CH 90.2

TL: Hua

“Wow, it’s obviously only eight o’clock!”

“And it’s Monday! It’s such a cheat to come so early!”

A group of mermaids scattered in panic, whining and complaining.

“It’s already late, okay? It’s because your previous schedule of sleeping until nine o’clock was too relaxed.”

The wheelchair grunted and rolled as Ji Minjiang pushed Greni inward a little before closing the door, which left plenty of passage for the cold wind.

After very rudely pointing out the abnormal routine that this group of mermaids had adapted well to before, he then put on an expression that Greni had never seen before and announced in a calm tone: “Your exercise time this week should have been extended to two hours. Before taking leave, I also reminded Carrie to tell you this news on Friday, so I was surprised…”

His eyes shifted to Chen Ning, and the other mermaids also moved with his gaze.

Chen Ning, who instantly became the focus of the audience: “…”

I’m so unhappy; I know Jiang Jiang is a bad fish with bad taste!

Chen Ning, who had been in contact with Ji Mingjiang a lot these days and had seen through his true nature, thought with a fierce look on his face.

Whatever you are thinking in your heart is written on your face. It seems that the management of expressions will also be put on the agenda in the future…

Oh wait, no, he just wants to hone the character of the mermaid and exercise their body, so there’s no need to arrange such courses.

Silently pulling back his thoughts from running further and further away, Ji Mingjiang continued what he had not finished before: “So I’m surprised that it’s already 8:15, and Chen Ning is still the only one following my instructions?”

Chen Ning blinked after being praised, and his short tail flipped up and down happily under the water.

But the other mermaids who faced Ji Mingjiang’s calm but intimidating tone were not at all as relaxed as Chen Ning. They all secretly wanted to sink their bodies into the water but were blocked by Ji Mingjiang’s extremely oppressive gaze and didn’t dare act rashly.

Just when the atmosphere in the nursery became more and more depressing, making people afraid to express their anger, Ji Mingjiang took the lead to retract his eyes and push Greni towards the pool. His tone and expression changed very quickly, as if just now he wasn’t the one who made several mermaids tremble with fear. He said gently, “But today is Monday, and I can understand how you want to relax. Just make up for these fifteen minutes of exercise afterward. Now, let’s meet your new friend.”

He patted the handle of the wheelchair, signaling for them to turn their attention from him to Greni.

These words not only brought the little mermaids who were frightened by him back to their senses but also pulled Greni, who had never seen Ji Mingjiang like this, from the shock. He looked at the group of fish in front of him who were quite a bit smaller than him, and a sudden wave of loss arose.

This… this is too small!

“Hello everyone, my name is Greni. From now on…”

Before he finished speaking, the little mermaids, who had looked confused just now, all came together because they heard Ji Mingjiang say that this was their next companion and chirped to interrupt Greni’s unfinished words.

“Please give me more advice in the future, ok? I just heard this word from Sister Lili yesterday!”

“Ah, do you want to live with us from now on?”

“Is Greni also a mermaid? I didn’t even feel it before; you look like such a big one; you feel so much bigger than us!”

“Will I be able to grow this big in the future?”

“That’s right. Jiang Jiang is also very tall.”

“…”

“Greni, why are you sitting on it? Since you are going to live with us from now on, come down and play with us… ah no, you are exercising with us!”

After glancing at Ji Mingjiang’s expression, the little mermaid who spoke last quickly changed his words, patted the empty water, and invited him warmly.

“I……”

Most of his previous companions who were not sent to the laboratory have become numb to the environment, while most of his group who were sent to the laboratory have lost the energy to talk and laugh due to the torture of drugs.

After waking up in the palace, neither the doctor who came to examine him nor Ji Mingjiang and others had such an out-of-the-box personality.

Therefore, it can be said that the current moment is a situation Greni has never encountered or imagined: being surrounded by a group of rosy-faced, lively, and cheerful little guys pulling his trouser legs…

His ears gradually turned red, and his lips opened and closed for a long time without saying a word.

How do I deal with this situation? !

Greni screamed internally.

“Alright, alright.” Ji Mingjiang, who raised his head again after replying to Clarice’s message, finally received Greni’s look for help and noticed the confusion on his face. Ji Mingjiang suppressed the laughter in his throat before stepping forward. After a few steps, he complained slightly: “Why haven’t I seen you guys so enthusiastic about me before?”

“…” Several mermaids looked at him instantly, their eyes full of accusations, as if to say, “You really don’t know?”

