ATFBETIBM Chapter 360.2

“Thirdly,” Dr. Olay paused, “it is forbidden to fall in love with the merman. Your love is cheap and dirty, not worthy of such a perfect merman.”

“After successful extraction, our lab will reward you with a large sum of money. It will be a fortune you wouldn’t earn even if you cleaned for ten lifetimes. With that money, you can leave here and enjoy your future life. It’s enough to squander until your natural death.”

The young man’s eyes lit up, ”Can you give me a hint of how much money?”

Dr. Olay pursed his lips, “It depends on the quantity extracted, at least one hundred million.”

The young man opened his mouth exaggeratedly, “Wow, so much money! How many zeros are in one hundred million, Dr. Olay?”

Dr. Olay glared at the young man who looked like a philistine, “Eight zeros!”

“Wow!” The young man’s eyes widened, “Eight zeros, that’s too much. My savings only have three digits.”

Dr. Olay: “…”

How could his merman be interested in such a person!

What a waste.

Truly a flower stuck in cow dung!

————————–

In the live broadcast room.

[Haha, believe it or not, Dr. Olay must be cursing God Xin from beginning to end right now.]

[Do you think he might complain in his heart about how the merman fell for God Xin?]

[God Xin’s most disliked moment.]

[Hahaha, this is hilarious.]

—————————–

Dr. Olay and Bai Lixin walked out of the confinement room one after the other. Seeing the drab clothes on Bai Lixin, Dr. Olay immediately spoke with disdain, “Go change your clothes first. Take off this dirty outfit and put on something clean.”

The young man said “Oh” and complained nonchalantly: “It doesn’t matter, it’ll get wet in the water anyway. What’s the point of wearing clothes? It’s better not to wear them at all.”

“No!” Dr. Olay growled angrily, “Put on some clothes. Don’t let your human body pollute the innocent merman’s eyes!”

The young man pursed his lips, “Okay.”

Dr. Olay took a deep breath, and suppressed his anger considering the experiment. He asked patiently, “Do you have other clothes?”

The young man: “Is a white shirt okay?”

Dr. Olay frowned, “Fine, go change. After changing, come directly to Lab 1. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance.”

With that, Dr. Olay turned and left, seeming reluctant to stay even for a minute longer.

Bai Lixin watched Dr. Olay leave, shrugged, and then walked in the opposite direction.

According to the map provided to him by the escape system, he quickly found the employee dormitory area.

The dormitories were separated, with researchers living in the upper, better areas. Personnel like him, responsible for cleaning, could only stay in the dark, damp, underground basement.

He quickly found his own basement room.

Opening the door, a musty smell immediately reached his nose.

The smell was stimulating.

The dark room was only about thirty square meters, small but well-equipped.

In such a small space, there was even a bathroom and a bathtub.

Bai Lixin took out a set of shirt and clothes from his backpack, quickly changed, and tidied his hair in front of the mirror. After making sure every strand was in its place, he walked out.

A day later, he stood at the entrance of Lab 1 again.

Last time he came for cleaning, this time he came for… well, a publicly funded date.

“You look presentable dressed like this.” Dr. Olay, who was wearing a white coat, scrutinized Bai Lixin from head to toe. “Today, go in and get familiar with the merman. We won’t extract today.”

He wanted to see how the merman would react to this human. Was the first time accidental impulsiveness, or did the merman really have feelings for him?

Bai Lixin didn’t mind. It was a government-funded romance; he could date for a few days. Just don’t shock him with electricity again.

‘Ah, I never thought you would have such a day, old gong.’

When he was a merman, he always wanted to tie him up. Now he reaped what he sowed and others locked him up, right?

Just as Bai Lixin was about to push the door, Dr. Olay stopped him. “Wait.”

Bai Lixin paused, looking at Dr. Olay with confusion.

“Remember, your name is now Zero. Don’t reveal your real name to the merman.”

“Why?” Bai Lixin put down his hand, asking curiously.

Dr. Olay hesitated, “You don’t need to know. Go inside.”

The escape system’s voice echoed in his mind.

[In this setting of the copy, if a merfolk knows the spouse’s name, they can bind their names together, creating a soul connection. Lifelong exclusivity—when one dies, the other soon follows. Soul bonding is the strictest and most devout covenant among merfolk, representing loyalty between them.]

