CH 91

[Mission Camp Task Rating: B]

[Total Points: 1005]

[Shop Template Unlocked]

[You will be automatically transported to a B-level mission world in 3 seconds.]

[PS: Do not harm the mission target!]

[Please do not harm the mission target!]

[PLEASE DO NOT HARM THE MISSION TARGET!!!]

Jun Ye didn’t even see the system panel in that void space this time; a barrage of system notifications hit him.

The last three bold and enlarged warnings left his head spinning. Before he could curse, his consciousness slipped into a haze.

When he came to, Jun Ye found himself enveloped by water.

Thanks to his experience in the mermaid world, Jun Ye felt neither panic nor discomfort. He held his breath and examined his body and surroundings.

His skin was pale, his fingers long with sharp tips. His upper body was bare, muscular and lean. From his abdomen down, blue and white scales covered a streamlined fish tail where his legs should be.

He had become a merman again, with small slits on his face indicating his gills.

No need to hold his breath, then.

Having spent decades in the mermaid world, using gills to breathe was second nature, ingrained in his soul. Reassuming this ability in his new body was effortless.

Jun Ye surveyed his surroundings.

He was in blue-green seawater, with small schools of fish occasionally swimming past—insignificant creatures, barely a palm’s length, likely edible.

It was daytime, with dappled light above indicating he was close to the surface.

A momentary distortion in the light above triggered his instincts. Jun Ye flicked his tail, propelling himself over ten meters away in an instant.

Splash!

A loud splash and a rush of bubbles revealed the intruder—a grey-white sea eagle, over a meter long.

Missing its target, the sea eagle wasted no time in turning around, charging at Jun Ye like an arrow.

This scene felt strangely familiar.

Jun Ye dodged to the side and lashed out with his tail.

Smack!

With a heavy thud, the sea eagle was sent flying out of the water, followed by frantic wing flaps and a few sharp squawks. Were there more sea eagles outside?

Another splash, coupled with the sound of wings slapping water, signaled the return of the first sea eagle, unable to adjust its posture before gravity pulled it back into the sea.

Jun Ye ignored the struggling sea eagle tens of meters away and swam toward the surface.

As he neared the surface, the silhouettes of several circling figures came into view.

As soon as he broke the surface, two sea eagles with wingspans of about 2.5 meters dived at him. Jun Ye ducked underwater, dodging their attacks, and lashed out with his tail twice, sending them flying.

The last sea eagle in the sky, seeing the fate of its three companions, silently ascended higher.

Jun Ye glanced at it briefly before turning his attention to the surrounding environment.

The sea wasn’t a traditional vast expanse; it was broad but surrounded by mountains and forests on three sides, with another range dividing the inlet where the sea entered.

This might be an inland sea, Jun Ye thought.

The difficult part was that, at a glance, neither the sea nor the nearby mountains showed any signs of human habitation.

This was the first time Jun Ye encountered such a situation. He had become a merman, with no signs of human life nearby, and the only creatures interacting with him were these seemingly predatory sea eagles.

The system panel showed only his blue dot and the red dots of the surrounding sea eagles. There were many neutral yellow dots, likely representing nearby fish and shrimp.

There wasn’t a single pink dot, indicating the target was at least a hundred meters away.

A hundred meters was a vast range, and he had no clues about the target—whether it was a fish, a bird, or something else entirely.

Jun Ye suddenly froze as a game scene overlaid with the current environment in his mind.

Merfolk and flying birds… the wild pet-raising game Fei Xiu had played in the last world!

Jun Ye looked around at the terrain again, the forest and inland sea, and the more he looked, the more similar it seemed.

If this world really derived from that game and he had become a merman, could one of those sea eagles have been trying to capture him?

While Jun Ye pondered this, the three sea eagles he had sent flying splashed out of the water, shook off the seawater, and flapped their wings to take off again.

The sea eagles regrouped, circled the sea area where Jun Ye was, then turned and flew away in unison.

Jun Ye had been considering the feasibility of pretending to be captured by them, but seeing all four sea eagles leave, he shrugged and followed them.

The sea eagles noticed Jun Ye following them and gathered to discuss, exchanging coos and caws.

Jun Ye was certain they were communicating, even if he couldn’t understand their bird language. This only solidified his resolve to continue following them.

