I Woke Up To Find Myself Being Kept By A Mermaid – CH18

Chapter 18: There’s a Thief

Ruan Chen curled himself into a tight ball in the corner of the bed. This time, no matter how Lux tried to coax him, he refused to be mollified—even when Lux brought out snacks.

Lux realized he had crossed the line a bit earlier, but before he could properly soothe the human, Vincent informed him over the earpiece about a new discovery. Lux had no choice but to leave first.

After sulking in isolation for a long time without the merman coming back to coax him, Ruan Chen wrinkled his nose and looked back. “Meow-ao? (Where’s the fish?)”

The room was completely empty. The merman, whom he imagined would be holding a can of food and begging for forgiveness, was nowhere to be found.

Only his half-finished little baby bottle was left floating lonelily in the water.

Ruan Chen: “…”

Fuming, he grabbed the bottle and took a fierce swig.

I’m putting this grudge on the tab.

Inside the conference room.

The high-ranking generals seated around the circular table all bore solemn expressions.

The large screen at the front of the room was projecting the footage recorded in the surveillance room earlier. Ruan Chen’s terrified, distorted little face was once again exposed to all the merfolk.

Lux’s gaze landed on the screen, the corner of his lips twitching imperceptibly.

He suddenly seemed to understand why the human had thrown a tantrum just now.

“Admiral Lux, the defense department has analyzed the flight trajectory of this Zerg,” a young merfolk major reported to him. “There is a piece of good news…”

Lux interrupted him, “Bad news first.”

The merfolk major paused for half a second. “The bad news is that we have detected a large number of Zergs heading toward Base X. They are expected to launch an attack on Base X the day after our battleship arrives.”

“The good news is… this Zerg worker drone wasn’t aiming for our battleship. It seems to have strayed from the swarm during transit and accidentally bumped into us.”

“By the time it hit the window outside your room, the Zerg was already on the verge of death.”

Vincent added, “Its life signs were too weak, which is why it wasn’t detected initially.”

He rewound the surveillance footage by a few seconds. The weapons on the exterior of the battleship erupted with high-temperature flames, instantly turning the Zerg into ashes.

“When it later attempted to fly away, our defense systems immediately vaporized it.”

Lux gave a faint, acknowledging grunt.

The major continued, “Aside from your human being the primary witness and getting a fright… this Zerg did not cause any damage to us.”

“It was just a single worker drone. It was lucky just to brush against our battleship,” a military officer from the defense department said disdainfully. “Admiral Lux, as long as our fuel reserves are sufficient, it is absolutely impossible for our defense equipment to be breached.”

Lux gave a noncommittal, slight nod.

Vice Admiral Erwin immediately voiced his opinion. “Admiral Lux, I still believe it is necessary to increase protective measures for your human.”

“Agreed.” The other merfolk chimed in. “Humans are very timid creatures. It wouldn’t be good if he develops psychological trauma from being frightened by an Zerg.”

“We’ll be entering a war zone once we reach Base X. This human is so fragile, why don’t we leave him securely protected aboard the battleship?”

Lux lowered his eyes in contemplation.

Ruan Chen wasn’t afraid of the Zergs in the combat simulator, but facing a real one still terrified him.

It was indeed high time to teach him how to protect himself.

“I will arrange that matter. Your current task is not to fret over my human.” He tapped the table, and the rest of the generals instantly fell silent.

“Accelerate our advance. We must arrive at Base X before the Zergs,” Lux ordered. “Do not report the impending Zerg attack to the Imperial Family for the time being.”

“Understood, sir!”

Time was hard to tell inside the battleship. By the time Ruan Chen woke up naturally, Lux was absent from the room once again.

Likely due to the recent incident, the windows in the room had been shut tight.

He lazily sat up from his conch bed and let out a yawn.

Sure enough, two cans of pre-mixed food were laid out on the small table, accompanied by three bags of snacks.

Ruan Chen swam over with satisfaction. Then, his gaze shifted and froze on a particular spot.

But why is this baby bottle still here?!

“Meow-ao… (Whatever…)” Ruan Chen pouted, taking a few suckles from it. “Mew-wu, meow meow meow. (I won’t hold it against you since you taste good.)”

He swept the table clean of all food and let out a small burp.

Because locking Ruan Chen in the room had led to an incident last time, Lux had granted him access permissions to open the door.

Ruan Chen quietly pushed the door open, poking his little head out to scout the area.

