Chapter 4 — Mermaid Rising Waves

Finding evidence is easier said than done. The Tham Lam Group's waste disposal behavior clearly does not happen every day, they are not that stupid. The recent discharge was definitely taking advantage of the night, right in the corner hidden from the camera, to borrow ocean currents to diffuse pollutants to disguise it as "natural pollution". But Lam Triet did not intend to wait.

“I will summon everyone.”

The next morning he told me.

“Everyone?”

“Friends under the sea.”

He paused, "The younger generation of the mermaid tribe. The elders are too conservative, they only know how to hold meetings, discuss, write reports, then meet again. By the time they came up with a plan, this sea would have been dead for a long time." I thought back and realized what he said made sense. I've seen the mermaid tribe's Elder Council before. Before the meeting, you have to shower and change your clothes, use a conch shell to predict good luck, and then have to recite an epic poem that is three hundred lines long. After reading it, you will get to the main issue. By the time they finished speaking, the lilies would have withered.

“Okay.

I will contact the side on shore, you contact the side under the sea, we will cooperate inside and out!” Two days later, at an abandoned port warehouse, we held the first secret meeting called "Anti-Tam Lam Group" - the name I gave, but Lam Triet rejected it for being "too rude", and finally finalized it as "Provisional Action Group for Marine Environmental Protection", referred to as "To Bao Bien" for short. Honestly, this name isn't much better. The list of participants is as follows: I, Giang Tieu Ngu, a hybrid mermaid, am in charge of taking minutes and providing satire. My mother, human, alias “Boss”, provided capital, intelligence, legal support. Grandma, the mermaid, alias "The Emperor", is mainly in charge of imposing and scolding. My dad, the mermaid, the mascot. On the ocean representative side is Lam Triet, a pure-blood mermaid, leader of the action team, in charge of underwater reconnaissance and sabotage. Coral, female, purebred mermaid, Lam Triet's cousin, good at camouflage and infiltration, can use seaweed and coral debris to transform herself into a normal reef. Cau Gai, male, purebred mermaid, Lam Triet's sidekick, hot temper, expert in whipping people with his tail. Octopus Ca, well... is a genuine octopus with extremely high IQ, understands human language, and knows how to use simple tools. Lam Triet said it's smarter than some people, I:??? I feel like this sentence is teasing me! Before the meeting began, Lam Triet solemnly emphasized one thing: "Octopus Ca is not a pet, he is a core member of our group. If anyone pats his head, he will squirt ink in that person's face." I silently withdrew my outstretched hand. The meeting officially started. My mother spoke first. She distributed documents about Tham Lam Group to us.

“The Tham Lam Group's 'Deep Sea Landfill' project, according to the official statement, is to compress harmless treated industrial waste into high-density blocks, sinking them into cracks under the sea to 'permanently seal'.

But according to the documents I got from internal sources..."

“Who is the insider?”

I interjected. My mother glanced at me with a cold expression: "Don't ask about the identity of the informant, that's the rule."

“Yes.”

“According to the documents Hey, their so-called 'harmless handling' has never been done at all.

Industrial wastewater is discharged directly into the sea, solid waste does not go through any treatment but is compressed and buried, and even contains some radioactive substances. The entire meeting room fell silent for 5 seconds. Cau Gai was the first to explode: “What?! Radioactive?! They dumped nuclear waste into the sea?!”

“The evidence is not strong enough, but the possibility is very high.”

My mother held up a satellite photo, marking the travel route of the Tham Lam fleet in the last three months.

"Look here, this sea area, is where you discovered dead fish. Every month their fleet stops at these coordinates for four to six hours, the time always falls in the early morning, about two to six o'clock."

“So it wasn't dumped indiscriminately.”

Lam Triet frowned, "They discharge waste at a fixed location, proving that the seabed topography in that area is suitable for pollutants to accumulate, not easily swept away by ocean currents."

“Smart.”

My mother rarely compliments, "The seabed in that area is a depression, all four sides are high, the middle is concave like a bowl, things that fall will be trapped inside, not diffusing elsewhere, at least in the short term."

“So what about the long term?”

I asked.

“In the long term, pollutants will slowly seep into the bottom soil layer, contaminating groundwater, then transmitting through the food chain.

Plankton eats pollutants, small fish eat plankton, big fish eat small fish, humans eat big fish.” I shivered slightly.

“So,” Lam Triet stood up, “our goal is to film their live discharge!”

“What kind of shooting?”

San Ho wondered, "Our phone is waterproof, which is great, but when filming underwater, the photo quality is very poor."

“No need to use the phone.”

My mother pulled out a tiny device from her pocket and pushed it on the table, "Dedicated underwater action camera, 40 megapixels, 4K video recording, supports infrared night vision, maximum diving depth of 200 meters. Mom asked someone to improve it, the battery life lasts up to 12 hours, and a magnet base is also attached, which can hold tightly to the metal hull of the ship.” Everyone's eyes lit up in the room, including Octopus Ca, who stretched out a tentacle and poked the small device. Lam Triet cleared his throat and began assigning tasks.

“The discharge team's operating hours range from two to six in the morning.

We will arrive at the ambush target area one day in advance. San Ho, you are in charge of reconnaissance, determining the location of waste disposal equipment and their working process." San Ho nodded.

“Cau Gai, you take care of the sabotage part, once it is confirmed that the discharge has started, you use the tail spikes to cut off their exhaust pipe.”

Cau Gai grinned, revealing his white teeth: "Leave it to me, even my steel plate thorns can cut it."

“Octopus Ca, you are in charge of attaching the camera. Your tentacles are the most flexible. You can attach the camera to a hidden corner on the bottom of the ship, filming many angles.”

Octopus Ca stretched out two tentacles, signaling "OK" - this scene was so magical, it made me laugh out loud.

“What about me?”

I asked. Lam Triet glanced at me: "You are on the shore responding."

“Based on what?!”

“Because you are a hybrid.”

His voice was very calm, but his eyes contained a hint of emotion I couldn't read, "Fighting underwater, your physical strength and endurance are not as good as a purebred mermaid, moreover..."

“Furthermore, what?”

“Besides, if anything happens to you, your mother will chop me into fish cakes.”

My mother nodded slightly next to me, showing her agreement. I was about to argue, but my grandmother gently pressed her hand on my shoulder from behind.

“Tieu Ngu,” her voice was warm, “Lam Triet is right, you have your own position, your position is not necessarily the one rushing to the front lines.”

“So where should I stay?”

“You stand at the boundary between the human world and the mermaid world.”

She said, "This is the most dangerous position, also the most crucial position. Because you see both sides, understand both sides. Purebloods like us, whether purebred mermaids or pureblood humans, can only see one side. Only you can see through both sides." I was silent.

“Okay.”