New Arc: Mermaid Laboratory
Chapters 359-389 (31 chapters)
Escape System: [Team-up card successfully used, please verify team members.]
[Number of members: 2, players Bai Lixin and Xia Chi.]
[Yes/No]
[Ding! Players Bai Lixin and Xia Chi verified successfully. Congratulations, team-up successful.]
[Do you want to initiate copy teleport now?]
[Yes/No]
[Initiation successful, copy randomly selected, now starting the teleportation process. Please be aware of some discomfort during the transfer.]
[Ding! Teleportation will commence in 5 seconds.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, teleportation officially begins!]
A black vortex appeared, and Bai Lixin, who was originally in the villa, immediately disappeared.
After the dizziness and weightlessness, Bai Lixin appeared in a designated area.
Just like the previous times, he was currently in a state of immobility, able to observe the surroundings only through eye movement.
Not only were they stationary, even the scene they were in was frozen.
He should be inside a building. The walls were primarily white with occasional metal accents.
In front of him was a group of anxious men and women.
These individuals were all wearing white coats, and on the upper-left corner of the white coats were their identity badges.
He couldn’t understand the words on the badge, but when he focused on one of the badges, the automatic translation came to his mind.
[Special Species Laboratory No.3]
[Dr. Olay]
Special species?
So, the people in white coats in front of him were not doctors but experimenters.
What kind of species is this “special species”?
From the current frozen scene, this was the only useful clue he could gather.
After Bai Lixin shifted his attention away from the man in front of him, he scanned the surrounding area. The number of participants in this copy didn’t seem large, estimated to be around ten people. Xia Chi was on his right, and when Bai Lixin looked at him, he started winking.
[Ding! Dear players, welcome to the copy [Special Species Laboratory]. The difficulty level of this copy is S-class. There are 10 players, and the current number of survivors is 10.]
[Now, let me introduce the background of this copy.]
[In an unknown country, people make a living by fishing. On a fortuitous sea expedition, a fishing boat captured a beautiful mermaid.]
Bai Lixin was taken aback, a mermaid?
So, this Special Species Laboratory was, in fact, a mermaid laboratory.
[This mermaid had beautiful golden hair, a graceful and robust physique, and a huge azure tail that shimmered with dazzling colors under the sun. The fishermen marveled at the Creator’s wonders and sold the mermaid to the laboratory at a high price.]
[The laboratory quickly established the Special Species Laboratory to study the mermaid as a unique species.]
[To find more mermaid specimens, the laboratory offered a high price for mermaids.]
[Under the substantial rewards, fishermen continued to explore the deep sea, exchanging numerous lives for one mermaid after another. Eventually, the Special Species Laboratory had not just one but many mermaids. Scientists were enthusiastic about studying the habits of mermaids, but so far, the results have been minimal.]
[The mission details are as follows.]
[Task 1: Survive for fifteen days and fifteen nights.]
[Task 2: Assist the laboratory in studying the habits of mermaids.]
[Task 3: Find the mermaid’s faith.]
[Task Four: (To be released)]
[After completing the tasks, players will obtain a large number of mall points and performance points, and also have the chance to obtain rare prop cards. In case of task failure, players will face system punishment. Punishment: death.]
[Finally, I wish all players a pleasant game. The game officially begins now!]
With the system’s last sentence, the frozen scene instantly became animated.
They could move now, and the countdown timer within the system had started.
Bai Lixin looked down at his attire; he was wearing a grayish garment, nothing like the attire of an experimenter.
The other nine all wore white coats, and were looking cool.
Escape System: [Master Bai Lixin, this time you drew the role of the laboratory janitor~ Responsible for cleaning the laboratory.]
Bai Lixin tugged his sleeve, [I understand the logic, but is it necessary to target me so blatantly?]
‘Out of the ten people, nine are in white coats, and I’m the only one cleaning?
I shouldn’t be inside the laboratory, I should be on the rooftop now.’
Escape System: [You should have confidence in your luck. This role is well-deserved for you!]
S419: [Ahem, Sister System, we don’t know idioms, don’t use them randomly; it might provoke hatred.]
Bai Lixin: […]
From the loudspeaker above came a gentle female voice, “Personnel responsible for labs 1-5, please proceed to the conference room for a meeting. The meeting will start in 5 minutes.”
The announcement repeated continuously in the loudspeaker, and players looked at each other, wondering if they were included in the list.
