Chapter 12 — Mermaid Rising Waves

It contains heavy metals, organic pollutants and small amounts of radioactive substances. One hundred thousand tons. One hundred thousand tons of toxic waste dumped into the sea will take the lives of how many fish species? How many seas are polluted? How many coastal people have to face cancer? I don't dare to imagine anymore. Meanwhile, Lam Triet and San Ho have also recovered. The five-person team is now down to only three, Octopus Ca and Cau Gai are still in the hands of the Tham Lam Group. My mother found out the location of their detention, which was located in a biological laboratory of the Tham Lam Group located in a coastal city in a neighboring province. That laboratory is disguised on the outside as the "Marine Resources Research and Development Center", but is actually a secret facility used to detain and research intelligent marine creatures. According to insider information that my mother gathered, over the years the Deep Lam Group has captured at least a few dozen intelligent marine creatures – including the most intelligent octopuses, dolphins, and whales – all of whom are locked up in that laboratory for various experiments. Today, the appearance of a new species called mermaids has made those perverted scientists even more crazy.

“Research on what?”

I asked.

“Research their physiological structure, intelligence and how to exploit their special abilities.”

“Special abilities?”

“For example, pearls from mermaid tears.”

My mother hesitated for a moment, "After discovering the secret of mermaids, the Deep Lam Group conducted research on the mechanism of their tear formation, with the desire to synthesize it artificially."

“Artificial synthesis?”

“That's right.

If it is possible to artificially synthesize the pearl ingredients in mermaid tears, they will be able to mass produce high-quality pearls, thereby monopolizing the global pearl market. This is an industry worth tens of billions of yuan.” I listened and was stunned.

“So they dump toxic waste into the sea, not simply because they are lazy to handle waste?”

“Of course not.”

My mother sneered, "Discharging waste is just a side story, the real purpose is to force the new species - mermaids that they have long suspected to be real - to leave the polluted sea, thereby setting traps in the mermaid's path. Cau Gai and Octopus Ca were not caught by accident, they were the targets." The blood in my body froze.

“You mean from the first discharge, it was all a trap?”

“That's right, the Tham Lam Group clearly knows that there are new creatures living in that sea.

They intentionally discharged waste to anger the mermaids, lured the mermaids to appear to stop them, and then conducted a siege as soon as the mermaids appeared." I suddenly remembered the headlights and electric grid on the boat in the first action, and the unmanned diving equipment and bait cage in the second. All are pre-designed. We fell into their trap from the beginning.

“Mom,” my voice trembled, “where did you get this intelligence from?”

Mom glanced at me and was silent for about three seconds. Then she uttered something that made me freeze.

“From within Tham Lam Group.”

“……

What?” The corner of my mother's lips curled up slightly, that smile reminded me of my grandmother - The cunning is the same, the unfathomable mystery is no different.

“Mom installed a lot of people into the Tham Lam Group.”

“Who else?!”

“I cannot reveal it, the identity of the messenger is confidential information.”

“Even you don't know?”

"Especially I can't tell you."

She looked at me, her eyes shining with a rare gentleness, "The less you know, the safer you are." I wanted to turn back, but my grandmother came down from upstairs and said one sentence that made me shut up: "Listen to your mother, she has been struggling in this profession for nearly 20 years."

“What job?

What does Mom really do? Grandma and mother looked at each other. Then mother uttered three words: “Guardian.” After that conversation that day, many things suddenly became clear. Why did my mother still insist on staying in the coastal city after the divorce? Why does mom always have a way of capturing tons of inside information? Why is my mother's network of relationships so wide and scary, from lawyers, journalists to government officials, she has acquaintances from all walks of life? Because she is not a normal person. She is a member of a secret organization dedicated to protecting intelligent sea creatures. This organization includes both humans and mermaids, and was established and has existed for over a hundred years. Their mission is: Protect the rights of intelligent marine life, prevent human actions that destroy the ocean ecosystem, and when necessary, punish businesses and individuals who commit acts of destroying the marine environment. My mother's code name in this organization is "Underground Rock". It sounds trivial, but it's unbreakable.

“So,” I plopped down on the sofa, trying to digest this explosion of information, “mom married dad also because of a mission?”

My mother pondered.

“That was how it was at first.”

She admitted, “But not later.”

“And then what?”

“After that I really loved him.”

I stared at my mother, my mother stared blankly at the sea. Above the sea, a familiar head rose.

“Ex-wife, have you eaten yet?”

My mother glared and rolled her eyes. Mr. Chu's media campaign is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. The reason for choosing this time is because Friday morning is the golden hour for news to explode. Office workers who have just come to work will open their phones to browse the news, while press units are working hard for the weekend news. A news "bomb" dropped at the right moment will spread at breakneck speed. At the same time, the young department head at the Ministry of Environment will also present a denunciation to the Supreme Procuracy. Internal attacks and external attacks, the double sword of public opinion and the legal whip, will surely make the Tham Lam Group stand still and not have time to yawn. But before we light the fuse, we still have one mission to complete. Rescue Sea urchin and Octopus Ca.

“Leave this to me.”

Lam Triet asserted. His body has recovered, but the left side of his body is forever scarred. Where the electric current passes through, the fish's scales can never return to their original integrity, instead they are a patch of gray-white scars, rough and protruding.

“Are you going alone?”

I frowned.

“No, San Ho will come with me, besides,” he hesitated, “your mother will also support me with some experts.”

“Which master?”

“Navy special forces prize We are very professional divers."

“……

Is my mother that familiar?

“If your mother can still infiltrate the Dark Group, finding a few retired special forces soldiers is nothing.”

Okay. Sounds reasonable.