CH 43

TL: Hua

“Lin Nan? Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

Hearing this name, Leiden gave Ji Mingjiang a surprised look.

“He is Lin Haoshen’s son. Most of his family members work in the military. What’s wrong?”

Family been in the army for generations? No wonder…

“Nothing; I met him in the game.”

Ji Mingjiang shook his head and entered the light brain number that Lin Nan had forced him to remember.

The avatar that appeared on the screen in front of him immediately made Ji Mingjiang’s forehead twitch.

A black cat with a rose in its mouth looked askance at him off the screen and raised its chin very arrogantly.

This is actually a dynamic avatar!

But it really fits his impression of Lin Nan, just like a cat with an arrogant and confident appearance.

But.

“His bestial mutation direction is a cat?”

After looking at the avatar, Ji Mingjiang looked at Clarice curiously and asked.

“…Why do you think I know about such things?”

Hearing this question, Leiden lowered his head and helplessly looked into Ji Mingjiang’s trusting eyes.

“However, if I have to say it, the few people I know in the Lin family have indeed mutated in the direction of cats.”

After thinking for a while, he gave an example: “For example, Lin Feng’s mutation direction is the forest cat.”

“Lin Feng?” That doctor who was kind to him but directly swung the medical kit at Clarice’s head?

Ji Mingjiang didn’t know whether he should be shocked that Lin Feng is also from the Lin family or that Lin Feng’s temper turned out to be mutated in the direction of the forest cat.

As if he could see what Ji Mingjiang was thinking at this time, Leiden explained: “Didn’t I say that he entered the military academy in the same class as me? Training from a young age, entering the military academy, then the army, and then stationed in the marginal star while leaving powerful individuals in the capital star to stabilize the situation, this is basically the tradition of the Lin family.”

And then there is Lin Feng, an alternative.

Speaking of this, Leiden gave a gloating smile. Every time Mr. Lin saw him, he would scold Lin Feng fiercely in front of him.

Hearing him say so, Ji Mingjiang recalled the image of Lin Nan in holographic space. His face should not have been adjusted, and indeed, one can see a few similarities with Lin Feng.

At this moment, his friend’s request was accepted, and the other party sent a message immediately.

“What’s wrong with the cat: Classmate, when you’re online next time, can you call me?”

“Yuanquanquanquan: ?”

“What’s wrong with the cat: Ha, my roommate doesn’t believe that someone can smash an armed helicopter with a B-level mecha; I want him to be hammered by you.”

“…”

They are really united and loving military students.

Ji Mingjiang speechlessly said, “Okay.” He could even hear Clarice’s laughter next to him!

“How come you encounter this kind of thing that ordinary people don’t encounter every time when you play games.”

Hearing this, Ji Mingjiang swayed his tail in the water, raised his eyebrows, and said, “Maybe it’s because I’m not human.”

However, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to let Lin Feng know that the feline lost to a fish or something…

Well, he could even foresee Lin Feng’s crumbling expression.

In the next few days, Ji Mingjiang’s life was to go to the study with Clarice to secretly copy the mental power of the several patriarchs, find time to video call Carrie after lunch break or dinner, and spend the rest of the time in the holographic space to brush up on his ranking and try other games.

It is worth mentioning that, probably because he has been in a state of being full recently, his body shape is getting closer and closer to what he looked like in the underwater world. This has led to a somewhat overly dramatic scene one day when communicating with Carrie.

At that time, in order to show that he was living a good life here with Clarice and did not encounter any abuse or oppression that Carrie was worried about, he swam around the range of images that the light brain could capture.

Then, when he returned to the video, instead of seeing a reassuring look on Carrie’s face, there was a bit of hesitation.

“Lance, can I have a few words with His Majesty Clarice?”

Hearing that Carrie was nervous and stumbling out this request, although Ji Mingjiang felt a little strange in his heart, he hooked Clarice’s calf with a fishtail where Carrie could not see it and pulled him toward himself.

A pair of large, bony hands fell from above his head and picked up the light brain that had been placed on the ground. Ji Mingjiang raised his head to look at Clarice’s wrists, which were tightly covered by pajamas, and his tail lightly flicked on the surface of the water.

Although Clarice took a few steps to the side at Carrie’s request, his good hearing still allowed Ji Mingjiang to capture the sound coming from the light brain.

“Your Majesty…” Except for the day when Ji Mingjiang was sent away, this was the first time she faced Clarice directly. She was obviously a little cautious, but she still summoned up the courage to say, “I know the conditions in the palace are good, but Lance’s daily meal intake should be arranged according to the regulations stipulated in the mermaid manual.”

Ji Mingjiang’s ear fins moved. How should he feel about those words…

“Hm?”

Leiden made a puzzled sound. Carrie, who mistakenly thought that he was feeling impatient, sped up her speech: “Because I just saw that Little Lance’s tail seems to be much fatter than before, which may not be very healthy for his body. That’s why I made this proposal. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you!”