“Hahahahaha.” Ji Mingjiang finally couldn’t hold back his laughter and then said to the several mermaids in front of him, “Greni has an injury on his leg, so he won’t do his usual exercises with you. Other than that, if there’s anything else you want to know, you can ask yourself. I’m going to a meeting, so work hard on your workouts for the new week.”

“Okay, Jiang Jiang, go quickly!”

Ji Mingjiang glanced at Mai Xiwei, whose eyes were sparkling and his lips were grinning up to the sky. How could he not see what this mermaid, who was accustomed to opportunistic fishing, was thinking? He immediately laughed, turned to Greni, and said sincerely, “As for the meeting… I have to trouble Greni to help me supervise these little guys. They must exercise for a sufficient amount of time before proceeding to the next task.”

“I know.” After receiving the accusing looks from the mermaids in front of him as if they had been betrayed, Greni lost his nervousness and looked back very naturally. He leaned down, extended his hand, and said with a smile on his face, “Word hard.”

“Snapped!”

Mai Xiwei puffed up half of his face and swung his short tail on the water, but in the end, he was reluctant to let this big new friend feel excluded on the first day, so he stretched out his hand the same way and slapped it with great force.

“I know, I won’t be lazy!”

***

Grepa has taken leave for more than a week. He is now sitting in a dark room with the curtains drawn, and he has just sent his boss a leave application for today.

Since receiving the news from Andrew that day, he has focused his main energy on searching for the mermaid who might leak Federation secrets. Of course, he also had to complete the first task he received, which was to capture Ji Mingjiang and Kiro Clarice and send them to the Federation.

The two missions, which were all about making small moves within the Empire, kept him extremely busy. Naturally, at this time, he could no longer take care of his “proper” work here.

But thanks to the image of a model worker he had established through hard work in the past, although there were endless leave requests, they were approved quickly every time, and today was no exception.

Not long after the message was sent, the other party’s reply came quickly.

“Shi Yi: Are you still not feeling better? Grepa, if it’s really that serious, then I suggest you try another hospital. There are many hospitals on some planets with distinctive characteristics that are worth a try. The ones on the Capital Star don’t necessarily mean they’re the best. Maybe your problem is not something Capital Star Hospital is good at.”

“Shi Yi: I have approved your leave application. Just rest and recuperate. The above suggestions are purely from my personal perspective. I don’t mean to urge you to recover quickly and come back to work. Well, I have to say, after you’re gone, no one else’s work efficiency can match yours, so from the perspective of a boss, I wish you get well soon.”

“…”

In the dimly lit room, the constantly flickering light brain screen became the only light source in the room, but it soon disappeared.

Gripa looked at the string of messages sent by Shi Yi in silence. He didn’t know what to reply back for a while, so he had to get out of bed and turn on the light beside the door frame. The bright light was more motivating than the dark environment. Positive emotions, he thought.

Then he still doesn’t know what to say.

Damn it, if you don’t know what to say, then you don’t. If someone else saw these messages, they would probably submit their resignation that day because they foresee an exploited future.

Grepa thought expressionlessly.

Then he ground himself a cup of coffee.

The coffee without adding anything was bitter in the mouth, but Grepa took advantage of this irritability to quickly type a few words on the light brain, then took off the light brain that was beeping again from his wrist and threw it on the messy bed.

He brought the coffee to his study room and started working on two jobs. One device was used to watch Ji Mingjiang’s regular live broadcast, and the other device was used to organize and reply to the messages sent back by his subordinates.

“Report, E249 no discovery.”

“Report, C350 no discovery.”

“Report,…no discovery.”

Apart from the first day, when the remains of a starship bearing the imprint of the auction venue and a streak of blood were found on the G145 star, close to the Federation, the investigative search after that could be described as fruitless.

A seriously injured mermaid disappeared completely, as if it had evaporated from the world.

“A bunch of trash.”

Grepa’s face became more and more irritable. After he rubbed his already messy hair even more messily, he cursed in a low voice.

Just as he was about to arrange some more tasks, a name mentioned by Ji Mingjiang in the live broadcast room next to him made him turn his head instantly, his eyes fixed on that familiar figure.

“…This is Greni, a mermaid we rescued by chance before. His tail was slightly injured, so he was first placed in the breeding room that I’m mainly responsible for…”

Grepa quickly retrieved the documents he had received.

The names match. Hair color and eye color match. The looks match up. Tail injury… His eyes quickly slid down to the bottom of the file, which also matched.

Great, I finally found you.

The two people they wanted to capture alive and kill were together.

Grepa picked up the communicator he used to communicate with Andrew and reported his findings.

“If you want to synchronize the two plans, please reply as soon as possible.”

“Didi, sending is completed.”