HCB Chapter 356 The Bride of the Sea God (15)
Chapter 356 The Bride of the Sea God (15)
This trip sparked Nolan's interest in the outside world.
The next morning, while Yan Zhen was still asleep, the mattress next to her dipped slightly, and then a pair of hands cupped her face and rubbed it.
"Xia Xia! Xia Xia!"
Yan Zhen recognized Nolan's voice, but she was so sleepy that she pretended not to hear it.
"Xia Xia! Xia Xia!"
Nolan saw that she was pretending to be dead, so he got up and sat on her.
Yan Zhen felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.
When she opened her eyes, Nolan was lying on her chest, his sea-blue eyes wide open, tilting his head and looking at her innocently.
Yan Zhen: "..."
For a fleeting moment, she hallucinated that she had taken over a Ragdoll cat that the original owner had raised in another dimension.
That enormous, 27-pound miniature beast woke her up every morning in this way.
"What?" Yan Zhen asked expressionlessly.
"Get up, let's go play!" Nolan grabbed her arm, forcefully pulling her upper body up from the bed and rocking her around like a doll. "Aquarium! Let's go to the aquarium!"
Half an hour later, Yan Zhen, looking utterly dejected, rode his sidecar tricycle with Nolan, who was bundled up in a sun-protective shirt and hat, on the sidecar, heading towards the aquarium.
To prevent Nolan from eating tiger prawns raw like he did yesterday at the supermarket and accidentally eating the aquarium's "staff," Yan Zhen brought more than ten bodyguards with him this time.
When we arrived at the aquarium, the air conditioning was on full blast, and the various colored lights projected magnificent colors throughout the space.
Nolan was initially enjoying the tour, but when he arrived at the Mermaid Pavilion, he stopped in his tracks.
The mermaid pavilion houses five or six Class B mermaids who display their graceful swimming styles to visitors through the viewing glass.
These domesticated mermaids have no wild instincts at all. They skillfully mimic human gestures, circling around, making heart shapes with their hands, and blowing bubbles for tourists outside the viewing glass, making the tourists laugh heartily and eagerly take photos with them.
Yan Zhen subconsciously looked at Nolan.
He stood outside the viewing glass, looking at his fellow humans, and his brows furrowed slightly.
One of the mermaids noticed him, swam up to him, and looked him in the eye through the glass.
After a long while, the mermaid inside the glass stretched out her webbed hand and gently pressed it against the inside of the glass.
Nolan hesitated for a moment, then placed his palm on the outside of the glass.
When Yan Zhen saw this scene, she had a strange premonition that Nolan seemed to have reached some kind of consensus with the mermaid inside the glass through a communication method that humans couldn't understand.
Yan Zhen was right—after leaving the Mermaid Pavilion, Nolan became interested in the cultural and creative products in the display case and picked out a few items for Yan Zhen to pay for.
When Yan Zhen returned with the groceries, Nolan was nowhere to be seen.
Yan Zhen paused, then immediately called his bodyguards to search separately.
She then approached the aquarium's manager, revealed her identity as Miss Si, and demanded that the surveillance footage be reviewed immediately.
She worried that if it went any later, someone might die.
The Si family also owns shares in this aquarium, and the curator quickly led Yan Zhen to the monitoring room.
The surveillance footage was retrieved quickly.
Surveillance footage shows that after Nolan sent Yan Zhen away, he returned to the Mermaid Pavilion.
Instead of staying in the tourist area, he went into the backstage area of the Mermaid Pavilion, where tourists were not allowed, and finally disappeared into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras.
Yan Zhen's mind raced as he pondered what had happened since morning.
Nolan suddenly decided to go to the aquarium, even ignoring the fact that the daytime temperature in Shengjing was over 30 degrees Celsius, which would make him uncomfortable.
After arriving at the aquarium, he only briefly visited the other exhibits before heading straight to the mermaid exhibit.
Besides the fact that the mermaid exhibit contains his kind, there is another possibility.
There are fellow mermaids in the mermaid aquarium who need his help, and whose situations are so urgent that there is no time to lose.
That's why he risked exposing his identity to get away from me and rashly entered the Mermaid Pavilion.
Upon thinking of this, Yan Zhen immediately asked the curator, "Have any mermaids in the Mermaid Pavilion recently become sick or injured?"
The curator was taken aback, then his eyes flickered: "Hmm...yes."
"Quick, take me to see it."
The group hurried to the backstage area of the Mermaid Pavilion, which is not open to tourists. As soon as they entered, Yan Zhen saw two unconscious staff members lying at the door.
The curator was startled: "What's going on?"
Yan Zhen's heart sank slightly, and he quickly gave his bodyguard a look, signaling him to handle the situation.
She walked past the staff and went inside.
The further you go in, the more chaotic the backstage becomes.
Along the way, you can see many overturned items and staff members who have been attacked and fainted.
After going around another door, Yan Zhen immediately saw a female mermaid curled up in a transparent glass tank.
Presumably to prevent the mermaid from escaping from the tank, it was secured with a large lock. Nolan knelt in front of the tank and used his bare hands to tear a hole in it, attempting to rescue the mermaid.
His palms and arms were bleeding from cuts caused by shards of glass. Hearing someone enter behind him, he quickly turned around and shielded the water tank with his body. In a blink, his pupils turned vertical.
The curator, who entered shortly after, was astonished upon seeing the situation and exclaimed, "You...you're a mermaid? What are you trying to do?"
Yan Zhen met Nolan's wary gaze, which was tinged with a hint of ferocity and murderous intent, and turned to the curator, saying, "I'm sorry, he's my pet. Please give me some time, I will handle this and give you an explanation."
Having worked in the industry for many years, the curator naturally noticed that Nolan was under stress.
Considering the several staff members he knocked unconscious along the way, this mermaid's fighting ability was stronger than any other mermaid in the aquarium.
Forcibly capturing him at this point could lead to bloodshed.
Although the museum has professional weapons to subdue mermaids and prevent them from rioting and escaping, this mermaid is Miss Si's beloved pet, and if she were to injure him, she would have a hard time explaining herself.
After a few seconds of deliberation, the curator and the aquarium staff left together.
The backstage area quieted down. Yan Zhen lowered his body and approached Nolan tentatively: "Nolan, what are you doing here?"
Nolan narrowed his eyes, hunched his back, and growled, "Don't come any closer!"
"I won't hurt you." Yan Zhen looked at the mermaid behind Nolan. It seemed ill, its face pale and its breath weak. "Did you come here to see it?"
Why are you looking for it?
"It seems to be sick. Should we save it?"
“I can help you.” Yan Zhen walked closer to it step by step. “The people here listen to me. Whether you want to send it back to the sea or take it to the hospital for treatment, I can help you.”
Nolan's eyes widened in doubt and wariness upon hearing this: "Really?"
"When have I ever lied to you?" Yan Zhen said in a tone that sounded like he was coaxing a child. "At home, if I say I'll open a sea urchin for you, I'll open a sea urchin; if I say I'll eat ice cream, I'll eat ice cream. When have I ever failed to do it?"
Nolan pondered, seemingly weighing the credibility of her words.
Yan Zhen slowly walked up to him, placed his palm on his head, and rubbed it as usual: "Nolan, trust me."