Mermaid Effect

It was a beautiful day in Kansas.

The wind direction is just right, and the temperature is not too high, and the best thing is that there is just the right amount of sunshine.Everything was so pleasant that everyone was leaving the house - the end result being a crowded market.

At the very beginning, Rand just saw that the line next to the cash register was much shorter. Rogers said that he still needed a sugar-free cereal, so Rand decided to go to the line first.However, Rogers purchased a large amount of organic wheat flour and whipped cream, as well as a large pile of roll paper. These things blocked most of Rand's sight, so he didn't pay much attention, but naturally pushed the cart to the cash register. beside.

But, how did you say that sentence?

Don't step onto an empty subway car during rush hour—it's empty for a reason.

This metropolitan survival tip seems to make sense.

When Rand approached there, he realized that the situation was not good.

stink.

This is what he felt first.

A strong smell filled the vicinity of the cash register. It was a kind of sweat-stained clothes fermented in a humid and closed environment for a long time, with a biological smell, accompanied by a strong sour smell—— Hangover drunks wake up to find that their vomit from last night can have this effect.

Rand looked forward from behind the cardboard box with the words "Organic-Healthy Everyday", and was caught off guard by a pair of blood-red, swollen eyes.

Rand almost didn't recognize that person as the aggressive police officer before. Of course, it wasn't because of his poor memory.The latter's face has swollen like an over-inflated plastic doll in just a few days, and the pompous police uniform is gone, replaced by a large and crumpled advertising T-shirt, a A pug sticks out its tongue, and a public service declaration is written above it.Police Officer Tony has an unshaven beard and greasy hair covering his forehead. His tall stature may have added some majesty to him before, but now his appearance, coupled with his meaty body, only makes him look extremely desolate. and embarrassment.At this time, he was holding a mobile phone and yelling at the person on the other end of the line, his face was flushed purple due to the excitement, and even his eyes were bloodshot.

A thin Mexican woman, probably the cashier, stared at him in shock with a scanner in her hand, opened and closed her trembling lips several times but failed to make a sound.

Everything on the conveyor belt has been scanned, but Tony has no intention of paying the bill at all. He is still yelling into the phone—until he suddenly sees Rand.

"Hey, it's you—"

His face suddenly contorted, almost like a bull that saw a red cloth on the field rushed over, trying to grab Rand.

Rand was taken aback, he took a few steps back, and then saw Tony's crooked foot fall against his leg.

The strong stench became even thicker.

"You bloody bastard...you think you got me down with money, so I don't know what you did to Lawrence..."

Not knowing what went wrong, Tony shook his huge body and failed to stand up for a long time.

Rand swallowed, and he slowly took two steps back.The unstoppable cursing from Tony's mouth finally made Rand barely remember who he was, the arrogant police officer.

Rand looked Tony up and down, and couldn't imagine why in such a short few days, someone could make himself look like this, it was unbelievable.

What he didn't know was that the reason why Tony actually appeared in the market on a weekday in this state was because of temporary unemployment-his partner, George Sr., visited Rand and several others that day. Personally, I finally figured that maybe I should talk to the chief.

Tony's arrogant behavior and bad attitude have almost reached the point of being unbearable. At this time, the scene of Tony smoking something called "Happy Powder" in the police car was recorded.

He ended up having to accept a suspension for a while.

In fact, this is not the first time he has encountered such a thing, remember?He even used to be a police detective in DC!However, the exposure of his special relationship with certain people forced him to stay away from that clean northern city and be dispatched to this hell in the middle of the continent.

However, the strange thing is that Tony found that he could not stand this kind of treatment... His temper became more irritable, and his agitation burned his mind like a fire, he couldn't sleep, and almost every moment he Cursing everyone in the department, everyone, the bitch who gave him his suspension, the bureaucratic chief, the damn nigga... oh yes, yes, and the damn little The bastard, the murderer...

Tony was panting, his eyeballs protruded slightly, and he looked at Rand with a distorted expression on his face.He didn't find that his thinking had become as chaotic as a paste.However, his abnormality has already caused commotion among other people in the market. The cashier shouted at Rand in heavily accented English: "Sir... sir, we are calling 911..."

