ATFBETIBM Chapter 380.2

“Xia Chi” probably senses that Bai Lixin had discovered his identity, so he admitted it openly, “Zhuang Zhou’s dream of a butterfly.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Zhuang Zhou’s Dream of a Butterfly?

Whether Zhuang Zhou dreamed of the butterfly or Zhuang Zhou appeared in the butterfly’s dream is unknown.

The meaning behind Tang Yue’s words was to inform him that Xia Chi’s consciousness was now asleep?

Because of the live broadcast, Bai Lixin didn’t ask many questions.

Tang Yue probably replaced Xia Chi because he saw Xia Chi was quite scared, prompting the switch.

Although Tang Yue had only appeared in Xia Chi’s verbal descriptions, he was not unfamiliar with this person.

The first time he learned about Tang Yue was through Xia Chi’s photo and narrative stories.

The second time, he met Tang Yue. It was in the copy of the Undead Magician when Xia Chi was forced to jump off a cliff by Wen Ziqing.

*Argh, I remember this guy Wen Ziqing. He was so annoying!!!

At that time, Xia Chi unintentionally activated a summoning card, and after falling unconscious, Tang Yue appeared and caught Xia Chi.

Afterward, he discovered that some of Xia Chi’s good luck came from Tang Yue pulling strings behind the scenes.

Of course, it could be that Xia Chi was genuinely lucky, and he was just envious, hence these secret speculations. Hmph.

Later, in the Zombie Queen’s copy, he saw Tang Yue possess Xia Chi’s body for the first time.

Uh, it was the literal possession of the soul, it has no other meaning.

Now, he witnessed Tang Yue taking over Xia Chi’s body again.

Still the literal soul possession, with no other implications.

Tang Yue seems to lack presence, but he was nevertheless omnipresent.

In his communications with Dijia, Dijia once mentioned Tang Yue’s name. Tang Yue was a challenger like Dijia from a similar period. A group of them uncovered the conspiracy of the horror game, and after becoming part of the system, Tang Yue somehow managed to maintain his original intentions.

He disrupts the system’s judgment internally, while Dijia operates from the front, gradually dismantling the horror game.

He remembered that in the previous fairy tale copy, they teamed up to save a little girl. The girl they rescued turned out to be a virus program.

Although that copy had been sealed, the little girl likely still had an important role waiting for her.

He didn’t know if he would have the chance to encounter that little girl again in the future.

“Bai Lixin,” “Xia Chi’s” call pulled Bai Lixin back to reality from these memories. He turned to see “Xia Chi” pointing outside, with a subtle expression. “It seems they are preparing to invite you to eat something?”

Bai Lixin quickly turned his head to look outside the glass. He saw the merfolk holding a huge octopus leg and approaching the submarine, their faces filled with joyful smiles.

Faintly, he could even see the octopus’s tentacles moving in the water.

His gaze followed the octopus leg and saw it was still connected to a giant octopus, roughly twenty times the size of a merfolk. It was being pressed to the ground by the merfolk.

Seeing that Bai Lixin inside the submarine was unmoved, the elderly mermaid scratched her head in confusion. Then, with a “Yiya yiya”, the merfolk immediately responded cheerfully, holding the octopus leg and dragging the octopus closer to the submarine.

Bai Lixin: “…”

What are they up to?

The next moment, the merfolk collectively threw the octopus leg onto the submarine.

And the octopus, taking advantage of the situation, attached its other tentacles to the submarine.

Bai Lixin stared blankly at the suction cups that were suddenly stuck on the glass. In a daze, he seemed to hear the metallic “clank clank” of metal being compressed.

Bai Lixin: “…”

Were they going to turn into a sandwich?

He controlled the steering wheel to shake the octopus a couple of times. Instead of knocking the octopus off, it made the octopus cling even tighter.

When the submarine shook, the merfolk were even more excited, dancing and cheering.

“Yiya!”

“Yiya yiya!”

“Yiya ya!”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Not only are you not human, you’re also a bunch of dogs.

