LMWD 🍁 Chapter 6: The Little Mermaid Gets an Optical Computer

Meanwhile, Lu Feng had just woken from his dream. He pressed his brow, carefully sorting through everything that had happened in it.

That mermaid, it was probably real.

"Zhang Chuan, come in."

Adjutant Zhang, hearing the voice, walked in from outside and first gave a military salute.

"Admiral."

Lu Feng rose, walked over to his optical computer, and pulled up the latest military intelligence summaries.

"Still no movements from the merfolk clan?"

This was the second time recently Lu Feng had brought up the sea folk. After Lu Feng said there was no need to investigate last time, Adjutant Zhang had still kept an eye on the latest news about the merfolk clan.

"No, Admiral. I've been specifically monitoring news about the merfolk clan lately, and they're still the same as always: mysterious, rarely appearing before humans."

Lu Feng pressed his lips together, his expression grave. His knuckles tapped rhythmically against the solid wood desk, making a "thump thump thump" sound.

"Pull up the city's entry and exit records for the past week."

The adjutant immediately agreed.

"Yes, sir. I'll retrieve them right now."

Adjutant Zhang hesitated: "Is something unusual? I've read all the city entry-exit reports recently and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"Just pull them up first."

Lu Feng offered no explanation, simply ordering Zhang Chuan to retrieve the records. Since the mermaid in his dream said he'd recently arrived in the city, there must be a record somewhere. If he searched through the city's entry and exit logs, he was sure to find a clue.

Then the truth of whether this dream was real or not would come to light.

"Understood, Admiral."

"Oh right, Admiral, about that pheromone compatibility match..." Zhang Chuan looked a little sheepish, glancing at Lu Feng's expression with some guilt: "There's someone whose pheromones seem to have achieved a preliminary match with yours. It's a bit odd though, his pheromone level won't display."

Lu Feng looked up, setting down the document in his hand.

"I thought I said no more matching."

Lu Feng's voice was cold, his gaze fixed on Adjutant Zhang, who shuddered beside the desk.

"Cough... cough cough... I was just concerned about you, sir. Having an Omega to alleviate your nightmares and headaches is important."

Lu Feng's gaze shifted from Zhang Chuan back to the optical computer.

"No need. Don't take matters into your own hands again. Delete my data from the pheromone database."

"Right away, right away!" Zhang Chuan agreed immediately.

It was all Doctor Lin's fault, always going on about the Admiral's headaches and how a compatible Omega could relieve them. That was why he'd gotten the clever idea to keep running compatibility tests on the Admiral's pheromones.

"Enough. Get out."

"Yes, Admiral!" Zhang Chuan gave a military salute on the spot and backed out the door.

But the Admiral's complexion has seemed much better these days. His headaches rarely seem to flare up anymore, and I seldom see him looking grim and pale when he rises from sleep.

That Doctor Lin must be tricking me, spouting nonsense about only finding an Omega being able to relieve the Admiral's headaches. The Admiral hasn't found an Omega, and he's already doing much better on his own.

I'll go have it out with him later, Zhang Chuan thought to himself.

But first, Zhang Chuan needed to compile the city's entry and exit records and send them to Lu Feng.

Lu Feng looked at the information on the optical computer. These were all the optical computer records of personnel entering the city within the past week.

But Lu Feng didn't seem to find what he was looking for.

The empire had long since made optical computers commonplace. Except for a few extremely remote areas where not everyone might be equipped with one, optical computers served as the basic communication and daily living tool everywhere else.

And according to these records, the chips at the city gates should automatically record the identity information of every optical computer bearer as they pass through.

But there was nothing. Lu Feng carefully examined each person's information record and found no discrepancies.

Could he really have been overthinking? Was that dream just a dream, meaningless after all?

Lu Feng wore his black military uniform, his sharp aura carrying an added note of deadly solemnity. His cuffs were perfectly straight, and from them extended a hand gripping a curved blade gleaming with cold light.

