Soul Mechanic [Interstellar]

【The little secret in the shell】

There is an ecological cabin on the Tianlong, which can simulate various living environments.

When transporting the Snow Lotus Tribe before, Chu Qingtian adjusted the central control system to the Flying Snow Star mode. Now that the mermaids live in, they fill a whole cabin with seawater, lay coral reefs, and put shoals of young fish to simulate The water temperature and pressure at the bottom of the sea - it's like a beautiful underwater world.

Much to Mu Qiu's relief, the mermaids are very adaptable, and they didn't feel any discomfort due to changes in water pressure and temperature after coming to Tianlong.On the contrary, they like the spacious and bright feeling in the cabin so much that they don't even want to turn off the lights when they sleep.

Speaking of which, they are really a group of restless guys. In addition to running around in the cabin for "exploration", the mermaids also volunteered to help when the team members went to the sea to collect samples.

It has to be said that with the help of these mermaids, the safety factor and work efficiency of the team members have indeed improved a lot. Fortunately, they themselves do not feel hard work, but are happy every day.

Therefore, Chu Qingtian did not stop it.

-

In addition, there was another matter that gave Captain Chu a headache.

That day, the picture of the guides riding on the back of the killer whale was posted on the Internet by tourists, and the number of hits reached 30 billion in one day.

I don't know if it's because the guides are usually a little bit high, or because they are too well protected by the Tower of London and appear too mysterious among ordinary people.In short, as soon as the video came out, people from all walks of life reposted it. For a while, all the voices were discussing who the two guides who could even tame a ferocious killer whale were—almost no one suspected that they were not guides.

Fortunately, the shooting distance was too far to see the faces of the guides clearly. However, the huge tree-shaped logo of the Tianlong was properly placed there.

As a result, the Tianlong team's holiday ended early, and Chu Qingtian became busy.

On the one hand, Captain Chu had to complete the various orders issued by the military department, and on the other hand, he had to avoid the all-pervasive media.

Various media could not verify the identities of the guides, so they could only go to Chu Qingtian to inquire about the news.

At the same time, the military department also issued an order to let him use this opportunity to establish a good image of the federal army in terms of environmental protection among the people.And seriously asked Chu Qingtian to treat the media friendly and set an example for other brother teams.

——It has to be said that the federal military department, especially the main team mainly composed of Sentinels, does not have a good image among the people.

The Tianlong team had to temporarily requisition the government building of Ocean Star for office work.

Although he was too busy to touch the ground, Chu Qingtian still had to contact Mu Qiu every half an hour to ensure that his guide was safe and sound.

In order not to make him worry, Mu Qiu simply stayed in the lounge and did not go anywhere, and turned on the holographic image, so that Chu Qingtian could see what he was doing as long as he lowered his head.

-

After finally dealing with the last wave of "XX Weekly" reporters, Chu Qingtian rubbed his temples and returned to the conference room, pouring a large glass of energy water.Turning around and seeing Lu Xun leisurely standing at the window looking at the scenery, he felt a little uncomfortable.

"I said, are you embarrassed?" Chu Qingtian squinted and looked at Lu Xun—this man is always well-dressed and straight, and he looks like a benchmark no matter where he stands.

Lu Xun glanced at him lightly, with a smile on his lips, "What's the matter with embarrassment? If someone hadn't finally made up his mind to make money to support his family, who would you say will be idle this time?"

Chu Qingtian choked, and shut up wisely—in terms of words, he couldn't compare with Lu Xun out of ten.What's more, what Lu Xun said is also true - in the past, when he didn't have the heart to fight for this and that, didn't these things all be left to Lu Xun to deal with?

Lu Xun looked out the window and said again: "Have you thought about it? Do you really need to avoid it?"

This question was thoughtless, Chu Qingtian glanced out along his line of sight, just in time to see a few little mermaids returning from the sea in a speedboat with the sentries, although the language is poor, they can still make gestures." Talking and laughing."

Chu Qingtian nodded, "The situation this time is different from that of the Snow Lotus Clan, and we can't hide it even if we want to."

Lu Xun also gave a "hmm" in approval, "I think the little mermaids are adapting well, and I don't mind revealing their identities after all."

Chu Qingtian suddenly remembered something, "Speaking of which, the reaction of the Academy of Sciences this time was not great, and no one was sent over two days later."

"I haven't contacted Dean Kele yet." Lu Xun smiled, "It's easy to negotiate terms when the business comes to you, isn't it?"

