Transmigrated to the Interstellar Era to Raise Mermaids GL - Chapter 3

After a whole night of checking materials, He Jia only managed to snatch a restless sleep before she was groggily woken up by the alarm clock.

She glanced at the schedule placed by her bedside, quickly got up, washed her face with cold water, opened the wardrobe, took out a work protection jacket to put on, and carefully checked the inflation switch of the protective suit twice to make sure it could function normally.

Before heading out, He Jia filled Xiao Feicui’s water tank with feed, waved at it, and said, “I’m going out to sea today, so I won’t be bringing you along! Be a good boy and stay home. I’ll try to come back early to have dinner with you.”

The manager’s job was very simple and leisurely. Most of the time, He Jia only needed to check the system operation values in the control room every morning and evening to ensure they were normal. All other tasks could be completed by commanding robots.

The only slight hassle was that at the end of every month, she had to go out to sea, take robots to the other micro-islands where vacation homes were set up, to tidy up and maintain them, and record any wear and tear.

Although the area of Xize’er Planet was not large, circumnavigating the few small islands scattered across the vast ocean would take at least a whole day.

Moreover, because He Jia suffered from thalassophobia (fear of the sea), she dared not set the boat speed too fast. Once aboard, she would sit up straight in the captain’s cabin, staring intently at the sea surface on the display screen, terrified of hitting a large reef that could flip the boat.

After all, she had encountered something one in a million like traveling through time, so naturally, she had to be wary of the automated navigation system failing.

Fortunately, the material of the current protective suit was extremely elastic, water-permeable, and breathable. Normally, wearing it felt like an ordinary quick-drying sportswear. If a person accidentally fell into the water, they only needed to press a switch, and the miniature compressed gas canister hidden inside the clothing would automatically inflate, causing the person to float to the surface.

He Jia completed the planned route for the islands on the left half of the map and arrived at the other end of the planet.

As she operated the touchscreen display to head to the next destination, Coconut Island, a robot walked up to her and asked, “Hello, it is now twelve noon. Do you need me to prepare lunch for you?”

“Coconut Island isn’t far from here. Let’s eat after we get to the island! I also need you to clear up all the coconuts that have fallen onto the paths,” He Jia looked at the robot and spoke to it through the translator clipped to her chest pocket, “Thank you, Sharon.”

This robot, named Sharon, had the appearance of a middle-aged, short-haired woman, wearing a pure white European-style maid uniform. Perhaps because its appearance was made too lifelike, He Jia always treated it as a human being.

“Understood. At the current speed, we are expected to arrive at Coconut Island in twenty-one minutes,” Sharon’s simulated human voice was as gentle as the perpetual smile on its face, yet it failed to convey any hint of warmth.

He Jia turned back to continue watching the display screen. After a while, a brown, hill-like island appeared faintly on the sea ahead.

That’s strange, aren’t islands full of coconut trees supposed to be green?

And Sharon’s calculated time shouldn’t be wrong!

He Jia immediately brought up the automatic navigation interface and found that her boat was still some distance from Coconut Island. The map showed that this area of the sea was empty, without even a floating coral reef.

She looked at the sea surface on the display again and suddenly felt that the brown island seemed to be moving forward as well. She took two steps back, grabbed Sharon’s sleeve, and asked, “Sharon, what is that thing up ahead? Is it alive?”

Sharon replied, “A giant Mus Star multi-legged octopus has been detected ahead. It usually lives in the deep ocean, feeds on shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, and is docile, and will not actively attack humans or boats.”

He Jia sighed with relief.

The water quality of Xize’er Planet was indeed good, even the octopus could grow to the tonnage of a ship!

It was the first time she had seen such a large aquatic creature with her own eyes. Looking at it from a distance through the display screen made her feel a little scared. Fortunately, the creature would not attack her.

He Jia lowered her head to reset the coordinates on the map, preparing to bypass the colossal creature ahead, when she heard Sharon say again, “A… white-tailed mermaid has been detected on the octopus’s sixth tentacle?”

Its smile paused for a rare moment, and its tone changed imperceptibly: “…a white-tailed mermaid?”

“What?!” He Jia’s finger, which was about to click to confirm the coordinate change, suddenly froze. She urgently said, “Sharon, quickly take a close-up image of the mermaid and send it to me!”

Sharon immediately projected the real-time, high-magnification animated image captured by its electronic eyes onto the display screen in front of He Jia.

Oh, my God!

He Jia covered her heart with her hand after only one look. The image was indeed the mermaid she had seen before!

Its eyes were tightly closed, its light gold eyelashes fluttering slightly. Its slender waist was entangled by a thick, ugly tentacle, like an old tree root, and it was being dragged on the water surface. A few strands of hair on its forehead were scattered messily on its cheeks, swaying in the wind, like a glass doll that could be twisted and broken with a gentle pull.

