Chapter 489: The Unfolding of Chaos

The security guard’s job is to ensure that everything proceeds as usual.

Lu Xin, who always took his work seriously, quickly slipped into his role.

Even though sleeping on a ship felt a bit odd, he still got up at 7:30 sharp the next day.

After spending half an hour brushing his teeth and showering, he changed into a fresh set of civilian clothes and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Regrettably, although he was a security guard, Qinggang hadn’t provided him with a uniform.

Nor did they supply even a single rubber baton.

At 8:12, Doll and the rest of the experimental team arrived on board by helicopter.

Staff from the Special Cleaning Department had already begun setting up and testing equipment. Professor Bai, Minister Shen, Chen Jing, the Drunkard, the Watchdog, Luohan, the Godly Woman, Doll, Lu Xin, and other key leaders from various teams held a meeting in the command center.

The meeting was straightforward: they reviewed the entire process and emphasized several important precautions.

At 11:00, Minister Shen, Chen Jing, the Drunkard, and two other ability users departed by helicopter.

They were headed to designated positions to await the commencement of the experiment.

At 11:30, Doll had lunch with Lu Xin.

To ensure she got enough nutrition, Doll’s meal included extra protein from a boiled egg.

Lu Xin added two chicken legs and an extra egg yolk to his meal.

Note: Han Bing and Chen Jing sat at a nearby dining table for lunch—one enjoying braised pork rice, and the other, Shanxi Cat’s Ear Noodles.

At exactly 12:00, Doll took her nap.

To soothe her, Lu Xin kept her company. He didn’t sleep but instead sat on the sofa diligently on security duty.

At 2:00 PM, Doll moved to an open space cleared in front of the command center. Quietly holding an umbrella, she sat under the sun as Professor Bai and Professor Chen patiently explained the precautions necessary during the experiment.

Lu Xin, serving as the emergency translator, accompanied her; his main task was to snap her back whenever her mind wandered.

During that session, Doll drifted off three times. The first two instances earned her a gentle reminder from Lu Xin, but by the third he reprimanded her severely.

Note: This scolding earned him a chorus of eye-rolls from the nanny group.

……

……

At 3:00 PM, a third equipment test confirmed that all departments were in position and on standby.

At 5:30 PM: Dinner.

Doll’s dinner was a dim sum box prepared by a master chef from Qinggang, which Lu Xin sampled.

It was very sweet.

Lu Xin’s dinner consisted of stir-fried noodles with a chicken leg, braised egg, bean sprouts, and extra noodles.

At 6:30 PM, all departments reported in, taking their positions as everything proceeded normally.

At 7:00 PM, during the final equipment test, massive searchlights on the main ship and four auxiliary ships projected thick, dazzling beams that intertwined into a net, enveloping every polluted individual on the Sea Country vessel spanning over ten kilometers.

At 7:30, teams reported their status and confirmed that environmental conditions and the weather would not affect the experiment.

At 7:50, Professor Bai announced that the experiment had officially entered its final countdown.

At 8:00, Lu Xin quietly turned to Doll and whispered, “It’s your turn…”

……

……

On the deck of Sea Country, madness had begun to creep in.

Just like that vividly crimson moon on the sea, it followed its own precise rhythm.

The madness started with the tiniest of actions, gradually accumulating until suddenly, like wildfire or a dark ocean boiling under the red moon, it erupted in frenzy.

A haunting, feminine murmur began to echo silently within Lu Xin’s heart.

But this time, Lu Xin didn’t try to silence it. Instead, he felt the change within himself as he looked toward Doll.

Beneath the glow of the red moon and a ring of searchlights, Doll’s skin appeared almost translucent.

Set against the endless dark sea, her beauty took on an aggressive edge.

She gave Lu Xin a serious look and nodded.

It was almost amusing—like a determined child pretending to be an adult.

Then, holding her umbrella, Doll gracefully stood up.

An unseen mental force began to manifest around her, gentle yet elusive, like a soft, ungraspable breeze.

As she stood, her toes lightly lifted off the deck.

Slowly, she ascended to a height of three or four meters, hovering in midair.

The surrounding searchlights tracked her carefully without dazzling her, as seven or eight cameras followed her every move.

……

……

Doll briefly closed her eyes, then reopened them to adjust to the light as she gazed ahead.

She merely cast a glance in that direction without any extra movement.