Chu Qingtian smiled and shook his head.

At this moment, Lu Xun's terminal beeped sharply. He raised the corners of his lips and gave Chu Qing an angelic wink.

Flicking his wrist, a gray-haired figure appeared on the virtual screen.

"Boy Lu, tell me the truth, is the mermaid thing true?" The voice was full of anger.

Lu Xun nodded unhurriedly, "There are sixteen in total, all of which are healthy."

Hearing the words, the old dean visibly lifted his spirits, and the next moment, the anger in his eyes almost penetrated the screen and sprayed onto Lu Xun's face, "It's actually true?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Lu Xun rubbed his forehead and looked extremely tired, "My lord, I've been so busy these past two days that I forgot about it for a while."

"Can you forget such a big thing?!" The old dean blushed, with an expression of wishing he could be strangled to death. In the past, little mermaids, you can show me that you are not allowed to hand over to the military department, not even one!"

"Don't worry, before you come, not a single scale will be missing."

Dean Cole paused when he was packing up, and suddenly asked, "Can you be the leader of your captain? If not, I'll tell him directly."

Lu Xun smiled, and really didn't save face at all, "Don't worry, the captain is listening by the side, what you say is what you say."

Not only did Dean Cole not look happy, but he looked at him vigilantly, "Say, what the hell are you planning this time?"

The smile in Lu Xun's eyes was almost overflowing, but he said very seriously, "No."

The old dean curled his lips, it would be strange to believe you.

Lu Xun smiled sincerely.

Dean Cole turned off the video with a "snap", not wanting to see his face again - see Lao Lu some other day and ask, how did his family give birth to such a kid due to a genetic mutation? !

Well, the mermaid is the most important right now!Mermaid, the teacher didn't lie to us back then, there really are mermaids!

When Dean Cole thought that years of painstaking research had finally come to fruition, all the hairs on his body became excited, and he seemed to be more than ten years younger.

-

"I'm cooking seafood tonight, do you want to come back for dinner?" Mu Qiu's gentle and delicate face appeared on the virtual screen.

"Go back." Chu Qingtian said bluntly, "Prepare more, let those boys go back together, they are all busy these days - will it be very tiring to prepare meals for so many people?"

Mu Qiu smiled, "It's okay, with Simon and Elsa helping me, we can help with other things, cooking is still fine."

Chu Qingtian looked at his guide, the love in his eyes was undisguised, "Qiuqiu, excessive modesty is pride."

Mu Qiu's smile deepened, "What time will you be back? I'll prepare in advance."

Chu Qingtian looked down at the terminal, "Don't worry, it will take another two hours at the earliest."

"Then tell me before you come back, the seafood won't taste good if it's overcooked."

"Row."

Lu Xun, who was listening to such a homely conversation, was filled with emotion.

Looking at the undulating sea outside the window, he couldn't help but said: "In the past, some people said that we were the 'Bachelor Team'. I didn't take it seriously. Now that I have a guide to join, I realize how bad the days were."

Looking at the sinking sunset, Chu Qingtian's knife-like outline suddenly softened, with a smile on his face, "Isn't it..."

-

Pumpkin came to look for Mu Qiu with the shell in his arms, with a mysterious look, "Qiuqiu, let me tell you, the shell suddenly moved during the lunch break."

Mu Qiu looked at him funny while beating the shrimp paste, "Really? Could it be blown by the wind?"

"No, even though it was only a small hit, Xuewa and I saw it!" Pumpkin said very seriously.

Xiaoxuelian also nodded heavily at the side.

Mu Qiu looked at the little radish, usually the little guy is the most active, why is he silent now?

Little Luobo rubbed his eyes with Yuanyuan's small hands, and said very annoyedly: "Luobo went to bed first, I didn't see it - next time, don't go to bed first."

Mu Qiu didn't want to break the habit of the little ones obediently taking a lunch break because of this, so he had to patiently understand the situation, "How did it move at that time?"

"Xuewa took a breath and it moved."

Mu Qiu knew that since Pumpkin took the initiative to take over the task of taking care of the "important shells", she has done it very seriously.

He hugs the shells to blow the sea breeze and bask in the sun every day. Before going to bed, the little ones have to scrub the shells and smell the fragrance together, but it makes the shells that are already glowing with colors brighter and more beautiful. For this reason, Elsa He also specially contributed his own perfume, and let the little ones play around.

