Chapter 2: Poaching

Chapter 2: Poaching

A sudden gunshot rang out, and the three men on the poaching vessel instinctively ducked for cover.

The research vessel fired a warning shot, its two deck guns slowly calibrating and aiming at them—two cannons were more than enough to sink their small boat.

"Damn it! How did those marine cops get here so fast this time?" the rainbow-haired man barked, gesturing to the stubbly man closest to the cabin door. "Forget about him! Go start the boat, let's get out of here!"

The stubbly man released Liu Hai, crawled a short distance, then staggered to his feet and ran toward the wheelhouse.

"They're not marine cops!" The blond runt made out the flag on the ship, his expression clouding over. "That flag... It's Siren Biotech Company!"

"Not marine cops?" The rainbow-haired man risked a glance over the railing. "Then we don’t need to run?"

"Are you an idiot?!" The blond runt’s face turned ashen. "Siren Company is way scarier than the Coast Guard!"

"The police follow the law, but Siren wouldn’t hesitate to sink us..."

*Bang!* Another gunshot. The captain standing at the bow raised a megaphone: "Attention, poachers! Hand over your catch, and we’ll let you go! The Coast Guard will arrive in twelve minutes—you still have time!"

The rainbow-haired man hesitated for a moment, glancing at the blond runt. "Hey, maybe we should—"

"Are you kidding me?!" the blond runt snarled. "We worked so hard to haul this thing up!"

"I’m not saying we give it to them for free!" the rainbow-haired man shot back. "We can make a deal, sell it to them cheap! Siren’s got money to burn—I read they dump enough cash into the ocean every year to keep me living in luxury for lifetimes!"

The blond runt’s expression flickered before he suddenly turned and yelled toward the cabin, "Why isn’t it starting yet?!"

"Damn it!" The stubbly man stumbled out of the cabin. "The engine’s dead! Those bastards must’ve messed with our hull! What kind of research ship is this—a pirate ship?!"

"They’re boarding us! How are they so fast?!" The rainbow-haired man white-knuckled the rail. "Hey! What do we do?!"

The blond runt made a snap decision. He took off his jacket and tossed it over Liu Hai’s tail, signaling the others to do the same. "Hey, take off your clothes too—cover him up!"

By then, the crew had already boarded the poaching vessel, guns trained on them. "Don’t move! Hands up!"

"Yes, sir!" The blond runt pasted on a grin and immediately raised his hands. "As you can see, we’re unarmed."

The rainbow-haired man gaped at him. "Huh?"

The whiplash from his act was staggering.

The blond runt’s smile didn’t waver as he kicked the rainbow-haired man, signaling him to comply. The two of them hastily raised their hands.

"Misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding," the blond runt said glibly. "We haven’t even started yet! No catches at all!"

He made sure they got a look at Liu Hai lying on the deck. "This guy’s our buddy—we just had a little fight. You’re not gonna interfere in our crew beef, are you?"

"Buddy? He doesn’t look anything like you." A deckhand cautiously poked Liu Hai with the barrel of his gun. The unconscious seal spirit jerked irritably in his sleep.

"Can’t judge a book by its cover, officer," the blond runt smirked. "If it weren’t for his face, why would we bring this deadweight aboard?"

"Look at him..." He flipped back the clothes covering Liu Hai slightly. "A loser obsessed with body mods, turning his own body into this mess. If we hadn’t taken pity on him, what use would he be? If your company wants him, give me 200 credits, and he’s yours."

"Hey!" The rainbow-haired man’s expression darkened, but the blond runt shot him a look to shut him up.

"Don’t play the hero now—what’s he even good for?" The blond runt put on a show of irritation. "Bringing him aboard was the dumbest decision we ever made! All he cares about is scraping together money for more animal mods!"

The rainbow-haired man stammered, opening and closing his mouth before falling silent.

"Don’t be like that," the stubbly man piped up, playing along. "We’ve been through a lot together. Selling him for 200 credits is a bit..."

"Shut up!" The deckhand frowned and crouched to examine Liu Hai.

In this era, most species from ancient Earth had already gone extinct, especially in the once-polluted oceans, where the original ecosystem had been nearly obliterated, leaving only mutated, monstrous freaks.

As a result, people now fetishized pre-extinction creatures the way ancient Earthlings had once been dinosaur fanboys.

With gene technology now highly advanced, biologists had begun attempting species restoration through genetic reconstruction. Meanwhile, in the private sector...

Body mod trendies had even started modifying their own bodies for fun.

Rocking a pair of fluffy ears, a forked tongue... or casually revealing a patch of scaly skin on their neck—these were the latest trends.

Occasionally, there were also those who took it too far, losing their minds in an attempt to fully transform themselves into prehistoric creatures.

The deckhand’s brow furrowed slightly, looking sadly at the young man with such a handsome face for being one of those freaks.

The blond runt’s heart raced, but his expression gave nothing away. He knew all too well that Siren Company’s research vessels were no easier to deal with than military ships. Once these busybodies set their sights on you, jail time was inevitable.

But whether by misfortune or luck, they’d had no other catches before finding Liu Hai.

Without evidence, the Coast Guard couldn’t do much to them.

So, in an instant, he’d cooked up a brilliant plan.

No one but them knew this fish-bottomed creature was their score from the ancient sea. Maybe they could fool Siren Company—and the Coast Guard too...

The deckhand gave Liu Hai a cursory check before standing up, his face stern. "Explain yourselves to the Coast Guard when they get here."