“It’s okay; you are right to worry.”

Noticing that the mermaid not far away froze for a moment and that his tail suddenly lost its vitality and sank slowly into the water, Leiden chuckled and hung up the communication under the confused eyes on the other side.

As soon as he walked to the edge of the pool, Ji Mingjiang, who looked like he had lost all purpose in life, plunged into the water with a fierce thrust. When he appeared again, he reached the opposite edge of the pool. He cautiously raised his tail and looked up and down. After a while, he looked at Clarice with his arms folded.

“Don’t listen to Carrie’s nonsense. My body is just growing.”

Ji Mingjiang, who is 26 years old in mental age, said these words without changing his face.

“Then tomorrow—no, I don’t have time tomorrow. Let Lin Feng come over to check your body data the day after tomorrow. I also feel that you seem to have grown a little longer these days.”

“…”

“If you don’t know how to use adjectives, don’t use them!”

Flicking his tail angrily, Ji Mingjiang regretfully saw that Clarice had taken a step back and dodged the splashing water towards him.

In the afternoon of the next day, after seeing the last patriarch of the Florite family leave the study room, Ji Mingjiang emerged from the water with some exhaustion and handed the container in his hand to Clarice.

This last patriarch mutated in the direction of the golden python, which was already very large. After living a comfortable life in his spiritual sea, the length was more than two or three times that of the normal golden python. Replicating this kind of mental power was exhausting.

“Let’s go to the archives after dinner tonight.”

Facing Clarice’s concerned eyes, Ji Mingjiang said.

In fact, the palace at night is not very brightly lit. Except for the main corridors that are lit, there are only dots of ground lamps emitting faint light in other places beside the small road outside.

The wind in the late autumn night was still a bit cool. Although Ji Mingjiang said many times that he was very healthy and would never get sick just because of a little wind, Leiden still covered him with a coat regardless of his objections.

“Lin Feng will come to check you up tomorrow.” On the dim path, Leiden pushed away the sika deer with his legs, looked down at Ji Mingjiang, who was wrapped in a military uniform in his arms, and said in a faint voice, “If you catch a cold, will he hit you with the medical kit or me?”

Probably remembering the scene where Ji Mingjiang bravely exposed himself last time, he paused and added, “Maybe none of us can escape.”

“…”

All right, I believe you.

Ji Mingjiang silently pulled up Clarice’s jacket, covering his shoulders and arms that were still exposed in the cool breeze just now.

“Why take this path?” Watching Clarice trample the branches, walk on dead leaves, and occasionally have to free a hand to brush away the branches of trees that nearly cut the two of them, Ji Mingjiang moved his tail a little stiffly and couldn’t help asking.

Is the road leading to the archives this sloppy? He doesn’t believe it.

“We will bump into guards assigned to those roads if we go through the normal passage.”

“Bump into? But you’re the emperor…huh?” At this point, Ji Mingjiang froze for a moment and said in an exasperated voice, “Spy?”

Leiden nodded.

Ji Mingjiang stared at him with wide eyes. “You know who the spies are, but you haven’t cleared them out yet?”

It shouldn’t be. He clearly remembered that Clarice was a very powerful emperor, so why bear such humiliation?

Leiden lowered his head to look at Ji Mingjiang’s eyes, which were widening in surprise. The bright moonlight happened to pass through the layers of leaves and fall to the corners of those eyes, making them clearer.

The fingers holding the fishtail moved a few times as he explained, “Those guards have been in the palace for a long time and are only responsible for the path leading to the archives. When my parents were still alive, they specifically told me not to remove these people in the future.”

Having said that, his eyes darkened for a moment.

Except for the Lavender, who abides by the rule, almost every other noble family has been involved.

The Orfield family, Leonardo’s family, Ethan’s family, Florite’s family, and the Cod family—he had almost killed the entire family before.

After listening to his explanation, Ji Mingjiang looked thoughtfully at the archives that had already been outlined in the distance and said, “So, there must be some secrets that have been hidden for centuries in the archives room!”

Hearing Ji Mingjiang’s confident and boastful tone, most of the gloom in Leiden’s eyes dissipated. The corners of his mouth slightly curled up, and he quickened his pace towards the archives room, holding the really heavy fish.

Ji Mingjiang is only 16 years old. If it’s found out that the underage mermaid is sleep deprived, he will definitely be scolded by that fellow Lin Feng tomorrow!

“We’re here.”

Leiden didn’t go through the main entrance but came directly to the back of the archives. He kicked a brick that was no different from the surrounding ones, and it moved backward into the wrong position. Then a secret door that could accommodate one person appeared.

The passage inside is quite spacious, with a row of small light bulbs installed above. After passing through this passage and turning a corner, a silver-white door made of an unknown material with a heavy touch of technology appeared in front of them.

