Chapter 125.1 Merfolk Shore
Just before time ran out, Wen Shi quickly returned the room to its original look. He only picked up the shredded report and the letter.
When everything was done, the black cat went to the washing machine with dirty clothes and rolled around twice. Then, it left through the front door.
Upon hearing the unit door open, several fierce dogs looked up. The meanest black dog still had bits of leftover meat between its teeth from earlier. In one of the dog bowls, Wen Shi spotted something like a human finger bone. Thinking about Lily’s missing class representative, his expression darkened instantly, and even the little bit of happiness he had felt earlier disappeared with the night breeze.
In instances, even a slight deviation could lead to complete annihilation to the bones.
“Be careful, then be even more careful.”
Wen Shi reminded himself not to walk on a tightrope but to secure multiple options. Keeping an escape route was the key to survival.
At the moment, these aggressive dogs didn’t concern him anymore.
After checking the principal’s residence, leaving was much simpler than entering. He didn’t have to go through the little flower garden by climbing through the window anymore. Even if his presence stirred up the dogs, Wen Shi could still make a timely getaway.
Maybe it was the principal’s scent rubbing off on him, or the black cat was just too fast, but when it darted out like an arrow, it didn’t set off any dog barks.
Before the effects of the transformation completely wore off, Wen Shi sprinted all the way. He tried to stick to the area with bushes as he passed by the school clinic. He hesitated briefly, making sure that the merfolk from earlier hadn’t returned, before continuing his run.
Not far away, the dormitory building’s main entrance was locked.
When using the transformation ability, other items could be temporarily stashed in the backpack. Wen Shi hid in a concealed spot and just as he took out his phone, he saw a text from Ji Yuanzhi sent ten minutes ago:
“Hurry back, there was an explosion near the lake. The dorm supervisor is conducting room checks one by one.”
Wen Shi quickly typed out a message: “Send someone to pick me up.”
After sending the message, he hurried back to the spot he had climbed down from the balcony earlier.
With only one dorm supervisor and a sequential room check taking some time, there was still a chance to make it back. Anxious, Wen Shi looked upward. On the third glance, a dark figure appeared in midair. The shadow flickered oddly in his pupils, before he could react, it vanished, and suddenly a person appeared on the ground.
It was Arlon who arrived. Given the possibility of the dorm supervisor checking the rooms anytime, he was the best choice to pick him up.
“Hey, Big Brother.” The little cat waved a paw.
Accurately spotting the black-as-silk cat in the night, Arlon crouched down, and scooped it up with one hand.
Compared to Song Yan’s weird mirror form, Arlon found the warm little cat much more endearing. It felt soft, almost like an unweaned kitten.
Wen Shi urged softly, “Big Brother, a bit faster.”
“We can make it.” Arlon sensed the dorm supervisor’s location with his psychic power and smiled. “She just reached the fifth floor.”
Before Wen Shi could even exhale in relief, his whole body lifted off the ground.
Arlon’s psychic power was like a flexible membrane, naturally fitting beside him, completely blocking the icy chill carried by the night breeze. It was the first time he truly experienced the sensation of flying over rooftops.
They smoothly reached the balcony of the dorm room. Wen Shi pointed out the location of Song Yan’s bed, and Arlon understood.
In the span of two seconds, the dorm room door was knocked. Wen Shi transformed back into his human form and opened the door in the darkness. He couldn’t clearly see Jian Qingrong’s expression, but he could sense his regret for not touching the cat.
With just a glance, Jian Qingrong obediently climbed onto the bed.
As the door opened, the dorm supervisor stuck her head in directly. Her flashlight illuminated her withered face as she asked ominously, “What are you lingering around for?”
Wen Shi smiled a little sheepishly, “Other roommates are pretty sound asleep.”
Just as the dorm supervisor was about to enter the room to inspect each bed, a gust of wind suddenly swept through, causing a momentary headache. It felt like there was sand in her eyes, making things appear blurry.
She rubbed her eyes forcefully, vaguely confirming that every bed was occupied, wanting to further double-check.
Wen Shi noticed the dorm supervisor’s discomfort and understood that Arlon had intervened secretly. He seized the opportunity to whisper, “I think I saw a flying bug get into your eye just now. It might be a good idea to wash it off.”
