Fish Beastmen?
Yunyang suddenly remembered the legends from Blue Star.
“Fu Shiyi, are there merfolk among the Federation’s beastmen?”
“Merfolk?”
On the other side, Pei Wenye’s expression suddenly changed, a trace of distaste appearing in his eyes.
“Female, why are you asking about those guys? Their beast forms are hideous. Hardly any female would choose one of them as a husband.”
Merfolk?
Hideous?
Yunyang felt that one of her fundamental assumptions was about to be shattered. After a moment of silence, she opened her photobrain and typed “merfolk” into the search bar.
After thinking about it, she added “beast form” as well.
The pictures that appeared startled her so badly that she nearly threw the photobrain away.
In the films and television shows she had watched in her previous life, merfolk were usually depicted with human torsos and fish tails, and every one of them was more beautiful than the last.
But the Federation’s merfolk were the exact opposite. Their upper bodies were fish heads, while their lower bodies were human legs.
And those fish heads came in all kinds of bizarre shapes.
They had absolutely nothing to do with the word “beautiful.” They were downright horrifying.
Pei Wenye reached out and covered Yunyang’s eyes.
“Merfolk live in the deep-sea regions, where it’s pitch-black. That’s why they’re a little more… free-form with their looks.”
He had no idea why his female had suddenly asked about merfolk.
Because their beast forms were so ugly, merfolk were extremely unpopular among females. Unless they were particularly handsome in human form, it was nearly impossible for them to find a female partner.
Yunyang had never expected this.
She hurriedly closed the search page, then pried Pei Wenye’s hand away.
Once the eye-searing pictures disappeared, she breathed a sigh of relief. Still, she continued with her earlier question. “So, can merfolk use sound waves to attack their enemies?”
In the information she had read in her previous life, merfolk could bewitch sailors at sea with their singing before killing them.
“Not as far as I know.” Pei Wenye shook his head. “Merfolk have abilities similar to those of our jiao clan. Their powers are all related to water.”
Yunyang wilted. As expected, information on the internet couldn’t be taken at face value.
The Federation’s merfolk had nothing in common with the merfolk of Blue Star.
Fu Shiyi had more or less guessed why Yunyang was asking.
He lowered his eyes. “Female, do you suspect that the voice was produced by a beastman?”
Yunyang nodded.
She had originally thought that if the Federation had merfolk beastmen, then perhaps the merfolk were responsible.
Now, it seemed that this matter had nothing to do with the Federation’s merfolk at all.
“There is indeed one kind of beastman in the Federation who can use sound waves to attack.” Fu Shiyi opened the information he had just pulled up. “The jiaoren.”
Yunyang turned to look at the display in front of him.
Compared to the visually shocking merfolk she had just seen, the jiaoren looked much closer to the image in Yunyang’s mind.
Human bodies, fish tails, emerald hair, blue eyes—they were gifted in music and skilled at weaving silk.
Yunyang’s eyes lit up. The information came with an attached photograph, and the jiaoren in it was quite handsome.
“Now that’s more like it.” She did not bother explaining further. “Could that unpleasant voice have been produced by a jiaoren?”
Since they could use sound waves to attack their enemies, it was reasonable to assume that their voices could also cause a male’s contamination level to rise.
Pei Wenye shook his head. “As far as I know, a jiaoren’s voice doesn’t have that kind of ability.”
“But you’ve given me an idea, female.”
“Since this involves a voice, perhaps we should ask the jiaoren clan, who are the most sensitive to sound, to investigate.”
Pei Wenye immediately sent the information to Qin Mo, who had yet to return.
There were not many jiaoren in the Federation, and they were concentrated in one area. They appeared only on the two ocean planets in the S Star System.
Still, they were citizens of the Federation. If the military needed their help, they ought to be willing to come to Planet T01 and assist with the investigation.
Now that there was a beastman with the right expertise, Yunyang no longer needed to worry about it.
Since there was no purification session that afternoon, she continued with her usual routine after lunch—
browsing the Star Network and absorbing insect cores.
You Lu’s purification session that morning had gone smoothly, but to prevent anything similar from happening again, her afternoon session was canceled as well.
After returning to her residence and recovering her mental strength, she also began browsing the Star Network like Yunyang.
Whenever she came across an interesting topic, she would share it with Yunyang.
·
Qin Mo had already said goodbye to Adjutant Pan En.
But after receiving Pei Wenye’s message, he turned around and went back to relay the matter to Pan En.
“Ask the jiaoren clan to help? That’s a good idea.”
Pan En gave Qin Mo an approving look. “Little Qin, go back and keep Lady Yunyang company. I’ll contact the jiaoren clan.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Qin Mo left, Pan En used military authorization to obtain the jiaoren clan’s contact information.
However, before he could even bring up the matter at hand, he received a summons from Leo.
At the same time, Adjutant Morrison and several executive officers received summonses as well.
Pan En and the others did not dare delay. They hurried to the central command tower as quickly as possible and entered Leo’s office.
“Commander!”
The two adjutants and five executive officers stood in neat formation before Leo.
Leo opened a display and turned it toward them.
The enormous display showed nothing but a set of coordinates.
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Leo took the initiative to explain. “This is intelligence I received today. It concerns the location where the Insect Mother lays her eggs.”
Intelligence on the Insect Mother’s egg-laying site!
The seven men’s spirits lifted.
Pan En was the first to speak. “Commander, is this intelligence reliable?”
Leo replied, “We can’t confirm whether it’s true yet. However, I’ve already reported it, and Central Star’s response was to determine the truth at all costs.”
It was exactly as he had anticipated.
Traveling to the insect planet to investigate the information would be anything but easy.
He had discussed the matter with the commanders of the Federation’s other thirty-one armies. They had decided that each army would send part of its forces to form an expedition to the insect planet and verify the intelligence.
He had summoned these seven because he wanted to choose someone to lead the First Army’s expedition.
The seven had guessed his intention, but this time, Pan En did not compete for the assignment.
He frowned. “Commander, I intend to ask the jiaoren clan to help investigate that voice.”
“Until the source of that voice is identified, I won’t be able to rest easy.”
He had an inexplicable sense of unease.
As if something major were about to happen.
As a veteran of countless battles, Pan En had always trusted his instincts.
He had to find that voice before anything serious happened.
He had already reported the matter to Leo, but Leo had too many affairs to handle and had therefore placed Pan En fully in charge of the investigation.
Hearing this, Leo nodded in approval.
“Continue the investigation. Report immediately if you need anything. You won’t have to take part in this operation.”
The remaining six exchanged glances. Then one of the executive officers, Noah, stepped forward first.
“Commander, I request permission to lead the expedition to the insect planet.”
The insect planet was the Insectoids’ lair. Its danger was self-evident.
Anyone going there to investigate had to be prepared for the possibility of never returning.
He was the strongest and oldest among the executive officers. This mission should be his.
Morrison immediately followed. “No. You lack the experience. Commander, I should go.”
“Adjutant Morrison, this is only an investigation. To prevent the Insectoids from discovering our intentions and launching an attack, at least two-thirds of the First Army’s combat strength must remain on Planet T01. It would be better for you to stay and guard the base.”
“You haven’t even set off yet, and you’re already talking about whether we’ll be exposed. What an omen. Let me handle it.”
“...”