And, I don't know where I heard the truth, the pumpkin asked everyone to blow on the shell carefully before going to bed.It is said that the shell will be very happy every time Xiaoxuelian blows, so Xiaoxuelian will be asked to blow a few more mouthfuls every day.

——Mu Qiu didn't know how the little guys judged the emotion of "happy".

He guessed that it might be because Xiaoxuelian's mouth is strong, so the shell was blown--the children must be aware of this situation, otherwise, what should I do if they don't take a good nap in the future?

"Can you let me play it too?" Mu Qiu asked politely.

"Yes!" Pumpkin trustingly handed the shell to Mu Qiu - you know, he wouldn't be willing to see it for anyone else.

As long as someone asks, Pumpkin will say naively: "It's a secret."

The sentries on the spaceship gradually got used to the difference of the pumpkin, and sometimes deliberately teased him, but the pumpkin was still naive and not angry.

Mu Qiu put the shells on the table, trying to let the little ones see clearly.Then he took a big breath and blew hard.

Sure enough, the shell moved, and the colored light on it also flashed.

The little guys opened their eyes wide and shouted excitedly: "It's moving! It's moving again!"

Mu Qiu said with a smile: "If you have more strength, you will indeed be able to move. It's nothing unusual."

However, the next scene completely overturned Mu Qiu's conjecture.

The shell suddenly moved violently, "gudong gudong" as if it was shaken by something, and it became bigger and bigger as it moved.

Mu Qiu blinked, and looked at Simon behind him in surprise, "I'm not dazzled, am I?"

"No." Simon also looked surprised, "It's getting bigger."

The little ones were also stunned, one by one staring at this magical shell with their mouths open and their eyes unblinking.

"Otherwise...can you blow again?" Simon suggested irresponsibly.

Mu Qiu's head froze, and he blew again.

The colorful shell suddenly swelled up like a balloon, and with a "bang", it became more than one meter long, and almost fell off the table.

Mu Qiu subconsciously supported it, feeling the breath of life coming from the shell in disbelief.

—Could it be... is it alive?

At this moment, the originally tightly closed shell slowly opened.

Like a movie in slow motion, slow and rhythmic.

A group of people held their breath in unison, looking forward to the upcoming miracle.

This is what Chu Qingtian saw when he entered the door.

"Did you find the baby?" There was a smile in the voice.

The shell seemed to be surprised, and with a "snap", it closed again.

A circle of people looked at Chu Qingtian angrily, even Xiaoxuelian was no exception.

Chu Qingtian was startled, "What's the situation?"

Green Tail saw the multicolored shells on the table, opened his eyes wide, and rushed from behind the crowd, as if he wanted to touch them but dared not.

The other mermaids also ran over and asked excitedly, "Caibei has grown bigger? How did it get bigger?"

"Qiuqiu blew once, no, twice." Little Luobo said honestly.

"I even touched it." Pumpkin added rigorously.

"God, son of god, lord son of god, can you... touch it again?" Green Tail held Mu Qiu's hand and pleaded expectantly.

Mu Qiu didn't eat the merman grass at this time, he could only see Green Tail opening his mouth, but couldn't hear his voice.

Little Carrot translated thoughtfully, "Brother Luwei said let Qiuqiu touch again."

Mu Qiu is as good as a follower.

This time, the shell seemed to be hesitating, trying to identify something.

Mu Qiu felt something lightly brushing against his hand, like a soft wind, with the breath of the ocean. For a moment, he seemed to hear the singing of the mermaid, ethereal and beautiful, making people intoxicated unconsciously.

There were more or less intoxicated expressions on the faces of the others, and Mu Qiu raised his eyebrows, which seemed to be not his illusion.

The surface of the shell flashed with colored lights again, and the opening speed was much faster than before.

Before Mu Qiu could react, the scene inside the shell had already appeared in front of his eyes.

Not slimy molluscs, nor pearl treasures, but five eggs of different colors, lying safely in the soft and moist seaweed.

Mermaid eggs?

Mu Qiu subconsciously looked at Chu Qingtian.

Chu Qingtian shook his head helplessly, he didn't know either.

Soon, one of the shiny white eggs gave him the answer.

Something punched a small hole in the seemingly hard eggshell, and then, a small white hand stretched out from the hole.

tiny hand?

Mu Qiu's breathing became short of breath—couldn't that be what he thought?

