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Chapter 168: Back To That Key Moment ④

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    五个月后，尚可开始带小人鱼下海玩耍。人鱼和海豚一样，不能长时间沉在水底，需要交替呼吸，但对于还没学会游泳又非常喜欢玩水的小人鱼而言，如果没有人在旁边看着，他随时都有可能把自己淹死。

Five months later, Shang Ke started bringing along the baby merman into the sea to play. Merfolks and dolphins were similar, they could not stay underwater for long and had to emerge to breath. But for the little merman who had still not learned how to swim, he loved playing with water. If no one was watching him, he was likely to drown himself.

    小人鱼的生长速度比正常人类要慢，体型也比普通婴儿小，但手脚却十分结实，适应性也很强。只是不能长时间脱水，否则水嫩的皮肤就会开始干燥龟裂。

The growth rate of merfolk was slower than humans and they were also smaller. But their limbs were very strong and had high adaptability. Their main weakness was their inability to stay out of the water long or they’ll dry out and have their skin chapped.

    “放风时间结束，小呆，你该回去休息了。”尚可捉住小人鱼的尾巴，不让他继续疯。

“Play time’s over, little idiot. We need to go back.” Shang Ke caught the merman by the tail and prevented him from going wild any longer.

    小人鱼扭动着尾巴，企图挣脱尚可的控制，结果发现挣扎无果，只能泄气地放软身体，随着水波轻轻晃荡。

The little merman waved his tail in an attempt to escape Shang Ke. But he discovered the futility of his actions and gave up struggling, allowing the waves to move his body as it pleased.

    这个小家伙，别的没学会，装死倒是学得有模有样。尚可好笑地将他抱起来，顺手塞给他一只海螺：“抱着它睡觉，可以听到海浪的声音。”

This little guy, he didn’t learn much but he learned how to pretend to be dead pretty well. In a good mood, Shang Ke picked him up and slipped him a conch, “Sleep with this, you can hear the waves.”

    远处的海浪以为是在叫它，屁颠屁颠地游过来，结果一波浪潮退去，它差点被搁浅在沙滩上。

The dolphin Waves in the distance thought he was being summoned and eagerly swam over. But on his way, he was caught in a tide and almost got beached.

    尚可提醒道：“说过多少次了，不要靠沙滩这么近。”

Shang Ke reminded him again, “How many times did I remind you? Don’t get so close to the beach.”

    海浪翻着白肚皮，郁闷地在海里挺尸。

Waves flipped over onto his back, gloomily pretending to be a corpse as he blew bubbles.

    “待会安松会过来陪你，记得对人家好点。”尚可又补充一句。自从尚可接管照顾秦渊饮食起居的工作后，安松就空出不少时间跑到海浪面前刷好感度。不过海浪总喜欢捉弄他，每次都把他弄得很狼狈，但安松的脾气倒是挺好，一点都不在意。

“An Song will come by in a bit to play with you. Remember, be nice to him.” Shang Ke added. Ever since Shang Ke took over Qin Yuan’s schedule, An Song obtained a lot of free time to come over to Waves and build up their relationship. But Waves always liked to tease him and leave him in a very sorry figure. However An Song had a very good temper so he never minded.

    海浪兀自吐着泡泡，也不知道听进去没有。

Waves was still blowing bubbles, who knows if he heard him or not.

    尚可带着小人鱼回到住处，把他放在迷你小屋中。这座迷你小屋是尚可设计的，中间是一张圆形的大水床，四周海水环绕，空中架设着蜿蜒盘旋的滑梯，还有用特殊材料制作的小船、摇椅以及各种小玩具。整个空间可以智能调节温度和亮度，播放虚拟影片和音乐。

Shang Ke left with the little merman back home and placed him in a mini cabin. Within it was a large and round waterbed surrounded by seawater. In the air was a spiraling slide and a small boat made of special materials and many other small toys. Temperature could be adjusted automatically and lights were also automatic. Movies and music could also be played here.

    安置好人鱼，尚可回身便看到秦渊正站在他身后，眼神格外的深沉。他最近常常露出这样的眼神，一副欲语还休的忧郁状。

After settling the baby down, Shang Ke turned around to find Qin Yuan standing right behind him, his eyes reserved. He frequently showed this kind of expression lately, a depressed appearance that desired to say something but at the same time didn’t dare to.

