I Woke Up To Find Myself Being Kept By A Mermaid – CH25

Chapter 25

After comforting Ruan Chen, Lux thought for a few seconds before telling Vincent, “Immediately release news that I was ambushed by the Zerg and seriously injured, and that I need time to recuperate.”

The rescue squad that had rushed over consisted entirely of Lux’s trusted subordinates, personally cultivated by him, so he was not worried about them overhearing.

Vincent obeyed. “Understood.”

After sending out the news, Vincent glanced up at the rift overhead and frowned. “This is even more serious than we imagined.”

Lux curled his lips. “The royal family has been planning this for a long time. They have more cards up their sleeve than you think.”

He had originally believed that placing Ruan Chen here would be safe enough. He had never expected that someone had already set their sights on him.

Fortunately, Ruan Chen had been too adorable for Lux to bear leaving.

Otherwise, he might be looking at a corpse right now.

“We’ll beat them at their own game this time and uproot every last one of their spies.” Vincent had clearly thought of the same thing and said bitterly, “They actually dared to target Ruan Ruan. Premeditated murder of a rare human breed—this charge alone is enough to bring them down.”

Humans were far too precious. No merfolk would tolerate anyone harming them, even if the culprit was the royal family.

Lux let out a faint chuckle, declining to comment on the royal family, who had always acted however they pleased.

He said calmly, “The Zerg’s main force will reach Base X in three hours. We have to find all the spies before then.”

“Yes, sir!”

Vincent gave him a military salute and quickly left to make the necessary arrangements.

To make the act convincing, the medics simply brought out a stretcher and lifted Lux onto it.

The golden merman lay flat on top, his tail fin drooping limply. He looked every bit like someone gravely wounded and on the verge of death.

“Meow?”

Ruan Chen’s eyes widened slightly.

What was going on?

Was he really hurt that badly?

Hadn’t he been perfectly fine just now? He had even been able to stroke Ruan Chen’s hair and smile at him.

Seeing the medics about to carry Lux away, Ruan Chen panicked.

He hurriedly straightened himself in the water and kicked his legs, swimming after them.

Ruan Chen was a decent swimmer, but naturally, he could not compare to merfolk who had grown up in the water. Usually, Lux carried him everywhere. Now that he had to swim on his own, he fell behind in no time.

Growing anxious, he cried, “Meow, meow, meooow! (Wait for me!)”

The moment he finished, the group ahead stopped.

Huffing and puffing, Ruan Chen finally swam up beside Lux, his round eyes darting over the merman.

He was so seriously injured. Of course he could not carry Ruan Chen anymore.

Ruan Chen lifted his head and tried negotiating with the medics.

“Meow, meow meow? (Can you slow down a little?)”

As soon as he finished, he saw the golden merman move his tail. His tail fin lightly patted the side of the stretcher.

“Hold on here,” Lux told him.

Privately, he did not want any other merman carrying his human.

Not that Ruan Chen would allow another merman to touch him anyway.

Understanding immediately, Ruan Chen hurriedly grabbed the side of the stretcher with both hands.

And that was when he finally experienced the underwater version of traveling at breakneck speed.

So Lux had deliberately slowed down whenever he carried him. Either that, or he had always placed a hand protectively over Ruan Chen’s head.

Now, hanging alone from the side of the stretcher while the medics sped through the water, Ruan Chen’s hair was blown completely backward by the current. He could barely even keep his eyes open.

“Mew…”

And there was no way he could complain about it.

Saying anything would make him sound so weak.

Just as Ruan Chen felt his hands starting to slip, Lux quietly sat up slightly and wrapped his hands around Ruan Chen’s two little paws.

Ruan Chen, his face scrunched up as he wholeheartedly battled the current, did not notice.

By the time they arrived, Lux had already silently released him.

Watching Lux get settled onto a shell bed, Ruan Chen took advantage of everyone crowding around the merman. While no one was looking, he urgently used a glass cup in the room as a mirror to fix his hair.

Damn it.

At that speed, his face had nearly been blasted crooked.

Once all the medics had left, Ruan Chen turned to Lux on the bed.

“Meow meow meow meow! (Stupid goldfish, hurry up and get better so you can keep being my ride!)”

“Ruan Ruan.”

