In his apartment in Beiling City,
Chen Ye organized the five sequences currently used on biological subjects in front of his computer.
Sequence No. 001: The Mimic.
Sequence No. 002: The Deep Diver.
Sequence No. 003: The Invisible Man.
Sequence No. 004: The Queen Bee.
Sequence No. 005: The Wallfacer.
"The blood of No. 004 gave No. 002 the ability to create offspring, but it's still transformation, not self-creation."
"Hmm... perhaps I should consider using planarians."
Chen Ye updated the information about the second generation of Deep Divers on his computer, then looked at two bottles of potion beside him.
These two potions were both bright red, like blood.
They were the Vampire Potion No. 1 and Vampire Potion No. 2.
The ingredients of the two differed slightly.
The primary ingredients of Potion No. 1 were human blood + bat + salamander.
The primary ingredients of Potion No. 2 were locust + bat + salamander.
Additionally, the blood of the second-generation Deep Divers was mixed into both potions.
"So, the question is, who should I test it on?"
"Tsck..."
"It would be nice if someone volunteered for the experiment."
Ha, as if such good luck would happen.
If those five were sent to capture someone, it's uncertain what kind of subjects they could bring back.
After all, it's better to rely on oneself than on others.
"I'd better do it myself."
Chen Ye said as he looked at a photo on his computer.
The photo showed a man holding silk threads, under him was a stage where countless people stood, yet were controlled by the threads.
Potion sequence: The Puppeteer.
Main ingredients: Spider (species to be determined) + puppet used in puppet shows.
Auxiliary ingredients: Invisible Man potion + Queen Bee potion + Wallfacer potion.
...
In Beiling City.
The merman walked the streets, still wearing the same raincoat.
But since it was a sunny day, many people gave him strange looks.
The merman didn't care, occasionally closing his eyes and spacing out for a moment.
In the darkness invisible to ordinary people, the city's contours turned into shadows that appeared in his mind.
Waves emanated from the shadow city, all pointing to one place.
The police station.
Someone was listening to his recording again.
The content of the recording was undoubtedly his cry, which he felt very deeply and clearly.
"One, two, three... nineteen, a total of nineteen people, one holding a cup watching something, one holding a pen writing something on the whiteboard."
Opening his eyes, the merman walked into a noodle shop.
"Stir-fried noodles."
The boss glanced at him, then lowered his head to continue stretching the noodles.
"Guest, have you been coming here often lately?"
"Would you like to try our soup noodles?"
The merman frowned, "No need."
The boss sighed helplessly, "That's the thing with people, everyone has different tastes. Some like soup noodles, others prefer stir-fried noodles. It's hard to please everyone."
The merman picked up a pair of chopsticks beside him, "But sometimes, the choices people make openly may not truly come from their heart."
"It's a compromise made out of helplessness."
The boss thought for a moment, "True, after all, life always forces us to make choices, whether we like it or not."
After a moment, the boss brought over a plate of stir-fried noodles.
"Speaking of which, I wanted to be a guitarist when I was young. I was quite popular in school back then, hahaha."
"You don't mind if I indulge myself for a bit, do you?"
"Go ahead."
After receiving the merman's response, the boss turned around, fetched a guitar from the kitchen, and began to play on his own.
Although the merman didn't understand music, he could tell that the boss had a solid foundation; at least, an average person couldn't play at this level.
Listening to the boss's music, the merman fell silent for a moment.
He remembered the old man he had encountered at the school gate that day.
He hadn't intended to trouble the old man, but the old man kept blocking his way, time and again.
He was a madman.
Knowing he couldn't win, yet he still kept obstructing the merman, time and again.
If at that time, the merman had revealed his true identity, would the old man have dared to block him?
But conversely, if he had seen the merman's monstrous form, he would have had to die.
So, in the end, the merman didn't transform into a monster in front of him.
He and the old man had no grievances, and the latter wasn't his target. This was an unnecessary conflict from the start.
So in the end, the merman only broke the old man's hand.
After that, the old man was taken away by an ambulance.
Yesterday, the merman passed by the high school again and happened to see the old man, his arm in a cast wrapped in white bandages.
Truly a stroke of luck.
"Li... Yuan?"
Just then, a female college student suddenly walked into the noodle shop.
She seemed to recognize the merman, not at all unfamiliar with his face.
The merman paid her no mind and continued to eat his noodles.
Seeing that he ignored her, the female student didn't say anything either and just sat down opposite him.
"I heard you were expelled from school?"
"Why, did you do something wrong?"
"But you, always so honest and straightforward, never fighting or smoking, struggling to utter a word in an argument, I really can't imagine what wrong you could have done?"
The merman still did not respond to the female student.
"Li Yuan, say something, will you? How come you're still like a silent gourd after two years?"
Li Yuan...
It had been a long time since anyone had called me that.
Li Yuan looked up, the female student in front of him wasn't particularly beautiful, but her dress... could be considered tasteful.
She was, Li Yuan's high school classmate.
Recalling that since becoming a merman, he had always kept his head down and never made eye contact with anyone, even the dead...
So, when he looked up at that moment, he felt as if the world had become much brighter, and the hazy fog that surrounded him had dissipated.
"...the rain has stopped." Li Yuan said blankly.
"Huh?"
"What rain? It's not raining outside," the female student asked, puzzled.
That rain...
Was only for Li Yuan.
"Ah, silent again, I really can't stand your dilly-dallying." The girl sighed.
"Boss, bring us two sodas."
The boss took out two bottles of Coke from the refrigerator and handed them to the female student.
"Thank you."
After thanking him, the female student took one of the bottles and handed it to Li Yuan.
"Here, have a soda."
The soda handed by the female student was in a glass bottle, which, due to being stored in the refrigerator, had many water droplets on it.
Li Yuan didn't reach out to take it.
"I don't drink soda."
"Ah, just drink it when I'm offering, why are you still like before!" The girl placed the Coke directly in front of him.
"Not generous at all."
"When will you change your personality?"
Li Yuan swallowed the last bite of his stir-fried noodles and then took out a crumpled ten yuan note from his pocket.
The female student was suddenly stunned at this, "Your... phone?"
"Afraid of getting wet, didn't bring it with me," Li Yuan said, turning to leave.
"Afraid of getting wet?"
"Speaking of which, I've smelled a fishy odor since I came in. Boss, do you also serve fish here?"
The female student looked towards the boss, who simply shrugged, "That young man always has a fishy smell on him whenever he comes."
"When asked about his job, he won't say, but I guess, he might be working at a supermarket fish section."
...