Chapter 27: Suspicious Person

Chapter 27: Suspicious Characters

After the program aired, Liu Hai’s fame skyrocketed.

The two accompanying campaigns also went viral, sparking widespread online discussion and generating a daily stream of diverse spin-off topics.

Curled up in the lab, Liu Hai read the news articles and practiced his characters, completely oblivious to his newfound stardom.

"I got it!" Liu Hai confidently pointed at a message and read it aloud, then doubted if he’d pronounced it correctly. "How could anyone’s favorite prehistoric marine creature be the ‘deep-sea torpedo’?"

Jiang Xun silently glanced at Liu Hai’s fluffy tail, wisely choosing not to comment.

"Hmm, this one likes polar bears!" Liu Hai enthusiastically pointed at a child’s drawing. "But this one doesn’t look quite right—polar bear tails should be shorter."

"Oh?" Jiang Xun asked with interest. "Shorter? You’re sure about that?"

"Yep." Liu Hai nodded firmly. "Of course! I ram into their backsides all the time! I definitely know how long their tails are!"

Jiang Xun’s expression turned peculiar. "You… ram into their backsides all the time?"

"What’s with that look?" Liu Hai hurriedly explained. "It’s not like I do it for no reason! It’s because they try to eat the young ones!"

Jiang Xun asked curiously, "Eat what young ones? Do polar bears eat mermaid pups?"

"Uh." Liu Hai choked, guiltily glancing at him. "No, not that… just other young ones. I… I was just lending a hand, that’s all."

Jiang Xun didn’t press further, smiling. "Alright, then let’s tell them that polar bear tails should be shorter, okay?"

"Okay!" Liu Hai gravely wiped his hands and began poking the screen with both index fingers.

Xiao Jin couldn’t help but cup her face and say, "Wow, Liu Hai, you type like my grandma!"

Liu Hai beamed, chin up. "Done!"

"Nice work." Jiang Xun helped him send the message and patted his head.

They had set up an official account for Liu Hai, usually managed by staff to answer marine science questions. Occasionally, Liu Hai would log in himself to respond to queries about prehistoric civilizations.

Since his replies were easy to distinguish, someone even compiled a collection of his answers.

For example…

Q: "Is it true that prehistoric humans would deliberately let fish rot before eating them and even held ‘stinky fish festivals’?"

A: "No idea. I usually eat fish while they’re still fresh."

Or…

Q: "Is it true that killer whales really like humans? And that they gift humans with stingrays?"

A: "No clue. I’m neither human nor a stingray. I hate killer whales."

Xiao Jin also sent Liu Hai some fan memes, like a grouchy "I hate killer whales" and a star-eyed "Just one more bite… or ten."

Liu Hai didn’t understand why these images were considered cute, but he genuinely disliked killer whales. Since these were gifts from fans, he carefully picked one and asked A Yu to help him set the "I hate killer whales" meme as his profile picture.

"Seems like you really hate them," Jiang Xun asked curiously. "Why?"

Liu Hai glowered. "They mocked me!"

"They said they could punt me like a soccer ball! And that even if I grew twice as big, they could still spike me like a volleyball!"

"How rude!"

Jiang Xun suppressed a laugh. "Yeah, profoundly mean."

Liu Hai squinted at him. "You… are laughing, aren’t you?"

"Not a bit." Jiang Xun smiled. "Just practicing my smile."

"Since you said I don’t show enough emotion, I’m trying to be more expressive. Am I improving?"

Liu Hai gave him a complicated look. "Only your scheming is!"

Jiang Xun cracked up.

"Come on, Liu Hai, can’t you praise the boss sometimes?" Xiao Jin needled. "He’s smiled more today than in the last year combined!"

"If he shows up like this during the next recruitment, our lab’s inbox will be swamped with applications!"

Just as Jiang Xun was about to respond, his comms device buzzed. He glanced at it, frowned slightly, and answered, "Hello."

He stepped outside to take the call.

Liu Hai curiously followed and poked his head out from behind the door.

Seeing this, Jiang Xun’s serious expression softened, and he waved at him with a smile. Liu Hai obediently withdrew and even closed the door for him.

He turned back regretfully and said to the other two, "We’re not invited."

"Hmm." Xiao Jin rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Could it be about the ship again?"

Liu Hai’s ears pricked up. "What ship?"

"The *Siren*," Xiao Jin explained with a smile. "The *Siren* isn’t exclusively ours—research teams take turns applying to use it."

"But not many labs are willing to go out to sea for fieldwork. Dr. Jiang Xun is one of the most frequent users."

"Not long after we returned, the *Siren* resupplied and headed back out. Apparently, they found something interesting this time! Though no one knows what exactly—it seems to be under wraps."

A Yu, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "Word is, it’s something related to mermaids."

"Huh?" Xiao Jin instinctively refuted. "Seriously? Didn’t the boss say that, in theory, real mermaids don’t exist?"

"In theory," A Yu emphasized, glancing at Liu Hai. "Besides, isn’t Liu Hai right here?"

Liu Hai, who had been watching the exchange, belatedly added, "Oh yeah, I *am* a mermaid!"

"Yeah, yeah." Xiao Jin ruffled Liu Hai’s hair. "What I mean is, isn’t the timing weird? For decades, there’s been next to no mermaid-related discoveries, and now suddenly they’re coming out of the woodwork. Seems kinda…"

A Yu finished her thought. "Like a conspiracy."