The corridor was deathly quiet. Not a single merman was in sight.

Where did everyone go?

Ruan Chen looked around inquisitively.

Since arriving here, he hadn’t been anywhere besides his room and the training hall. He didn’t even know what kind of vessel he was actually on.

Inadvertently, Ruan Chen followed the corridor to the opposite side.
He noticed merfolk script written on a door, preceded by a prominent red symbol with a large X, closely resembling a warning sign.

Ruan Chen instinctively steered clear of the door.

However, just as he was about to swim away, he suddenly noticed the door wasn’t fully closed, leaving a narrow crack exposed.

“Mew-wu?” Ruan Chen blinked.

Would an important room be left unlatched?

Perhaps he had misread it, and that symbol wasn’t a warning sign like the ones in the human world.

He tentatively tapped the door with his small clawed hand.

The crack widened.

Ruan Chen stuck his head inside. “Meow-wu-wu? (Is any merman in here?)”

To his surprise, the interior was massive. Even though the lights were off, he could still tell it appeared to be a conference room.

Ruan Chen felt a sudden pang of unease.

A conference room.

No matter how you looked at it, this had to be an important place…

Judging by the icon on the door just now, it really didn’t seem like somewhere he was allowed to be.

But why was the door left unlocked?

Before he could overthink it, Ruan Chen’s ears twitched.

He caught a faint, shuffling noise coming from within.

Ruan Chen simply pushed the door wide open. “Meow-ao-ao? (Who is it?)”

A few seconds later, a merman emerged from behind the long conference table.

He possessed a robust, muscular build.

It was the very same merman guard captain he had encountered at the training grounds the other day—the one who had tried to pat his head.

Ruan Chen’s racing heart settled back into his chest. “Mew-wu, meow meow meow. (Fuck, scared the crap out of me. Creeping around like a ghost.)”

Seeing it was him, a smile quickly masked the guard captain’s face. “Ah… little human, are you all by yourself?”

“Mew-wu? (What did you say?)” Ruan Chen tilted his head.

As the merman swam toward him, he instinctively backed away a short distance.

Then, Ruan Chen’s brow furrowed.

He noticed the merman was clutching a small, rectangular device in his hand.

It looked remarkably like a USB drive.

Ruan Chen scrutinized the merman from head to toe.

“Meow meow meow meow? (Why are you in the conference room alone?)” He stared intently at the merman’s hand. “Meow-ao-ao? (What’s that in your hand?)”

The smile on the guard captain’s face stiffened for a split second.

He raised a hand to press his earpiece, quickly muttering something in a language Ruan Chen couldn’t comprehend.

A sudden flash of insight hit Ruan Chen!

He remembered now!

Wasn’t this merman acting exactly like a textbook “secret-stealing spy”?!

“Meow-ao-ao-ao-ao— (Help! Someone come quick, there’s a thief!)” Ruan Chen launched himself off the wall behind him, screaming at the top of his lungs to get away from the merman.

But the merman’s reflexes were incredibly sharp. The moment Ruan Chen made a sound, his face darkened, and his razor-sharp claws lunged furiously toward him.

“I didn’t want to hurt you. Such a precious human… what a pity.”

However, he never expected his strike to hit empty air.

The human’s petite body twisted nimbly, miraculously evading the swipe by a hair’s breadth past his arm.

Ruan Chen knew he was no match for this merman. Seizing the moment when the guard captain was caught off guard, he forcefully kicked the emergency door lock panel next to the frame.

“Meow-ao-ao-ao-ao! (Where did all the fish go?! If you don’t come right now, I’m dead!)”

A piercing alarm echoed violently throughout the entire corridor.

Almost simultaneously, a squad of fully armed patrol soldiers finally rushed to the scene.

“Mew-wu! (Shit!)”

Despite his efforts, Ruan Chen was ultimately seized by the throat and trapped in the guard captain’s grip.

“Did you falsely report an Zerg attack?!” Vincent bellowed in fury upon witnessing the scene.

Restrained tightly under the captain’s arm, Ruan Chen caught sight of a golden merman approaching.

“Meow-ao… (Save me, QAQ)”

Sensing that something was amiss, Lux had rushed back at the very first moment. However, stripping off his heavy armor outside the battleship and making it back here took a fair amount of time, which was exactly what gave the guard captain this window of opportunity.

The guard captain pressed his claws flush against Ruan Chen’s neck. “So what if I did? Back off if you don’t want him dead!”