On the deck of Sea Country, men deep in their frenzy—arms interlocked, feet stepping on fallen comrades’ corpses and shattered liquor bottles—danced under the blinding searchlights until, as if struck by something, they suddenly halted.

Several of them froze for a moment, their wild energy interrupted.

Normally, in that state, they were both exhilarated and shockingly numb.

As Professor Bai had noted in the experiment, even a rubber bullet hitting their chests wouldn’t faze them. Even high-dosage tranquilizer darts would only send them into a state of convulsive stupor.

Even in deep unconsciousness, their faces bore expressions of twisted satisfaction and manic smiles.

In other words, physical methods could kill or knock them out,

but they could never rescue them from that state.

At that moment, Doll simply cast a subtle glance at them.

Those caught in her gaze suddenly hesitated, looking uncomfortable—as if someone engrossed in a game had suddenly recalled something and could no longer concentrate.

Reluctantly, one of them slowly turned his head.

Below in the command center, twenty observers fixated on their screens and immediately recorded:

3 seconds.

……

The first person to turn, his pupils contracting to focus on Doll, appeared momentarily dazed.

It was as if a drunken man had been splashed with cold water, abruptly halting his smooth dancing and causing several nearby teammates to falter, disrupting their formation.

One by one, more people turned their heads, their blank stares fixed on Doll.

Soon, their faces contorted with extreme anguish and torment.

Expressions shifted rapidly between feverish excitement and stunned bewilderment, as if swapping masks in an instant.

Their facial muscles seemed tugged by opposing forces, twisting into grotesque shapes.

Doll looked at them intently, a contemplative expression crossing her face.

Then, she gently lifted herself about a meter into the air and grasped the umbrella handle with both hands.

“Bang!”

With a soft sound, she activated the mechanism, and her umbrella gently unfurled.

In that instant, Lu Xin felt a cool sensation sweep across his skin.

The mental force around Doll suddenly expanded outward.

It burst forth for several hundred meters, enveloping not only the deck where Lu Xin stood but even a corner of the Sea Country vessel.

“Beep beep…”

The four mental detectors nearby instantly flashed red.

In the command center, chaos erupted as several voices reported simultaneously, “Doll’s mental force has been unleashed.”

“Please note, Doll’s mental force has been released and is about to establish a field.”

……

As Doll’s mental force radiated outward, the expressions on the faces of those trapped on the Sea Country deck twisted even more grotesquely; their bloodshot eyes quickly turned deathly pale.

Many of them, as if struck by a heavy blow, staggered into a half-kneeling, half-crouching posture.

Their thin, tense spines arched sharply, resembling drawn bows.

Lu Xin even noticed that the ethereal melody in his ears grew chaotic.

“Ahhh~ Ah~~… Ah—!!”

Even the gentlest tune, when stretched and compressed by an unseen force, became piercingly sharp.

In Lu Xin’s ears, the melody had transformed from a soft, alluring lure into a shrill cry.

Those enveloped by Doll’s mental force must have heard the same.

Lu Xin watched as they writhed on the deck, their bodies convulsing in pain as if lashed by an invisible whip.

They trembled violently, white foam bubbling from their mouths while their eyes rolled back.

Some pressed their foreheads against the deck, even scraping blood.

Lu Xin could hardly fathom what kind of torment could contort a body so severely.

They were almost as bad as his Sister.

……

……

“Mental force release stable. The experiment can proceed…”

A tense voice came over the channel, reporting progress with palpable anxiety.

Doll, gazing upon the suffering of those caught in her mental force, felt a hint of pity. Knowing she could sense the cause of their anguish, she pursed her lips and steadily intensified her mental force, her gentle eyes reflecting quiet determination.

“Hehehe…”

On the deck, the men trapped in the mental force began thrashing even more violently, their pain clearly increasing.

Their expressions shifted from agony to sudden, bewildered clarity in an instant.

Then, just as Doll’s mental force peaked, a mutation suddenly occurred.

At the back of the kneeling men, a white mental force began to surge.

This white shadow was gradually squeezed out, like a cicada shedding its shell, before suddenly leaping into the air.

Wild, disheveled hair, a violently swaying fish tail, sharp teeth, and a chilling glare appeared.

……

……

“Mermaid?”

At that sight, Lu Xin’s eyes widened slightly.

He saw a merman emerging from one of the men’s heads, wildly swimming under the crimson moon in the sky.