Could it be that he was deceived by the merfolk’s appearance? In reality, they were hunting him, pretending to be friendly at first?

Bai Lixin was greatly shocked.

Then their acting skills were just too good!

Seeing that the submarine was about to be crushed by the octopus, Bai Lixin couldn’t bear it anymore. He turned on the loudspeaker and shouted loudly, “Everyone be quiet!”

In that moment, the entire area fell silent.

All the merfolk maintained their previous poses, their gazes fixed on Bai Lixin’s face, completely still.

A subtle feeling flashed through Bai Lixin’s mind.

After hesitating for a moment, he continued, “Get this octopus down.”

The merfolk outside immediately swam over in a flurry, and in no time, they removed the octopus tentacles clinging to the submarine.

After removing it, the merfolk kicked the octopus away disdainfully with their tails, swam back to their previous positions, and even assumed the same still posture.

The corner of Bai Lixin’s eye twitched involuntarily.

In conclusion, it was… quite subtle.

Strange, why did they listen to him like that?

Was it because of the Mermaid Heart?

Bai Lixin unconsciously touched the black pearl pendant hanging around his neck. The Mermaid Heart emitted a faint black light in his hand, mysterious and beautiful.

There was another strange question.

They all seemed to understand his words.

If it was understandable for the red-tailed mermaid, seeing as she had been in a human laboratory. But the other merfolk hadn’t been captured by humans but surprisingly understood as well.

That was a bit odd.

Another thing that puzzled him was the merfolk’s reactions.

From the videos he had seen in the underground laboratory and his recent observations of the merfolk, they weren’t exactly warm creatures.

They were fierce, always vigilant, not easily trusting others.

But why did all the merfolk seem to have a special liking for him?

What kind of person could deserve such treatment?

Heartthrob?

Princess?

Prince?

King?

Or… a god?

Thinking of the last possibility, Bai Lixin suddenly became dumbfounded, startling himself.

Bai Lixin: “…”

‘I’m becoming more and more narcissistic. I’m not anyone special to the merfolk, yet I’m thinking of being their god.’

They had such a high enthusiasm for him, perhaps it’s the Mermaid Heart.

But… the Mermaid Heart was from a different world, were they interconnected?

Maybe the ‘god’ speculation was not necessarily narcissistic?

Bai Lixin opened the task bar.

[Task 1: Survive for fifteen days and fifteen nights (Nine days and nine nights completed)]

[Task 2: Assist the laboratory in studying merfolk’s habits (100% progress)]

[Task 3: Find the merfolk’s faith. (35% progress)]

[Task 4: (To be released)]

Bai Lixin focused on the tasks, pondered for two seconds, and filled in an answer with some embarrassment.

[Faith: Bai Lixin.]

[Ding! Friendly reminder, the answer provided by the player is incorrect. Please fill in the correct format. You only have two more chances to change the answer. If the limit is reached and the task remains incomplete, it will be automatically deemed as a failure. After task failure, the player will face penalties from the system.]

[Punishment Method: Beheading, death.]

Bai Lixin: […]

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

‘I knew it! One shouldn’t be too narcissistic! Very few people who are narcissistic end well!’

The Escape System’s voice quietly sounded in his mind: [Master Bai Lixin, are you okay?]

S419M: [Friendly reminder, System Sister, in this situation, it’s wisest for us to be a quiet background board. It’s well known that when working, the boss’s embarrassing moments are best left unknown. This is Rule Two of the workplace survival guide.]

Escape System: [Then what’s the first rule?]

S419M: [Workplace romance is a no-go!]

Escape System: [But aren’t we… also considered workplace romance? Brother M, are you breaking up with me? Wahh, scumbag.]

S419M: […]

Truly, lifting a stone to smash one’s own foot!

[System Sister,] Bai Lixin chuckled, [Why can these merfolk understand my words? Is it because of the Mermaid Heart around my neck?]

