling didn’t bother to dodge, allowing the bullets to harmlessly pass through him.

“Your weapons are useless against me.”

The dark haired man spread his hands out wide, “But I have no intentions to be your enemy. I’m not from this auction and have no interest in what you’re doing.” 

His gaze swept carelessly across the corpses scattered across the auction stage before he suddenly flicked out his hand. The metal collar on Ji Ning’s neck snapped off, falling into the tank with a splash.

“But I don’t like you treating him like that.”

Huo Wuling’s image flickered and reappeared at Ji Ning’s side, hugging his shoulders with a cold smile.

“Call yourselves his master again and I’ll rip out every bone in your body. Do you want to try living like a mollusc?” 

“My apologies, we didn’t know you were the mermaid’s master.”

Fu Ji didn’t know Huo Wuling’s identity or origin, but seeing his ghostly appearance and mysterious powers, he could tell that Huo Wuling wasn’t someone he should provoke. He smiled and waved his arms to retreat.

“In order to properly apologise, we’re willing to equally share the spoils of this auction. As for the mermaid, naturally you can take it away and we’ll keep it a secret.”

Saying this, he tried to walk off of the auction stage, but found that Ark wasn’t following behind him. The angel’s eyes hadn’t strayed once from the mermaid in the water. 

“Ark,” he said in a low voice, “It’s time to get out of here, that mermaid doesn’t belong to us.”

“I want him.”

Ark said, unexpectedly. He turned his head to where Huo Wuling floated in the air and asked calmly, “I can pay as much as you want, please give him to me.”

“Ark!” 

Fu Ji’s expression changed quickly and he snapped at him. Never mind if the strange man was willing to sell the mermaid, Ark should know that you could never make it obvious how much you were willing to pay, that was just asking to be scammed!

“He’s not for sale.” Huo Wuling smiled.

Ark pursed his lips and spoke again, “If you cannot measure his value in money, then I can do whatever you want me to until you think my work equals his value.”

“…” Fu Ji covered his face, close to fainting. 

He couldn’t understand how his companion was so powerful, but acted so simple…Well, it was true he had also benefited from it. If Ark didn’t have such a personality, he would never have been tricked into a high risk job like mercenary work with him. But now the two of them were companions, this man was a complete stranger, the nature of the two relationships was fundamentally different.

Fu Ji couldn’t bear to listen anymore. He cleared his throat and was about to negotiate with Huo Wuling on behalf of his companion, when he heard the mermaid speak to Ark with a soothing voice.

“It’s okay, you can take me with you.”

“Ningning,” Huo Wuling stared at him for a while, then said, “Do you know what you’re doing?” 

Ji Ning glanced at him, “You’re not my master.”

“He’s not your master?”

Fu Ji gave Huo Wuling a strange look, not understanding why the man had assumed such a possessive attitude.

“I’m not?” Huo Wuling narrowed his beautiful eyes, chuckled lightly, and said, “Don’t forget who the hell fed you blood for three years Ningning.” 

“Not anymore,” said Ji Ning, “In fact, Ark might actually be my master.”

“Do you really know me?” Asked the angel, unable to look away from him.

“Maybe.”

Ji Ning answered him the same way. 

Ark picked the mermaid up from the water and carefully transported him to the tank they had prepared in advance, while Fu Ji loaded the small aircraft up with other trophies from the auction venue.

Huo Wuling floated on top of the transparent water tank and stared at the mermaid beneath him. Although his lips were still habitually curled, he had a gloomy aura and an unreadable expression on his face.

The handsome angel half squatted next to the tank, hands clutching his knees and half his face buried in his arms.

Fu Ji, who was operating the aircraft, kept glancing back at them, afraid that the strange dark haired man would pick a fight with Ark. He soon stopped checking because the way Ark looked at the mermaid was giving him goosebumps. 