His calloused fingers slowly caressed the hilt. This blade had been with him for a long time. It cut through iron like mud and could slice a falling hair in two. Over the years, it had felled countless strange beasts.

Wait... this blade!

Lu Feng's pupils constricted slightly. The person he'd casually saved when returning to the city...

Wasn't in those optical computer records!

"Zhang Chuan, come here immediately."

When Zhang Chuan arrived, Lu Feng was standing in the middle of the room, carefully wiping his personal blade with a soft cloth. The sharp edge of the knife made Lu Feng's brow bones look all the more piercing.

"Admiral, did something happen?"

Lu Feng set down the cloth and returned the blade to its sheath.

"Is this all the entry and exit records?"

Zhang Chuan looked puzzled: "Yes. All the optically recorded entry-exit information is here."

"What about those without optical computers?"

"What are you saying, sir? Who doesn't have an optical computer these days? You get one at birth, don't you?"

"Besides, in addition to optical computer information, there are manual inspections at the city gates. Anyone without optical computer information gets manually recorded separately."

Zhang Chuan stopped mid-sentence as if suddenly remembering something.

"Wait... manual inspections don't check your convoy, Admiral."

Zhang Chuan was still dazed when he was shown the door.

He couldn't figure out why the Admiral suddenly wanted to check city entry records, much less that there really was a person missing from his own entry records. Most unexpected of all was that the Admiral actually wanted him to go install an optical computer for that person who didn't have one.

Was that really the point of all this? Zhang Chuan couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Wait, he'd heard the Admiral saved a little Omega. Could it be that he'd fallen for that little Omega at first sight and was dead set on finding him?!

When Zhang Chuan saw Wen Yanzhou, his guess gained a great deal of credibility.

Wow, you're so cute! Zhang Chuan marveled inwardly. Just look at that little face, those eyes, that nose. No wonder the Admiral was falling; this was practically every Alpha's dream Omega!

Unfortunately, Zhang Chuan didn't know that when Lu Feng saved Wen Yanzhou, Wen Yanzhou's entire body including his face had been wrapped so thoroughly in spider silk that only two big eyeballs could be seen staring out, and those eyes had closed and fainted right after glancing at him.

Wen Yanzhou looked at him with a confused expression.

"Cough cough... my name is Zhang Chuan." Zhang Chuan introduced himself, then explained his purpose to Wen Yanzhou: "You don't have an optical computer yet, right? Your information isn't in the system. For management purposes, I need to install one for you."

Wen Yanzhou looked at Zhang Chuan blankly: "Optical computer... what's that?"

Good heavens, where had this little bumpkin come from? He didn't even know what an optical computer was.

Zhang Chuan felt a twinge of pity. They'd said he was a little Omega who'd escaped from a remote area, but to not even have heard of optical computers, how remote must it have been? Zhang Chuan didn't dare imagine how much effort it must have taken him to get here.

"An optical computer is something that records a person's identity. Almost everyone gets one at birth," Zhang Chuan began explaining: "You probably just lived somewhere too remote to have one."

"Oh, I see." Wen Yanzhou lowered his guard. Since it was something most people had, it probably wasn't dangerous.

Zhang Chuan had Wen Yanzhou extend his hand, then placed a chip against his fair, delicate wrist. The chip immediately merged into his skin, a flash of glimmering blue light, and it was invisible beneath the surface.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Wen Yanzhou's eyes went wide, his lips slightly parted.

Zhang Chuan felt a surge of affection for Wen Yanzhou. This poor little thing had never even seen this before. He must have suffered so much growing up.

"Alright, come on. Tell me your name, place of origin, and so on, and I'll help you register your information."

A large blue screen appeared in mid-air, growing larger and smaller with Zhang Chuan's movements. Various images and text floated across it, hovering in the air.

"Wow, is this seawater?" Wen Yanzhou was so shocked by this "optical computer" he could barely speak. It reminded him of the seawater he lived in, only this glowed and had floating text.