The four sea eagles frequently looked back at him swimming below but ultimately didn’t dive down to drive him away. Instead, they picked up speed, flying in their original direction.

Jun Ye increased his speed to match.

The sea eagles in the sky and the merman in the water – Jun Ye didn’t care who was faster. He had plenty of energy to keep up.

They passed through several straits connecting the inland sea, and the broad waters turned into a wide river, several hundred meters across.

Following the current, they encountered many sea eagles returning with prey. The number of red dots on the system map grew from four to over a dozen.

Jun Ye guessed they were approaching the sea eagles’ stronghold. Soon, the sea eagles veered toward the forest on one side of the riverbank.

Following closely, Jun Ye saw large nests in the tall trees near the riverbank, each occupied by an adult sea eagle.

Do sea eagles build nests in trees? Jun Ye watched the returning sea eagles find their nests, land, and deliver their prey to their mates.

The entire riverbank was filled with various bird calls – not only the adult sea eagles’ cries but also the mixed, clear chirps of fledglings.

Jun Ye began to doubt his theory. These sea eagles clearly weren’t tools from the pet game. They were simply hunting for food, and he had just happened to be targeted as a large fish.

Should he keep following?

The system map still showed no pink dots, only a few red ones occasionally passing by. Jun Ye paused, gazing at the forest occupied by sea eagles, unsure if he should continue.

If he swam closer, he could bring the nests into the system map’s range, but the risk would be immense.

As a merman, the closer he got to shore, the more restricted he would be. This forest stretched for hundreds of meters. To have the system map scan all the nests, he’d have to go ashore.

Moreover, if this wasn’t the pet game world, the likelihood of finding the target here was minimal.

A fledgling’s chirp interrupted Jun Ye’s thoughts.

“Cheep—cheep—” The fledgling’s cry was heart-wrenching.

Jun Ye looked toward the riverbank. Strangely, the cry wasn’t coming from the trees but from the ground.

Near the river, some tree roots were submerged, and a section of the trunk was soaking in the water. On the water’s surface, between these trunks, a nest was floating.

“Cheep cheep—”

Jun Ye saw the fledgling’s head poking out of the nest, and an inexplicable feeling surged within him.

Let’s do a good deed for the day, Jun Ye thought, swimming toward the nest.

As he approached, a pink dot appeared in the upper left corner of his system map, corresponding to the floating nest and the fledgling inside.

Jun Ye made eye contact with the fledgling, which chirped again. Jun Ye’s expression stiffened.

He swam closer, slowing down as he neared the nest. Despite his caution, the water he displaced pushed the nest back slightly.

The gray down-feathered fledgling wobbled, then fell with a plop, struggling but unable to get up.

Jun Ye watched the struggling fledgling. It was barely the size of his palm, and he never imagined the target would be such a fragile creature.

That damn familiar feeling made it impossible to blame the system map for any bug.

Reaching out, he gently tapped the fledgling’s head with his fingertip. “Xiao… Xiu?”

The fledgling stopped struggling and promptly bit down on Jun Ye’s finger, trying to swallow it whole.

Jun Ye: “…”

To avoid a tragic scenario of “one finger to the stomach,” Jun Ye carefully withdrew his finger.

But the fledgling held on tightly, and when he pulled back his finger, it lifted the bird along with it.

The fledgling kicked its legs in confusion, still clamping down.

Jun Ye: “…”

After much effort, Jun Ye managed to detach the fledgling without hurting it.

As soon as it landed back in the nest, the fledgling began chirping loudly, opening its mouth wide in a desperate plea for food.

So hungry?

Worrying more about the fledgling’s wellbeing, Jun Ye reassured himself that the nest was secure on the water for now and quickly dove into the river.

The fledgling chirped softly, disheartened by the disappearance of the big fish.

Jun Ye didn’t venture far, searching nearby waters for prey, ideally the same fish the adult sea eagles had been catching.

He recalled the fish caught by the sea eagles on their journey and, with the help of the system map, headed to the areas dense with yellow dots. Soon, he found a school of the targeted fish.

With a flick of his tail, he darted into the school, grabbing one fish in each hand and biting down on a third.

The fish’s taste in his mouth made him pause and spit it out, disgusted by the lingering fishy taste.

