Tonight, the sky over Tarl Star is unusually overcast.
Thick dark clouds shroud the stars completely, and a chilly wind sweeps through the deserted buildings, blowing into the muddy alleyways.
Rapid breathing breaks the silence as a figure clings to the wall, stumbling forward.
He is barefoot, and his light-colored clothes appear slightly oversized, almost resembling hospital attire in the dim surroundings. His long silver hair stands out, and his gait is somewhat peculiar: one step deep, one step shallow, much like a child just learning to walk.
Due to the recent rain, there are numerous puddles on the ground.
The lighting here is extremely poor, the road uneven, and his unstable gait doesn't take him far before he steps into a puddle.
As he falls, the accumulated water instantly soaks his clothing.
The stabbing pain in his ankle provides a moment of clarity to his hazy mind.
A familiar sensation floods over him, and as the figure lies on the ground, Yu Bai's breath momentarily catches, followed by a sudden fit of coughing.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A faint blush tinges his originally pale cheeks due to the intense gasping for breath.
The thunderous roar of the starship explosion recedes like a tide, the pain of cosmic rays tearing at his skin dissipates rapidly, and his blurred vision gradually sharpens.
There are still ripples in the small puddle before him, which Yu Bai watches with confusion.
Wasn't he supposed to have died in the explosion?
The pain in his ankle remains, and as Yu Bai instinctively extends his leg, he notices something unusual.
He lifts the hand that had been pressed into the mud, and though there are still some lingering double images in his sight, he sees that his wrist is clean, devoid of the string of numbers he had seen for many years. Reaching for his lower back through the damp fabric, there is also no chain there.
What is going on?
Before he can ponder further, voices from nearby become faintly audible.
"...Did he run in this direction?"
"Quick, capture him..."
"This way! I see footprints! He can't be far!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry—this mermaid is worth a fortune to the boss!"
Several voices sound strangely familiar, and in a flash, Yu Bai understands.
It seems like he has been reborn.
Reborn three years ago, to the day he first arrived on Tarl Star.
The person he had once saved from the sea, who had tricked him onto dry land and brought him to this planet called Tarl.
Though they couldn't communicate through language, the mermaid's inherent cleverness allowed them to understand each other through gestures. To express gratitude for saving his life, the mermaid wanted to take him away from the ocean, show him the land, and perhaps even find more of his kind.
As a sea creature living alone in the deep sea, Yu Bai had naively trusted the mermaid's words. He left the ocean, his home for many years, and followed the mermaid to the land.
There were indeed some companions on land who could also live in water, and they referred to these companions as "sea."
But a shape-shifting mermaid like Yu Bai, who could change form at will, was extremely rare.
And it seemed that the creatures on land were particularly interested in rare things.
However, all of this was a conclusion that Yu Bai would later draw from observing the people on the other side of the glass in the laboratory, because on the night he arrived on Tarl Star, the mermaid had sold him at an auction house.
He remembers it very clearly. The auction was set to begin at midnight today, and he was about to be captured by pursuers. Before dawn, he would be sold at a high price as one of the rare exhibits in a research facility.
What awaited him was three years of cruel experimentation in various locations.
The upright creatures in white coats would cut him open, study him, wait for him to heal, and repeat the process.
They always found a way to catch him when he tried to escape.
Yu Bai could barely recall how many times he had come close to dying inside the glass chamber that trapped him.
These days continued until the day the laboratory was invaded.
After the humans invaded the laboratory and tried to take him away, their fleet came under attack, and the ensuing explosion consumed everything, bringing him back to this moment.
"This way! He's only got this road!"
"Damn it, we drugged him, why can he still run like this?"
"Hurry up! The auction is about to start!"
The voices drawing nearer and nearer pull Yu Bai from his thoughts.
He doesn't have time to contemplate the reasons for his rebirth. He struggles to get up from the ground, enduring the pain in his ankle, and limps forward hastily.
He also remembers very clearly that after being brought to the auction house, they drugged him to prevent him from escaping.
It should be some kind of tranquilizer; when the liquid in the syringe entered his bloodstream, it caused a burning sensation, followed by dizziness.
Perhaps it's just his imagination, but it seems that the drug's effects are stronger this time.
The path in front of him starts to have exaggerated double images, and his already unsteady legs become even more uncooperative.
"Huff...huff..."
His increasingly rapid breathing makes his throat ache, but Yu Bai forces himself to stay calm and tries to distinguish the things in front of him.
His desire to survive has never been stronger.
...He doesn't want to be caught again.