As a result, before all her words fell, Tony jumped up. He rushed to the cashier and yelled at the woman: "911, I'm a fucking policeman! I'm a fucking policeman!!"

He slammed his fist on the transmission belt so heavily that the backs of his hands were starting to turn purple, and some glistening saliva dripped from between his crooked lips.

The woman backed away in fright. Seeing that Tony seemed about to throw his whole body over the conveyor belt to attack the woman, Rand couldn't help but rushed up.

"Hey, I said, stop!"

He yelled at Tony, reaching out to grab Tony.

His palm slipped away from Tony's arm, however.

It was an extremely disgusting feeling.

The man who seemed to have some mental problems didn't even have a single hair on his arms. His skin was terribly hot, and at the same time, the surface of the skin was slippery, with a layer of mucus on it.

Hell, these sweats are disgusting—Rand didn't think about it that much during the crisis, the thought just passed through his mind quickly.

When he was about to stop Tony again, several patrolmen arrived.

They pressed Tony to the ground, and the man rolled his eyes and squirmed on the ground like a wild boar, making a scream that made people feel extremely uncomfortable all over his body.

There was no humanity in that voice, only the madness of a mindless beast—and he was facing Rand the whole time.

It was as if those voices were declaring something to Rand.

He made Rand's nerves so tense that he almost jumped up when Rogers tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, sorry!"

Rogers' eyes widened in surprise, and with a box of cereal in his other hand, he said apologetically.

"I didn't mean to, just to make sure..." he added, and his eyes fell on Tony, who was being shoved and dragged away from the market by the patrolmen. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No," Rand shook his head, "I don't think so, I just feel a little..."

Rand didn't know exactly how to describe the feeling.

Bad feeling?

This phrase is so vulgar.But Rand did think Tony looked particularly odd.

He waved his hand at Rogers: "He just disgusted me...but he looked normal before. I don't know what happened to him to suddenly become like this."

Rogers pursed his lips and showed a smirk: "Who knows. But he probably won't bother you in the future, isn't it fortunate?"

Whether as an amiable neighbor or as a well-known killer in the industry, Tony is not the kind of person that Rogers can notice. He just does not care about this little episode at all, just as he has shown himself.

Even Rand's fish interested him more than Tony did.

That night, when Rogers made his routine call to report everything Rand had done to what he considered a foolish and arrogant woman, he had almost mentioned the fish in particular.

"...Yes, the people from the police station got him back in the end, and I can deal with him well, if he appears again."

"I see." Caroline rubbed her brows, she looked down at her hand, and there were some meaningless words in the notebook—not Rogers' report.Then she realized that her mind had wandered, but who could blame her?Compared with other people of the same class, Rand is as obedient as a castrated lamb, and his itinerary is almost invariable.Moreover, from the bottom of her heart, Caroline doesn't feel that Rand, who is already a serious adult, needs such special attention-of course, this kind of thought only crosses her mind occasionally, and then Pressed deeply into the depths of consciousness by her.

In any case, the importance of Rand to Vincent is self-evident.

Thinking of this, Caroline added blankly: "Is there anything else that needs special attention?"

It was at this time that Rogers suddenly thought of Rand's new aquarium and the suddenly enlarged fish tail.

"Uh, I don't think so... However, our little prince seems to be obsessed with raising fish recently..."

"Rogers." Caroline couldn't bear to interrupt him, "Or should I call you 'Spider'? You know that your weekly salary can support a complete professional surveillance team for a whole month, right?"

"Uh, yes."

Rogers raised an eyebrow.

"Then, I hope you know how to analyze what information is worth studying and what is just routine information. If you do find something worth noting, tell me, if not...you just need to protect Rand's safety." Carlo There was boredom and exhaustion in Lin's voice that couldn't be concealed. "Do you understand what I said?"

Although he knew that the other party couldn't see it, Rogers still couldn't help showing a subtle smile.

Of course, he's been very well disguised vocally.

"Okay, I get it, of course I do. Information that works, information that doesn't... easy, I'll do it."

He said softly and sweetly, and hung up the phone.

He hadn't said a word about fish to Caroline since.