Hadn’t they said that the marine life on Xize’er Planet was gentle, and hadn’t they said that this kind of octopus would not attack people? Why would it capture this mermaid?

They said that octopuses were intelligent creatures, could it be that it also coveted the mermaid’s beauty?

A shiver of disgust surged through He Jia. She shook her head hard, discarding the unpleasant speculation. She rapidly moved her fingers to set the octopus ahead as the target, set the boat speed to the fastest, and turned to rush into the equipment storage room of the captain’s cabin.

Looking at the dazzling array of weapons in front of her, she clenched her fists and cheered herself on, “Don’t worry! No matter how big it is, it’s still a mollusk! I have the most advanced weapons, and I won’t be afraid if I fall into the water with this protective suit on! Once the boat hits it, I’ll go to the deck and rescue the person!”

No matter what, she absolutely could not sit idly by and let this poor mermaid be insulted by a person… Oh no, even if it was insulted by a fish, it would not do!

The giant octopus was completely unaware of He Jia approaching it with murderous intent from behind, and was single-mindedly swimming toward Coconut Island.

Its master was currently in need of a large intake of nutrients, but these past two days, she had been listless and had a poor appetite, showing little interest no matter how rare and fresh the ingredients it caught. This made the old octopus so worried that it nearly shed a few tentacles.

Upon reflection, perhaps the master was tired of seafood and needed a change of taste!

Seeing the master frown again during breakfast this morning, the octopus decided to take her to Coconut Island, the farthest point of the planet.

It had learned from a seabird that there was a kind of fruit tree on that island, whose juice was fragrant and delicious, but it had to be drunk fresh on the island and couldn’t be brought into the sea.

The journey was long, and the octopus was worried that Orsa would be bored, so it deliberately traveled on the sea surface, letting its master sit comfortably in its tentacle to enjoy the scenery.

Orsa had been resting with her eyes closed throughout the journey, while the octopus had been having a great time chasing fish and teasing birds, even casually catching a few lively fish that leaped out of the water and putting them in its suckers, ready for its own lunch.

Suddenly hearing the faint sound of an electric motor in the distance, Orsa immediately woke up and opened her eyes. The octopus also turned its head curiously.

A small patrol boat was speeding towards them!

Fearing a collision, the octopus immediately swam sideways to get out of the way, but the patrol boat also changed its course and rushed straight towards it again!

Seeing that the patrol boat was about to hit it, the octopus quickly slid its tentacles backward, swaying left and right to try and avoid it, but the patrol boat relentlessly pursued it. The waves churned up by the engine drew a long figure-eight on the sea surface.

The octopus was so nervous that it forgot to dive underwater, desperately swimming forward with all its might, determined to escape the pursuit, all while keeping a close watch on the vessel’s movements.

So scary! Although the vessel was not even as big as one of its tentacles, it would surely hurt a lot if that steel sharp point poked its soft belly, wuwuwu!

The vessel pressed hard all the way, forcing the octopus to the beach of Coconut Island with no place left to retreat, where the boat also hit the shore and grounded to a stop.

Before the octopus, whose back was too tired to straighten, could catch its breath, He Jia rushed onto the deck, raised a pitch-black long gun, aimed it at the octopus, and shouted loudly, “Hand over the mermaid you captured, and I will let you leave here safely!”

This was the most imposing and dominant-looking weapon she could carry. It would surely scare the octopus away!

Seeing that the colossal creature in front of her remained motionless, He Jia tightened her grip on the gun and shouted fiercely, “I’ll say it again, put down the mermaid in your hand immediately, or I’ll shoot!”

Although He Jia was trying very hard to threaten the octopus, her crisp, bell-like high-pitched trembling voice, combined with the emotionless, mechanical electronic sound from the translator, created a completely discordant duet. Coupled with her petite figure, precariously holding the long gun, she really didn’t possess much deterrent power.

Orsa looked at her flushed, tense face, and the finger that quickly retracted as if it had touched a hot potato the moment it made contact with the trigger, and couldn’t help but curve her lips.

The octopus couldn’t understand the meaning of He Jia’s shouts. It pondered with a bewildered look: Why is this person pointing a gun at me? Is she out fishing and angry that I stole her prey?

It hadn’t expected this soft, rabbit-like female human to have such a violent temper!

Thinking of its duty to protect its master, the octopus felt both angry and afraid, and wanted to flip the vessel over.

As soon as it raised a tentacle, it received a sound wave from Orsa: “She has no malicious intent. Put me down, along with the fish you caught, and leave immediately!”

Oh! This person really is fighting over food! Alright, alright, take it all, as long as you don’t hurt me!