[Usually, even if a merfolk finds a partner, they won’t use soul bonding. Only those deeply in love will attempt it.]

[Soul bonding doesn’t always succeed; it has a failure rate. If one of the partners doesn’t love the other enough, the bonding fails, and the merfolk may suffer backlash, even death.]

[That might be why Dr. Olay doesn’t want you to tell your real name to merman No.1.]

Bai Lixin: [I see, thanks, Sister System.]

‘So what if you don’t tell me? I have a cheat, didn’t expect that, huh?’

Slowly pushing the door open, Bai Lixin walked in.

This time, the ground was not flooded, and it was clean.

The pool was calm. Without knowing there was a merman inside, he might have thought it was just an ordinary swimming pool.

Slowing his steps, Bai Lixin approached the water.

He quickly reached the edge of the pool. It was quite deep; he estimated the depth to be around five or six meters when he was pulled in yesterday.

The inner wall of the pool was deep blue. Under the color blending on the inner pool wall, the water in the pool took on a light blue hue.

Looking down from the water surface, with low visibility in the water, Bai Lixin could vaguely see a blurry merman figure leaning against the bottom wall.

The merman looked aggrieved and lonely, curling his tail like a human and holding it with both hands. The whole merman was immersed in darkness and solitude.

Bai Lixin felt a bit distressed when he saw him.

He tried to ripple the water’s surface to attract the merman’s attention.

As he flicked his fingers, the previously calm water immediately rippled.

After the ripples settled, Bai Lixin shook his arm again, creating a continuous series of ripples on the water surface.

With the fragmented water surface, Bai Lixin looked toward where the merman was just now, only to find that the merman’s figure was gone.

‘Gone, are you coming to me?’

This thought had just flashed through Bai Lixin’s mind when the water surface in front of him suddenly exploded with a splash.

Water splashed all over, followed by a ferocious merman emerging from the water.

The merman revealed sharp fangs on both sides, extending his sharp claws towards Bai Lixin.

…

Dr. Olay, who was observing every move in Lab 1 through the monitor, shook his head regretfully.

Sure enough, yesterday was just a strange behavior.

Today, when the merman saw the young man again, he showed aggressive actions towards him. It seems the young man has no more value, it’s better to throwing him back into solitary confinement.

Dr. Olay watched the monitor with no surprise. But in the next moment, the unexpected turn of events made him suddenly widen his eyes, staring in disbelief at everything happening in the video.

The merman quickly retracted his fangs and sharp claws, and flew out of the water. His huge tail flicked over the young man’s head, and all the water splashed back into the pool.

Not a drop touched the young man.

Dr. Olay was very surprised. He adjusted his posture and continued to watch attentively.

…

In Lab 1, the merman nervously looked at the young man who was smiling at him by the poolside.

The young man was very good looking, the most handsome human he had ever seen. His smile was like a blossom, his eyes seemed to be wrapped in springwater, looking at him with tenderness and indulgence.

The merman shyly averted his gaze, embarrassed to look at the young man, yet his eyes couldn’t help sticking to him.

“Come here.’” The young man raised his hand, beckoning to him.

The merman hesitated for a moment, then swam towards the young man slowly, trying to keep his swimming movements minimal to avoid splashing water on him.

Soon, he reached the young man. The merman opened his mouth and softly called out, “Yiya.”

The smile on the young man’s face widened. “Why were you so fierce just now? You scared me.”

The merman looked at the young man with a hint of guilt. He thought it was the lab personnel introducing another weird merman, so he launched an attack. If he had known it was the young man from the beginning, he wouldn’t have done that.

Those humans had started introducing mermaids into his area a long time ago. He knew what they wanted. These despicable humans not only locked him up but also dared to force him to reproduce.

Previously, it was mermaids, but from yesterday, they didn’t spare the mermen either. Were these humans crazy? What were they thinking? Would he like mermen? Were they insane?

The merman’s gaze slowly fell on the young man’s face, scanning his features, deeply imprinting the young man’s face in his mind.

He liked…

Not mermaids, not difficult mermen, but…

Bai Lixin quietly examined the merman in front of him.

Yesterday, he was in a hurry to save his merman husband and didn’t carefully examine his appearance.

The young man slowly reached out, placing his hand on the man’s cold and damp face.