    尚可找安松打听过，可惜没什么发现。看来也只能找他问个明白了，不然老是看他一边长着膘，一边愁着脸，一边壮着精，一边烦着心，也蛮酸爽的。

Shang Ke had asked An Song about it, but didn’t learn anything from him. Looks like he could only throw a straight pitch and confront Qin Yuan. Otherwise, seeing him with this kind of depressing appearance all the time while also being so energetic in bed gave him rather sour feelings.

    “秦渊，我最近经常做梦。”尚可坐在床上，抱着海豚抱枕，认真地对秦渊说。

“Qin Yuan, I’ve been dreaming a lot lately.” Shang Ke sat on the bed while hugging his dolphin plushie as he seriously spoke to Qin Yuan.

    秦渊一听“做梦”，立刻正色问：“什么梦？”

The moment Qin Yuan heard “dreaming” he asked grimly, “What kind of dreams?”

    尚可笑道：“你先把你做的梦告诉我，我再考虑要不要告诉你。”

Shang Ke smiled at him, “You can tell me what your dream is, and I’ll consider telling you mine.”

    秦渊沉默下来，没有回话。

Qin Yuan fell silent and did not reply.

    “不想告诉我吗？”尚可一脸失望。

“You don’t want to tell me?” Shang Ke’s face fell with disappointment.

    “我的梦……不太美好。”秦渊眼神暗淡。

“My dream… isn’t nice.” Qin Yuan’s gaze was dark.

    “但我的梦很美好。”尚可凑到他面前，带着诱惑的语气说道，“你真的不想听听？说不定我的梦会让你的梦也变得美好起来哦。”

“But my dream is very nice.” Shang Ke scotted in front of his face as he spoke enticingly, “Do you really not want to know? Maybe my dream will make your dream nice too.”

    秦渊犹豫片刻，终于还是开口：“我……我梦见自己将死去的你放进一口棺材，然后沉入海底，但你有一天突然起死回生，在封闭的海底棺材中，受尽折磨，一次次死亡，又一次次重生，直到生命耗尽。我亲手葬送了你重生的机会，在你绝望无助的时候，只顾沉浸在自己的悲痛中。”

Qin Yuan wavered and finally spoke, “I… I dreamed of myself placing you in a coffin and submerging you in the sea. But then you revived one day and was sealed in the coffin. You would suffer every day again and again until your life was thoroughly exhausted. I personally ended your chance of returning to life. While you were in helpless despair, I was wallowing in my own grief.”

    尚可无语，原来这段时间一直困扰他的事情，竟然是来自于他的想象和脑补。这倒是让尚可确定了一件事，那就是这个世界的他也经历了一次重生，否则他不会因为发现自己拥有“起死回生”的能力而产生那样的联想，他以为自己上辈子亲手将他困死在了棺材中。

Shang Ke was speechless. So what had been tormenting this whole time was his own imagination. At least this allowed Shang Ke to confirm one thing, that Qin Yuan had also been through this life once and was given another chance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have that kind of horror imagination towards his revival, to believe that he had personally trapped him to death in a coffin.

    “对不起，火焰。”秦渊第一次在清醒地说出了深藏在内心的歉疚。

“I’m sorry, Flames.” Qin Yuan spoke the words of guilt within his heart while saying it awake for the first time.

    “为什么要道歉？”尚可握住他的手，笑道，“事实上，我也做了一个和你差不多的梦，只是中间的过程有点不一样。”

“Why do you need to apologize to me?” Shang Ke held his hand and chuckled, “In fact, I had a similar dream, but the middle events were a bit different.”

    秦渊抬头地看向他。

Qin Yuan raised his head to look at him.

    “我梦见自己死后，被你葬在海中，看着你痛苦失眠，孤老终身。于是我向海神祈愿，希望能够让时光倒流，重新回到你的身边。”尚可声音平和地说，“海神回应了我的请求，我在棺材中获得新生。然后，你找到了我，我们从此过上了幸福美满的生活。”

“I dreamed that after I died, I was buried in the sea. I watched you suffer from insomnia everyday and remaining single for life. As such, I pleaded to the Sea God, that time could go back and I could return to you again.” Shang Ke calmly continued, “The Sea God responded to my wish and gave me another life within that coffin. After that, you found me and we lived happily ever after.”

    “听起来有点像童话。”虽然如此说，但秦渊暗淡的眼神逐渐焕发光彩。因为尚可提到“时光倒流”，正好符合他的情况。

“It sounds a bit like a fairy tale.” Although he said that, Qin Yuan’s dark eyes started returning its luster. Because hearing Shang Ke mention time flowing backwards confirmed his situation.

