I Woke Up To Find Myself Being Kept By A Mermaid – CH23

Chapter 23: Doing Quizzes

From the outside, Base X looked like a massive sprawling complex, but its interior was completely filled with seawater.

In reality, however, the Zerg homeworld had no oceans.

The water inside the base relied entirely on extracting the planet’s subterranean water reserves, which was then chemically balanced to replicate seawater by the research merfolk. Only then was it sufficient to sustain them.

Even so, the merfolk still couldn’t remain in this environment for extended periods. They had to ingest specialized medical supplements to meet their biological needs, and the merman military officers rotated their deployments with the Ocean Planet’s high command every six months.

Once the merfolk aboard the battleship had fully transferred, the airlocks slid open, and the interior seawater cascaded outward with a heavy whoosh.

Quite a few merman soldiers lingered nearby, some even extending their arms to catch the water brought from their home planet, expressions of deep homesickness washing over their faces.

“Admiral Lux, the supply of nutritional supplements is running low,” the merman general responsible for receiving them reported as he briefed Lux on their operations. “The water quality inside the base has also been gradually deteriorating recently. The troops need a rotation as soon as possible.”

After listening, Lux replied, “I’ve brought a portion of the supplements with me this time, and we will increase the supply volume moving forward.”

The Imperial Family had been aggressively cutting the resources allocated to the military over the past few years. The military’s research and development center had only been established for a little over a decade under his personal direction, so their R&D speed was still somewhat slow.

Fortunately, it was still enough to get by.

“We will discuss the rotation after this campaign concludes,” he stated.

The merman general was well aware of the challenges facing the military, so he nodded. “Understood. We have conducted consecutive scans, and the Zergs are projected to launch their assault in seven hours.”

“Every defense system has been maintained at optimal status. We are ready for war at any moment.”

Lux gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“It is no trouble at all to relieve the Admiral’s burdens!” The merman general saluted him smartly.

They were merely executing orders; the one who truly had to simultaneously bear the combined weight of the Zergs, the Siren Clan, and even the internal pressures of their own planet was Lux. The merman general understood this implicitly.

A single misstep could very well bring about the total destruction of the entire Ocean Planet.

At the thought of this, the general’s gaze toward Lux filled with profound admiration.

“Lux!” Vincent rushed over hastily. “Wait a moment.”

Lux turned his head. “What is it?”

Vincent glanced at the neighboring general.

The latter immediately caught the hint. “I shall return to monitoring the Zerg movements.”

Once he had departed, Vincent lowered his voice to a whisper. “I just received a confidential report from Major General Noyes. He says they detected a signal transmitted from the Imperial Family to our battleship the day before yesterday.”

Lux raised his eyes.

Vincent continued, “We can rule out the previous guard captain; the signal was sent after his death.”

“However, we failed to intercept it successfully. At present, we don’t know who it was sent to, nor do we know its contents.”

When he finished speaking, his expression was somewhat grim.

Lux lowered his eyes in contemplation. “Before the battle commences, transfer Ruan Ruan to the cultivation gardens at the rear of the base.”

Vincent: “Are you saying…”

“The Imperial Family doesn’t have the guts to target me face-to-face.” The corners of Lux’s lips tugged upward ironically. “Deploy my personal guards over there, and then leak word to the rest of the merfolk that Ruan Ruan is still residing in my quarters.”

“Understood, I will see to it immediately!”

“There is one more thing.” Speaking of this, a smile found its way back onto Vincent’s face. “The West Sea Human Breeding Center notified me that the translation software is nearing completion. It’s expected to finish testing within three days, after which it will be uploaded directly to your light-computer.”

“You’ll be able to communicate normally with Ruan Ruan very soon.”

At the mention of Ruan Ruan, a wave of warmth surfaced in Lux’s eyes. “Allocate an additional 10% of research funding to them this year.”

Having settled all official matters, Lux returned to his quarters.

The moment the door slid open, he caught the sound of another merman’s voice echoing inside the room.

Seeing him enter, the human—who had been lounging carelessly on the bed with his legs crossed—suddenly jarred upright, his hands moving with lightning speed to shut down his light-computer.

Lux’s gaze landed squarely on Ruan Chen’s face. “What were you doing?”

“Meow-wu. (I didn’t do anything.)” Ruan Chen looked at him with wide, perfectly round eyes, a picture of absolute innocence.

As the merman swam over to his side, Ruan Chen stood up on the bed warily. “Meow-ao? (What do you want?)”

Lux activated the large floating holographic screen in the room and patted the soft cushion beside him. “Come here.”

Ruan Chen looked highly suspicious.

“I’m going to teach you how to deal with the Zergs.” As he spoke, he brought up a structural analysis diagram of the Zergs’ weaknesses developed by the military.

Although the security measures surrounding Ruan Chen were already exceptionally airtight, Lux had always been a merman who preferred to nip problems in the bud. This basic survival knowledge was something the human absolutely had to learn.

Ruan Chen stared at the images on the screen, roughly gathering what Lux intended. He slowly shuffled over, but still maintained a distance of about half an arm’s length from the merman.

Lux lowered his gaze to look at the empty space between them.