"Exactly." Xiao Jin nodded firmly. "By the way, A Yu, how did you hear about this?"

A Yu hesitated for a moment. "…Heard it through the family grapevine."

"Ooooh—" Xiao Jin sang. "I remember your family’s connected with the Siren Company, right?"

"‘Connected’ is generous." A Yu sighed. "We just do some contract work for them."

"Hey, why so modest—" Xiao Jin chuckled and elbowed A Yu. "I almost forgot you're basically a rich kid! Don’t forget your old friends when you make it big later!"

A Yu gave her a look.

Jiang Xun pushed the door open and returned, his expression serious.

He cut to the chase: "We have another field assignment. One of you two… should stay behind at the lab."

Xiao Jin asked curiously, "What kind of job? Are we really going back to the ship?"

"Yeah, it's still classified, but I doubt it’ll stay secret for long." Jiang Xun glanced at Liu Hai, hesitated slightly, then continued, "Reportedly, they’ve found a fully intact mermaid skeleton."

Liu Hai’s eyes widened. "What?"

Before Xiao Jin could react, A Yu spoke first: "I’ll stay."

"Eh?" Xiao Jin finally processed the news and stared at him in shock. "Wait, seriously? A mermaid? A Yu, don’t you want to see it?"

A Yu sighed. "I’m no Dr. Kong Tela."

Jiang Xun added, "Kong Tela is going too."

"And…"

He frowned, leaving the sentence unfinished. "Let’s go to the meeting room."

Liu Hai watched them leave, propping his chin on his hand with a sigh. "Humans really have it rough, huh? Trouble just keeps popping up out of nowhere."

He murmured softly, "Good luck."

***

Meeting room.

Jiang Xun was blunt: "I think there’s something fishy about this mermaid skeleton they found."

A Yu spoke up: "Is it because the timing’s too suspicious?"

Xiao Jin looked confused. "Huh?"

A Yu explained, "Liu Hai’s mermaid claim just became public knowledge, and suddenly someone claims they’ve found a real one. It feels like a targeted attack against him."

Xiao Jin gasped in realization. "That makes sense! Who’d be so mean?"

"Wait, if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean the skeleton’s probably fake? Shouldn’t we just sit this one out?"

"Probably not possible." Jiang Xun shrugged. "It’s complicated, but we have to go."

"That’s why I need A Yu to stay here. Also, Director Jian Yu has her suspicions too. While I’m away, Dr. Feng Yan will be coming here for research."

Xiao Jin clapped her hands. "Dr. Feng Yan—the one who studies seagulls, right?"

Jiang Xun’s expression turned complicated. "I’m sure he’s not a bad person. If Jian Yu trusts him enough to send him here, that means something."

"But…"

He looked at A Yu. "If anything happens here, try reaching out to Jian Yu directly."

A Yu nodded. "Got it."

"But why?"

Jiang Xun rubbed his forehead in frustration. "That guy’s a whole other kind of crazy."

"I know, I know!" Xiao Jin’s eyes lit up. "Dr. Feng Yan blew up online once! Because he wears a seagull costume in the lab—he even tried hatching seagull eggs himself before!"

"I’ve watched his educational content—they’re so fun!"

"I originally watched for the laughs, but somehow, knowledge just… stuck in my head in the weirdest way." Xiao Jin scratched her head sheepishly, then glanced at Jiang Xun, her imagination running away with her. "If you and Dr. Feng Yan did a collaboration, and you dressed as Liu Hai…"

A Yu seemed to picture it. "Oh."

"Wow—" Xiao Jin cupped her cheeks. "Would you go shirtless too, boss? That might be a little much."

"Maybe borrow something from Liu Hai’s wardrobe instead…"

Jiang Xun: "Absolutely not."

"Ah." A Yu suddenly checked his communicator. "Sorry, I missed a message. Director Jian Yu said ten minutes ago that Dr. Feng Yan wants to check things out in advance. We need to go pick him up."

Jiang Xun’s eye twitched.

At the same time, Liu Hai’s door was knocked on.

Liu Hai sat up, puzzled. "Who is it?"

Why knock but not come in?

He hopped to the door and pulled it open.

A giant bird-like creature stood over him, clutching an oversized inflatable french fry.

Liu Hai gaped, dumbfounded: "…"

Yellow beak, white feathers, black-tipped wings, orange-yellow feet—probably a seagull.

The enormous seagull wedged through the slightly ajar door, its body contorting strangely for a moment.

Liu Hai pushed himself back, slowly scrambling backward.

But the bird’s face suddenly lunged forward, its beak inches from his face. "Hello, mermaid."

Liu Hai stammered, "H-Hi."

The bird said, "You shouldn’t open the door so easily to suspicious characters when you’re home alone, kid."

Before Liu Hai could reply, Jiang Xun rushed over from the meeting room and grabbed the seagull by the neck.

Jiang Xun: "You’re the most suspicious one here!"

Feng Yan: "Caw."

Liu Hai asked blankly, "Are you… a yokai?"

"Yep." Feng Yan said solemnly. "I’m a seagull yokai."

Author’s Note:

Liu Hai: [freaked out] There are yokai too?!

Feng Yan: Bro gets my weirdness.