Translator: Cheonsa

Editor: Rega and Annabelle

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What amazed me was how well the structure of this biological base was built. From Davis" presentation, this place was attached to the continental shelf where the entire building follow the seabed.  The roof was designed as an arc similar to the one on the Sydney Opera House[1], which can effectively alleviate the heavy impact produced by a tsunami. 

[1]The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre at Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the 20th century"s most famous and distinctive buildings.

As soon as I walked out of the room and arrived upon the outer corridor did I come to realize  that we are all under water by looking out the gla.s.s. Davis explained that the so-called underground reservoir is a deeper submarine laboratory built inside the marginal offsh.o.r.e platform[2] that required us to use an elevator to get down there. 

[2: Something like this]

As we slowly descended on the transparent shuttle elevator, I was dazzled and stunned, practically intoxicated by the world under the ocean. 

Although the deepest part we could reach was only the bottom of the marginal platform, which was one hundred and eighty thousand miles away from the abyssal plain[3] at the bottom of the continental slope, just looking at the vast dark depths, created a complex feeling of excitement , fear, and longing to explore. 

[3: To give you guys a better image of the location.]

I didn"t know when I will have the opportunity to go down to the sea with a submarine and explore, but if I could graduate smoothly and study for another several years to become a qualified naval officer, maybe then I could.

“Desharow, what are you thinking about that is so distracting?” Davis patted me on the shoulder, pulling me back to reality. “Look, we are finally here.”

    I lifted my head just in time to see the elevator door open, revealing a circular hall with several enclosed doors attached onto the wall. Those doors looked particularly round, laced with thick and strong materials, like the entrance of a submarine, seemingly very high-tech.  It could also effectively prevent precious research items and creatures from being photographed or stolen for profit by some illegal organizations.

I just remembered something quite amusing when I saw the way the structure was built and couldn"t help joking, "Hey mate, with so many labs here how do you even remember what is behind what door? Have you seen the movie "The Cabin in the Woods"?[4] So long as you press the wrong b.u.t.tons, ahh, all grotesquely shaped creatures behind closed doors will run out and eat you clean, bone and all."

[4: A 2012 horror Movie: Desharow is talking about this scene:

I even pretended to intimidate him as I said this, however Davis just stared at me, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Desharow, you are still the same as always, you"ve got a brain of a prodigy"s, but you"re as immature as a child.”

I snorted disdainfully, I guess this old scholar was still the same as always, no sense of humor at all. How pitiful that dull life of his. 

Davis led me to one of the doors and reached out to press the fingerprint reader on the door. The door let out a clank before opening automatically. As it opened, the familiar moist smell of seawater a.s.saulted my nose instantly, but because it was mixed with the peculiar fragrance of the merman, it disturbed me greatly. 

I rubbed my nose, "Davis, don"t you find that the smell coming from the merman a bit peculiar?"

“What smell? The smell of seawater?"

“The fragrance,” I emphasized as I inhaled the scent once more,  “You smell that, it"s so strong, it"s kind of like… it"s kind of like a musky smell.”

Davis sniffed deeper, "If you can call the fishy scent of sea water as the smell of a fragrance[5], then yes, it"s indeed quite strong." 

[5: in case people does not no what fragrance is, it"s a type of scent that is usually sweet or pleasant to smell]

"Your nose is probably not working properly," I said while frowning doubtfully, feeling a bit baffled. I followed him inside, still attempting to convince him of my judgment.

When we walked into the dark room, the door behind us immediately closed shut, and soon a layer of ever- changing blue halo shined upon our body. I looked up and became aware of the gla.s.s wall circulating around us, the reservoir was actually a circular shape trapping us in the center. The gleaming reflection of waves in the light filled the water making the view from the outside world limited and blurry. With the shadows of pa.s.sing fish floating around forming a cloud-like shadow, it made everything look as amazing as if being in Alice"s Wonderland.

In the end, I couldn"t help but discard the rising doubts and suspicion in my mind at once. I clicked my tongue before exclaiming, "Oh my G.o.d, this place is a miraculous existence. Davis, please let me stay here to continue my studies. I really like it here!" 

