Chapter 73
Finally realizing and understanding the depth of his great mistake, Qin Yuan immediately went to find a jewelry designer without another word. He wanted it made in the same style as the one he was wearing to create a similar ring and started to look for a beautiful sapphire at the same time.
On the other side, the people of the research institute recruited several pairs of married couples as volunteers to conduct artificial embryo cultivation. The current technology has progressed to the point that it can imitate the development of pregnancies and embryos can be completely developed outside of the body. Ten pairs of couples all voluntarily offered their eggs and sperms and signed a confidential agreement.
The initial stage of the results gratifying; seven embryos have survived the early stages of pregnancy from the ten pairs. Although they have not taken form, it was already enough to thoroughly please and excite everyone. They all paid close attention to the embryos as they matured, waiting for the new lives to descend.
In that period of time, Shang Ke obtained a rare period of peace and happily led Waves out into the ocean to play. They found many bizarre things on the seabed. With how they were progressing in their scavenging, they would have enough to open a treasure exhibition hall at this rate. The ocean area was larger than land by several folds, so who would know just how much treasure is in it? Shang Ke would always have a new discovery whenever he went out and fell deeply in love with the sea.
Qin Yuan built a treasure room for Shang Ke to store the treasures he found and brought back. He just didn't expect that dolphins would also have a collecting hobby and even had great taste. The things he gathered all have some sort of collection value.
Qin Yuan found Flames already sleeping when he entered the bedroom. His head was leaning on the dolphin pillow, his breathing even and his slightly parted lips looked as if bubbles would be blown out at any moment.
Qin Yuan's gaze was full of gentleness as he quietly walked over and leaned over to land a kiss on his forehead. Then, he took Shang Ke's left hand and slid a sapphire ring on his finger. The stone was azure like the deep color of the sea. It looks like a pair with the one he was wearing.
"Flames, I wish for you to stay with me forever, as my lover." Qin Yuan dipped his head down to land a kiss on the stone this time, his deep voice like the low-tone of a cello, echoing in the quiet room.
Qin Yuan silently gazed at Flames for a moment, then placed his hand inside the blanket. He got back up and headed for the bathroom.
Listening to the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing, the formerly sleeping Shang Ke suddenly opened his eyes. He raised his left hand to look at the ring Qin Yuan had just placed onto his finger and a happy smile unknowingly made its way onto his face. He hugged his pillow and bit into it, then jumped out of bed and tiptoed his way to the bathroom. Outside the door, he used a finger to slowly pushed the door open, poking his head in like a ghost ready to cause trouble, staring at the naked man showering inside.
Upon hearing some noise, Qin Yuan turned to see what caused it, and his eyes met a pair of gleaming clear eyes that could drown him in love in moments.
"Flames, you're awake." Qin Yuan pretended to be calm, assuming a straight face that could not be moved by beauty.
Shang Ke's hand slowly drew circles on the door, the sapphire on his finger gleaming as he did so and he slowly spoke, "I suddenly really want to play with water."
Qin Yuan's heart was tickled by his actions of drawing circles on the door and his abdomen tightened, but he still spoke without obvious change to his demeanor, "It's so late, so let's not play with water anymore."
Shang Ke gave him a disdainful look: Still pretending to be an upright gentleman? If you have the ability to, make is so that thing down there doesn't stand up!
"Alright, I'll go to sleep." Shang Ke put away his slightly lustful expression and prepared to go back to the bedroom.
In the end, he had only just turned around when an arm hooked him back and the bathroom door closed before his eyes.
Qin Yuan pressed Shang Ke against the washstand, kissing him intensely as his hands skillfully groped him. The dense fog quickly dampened the two men's entangled bodies. Shang Ke's legs were wrapped around Qin Yuan's waist as their lower bodies were intimately close. Qin Yuan straightened up and dove straight in.
Not long after, a string of ambiguous dolphin sounds came from the bathroom, mixed intermittently with rough pants and flowing water...
That night, Shang Ke obtained a great understanding. A man should not be casually teased!
The two had confirmed their relationship formally entered the honeymoon period. The project and their feelings were developed in union and they lived very comfortably.
However, an unfavorable piece of news came by later. A problem emerged from the first embryo the lab had cultivated.
In the eighth week, the researchers discovered that the shape the embryo was developing into was not of a normal human's. The head, upper torso and arms were all very normal, but the lower body did not have legs, instead, it appeared to be something akin to a fish tail.
The researchers were very stunned by this turn of events, they did not foresee that they would breed a merfolk.
Some people proposed that they should cease further incubation of the embryo before it has completely taken form. Otherwise, when he was born, there would no doubt be much trouble would be headed their way.
Another portion of the researchers fought against that suggestion, they believed that he would be a very exceptionally experiment experience. For the legendary merfolk to come into this world by their hands could be considered a great achievement.
The two sides disputed the issue for a long time before the latter finally obtained popular opinion and it was decided to continue the development of the embryo.
As time passed, the development of the merfolk embryo steadily matured more and more. The researchers determined that the merfolk was a male and all his vital signs were very healthy. They estimated that he would be able to separate himself from the artificial womb in two months.
Apart from him, there were six other embryos and only one other had the same shape as him. The rest of the embryos were regular human shape. The second merfolk was also male. Out of the remaining five, four were female and one was male.
