CH 42.2

They dared not enter the tunnel for fear that it would start to cave in halfway through the swim.

Upstream.

Upstream was their only direction now.

The coral layer kept sinking.

Green Hair looked at this scene worriedly, and while swimming, he asked the scarred merman, “What’s going on? Is this a seaquake? Why is the earth’s crust moving?”

The scarred mermaid moved through the water, “It doesn’t seem to be. The crustal movement wouldn’t just come so suddenly. There are usually signs, but this seaquake had no signs at all. It’s too dangerous. Everyone hurry up and go upstream. Protect the females and the children; the males will be behind!”

At the front of the group of merfolk were the strongest adult mermen, leading the way, with the mermaids, the younger mermen, and the children in the middle.

At the end of the pack were the elderly mermen.

They swam as they kept a wary eye on the movement beneath them.

Suddenly, there was a “click, click, click” sound of rocks breaking, and in the next instant, a huge, black, behemoth emerged from the coral.

The merfolk, all with astonished eyes, raised their bows and pointed them at the behemoth.

From the cracks in the ground came countless colorful rays of light.

The colorful lights immediately filled the monotonous darkness of the seabed with changing colors.

The merfolk were a little stunned.

It was the first time they had seen such a sight on this dark sea floor.

The dazzling colors that dotted the depths were like Pandora’s box opening, and the last hope rushed out in a scramble.

The light illuminated the darkness and stained the solitude.

Suddenly, a green burst of light flew towards them.

The green light was like the gentle hands of the old Patriarch stroking over their hair.

It was full of warmth and for some reason, they suddenly choked up a little as the light fell on them.

The green light danced over the last cub and disappeared into the depths of the sea.

The scarred merman took a deep breath, pushed down this strange state of mind, and looked below.

The small eyes went from vigilance to amazement as the scarred merman pulled on Green Hair next to him.

Green Hair looked over and saw the huge black giant reaching out, holding something in both hands and carefully placing it in a coral bush.

When the hands left, what appeared in the coral bush was Bai Lixin’s figure.

The tremors around them had gradually reduced, and the rocks were no longer falling down.

Perched in the disintegrated coral bush, Bai Lixin raised his hand and waved towards the group of merfolk.

The scarred merman finally let out a long sigh of relief, “Put the crossbows away! It’s Bai Lixin. Let’s go down and ask him what the hell is going on.”

The crossbows aimed at Dijia were put away in an instant.

Weapons were aimed at enemies, not comrades.

The fleeing merfolk began to swim downstream.

And as they swam, Dijia’s body began to shrink slowly.

Bai Lixin, “Thank you.”

[Ding! Warning. Experiencer interfered with game play and will be ejected from the game copy in three seconds!]

[Ding! Warning. Experiencer interfered with game play and will be ejected from the game copy in three seconds!]

[Ding! Warning. Experiencer interfered with game play and will be ejected from the game copy in three seconds!]

A red light kept pulsing in Dijia’s mind.

He sighed and his body slowly shrank to about Bai Lixin’s size before stopping.

[Beginning of the countdown: 3, 2, 1!]

A low sigh slowly fell into Bai Lixin’s ears. “It seems that our wager will have to be made later. I look forward to our next meeting, my most precious collection.”

The most precious collection?

Bai Lixin looked up sharply.

The most precious collection was what Water Body Dijia in the first copy had called him; it was logical that the soul fragments didn’t share memory wells.

However, the Dijia in front of him knew the nickname.

Could it be that this Dijia fused with the water body Dijia after he left the copy and returned to the game lobby?

Bai Lixin grabbed Dijia’s wrist hard. He had too many things to ask him.

Was he on level 999? What had happened to him in the meantime? What happened to his soul? Why had he lost his memory?!

He had to get clarification from Dijia on all these.

But before Bai Lixin could say anything, Dijia’s figure suddenly turned transparent and disappeared before him.

Bai Lixin stared blankly at the empty water in front of him, dumbfounded.

The merfolk had now swum to Bai Lixin’s side.

They were chattering, so full of curiosity and questions that they could have produced a book called “100,000 Reasons Why Merfolk Talk”.

Bai Lixin was not impatient and he told the story in detail.

At the end of the story, pearls fall to the ground.

The scarred merman, “So that green light just now was the old patriarch.”

Bai Lixin was silent for two seconds, then said frankly, “Yes.”

There was destruction all over the place, and it looked like a desperate situation.

But in the crevices of the mottled rocks, there were water plants slowly emerging.

No, this was not desperation, but new life.

As long as the Sea God remained, a new cycle of life would reappear.

The trident in Bai Lixin’s hand had turned from the light blue at the beginning to a radiant and dazzling gold.

Just when Bai Lixin was wondering about what to do with this trident, the trident seemed to come to life and detached itself from his body.

