Chapter Seventeen: Ocean Cruise 16

Chapter 17

Zhao Jinchu immediately pulled out a bag, and drip by drip, the mermaid’s blood fell into it.

Qin Chuan clutched his abdomen, watching Zhao Jinchu’s actions. Over the past eight days of observation, he had formed a general assessment of this girl: she was efficient, intelligent, and level-headed.

However, her behavior just now still caught him off guard. It was too decisive. None of them had expected a mermaid to appear tonight; in fact, the exhaustion of the past few days had even made him forget his own mission to find mermaid blood.

Yet, she had remembered it the entire time.

In such a sudden, chaotic moment, she had managed to plunge a dagger into the mermaid’s hand and collect its blood. Qin Chuan’s impression of her deepened: she was a girl who acted with absolute resolution. Even her mental stability was remarkable; there hadn't been the slightest fluctuation.

Zhao Jinchu stared at the deep blue dagger in her hand, feeling relieved that she had kept the Heart of the Ocean in her pocket at all times.

Feeling the sharp sting, the mermaid jerked its hand back, ignoring the risk of the flesh tearing. Zhao Jinchu hadn’t held it firmly enough, and the hand was pulled back, cutting off the flow of blood.

Outside, the mermaid, having been attacked, grew furious. It began to pound against the door with such ferocity that the entire wall shook.

At some point, Qi Yan had appeared beside Zhao Jinchu. He snatched the food box from Qin Chuan’s hand and, through the narrow gap, pushed it outward. "Here is your cub. Take it and go."

Qi Yan wore an expression of disdain. Such hideous mermaids produced hundreds of millions of eggs at a time, spawning every year; they had countless offspring. There was nothing worth fighting over here. It was likely just a pretext to hunt for human flesh. Still, glancing at Zhao Jinchu, he maintained his composure, trying not to let his disgust show too clearly.

The ugly mermaid, initially on the verge of a rampage, suddenly blushed upon seeing Qi Yan. It reached out, took the food box, and retreated.

Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow at the sight. Zhao Jinchu was equally surprised. Was this guy’s appearance not only effective on humans but on monsters as well?

Qi Yan enjoyed Zhao Jinchu’s attention. She asked curiously, "How did you do that?"

Qi Yan thought for a moment. "You have to believe that the world is a beautiful place."

Listening to this proclamation full of love, Qin Chuan scrutinized the boy seriously for the first time: was he a Mary Sue-style chosen protagonist? A pioneer representative who could resolve world wars with a single smile? Qin Chuan’s thoughts wandered, so much so that he didn't notice the dry, cynical huff Zhao Jinchu let out.

The commotion outside lasted for half an hour. Zhao Jinchu leaned against the door frame. "Judging by the noise, there’s more than one mermaid."

Zhao Jinchu clung to the door; Qi Yan clung to her. His eyelashes fluttered, as if he were deeply frightened.

Qin Chuan, busy tending to his wounds, looked at the pair from time to time with a complex expression.

Before long, the sounds outside ceased. Several familiar voices rang out—it was the three high school students.

"Whoa, gross!"

"This is too brutal. Its guts have been ripped out."

"This guest is so unlucky, running into a monster."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

In the hallway, the three high school students stood gathered around a corpse, observing it. At that same moment, a digital chime echoed in the minds of all the workers: [Ding-dong. Day eight of the mission. Current number of surviving workers: eight. One death.]

The three high schoolers went silent. The high school girl’s fingers trembled as she picked up a blue ID tag, immediately spotting the yellow label attached to it.

The girl gasped, "Ah!"

All three of them knew exactly who it was—the boy from the second group, the one the manager had berated as "lower class."