The half-dead fish wriggled away, trailing a thin line of blood. Jun Ye’s expression soured.

This must be the hunting instinct left in this body; he wasn’t usually this desperate for food. But thinking about the small creature he needed to feed and his own hunger, Jun Ye quickly finished off the injured fish, ensuring it wouldn’t suffer.

Jun Ye returned to the riverbank with three fish, the hunt taking only two minutes. The fledgling, however, was already lying weakly in the nest.

Seeing Jun Ye return, the fledgling lifted its head and weakly chirped, opening its mouth wide.

Such a tiny life; Jun Ye feared he might accidentally starve the target. He quickly placed the fish on a fallen tree, prepared a fillet, and carefully fed the fledgling.

The fledgling swallowed the fish eagerly, chirping for more and opening its mouth wide again.

Jun Ye fed it piece by piece. As soon as it finished one, it demanded another, seemingly insatiable. His concern soon shifted from “will the target starve?” to “will the target overeat?”

He watched the fledgling’s plump chest and gently pressed it with his finger.

Solid.

The fledgling, now energized, bit down on Jun Ye’s finger again.

“Cheep cheep…” This piece of fish is particularly hard to swallow.

Jun Ye dealt with the remaining fish. While he worried about the health implications of eating raw fish, he didn’t dwell on it.

Once the fledgling was full, it quietly nestled in the downy nest, occasionally lifting its head at any noise.

After eating, Jun Ye faced a new dilemma with the miniature version of his target.

Recalling the system’s warnings of “do not harm the target,” Jun Ye suspected this world was intentionally designed by the system.

Faced with a tiny bird, he’d have to be heartless to harm it.

The system likely got what it wanted, but the real issue now was – how to care for such a fragile target?

Lacking experience with raising fledglings, Jun Ye decided to observe and learn. He looked at the nearby nests.

The parent sea eagles, previously watching the strange sight of a merman feeding a fledgling, spread their wings protectively over their own young and glared at Jun Ye.

The sea eagles: “Caw caw – get lost! These are our babies, they have parents!”

Jun Ye ignored the screeching sea eagles. He had already gleaned the first step of raising a fledgling, though it should be common sense.

First, the nest shouldn’t float on water; it needed to be in a tree.

But how could he get the nest up a tree?

Jun Ye looked up at the nearest tree, noticing dried branches and leaves similar to the nest’s materials.

Maybe the fledgling fell from this tree with its nest.

“Xiao Xiu, where are your bird parents?” Jun Ye asked.

The fledgling, recognizing the voice of the fish-feeding big creature, looked up, then tilted its head, causing a tuft of down to fall off: “Cheep?”

Jun Ye, unable to understand bird language, replied coldly: “Do you think looking cute will help me get you and your nest up a tree?”

Raising the nest was one issue; his diminished combat ability on land was another.

With over a hundred red dots representing enemies on the system map, Jun Ye didn’t want to become a snack.

Perhaps… building a nest on the ground would work? Some birds nested in bushes and grass, after all. It would be more stable than floating on the water.

Jun Ye picked up the nest, about 1.5 meters in diameter, and swam to a nearby sunny patch of grass.

The fledgling immediately stretched its neck, anxiously looking around before fixing its gaze on the big fish carrying its nest. “Cheep?”

“You’re moving,” Jun Ye said.

“Cheep cheep.”

It was noon, the sun high in the sky. A team of hunting sea eagles returned to their nests while another pair, having rested, took to the sky.

Both the returning and departing eagles glanced at the merman carrying the nest.

The departing eagles thought the merman was crazy. Many unscrupulous creatures liked to steal their young, but this was the first time they saw someone carrying off an entire nest.

The returning eagles, worried that the merman might have stolen their nest and young, hurried back to check.

Jun Ye placed the nest on the sunny grass, letting the fledgling bask in the sun, and sat beside it, pulling up the system panel.

The shop module was already open. He wanted to refurbish the fledgling’s nest and hoped to find suitable tools in the shop.

Clicking the shop icon brought up a vast array of items.

There was food, clothing, and everyday tools. Jun Ye glanced at the prices; each item cost 1 point.

With his current points, he could buy quite a bit. He searched for “bird nest” in the top search bar.

The results were numerous.