The trident hovered in the water, and its blade twisted and stretched like a flourishing lawn, growing wildly outwards, and in but a few moments, it became the watery image of a woman.

The hair, made of seawater, stretched and faded out into the sea, and the body, too, was made of a convergence of seawater.

The eyes couldn’t be seen, but the head turned towards Bai Lixin, and although he could not see the woman’s eyes, Bai Lixin could feel that the woman was gazing at him.

The merfolk were shocked silly, and one by one, they knelt in fear.

The Sea God swam her body and slowly came to Bai Lixin, resting her forehead against his.

An ethereal voice that could only be nurtured by seawater afterwards rang out in his mind.

[Many thanks to you.]

[I have regained my power.]

[In a short time, life will reappear here.]

Bai Lixin looked at the terrified merfolk and raised the concern in his mind, “What about these merfolk? They need food too, and now that it is gone, what will they eat?”

The Sea God: [There scavengers still exist at the bottom of this sea, but they have no more natural enemies. They will no longer be carnivorous creatures but omnivores. The merfolk can eat those, but in future evolution, the merfolk will gradually become omnivorous as well.]

She paused: [I already foresee that they will also become like you.]

Bai Lixin froze for a moment.

The laughter of the Sea God rang out in his mind: [It seems they really like you. I’ve regained the power of the Sea God, so from today onwards, the Scavengers are just the most ordinary creatures. They have lost their ability to divide. They will have birth, age, get sick, die,  and just like any other creatures, and reproduce life through mating.]

[In the future, there won’t be so many gigantic creatures. Those creatures have given me too much pressure and carrying capacity. I want to slow down a bit.]

[Next, I’m going to clean up this sea properly. As a thank you, this is a gift for you.]

A stream of water rolled up Bai Lixin’s hands.

With these words, the god of the sea disappeared into the deep sea.

Bai Lixin looked down at his palms, and between his palms was a crystal ball the size of his palm.

There was dark blue water swimming around in the crystal ball.

Bai Lixin lifted the crystal ball, [Escape System, what kind of prop is this?]

Escape System: [Ding! Scanning begins.]

[Ding! The scan is over, the result is: ????]

[Sorry, the system could not identify the item. However, the system detected a vigorous energy contained in it during the scan, so please keep it safe.]

Bai Lixin’s gaze flickered.

A prop that even the system could not scan. Did it mean that this prop existed outside of the game copy?

Just like him.

Perhaps the system could not detect his attributes because he was an intruder.

This prop, which was currently unknown, might help him in the future, too.

Bai Lixin tried to receive the prop in the system backpack.

Although the system could not identify what it actually was, the system was quite accommodating in taking the crystal ball in.

After the Sea God left, the scarred merman swam up to Bai Lixin, “Bai Lixin, thank you for helping us, and as promised, follow me. I will give you the Mermaid’s Heart.”

A system alert rang out in Bai Lixin’s mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, for completing the hidden task: the Merfolk’s Trust.]

Bai Lixin opened the task bar.

Except for the survival task, which had not yet been completed, the other two quests had turned green.

Bai Lixin silently followed behind the scarred Merman, relaying what the Sea God told him as they swam.

But he left out the words “they will become like you”.

The scarred mermaid looked at Bai Lixin gratefully. At that moment, he did not know what words to use to express his gratitude to Bai Lixin.

After a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, “Bai Lixin! We will carve the most perfect sculpture for you, and from today onwards, you are the benefactor of our clan.”

Bai Lixin: “……”

So did the merfolk “evolve to have humanlike appearances” because they stared at his statue every day?

“A fine lad such as yourself has not taken a fancy to any of the females of our pack? Tell me and I’ll give you a wedding tonight!”

Bai Lixin: “……”

This uncle, what dangerous statement are you making?!

When Bai Lixin didn’t say anything, the scarred merman continued to play matchmaker, “Is there no one you like? You don’t like the females, but the males? You are the hero in everyone’s heart. You have conquered all the merfolk completely with your inner beauty. You are beautiful and it has absolutely nothing to do with face value. So don’t worry that everyone only loves your face; what everyone loves is your soul!”

Bai Lixin declined with a dry smile.

High EQ: It’s your soul that everyone loves.

Low EQ: You’re too ugly.

The scarred merman led Bai Lixin through the caves, and after swimming for about ten minutes, they came to a hidden tunnel.

The scarred merman reached in and removed a small shell from inside.

He gave the shell to Bai Lixin and said, “This is the Mermaif’s heart. We only have the responsibility to guard it, not the right to open it, so we don’t know what’s inside.”

Bai Lixin’s slender fingers rested on the shell and was about to open it when the scarred merman stopped him, “Don’t open it yet; wait until I leave.”

With that, he turned and left.

