Chapter 64: I Am Not A Merman (I)

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Chapter 64: I Am Not A Merman (I)

The System: 【Congratulations, Host, on completing the Main Mission—be promoted to Senior Colonel within ten years.】

【Main Mission completed. Host, please receive your rewards: Constitution +5, Memory +7, Mental Power +6, Appearance +5, Lifespan +2. In addition, two new skills may be learned.】

“Why didn’t I receive any additional stay time this time?” Shang Ke asked in confusion.

【You died the instant you completed the Main Mission. As long as Host has even one breath remaining, the System can reserve time for Additional Missions.】

Shang Ke: “…Fine. One more question. What is the lifespan awarded after each mission actually for? Is it meant for after I complete the three missions?” For example, letting him live to a ripe old age or something.

Reality soon proved that Shang Ke was overthinking things.

【No. Lifespan is used to prolong Host’s life in the real world. Your real-world body is currently in a vegetative state and is being kept alive by medical equipment. The lifespan obtained through missions extends that life.】

“Oh,” Shang Ke replied, only to suddenly realize something horrifying. “Wait. What would have happened if I’d failed my very first world?”

【Your physical body in the real world would have died, and your soul would have fallen into an endless cycle of death, permanently losing the opportunity to return to reality.】

Shang Ke exploded. “Why didn’t you tell me something this important earlier?!”

【If Host’s life value reaches a critical danger threshold, the System will issue a warning automatically. This is also why the first world provided additional preferential treatment—to ensure Host could continue carrying out subsequent missions normally.】

“Hehe.” The corners of Shang Ke’s mouth twitched as he recalled that “mission you could complete at 100% just by sitting around.” It was also the only mission in which he had achieved three perfect completions.

Shang Ke asked the System several more questions before opening the skill menu. Two new skills had appeared: 【Medical Arts】 and 【Plant Cultivation】. After some thought, he unlocked both while also continuing his training in 【Martial Arts】… Once his selections were complete, he strode into the Hundred Training Space…

After completing his training, Shang Ke was once again transported into a new world to begin another round of missions.

When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was floating in water. Miraculously, he had no trouble breathing because he had turned into a… dolphin!

A dolphin? Shang Ke examined his new body. He was roughly two meters long, with two triangular pectoral flippers moving through the water and slender tail flukes swaying with the current. His body was pale gray, and on the upper-right side of his white belly was the faint tattoo of a Crimson Skyfire. Unlike before, however, it was no longer vivid crimson. Instead, it was a soft pink that actually looked rather cute.

Shang Ke found it strange. The tattoo appeared in some worlds and disappeared in others, and he still had no idea what determined when it showed up.

The System: 【Main Mission—become food for humans.】

Shang Ke: “…”

……

…

“And then?! What about information on this world? The plot? Important clues? The ‘protagonist’?”

【There is none. This is an easy world. The System believes Host can complete it effortlessly.】

Hehe. Of course. Become food for humans. Such a brutally straightforward mission really was “easy.”

The problem was that the mission still had to meet the standard of “heroic”! Even if he struck 108 impossibly difficult poses before voluntarily swimming up to humans and asking them to eat him, that still wouldn’t make him a hero!!! Forget being considered heroic—he’d be lucky if they didn’t think he was a mentally deficient dolphin.

Could his bodily fluids possess some miraculous healing properties capable of saving hordes of terminally ill patients and lunatics threatening the world?

Just how much of a masochist would he have to be to “sacrifice himself” to that extent? Shang Ke could practically feel the System’s deep-seated malice.

Since he could get no further information from the System, Shang Ke had no choice but to rely on himself.

He spent a moment adapting to his new body, then rode a wave upward and shot out of the sea in a burst of spray. His view instantly opened onto a vast sky, a brilliant blue ocean, and an enormous island. Numerous high-rise buildings could be faintly seen at its center. Apparently, this was a modern world.

Shang Ke splashed back into the water and held himself upright near the surface. After thinking for a moment, he decided to explore the waters around the island where the humans lived.

Just then, a small dolphin came wobbling toward him from nearby. It rubbed weakly against his belly, making faint little cries.

The little one seemed to have been born only recently, and Shang Ke could tell that it was extremely hungry.

Shang Ke looked around and immediately found the situation strange. Dolphins were highly social animals and fiercely protective of their young. Even if a calf’s mother was absent, other dolphins would naturally care for and protect it. So why wasn’t there another dolphin anywhere nearby?

Shang Ke tried calling out with sonar, but received no response.

The calf stayed close to Shang Ke, swimming more and more slowly until even its cries stopped. Realizing something was wrong, Shang Ke hurriedly caught several small fish and tried feeding them to it. The calf refused every one, merely gazing pitifully at Shang Ke with its tiny eyes.

This was Shang Ke’s first time being a dolphin, and he knew very little about their habits, so he genuinely had no idea what to do. If the calf continued refusing food, it would undoubtedly starve to death. With no better option, he could only lead it toward shore while trying to think of a solution.

As they drew closer, Shang Ke spotted a building directly beside the sea. White dominated its clean, spacious design, and through several floor-to-ceiling windows he could faintly see lawns and pools inside.

What truly delighted him, however, were the large floating characters above the building: Xinglu Marine Wildlife Rescue Center.

Just what he needed.

Shang Ke poked his head above the surface and gave a loud whistle toward the building.

Before long, several uniformed staff members came outside. The moment they saw Shang Ke, astonishment appeared on every face.

“Am I seeing things? That’s actually a dolphin?!” a blond man exclaimed incredulously.

