Translator: Cheonsa
Editor: Rega & Annabelle
Warning: Cannibalism
Chapter 14
As soon as I walked into the underwater laboratory, I could instantly smell the overwhelming scent of that rare fragrance, causing me to cover my nose with the hospital clothes I was wearing. I inhaled the smell of medicine which slightly managed to help me cope with the unexplainable dizziness. I also did not know why I was unwilling to lift up my head to scavenge the underwater world behind the gla.s.s cylinder for Agares"s figure.
I am unexpectedly afraid to go and see it… or should I say, see him?
Ever since Davis told me about his hypothesis, I could not see the merman as a regular beast. It would just be too embarra.s.sing and awkward.
I bowed my head and followed Sakarol"s steps up the spiral ladder to the floor above the hatch door. This was a laboratory above the annular reservoir where the ground was all made of transparent gla.s.s. Standing up there made me feel like my feet were floating in the deep blue sea and that the groups of fish below me were like floating clouds, moving by, making one"s spirit feel at ease.
I could not help searching for Agares"s figure among the groups of fish from the corner of my eyes. Fortunately no trace of him could be seen, which helped loosen my tightening heart.
"What are you looking for? That lowlife beast?" A hand landed on my shoulder, giving me a fright. I turned my head to see Rhine probing me with attentiveness and slight agitation.
I immediately felt fl.u.s.tered and instinctively argued back, "What nonsense you are talking about? What lowlife beast? When did you use such horrible adjectives? Buddy, if I remember correctly, before we caught a merman, weren"t you the one bragging to me about how merfolks are all beautiful and tempting female demons!"
"But that thing is a male, a barbarous and ferocious male, Desharow you mustn"t be fooled by the appearance of that vicious beast!" Rhine"s complexion darkened, he appeared to have recalled something as looked at my face. He strongly endured the anger and squeezed a couple of words out from his gritted teeth, "That lowly beast, he—"
"Look, Desharow, this is our masterpiece."
Sakarol shouted ahead and I lifted my head up accordingly and saw a black wall inside a cylinder being lowered into the center of the laboratory, revealing an outer transparent gla.s.s casing. When the view of what"s inside was completely revealed, I could not help letting out a sincere exclamation of admiration.
That was a female mermaid! Oh my Gosh!
My eyes were firmly attracted, my feet involuntarily walked toward the cylinder and went to lean against the gla.s.s wall, still in disbelief as to what I was seeing.
"Her name is Lilith, very beautiful right? This product was manufactured from a mermaid cell brought back by an old professor of this inst.i.tute 20 years ago from Australia"s coast. She had been kept frozen for a long time, that"s why she looks very weak and fragile."
Sakarol slowly explained to me.
Yes, she did look very weak and fragile. However this type of fragility made this female mermaid possess a naturally pure and ethereal beauty. Since the first second my gaze landed on her, I could not a.s.sociate her with the adjectives Rhine used in describing merfolks because she did not appear to look like a female demon, but an actual pure angel.
This was a tropical red-tailed Mermaid. I suppose that the cause of her short life span might be related to the cold water temperature she was living in.
Her inborn silver-white hair floated like pure and holy snow in the light of the gleaming reflection of waves with her pale-bluish skin seemingly emitting layers of sparkling translucent mist, a pair of light emerald eyes shimmered in the water, appearing to be weeping.
The mermaid looked very depressed and lonely.
My mind was inexplicably nudged by the expression of the mermaid. This mermaid, cloned by humans, held an unexplainable deep sorrow in her eyes as if to sigh upon her loneliness and her powerless destiny.
"I"m sorry… don"t be afraid, you will be reunited with your own species soon, okay? "
I pressed my hand on the gla.s.s wall as I mouthed these words while looking at her sincerely. A man"s desire to protect gave me the impulse to appease and soothe that delicate and beautiful creature. The feeling of insufferable guilt plundered into my chest, feeling as if I had sinned. Although both Sakarol and I wished to truly and fully explore everything about merfolks and come to understand them, I still felt that at the same time, using the cloned mermaid that we could not even help in sustaining her short life, in breeding experiments was an offensive action to such majestic creature.
Researching and breeding them were two different things, we didn"t have the right to dictate their destinies.
"Hey Sakarol? Is what we are doing really appropriate?"
Although it was clear that there was no better way to appease the irascible Agares in order to keep the research going, the mermaid"s sadness made me suddenly hesitate. “If the mating is successful… I mean, if the female mermaid successfully became pregnant, are we certain that we can preserve their embryos and ensure their smooth development? And these two Merfolks came from two different species living in different waters. If the newborns were to grow up to a certain age, how can we judge where they would be released to?"
"I"m sorry my little scholar." Sakarol approached me as she too leaned against the outer wall of the gla.s.s. She then shrugged in a cold indifferent way and continued to say with an emotionless face that was as beautiful as ice sculptures, "We have not made any plans for the long run, we also do not have the preparation or desire to release the newborn Mermaids. You need to understand that we are not the same person as you are Desharow."
"The same kind of person?" I was puzzled by those words, but when I wanted to keep questioning, Sakarol raised her hand and made a simple gesture, followed by a splash being heard. "Wait!"
I cried out too late as Lilith was already being dropped into the reservoir. Her long silver white hair was smeared apart in the water like layers of melted ice.
