Under Lai Yin's dissuasion, I temporarily gave up the temporary inspection of the mermaid. According to the known information, mermaids, like dolphins, are highly intelligent mammals. Without effective safety measures, capturing and imprisoning such creatures may lead to extreme forms of resistance. For example, suicide.
This mermaid is too precious. I absolutely cannot let its life be threatened in any way.
Even if it means risking my own life."
I wrote in my diary, each stroke of the pen as resolute as a sharp ink stroke, but my thoughts still lingered on the deep-colored eyes of the mermaid, and a trace of chill still remained on my spine, unable to be shaken off.
"Before dawn today, I will start a taming plan, just like how we treat wild dolphins. Although I cannot determine the exact level of intelligence of the mermaid, I want to try to communicate with it, hoping that it can relax its guard towards me–"
"Bang Bang Bang–"
The cabin door suddenly knocked, "Desaló?"
It was Lai Yin's voice. I quickly closed my diary and stuffed it into the gap in the bed to avoid being discovered. If Lai Yin found out about this plan, he would definitely strongly oppose it. Lai Yin has always believed that mermaids are naturally bloodthirsty creatures, just like great white sharks. They can only be observed in enclosed spaces. However, Lai Yin is my mentor, and he has much deeper knowledge in the study of mystical creatures than I do, so I cannot persuade him to give up this idea.
As soon as I finished stuffing my diary, Lai Yin pushed the door open. I simply fell back on the bed and squinted at him as he approached, then closed my eyes pretending to be asleep.
He bent down, and his shadow fell from mid-air: "Stop pretending to sleep, I heard the sound of you getting into bed just now."
Ignoring him, I kept my eyes closed and made a sound as if I was in a dream. He seemed to be quite patient and waited for a while, then picked up my injured hand. I was wondering what he was doing when I felt a cool sensation on my fingertips. A burning, stinging pain surged up, and I almost cried out and jumped off the bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw this guy dipping a cotton ball in alcohol!
"Damn it, are you doing this on purpose to hurt me?"
I glared at him with gritted teeth and squinted eyes, but my arm was tightly held. Rhein didn't even look at me, casually lifting the corner of his eyes with a hint of sly satisfaction, slowly wiping the tear in his clothes. I gritted my teeth, pretending to be nonchalant, but sweat was already dripping from my forehead. Rhein enjoyed teasing me; it was one of his biggest pleasures during the long and boring voyage.
Moody and perverted, I cursed in my heart. As my vision went black, the cotton ball was finally moved away. I let out a sigh of relief and leaned back on the bed board, but Rhein still held my hand, pulling me closer with his lips almost touching my nose. He threatened in a low voice, "Don't secretly approach that mermaid, Desaro. Your restless and impulsive nature is showing again, and I can tell just by looking at your eyes today."
I was caught off guard and broke out in a cold sweat, his cigar's heavy scent filling my nostrils and slowing my breath. "I don't have any intentions! I know how aggressive that mermaid can be. Look, I'm such a coward who's afraid of pain and death," I protested, shaking my hand in his grip and looking at him with a sincere and fearful expression, my guilty conscience almost choking me.
Rhein's Adam's apple slid disdainfully in front of my eyes as he snorted from his nose. "Do you… fear death, Desaro, the adventurer?"
I hurriedly nodded my head.
My hand was released, and I breathed a sigh of relief, but his other hand tightly hugged my back, taking advantage of his much stronger body to press me against the wall. For a moment, I thought he was going to strangle me, but he just lowered his head and breathed in my ear, "Desaro, if I catch you doing anything foolish, I'll rape you. Remember, those sailors on the ship are hired by me…"
I thought to myself, oh my god, this is becoming more and more ridiculous.
Rhein had no filter, and those sailors liked to make vulgar jokes. After several months of hanging out with them, I had already gotten used to it. Was I still afraid of this absurd joke?
I raised my head slightly, meeting his gaze with a sharp look, and spoke with a calm yet playful tone: "So, once you've raped me, I can go study that mermaid, right? Feel free to oblige."
He was clearly taken aback, not expecting such a ridiculous response. Seemingly angered, his hand on my back suddenly exerted more force and slid down to my tailbone, ripping off my belt. I thought he was joking and playfully struggled for a moment, but our groins accidentally collided.
My body stiffened instantly.
His hard and unyielding member was pressing against my lower abdomen.
Damn it, my mentor and partner was actually gay, and he had sexual desires for me, his student!
Recalling how we had been intimate for months, I jumped up from the bed and hit my head on the railing, retreating to the side and holding up three fingers in protest: "Oh my god, I swear to God, I won't touch that mermaid on my own!"
Layne spread his hands lazily on the bed, lifting his eyelids to stare at me skeptically. His long legs were parted, the bulge in his jeans barely hiding his erect penis.
I scratched my flushed cheeks, trying to ease the embarrassment and jokingly said: "Not bad looking, and bigger than mine."
Layne looked down, his bangs casting shadows as a knowing smirk formed on his lips. A chill ran up my spine, resisting the urge to kick the door open and run away. I watched him leisurely get up from my bed and finally leave the room.
Rhein probably thought that their intimidation was successful and didn't continue harassing me. Unfortunately, I am an atheist and have never had faith in any religion. My swearing was just a form of pretense.
That night, I stayed up all night, quietly waiting for the whole ship to be still, even the sailors on duty would be dozing off. I held a fluorescent stick and some small equipment that could be useful, such as a small sonar detector and underwater DV. I have successfully communicated with many different species of organisms, so it was clear that these were essential tools.
However, the most important thing was the communicator's own experience in communicating with the creatures.
It was 2:11 am, the most tired time for humans. I looked at my electronic watch, like a flexible ferret hiding in the dark, and successfully sneaked into the ship's hold after smoothly avoiding the visible area of the ship's lookout.
When I opened the door at the end of the hold, the cylindrical glass water tank emitting green light in the dark came into my eyes. I held up the fluorescent stick and searched for the slender black shadow in the artificial water plants. The mermaid was quietly floating at the top of the cylinder. In its floating hair, I could see its low-hanging, sharp-featured face, like a silent ghost in the night sky, ready to descend and take away my soul at any time.
I took a deep breath and tried hard to control the constantly rising adrenaline. I slowly walked up the spiral staircase around the cylinder, but my heart was still beating wildly and uncontrollably.