“Meow-wu-wu. (This thing is so ugly.)” Ruan Chen quickly pointed at the image on the screen to divert his attention.

The floating screen let out a harsh buzz, flashing a red warning prompt: [Incorrect Selection!].

Ruan Chen jumped in fright. “Mew-wu?! (What the hell is that?)”

A massive red X had been stamped over the exact spot he had pointed to.

“Wrong answer.” Since they couldn’t understand each other’s speech, Lux could only use demonstrations to explain. “Guess where the most fragile part of these Zergs is, and then select your answer. If you ever encounter danger in the future, this might just save your life.”

He gently tapped the eye of the Zerg on the diagram.

[Correct Selection!]

A green circle slowly materialized over the area he touched, followed by a celebratory chime from the screen as a shower of digital confetti rained down from below.

Ruan Chen: “…”

This feels exactly like one of those preschool educational games.

Lux produced the small jar of nutritional pills Ruan Chen had seen before, along with a bag of snacks.

“For every wrong answer, you have to eat one nutritional pill. For every correct answer, Ruan Ruan gets a bag of snacks as a reward.” He arranged them neatly on the table.

Ruan Chen curled his lip. “Meow-wu. (Who are you looking down on?)”

A few rounds later, Ruan Chen stared at the small mountain of nutritional pills stacked before him and fell into a profound silence.

How did it end up like this?!

Why is the answer different for every single question??

They clearly all have eyes, so why do I have to hit the stomach for some, and the mouth for others?!

Ruan the Academic Flunkie Chen felt the sheer malice radiating from this alien world.

The merman had definitely picked the hardest questions on purpose.

“A bet’s a bet.” Yet, the merman actually looked quite amused, pinching a nutritional pill between his fingers and bringing it to the human’s lips.

Gazing at the tiny pill with bitter resentment for three full seconds, Ruan Chen decided to play shameless. “Meow-ao! (I’m not eating it!)”

He violently twisted his head away.

Lux had no intention of letting him have his way.

Before he knew it, Ruan Chen was lifted straight off the bed and placed astride the merman’s powerful tail fin.

The merman firmly secured his arms, keeping him from fleeing. “You ate all the rewards for the correct answers, but you refuse to face the music when it’s time for the penalty?”

After spending the past few days together, Ruan Chen knew the merman wouldn’t actually hurt him.

He straightened his legs, attempting to slide down the smooth scales of the tail fin. “Meow-ao, meow-ao-ao-ao-ao. (I’m not eating it, I’m just not!)”

Halfway through his protest, Lux seized a split-second opening and popped a nutritional pill clean into his mouth.

Before Ruan Chen could even process what had happened, he let out a gulp and swallowed it down.

His entire body froze rigid. It took him a long moment to look up at Lux in sheer disbelief. “Mew-wu…? (What just happened?)”

Lux arched an eyebrow, opening his hand to display a completely empty palm as if to let him verify it. “Mm, you swallowed it.”

“…” Ruan Chen’s embarrassment instantly mutated into raw fury. “Meow-ao-ao… (You stinky goldfish, you fucking…)”

He let out a sharp cry, but fearing the merman would employ the same trick again, Ruan Chen clamped his lips tightly shut and refused to utter another syllable.

“Good boy, just one more.” Lux swept the remaining pills back into the glass bottle, leaving only a single one paired next to the snacks. “After you finish this one, you get an extra snack as a reward.”

After throwing a tantrum for a good long while, he ultimately knew he was in the wrong for missing so many questions.

Coaxed gently by Lux’s patient tones, Ruan Chen finally chewed and swallowed the last pill.

The human in his arms nibbled on the final piece of the snack, chewing forcefully with his cheeks puffed out completely.

He looked thoroughly easy to appease and deeply satisfied.

“Ruan Ruan…” The foul mood brought on by the base’s dismal situation earlier was instantly vaporized by this sight. Lux pressed a tender kiss to the crown of his head. “How can you be this adorable?”

He truly couldn’t wait to find out what Ruan Chen’s words actually meant. They were bound to be just as soft as his appearance.

Feeling a sudden tickle atop his head, Ruan Chen tilted his face up, causing the next kiss to land squarely between his eyebrows.

Ruan Chen: “!”

The contents of that scandalous live stream flashed vividly through his mind, and the faces of the two main characters were instantly swapped out for his own and Lux’s.

A fiery red blush rapidly consumed Ruan Chen’s face, spreading all the way down his neck.

He forcefully shoved the merman away, straining to put on a fierce, menacing expression. “Meow-ao-ao-wu… (You fucking dare try kissing me again?)”

With his mouth still crammed with snacks, the threat level was absolute zero.

Lux glanced at him, his brow furrowing slightly. “Why is your face constantly flushing like this? Are you suffering from internal heat?”

He set Ruan Chen down, adjusted the room’s climate control down by two degrees, and rummaged through the food storage cabinet.

A moment later, a brand-new baby bottle was placed in front of Ruan Chen.

“Seaweed juice. It clears internal heat; have some.” Lux unscrewed the cap and pressed the nipple gently against Ruan Chen’s lips. “Open up, good boy. Once you finish drinking, I’ll take you somewhere far more entertaining.”

Ruan Chen: “…?”

I think you just think you have too many scales on your body.

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