I Woke Up To Find Myself Being Kept By A Mermaid – CH37

Chapter 37

The can had failed to hit the fish, but Lux’s infuriating behavior had completely snapped Ruan Chen out of his drowsiness.

Suddenly, a notification popped up on his optical computer.

[You have a new friend request.]

Ruan Chen opened it and discovered that it was Joshua.

[Joshua: Ruan!! Hugh gave me an optical computer. I finally have my own optical computer now.]

[Ruan Ruan: Congratulations.]

His gaze lingered on their names.

Joshua’s optical computer used his real name.

No.

Once they returned to Ocean Planet, the first thing Ruan Chen was going to do was change this ridiculous name back to his own.

[Joshua: Oh, right, Ruan. Did you see the new video Lux posted?]

[Ruan Ruan: ?]

[Ruan Ruan: No. What did he post?]

Ruan Chen’s instincts told him it was probably nothing good.

[Joshua: [Link]]

It couldn’t be what he thought, could it?

Ruan Chen reluctantly opened the link.

The instant an image of himself holding the loudspeaker appeared, he expressionlessly closed it again.

When the hell had Lux secretly recorded that?!

Ruan Chen felt his entire brain go numb.

It took him a long time to convince himself to cover his eyes and peek through his fingers, ready to save his vision the moment anything too humiliating appeared.

In the video, he stood on a table with both arms raised high, swaying as he sang.

A brutal opening blow.

Ruan Chen’s face scrunched up. He rapidly lowered the volume and turned his head away.

By the time the video finished, his gaze had locked onto the top comment, which consisted of nothing but a long string of “HAHAHAHA.”

He silently decided he needed to find an opportunity to assassinate that merman.

Scrolling farther down, however, Ruan Chen realized that things did not seem to be going the way he had imagined.

Aside from the first comment, everyone else was discussing the “highest royal security classification.”

What was that?

Confused, Ruan Chen reopened Lux’s account and carefully reread the original post.

[A human this precious should receive protection. I hereby request that Ruan Ruan be raised to the highest royal security classification.]

So stupid goldfish had not posted it to mock his singing?

He was actually trying to use this incident to get something from the royal family.

Ruan Chen froze for several seconds.

Then he hurriedly deleted the fierce reaction image he had accidentally selected and typed a new reply.

[Ruan Ruan: Auto-reposted by system // Lux Dorian: Major discovery…]

Within seconds, a flood of comments appeared beneath it.

[Ruan Ruan! Sniff sniff sniff!]

[Ah, so there really is an auto-repost function? Whatever. If Ruan Ruan says there is, then there is!]

[Ruan Ruan, would you be interested in livestreaming yourself singing? [Delighted]]

[@Royal Official Account, we’ve been waiting all day. Are we getting an answer today?]

[When is Ruan Ruan returning to Ocean Planet? Please stay safe while you’re away!]

Ruan Chen slowly scrolled through the comments.

He went back up and checked the time Lux had posted the message.

It really had been quite a while, yet the royal family still had not responded.

Then again, considering a merman as brainless as Sain belonged to the royal family, a slow response was understandable.

Ruan Chen was just about to send Joshua a few more messages when a new notification suddenly appeared at the top of the screen.

[Royal Official Account: A unified response regarding Admiral Lux Dorian’s request. At present, there is no direct evidence proving that this human can treat mental contamination. A conclusion cannot be reached based solely on a video. The human must be brought to the Royal Human Breeding Center for examination. Only after the claim is verified can his security classification be raised.]

[???? That huge video isn’t evidence? The wounds on the soldiers in the video had literally stopped emitting black mist!]

[Ruan Ruan and the Admiral are both at Base X right now. They can’t come back for an examination anytime soon…]

[Speechless. Absolutely speechless. The most speechless event of the year.]

[I think the royal family’s response is understandable… Raising someone to the highest royal security classification is a major matter. Being cautious is normal.]

[Upstairs, is this Sain’s alt account?]

In Ruan Chen’s private chat, Joshua’s messages also arrived one after another.

[Joshua: They’re obviously making things difficult for you! I’m so angry…]

[Joshua: You and the Admiral are at Base X, where it’s so dangerous. This is exactly when you need a higher security classification the most, yet they’re demanding you return for an examination first? What kind of logic is that?]

[Joshua: [Angry]]

Ruan Chen read the royal family’s response several times.

He let out a cold snort and hammered out a new reply in seconds.

