Chapter 112: I’ll Take You to Find Garan

Chapter 112: I'll Take You to Garan

"I'll take you to Garan."

"Don't..."

"Don't."

"Don't!"

The black cloak, accompanied by frantic jingling, lunged forward, attempting to block Su Bai from the filthy mermaid huddled in the corner. But the cloak lacked substance, recoiling the instant blue flames ignited in Su Bai's right palm.

Unable to burn Luolimasi's true form with the flames, Su Bai instead used them to sever the chains welded to the wall. The section of chain that had already pierced Luolimasi's tail could not be removed, remaining embedded—a sight increasingly horrifying and agonizing.

As the blue flames flared, illuminating the dim corner and the grimy, tattered wallpaper, the stench of rot and blood in the air significantly diminished. It seemed Xiao Huo, aware that ordinary people would find the odor unbearable, had reluctantly consumed much of the foulness despite his aversion to such strange impurities.

Thanks to Xiao Huo's assistance, Su Bai managed to largely ignore the lingering unpleasant odors and moved forward, lifting Luolimasi's true body from the corner with some effort.

Aided by his previously awakened power, Su Bai's physical strength surpassed that of an ordinary person. Coupled with the mermaid's emaciated condition—as if she hadn't eaten in over a decade—lifting the half-human, half-fish body was not inherently difficult.

The strain came solely from having used Xiao Huo's power once again.

Su Bai was someone who preferred to conceal his capabilities, but even with reserves of strength, using the blue flames was a significant burden for him now. Each use left him feeling increasingly exhausted.

"Where are you going?"

Perhaps because Su Bai had ignored the black cloak's attempts to stop him, the mermaid form of Luolimasi in his arms twitched her skeletal fingers and turned her gaunt, hollowed-out face—a result of prolonged starvation.

Luolimasi's race granted her extended longevity and vitality, so hunger was not as deadly to her as it was to humans. Yet, her emaciated, sunken face bore almost no resemblance to the youthful beauty captured in the oil painting. Covered in dust and framed by withered white hair, she looked like a frail old woman at death's door, not an eternally young and beautiful mermaid.

"Don't go find him." As the mermaid in Su Bai's arms spoke, the black cloak nearby fell to the ground with a faint chime, reverting to an ordinary piece of cloth.

"Don't go find him." Luolimasi's voice had not aged; it remained the same as what Su Bai had heard outside the metal door. But now, perhaps due to emotional turmoil, her tone carried a note of weariness.

"Why?" Su Bai glanced at the closed-eyed form of Luolimasi and then at the black cloak lying on the floor some distance away. Assuming no one would notice his actions, he moved closer to a nearby lab table.

Earlier, Su Bai had noticed a box of neatly arranged syringes on that lab table. The sealed needles contained a transparent liquid that would be hard to detect if mixed into alcohol. Beside the box was a simple note indicating it was "99% complete."

Su Bai had a vague idea of what it was. As he turned while holding the mermaid, he slipped two syringes into the side pocket of his maid apron before leaving the dim, filthy hidden laboratory.

"Because..." Luolimasi's voice suddenly grew very tired. "He can't be found anymore."

Hearing this, Su Bai felt a flash of surprise.

He had always viewed Luolimasi as a hopeless romantic—someone who would search day and night for Garan despite his disappearance, willing to sacrifice even herself for an elixir that could extend her lover's life.

Yet, unexpectedly, Luolimasi had said, "He can't be found anymore."

In other words, while Luolimasi was a romantic, she was not foolish.

Perhaps she knew in her heart that Garan was gone. But love brings both joy and pain; Luolimasi, whose heart and soul were bound to Garan, knew that acknowledging his departure—or abandonment—would bring her unbearable agony. So, she chose self-deception.

By telling herself that Garan would return, that he might still be out there, that he would come back happy once the elixir of life was complete, the love-obsessed Luolimasi spared herself the despair worse than death.

However, Su Bai didn't particularly care about Luolimasi's feelings. After all, the task he had received from the administrator was never about a happy ending.

He had come here to lay Luolimasi to rest.

Taking a deep breath, he used meditation to steady the flow of energy within his body. Then, carrying the now almost weightless Luolimasi, he descended the stairs.

After listening to Luolimasi's murmured refusals all the way down, Su Bai reached the bottom of the stairs. Weary, he gently set Luolimasi's true body down, propping her against the final step and the handrail.

"Sit here. I'll bring Garan soon."

Before turning to leave, Su Bai paused to look back at the weakened Luolimasi.

Her ragged tail lay limp on the ground, and under the slightly brighter light, the silver gleam of her scales was faintly visible through the overgrown flesh. Gazing at her gaunt form leaning against the railing, Su Bai could almost imagine a day decades ago when Luolimasi might have sat on the steps of the hotel bearing her name, her golden hair cascading like a waterfall, her fair face as beautiful as ever, secretly revealing her silvery tail that shimmered like diamonds in the light when no one was around.

But now, even with a mermaid's longevity, her body and soul had been gradually consumed by the experiments of Garan and Cheng Xun, reaching their end.

Su Bai saw Luolimasi open her eyes, but they were cloudy gray and unfocused. He then remembered the notebook's entry: "The blind Luolimasi searches the hotel for her husband." She had lost her sight long ago.

If wearing the black cloak allowed her to see even a little, it truly offered her more "freedom."

Su Bai turned away from Luolimasi and strode into the lobby.

He passed through the hallway, brushing past Lian Xiangyu and the others engaged in a standoff, and even cast only a sidelong glance at Cheng Xun and his group as he walked by.

Su Bai continued forward until he reached the front desk of the Luolimasi Hotel lobby, where Server No. 1 stood motionless behind the counter. Though his hair was graying and wrinkles lined his face, Server No. 1 always carried an air of a refined English gentleman. Coupled with the fact that he had offered some advice to the players when they first entered the hotel, he easily earned the trust of ordinary players.

But...

"Where is Garan?"