“Dolphins may have disappeared more than two hundred years ago, but there has never been direct evidence proving they went extinct.” Another man wearing glasses stared at the dolphin in the water, his eyes practically glowing.

“How did it appear here?” asked the only woman among them.

At that moment, Shang Ke dove beneath the surface. Before the people on shore could react, he emerged again, this time lifting the little dolphin up with him as he slowly swam toward them.

The group immediately forgot their amazement and crouched down. One glance was enough to tell that something was wrong with the calf.

“Quick, open the water gate and bring them into the base.” Not long after the blond man gave the order, a rumbling sounded beneath the water and a passage opened below the facility.

They had assumed they would need some method of coaxing the dolphins inside, but to their surprise, the larger dolphin needed no prompting at all. It simply led the calf straight through the passage.

Everyone exclaimed, “Isn’t it way too smart?!”

After examining the calf, the rescue staff quickly understood what was wrong and specially prepared a nutritious milk formula, carefully feeding it.

Shang Ke kept swimming back and forth in the neighboring pool. Every so often, he surfaced, propped himself against the edge with his pectoral flippers, and leaned toward the rescuers to check on the calf.

The entire scene was captured on camera, delighting everyone who watched.

“We used to be able to learn about this species only from historical records. To actually see a living dolphin now—we’re incredibly lucky,” one staff member sighed.

“If it weren’t for that terrible dolphin plague more than two hundred years ago, these adorable creatures never would have been driven to the brink of extinction.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen documentaries about the dolphin plague. It had an extremely high incidence rate, was highly contagious, and could even be inherited. In less than thirty years, dolphins had almost completely disappeared. Even now, experts still haven’t discovered where the disease originated.”

“Monitor these two dolphins’ health closely. We absolutely cannot allow that tragedy to happen again.”

“K, send the video footage to Mr. Qin immediately. Dolphins have reappeared after vanishing for more than two hundred years. I’m sure he’ll be willing to continue funding us.” Xinglu Marine Wildlife Rescue Center was a nonprofit environmental organization that relied mainly on donations from philanthropists and conservationists, and Mr. Qin was its largest benefactor.

The arrival of the two dolphins threw the entire base into a frenzy of activity. A dedicated dolphin-care team was assembled as quickly as possible to oversee their diet, daily needs, and health. Once Mr. Qin’s additional funding arrived, security and protective measures would probably be strengthened as well.

Only later did Shang Ke realize that his original worries had been completely unnecessary. Not only would humans never hunt dolphins here, they were treated like national treasures. To Shang Ke, dolphins were extremely common animals, which was exactly why he had dared venture into human territory. Unexpectedly, in this world dolphins had become as rare as giant pandas.

Shang Ke remembered the mission the System had given him—become food for humans.

Hehe. The System really was screwing him over! Who the fuck would eat a national treasure?! Even if he scrubbed himself clean, jumped into a bowl, and posed beautifully, nobody would dare take a bite!

After that, Shang Ke and the calf temporarily made their home at the rescue center. The facility contained an enormous aquatic area with more than enough room for the two of them to splash around and play.

Two days later, a private aircraft landed at the base and three men stepped out. The man leading them looked around thirty, tall and handsome, with a cold sharpness between his brows and an imposing presence.

“Take me to see the two dolphins.” The man wasted no time and went straight to the point.

“Of course, Mr. Qin. Please follow me.” The person in charge of the base hurriedly led them toward the aquatic area.

A whistle sounded. Before long, two heads—one large and one small—popped above the water, four bright eyes staring at the people on shore.

After observing them for a moment, Shang Ke led the calf over.

Only when he got closer did Shang Ke notice the unfamiliar faces. The first person to catch his attention was the cold-looking man practically radiating that all-too-familiar bastard aura. Shang Ke knew that aura far too well. If the man also had a mole on his palm, then there was no question—he was definitely his man. If not, Shang Ke would observe him for a while before deciding.

Shang Ke raised his head and, with a sharp pshh, shot a stream of water straight at him.

The man instinctively raised a hand to shield his face, exposing his palm.

A small black mole was clearly visible.

It really is him! Shang Ke felt both delighted and miserable. He was happy to have found him in this world, but miserable about the seemingly insurmountable difference between their species.

“Pff!” A strange sputtering sound came from beside him. Shang Ke turned and saw the calf imitating what he had just done, struggling to spray water at the people on shore. Unfortunately, its technique was still lacking. After several failed attempts, it looked thoroughly dejected.

Shang Ke raised a pectoral flipper and patted its head in consolation.

The calf blew several bubbling streams of air, slapped up a splash with its tail, then dove underwater with a whoosh to perform gloomy little somersaults.

Everyone on shore burst into laughter except Qin Yuan. He stared down at Shang Ke for a long moment before turning toward the person in charge. “Increase the funding by three million every month. I’ll take responsibility for the base’s security. Report any problems to me immediately. Your only job is to take good care of them.”

The person in charge beamed. “Of course. Thank you, Mr. Qin.”

Qin Yuan crouched down, and Shang Ke immediately swam closer. Raising both pectoral flippers, he held himself upright and spun several circles in the water, his eyes sparkling brightly. Look! Look! Don’t I seem familiar to you?

Qin Yuan: “…”

Someone beside him laughed. “Mr. Qin, it looks like this little fellow really likes you.”

Only then did Qin Yuan notice the Crimson Skyfire on Shang Ke’s chest. Something shifted faintly in his eyes before he said, “Flame. From now on, your name is Flame.”

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