Chapter 77 - The Institute (18)

The tail fin flicked powerfully from between his legs as it traversed the shallow waters,

The merman carried a sort of hunter-like prowess and contained within it, was a type of tyrannical curiosity. Certain mechanisms seemed to have been automatically triggered when they appeared at the top of the hatch and with a slight nudge of it's tail, he was released.

The players below only saw a long, pale hand emerge from the dark pool, grasping the sides of the special glass that made up the composition of the capsule and leaving trailing wet streaks along the clear glass - That hand was really very beautiful, with pale skin, slender fingers, and wrists that could easily be held in one grasp, a fragile and seductive type of beauty. The damp skin seemed to become luminous, showing a jade-like texture under the light-

But that brief feeling of obsession was soon erased like a layer of blurry film covering their hearts.

His hand was quickly joined by another and with slender muscles bulging slightly from the force, Chu Yi dragged himself from the murky waters, wet, long hair sticking to his ghastly pale face like black ink on a blank canvas.

The white shirt he wore clung to his body, faintly revealing the translucent skin that showed through like precious jade beneath the wet cloth, outlining his slender, well-structured figure.

Water ran along the cold lines of his arms as it left wet trails from his body to the rippling water beneath.

Chu Yi raised his hand to push back the hair that stuck closely to his face, and and then looked down.

In the dark underground room, the players appeared like wandering meerkats- wide, illuminated eyes reflecting Chu Yi's emerging body. They had gathered closer at some point, a rather wide chasm appearing between them and the NPC's. Besides that, Chu Yi could still see the black tube that ran from the machines, into the darkness. Undoubtedly if he followed the pipe, he would eventually find the source of whatever had tyrannically drained the blood from his veins-

The blood on the back of his hand hadn't stopped running completely, and as it dripped in tendrils down his fingers, staining the tender skin a bright red- he could feel a kind of stinging pain that constantly hammered at his nerves, numbing his brain and tried to prevent him from thinking. Chu Yi stretched out his unpunctured hand, reached behind, pulled a hair band out and tied the long hair that framed his face to the back of his head, fully revealing the sharp lines of his face.

Splash..

Chu Yi gradually reduced the smile on his lips, his red eyes were dark and cruel, deep and hot, tumbling like molten magma! Clamoring with amazing desire to pursue excitement and victory! But there was also a kind of indecision and hidden complexity flowing quietly in his eyes like cold hooks or sharp knives, fixedly staring at the disappearing merman below him——

"Chu Yi?" The unique gentle voice that belonged Tang Shun sounded in his ears, reminding Chu Yi of where he was right now. So with one final effort, he quickly moved away from the capsule and climbed down the stairs posted against the glass, once again merging into the crowd under the scrutinizing gazes of the players around him.

Tang Shun frowned faintly, for some reason an unpleasant taste appeared in his heart when he noticed the gazes that lingered a tad longer on the completely soaked man before him,

Without much thought, Tang Shun stretched out his hand to pull the coat that hung from his shoulders, and raised it forcefully. The black coat falling like huge spreading wings, covering the semi-revealed skin instantly, 

Chu Yi looked at him with one brow raised but nevertheless did not refuse the coat, the residual water dripping from his body had quickly dried, leaving him sticky and uncomfortable, and the sudden cold wind assaulting him in the damp underground cellar made his face white along with the residual blood loss.

Within a second of him reaching back to the ground, he was surrounded by nurses. Fixedly, he swept their gloomy and indifferent faces as if he could pry the hidden monsters from underneath those shells, a sudden terrible violence surged under his eyes, and deep darkness brewing in the depths of his pupils,

But in the end he didn't act.

Instead he watched coldly as one of the nurses brought out a stamp and a needle. His left hand was unceremoniously marked with a bright red stamp, however it wasn't eligible but judging from the looks of it, it wasn't a cursory thing.

Then after a perfunctory congratulations, another nurse rose the needle high into the air!

Before it fell, inexplicably Chu Yi was reminded of the used needles scattered on the floor of every room in this building but before he could even figure the connection between them- the sharp, needle shining with a cold, silver light plunged into his skin and punctured a shallow dent into his body! The nurse pinpointed the angle and applied heavy force--

"Ka".

The small, crisp sound was particularly abrupt in the silent cellar

The needle broke.

Everyone froze, even Chu Yi himself felt a little unexpected at this turn of events, 

Chu Yi looked down at his arms with some thought 'when exactly had his skin become so thick'

The nurse touched the seemingly soft skin of the man before her with her thumb in some disbelief- the shallow white mark against was rubbed off, and his arm was left entirely intact.

How could this be possible?

She frowned, took another needle that was thicker from the next nurse and pierced it towards the same place——

"Ka". The needle broke again on the man's skin.

This was really weird! 

A small buzz erupted from the residents in the cellar, as they looked towards the scene before them with more confusion than fear.

The nurses already corpse-like face turned even more ghostly and without a good face, she pulled out the last needle that was significantly thicker than the rest and pierced it unrelentingly towards the same spot once again! 

This time it succeeded.

The needle finally penetrated Chu Yi's skin smoothly, and scarlet blood slowly poured out into the needle tube. When the tiny valve was finally filled, the nurse pulled the needle from his arm and placed it into a locked metal box on the side with a look of absolute care.

