Mermaid

Chi Li was in so much pain he nearly passed out. After those people left, it took him a long while to recover.

He couldn't wait any longer, Chi Li thought. Even the pain brought on by the slightest breath was enough to make life worse than death.

At first, Chi Li had wanted to stall for enough time, hoping Si Jinyan would come save him so he would face less danger of exposing his identity.

But now, there was no guarantee that before Si Jinyan arrived, he wouldn't already be crippled from having too much pheromone extracted.

Fortunately, no one came again that night. Chi Li estimated it was already past midnight. Two different people had taken over guarding him in the warehouse, while the rest were likely resting nearby.

Chi Li pretended to sleep while secretly using the small piece of iron he had hidden to cut through the rope around his wrists. At this moment, he had to be thankful that these people hadn't used any high-tech restraints on his wrists.

After freeing his wrists, Chi Li pretended to turn over and cut the ropes around his ankles.

These two men were less vigilant than the ones who had brought him here. Hearing the movement, they glanced at Chi Li, then closed their eyes again.

The warehouse was dim, with only moonlight streaming through the windows.

The man closest to Chi Li was dozing against a wooden crate. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was a pair of bright black eyes. A faint, terrified hiss had barely escaped his throat before the sharp iron shard pierced his windpipe. His eyes flew wide open, then lost their light in an instant. He fell completely still.

When the other man sensed something was wrong, he tried to pick up the gun on the ground. But Chi Li was already in front of him. Chi Li took him down at top speed and dealt with him in the same way. The entire process was swift and silent.

Chi Li searched the two men and, to his satisfaction, found a small communicator.

Just as he was about to leave the warehouse, its door suddenly opened.

The buzz-cut man who had come to relieve the guard found the warehouse completely empty, with only two teammates who were no longer breathing.

The buzz-cut man cursed.

Chi Li hid behind a shipping container not far away, holding his breath as he listened to the buzz-cut man's footsteps gradually recede.

Estimating that the man had left, Chi Li was about to peek out when the nerves honed by years on the edge of danger suddenly tightened. His pupils trembled, and he immediately ducked and rolled to the right. The next second, a barrage of bullets punched dents into the iron wall behind him.

The buzz-cut man held a gun, his smile vicious. "Got you."

Chi Li pulled out the gun he had picked up from beside the two men earlier.

The commotion was too great. By the time Chi Li escaped the warehouse, he had already drawn the other people over.

Chi Li had no choice but to stuff the communicator into his pocket first, firing as he ran toward the woods nearby.

Federation Government.

Only after Si Jinyan finished his meeting did he notice the message Chi Li had sent him half an hour earlier.

Chi Li often sent him messages, usually accompanied by many pictures and words. But this time, Si Jinyan had received only a cryptic message. Chi Li had sent an address, pinpointed at an intersection beside West City District.

Si Jinyan's brows tightened. He immediately called back, but no one answered. Several calls in a row went unanswered.

Si Jinyan immediately had someone investigate what had happened at the intersection half an hour earlier.

Sure enough, something had happened to Chi Li.

Police tape surrounded the intersection, and officers were investigating the scene.

At the center of the cordoned-off area was a car that had been beaten beyond recognition, with a corpse lying in the front passenger seat.

Si Jinyan walked to the car and opened the door. He smelled Chi Li's pheromones—faint and bloody.

There were obvious signs of a struggle inside the car, and Chi Li's blood was still on the driver's seat.

Si Jinyan examined everything one by one, his eyes gradually turning red. Violent pheromones spilled from him without even his noticing. His furious emotions made him overlook certain details.

Qiu Rui, who had followed close behind, keenly noticed that something was wrong with Si Jinyan and quickly called Lu Jiu.

As soon as the call connected, Lu Jiu's low, mellow voice came through. "Miss me?"

A crack finally appeared in Qiu Rui's ever-unchanging icy expression. Ignoring Lu Jiu's words, he said, "Something happened to the Marshal."

Empire coastline.

Chi Li had lost too much blood and was already feeling lightheaded. Fortunately, the few months he had spent at Si Jinyan's home had not caused him to completely deteriorate. Still, after killing those people, Chi Li was not in good condition either.

Leaning against a large rock, he finally had a chance to catch his breath. He tore fabric from his pant leg to bind the wounds on his arm and thigh, then opened the communicator. Dim moonlight reflected off its black screen—only to reveal the silhouettes of two people on it!

Chi Li's breath caught. Just as he was about to draw his gun and evade them, a stone slammed viciously into the back of his head.

Chi Li staggered forward, barely managing to steady himself before rolling aside. Blood seeped down, blurring his vision.

The man behind him was covered in blood. Chi Li had crippled one of his arms, but in his rush to escape, Chi Li hadn't realized the man was still alive.

The man's eyes were bloodshot. He had long since cast his employer's orders aside. The employer had said they could torture Chi Li however they wanted, break his hands or legs if they wished, but they had to leave him with one final breath. The employer had also given them false information—how could an ordinary omega possess such skills? How could he kill five mercenaries? He was going to kill the person in front of him and avenge his dead brothers.

His strength was completely depleted, and Chi Li's reactions had become somewhat sluggish. Even though he sensed the danger, he was unable to dodge in time.

His arm took another bullet. The communicator lit up briefly before slipping from Chi Li's hand.

Chi Li's body swayed, and he finally collapsed to the ground. The man fired another shot into his leg.

The man's footsteps drew closer and closer. He stopped directly in Chi Li's line of sight, stepped on Chi Li's wrist, and crouched down. "You will pay for their deaths."

Chi Li struggled to breathe, but his heart was beating faster and faster in an unnatural frenzy, pounding powerfully against his chest. He could even hear the dull thud, over and over.

The world around Chi Li suddenly fell silent. It was as if he had been wrapped inside an air-filled water balloon, one that shut out every sound from the world. His view gradually shifted from the muddy trail, the damp jungle, and the man's black boots into a blank, blurry expanse, as though he were standing in a thick fog.

Gradually, he seemed to hear the sound of waves.

Chi Li's consciousness was hazy. He clearly remembered that he had already gone far from that sea.

He didn't know how long passed before he saw a figure within the dense mist.

The figure gradually came into focus, and the newcomer voiced a strange question. "A descendant of the royal family? Calling out..."

The voice was quiet, yet Chi Li heard it with perfect clarity. He felt surprised, but his consciousness grew more and more muddled, dragging him down into an abyss.

When a man with a human body and a fish tail appeared in Chi Li's field of vision, Chi Li lost consciousness completely.

Yet Chi Li still saw it: a human body, a fish tail. The creature moved through the mist as naturally as though he were swimming in water. The blue tail was shrouded in fog, but Chi Li still saw it—a beautiful yet eerie blue fish tail.