[Ruan Ruan: Although Lux and I are fighting on the front lines at Base X, we know the ones making the greatest sacrifices are actually everyone sitting in the royal palace~ Making such a “reasonable” request must also come from the kindness of your hearts, to motivate us to defeat the Zerg and return to Ocean Planet as soon as possible. Everyone, please stop criticizing them. This is honestly so heartwarming and touching QAQ!]

[Joshua: [Thumbs Up]]

[Joshua: There wasn’t a single swear word, but after reading it and putting myself in the royal family’s position, I’m already angry. What kind of principle is this?]

[Ruan Ruan: It’s called being sarcastic.]

[Joshua: Learned it.]

After their exchange, Ruan Chen exited the private chat.

The comments had already reached 999+.

He scrolled down.

Then he failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.

The merman netizens in the comments had actually learned by example and were all imitating his tone to mock the royal family’s response.

The most common line, however, was still—

[This is honestly so heartwarming and touching QAQ!]

Farther down, the entire comment section had become nothing but that sentence.

Ruan Chen’s hand trembled.

So the true nature of merfolk was also…

Repeaters?

Meanwhile, in the royal palace on Ocean Planet—

Sain, who had been confined after causing a major disaster, saw Ruan Chen’s post and the comments beneath it.

Smoke practically poured from his seven orifices.

Furious, he typed out a massive paragraph and prepared to slam it into the comment section.

[System Notice: You have been blocked by this user and temporarily cannot comment.]

???

Sain nearly stopped breathing.

He copied the paragraph and went to Lux’s comment section instead.

Once again, he received the same blocked notification.

Sain’s eyes bulged.

Still unable to swallow his anger, he toned down the wording considerably on his own account and pressed Send.

[System Notice: In accordance with relevant regulations, your account has been temporarily suspended!]

Sain stared blankly at the suspension notification.

The Merman King had not only confined him.

Afraid that Sain would make more reckless statements and cause another disaster, he had directly suspended his account.

Several seconds later, Sain swept everything off the table with his tail and roared helplessly in rage,

“If you’ve got the guts, come back to Ocean Planet! Just watch me kill you, you little human!”

After confirming that no new replies had appeared in the comment section, Ruan Chen said good night to Joshua and turned off his optical computer.

He had to admit that the human-specific items made by the merfolk were all genuinely useful.

The conch bed was not as large as Lux’s shell bed, but it was the perfect size for Ruan Chen.

The moment he curled up inside, it felt like returning to his home planet.

Within a few breaths, his head tilted to one side and he lost consciousness.

Perhaps he had overused his mental energy, and the passionate typing from earlier had exhausted him further.

The instant he fell asleep, Ruan Chen felt as though he had floated out of his body and drifted into the clouds.

A moment later, his vision suddenly brightened.

A familiar pale-golden figure appeared before him.

Lux?

Hadn’t he gone out to prepare for battle?

Ruan Chen blinked.

Only when the merman in front of him turned around did he suddenly realize—

This did not seem to be the Lux of the present.

The golden merman floated less than a body length away.

There was no mistaking that he was Lux, but his features were clearly softer and more youthful than they were now.

Ruan Chen immediately remembered that on the way to Base X, he had once dreamed about Lux too.

Was this another dream?

Before he could figure it out, the merman abruptly leaned forward and swam away—

Passing straight through Ruan Chen’s chest.

Ruan Chen looked down.

“!”

He could not see his own body at all.

It really was a dream…

This dream was bizarrely realistic.

Lux seemed completely unaware of the extra gaze observing him.

Right in front of Ruan Chen, he lifted the hem of his clothes.

A lean, powerful waist was exposed.

The scales connecting to the upper part of his fish tail gradually lightened in color, rising and falling faintly with the merman’s breathing.

Ruan Chen instinctively wanted to look away.

Then his sharp eyes noticed a bandage wrapped around Lux’s waist.

This dream was actually a serialized drama.

It connected perfectly to the last dream, when the merman had been injured at the waist.

I’m only looking at his injury.

I’m not interested in his waist.

Ruan Chen convinced himself.

The place Lux was in looked like a small room aboard a warship.

He hooked a finger beneath the bandage and tore it away.

The wound on his waist was immediately exposed before Ruan Chen.

It was not as severe as the penetrating wound on his shoulder from before, but the flesh surrounding the injury had turned black.

It looked exactly like the wounds Ruan Chen had seen on the patients in the hospital.

Was this the…

Mental contamination Lux had mentioned?

The merman lowered his head and dripped medicine into the wound.

The instant it touched him, he hissed.

His ear fins snapped upright and his tail went rigid.