The dorm supervisor also felt increasingly uncomfortable as she rubbed her eyes. They became sore and itchy, so she ultimately decided to go to the bathroom. She left the dorm room with a harsh warning not to roam around randomly at night.
Wen Shi let out a sigh of relief and closed the door.
He took out a flashlight and asked Ji Yuanzhi, who had opened his eyes, “Are you okay?”
He was about to start retrieving data.
Ji Yuanzhi gave Wen Shi a deep look and only said, “Luis had it worse.”
Ji Yuanzhi didn’t want to mention what he had encountered during those fifteen minutes of being the world’s orphan.
Wen Shi hesitated for a moment and pressed, “Was the fatality rate high?”
He needed to consider this carefully, to see whether overcoming the negative effects of【Tail Fragment】 mainly depended on strength or intelligence, so that he could further determine what kind of abilities to offer his future teammates.
Setting aside the grim experiences of the first fourteen minutes, Ji Yuanzhi chose to share the least severe incident. “In the last minute, as I climbed back to the dorm room, I thought everything was over. When I was almost at the third floor, I encountered a player who had been thrown out of the window by a monster. I barely avoided getting hit.”
Seeing another survivor hanging outside, the monster wasn’t about to let them off easily. It immediately launched an indiscriminate attack.
While Ji Yuanzhi released an item to save the person, he had to deal with the monster as well. Just as the announcement for room checks came over the broadcast, he found a moment to send a text message to Wen Shi, urging him to come back quickly.
After listening to the other’s seamlessly connected series of events, Wen Shi gave a wry smile and said, “… You’ve been through a lot.”
The next ten minutes in the dorm room were quiet. After a while, Arlon spoke up, “The dorm supervisor went downstairs.”
He retracted his psychic power, half-closing his eyes, with a hint of weariness in his expression.
Keeping his psychic power active for too long consumed a lot of energy. Arlon didn’t even feel like moving. Eventually, he simply lay down on Song Yan’s bed and fell asleep.
Just before falling asleep, he forgot to remind Wen Shi about something related to Song Yan.
In reality, Wen Shi subconsciously still had concerns for the distant apostle. He didn’t forget to provide cover for the other person even during room inspections.
Ji Yuanzhi messaged Luis, letting him know that the dorm supervisor had left and he could come find them.
Luis arrived swiftly. When Wen Shi opened the door, he was slightly taken aback. Luis had a grimy face, hair standing up like it had been struck by lightning, and his clothes were tattered. Now that the data collection was complete, Wen Shi didn’t want to ask what had happened to him. He simply invited him in.
With no one asking, Luis was full of complaints that had no outlet. He felt a lump of frustration in his chest.
The earlier self-brainwashing-induced sense of admiration for Wen Shi’s daring solo venture was beginning to dissipate.
Luis decided not to hold back, ready to unleash his complaints about the negative effects of【Tail Fragment】. But just as he was about to speak up, Wen Shi dumped a pile of fragments onto the table.
Luis’s attention was successfully diverted. “What’s this?”
“Found in the principal’s residence,” Wen Shi explained. “To blend in, I wasted a powerful skill that could only be used once in a single encounter.”
There was no wastage. The skill itself was meant to serve the purpose of gathering information and passing through the checkpoint.
With Wen Shi’s explanation, Luis, who had been about to complain, felt awkward to continue. He started piecing the fragments together diligently.
The idea that the principal might be sick was Wen Shi’s speculation, but he didn’t have the patience to assemble the fragments. Luis felt a great sense of accomplishment as he pieced together a medical report, and during this period that Wen Shi began sharing other key information.
“The Merfolk King was split into four parts and sealed inside the academy. The principal knows the locations.”
While Luis was still working on the puzzle, he subconsciously wanted to ask about the Merfolk King. Ji Yuanzhi beat him to it, “The principal probably isn’t short on merfolk meat.”
Wen Shi produced the letter. “According to what’s written here, many residents who desire the Merfolk King’s meat are influenced by the merfolk’s pitiable thoughts. We don’t know how the principal managed to extract his heart back then.”
Ji Yuanzhi quickly skimmed through the contents of the letter. “There are answers here.”
“Hmm?”
Ji Yuanzhi spoke slowly, “Contamination.”
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