The surrounding merman soldiers hesitated.

Vincent turned his gaze toward Lux.

“Your escape pod has already been destroyed.” Lux’s twin pupils locked onto the guard captain, releasing a crushing pressure of mental energy. “Put him down, and I might spare your life.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Ignoring the sharp pain lancing through the back of his mind, the guard captain sneered. “From the day I entered this line of work, I never expected to walk away alive.”

Everyone knew the fate of those who betrayed Lux.

Death was the most merciful outcome.

His expression turned monstrous as he added, “But if I can take this precious human down to the grave with me today, it seems like a pretty good deal.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind? What kind of accomplishment is it to bully a human?” Vincent spat anxiously.

Lux remained silent.

Taking advantage of their standoff, Ruan Chen quietly extended his small claws and swiped the badge pinned to the guard captain’s uniform.

His movements were exceptionally light and subtle, completely unnoticed by the tense merman.

But Lux saw it.

His tail fin bristled slightly.

The guard captain’s focus was entirely fixed on Lux, whom he deemed the ultimate threat.

In that exact fraction of a second, Ruan Chen let out a sharp “Meow-wu” and drove the pin on the back of the badge straight toward the merman’s eye with all his might.

The guard captain dodged, causing the badge to merely slice across his brow bone.

Yet, that single moment of distraction effectively sealed his execution.

An incredibly overwhelming, violent force swept over them. Ruan Chen instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.

A few seconds later, the metallic scent of blood filled the air.

The suffocating grip on his body vanished. Ruan Chen attempted to turn around to look, but a large hand pressed firmly over his head, pulling him securely into a warm chest.

Lux lowered his head. “Don’t look. It’s over. Good boy, Ruan Ruan.”

“Mew-wu…” Ruan Chen squirmed, but the merman held him tight, leaving him absolutely no room to peek at what had just transpired.

“Clean this place up,” Lux commanded, his tone dripping with ice. “Record a video of his corpse and send it to the Imperial Family.”

“Understood!” The merman soldiers swarmed forward. The guard captain from moments ago was now decapitated, his eyes wide with shock, as if he couldn’t comprehend how he had died so instantly.

By the time Lux finally let go of Ruan Chen, the human realized he was already back in their bedroom.

Though he wasn’t entirely clear on the finer details, he felt it was imperative to tell Lux about what that merman had been doing.

Ruan Chen patted him with his small clawed hands. “Meow meow meow-wu. (I have something to tell you.)”

“Mm.” Lux lowered his eyelashes. “I shouldn’t have left you alone in the room. I’m sorry.”

“Meow-wu-wu-wu. (That merman was stealing your stuff.)” Ruan Chen gestured frantically at him.

Lux didn’t seem to understand a single word. He captured Ruan Chen’s hands, meticulously feeling over his body to check for injuries before gently lifting his chin to inspect him further.

Tilting his head up, Ruan Chen noticed that the merman’s pale-golden pupils had slit vertically once more.

It wasn’t as severe as their very first meeting, but it was markedly different from his usual state.

“Meow-wu? (What’s wrong with you?)” Ruan Chen frowned, feeling a trace of worry.

The words had barely left his mouth when the merman’s face contorted in agony, veins throbbing violently across his forehead.

“Mew-wu? (Where does it hurt?)” Ruan Chen pressed his palms against the merman’s forehead. “Meow meow meow? (Are you hurt?)”

Could he have been injured by that rogue merman while trying to save me just now?

This bout of pain lasted for less than three seconds.

As Lux recovered his composure, his eyes met Ruan Chen’s pitch-black ones.

He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Ruan Chen’s small palm. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Meow meow meow-ao… (Do you feel any better?)” Ruan Chen’s attention was entirely consumed by the merman’s expression, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just been kissed again.

“Ruan Ruan was so brave just now.” Lux pulled him into his arms, reaching out to gently pinch the tip of his ear.

From the corner of his eye, Ruan Chen caught sight of the merman’s arm.

“Meow-ao! (Your scales!)”

He discovered that a small patch of scales on Lux’s arm had suddenly turned black.

Lux, however, seemed entirely unfazed by it. He gently steered Ruan Chen’s head back to force eye contact, shielding the arm from his view.

Meeting the merman’s pure, golden gaze, Ruan Chen dithered for a moment.

“Mew-wu… (You’re so pretty.)”

Behind his back, the blackened scales on Lux’s arm gradually faded, restoring their pristine, pale-gold luster.

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