Some people in white coats hurriedly passed by in the corridor.
“Hey, you guys.” Dr. Olay, whose name Bai Lixin had seen earlier, glanced at them. “What are you still hesitating for? Hurry to the meeting; didn’t you hear it on the loudspeaker?”
Players who were still in a daze immediately snapped out of it and hurriedly followed the crowd.
Before leaving, Xia Chi winked at Bai Lixin and, in the next second, he received Xia Chi’s private chat notification.
Xia Chi: [Brother, I told you to bring me to the copy, right? Trust me, I’ll go steal information for you.]
Xia Chi: [I’m leaving now; I’ll inform you of any situation as soon as possible~]
Xia Chi: [Brother, good luck! Goodbye!]
Bai Lixin stood awkwardly in the bustling crowd, looking out of place: “…”
Goodbye.
Just goodbye.
In the lobby, he was always Laozi, but in the copy, he became the grandson.
Frustrating.
Very frustrating.
“Hey, guy in the gray clothes.” Dr. Olay’s voice sounded again. Bai Lixin looked around, he was the only one in gray.
He pointed to himself in confusion, “Me?”
Olay: “Yes, you.”
“You go to lab number 1 and clean up the inside. That mermaid just spilled a lot of water. Mop the floor clean.”
“Hurry, we’ll be researching in lab 1 soon.”
After leaving behind these words, Olay turned and left, not even telling Bai Lixin where lab 1 was.
The reminders overhead continued for quite a while before finally stopping. The corridor was now deserted, with only Bai Lixin standing alone.
———————————-
In the live broadcast room
[ God Xin, I’ve been waiting for you to start the broadcast! A thousand calls and ten thousand shouts, without your spiritual food, my days aren’t enjoyable. I’ve even lost several pounds.]
[God Xin not only brings good luck but can also be used as a diet pill? Then I’ll start worshipping God Xin too.]
[Is there a possibility that God Xin hasn’t died yet?]
[Hahaha, in a vast expanse of white, a speck of gray is either fly blood or a cinnabar mole, and it has to be you, God Xin.]
[Another day with stable Lucky Value performance.]
[God Xin: Are you all polite?]
[Your focus is off! This time it’s a mermaid copy, maybe the big boss is a mermaid!]
[So the question is, could it be an octopus? Octopuses are also fish?]
[… Stop being clever, I just want to see mermaids! Beautiful mermaids!]
——————————–
Escape System: [Master Bai Lixin, let me guide you~]
The next moment, a blue three-dimensional translucent map appeared in Bai Lixin’s mind.
Bai Lixin: “…”
Despite the bad luck, his good social skills even turned the escape system into his plug-in. How does the main brain feel about that?
Through the map shown by the escape system, Bai Lixin learned about the overall layout of the laboratory.
It seems to be quite large. The announcement earlier was about labs 1-5, but through the map, he discovered the lab has three floors in total – upper, middle, and lower – with fifty labs of various sizes.
Bai Lixin: [Are there mermaids in every lab?]
Escape System: [Yes, Master Bai Lixin, so far, all the labs are occupied by mermaids, but some might become vacated.]
Bai Lixin: [What do you mean by “vacated”?]
Escape System: [Some mermaids have stress reactions and usually refused to eat or self-harm. In such cases, they quickly die.]
Bai Lixin: [Where do the dead mermaids go?]
Escape System: [Usually, they are dissected or made into mermaid specimens.]
Bai Lixin: [Are there mermaids released back into the sea?]
Escape System: [… None at the moment.]
Bai Lixin said “Oh” and started walking forward according to the map.
Lab 1 was on the first floor, and he was currently on the first floor.
After walking through the corridor for a while, he quickly reached the entrance of Lab 1.
The entrance was sealed, and next to it was a cabinet with several sets of protective suits, helmets, gloves, and rubber shoes.
He tried to push the door, and the electronic display on the door showed a message: [Please wear protective gear before entering the lab. Mermaids are very dangerous, and any close contact with them is prohibited.]
He thought for a moment, picked up a protective suit, and put it on.
After putting on the clothes, he pushed the door again, and this time, the door opened without resistance.
The lab was surrounded by sky-blue tiles, and the floor was also covered with waterproof tiles.
In front of him was a huge transparent square glass container, connected to another square space like a swimming pool.