The first item was a black lotus flower icon.

He ignored it and looked at the second item, a golden fruit basket of some unknown material.

The third item was a gilded birdcage with a bed, table, and bathtub inside.

In a different world, Jun Ye might have considered it, but now… he glanced at the fledgling lying belly-up in the nest and moved on with some regret.

The fourth item made him pause, a distant memory surfacing. The icon showed a famous building from China’s capital.

Buying a “bird’s nest” for 1 point indeed felt ironic…

But he didn’t need a national stadium.

He continued scrolling. Among dozens of “bird nests,” only one, a small wooden house, seemed reasonable.

Jun Ye selected the small wooden house and chose to purchase it.

His total points dropped from 1005 to 1004, and the shop panel was replaced by the surrounding map.

[Please specify the “bird nest” placement location.]

Jun Ye casually pointed to a spot a few meters away on the grass. He planned to buy more items and organize them later; for now, he just wanted to place the nest.

As his finger tapped the location, an image of the small wooden house appeared on the panel.

In reality, a wooden house materialized at the designated spot.

Jun Ye quickly grabbed the sunbathing fledgling and leaped over ten meters away.

Boom—

The sound of a falling tree echoed, startling a flock of birds into flight, their frantic calls overlapping.

Jun Ye watched, expressionless, as a six-meter-high, two-story wooden house stood where they had been.

“…”

To hell with the “small” wooden house nest!!!

Holding the struggling fledgling, Jun Ye, fuming internally, loosened his grip to calm it. The fledgling scrambled up his chest, onto his shoulder, and finally nestled on his head.

The fledgling nervously rotated its head, “Cheep—”

Jun Ye: “…”

Looking at the light red scratches extending from his chest to his shoulder, he spread his fingers.

—One slap, and you might not survive.

Unable to bring himself to do it, he decided to wait until the fledgling was more robust before disciplining it.

The original nest was crushed. Jun Ye, with the fledgling perched on his head, entered the wooden house.

The first floor had two rooms. The outer room was brightly lit with large open doors, while the inner room had only two small windows and a door, providing good wind protection.

They still needed a proper nest for the fledgling, as the nighttime temperatures could drop significantly. Jun Ye wasn’t bothered by the cold, but his companion could be harmed.

Unwilling to trust the credibility of other items labeled as “bird nests,” Jun Ye decided to order human-sized bedding instead.

This time, the items were normal. Jun Ye laid a thin mattress on the floor of the inner room, followed by a bed sheet, pillow, and blanket.

“Cheep—” The fledgling dropped from Jun Ye’s head and tumbled into the blanket.

It struggled to stand, then stomped around on the blanket. “Cheep?” A fish nest?

“How do you like it, Xiao Xiu?” Jun Ye asked. “Can you sleep here?”

The fledgling tilted its head, pondering. This was the third time it heard the big fish use this sound, “Xiao Xiu.” Was this its name? It decided it liked the sound.

In return, it seriously chirped back, hoping the big fish would also call it by this name. “Cheep cheep.”

Jun Ye nodded, interpreting the response as satisfaction. Relieved, he opened the shop panel to continue shopping.

The fledgling, Xiao Xiu, lay on the blanket, watching Jun Ye.

Such a strange fish, Xiao Xiu thought. Not only did it not eat him, but it also caught other fish to feed him. It destroyed his nest but brought him to this “fish nest.”

But still… Xiao Xiu wanted to eat the big fish. The big fish looked so beautiful, with the most colorful tail; it smelled so good, making the bird’s mouth water just by being close.

…

Jun Ye bought all the furniture he could think of, narrowly avoiding another “small” wooden house incident. He set everything up through the system panel, and when he turned around, the fledgling was already asleep.

Jun Ye quietly slid outside. He had bought a pot and was unsure what powered it. He intended to catch a fish and try cooking it.

Leaving empty-handed, Jun Ye returned with a basket of fruits, a roll of seaweed, a fish, some shellfish, and a pigeon-like bird.

Except for the seaweed, which he had tasted himself, everything else was prey he had seen sea eagles catch.

Unexpectedly, sea eagles also ate other birds. He had caught the pigeon by tossing a fish, and the sea eagles looked at him like he was a weirdo but didn’t try to snatch it.