    “管他是不是童话，重要的是我们又在一起了。”尚可抱住他，嘻嘻笑道，“秦渊，开心点，像我这样，每天都笑容满面多好。”

“Who cares if it’s a fairy tale or not, what’s important is that we’re together again.” Shang Ke hugged him and snickered, “Qin Yuan, be happier. Like me, I am smiling everyday. Isn’t that nice?”

    秦渊：你那是天生的……

Qin Yuan: You were born with it… 

    “火焰，如果我一直没有发现你起死回生……”

“Flames, if I never discovered your revival…:” 

    “不会的，只要我活着，就会想尽办法寻找你。别忘了，海洋中有的是能够为我传递信息的生物。找一只乌龟甚至是鲸鱼都不是难事，更何况还有海浪。如果你没有收到我的信息，那就说明我肯定已经离开这个世界了。”

“That’s impossible, as long as I was alive I would think of ways to find you. Don’t forget, there are plenty of animals in the sea that I could pass information to. Finding myself a turtle or even a whale is nothing hard, plus there’s even Waves. If you never received any news from me, then I had left the world entirely.”

    秦渊先是愣了一下，随即眉目舒展，像是卸下什么负担一般，整个人都变得轻松起来。是啊，火焰能够与海洋生物沟通，如果他还活着，不可能连一点信息都不给他留下。

Qin Yuan was first dumbstrucked, then he immediately relaxed like some burden had been lifted from him. He felt light for the first time in a long time. That’s true, Flames could communicate with other animals. As long as he was alive, it was impossible to not hear anything from him.

    “哈哈。”秦渊捂着脸，笑自己太蠢笨，完全被恐惧扰乱了心智。

“Haha.” Qin Yuan covered his face in one hand, laughing at his own stupidity. His brain had been completely taken over by fear.

    秦渊重重在尚可额头上亲了一口：“火焰，我爱你！”

Qin Yuan landed countless kisses on Flames’ forehead, “Flames, I love you!”

    “真巧，我也爱你。”

“Such a coincidence, I love you too.”

    解开了心结，秦渊的精神状态发生了质的飞跃，最明显的表现就是长胖了10斤，肌肉越发健硕，持久力也提升了好几个百分点。每天神采奕奕，意气风发，浑身上下都散发着闪瞎人眼的幸福光芒。

Now that his trauma was taken care of, Qin Yuan’s mental health immediately leaped forward. It clearly showed in the way he gained over a dozen pounds, his muscles becoming well-built and his endurance multiplying by several folds. He was bursting with life everyday and full of mettle. His entire being shown with blinding light.

    一年后，属于秦渊和尚可的家园终于建设完成了。

A year later, the home that belonged to Qin Yuan and Shang Ke was finally done with its construction.

    岛上虽然没有什么珍稀矿藏，但土壤肥沃，四季如春，适合种植一些特定的农作物和瓜果蔬果，完全可以自给自足。

Although there weren’t any rare mineral resources on the island, it had fertile soul and favorable climate throughout the year. It was suitable for planting particular crops and fruits, and was completely self-sufficient.

    岛外的世界，开始动荡起来。变异基因所造成的恶果也越来越明显，时不时会出现一两个变异人。虽然各国ZF极力封锁，依然在民众之间引发了巨大的恐慌。

The world outside the island began to be plagued by unrest. The various negative consequences of mutant genes became clearer and clearer, and mutant people would appear from time to time. Although each country’s government used their utmost effort to seal off the information, it still caused great panic amongst the people.

    他们并不知道，在某座偏远的岛屿，已经有人研制出了防治变异的药物。

They did not know that on a remote island, someone had already created a medicine that could prevent and cure mutations.

    秦渊注册了一家新公司，专门用来经营这种药物，只是为了谨慎起见，他并没有立刻出售。而是收留一些无家可归的变异人，为他们提供免费治疗。不过，他们必须先签订一份保密协议和五年雇佣合同。

Qin Yuan registered a new company that was purely for peddling this medicine. But for caution, he did not immediately sell it. Instead, he offered shelter to some homeless mutants, then supplied them free treatment. However, they had to sign a confidential agreement and a five year employment contract first.

    又过了三年，第二只小人鱼出生。这是一只雌性人鱼，身体十分健康，成长速度趋向于正常人类。

Another three years passed by and a second merfolk was born. This one was a mermaid and was very healthy. Her growth rate was similar to normal humans.

