The marshmallow melted in her mouth, and Lia felt as if she were floating on a white cloud, enjoying a sweet breeze.
Lia ate only one and then wanted to seal it up tightly.
Seeing this, Ruan Mingchu said, "You can have your friends come out to eat too."
Leah's pupils dilated in shock. How did this person know her friends were here? Was he bluffing her? She couldn't fall for it; she couldn't let them die too.
Looking at the girl's devastated expression, Ruan Mingchu was touched by their friendship.
"There are six of you in total, five girls and one boy. I know all of that, so you don't need to guess whether I'm bluffing you or not."
Ruan Mingchu calmly stated the incredibly cruel truth to Liya: "Don't worry about what I might do to you. If I wanted to, you wouldn't have a chance to resist at all."
Leah was shocked, but upon reflection, it made sense. So she tore open the bag of marshmallows and wolfed down the whole bag.
She jumped off the box, climbed onto another box, and called her friends out to eat something good.
Her friends were even more timid than Leah and dared not leave the box.
Ruan Mingchu considerately took the bag of snacks and handed it to Liya, who tore open the packaging and fed them to each of them.
"Stop shaking, what's the use of being afraid? You might as well eat something good first."
The six little ones gradually loosened up and huddled together to wolf down their food.
This left Miyazaki Shin, who knew nothing about it, completely bewildered.
Gong Zhushen quietly approached Mu Yu and whispered, "Brother Mu, what exactly are these? Are they related to the spaceship's unusual movements?"
Mu Yu also lowered his voice: "Artificial mermaid."
Gong Zhushen hurriedly went online to search for what this thing was.
Xiao Gong is ignorant; he has only ever heard of mermaids.
They only stopped reluctantly after the six little ones had eaten until their bellies were bulging, they were burping, and they couldn't eat anymore.
Liya said to Ruan Mingchu, "We won't say anything. Although you've cost us our bright future, we still appreciate your delicious food."
Ruan Mingchu twitched his lips: "Gong Zhushen, you talk to her."
Xiao Gong was still confused. What were they talking about?
He looked at Ruan Mingchu, who urged him to hurry up with just her eyes.
Looking at Mu Yu, Mu Yu remained silent.
Gong Zhushen had no choice but to squat down in front of Liya and say, forcing himself to speak, "Shall we talk?"
Lia nodded indifferently.
Ten minutes later, Xiao Gong's sobbing began to echo from the luggage compartment.
Gong Zhushen: "Brother Ruan, Brother Mu, they're so pitiful."
Ruan Mingchu was completely dumbfounded. Oh my god, I asked you to persuade a child, but you were persuaded by a child instead. Have you wasted all those years of your life?
Lia never expected that her casual remark would make this tall man cry like a child.
She was at a loss, so she simply scrunched up her chubby face, just like how her mother used to scold her in her memory, and said, "Stop crying, wipe away your tears, what kind of behavior is this for a grown man?"
Gong Zhushen sobbed and wiped away her tears, but couldn't stop them from flowing.
Little Lia said irritably, "I was just lying to you, okay? Stop crying!"
Gong Zhushen's heart was shattered into countless pieces.
He was actually fooled by a child who was only ten years old. He cried like a fool in front of Brother Ruan and Brother Mu. What a valiant image he had!
What should I do? I feel like crying even more now, crying for myself.
He was met with Nguyen Minh Thu’s gaze that seemed to ask, “What’s wrong with this world?”
Mu Yu forced a smile and said, "Gong Zhushen is just a bit too thoughtful, sensitive and kind-hearted. He especially likes children. He wouldn't normally act like this."
According to Lia's account, her father was killed by a drunk driver when she was born, and the driver fled the scene. When she was four years old, her mother was killed by a male Alpha, and she was adopted by her mother's killer and abused every day.
He escaped at the age of five and was lucky enough to join an old animal circus, where he played the role of a clown.
She was selected for the Mermaid Project at the age of eight, went through dozens of surgeries, and faced death several times before finally getting these tails.
Ruan Mingchu rubbed his forehead, but wasn't he just grieving for himself, looking like a complete idiot?
Leave the professional work to the professionals; Ruan Mingchu didn't want anyone to come and cry again.
"Take them to my room and wait for the professionals to arrive."
What puzzled Ruan Mingchu was that he didn't find anyone on the spaceship to manage these little guys. Did they really trust such expensive "cargo" to fly there on its own?
That's impossible; there must be someone there.
In this situation, we can only wait and see. We won't get anything out of the child, but things will be much easier once we find an adult.
What Ruan Mingchu didn't expect was that since this wasn't their first time smuggling modified mermaids and everything had gone smoothly in the past, they assumed there wouldn't be any problems this time either, and didn't want to bother with Liya and the others hiding in the luggage compartment.
They're currently gathered in a room, with a table full of food and two cases of wine, watching a movie and feeling blissfully happy.
They have absolutely no sense of responsibility.
Gong Zhushen wiped his face clean with a tissue, pretending nothing had happened. Hearing Ruan Mingchu's words, he immediately said, "Carrying them back directly will definitely attract attention. Should I go back and get some clothes to cover their legs and tails, or something?"
Ruan Mingchu pointed at Liya: "Just wrap her in your coat, and we'll take care of the other five."
Gong Zhushen: "Oh, okay."