With his chaotic mind sifting through memories, Yu Bai endures the increasingly pronounced pain in his ankle and keeps moving forward, limping.
He needs to escape!
Not long after, the path ahead splits in two.
Yu Bai remembers very clearly that the last time he ran into the right path, and what awaited him was a high wall he couldn't climb no matter what.
So this time, without hesitation, he chooses the left path at the fork.
...Faster...even faster...
Completely different choices quickly yield completely different results. The ground under his feet gradually changes from wet, soft mud to a solid texture, and a faint light appears ahead.
With a sense of relief, Yu Bai gives it his all and quickens his pace.
He's getting closer!
As the light gets closer and the voices ahead become louder, Yu Bai also hears someone standing at the end of the alley.
Two steps...three steps...five steps...
Then Yu Bai crashes into the person's arms.
It's a man, tall enough that he has to look up to see the man's face.
But Yu Bai's vision is already quite blurred.
Even with his eyes open, he can't make out the man's features.
However, there is a strange familiarity about this man's figure.
"..."
The man Yu Bai bumped into doesn't say anything immediately.
"...Is it this way?"
"It must be this way! The other path is a dead end!"
The voices behind him are getting closer, giving Yu Bai no time to think.
"Please..."
Gripping the man's clothing tightly, Yu Bai tries to recall the pronunciation of the human language, mimicking a few syllables.
"Please save me..."
Whether his voice is too soft or his pronunciation is incorrect, the man doesn't respond immediately.
But Yu Bai can feel the man's gaze on his face.
That feeling reminds him of the blades that were often pointed at him in the laboratory—cold, sharp, and dangerous.
Filled with an unknown threat.
This sense of threat is terrifying, but the familiarity is becoming more pronounced. So, summoning his courage, Yu Bai raises his voice a bit and repeats the same words.
There's urgency in his tone, mixed with a touch of pleading.
"Please save me..."
Time passes second by second, and the surrounding noise gradually fades away.
But the man still remains silent, simply looking down at him.
Yu Bai's heart sinks with each passing moment.
The strength in his fingertips gradually diminishes, and the approaching footsteps behind him draw nearer. His eyelids grow heavier, and Yu Bai feels his breathing becoming more labored.
Save me...
His thoughts become muddled and hazy, but the intense desire to survive keeps him clutching onto the man's clothing.
The chaotic footsteps behind him are now dangerously close.
And just before Yu Bai loses consciousness due to the effects of the drug, he vaguely hears the man whisper one word.
"Okay."
When the thugs from the auction house arrive, there are only two figures huddled together in the alley, with their backs turned to them.
The man is tall, and even though he slightly lowers his head, he almost completely shields the person in his arms from view.
One of the thugs was about to step forward but was held back by their leader.
"He's a high-level VIP," the scar-faced leader said, his face looking fierce but speaking softly, "probably one of tonight's guests."
The thug followed the scar-faced leader's gaze and saw, when the man slightly turned his body, a golden lapel pin in the shape of a coiled serpent on his collar.
The coiled serpent was the emblem of their auction house and also served as an entry ticket to the auction. Guests who possessed a golden lapel pin were either wealthy or influential individuals.
It was precisely because the man had turned slightly that they had glimpsed the person pinned against the wall by him.
It was a young-looking guy with soft black hair and delicate features, wrapped in oversized outerwear. At the moment, he had his eyes closed, and one hand was hooked around the man's neck, with a bit of red still visible on his lips.
Different hair colour, different appearance.
The man seemed to have noticed their gaze and, with displeasure, pressed the person closer to him, blocking all prying eyes. He spoke in a cold, slightly impatient tone, with just the right touch of annoyance, "Have you seen enough?"
"Sorry," the guests of the auction house were an eccentric bunch, and their taboos varied greatly. Even if the man appeared unfamiliar, Scarface didn't dare to offend him. He quickly averted his gaze, coughed, and forced a smile, "Sir, you see, we were just..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud roar interrupted him.
When the aircraft landed at the end of the alley, it stirred up some dust. Subsequently, the VIP wrapped the person in his arms tightly with his coat, then lifted him horizontally and strode onto the aircraft.
Due to the angle, the several thugs did not see it clearly, but as the VIP picked up the person, a strand of silver hair silently slid from his hand.
However, one of them seemed to notice that the VIP wasn't wearing any shoes. Yet before he could react, the VIP tilted his head slightly and gestured in the direction outside the market.
Their nascent suspicions were abruptly cut short.
The aircraft departed from the scene without incident.
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translators' notes : HOPE YOU ENJOYED~~
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Thank you so much for your hard work!
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