There was a sensor-like screen beside the door. Without waiting for Clarice to remind him, Ji Mingjiang consciously placed his tail around his slender waist and put his hands on Clarice’s shoulders in perfect coordination.

Feeling the pull from his waist, the corner of Leiden’s lip twitched, and he quickly took out the five storage containers from the space button.

Simultaneously pressing the release button with both hands, five invisible waves emanated from his hands. Leiden frowned slightly. The overly mixed mental power seemed to stimulate the black dragon in his spiritual sea that had been lazily lying on the ground for four or five days, causing it to turn over somewhat restlessly.

Seeing this, Ji Mingjiang, who had been observing him, quickly released a trace of his mental power. Clarice’s mental barrier did not block this familiar aura but let this mental power, like water vapor, enter the spiritual sea.

“Slap.”

The mental power that turned into water was directly aimed at the target and pounced on the head of the black dragon that had just spread its wings and was about to cause damage.

The black dragon just unfolded its wings and flopped back to the ground. A comfortable snoring sound came from the depths of its throat, and the restless spiritual sea soon calmed down.

Seeing that Clarice’s expression had eased a lot, Ji Mingjiang looked away. When the sensor’s original flashing red light went out and the green light came on, the door of the dark room smoothly opened.

but……

“This dark room of yours is not dark.”

Looking at the walls inside that were also made of silver-white materials and the lights above that turned on after sensing someone, Ji Mingjiang felt that all his fantasies about the darkroom of the palace were shattered at this moment.

Not even a crumb is left.

“How else can you find information if the dark room is really that dark?” Leiden glanced at the suddenly downcast mermaid, his expression puzzled.

This is also his first time visiting this place, so he’s not sure why it’s called a dark room.

After looking around, Leiden put the mermaid on the table. The large military jacket slipped down as the mermaid sat up, and he casually folded it up and put it on the crook of his arm.

Ji Mingjiang’s fish tail, which was originally hidden under the water most of the time, is even more eye-catching under the bright light at this moment. The light blue tail fin draws light arcs in midair. Leiden moved his gaze away and warned the dishonest Ji Mingjiang, “You sit here. I’ll go get the files that might be useful.”

After walking two steps, he looked back at Ji Mingjiang worriedly, focusing on his tail.

Under Ji Mingjiang’s puzzled eyes, Leiden said, “There will be an inspection tomorrow; at the very least, don’t hurt your tail today.”

Watching Clarice depart, Ji Mingjiang took out his light brain and made another note about his boss.

“Star calendar 3538, October 11th. Clarice is suspecting that I’m hopping around with my tail again. Sooner or later, I will let the black dragon in his spiritual sea walk with the tip of its wings. Just wait and see!!!”

Ten minutes later, Ji Mingjiang looked up to the front. Clarice walked out with a thin document in his hand. His complexion was not very good, and even his eyes were a bit evasive when he saw himself.

“What’s the matter?” Ji Mingjiang took the document he handed over and asked worriedly instead of opening it immediately.

Did his spiritual sea begin to riot again? Hasn’t it been appeased just now?

“I’m fine. You can read the file first.” After reading it, you may want to whip me to death with your tail…

Recalling the records he had read just now, while feeling even more disgusted toward those families and the Orfield family, Leiden also felt very complicated about his ancestors.

Although it was a forced action, the fact that the royal family colluded with those nobles, chose to hide the true suffering of the mermaid clan, and sealed this bloody historical record in a dark room that almost no one would open, still stands.

If he thinks so himself, it’s almost unimaginable what Ji Mingjiang, who is also a mermaid, thinks of the royal family.

However, nearly ten minutes passed, and Ji Mingjiang still didn’t speak. The shining fish tail was still wagging happily.

Leiden finally couldn’t bear it any longer. How could it take so long to read these two pages of records? !

“What are your thoughts?”

After walking a few steps, Clarice felt that Ji Mingjiang wasn’t fully focused on the documents in his hand.

Ji Mingjiang, who didn’t realize that his face was a little irritable and that his silver-white hair swayed with his movements, raised his head to look at Clarice.

Regarding this document, perhaps because Ji Mingjiang is still an individual person deep down and he obtained the identity of a mermaid halfway through, apart from feeling that those big families are really rotten to the core, he doesn’t have much dislike for the royal family.

After all, despite the combined threat of the five families, they managed to reserve a place for the surviving mermaid cubs to breathe. In his opinion, this was well done.

So what he cares more about at this time is actually…

“I just remembered my live broadcast plan.” Ji Mingjiang’s eyes showed a hint of joy, like watching a good show, as he looked at Clarice’s rare puzzled expression.

“Say, after my live broadcast starts, won’t those old things be angered to death before my live broadcast room?”

The author has something to say:

Jiang Jiang: Oops, I’m so sorry for disrupting your plans that have lasted for hundreds of thousands of years so easily!