Lux smiled and patted the edge of the bed. “Come here.”

“…”

Ruan Chen awkwardly edged closer.

“Meow? (Does it still hurt?)”

Gathering his courage, he looked toward the merman’s shoulder.

The wound had already been bandaged, so he could no longer see the gruesome torn flesh from before.

Ruan Chen still felt guilty.

The merman had actually used his own body to shield him…

He reached out a little paw and carefully touched the area beside Lux’s shoulder.

“Meow…”

Lux thought he had been frightened by the Zerg and pointed toward the storage cabinet in the room.

“There are drinks you like in there, Ruan Ruan.”

“Meow? (What should I get?)”

Ruan Chen blinked and swam over to the cabinet.

He opened it—

And found it crammed full of his tiny milk bottles.

Ruan Chen: ?

Expressionless, he turned his head.

Lux watched as he took out a bottle and swam back toward him.

Then Ruan Chen pulled off the cap and gave him a soft, sweet, “Mew.”

“Hmm?”

Lux lowered his head to look at him. “Go ahead and drink it. You won’t be afraid after you finish.”

The moment he opened his mouth, Ruan Chen moved at lightning speed and shoved the bottle toward him.

Pop.

The nipple went straight into Lux’s mouth.

Ruan Chen looked at his masterpiece in satisfaction.

“Meow meow meow! (Go drink your own milk!)”

“Meow meow meo—”

His triumph lasted only a few seconds before Ruan Chen’s eyes went wide.

Lux had stuffed the nipple right back into his mouth.

“Thank you, Ruan Ruan.”

Lux thought the human was trying to share his food with him and was very pleased.

“This was specially prepared for you. I don’t need it.”

Ruan Chen froze for a second before realizing—

The merman had put the same bottle nipple in his mouth.

He exploded.

“MEOOOW! (How dare you!)”

With a pop, he yanked the bottle out of his mouth and was just about to shove it back into Lux’s mouth when a chorus of merfolk calls suddenly sounded outside the door.

Ruan Chen glanced back and ignored them.

Who knew that, when no one paid them any attention, the noise would only grow louder and louder?

Ruan Chen frowned.

“Meow? (Who is it?)”

A patient needed a quiet environment to rest. Did they not know that?

Ruan Chen, who had just been trying to force the patient to drink milk, immediately pulled a long face. He placed the bottle in Lux’s hand.

“Meow. (Hold this for me. I’ll settle the score with you when I get back.)”

He kicked off the side of the bed, swam to the door, and pressed it open.

Ruan Chen poked his little head out and surveyed the merfolk outside.

“Meow meow? (What are you all making so much noise for?)”

The merfolk gathered outside the room were all high-ranking officers of Base X. After learning that Lux had been injured, every single one of them had been shocked beyond belief.

That was why they had come collectively to visit him.

The moment they saw Ruan Chen, the merfolk officers fell silent.

A few seconds later, however, they began whispering among themselves.

“Is that the Admiral’s human?”

“Yes. I heard he just entered the transformation period. He’s a purebred Chinese human and a perfect match, too. The Admiral is incredibly lucky.”

“Ah, he looks so small. Much smaller than the one in my family.”

“Asian breeds are all like that.”

“His voice is so soft.”

Feeling all those eyes on him, Ruan Chen furrowed his brows and snapped angrily,

“Meow meow meow! Meow meow meow! (All of you, leave! He needs peace and quiet to rest!)”

The Base X officers, hearing Ruan Chen’s voice for the first time, stared blankly.

“Meow meow meow? (Why are you standing there? Did you hear me?)”

Ruan Chen waved his arms, signaling for them to leave.

“Meow meow meow! (Go, go, go! All of you, get out of here!)”

Before the merfolk officers could even react, the human had already meowed out an entire speech.

Bang!

The door slammed shut again, leaving them outside.

Ruan Chen turned around and discovered Lux staring at him.

The golden merman was quiet, his lashes lowered as he lay on his side inside the shell bed, looking like a beautifully crafted painting.

“Meow! (What are you looking at?)”

Only then did Ruan Chen realize that he had been quite loud just now. Lux had probably heard everything.

Not only had he heard him, Lux had most likely also seen the way Ruan Chen had urgently chased away the other merfolk and defended him.