If he was an ordinary person, his reaction wouldn’t seem so excessive, but Fu Ji had been with the android for a long time and had never seen his blank expression change. Today he had seen Ark’s tears and joyful eyes one after another, which made him extremely uncomfortable.

How could he describe this feeling…

After thinking about it for a while, the red haired man finally came up with a good metaphor. It was as if a china doll suddenly started laughing one day. People would assume the doll was haunted- except they really did have a ghost with them!

“You…” 

After a pause, Ark put his finger against the glass of the tank and asked the mermaid inside, “Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.” Ji Ning smiled, “Thank you, Ark.”

“…”

The angel lowered his head, the mangled wings behind him fluttering slightly betraying the nervousness in his heart, as if he was trying very hard to think about what topics to discuss with the mermaid. 

“You said your name was Ji Ning.” He looked up at the mermaid, “That name is very nice.”

Ji Ning smiled again and thanked Ark. Even though Ark lost his memory, his personality was still the same as before.

When the two of them met for the first time, Ji Ning had hooked his arms around Ark’s neck and embraced him. Back then, Ark had been just as nervous, and said almost the exact same words to him.

“I’m tired of listening to your bland greetings.” 

Huo Wuling lay down across the top of the water tank and looked down at Ji Ning and Ark, saying playfully, “Ningning, don’t you find it boring to be with such a dull person?”

It’s thrilling to be with you, I’m just worried I could die any moment…

Ji Ning glanced at Huo Wuling and muttered inwardly to himself.

“You seem very upset with me,” said Huo Wuling, recognising the look in his eyes. He reached out and tapped on the glass cover of the water tank, a dangerous edge to his smile, “You’re getting bolder, do you really think I can’t do anything with you?” 

“You can’t kill me now.”

Ji Ning said. Huo Wuling couldn’t even use Herinos as a threat due to the blood pact, if Herinos died, then Ji Ning would likely die too, taking Huo Wuling with him.

“I can’t kill you,” Huo Wuling smirked, “But-”

He smoothly dropped his entire body into the tank, grabbed Ji Ning’s wrist and pressed him up against the glass of the tank. He kissed him fiercely, until Ji Ning began to push desperately against his shoulders, unable to breathe. Finally, Huo Wuling stepped back with a satisfied smile, “Do you still think I can’t do anything to you?” 

“…”

Ji Ning’s fishtail flailed as he moved backwards, flustered, but Huo Wuling continued to bully him, grabbing his teal fishtail and asking with a teasing grin, “Where are you trying to go?”

Bang.

A loud sound came from above them. The snowy angel flapped his wings, floating slightly in the air. He removed the glass cover of the tank and slipped into the water. Ignoring the weight of his wet feathers, he gathered Ji Ning into his arms and took him back to the surface of the tank. 

His expression was glacial as he raised his hand to carefully wipe Ji Nings lips, “Don’t touch him.”

Huo Wuling raised his eyebrows and tugged at Ji Ning’s tail again, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Bang.

The aircraft jolted violently while Fu Ji desperately tried to stabilise the vehicle. Glancing back, he was stunned by the chaos behind him. 

Ji Ning held his fishtail in his hands and sat inside the water tank with a blank expression.

The tank wasn’t damaged in any way, but aside from that, the entire inner wall of the aircraft had been seriously deformed and most of the auction items had been destroyed, still smoking.

“What a pity that didn’t hit me.”

Huo Wuling floated in the air, unhurt. A dazzling light gathered in the angel’s fingertips once again, brewing a terrifying power of destruction that he was preparing to launch- 

“All of you, stop!!”

The red haired man was close to tears as he ran to the back of the aircraft.

…the ominous premonition Ji Ning felt was getting stronger.

Ji Ning watched from inside the tank. He hugged his tail tightly and curled himself up inside the water. 

I’m torn between Ark and Huo Wuling right now – Huo Wuling is providing some excellent fanservice, but Ark is so damn cute!! I guess I’ll just have to love them both…