He mumbled, "Looks like just an internal squabble, no life-threatening injuries..."

A glint flashed in the blond runt’s eyes—he’d bought it.

He grinned obsequiously. "Yes, sir—"

"Wait."

The situation abruptly shifted.

The armed crew members stepped aside, making way for a young man in a white lab coat—ice-cold, strikingly handsome.

If not for the crew addressing him as "Dr. Jiang Xun," the blond runt might’ve mistaken him for a movie star under Siren’s entertainment wing.

Jiang Xun didn’t even glance at them, kneeling beside Liu Hai and setting down a med-scanner.

"They actually boarded?" Xiao Jin clutched a crowbar, nervously scanning the deck. "These are the poachers? Just these three stooges?"

A Yu tilted his head slightly. "...You’re saying that right in front of them?"

Xiao Jin clapped a hand over her mouth, peeking at them sheepishly. "Uh... sorry?"

"Hey, boss, what are you doing?"

Seeing Jiang Xun examining Liu Hai, she edged in, unable to resist marveling, "Wow, this guy’s really good-looking... but the mods are extreme. Did he amputate his entire lower half? Even chopped off his junk? What kind of man does that?"

A Yu crouched down and ran a hand over Liu Hai’s tail. The unconscious seal spirit twitched involuntarily.

A Yu monotoned, "Wow."

Xiao Jin jumped up: "Ahhh! He moved, he moved!"

Jiang Xun was even accustomed to it: "Shut up and get over here."

"Huh?" Xiao Jin snapped back to reality. "Boss, why've you got that ancient-style oxygen tube?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jiang Xun calmly reminded her. "His reaction on the deck earlier was a classic symptom of inter-era air exposure sickness."

"Got it!" Xiao Jin instinctively crouched down, raising the oximeter before realizing, "Ah, boss, you mean... he really was hauled up from the ancient ocean?"

Her expression went blank. "Were there gene-spliced humans before?"

"No," A Yu answered slowly. "In the year 224 of the Stellar Era, Dr. Aifeis attempted to use long-range vision avian genes to modify his daughter’s body in order to restore her congenital blindness. Helen Aifeis became the world’s first animal-modified human, and Dr. Aifeis was consequently imprisoned."

"For over a century after that, gene-splicing remained outlawed tech. It wasn’t until a hundred years later, with the refinement of relevant laws, that animal genetic modification was officially applied in medical and cosmetic industries. By the way, the patent for this technology is now held by Siren Biotech Company."

"Quit the history lesson!" Xiao Jin shook her head in frustration. "I was just exclaiming! If there were no genetically modified humans before, then what’s his deal?"

"Hmm—" A Yu’s gaze slowly shifted toward the mermaid flag on the research vessel, then sluggishly moved back. "Doubt it."

Xiao Jin: "Huh?"

A Yu looked toward the other side of the sea: "Coasties are here."

The coast guard quickly boarded and took control of the poaching vessel. The blond runt played dumb, repeating his earlier excuse while nervously glancing at Jiang Xun.

"Who would buy your people?" The coast guard looked disgusted. "I’m telling you, you damn poachers—"

"Wait." Jiang Xun finally found a moment to look up. "He’s lying. This is the prey they poached from the ancient sea."

The blond runt’s heart skipped a beat. He forced a smile. "Hey, you can’t just throw around accusations!"

"This is clearly just a gene-spliced human! How could anyone fish a gene-spliced human out of the ancient sea?"

"Officer, you can’t just take his word for it!"

"Hah?" Xiao Jin planted her hands on her hips and retorted loudly, "Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?"

"—The youngest, top-tier genius biologist with a Ph.D. at Siren Biotech Company, the lead executor of the 'Siren Project'! Do you have any idea how many competitors I had to beat just to become an intern here? When it comes to ancient biology, of course, his word is law!"

A Yu nodded in agreement: "Yep."

Jiang Xun ignored their boasting. "Officer, for his safety, I must take him back to the ancient-ocean sim-tank."

"Ah." A Yu caught on. "The mermaid tank?"

"Ah? Well, if you say so... Of course, we trust Dr. Jiang Xun, but I’ll have to assign someone to accompany you." The coast guard hesitated but ultimately gave him the courtesy. Curious, he asked, "But you mentioned a mermaid? The one in the news?"

"The same one they denied not long ago," A Yu said slowly. "Originally, the 'Siren Project' was a mermaid resurrection plan. But in the end, we discovered that the mermaids from before their extinction had nothing in common with the beautiful, melodious creatures from legends and love stories. They were actually quite freakish deep-sea fish."

"Though a small group still insists that legendary mermaids existed, Dr. Jiang Xun believes that, at least by the pre-extinction era, mermaids were already gone."

"Still, during the research on mermaids, the doctor developed many new technologies. The Siren Project has gradually evolved into a marine revival project."

He spread his hands. "Anyway, Siren Biotech always turns a profit."

Jiang Xun paid no attention to their conversation. He declined the crew’s help and was about to lift Liu Hai onto the stretcher when his relaxed expression stiffened as he struggled under the weight.

Xiao Jin turned her head in shock. "Boss, what’s wrong? Feeling weak?"

"It’s fine." Jiang Xun expressionlessly lifted Liu Hai in a bridal carry and gently placed him on the stretcher, exhaling. "...Get another pair of hands over here."

*Author’s Note:*

Liu Hai: Two hundred kilos, tough guy! Don’t think you can tap out that fast!