Ruan Chen forcibly maintained his composure and protested far too obviously,

“Meow meow meow. (I just thought they were too noisy. I wasn’t helping you.)”

His words did not seem to have much effect.

Lux continued gazing at him with those pale golden eyes, amusement shining in their depths.

Ruan Chen awkwardly pinched the hem of his clothes.

Lux tried to move, propping himself up.

“Ruan Ruan.”

Then, as though he had accidentally pulled at his wound, his brows suddenly knitted together.

“Meow?”

Ruan Chen launched himself forward and pressed down on Lux’s uninjured shoulder, forcing the merman back onto the bed.

“Meow meow! (Why are you moving around? Lie down!)”

The truth was, he still felt bad about Lux being hurt.

Ruan Chen lowered his voice.

“Mew. (Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you.)”

The worry and heartache in his round, dark eyes were impossible to hide, yet he stubbornly insisted on wearing a fierce expression.

Lux’s heart nearly melted from how adorable he was.

He caught one of Ruan Chen’s little paws and gently kneaded it.

“Ruan Ruan was very impressive just now.”

Ruan Chen’s first reaction was to pull his hand away.

His arm moved slightly.

Then he relaxed his strength again.

The merman had saved him and was so badly injured.

Forget it. It was just holding hands.

If he liked it, then let him hold them.

It was no big deal.

Ruan Chen pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed and, for the first time, willingly tolerated the merman holding both his hands in his palm.

Lux lowered his head and carefully straightened Ruan Chen’s fingers one by one.

“Ruan Ruan’s hands are so small.”

Human hands were all smaller than merfolk hands, but hands as tiny as his still seemed rather rare.

Lux tested it and discovered that one of his hands could completely enclose both of Ruan Chen’s little paws.

“Meow. (That’s enough.)”

Ruan Chen realized Lux was comparing their hand sizes and even seemed to be laughing at him for having small hands.

He let out a warning meow.

The merman only chuckled and pressed Ruan Chen’s right hand against his own palm.

Holding them up in front of Ruan Chen, he said, “Look. Your entire hand is only as big as my palm.”

“Meow. (You didn’t line them up properly.)”

Ruan Chen refused to admit his hands were that small.

Tilting his head, he carefully aligned the base of Lux’s palm with his own.

Looking again, the tips of his fingers could now reach the base of the merman’s fingers.

His middle finger even extended slightly beyond it.

Ruan Chen raised his head.

“Meow meow meow. (This is how you do it properly.)”

His expression was utterly serious.

Several seconds passed.

The merman finally failed to hold it in and burst out laughing right in front of him.

“Meow! (What are you laughing at?)”

Ruan Chen flushed with embarrassment and anger.

“Meow meow meow! (I’m still going to grow taller!)”

He was only nineteen.

Ruan Chen had always firmly believed that he simply had not hit his final growth spurt yet.

After all, his grandfather was very tall.

There was no way he would be short.

Ruan Chen immediately regained his confidence.

The human and merman spent quite a while playing their little hand-comparison game before Vincent returned from handling official matters.

“Lux, I’ve already identified three merfolk. They’re currently being detained in the interrogation room.”

It had to be said, their strategy of beating the enemy at their own game had worked beautifully. The royal family’s hidden agents had not been able to remain patient for long before emerging to make their moves.

Lux nodded. “Good work.”

“There’s one more thing.”

Vincent pulled up his optical computer.

“The West Sea Breeding Center has already sent me the translator files. They’re downloading now. I had them send you a copy as well. Accept it.”

Lux opened his optical computer and, sure enough, found the file waiting for him.

He also tapped a few times on Ruan Chen’s optical computer and transferred a copy to him.

Ocean Planet was too far away. Usually, messages had to be converted into a special format to arrive instantly.

Directly downloading a file like this was much slower. Half a day had passed, yet the download had only reached three percent.

Lux and Vincent both leaned close, staring intently at the optical computer screen.

Before the progress bar could crawl forward another tiny fraction—Smack!

A little paw slammed down and switched off all three optical computers.

Ruan Chen’s angry little face appeared before them.

He looked up and, like a strict little housekeeper, sternly scolded Vincent.

“Meow meow meow! (He’s injured and needs proper rest! You can’t let him play on the computer!)”

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