It clearly hurt terribly.

“Lu—”

Ruan Chen opened his mouth.

Then he remembered he was inside a dream.

He was only an observer.

The Lux in the dream showed no reaction to his voice.

He continued silently enduring the pain and waiting for it to subside.

The medicine seemed to take effect on the wound.

But Ruan Chen noticed that Lux’s expression did not relax at all.

Instead, he looked even more tormented.

Ruan Chen watched helplessly as Lux’s eyes reddened and his pupils narrowed into thin vertical slits, just as they had before.

There was no other merman in the room.

He was completely alone.

The veins at his temples stood out.

Finally unable to endure it any longer, he slammed his forehead hard against the wall beside him.

“Mm…”

“Lux?”

“Is that you in there? Do you need help?”

The noise alerted a merman outside.

Judging by the voice, it sounded like Vincent.

Ruan Chen turned to look at the door.

He became a little nervous, worried Vincent might push it open and come inside.

“No.”

Lux’s cold voice sounded behind him.

“I’m fine.”

He sounded as though absolutely nothing was wrong.

As if the person whose tail fin had been trembling from pain moments ago had not been him.

Ruan Chen turned back toward Lux.

His gaze happened to meet those golden eyes.

He jumped in fright.

But Lux soon lowered his eyelids in exhaustion.

He can’t see me.

At this time…

I hadn’t even come to this world yet.

The golden merman leaned against a chair, his tail hanging limply as though all strength had left it.

There was none of the calm, steady bearing of an admiral he usually displayed.

He looked fragile and exhausted, suffering alone beneath the torment of mental contamination.

Forcing himself to answer Vincent seemed to have drained the last of his strength.

The pain caused by mental contamination came in waves.

The current wave slowly eased.

Less than three or four seconds later, another burst of agony struck.

The merman let out a muffled groan and nearly fell from the chair.

He barely caught himself against the cabinet beside him.

Ruan Chen clearly saw Lux’s fingernails dig into the cabinet door.

His ear fins and tail were both trembling.

It hurt too much.

Ruan Chen could not bear it and turned his head away.

He could not keep watching.

The instant that thought flashed through his mind, the scene before him disappeared.

The familiar room came into view.

Ruan Chen sat frozen for several seconds before pushing himself upright.

He was still in the conch bed.

There was no cramped little room.

No Lux silently enduring torture.

Ruan Chen sat on the bed for a long time.

Yet he still could not drive those scenes from the dream out of his mind.

By the time he came back to his senses, he had already opened his optical computer and entered his private chat with Lux.

He glanced at the time.

Four hours had passed since he fell asleep.

Would messaging Lux now disturb him too much…?

That was what Ruan Chen thought.

Yet his hand seemed to have developed a consciousness of its own.

It casually selected an emoji and sent it.

[Ruan Ruan: [Knock knock]]

Ruan Chen stared at the message several times.

Then he abruptly came back to himself.

What am I doing???

[Lux: Awake?]

He actually replied.

Ruan Chen hurriedly sent another message.

[Ruan Ruan: Are you busy?]

[Lux: Just finished a meeting. We’re preparing to depart.]

[Lux: The situation looks fairly optimistic this time. I should be back in two days.]

Two days.

The image of Lux’s pain-stricken face in the dream flashed through Ruan Chen’s mind.

Suddenly, he badly wanted to see Lux right now.

But he knew that was impossible.

[Ruan Ruan: Good luck.]

[Ruan Ruan: I mean, don’t get hurt again.]

[Ruan Ruan: Otherwise I’ll have to treat you again. It’s exhausting.]

Ruan Chen expressionlessly added two consecutive patches to his words.

[Lux: Yes, sir! [Salute]]

[Lux: [Video File]]

[Lux: If you miss me, you can watch this. It’s a video of me competing in a combat tournament at the military academy.]

[Lux: When I get back, I still want to spar with Ruan Ruan. We haven’t had the chance before.]

Who the fuck misses you?

Ruan Chen stared at the messages.

Only after Lux’s profile picture turned gray and showed that he had gone offline did Ruan Chen rapidly tap the screen.

[Downloading video file…]

The video opened.

The moment Ruan Chen saw Lux’s familiar face, the restlessness left by the dream quietly faded.

He pressed Pause, kicked off with both feet, and darted to the cabinet to grab two bags of snacks and a bottle of his drink.

Returning to the little sofa, Ruan Chen put the straw between his lips, restarted the video, and narrowed his eyes in great enjoyment as he watched.

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