Shang Ke was rather surprised from what he heard from Qin Yuan about the merfolk fetuses breeded by the laboratory. He thought to himself that his additional mission really has something to do with the experiments. He found merfolk, or should he perhaps say, his genes has created one.
"Qin Yuan, how will the researchers deal with them?" Shang Ke asked with concern.
Qin Yuan pondered over it carefully and answered, "Merfolks are a new species, they might be viewed as protected experiment subjects."
"Protected experimental subject?"
"It's the same situation as dolphins, we'll conduct a reasonable range of research without harming them."
Shang Ke was deeply sceptical about this and asked: "Then, are you guys going break the merfolk situation to the two couples that offered their sperm and egg?"
Qin Yuan fell silent. The appearance of merfolks was an unknown factor. It was likely that it wouldn't be made public until the cause had been studied.
Although Qin Yuan did not say anything, Shang Ke already found the answer from his expression and no longer asked.
If humanity really chose to only treat the merfolks as protected experimental subjects, then he can accept that reluctantly, after all, he could not say for sure that these merfolks could adapt to the environment of the sea, nor could he be sure of how sure their vitality is. Rashly fighting for their so-called human rights and freedom was unrealistic, everything can only be decided after they were born.
Two months later, the first merman baby was born smoothly. Shang Ke couldn't restrain himself and went with Qin Yuan to the laboratory to witness the birth of the first merman with his own eyes.
His birth was not much different from that of an ordinary baby. After taking in his first breath of air, he produced a loud cry.
The researcher cleaned him according to the normal procedures and curiously stroked his fishtail. The tender and lovely fishtail did not have any scales and had the same texture as normal skin. The translucent pale pink resembled a pink crystal.
At first, the merman showed very normal behavior, but after a dozen minutes, he started to dry cough. His small face turned into a red from lack of air, like he could die at any moment. Everyone started to panic at this turn of event and momentarily did not know what to do.
"Put him in the water!" A crisp voice suddenly cut through the crowd and they reacted accordingly.
The researcher quickly placed the small mermaid into the tank carefully. As soon as he entered the water, the small merman flipped over nimbly, and then slowly swam in the water.
Everyone was astonished and gathered around the tank, as if admiring a work of art.
Someone couldn't resist reaching out to try and touch him but was avoided. He swam a little, stuck his body to one side of the tank and blew bubbles towards the outside.
The direction he was facing was exactly where Shang Ke was standing.
Shang Ke felt some connection with him that everyone else was unaware of. The dolphin genes seemed to carry memories, thus the newly born mermaid had some sort of natural imprintment to Shang Ke.
A week later, the merman gradually adapted to being in water and on land. He could stay out of the world for day now. The researchers was very fond of him and was extra diligent of taking care of him. But he preferred Shang Ke more. Every time Shang Ke came to visit him, he could find his existence in moments then cry at him with 'yiyi yaya's'.
That naturally made the researchers jealous and complained one after another that even the little merman was an existence that looked at appearances and was only close to the prettiest one.
After several interactions, they straightforwardly handed over the job of taking care of him to Shang Ke.
After another month, the second merman baby and a female baby was born in succession. The numbers of mermans Shang Ke needed to take care of turn from one into two. If there were any more born, he might end up as a merfolk nanny at this rate.
Even if he did, Shang Ke did not mind. It was just that his time with Qin Yuan was cut down after becoming busy.
He took care of the little mermans in the day and spent the evening with Waves. The time he had with Qin Yuan was pretty much squeezed out of his fingernails and a certain Qin felt very aggrieved by this.
The other five babies developed by the experiment were all healthy. After an examination, they showed nothing unusual and the researchers kept some of their blood, hair other samples before giving the babies back to their parents. The only thing they asked for after that was for them to bring them back for monthly checks.
The couples that got their children all wept with joy.
This piece of information soon attracted widespread attention from society and every major mediate scrambled over each other to report it. In this era where birth rates are so dangerously low, for five babies to be successfully born, how could the world not be fired up? Countless couples who desired a child applied to be part of the experiments one after another, all hoping to become the next lucky ones.
However, this artificial breeding clearly could not be generalized. One, because the supply of dolphin genes was limited, and two, because there was a chance that they would take the form of a merfolk instead.
While the research institute requested Qin Yuan to provide more dolphin genes, they postponed the development of more embryos. They concentrate their research on the two mermans instead.
Provide more dolphins genes? That depends on whether Flames has time to mate with him! He hasn't been intimate with Flames for a long time! He was as lonely as the snow and empty to the extreme.
Shang Ke's attention nowadays was all on the little mermans. Every day, he would swim around with the two tail, and firmly gave Director Qin the cold shoulder.
By the time he realized it, Director Qin had turned into a mobile snow mountain, wherever he passed, frost would spread all over.
Shang Ke took out some time that night and used his warm human body and dolphin's romatic feelings that was hot like a raging inferno to melt Qin Yuan into a puddle of snow water...
The Author has something to say: Omake—
Qin Yuan: Don't you think that the description of "melt into a puddle of snow water" a bit horrifying?
Shang Ke: Then how do you think it should be described?
Qin Yuan: You can say "becoming putty in his hands", this is both subtle and beautiful.
Shang Ke: You have no shame saying you're subtle and beautiful... better resign yourself to be a puddle of snow water.