The octopus immediately placed Orsa on the island.

The human on the deck instantly relaxed her shoulders, and tears welled up in her dark, bright eyes, as if she were the one who had been wronged.

The octopus was confused by the human’s strange reaction, but it did not dare to disobey its master’s command. It conveniently dropped a cluster of coconuts with the captured fish around Orsa, then splashed into the sea and swam away, creating a large wave.

Seeing that the octopus was finally driven away by herself, He Jia breathed a long sigh of relief. She leaned her entire body weakly on the gun barrel, staring blankly at the large puddle of water on the deck, which had gathered from the splash of the octopus.

That was close!

Just now, the whole time she was enveloped in the gigantic shadow, seeing those constantly wriggling brown tentacles and the massive suckers opening and closing up close made her feel cold all over. It took all her strength just to squeeze out those two sentences from her throat.

The moment the octopus raised its tentacle, she could even feel all the hairs on her body stand up. Fortunately, the octopus was still afraid of the weapon in her hand and followed instructions.

Before He Jia could recover, Sharon walked onto the deck and asked beside her, “Hello, we have arrived at Coconut Island. Do you need me to prepare lunch for you?”

He Jia temporarily didn’t want to see its unchanging smile. She turned her head in the other direction. The mermaid was sitting on the beach by the shore, with her fish tail coiled.

Bathed in the brilliant midday sun, she emitted a smooth, gentle silvery luster, like a holy and solemn naked angel in a Western religious fresco, not stirring up the slightest carnal desire in her.

Sensing He Jia’s gaze, the mermaid, who was tidying the long hair on her chest, also raised her long neck and looked back at her. The blue eyes shimmered with golden light, tinged with a faint warmth.

He Jia’s palms felt warm again. She took two deep breaths to regulate her breathing, straightened up, and handed the gun to Sharon, saying, “Okay, please prepare two servings of lunch and bring them to the island.”

Although the food made by the robot tasted monotonous, the robot would not make any mistakes.

He Jia lightly stepped off the boat and slowly approached this ill-fated, fragile, and pitiful white-tailed mermaid.

“What a coincidence, we meet again!” He Jia stopped about three meters away from her, smiled, waved in greeting, and asked, “Are you alright? Are you injured?”

The mermaid didn’t speak but lowered her eyes, surveyed her body, and nodded slightly towards her.

He Jia’s eyes curved up in delight.

She was responding to her, she could understand the interstellar common language from the translator!

“Hello, my name is He Jia! I was born on Earth in the Solar System, and I am currently the manager of Xize’er Planet…”

As He Jia introduced herself, a small fish that had fallen beside the mermaid suddenly straightened and bounced twice.

The mermaid reached out and grabbed the fish in mid-air. She tilted her head in thought for a moment, then raised her hand and offered it to He Jia.

“Is this… are you giving it to me?” He Jia was both surprised and delighted.

The mermaid maintained the posture of offering the fish to her, motioning for her to come and take it.

He Jia picked up a dry, large coconut shell from the ground. She first cautiously moved a few steps forward. Seeing no change in the mermaid’s expression, she boldly walked up to the mermaid and took the fish, putting it into the shell.

The mermaid then neatly picked up the other few fish beside her and tossed them all into the coconut shell He Jia was holding.

“Oh my, are you giving all these fish to me?” He Jia asked in astonishment.

The mermaid gave her another shallow smile, as if to say that she was using this way to thank He Jia for her courageous act just now.

This mermaid was grateful and knew how to repay kindness. She was beautiful inside and out!

As if holding a large jar of fragrant honey in her hands, He Jia felt a sweet warmth in her heart. In her ears, the sound of the waves crashing grew louder and louder.

She looked down at the lively fish in the coconut shell and noticed that the sea waves had quickly rushed onto the beach, submerging her calves.

“The tide is rising!” He Jia stood up, looked around, and pointed to the flat ground behind the beach, “Let’s go up there… and eat these things together!”

She picked up a few coconuts that had fallen next to the mermaid and walked forward a few steps first. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the mermaid slide her fish tail and follow her from a distance. She walked briskly into the woods.

He Jia found a flat, large stone, took out her portable Swiss Army knife, deftly took a fish, gutted and rinsed it clean, and then sliced the fish meat into thin, translucent strips. Afterwards, she quickly cracked open the coconuts one by one to extract the flesh.

The mermaid sat quietly on the nearby grass, watching her work, her eyes flashing with curiosity.

In a short while, Sharon walked over with two meal trays and said, “Hello, lunch is ready. Shall I go clean the path now?”

“Thank you!” He Jia looked up at it and said, “Please go to the kitchen in the vacation home first and bring over the seasonings and cooking tools.”

She decided to prepare these fish right here and now, and present the mermaid with a feast!