It seemed the sea eagles were a species that respected others’ (fish’s) hard work.

When Jun Ye returned, Xiao Xiu was awake, bouncing on the blanket. As soon as he saw Jun Ye, he chirped and opened his mouth, ready to be fed.

Jun Ye slid over and rubbed the fledgling’s downy chest. It wasn’t as bulging as after the last feeding but still slightly puffed.

Conclusion: It could wait a bit longer.

Jun Ye rubbed the bird’s head and turned to the outer room to prepare the food.

He filled the pot with water from the water dispenser, placed it on the table, and covered it. The patterns on the glass lid lit up, and the water quickly boiled.

Jun Ye still couldn’t figure out what powered the pot, but that was unimportant. Now the question was: should he put in the fish first or the seaweed? There were also the pigeon and the shellfish.

Maybe… he should put everything in together.

The pot was big enough; everything would fit without any problem.

Typically, meat needed to be stewed for an hour and a half to two hours. Jun Ye calmly covered the pot and bought a cat toy from the shop, then returned to the inner room.

Two hours later, Jun Ye rescued the cat toy’s fish-shaped attachment from Xiao Xiu’s mouth, put the toy away, and slid back to the outer room.

Lifting the pot lid, he let the steam dissipate, then stared at the mixture of food inside for a few seconds.

It should be edible… right?

“Cheep cheep—” Xiao Xiu ran unsteadily to Jun Ye, opening his mouth eagerly.

“It needs to cool first. You can’t eat hot food yet.”

Jun Ye placed portions of each type of food on a small plate, then sprinkled a bit of salt into the pot, stirring it.

By the time the food on the small plate had cooled, Jun Ye picked up the plate and sat on the floor, avoiding the fledgling.

“Let’s see if you’ll eat cooked food. If not, I’ll get you something else.” Jun Ye held out some fish to Xiao Xiu.

The fledgling opened its mouth as usual, but when the food didn’t come, it looked at Jun Ye in confusion. “Cheep?”

“Will you eat it?” Jun Ye’s hand remained steady.

Tentatively, Xiao Xiu bit the food held in front of him. When the big fish didn’t react, he swallowed it in one gulp.

“Cheep—” Xiao Xiu chirped impatiently.

Jun Ye smiled and continued feeding him.

…

The cooked food was a success for Xiao Xiu. As for himself…

Jun Ye put down his chopsticks and decided that starting tomorrow, he would be a staunch supporter of raw food.

Night had fallen, and no birds had come to claim the fledgling.

Jun Ye didn’t feel much about it. He sprinkled some animal repellent powder around the wooden house, wiped Xiao Xiu with a towel, and placed the now quiet bird on the bed after it was fed.

Lying down, he tucked Xiao Xiu under the blanket in front of him, leaving a small opening for breathing.

“Sleep.” Jun Ye rubbed Xiao Xiu’s head.

“Cheep.”

…

Jun Ye had a dreamless night.

In the morning, the early-rising sea eagles cooed, bid farewell to their mates and young, and took off to start a new day of hunting.

Still lying in bed, Jun Ye frowned. He vaguely felt something tapping against him, separated by something.

It wasn’t Xiao Xiu’s hand or mouth. Judging by the warmth, maybe it was its beak?

One, two, weak tapping sensations.

Suddenly, Jun Ye remembered he was in a different world now, and Xiao Xiu’s true form was a bird. There shouldn’t be a bird cuddling up to him.

Jun Ye’s eyes snapped open, and he felt the tapping on his scales again.

“Cheep cheep cheep—” I want to eat big fish!

Jun Ye: “?!!”

“Damn it! Where the hell are you pecking?!!!”

Note: I hesitated a long time for this arc’s details. Technically, Jun Ye is a Jiaoren, which is some type of merfolk and more precisely a shark-person? Like think Ursula/octopus instead  of Ariel/mermaid lmao I wasn’t sure how to indicate the difference since I personally think of them all as merfolk, but I still wanted to mention it since he’s more beastman than typical mermaid in this world like the second arc!

I’m pretty excited for this arc! I feel like it has potential and the start is super entertaining lmao!

also pls don’t ask how he’s moving on ground or breathing outside of the water, idk and i’m pretty sure he didn’t transform into a human???

Thank you for reading