The next moment, the white eggshell swayed from side to side, shattered, and rolled out a little guy as white and tender as the eggshell - not only the hands and body, but also the tail and hair of the fish were also white.

The whole little mermaid is only the size of Chu Qingtian's open palm from head to toe.

I don't know if it's because of being out of the familiar environment, or feeling a lot of strange breaths, the little guy curled up with a small body and started crying - yes, all the humans present heard his crying.

Mu Qiu poked at his own sentinel like a fool, "The little mermaid... how to raise it?"

Chu Qingtian looked at Luwei with a stiff face.

Green Tail just stared at the little mermaid, weeping, unable to speak a word.The other mermaids also cried with their heads in their arms - those who didn't know thought something bad had happened.

Lu Xun dialed Dean Kele's communication number seemingly calmly, and said succinctly, "A little mermaid has just hatched here, and there are four more eggs, which may be born at any time."

"Sendy!" The old dean almost shouted out the assistant's name, "Go, hurry up and apply for the wormhole shuttle—quick!"

There seems to be a response to something, a mess of footsteps came through the terminal, obviously more than one person.

The old dean trembled and said: "I will send a manual to your mailbox, and take care of the little mermaid according to the above instructions, adapt to the situation, absolutely, absolutely, there can be no, even the slightest mistake!"

Lu Xun gritted his teeth, he really couldn't guarantee it.

"Did you hear that?!" Dean Cole roared.

"I heard, we will do our best, don't worry." Simon was beside him, and replied in a gentle voice.

The other party then turned off the terminal.

Lu Xun looked at Simon and twitched his lips.

Simon held his hand and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, with Qiuqiu here, everything will be fine."

However, "Qiuqiu" did not play a role this time.

Instead, a group of little guys prepared calmly.

Little Luobo found a one-meter-square oval fish tank from Muqiu's space, and Xiaoxuelian contributed her most precious nutrient solution. in the fish tank.

The expressions of the little ones were taken for granted, and the movements were done in one go, and the adults didn't react to stop them.

The little mermaid sank into the nutrient solution, drank two gulps "gudong gudong", and spat out a big blister with a "ah".Yuanyuan's eyes were shining brightly, and her little tail swayed accordingly, as if there was nothing wrong with it.

Chu Qingtian glanced at Green Tail, who was out of breath from crying, and simply pulled the little Silver Tail from behind the school of fish, and carried it to the front of the fish tank, "Look at this, can the mermaid drink it?"

Even though Xiaoyin was timid, he still stretched his slender arms into the fish tank without hesitation, dipped his hands in the nutrient solution, and licked and ate.

Just as Mu Qiu was about to stop him, the little guy suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at Chu Qingtian happily, "It's delicious!"

Although he couldn't hear it, he knew from his expression that there should be no problem.

Chu Qingtian breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Mu Qiu reassuringly.

-

Afterwards, Mu Qiu asked the little ones how they knew they could raise little mermaids with nutrient solution.

"Because we thought about it in advance, what if there is a little mermaid sleeping in the shell, just like the mermaid patriarch. Then I looked it up and prepared this nutrient solution according to the steps in the information... ..."

Pumpkin took out the document, and Mu Qiu was not surprised to find that it was exactly the same as the one Lu Xun received—the so-called "checked" by Pumpkin actually hacked the database of the Academy of Sciences, right?

"And we have agreed that if a mermaid is really born, the radish will be responsible for holding the fish tank, Xuewa will keep the nutrient solution, and I will hold the little mermaid like a mother so that he won't cry..." Pumpkin's voice was still naive, as if it was just a little mermaid. The agreement between the partners does not feel that they have done anything remarkable.

Mu Qiu hugged him involuntarily, feeling a little sour all of a sudden—the little ones whom he had been taking care of and treated as children had grown up without him noticing...

"I want to hug the radish too!" The little spiritual body never wants to lag behind.

"Also... yes!" Xue Wa also rushed over.

The little green vine didn't speak, just wrapped around it.

Chu Qingtian opened his arms, encircling all the big and small ones in his arms, feeling extremely satisfied in the spiritual realm.

For a lifetime, having them is enough.

-

In the restaurant of the Tianlong, all the dining seats were gathered together to form a long dining table, with a circle of people sitting on both sides of the dining table.

Those who can sit here are all their own people, and people with special eyes and eyes can see the special features of radish and pumpkin, but no one casts a strange look—maybe it was Chu Qingtian’s confession, or it was the instinct of the sentries. No matter what, Mu Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and felt very comforted.