Chu Yi honestly rolled down his sleeves and with a thoughtful face moved away from the nurses, this was obviously a paradox. His blood was drawn in large volumes carelessly at the top of platform, however now a millimeter sized pint of blood was treated with almost cautious respect.

And in such a situation, any contradiction usually spelled something dangerous.

"Who's next, Obedient resid-"

"I'll go !"

The voice that cut in was obviously impatient and eager and when the residents parted like a red sea, it revealed a short, stout player with an almost invisible sneer on his lips, crossing his arms; as the source.

He seemed to understand the questions being asked in everyone's minds and with pointed eyes directed at Chu Yi, he directly lashed out unprovoked-

"I don't believe that anyone who looks so eager for death, doesn't know anything. Isn't it obvious that the merman in the tank is harmless, Aren't you just deliberately posturing in order to gatekeep the information from us. Who in their right mind would provoke a beast unless they know it won't do anything! And rushing to be the scapegoat? Who are you trying to fool."

"Maybe there is some kind of hidden reward for interacting first. Isn't the whole compatibility test just for this? We have to overcome our fear and embrace the 'animals'."

Some people looked between the two of them thoughtfully and the man became increasingly convinced of his own logic the more he talked.

The triumphant feeling of breaking into someone's well kept secret basked his face in a cocky light.

Especially when Chu Yi did not speak to deny it or even defend himself, as if he had been angered into silence; the man became absolutely sure of himself and with a successful smirk, he waddled to the capsule under the players watchful gazes, up the ladder and as if trying to prove a point, he pulled the lever immediately after his hands were locked in place!

He fell into the grim pool with a loud splash!

The stout man was called Ge Xiu and he had experienced three ruthless copies before this that relied on his wits to survive till the end therefore he was very confident in his own observational abilities.

When he saw how eager Chu Yi was at the beginning and then recognized the subsequent bizarre actions performed by him, he was instantly assaulted with a tingling sense of suspicion. And Chu Yi's reaction just now, cemented his conjecture in stone.

The man smirked,

It seems even the gods were on his side!

He took his time to look around leisurely, the water in front of him was rippling, and the scenery outside the capsule was blurred and deformed due to the sudden darkness. Not far away he could hear the rattling of chains it seemed but the merman didn't seem to be chained down. The water itself was murky and slightly filthy, as there was no purifier to ensure that the flow of the water in the capsule and the thoroughness of the water quality.

He spotted the merman approaching quietly in the water and he spread his arms wide open in anticipation! Even a little lust for the beautiful creature, 

Then he paused-

The merman swam slowly, visage resembling an underwater eel, it's long black hair spread out behind it, it's chest and lower abdomen contracting rhythmically with the swing of his tail fin as it approached the prey that strayed into its territory. The beautiful lines of muscles were looming, and the face that was enlarged in Ge Xiu's line of sight was harrowing-

There was a sense of dizziness as if looking directly at flowers growing in a mass grave , as if one's own sensory organs could not bear such a deadly weight of beauty!

Something's wrong!

Very wrong!

Ge Xiu's heart was shocked, and he subconsciously made to back away!

However, before he could react, the merman rapidly approached him, its leisurely pace disappearing! It latched onto him, curling around his body like a snake, arms raising like steel bars to circle around his shoulders!

He couldn't struggle!

In the dim, blurry light, the players could only see the long streamlined tail of the merman coil around the trashing body of the adult man and suffocating him to death in an underwater grave! Ghostly and terrible like a shadow from hell!

Then fanged maws opened to the extreme and ripped into the side of his neck! Those ghostly blue eyes had formed into hungry slits! Deep in the abyss-like pupils, wild madness and excitement burned, as if this was the moment it had been waiting for!

Ahhhhhhh!

NO! NO! NO!

It ripped the piece of meat from the man's neck and chewed, hungrily swallowing the flesh in it's mouth, the red blood dispersing like dark tendrils in the turbid waves!

Bloody and violent!

When the merman swallowed that piece of bloody flesh, it seemed to grow greedier! It flicked its tail, torpedo like waves barreling around him, opened its blood-stained mouth, and rushed down again, fiercely tearing off the second piece of meat- chewing, swallowing, devouring, repeat- power rushing through its body and vessels at the long lost taste of blood! 

Even when the screams of its victims slowly quieted into nothing, the merman never stopped it's bloody carnage, ripping into the flesh and sucking on the blood left on the bones, webbed hands fully coated in scarlet red blood, sharp nails tearing open Ge Xiu's stomach, as it sifted through his organs as if picking out the rarest delicacies!

Thr players took in a sharp intake of breath as they watched the blood colour the capsule a dirty brown!

This was an underwater prison! 

Splash..

Chu Yi never once looked up, the deep hole on the back of his hand had been properly treated, a snow-white gauze tightly wrapped around it, and the remaining blood stains having long been wiped away.

He twisted his fingers together.

The soft touch of the mermaid's tongue seemed to linger on the cold surface of his skin, moist and bitter, winding slowly like a snake, with a sense of distance and danger from a chase, it was almost like a dance of death playing around at his fingertips.

His hand gradually clenched, as if to hold something tightly in his palms, red blood stains slowly trickled into the gauze, and it was smudged it a scarlet red little by little.

The game continues.