Bai Lixin was left alone in the empty cave.

Bai Lixin placed his fingers on the shell once again and slowly opened it.

In the shell was a pendant.

The pendant was made of an unknown material, but it shone with a metallic luster in the sea water. At the end of the pendant was a black pearl, and a silver decorative engraving was wrapped around the outside of the pearl.

Two silver decorations, like fish scales, encased the black pearl.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, for obtaining the rare S-rank prop – Mermaid’s Heart. This is a growth type prop.]

Bai Lixin: [Growth type prop?]

Escape System: [Ordinary props are either only A quality or only B quality, and the ability of each prop is fixed; those are non-growth type props. Growth type props can be upgraded continuously by the player’s training degree, and the ability will become stronger and stronger.]

Bai Lixin: [What abilities does this prop have?]

Escape System: [This is a prop that can heal wounds. But this is its most basic ability. As it evolves, higher level abilities will appear.]

The more the Escape System spoke, the more excited it became: [When a healing prop evolves to the end, it will most likely become a resurrection type prop! This is a really top-quality prop. Growth type props exist, but there are not many and they are hard to find. Many 3S level props are not growth type props.]

Bai Lixin: [ 3S level props? The highest level prop for this game is 3S level?]

Escape System: [Yes. Growth props have the potential to evolve to a 3S level through upgrades! Player, you have really picked up a treasure!]

Bai Lixin was not overwhelmed with joy: [Just one question, can people scan what props I have?]

Escape System: [Theoretically speaking, no. Player, please rest assured that you do not have to worry about other players grabbing your props. Props are privately bound and are available only to the player. They cannot be taken. The only way to obtain an item from another player is by gift from the original owner. The only way to obtain a prop from another player is to be gifted by the original owner. This is done of your own free will and coercion will not only not get you the prop but you can end up getting punished by the system.]

[This prop is quite nice, player, please put it on.]

I don’t know if it is an illusion, but the escape system has been unusually enthusiastic lately.

Bai Lixin looked at the pendant again, and finally put it back into the shell and put it away in the system backpack: [Wait until we return to the game lobby.]

There was only half a day left until the task was completed, and Bai Lixin did nothing during this half day. He only went up to the merfolk as usual, and cleared the weeds with them.

Although there was a hole in the middle, the place was still habitable. The rocks around were tenacious and sturdy and had no intention of collapsing.

Now they and the split turtles were the only ones left in this temporarily lonely ocean.

I wonder if this is a karmic cycle. Did the split turtles that once focused on eating imagine that they would one day go from being predators to food?

With only the last half hour left on the clock, Bai Lixin said goodbye to the merfolk and left the place alone.

The sea was pulsing.

The skeletons had gradually been buried by the sea sand, and there were fresh water plants coming through the cracks.

It may be that the Sea God had accelerated the circulation of the sea, but in half a day, there was noticeably more plankton, and it would not be long before the place came back to life.

As the last second of the taskbar ended, Bai Lixin heard a system prompt.

[Ding! Congratulations to player Bai Lixin for completing the personal copy of [Deep Sea Merman].]

[Clearance task completed, points have reached the maximum of 40,000 points. Congratulations, player. You have gained 40,000 performance points and 40,000 redemption points.]

[The hidden task was completed. Congratulations player. You have gained an additional 20,000 performance points, and an additional 20,000 redemption points.]

[Statistics are as follows: Congratulations, player. You have earned 60, 000 total performance points and 60,000 total exchange points.]

—

Time seemed to stand still in the middle of the sea, unchanging for ages. But in the midst of this eternity, death and despair were everywhere.

In the midst of these complex years, the Sea God gradually became depressed, and as she wept, she created a dark side.

The dark side absorbed all the negative emotions in the sea and eventually detached itself completely, becoming a separate entity that began to control the Sea God.

The Sea God created the split turtles in order to get rid of the Dark Side.

What happened after that was just as Bai Lixin had thought. The Dark Side reversed control over the split turtles and reduced the sea to a complete dead sea.

When the scene ended, the system’s voice appeared again.

[Ding! The hidden task was unlocked, and this copy is permanently closed.]

A whirlpool flashed by, and Bai Lixin was immediately sucked in.

When he woke up again, he had already appeared in his room.

And this time, the shape of his room had changed a tiny bit.

The compactness had become economical, but the layout of the room had not changed much, except that there was a little more space. What had been a room with only one bedroom and a bathroom now had several compartments.

Computer room, hallway, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom.

[Ding! Congratulations player, your total performance score has reached 72,000, your current floor is 72.]

[Ding! Congratulations to the player for unlocking the 50th floor game lobby. This game lobby is a welfare lobby. You can play against each other in the game lobby to exchange for your favorite props.]

[Ding! A friendly reminder: failure to follow the game rules is punishable by the system.]