After becoming rich overnight, I handed over the system.

Chapter 397 Returning to the Floating City

Yu Yang then noticed that his iris was indeed glowing faintly with a blue light in the reflection of the treatment chamber, just like the inhabitants of the abyss.

He touched the slit in his neck; it had completely healed, leaving almost no trace.

“They activated something that was already in my body,” he said softly, “supposedly a legacy from my father.”

Cheng Hai nodded slowly, seemingly unsurprised: "I've always felt that your understanding of the ocean is unusual."

He coughed a few times. "What should we do now?"

Cheng Hai looked at his irreversible palm.

Yu Yang looked out the window at the underwater city: "First, get you cured. Then," he thought of Karl's words, Victor's explanation, and the people still struggling for survival in the floating city.

After calming himself down, he said, "Then we find the balance. The balance between land and sea, the balance between the past and the future."

Cheng Hai closed his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips: "It sounds like this is a lifelong career."

The medical supervisor signaled the end of visiting hours.

Yu Yang patted his friend on the shoulder one last time and walked towards the door.

"Even if it takes a lifetime, I will always be with you!"

Hearing Cheng Hai's voice from behind, Yu Yang stopped walking, but then continued out the door.

At the threshold, he couldn't help but look back.

Cheng Hai floated in the liquid inside the treatment chamber, his mutated arm pulsating slowly, as if he had reached some kind of reconciliation with the ocean.

At the end of the corridor, Ryan was talking to a group of blue-skinned council members.

Upon seeing Yu Yang, they stopped their discussion.

“The Parliament wants to see you,” Lane said, “about your unique place between the two worlds.”

Yu Yang took a deep breath, feeling the coordinated operation of his lungs and gills, as if land and sea coexisted within his body.

He walked toward the waiting crowd, knowing that from this moment on, his life would no longer belong to him alone.

He will become a bridge, a link, and perhaps the "hybrid" that can mend the divisions of humanity.

No matter how many unknowns and dangers lie ahead, at least he is no longer alone.

Cheng Hai will accompany him; these two outcasts from different worlds will face the abyss and the bright future together.

At dawn, the sea shimmered with an iron-gray light.

Yu Yang stood inside the airlock at the exit of the abyss, feeling the subtle balance between the two breathing methods in his body.

The gill slits tightened slightly in the air, while the lungs expanded freely.

Beneath the armor, the skin faintly shimmered with a network of blue veins, as if an entire ocean was hidden within its body.

"Are you sure you want to go back now?" Victor Lane stood by the control panel, his finger hovering over the button to open the outer door. "You can wait until Cheng Hai's condition is more stable, or we can send a diplomatic mission first."

“No,” Yu Yang shook his head, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the obvious gill mark on his neck, “New Atlantis needs to hear the truth directly. And…”

He looked at his hands, which had become slightly longer and had thin webbing between his fingers. "This change can't be hidden for long."

Ryan sighed: "At least let us send a guard with us."

Ryan hadn't expected that Yu Yang would insist on going back so soon after meeting with the council.

At this moment, he still doesn't know whether what they did was right or wrong.

Their original intention was simply to help humanity survive in the face of disaster, but now it has turned out like this. He didn't know Yu Yang would go back like this.

Will you be accepted or driven away?

Ryan sighed again.

“No need, that would only make things worse.” Yu Yang forced a smile. “One ‘half-human, half-fish’ is scary enough, but add a squad of fully armed New Humans. The floating city’s anti-aircraft guns would probably open fire immediately.”

The airlock door slowly opened, and the morning sea breeze, carrying a salty and fishy smell, rushed in.

Yu Yang took a deep breath and walked towards the single speedboat moored beside the platform.

This is a disguised ship designed by Haiyuan. Its appearance is no different from the models commonly used in floating cities, but its propulsion system uses the silent technology of a pre-civilization.

“Remember,” Ryan concluded, “no matter what happens, press the red button on the locator, and we’ll be there in five minutes.”

Yu Yang nodded and started the speedboat.

The engine started up almost silently, and the ship cut through the calm sea, heading towards the faint outline of the new Atlantis in the distance.

As the distance shortened, Yu Yang's heartbeat gradually accelerated.

When he left six months ago, he was just an ordinary marine biologist, searching for new food sources for floating cities.

Now that they have returned, they have become a "hybrid" connecting the two worlds—neither entirely belonging to terrestrial humans nor entirely to aquatic new humans.

As the speedboat approached the outer perimeter of the New Atlantis security zone, searchlights from the watchtowers suddenly swept over it.

Yu Yang slowed down and raised his hands to indicate his intention to make peace.

Intermittent questions came through the loudspeaker:

"Identification code! Give me your identification code!"

Yu Yang shouted out his ID sequence.

After a moment of silence, the security fence slowly lowered, allowing the speedboat to enter the dock of the third residential area.

When they docked, Yu Yang noticed that the pier was unusually quiet.

At this time of day, fishermen and traders should already be busy with their day.

Now, only a few fully armed security personnel stood not far away, their hands on their weapons, watching him warily.

"Dr. Yu?" The officer in charge took a few steps closer, his eyes constantly glancing at Yu Yang's exposed neck and hands. "Speaker Mori requests that you report to the parliament hall immediately."

He paused, then lowered his voice, "My God, what they said is actually true! You really have become..."

A monster that's half-human and half-fish! He mentally completed the sentence he hadn't uttered aloud.

“I am still me, Officer Maxon,” Yu Yang said calmly, “just with a few more other adaptability.”

Yu Yang had anticipated this situation, so he remained very calm.

The officer nodded stiffly and made a "please" gesture, but clearly did not want to get too close.

Yu Yang followed the security team through the suspended corridor, noticing faces flashing past the windows along the way.

Curiosity, fear, disgust, and occasionally a few complex expressions that he couldn't decipher.

Hundreds of people gathered in the square in front of the parliament hall, and a commotion broke out among them when Yu Yang appeared.

"My God! Look at his neck! He really has gills!"

"Good heavens, is he even human? Isn't he a half-human, half-fish monster?"

"I heard they found an underwater city with lots of resources!"

"This is evolution! We'll all end up like this sooner or later!"

"I don't want to become one of those monsters! We're human!"

"I'd like to try it out and see if I can swim much faster in the water like this!"

The discussions came like a tidal wave.

Yu Yang straightened his back, trying his best to ignore those piercing gazes.