historical

When Harker woke up, he realized there was something in his nose and mouth. He realized the tube in his mouth was for a regulator for scuba diving to give oxygen, and the other was a nasogastric tube going all the way to his esophagus and stomach for tube feeding...

He was underwater in an 8 foot tank.

His eyes widened behind his goggles. He was tied up by many chains, and could only squirm like a worm drowning in the ocean. He scanned his surroundings, and there were other tanks around him.

There were golden mermaids. There were 10 of them. One of which he recognized, Princess Jinzhu. She was watching Harker with a thoughtless expression, like an unemotive doll that's just there.

He tried to call for help, but he couldn't take out the gear on his mouth. He couldn't even swim up because of the heavy chains around him. There was only one door to escape, no windows or vents. It was a white prison just like Miss Lovette had for the kidnapped boys.

'Shit! How do I escape here, Yan?' Harker asked the eyeball.

The eyeball appeared beside him, and spoke underwater. "Er... D-Don't panic, Master! I'll think of something! There has to be a way to get you out of this cage! I just need to think of how..."

Harker sighed. 'Nevermind. I got it, I'll try and use my hair.'

Yet the moment he elongated his hair, an alarm sounded.

When that alarm came, he suddenly felt electricity coursing inside him. The water made it worse, and continued to get electrified until he felt like he would pass out again.

Suddenly, a swarm of bodyguards came with guns, along with the man Harker hated the most at this moment.

Mr. Xi came with hands behind his back, smiling very wide at him. His lips spread all the way to his ears and his forked tongue slitted out.

"I see you're awake now, Harker. I didn't want to do this. But you see, as everyone's protector, I also have to protect myself. Who will take care of my people once I'm gone? So I sadly have to discipline you for now until you learn your lesson." He said.

"Did you know that whenever we extend our hair as snake demons, our body temperature becomes significantly lower by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit? Even lower than that of mermaids, whose body temperature is only less than 3 degrees of humans." He touched the tank's glass. "This tank can sense if your body temperature was lessened by 5 degrees."

"It will also set off the alarm if you weigh less than 10 pounds or 5 kg." He pointed to a screen on the wall. The screen showed:

[ Tank K

Initial Weight and Temp: 181.12 pounds/ 82.15 kg, 98.6 F/ 37 C

Current Weight and Temp: 180.98 pounds/ 82.09 kg, 98.4 F/ 36.88 C ]

There were other screens too, possibly for the mermaids that were in the tank. Speaking of the mermaids...

Harker only noticed now that Princess Jinzhu was shivering earlier. She coughed out blood, and it turned out that...

She was also electrocuted.

"Yes. I'm afraid that every time any of you have not met the tank's prerequisites, all of the electroshock devices in your tummies will be activated." Mr. Xi said. "And jiaorens are very sensitive to electricity. It could affect their qi flow, which will degrade their pearl production and cause death by qi deviation."

"Unfortunately,the electric device on your stomachs produces electromagnetic interference on CCTV cameras and other security devices. That's why you won't find them here. But I do have guards stationed a few blocks away outside this door." He gestured to the men with guns.

"We really don't do this unless we have to." Mr. Xi explained. "And I don't really want to lose any of you. You will be fed at exactly 7am, 12 noon, and 6pm. There is a clock right over there along with the date for mealtime. Since you can't breathe underwater, you'll have to be tube fed, son."

Harker banged the glass after being called 'son' again by this slimy snake guy. Mr. Xi did not react to this and just continued explaining.

"Now, my medical consultant told me that human skin is not durable for staying underwater too long. Hypothermia is not a problem, since we have equipment to regulate your body heat. However, human skin can wrinkle and peel off after staying in the water for a few days."

Mr. Xi made a silly face. "You can't hold your urine and feces in without damaging your organs either. We can put tubes to take care of that for you, but wouldn't that be embarrassing? That's why...."

"If you ever want to take my offer and be forgiven, just press that button in your tank to call me."

Harker's eye twitched. He would rather die of embarrassment or having his skin peeled off than beg this old snake man to forgive him and help him out.

What he needed was a plan using all this information. The times he would be fed or allowed to defecate could be his one chance to absorb the DNA of one of the workers, and then escape out of here while wearing that disguise.

However, there's the jiaoren to consider. One misstep, and the alarm will ring. It will electrocute all of them and bring in the bodyguards with their guns.

Somehow, he needs to be able to maintain the initial weight and temperature. Or at least, exceed it. It didn't say anything about exceeding that, only lowering by 5 kg or 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

He can't use his snake ability, but he can still use the Enhanced Succubus Ability. All he needed was a good plan...

But also some cooperation with his fellow inmates here.

"I suppose you still want to remain stubborn after everything I told you. It's impossible to escape, son." Mr. Xi sighed. "You remind me of Xi Hua sometimes. Too bad she won't be able to attend my 69th birthday.... I'll be a 69 year old lonely man 13 days from now ...."

Harker's family will be returning after 2 weeks of staying in New Orleans. They'll be worried if they see that he's not back. Roland might also start to worry after not receiving a call for that long despite the tracker remaining intact.

Mr. Xi waved adieu to Harker. "Remember to press the button when you change your mind, son! I still have other business to take care of."

As they left, Yan appeared looking worried. "What are we going to do now, Master Harker!??? How will we escape this!???"

'I have a plan now.' Harker said after he made up his mind. 'But...'

He turned to Princess Jinzhu.

'Can you help me communicate with her?'