The little guys sat close to Mu Qiu and Chu Qingtian, and there was a small oval fish tank on the children's seat next to them.

The little white mermaid swims around freely, and pats the glass with her tender hands from time to time, as if greeting people.

Green Tail choked and said, "When they were born, the water was so hot that people couldn't breathe, and some eggs were crushed directly, and these five were left, and the hatching time was long past... Originally, originally I can't survive, Master Caiwei said, let's bring the younger brothers out and find a good place..."

Little Carrot dutifully translated on the side.

The audience probably understood that the changes in the seabed environment caused the water temperature to rise and the water pressure to increase. The newly born mermaid eggs could not adapt, and were either directly crushed by the water pressure or turned into dead eggs.

"It must, it must be because of Lord Shenzi that the younger brothers came back to life!" Green Tail looked at Mu Qiu gratefully.

After listening to Xiao Luobo's translation, Mu Qiu couldn't help asking, "What is 'Son of God'?"

"..." This question obviously stumped Green Tail, and he subconsciously looked at Gold Tail next to him.

Jinwei didn't want to lose face in front of his sweetheart, so he said confidently: "He is a very powerful person!"...It should be like this... right?

Mu Qiu heaved a sigh of relief, it's fine if it's not something to talk about, there are too many powerful people in StarCraft, and he is not the most special one no matter what.

In addition to paying respect to Mu Qiu, the mermaids were also very grateful for the help of the little ones, and expressed their gratitude by giving gifts.

One said to give a big pearl, the other said to give a beautiful coral, and the other said to catch the most delicious sea fish... The little ones were surprised, and everything they heard felt fresh.

The adults couldn't help but laugh when they saw it. After all, it's the children's way of socializing, which is pure and happy.

Elsa had an idea, and suddenly said: "Why don't you give the little mermaid a name!"——If you wait for the people from the Academy of Sciences to give it, I don't know what strange and official name will come up.

The little guys became excited again because of this proposal, and even the carefree sentinels on weekdays had a heated discussion—the mermaid born on the Tianlong, how many people would die of envy if I told it!Then, again, once again, I feel that the decision to follow the boss back then was really very correct.

The mermaids unanimously decided that the right to name the little white fish should be handed over to Pumpkin.

The little guys all looked at him enviously, and secretly decided that the rest of Dandan must get up first.

Pumpkin thought for a while, and said a little embarrassedly: "Call it 'Mu Xiaobai'!"

Mu Qiu was stunned for a moment.

The mermaids were also a little confused, "What is 'Mu'?"

"Qiuqiu's surname!" Little Luobo explained naturally, "My name is 'Mu Luobo', and the name of Pumpkin is 'Mu Pumpkin'. We both have the surname of Qiuqiu. When Qiuqiu gets married in the future, we will become Qiuqiu's surname." My child, the whole family will be named Mu in the household registration book—so Xiaobaidan should also be called 'Mu Xiaobai'!"

"What's a surname?" The mermaids turned into curious babies in seconds.

Next, it was time for science popularization of "The Smartest Pumpkin". About the origin of the surname, the inheritance of the surname in Huaguo from ancient times to the present, and the legendary "hukou book" all took the trouble to explain it.

A group of small earth fishes were stunned for a while, and exclaimed from time to time.

"It's nice to have a surname, and I really want to have a surname!" Finally, Green Tail spoke out the aspirations of the mermaids.

The mermaids looked at the little white fish spitting out bubbles in the fish tank in unison, with envious expressions on their faces.

"Well, let's get married. After you get married, you will have a surname, especially if you marry a European, you can take your husband's surname." Pumpkin suggested friendlyly, not knowing how to make such a surprising statement.

The adults couldn't laugh or cry when they heard the live broadcast of Xiaoluobo.

The mermaids believed it was true, and planned to "marry" one after another—even though they didn't know what that meant.

Jinwei, the only one who knew something, became anxious immediately, stared at Greentail with wide eyes, and said viciously: "Sooner or later, I will have my own surname. You can have my surname, and you are not allowed to marry someone else!"

"Got it." Greentail replied in a good-humoured manner.

——Since then, the concept of "must be strong and must have a surname" has been deeply rooted in Jinwei.

Perhaps, this is the beginning of the first mermaid general in the history of the Federation to work hard.