At this moment, there were no mermaids inside the glass container. If the mermaids from Lab 1 were still there, they should be in the adjacent swimming pool.
There was a thick layer of water on the ground. The lab had a sunken design, with a few steps at the entrance that needed to be walked down to enter.
Due to this sunken design, the accumulated water outside would not flow in.
Bai Lixin walked down the steps, and the water on the ground just covered his feet.
He looked around, and saw a drain in the corner. However, the drainage speed of the drain was not very fast, so some water remained in the corner.
Bai Lixin looked up and found cameras in all four corners of the lab. At this moment, the cameras were blinking with red lights, indicating that they were working.
In the corner of the lab, there were a mop and a broom. He walked over and picked up the broom.
He first walked to the drain and when he looked over, he saw a bunch of golden hair blocking it. The accumulation of these hairs slowed down the water flow.
He used the broom to clean up the golden hair at the drain. After a few strokes, the golden hair was cleaned up.
The originally congested drain instantly became unblocked, and the water on the ground visibly flowed into the drain. A small vortex appeared above the drain.
Once the water flow was good, Bai Lixin used the mop to clean up the water in the corner. With this back and forth, half an hour passed.
The pool behind him made the sound of water splashing again.
Bai Lixin turned around when he heard the sound and saw a beautiful tail fin emerging from the water’s surface.
The massive tail slapped heavily on the water surface, and the already cleaned floor was covered with water again.
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Just tell me, did your big tail do it intentionally? Yes or no?’
The beautiful blue tail fin swayed on the water’s surface for a moment and then disappeared.
Bai Lixin was about to step forward to take a look when the camera on the ceiling turned to him.
He suddenly stopped, remembering the warning on the door, and stepped back.
What else could he do?
His current role was just a diligent janitor. If someone else made a mess, he should clean it up, right?
He secretly sighed, and in this helpless moment, he could only pick up the broom again and reluctantly start cleaning.
When the floor was almost cleaned, the sound of water splashing behind him came again.
Bai Lixin turned around, and that big tail flicked a ball of water onto the ground.
‘This was definitely on purpose!’
After looking at the slightly rippling water surface, Bai Lixin didn’t hesitate and picked up the broom again to clean.
Mermaids are ferocious.
This was posted outside.
If ferocious mermaids were intelligent, then this mermaid’s repeated actions might be aimed at luring him over.
To some extent, the mermaid might see this as a hunting opportunity.
A system prompt rang out in his mind.
Hs opened it and found a private message from Xia Chi.
Xia Chi: [Brother? Are you here? Are you there?]
Bai Lixin: […]
Xia Chi: [I’m in a meeting now.]
Bai Lixin:[I know.]
‘So no need to show off to me.’
Xia Chi: [Let me tell you the meeting content.]
Bai Lixin: [Oh, go ahead.]
‘That’s good, speak quickly.’
Xia Chi: [I didn’t quite understand what I was saying earlier. I was talking about the mermaid’s physical data or something. The conclusion is that mermaid No.1 is the most perfect mermaid.]
[He has the most perfect mermaid genes.]
[Although the laboratory has many mermaids, they haven’t been seen in the ocean for a month. Scientists are worried that mermaids will become extinct, so they want to conduct artificial insemination and breed mermaids.]
[And mermaid No.1 with the strongest genes has become the first choice as a male mermaid provider.]
[However, in the past, scientists put female mermaids together with mermaid No. 1, but they all cowered in the corner when they saw mermaid No.1, seemingly afraid of it.]
[Some bold female mermaids wanted to get close to the mermaid No.1, but they were driven away by the mermaid No.1.]
[Scientists don’t want to let good genes disappear, so they want artificial insemination. The prerequisite for artificial insemination is to obtain sperm.]
[But mermaid No.1 is very aggressive. It has injured eight researchers one after another, so the topic they are discussing now is how to obtain sperm from mermaid No.1.]
Bai Lixin: [Originally, mermaids were carefree in the ocean, giving birth as they pleased. Now, they almost wiped out the mermaids, and they want to artificially breed them. These humans are really bored.]
Xia Chi: [Brother, do you have any good ideas?]
Bai Lixin: [I have no good ideas. What can I do, it’s just you and me talking about this thing.]
Xia Chi: [Oh, by the way.]
Xia Chi: [They also said that the reason they are so anxious to get offspring from mermaid No.1 is that mermaid No.1’s lifespan is coming to an end.]