A terrible yet unclear premonition rose from the bottom of my heart, making it beat faster. The inexplicable sense of panic made me clench my fists tightly as my eyes attentively followed the silhouette of Lilith drifting down the water. I watched her gracefully swaying her tail and gradually began to swim freely. She also seemed to have sensed the male pheromones released by Agares.
Agares, where are you? Your own kind, your own mate has already appeared ah!
I silently chanted in my heart, looking forward to his appearance with anxiousness and uneasiness. When the dense ma.s.s of black mist separated to reveal his outline in the deep blue water, my nerves suddenly jumped. A tremor of thrilling sensation burst from inside out, causing my legs to tremble slightly, weakening them to the point of nearly making me collapse down the gla.s.s wall onto my knees.
"Desharow! Stop staring!" Rhine harshly grabbed my arm. I struggled hard to break free before walking straight toward Sakarol.
"Hey Doctor, I think I need an electronic cigarette. You have one right?"
I pointed to the protruding box on her chest pocket. Sakarol let out a little laugh and drew out a slender white cigarette and handed it to me.
I made a "thank you" gesture, went to sit down and continued to observe the scene before me in the reservoir while placing the cigarette into my mouth. I took a deep breath, the smell of tobacco leaving through the nose effectively eased my mental state, making me calm down immediately.
I saw that Agares and Lilith were slowly approaching each other. This was a good start, I hoped they could complete the mating process successfully. Lilith seemed to be more enthusiastic than Agares was as she constantly danced around him, showing her admiration, while the supposedly violent and unstable Agares was unexpectedly calm. He was merely acting quite arrogant by stretching out his arms as if waiting for Lilith to throw herself into his embrace like an emperor with many countless beautiful concubines.
This was quite different from the regular performances of many other mammals during mating. Whether on land or in water, there would be several other males competing for a female. It was also common for males to compete in order to gain a female"s favor, but now…
Agares, are you deliberately showing off, come on buddy! Go and make a move!
I murmured silently, clenching my sweat-stained hand into a fist and spitting out a mouthful of saliva with the electronic cigarette still remaining on my lips. The minute Lilith directly threw herself into the crook of Agares"s arms, I forgot to even breathe.
Agares then fully embraced Lilith into his arms, he rubbed his nose on the crook of her neck to smell her scent. At that moment, I felt more and more inexplicably nervous, nearly making myself fall onto the gla.s.s floor. However, in the next second I saw an even more shocking sight———!
"Ah!!!"
Sakarol screamed in fear beside me while I was nearly scared to the point of crumbling to the floor. The electronic cigarette fell to the ground with my hands feeling rather stiff, unable to even lift a finger. I only saw a large amount of purple-red blood mist pooling out of Lilith"s torso, wrapping around her entirely broken body including the head stump that was torn off. Her long white hair was floating upward, implicating a head that was once as beautiful as rose buds and the exposed neck arteries. The head floated up the water, the beautiful emerald eyes, although lifeless, watched the other world where we are with despair as if weeping.
Agares was still holding onto the headless body, and like a real tiger shark, he brutally bit and tore Lilith"s flesh into shreds. His dark-colored pupils flickered evasively with the desire and wants of a ferocious mythological creature. The once handsome face at that moment looked like a sinister ghost appearing amidst a dense black fog.
He was indeed a ferocious and terrifying wild beast, I really shouldn"t have been bewitched by his outward appearance!
"No! No! Oh my G.o.d! Lilith!"
I hammered ruthlessly at the gla.s.s wall, feeling alarm and horrified to the extreme with a hint of heartache inside me. My body reacted faster than my mind. I dashed down the third floor of the laboratory and frantically beat the hatch door while shouting, "Agares! Agares! You need to stop, she is your kind, your own kind!"
Agares seemed to have heard my shouting as his swallowing abruptly stopped before he turned to look in my direction. In the next split second, the ferocious and ruthless look on his face disappeared, replacing it was an entirely different expression.
His thin lips that were smeared by the smog of blood hooked up just like that. His dark irises stared attentively at me as if he were staring at his lover. He licked clean the remaining flesh on his lips before letting go Lilith"s pale headless corpse. He swam towards me in a sickening speed like a released arrow aiming directly for a target, and before I could even blink, Agare"s tall slender body shrouded my vision. Then to my surprise, he lowered his head and licked the gla.s.s next to my cheek erotically, acting like a h.o.r.n.y and l.u.s.tful madman.
That sudden action made me suck in cold air as I felt chills running down my spine. I couldn"t help but cover my mouth and took a step back only to b.u.mp into a person behind me. I immediately turned around to see Sakarol sizing me up with a very peculiar look with Rhine standing behind her, his face ashen.
h.e.l.lo h.e.l.lo! Translator Here! I am sorry for the delay on updating this chapter. My schedule is hectic. I am literally jammed pack with homework and today I just finished taking a 5 hour exam so I am literally beat!
My schedule for Desharow will continue to be Sporadic but (hopefully) still upload once a week. Until I get a co-translator I don"t think i can update much quicker with how busy I am with academic. Sorry!
If anyone is interested:
-DM me on Discord: Cheonsa_I_BL#6026
or
-Email me:
Any way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter the next one won"t be so late.
Happy Reading!
– Cheonsa