Turns out, his lover’s cheek was so cold.

Placing his index finger on the man’s forehead, the young man’s finger slowly moved down, outlining the man’s features.

Thick but not rough eyebrows, long golden eyelashes arranged in strands due to the moisture of the water.

Deep, dazzling sapphire-like eyes, a high nose bridge, handsome brow peak.

And…soft cool lips.

The merman froze in place, letting the young man’s palm do as it pleased.

The young man’s body temperature was very different from the merman’s body. The young man’s fingers were warm, leaving a sensation of small flames wherever they touched.

His fingers were soft, and the merman wondered what it would feel like to have them in his mouth.

The merman unconsciously swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Yesterday, after passionately kissing the young man, he instinctively wanted to drag him into the water, forgetting that the young man belonged to the surface.

When he realized this, the young man was already drowning. In desperation, he quickly sent the young man to the surface, afraid that he might be in danger. Fortunately, the young man woke up.

From yesterday to today, whenever he thought about the young man’s appearance when he fainted, he fell into deep self-blame and regret.

All day, ht wondered if the young man hadn’t come all day because he fell ill from drowning or if he disliked him.

Only when he saw the young man just now, smiling at him, did the anxiousness from the whole day finally subside.

He didn’t know what was happening to himself. But he just wanted to see the young man, he felt a primitive impulse towards him.

“But thinking that his impulse might harm the young man, he suppressed the impulse with reason.

There was a…heart-thumping feeling.

“Open your mouth.” The young man’s voice came to his ear, and the merman instantly put aside all thoughts, obediently opening his mouth.

Though he couldn’t speak human language, after listening to those humans talk for a long time, he could understand their language.

Seeing the slightly open mouth, Bai Lixin added, “Open it a little wider, let me see your teeth.”

“…” The merman blushed and obediently opened his mouth wider.

To make it easier for the young man to see, he even voluntarily moved into the water, tilting his head to align his mouth with the overhead light.

Delicate fingers gently scraped over the tongue and teeth. The merman gripped the pool wall nervously, and his Adam’s apple rolled.

Seemingly casually, he moved his tongue a bit, feeling the touch of the young man’s fingers.

Very delicate, very soft, very fragile.

Just like the feeling the young man gave, slender, delicate, fragile, needing protection.

“So, you have four small canine teeth,’” Bai Lixin carefully examined the merman’s mouth. The structure of his teeth was similar to humans, except for four canine teeth sharper than humans, the rest neatly arranged.

The teeth were very white and clean.

Taking his hand out of the other’s mouth, Bai Lixin pinched his jaw.

The merman’s jawline was smooth, with distinct angles, confirming the saying that beauty lies in bones, not skin.

His gaze moved, and his fingers followed, sliding up to the side, landing on the fan-like ear.

“Is this your ear?” The merman’s ears had colors overlapping like the sky and ocean, beautiful like two butterflies spreading their wings.

Fingers landed on the soft ear, and as his fingertips rubbed it, the merman suddenly shivered.

Bai Lixin’s eyes flashed with surprise, then, as if realizing something, he lowered his voice and said with a smile, “Is it very sensitive? Does touching the ear make you uncomfortable?”

The merman’s cold cheeks showed a hint of red. He shook his head in a panic, denying Bai Lixin’s guess.

Bai Lixin’s eyes held a playful smile. “Really… it’s not uncomfortable?”

After a slight hesitation, the merman nodded.

Bai Lixin continued, “Not uncomfortable, so it’s comfortable, right?”

‘Hahaha, you dog man, you’re having a taste of your own medicine today?

For the losses I suffered in the mermaid copy back then, today, I want it all back, principal and interest included.

I want to show you a truth with facts. In this world, what goes around, comes around!

Hahaha!’

Bai Lixin suppressed the hidden joy in his heart, striving to maintain a serious demeanor.

A cold sensation suddenly reached his ear.

He blinked in confusion as the merman, with a puzzled expression, reached over to his ear, imitating his actions of rubbing his ear.

The merman’s fingertips lightly traced over Bai Lixin’s cheek, then confidently opened his mouth after reaching the lips, and the fingers boldly entered.

“Yiya!” ‘I want to do it too!’

Bai Lixin: “???”

‘Wait a moment! Something seems off?!’