    同一年，海浪选择了转化，变成了一名清俊的人类少年。值得一提的是，他是在与安松交配的过程中转化的……

That same year, Waves also chose to transform into a clean and handsome human youth. It was worth mentioning that he transformed while copulating with An Song.

    因为尚可的出现，变异所引发的混乱，并没有像秦渊前世那般蔓延。随着秦渊的公司治愈的变异人越来越多，他在世界的影响力也越来越大。外界虽然没有发现海豚的存在，却发现了新的人鱼。

Because of Flames’ existence, the chaos caused by mutations did not spread like Qin Yuan’s first life. As Qin Yuan’s company cured more and more mutants, his influence in the world became greater and greater. Although the world did not discover the existence of dolphins, they did discover the existence of merfolk.

    不过此时的人类，还只是将人鱼当作一种进化后的新生物，对秦渊所掌握的技术感到吃惊，并没有想到解决人类繁衍危机的关键，就在人鱼身上。

But the humans of now merely treated merfolks as a new creature from evolution. They were shocked by the level of technology and skill Qin Yuan had but did not think that the way of solving their fertility crisis lied with the merfolks.

    直到数十年后，第一只成年人鱼，成功让一名人类女性受孕，人类才逐渐意识到他们的繁衍能力。

It wasn’t until decades later, that the first adult merman successfully impregnated a human woman did humans finally realize their fertility. 

    雄性人鱼让人类女性受孕的几率高达82%，而雌性人鱼受孕的几率则达到了90%。当然，前提是人类本身没有严重的基因缺陷。

Mermen raised human women’s pregnancy rate to 82%, while mermaids pregnancy rate was 90%. This was naturally based on the premise of the person themself not having a serious gene defect.

    人鱼与人类诞下的婴儿，成为人鱼和人类的几率各占一半。但人们更喜欢人鱼，因为人鱼的生育力很高，而人类如果找不到人鱼伴侣，很可能一生都不会拥有后代。

The child born from a merfolk and human had a fifty-fifty chance of being either species. But people liked merfolks more, because they could produce the next generation. If a human could not find a merfolk partner, then they would likely never have descendants.

    在不久之后，人鱼将成为全世界认可的新物种，各种人鱼保护法也应运而生。

In the years following, merfolks would become a world-wide acknowledged species and all sorts of merfolk protection laws would be implemented.

    这个世界将正式进入繁荣的人鱼时代，而火焰和海浪则成为了所有人鱼的始祖，也是未来所有人类的始祖。

This world formally entered a prosperous merfolk era. Flames and Waves would become the ancestors of all merfolk and also the ancestor of future humans.

    不过在此时，尚可最大的幸福，只是和秦渊在这座美丽的岛屿上无拘无束的生活。

But at current times, Shang Ke’s happiness was to stay by Qin Yuan’s side on this beautiful island and live a free and unconstrained life.

    “安松~~”安松正在给秦渊汇报工作紧促，突然被一双手从背后抱住，一名秀气的少年从他身后探出头，软软地叫着，“安松，安松~~”

“An Song~~” An Song had been reporting to Qin Yuan when a pair of arms suddenly caught him by the waist from behind. A delicate young man popped a head out from the side as he softly cried, “An Song, An Song~~”

    安松无奈地朝秦渊和尚可看了看。

An Song helplessly implored Qin Yuan and Shang Ke.

    尚可对少年说：“海浪，不要打扰安松工作。”

Shang Ke spoke to the young man, “Waves, don’t bother An Song at work.”

    海浪嘟起嘴，还是一个劲地喊着“安松”的名字。

Waves pouted, but still continued to call out An Song’s name.

    海浪转化为人类的一年，除了“火焰”、“安松”之外，还没有学会一句完整的人类语言。

The year Waves turned into a human, besides “Flames”, and “An Song”, he did not learn a single completely human phrase.

    “今天就到这里吧，放你两天假，好好陪海浪。”秦渊很大方地表示。

“Let’s end this today. You can have a two day break and spend time with Waves.” Qin Yuan very graciously gave him time off.

    安松大惊：不，我一点都不想放假！

An Song was greatly alarmed: No, I don’t want to take a break at all!

    然而，不等他发表意见，他就被海浪给拉走了。

However, before he could object he was pulled away by Waves.