Looking at Liya's innocent little face again, Miyake Shin felt that evil was lurking everywhere, but he still gently picked her up and said, "Which position is more comfortable? You can adjust it yourself."
Liya didn't stand on ceremony and moved around in Gong Zhushen's arms. After feeling comfortable, she nodded.
Miyazaki Shin then covered Liya with his coat.
Ruan Mingchu said, "There's no need to avoid people. Just carry him back like this."
Realizing that Ruan Mingchu was trying to lure the snake out of its hole, Gong Zhushen nodded and carried Liya away from the luggage compartment.
As soon as Lia left, the remaining five little ones looked terrified, huddling together and drawing strength from each other.
Mu Yu looked at the five of them, then at his own hands, a little troubled: "It seems like I can't take them all with me at once."
Ruan Mingchu smiled, his fingers slightly itchy. If he weren't too short, he would have liked to pat Mu Xiaoyu's head.
So cute.
Ruan Mingchu told Mu Yu, "Perhaps you can try to apply your mental energy to your daily life."
In interstellar society, mental energy is used to unleash skills and not for anything else. It's not that it can't be used for other things, but most people's mental energy is almost depleted once it reaches the level required to support their skills. They dare not use it recklessly in normal times, for fear of not having enough in critical situations.
However, Mu Yu's mental strength level is high enough that using it more often can be considered as training his mental strength.
You can't get fat in one bite; Ruan Mingchu set an example for Mu Yu.
Five little creatures suddenly rose into the air. When they first left the ground, their eyes were filled with terror. After a while, they noticed that there seemed to be an invisible plane under their tails and curiously touched it.
Spiritual power exists in a material form, but in a dimension invisible to the naked eye.
Mu Yu released his spiritual power and "saw" Ruan Mingchu's spiritual power.
In Mu Yu's past, he used all his mental energy to unleash skills, with the only exception being when he searched for someone else's mental sea on the mining planet.
Mu Yu said, "I'll give it a try."
Ruan Mingchu nodded.
Mu Yu didn't dare to use the little guy as a practice subject, but instead set his sights on the box next to him and easily lifted it up.
However, a strange feeling kept coming back to Mu Yu, making him feel uncomfortable.
After putting down the box, he tried to use his mental power to touch the little guy, but the strange sensation made him quickly withdraw.
Mu Yu shook his head, stating truthfully, "I can't do it now, but I'll practice later."
Ruan Mingchu hummed in agreement, blocking out the outsiders' perception of the little guy, and walked towards his room with Mu Yu.
Mu Yu's situation is the case for most people. As the leader of an army, Ruan Mingchu naturally shared "One Hundred and Eight Convenient Ways to Use Mental Power" with his subordinates.
But no one got used to it; they all said it felt too strange and uncomfortable.
Just a few steps too late, when Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu returned to the room, Gong Zhushen and Liya were already arguing.
Gong Zhushen looked furious. He said to Ruan Mingchu and Mu Yu incredulously, "Brother Ruan, Brother Mu, they actually volunteered to be transformed into this inhuman and ghostly state!"
His anger wasn't directed at Leah, but at those filthy adults and his own inaction.
He felt sorry for her; she was only ten years old and had been forced to "voluntarily" go to the operating table and become an outcast.
Lia was extremely annoyed by the phrase "neither human nor ghost" that Miyazaki Shin used. She puffed out her chest, put her hands on her hips, and flicked her silvery-white tail: "My tail is so beautiful, it shines brightly in the sunlight. How is it neither human nor ghost? Do you know that with this tail, I can live a life of luxury and reach the pinnacle of life!"
"A clueless country bumpkin like you can't keep up with the trends of the planet!"
Ruan Mingchu put the other little ones on the bed before asking Liya, "You said having a tail means you can reach the pinnacle of life?"
But Meng Shuo's real-life mermaid was captured because it had a tail. If it weren't for Mu Yu, who knows what awaited him—a research institute or a man's bed?
Lia nodded firmly: "Of course! Only pretty and smart children have the chance to have a tail. Brother Keran was able to live in a big villa on the Imperial Star because he had a tail."
Ruan Mingchu twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Don't you know what price you have to pay to live in a big villa?"
Liya rolled her eyes, seemingly mocking Ruan Mingchu for "not understanding anything."
"All we need to do is make the villa owner happy, right? When Brother Keran first arrived at the villa, he didn't even have a tail yet, and his life was worse than in the troupe. After he got a tail, his treatment improved dramatically."
To protect her precious tail, Lia had long forgotten what she could and couldn't say. Killing her was one thing, but belittling the very thing she relied on for her good life was another.
Children are quite stubborn; once they've made up their minds, nothing can change their minds.
Ruan Mingchu rubbed his temples. Was it because some people on the Imperial Star expressed their liking for mermaids that the modified mermaids appeared, or did the modified mermaids appear first and then be offered to those people?
Although there isn't much difference, if it were the former, Ruan Mingchu would want to simply banish them.
He then sent Miyake Shin to go shopping, where he bought some snacks and toys. He then had Liya and the others stay in his room while Miyake Shin played with them.
Didn't we get some information out of her just now? Maybe if Miyazaki Shin spends more time with Riya, he can get even more out of her.
Komiya, who genuinely argued with Liya: ...
Ruan Mingchu knew that modifying mermaids involved a wide range of issues and could not be rushed. The main task now was to deal with the space pirates and researchers on the spaceship.