Escape System: [I’m sorry, Master Bai Lixin, but I don’t know the reason either. The main brain also has no answers. But since they can understand, isn’t that better? It will be convenient for your future actions.]

Bai Lixin: [Okay, I understand. Thanks.]

The system didn’t know, which was even stranger.

Bai Lixin unconsciously touched his neck. If there was still something unusual on him, it would be the mark left by Dijia.

Could it be that they could understand him because of Dijia’s mark?

That was possible.

He originally thought coming here would be troublesome. However, as System Sister said, now that the merfolk could understand him, for whatever reason, it was actually convenient for what he needed to do next.

“In a short while, more than a dozen submarines will pass through the channel and enter this area, searching for your faith.”

“If faith is crucial to you, then you need to protect it.”

“If your lives are more important, then protect your companions.”

“I came here for a purpose not much different from those people. I am also here to find your faith. If possible, can you tell me what your faith is?”

The merfolk looked at each other, whispered and chattering among themselves for a long time, then almost simultaneously turned and raised one finger towards Bai Lixin.

One.

These chose the first option, protecting the merfolk’s faith.

Bai Lixin recalled the last time he saw the murals and those names.

Even if he saw those things, it was challenging to interpret or discover anything.

Judging by the erosion of the seawater, those murals had been left for at least a few thousand years.

Without a general logical chain in understanding ancient cultures, many pieces of information remain vague.

It’s similar to how people discovered murals and certain writings in the ancient Egyptian pyramids long ago. Yet, to this day, people still cannot determine the specific meanings of those murals and writings.

Because there are no reference points.

Even if the people from the research institute take pictures of the murals and names back, they still won’t get a correct interpretation.

But since these merfolk want to protect their faith, he respects their choice.

Just as he was thinking about how to extract information about the merfolk’s faith from the merfolk, they suddenly swarmed up, hugging the giant submarine and swiftly swimming upwards.

Fearing that the propellers might harm the merfolk, he quickly retracted them and looked outside through the transparent glass.

Strong and powerful merfolk lifted the submarine, and other merfolk followed behind without contributing.

All the merfolk shook their tails in unison, swimming upwards.

Bai Lixin could only passively follow the tide of the merfolk.

The place where the merfolk lived was somewhat similar to the environment in the deep sea copy he had experienced. A circular passage, entering into a vast hidden space.

Above was a semi-enclosed sea area that extended upward. As long as one swam upwards, they could enter a new sea area.

The moment he entered earlier and saw their living environment, he was momentarily dazed by the familiarity. It made him feel these merfolk might be descendants of the ones he had encountered before. Perhaps, after he saved the merfolk race back then, they, in gratitude, revered him as their guardian.

Although he approached it with a trial-and-error mindset when filling in the answer, reality gave him a heavy blow.

He is not the merfolk’s faith.

Perhaps merfolk just like similar living environments.

Just like human living environments, they are mostly similar.

It was him who thought too much.

Lifted by the merfolk, the submarine Bai Lixin was on quickly ascended to nearly a hundred meters, successfully crossing the towering mountain and entering a new sea area.

After arriving, their movement didn’t stop; instead, they continued pushing Bai Lixin further inside.

Bai Lixin glanced at the oxygen in the submarine—The remaining oxygen level was 65%, which was still enough for the two of them to breathe for about 5 hours.

Without hindering the merfolk’ actions, Bai Lixin sat quietly in the submarine, wanting to see where the merfolk were taking them.

They passed through schools of fish, then went by the dreamlike jellyfish group, and later traversed the colorful sea anemone group. Finally, Bai Lixin saw a temple appearing on a distant mountain.

A temple?

A temple appearing underwater?

Is it a real temple, or just a building resembling a temple?

If it’s a real temple, perhaps the merfolk’s faith is worshipped here.

Yes, just now, they chose the first option, and then they started moving towards this direction.

So, was this the real location of their faith?

Surrounded by merfolk, the submarine disturbed the surrounding schools of fish and was finally pushed in front of this majestic and mysterious palace.