    秦渊处理了一下后续工作，然后招呼尚可回家。两人离开办公室，刚走到拐角，便听到一阵压抑的呻吟。

Qin Yuan finished up his follow up work and called out to Shang Ke so they could head back home. While they were leaving the office and just turned a corner, they heard a stifled moan.

    偷偷看过去，只见海浪将安松压在墙上，就在走廊对他发动了攻势。海浪比安松矮了一个头，身材纤瘦，但力量可不小，性欲也十分强烈，而且完全没有人类的羞耻心……

Taking a peek around the corner, they saw Waves pressing An Song against a wall and doing him right in the corridor. Waves was a head shorter than An Song, and had a slender stature, but he was rather strong and had a strong sex drive. Furthermore, he did not know human shame… 

    听了片刻，秦渊突然开口：“我们好像没有在走廊做过。”

After listening to them for a moment, Qin Yuan suddenly spoke, “I don’t think we’ve done it in the corridor before.”

    尚可转头就走。

Shang Ke immediately turned around and walked away.

    秦渊长臂一伸，将他压在走廊另一角，屈起膝盖顶在他的两腿间，沙哑道：“不知道我和海豚相比，谁的持久力更甚一筹？”

Qin Yuan stretched his arms out and trapped him against another corridor corner. He placed a knee between Shang Ke’s legs and huskily asked, “I wonder, if I were to compare myself to a dolphin, who would last longer?”

    尚可不好意思打击他，海豚的精液可以把墙射穿，某人估计只能挤挤奶油。

Shang Ke felt embarrassed to inform him. Dolphin semen could pierce through a wall while a certain someone could only squeeze some cream out.

    秦渊像是读懂了尚可眼中的意思，眼神一暗，翻转他的身体，扯下裤头，掰开他的臀瓣便挤了进去。

As if he had read his mind, Qin Yuan’s eyes darkened and he turned him over, pulled down his pants and went straight in.

    “啊！”尚可发出一声短促的低呼，想到几米之外就是海浪和安松，立刻收住了声音。

“Ah!” Shang Ke cried out but when he thought of Waves and An Song who were just a few feet away, he immediately tried to suppress his voice.

    身后的秦渊开始动作，手指灵活开拓他的身体，点燃他的热情。不过多时，尚可便被他攻破防线，直捣黄龙。

Qin Yuan in the back started to move as his nimble fingers roamed around his body and ignited his lust. Not long after, Shang Ke’s defenses were broken down, and he cried out without care of hiding his voice anymore.

    仅隔一堵墙，两对狗男男极尽缠绵地交配着，此起彼伏的呻吟和激情四射的碰撞，如同比赛一般，回响不断。

With the two couples separated by a wall, they underwent a long experience of mating. Rising and falling moans and other sounds of passion echoed around them like a competition as it continued without pause.

    数小时后，秦渊和海浪意外默契地同时停止了攻势，帮各自的恋人整理了一下，然后抱着他们走出长廊。

A couple hours later, Qin Yuan and Waves both unexpectedly came to a tacit understanding as they stopped their offense. They helped clean up their respective lovers then carried them out of the corridor.

    相互对视一眼，战意在空中交汇，无声地约定下次再战。

Their gazes met in the air as their fighting spirits were raised. They silently agreed to compete another day.

    他们之所以停战，主要原因是他们都饿了，尚可答应今晚做全鱼宴，如果时间太晚，恐怕就来不及准备了。

The reason why they stopped was because they were all hungry. Shang Ke had promised to make an all fish feat tonight. If they got back too late, there wouldn’t be enough time for him to cook.

    可以预见，尚可和安松未来都将过得非常性福……

Well, from the look of things, Shang Ke and An Song’s future would be full of happiness… 

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SnowTime: This arc is actually a bit interesting in the terms of well-known cliches in the BL world settings. I don’t think I’ve seen any around in NU, but the interstellar, merfolks of both genders can give birth and are often in lower status with a super delicate setting that is often used. Basically they are the omega of the world minus the ABO dynamics. Don’t ask me how, I don’t get how this setting started either. At least in this arc, everyone is equal and there is no random ABO shit going on with these merfolks…. I still question how that weird cliche setting came to be… 

Sarah: LMAO WHO KNEW WAVES WOULD TOP HAHAHA i’m glad the merfolk are treated better in this world! I’m sad it’s ended, but so excited to see what happens in the next arcs now ^w^ https://ko-fi.com/sarah_min

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