Chapter 206 Innocent Cruelty
Chapter 206 Innocent Cruelty
"Starving."
"Eat, eat."
The Merfolk in the pool couldn't say anything else. They just opened their mouths and shouted, "starving." Alberta didn't care much, but every so often, a large bucket by the pool would be filled with a mix of food. The Merfolk ate without restraint, their bodies growing heavier and sinking into the water. After a while, several bloated corpses floated to the surface.
Kirstie woke up briefly for a couple of minutes before falling back into a deep sleep. She slept for a full 25 hours before waking up, feeling refreshed and energetic.
Lucy checked her over, muttering "miracle" under her breath, but she couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't her Trina who had come back to life.
"I feel great, fantastic, absolutely amazing!" Kirstie laughed heartily. Nothing could be more exhilarating than escaping death when you knew it was imminent.
"Congrats," Alberta said, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.
"Yeah, I deserve congratulations," Kirstie said, her outlook more optimistic now that she had survived what she thought was certain death.
She sat up and soon was able to walk around. Her damaged organs had repaired themselves, and the fractures from the rescue had healed completely. The deep red scars that had covered her body had faded to a light pink, looking less frightening. However, her hair had fallen out significantly, so Kirstie asked Lucy to cut it short, leaving only stubble.
Alberta touched Kirstie's head, which felt like a soft tennis ball. She couldn't resist touching it again, making Kirstie puff out her cheeks in annoyance.
Alberta withdrew her hand. "How much do you know about the Ninth District? Is the Ocean Princess a person or something else?"
Kirstie had seen the mission and shook her head. "What I know, you basically know too. There's nothing particularly interesting in the Ninth District for me, so I wouldn't have gone out of my way to find out about it."
Alberta wasn't surprised by this answer. "The doors to the Eighth and Tenth Districts need to be decoded. If you're rested enough, get to work."
Kirstie made an "OK" gesture. Despite her recent brush with death, she couldn't afford to relax. She needed to get to Oswald's research lab as soon as possible.
Alberta walked away from Kirstie's sleeping bag, not seeing Lawrence and Roderick. She looked around, and Parker called out to her, pointing to the pool. "Looking for Lawrence? He's over there with the little guy."
There were quite a few players standing by the pool. Alberta squinted into the distance. "What's going on?"
"I heard some Merfolk have eaten themselves to death," Parker said.
"I'll go check it out." Alberta walked quickly over.
Lawrence seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He turned around as Alberta approached, waiting for her to come closer.
In the rippling pool, groups of Merfolk were struggling to drag the corpses of their dead companions to another pool across a small path. The bloated bodies floated on the water, slowly sinking. Suddenly, the corpses disappeared, the water rippled, and a few flexible tentacles briefly surfaced before quickly vanishing.
The Merfolk had low intelligence. Their actions were either taught or habitual from seeing such scenes often. Alberta saw no malice or guilt on their faces.
The poolside was quiet. No one dared to underestimate the Merfolk anymore, despite their innocent and naive appearance.
A few players looked at Alberta with guilty expressions.
They had mimicked Alberta's interactions with the Merfolk, but fed them too much, causing a third of the pool's Merfolk to die from overeating. The smartest Merfolk, though intelligent, didn't understand that their companions' deaths were due to the players' greed. It didn't angrily accuse the players who had caused the deaths, but looked at Alberta with a confused and aggrieved expression.
Alberta didn't look at it. While Kirstie was asleep, she had found out that these Merfolk were products of a collaboration between the Ninth District and Oswald. Despite their low intelligence, weak strength, and short lifespan of five to ten years, their blood had powerful healing properties. The Ninth District was trying to incorporate Merfolk blood into various medications. The other pool contained ancient creatures cultivated from biological samples extracted from the Arctic permafrost. They had no specific name, but were known to be large and terrifyingly strong. The ones in the pool were weak juveniles.
Even as juveniles, these creatures were deadly.
The research report indicated that the octopus-like creature's weakness was due to flaws in the cultivation technology. It would never grow large, and to extend its lifespan as much as possible, the researchers in the Ninth District fed it large amounts of Merfolk blood and flesh.
Knowing all this, Alberta saw the Merfolk's voluntary feeding actions with a cold clarity. The octopus monster was a significant threat, but there was only so much "food" left. Once it was gone, the beast would starve, which was beneficial for everyone.
"Kirstie is awake. Let's head back," Alberta said to Lawrence.
Lawrence had no objections. He picked up his frightened little nephew, who buried his face in Lawrence's hand. As they walked away, the other players snapped out of their daze and looked at each other:
"She's just going to leave it like that?"
"What does that mean? Wasn't she really close to those things before?"
"Well, if it weren't for the benefits of sticking with them, who would bother trying to please them?"
As Alberta and Lawrence walked back to their temporary camp, they saw a short, young male player trying to ingratiate himself with a member of the security team, slipping something into his hand. Alberta and Lawrence passed by without stopping. The team member asked the young player to wait and walked towards Alberta and Lawrence, but was intercepted by Kurt.
"What are you doing?" Kurt asked, frowning in disapproval.
The team member scratched his head. "Captain, that guy said he has something important to tell Alberta."
Kurt's frown deepened. "Did you take a bribe from him? If everyone starts doing this, where will we have space around Lawrence and Alberta?"
"He said it's really important. I think he's telling the truth," the team member said, under Kurt's stern gaze. "Got it, I'll send him away."
The young player sensed trouble when Kurt intercepted the team member. He approached with a smile. "Captain, I just want to say a few words to Alberta. Could you ask if it's convenient for her?"
As he spoke, he tried to slip a heavy object into Kurt's hand.
Kurt glanced at the gold bar in his hand, thinking he might have found a lucrative opportunity, but he returned the gold bar. "You can tell me what you want to say, and I'll pass it on."
The young player cursed Kurt's greed internally and handed over another gold bar. "I want to speak to Alberta personally. Can you help me out?"
Kurt still refused. The young player put the gold bar back in his pocket, disappointed, and pretended to leave. Then, when Kurt and the team member were off guard, he rushed forward. "Alberta! I know where the Ocean Princess is!"