Heroic Death System [BL]

Arc 7: I Am Not A Merman (II)

Shang Ke and Waves, who was the small dolphin, would undergo examinations by the medical personnel every few days. That was understandable, since the dolphins were eliminated by a plague once upon a time, and it was hard to say if they still carried that kind of fatal bacteria on them.

Fortunately, up till the present, he and the small dolphin's state of health was positive. The staff of the base carefully studied the research material and notes their predecessors left behind, and learned that the dolphins were animals that were full of emotions. Upsetting them and placing too many restrictions on their freedom would make them depressed, and may even drive them to commit suicide. Further, the life expectancy of a human raised dolphin was shorter by 7 to 10 years compared to wild ones, their mortality rate was higher as well compared to their wild counterparts by about 5%.

The mental capacity of a dolphin is second only to humans, even higher than an orangutan. They were capable of forming questions and answering them, had self-awareness and the ability to understand and process their emotions, as well as undertake similar kinds of high-level mental cognition processes. In other words, if the brain of a dolphin was developed to the point of humans. They could possess wisdom, ingenuity and social awareness not inferior to humans.

As such, the staff were very gentle with Shang Ke and Waves. Even when they needed to examine and study them, they tried to do it in the gentlest way possible and form bonds of trust with them both.

Compared to the world Shang Ke once lived in, the people here treated dolphins with such care that the difference couldn't be any greater; they were taken care of like their own children. The moment they noticed that the two dolphins were unhappy about something, everyone would immediately tense up and fall into prepared-to-fight mode.

What was gratifying was that the two dolphins were very clever and obedient. Not only did they not burden the staff, they made everyone very happy. In just half a month, they had won over everyone's hearts.

The outer pool of the base was connected to the sea. The world below the waterline was not that much different to the wild, hosting all sorts of aquatic organisms. Every half a month, they would open the watergates to freshen the pools. However, with the arrival of the two dolphins, they would now first place a net blocking the entrance before opening the gates to prevent the dolphins from swimming back to the sea.

It wasn't that the base wanted to confine them, but that they were far too precious to be allowed back to the ocean where danger lurked around every corner, or rather, reef. The dolphins of the past were herd mammals, having anywhere from ninety to hundreds of members in a pod. The largest groups numbered in the several thousands. Such large groups had the power to confront other dangerous animals. But now there were only two, if they were to meet with a shark they would be bitten to death in minutes.

"Flames, Waves, Mr. Qin came to see you two again." The director, Dr. Cui shouted toward them with a smile.

At the moment, the two dolphins were showing their bellies to the sky and practicing swimming backward, just lazing about and having fun. Shang Ke immediately flipped over upon the arrival of Qin Yuan and swam in a way he personally believed to be very elegant as he made his way to the shore. Happily, he raised his head and cried out.

"A present." Qin Yuan had people put down the half-human sized rubber duck in the water. The bright yellow object almost blinded Shang Ke.

Shang Ke gave it a look of disdain and used a flipper to push it away. But Waves, who have never seen such an object before, rather liked it and took the yellow rubber duck to play with in the water.

"You don't like it?" Qin Lun took the tablet his assistant handed over, opened up a web page and held it in front of Shang Ke. "See what you like, I'll buy it for you when I get back."