"Of course,” Davis looked as if he was amused by my reaction, "You are the research worker sent by the government for this project. Even if you don"t like this place, you will still need to stay here reluctantly for a while." 

"What project? What did Rhine even tell you?" I asked subconsciously, trying to look for a glimpse of the merman along the gla.s.s wall and soon noticed a group of dark shadows on the upper area of the reservoir. After a closer look, I came to discover several dolphins gathered together with their body rutting against each other vigorously, stirring up small whirlpools.

And that area is precisely where the pressure compartment hatch door was located, the only channel connecting the ring-shaped reservoir and the place where we are currently standing. I pointed, "Davis, look, what"s happening over there?" 

"Hmm, such an interesting phenomenon, come with me."

Davis led me up the spiral staircase that lead to the upper layered compartment. Upon arriving in front of the hinge door, I was amazed to find that it was a fairly thick spherical gla.s.s hatch, bright and blue in the focus of the water inside, like an entrance to heaven. You could basically see the situation clearly in the reservoir tank when looking through the hatch door. It even had a magnifying effect where you could see everything clearer than with one"s naked eye. 

My guess was that the material used was the same as those windows in submarines that had the ability to endure against the pressure of seawater.  I couldn"t help but put my hand flat on the hatch, pressing against the cold surface of the gla.s.s, " What does this phenomenon mean? Does the dolphins abnormal behavior have some connection to that merman?"

"That"s correct." Davis handed me a small black box, he moved his finger around the gla.s.s, pointing towards the dolphin"s direction. "Look carefully, those dolphins are mating, furthermore, this sort of mating behavior has been going on for several days. It"s quite unusual, as if they are mating purely for the sake of mating. However, it is not dolphins" breeding season yet, and before the merman"s arrival their behavior was actually calm and serene."

"It is indeed a bit unusual." I pondered over the facts in surprise, “This means that the merman can communicate with dolphins and influence their inherent life patterns using some kind of unique way, which shows that his communication can successfully make the dolphins understand…” Suddenly my brain lit up with an idea,  Can dolphin"s language be fed back to the merman to make him understand, too?  "Davis, do you remember that time when we did a study on translating dolphin language?" 

"Of course." Davis pointed to the black box in my hand and laughed. "The dolphin sounds we recorded at that time are all in here. In addition to that, I even matched theirs with the merman"s sound and found a section that have a similar frequency."

"Which section?" I roused up with excitement.

"Hold on a second."

Davis fiddled with the b.u.t.tons on the black box and began to modulate it.

At that moment, the corner of my eye glimpsed toward the water just in time to see a black cloud of grouped fish rising upwards, making me turn my whole face over to look.  Not far within the water was a slender and familiar shadow hiding among them, which was also floating towards the hatch door. My eyes could not be removed from the figure of the merman.

The merman"s silhouette could be seen by the light coming through the clear compartment tank entrance,  his scattered hair made it look like a shadow covering half of his face, revealing only thin lips forming an evil smirk. The group of black fish were swimming closely, circling him, making him look like a G.o.d of death formed by a cloud of misty night fog. From where he was, the light reflected was swallowed up and he disappeared into the shadows he had whisked. He was like a black hole, enough to swallow up the whole sea.

That thought popped into my mind inexplicably.

The strong scent of the merman wafted onto my face, causing my heart to pound heavily. Even my hand became somewhat weak, yet my palm seemed to be attached to the gla.s.s, unable to be moved. "He is coming towards us," Davis exclaimed, "The sound from the black box must have attracted him here!"

"Listen to this, it"s exactly this section, I finally found it!" Davis self-adjusted as he brought the small black box near my ear for me to hear. He then continued commenting in awe, "The frequency of this sound is the same as that of the dolphin"s when they are searching for mates. I think that"s how the merman was able to effectively trigger the dolphins" estrus[6].

[6:a recurring period of s.e.xual receptivity and fertility in many female mammals especially during the breeding season; heat.]