"What?" Zhang Chuan hadn't heard clearly.

"Ah, nothing, nothing." Wen Yanzhou realized he'd almost given himself away and quickly shook his head, his black hair swishing through the air.

"My name is Wen Yanzhou, from... from Luolin."

Zhang Chuan's fingers tapped a few times on the light screen, quickly completing Wen Yanzhou's registration.

"Registration complete!" Zhang Chuan pulled Wen Yanzhou over to introduce the optical computer's functions.

"Look here, optical computers can also contact other people instantly. As long as you add them as a friend, you can send messages whenever you want."

Wen Yanzhou's contact list was currently empty.

"Then... can I contact anyone I want?" Wen Yanzhou's eyes went wide with delighted surprise, his palms sweating with excitement as he carefully poked at the screen. The display refreshed to another page.

"It really moved!"

Wen Yanzhou turned to look at Zhang Chuan happily, so excited he barely knew what to do with his hands and feet.

"Mm-hmm. As long as the person you're adding agrees, you can connect with anyone you want!"

Zhang Chuan added himself to Wen Yanzhou's friends. Zhang Chuan's avatar in Wen Yanzhou's contact list glowed blue, showing he was online.

Zhang Chuan used his own optical computer to send Wen Yanzhou a "Hello." Wen Yanzhou's optical computer immediately displayed [Your friend Zhang Chuan has sent you a message].

"See? Like this, you can contact me anytime!"

Wen Yanzhou was completely blown away by this tiny "optical computer" today. Being human was so nice, having such an amazing "optical computer" to use.

He immediately wanted to use this "optical computer" to contact his brother, only... he didn't know his brother's optical computer information.

"Adjutant Zhang, what if you don't have someone's optical computer information but still want to contact them?"

"Then there's no way around it. You need their information to add them as a friend first," Zhang Chuan answered Wen Yanzhou's question, explaining casually:

"But people of very high rank have permission to look up anyone's information. They can add anyone."

Wen Yanzhou's eyes lit up: "Then what counts as very high rank? Adjutant, can you do it?"

"Me? I don't have that kind of authority. The high rank I'm talking about is Admiral-level," Zhang Chuan laughed at Wen Yanzhou's question, his eyes crinkling into crescents.

Wen Yanzhou thought of the face that had appeared in the desert that day. Lu Feng. How could it be Lu Feng? How could Lu Feng look so handsome yet be so cruel on the inside?

Truly, you could know a person's face but not their heart.

"Also, their optical computers can hide their identities. For security, both your name and mine are displayed directly in our contact lists."

Zhang Chuan continued, pointing at the text on the optical computer for Wen Yanzhou to see.

"But the Admiral and others are different. They can set themselves to any name, or even add you without showing up in your list at all."

"I see."

Wen Yanzhou felt a little dejected. It seemed his plan to contact his brother through the optical computer wouldn't work.

Noticing Wen Yanzhou's enthusiasm had dimmed, Zhang Chuan waved a hand to bring him back.

"Don't be down. There are other fun things on optical computers, you know?"

Wen Yanzhou looked where his hand indicated.

"See, this is the forum. You can ask any question on it, and discuss all kinds of delicious and fun things."

Zhang Chuan clicked into a small icon labeled "Forum" from the main page. Wen Yanzhou was about to look when it displayed an error: avatar not uploaded, cannot view.

"Huh? What's this? Why can't I see it?"

Wen Yanzhou leaned in, staring at the error message.

"Hey, look here!" Wen Yanzhou was suddenly interrupted by Zhang Chuan's voice and looked up.

"Yes, just like that, don't move. Perfect!"

Click.

Wen Yanzhou was just about to ask what Zhang Chuan was doing when he discovered the forum seemed to be accessible now.

And his avatar, it was exactly what he'd looked like just then.

Looking up at the camera from below, his pale blue eyes filled with confusion, his delicate little nose and mouth appearing even smaller from the high angle, his face shaped into a V by the shot. Truly...

Extremely cute.