I knitted my eyebrows together as I listened attentively to the sign of activity inside. The black box made a quiet static noise, and then came a syllable I had heard a couple of times before. 

"A.…ga…re…s…"

“Did you hear that?” Davis was excited. “I have made a conjecture. This must be a courting sound produced by the merman when seeking for a mate." 

I became dumbfounded. Instantly, a strong sense of embarra.s.sment struck me. I wanted to refute Davis immediately, but intellectually, I had to admit that perhaps his hypothesis was correct. I turned my head to the side, forcing my eyes to look away from the merman to stare at Davis impa.s.sively before deadpanning, "So you"re saying that the merman might be in an estrus?    

He nodded earnestly, indicating that it could be possible.

I suddenly got the urge to escape from here immediately. 

Oh my goodness, based on all those actions the merman performed on me while on board, he was basically in heat and mating with me! Not only that, I even foolishly used these syllables, thinking of it as a nickname to call him with!

 "A…ga…ra…s…"

While thinking of this, the string of syllables suddenly became lounder, however it was not coming from the black box, but rather from behind hatch door.

That hatch door was actually not able to block the merman"s sound! I don"t know whether the merman"s voice have the same penetrating ability of an electric wave, but it was making me feel numb. However, in the end, I still couldn"t resist looking back.

I turned my face around stiffly to see the merman floating upright in front of the hatch door with his eyes staring deeply at me between his drifting hair. One of his pale webbed claw was pressed on the gla.s.s, coinciding with the palm prints I had just left behind.

The merman can"t come out. He can"t threaten me. He is just a beast that made a mistake on who his mate is. Desharow, don"t think so foolishly, just keep a calm scientific att.i.tude.  

Oh, that"s right, I can try to communicate with him!  

I unconsciously raised my hand and placed it onto the gla.s.s, allowing my 5 fingers to fit onto the merman"s webbed claw, which was separated by the layers of gla.s.s in between. His hands were much bigger than mine. Each knuckle protruded and distinct, appearing to be very powerful, seemingly beneficial for grabbing something. Furthermore, according to the proportion of his hand length, if the merman"s tail can be turned into legs, his height would be about the perfect height needed for male models, which was about 1.9 meters.[7]

[7: male model"s best height is 5" 11" to 6" 2" : Agares is around 6" 2" if human]

What a tall creature with such a nice, well-proportioned muscular body. If he were a human being, I would probably envy his appearance very much.

Agares appeared to be very satisfied with the action of our hands fitting together . He then put his face closer in front of the gla.s.s wall, tilted his neck, changed his head angle and narrowed his eyes, as if he was sniffing my scent through the gla.s.s, with his expression showing ecstasy as if obsessed. After sniffing for ten seconds, his eyes moved to look behind me. He appeared to be opening his lip to Davis that was standing behind me, and uttered out a string of syllables that I had never heard before.

"O…p…en…do…or…"

If I were to hear it correctly, why did that sound like… "open the door"?

“Davis.” I turned my face doubtfully, unexpectedly seeing Davis staring absentmindedly at the merman, appearing to be in a state of slight dementia [8]. Then I watched in amazement as he stupidly raised his hand like a commanded robot and went to press a red b.u.t.ton on the hatch door. That b.u.t.ton saying: Emergency Switch.

[8: Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example.]

I stepped back with a scream as I watched the water level in the reservoir sink rapidly to half the height of the compartment tank. The hatch opened with a small gap from the top, and with just a slight warp of his long tail, he easily swam out of the hatch door from inside the tank revealing half of his torso.

I was frightened stupid by this sudden quick unforeseen event and fell onto the ground. My body was out of sync with my brain as I just watched the merman crawl out like a black lizard.

As for Davis, he seemed to be more scared than me since he fainted on the spot.

 "d.a.m.n it! Wake up!"

I broke into a run, but my weak ankle was grabbed by the merman"s outstretched webbed claw, causing me to stagger before I tumbled straight onto the ground.  When I turned around in fear, I was met with the sight of the merman crouching on my legs while holding his wet upper body over me, grinning excitedly like he had done on our first direct contact. "De…sha…row…"