The Song No One Understood—Yet Couldn’t Stop Listening To

A way to soothe that didn’t require using divine power.

In Mo Bai’s speculation, it was actually very simple.

To verify his guess, Mo Bai even went online to look up videos of mermaids
singing on the interstellar network.

There were many videos of mermaids singing on the interstellar network.

Because most people couldn’t afford to keep a mermaid, videos of mermaids
singing had become hugely popular on video platforms.

Many people had discovered that although they couldn’t be treated by a mermaid’s
special ability, listening to mermaid songs every now and then could help calm
their minds.

So most people basically did this—

They’d take their calming agent, queue up a little video, and listen while they
drank. The relaxing effect was very noticeable.

“It’s not much different from watching eating shows while having a meal back on
Earth,” Mo Bai thought.

He found it rather comforting.

As he scrolled, Mo Bai came across a hot topic.

For the past couple of days, the topic that had been sharing the headlines with
the Mo family news was a singing competition.

Unlike Earth’s talent shows, this singing competition was purely a contest.
Anyone could participate, and the prize money was as high as ten million. It was
a public entertainment event.

And today, the news of the Mo family’s comeback and Mo Xiangtian becoming the
Empire’s richest person had originally been the number one hot search, but it
had already been knocked down by this competition.

The reason was that during the competition’s auditions, a mermaid had been
discovered!

“That’s Xixi, isn’t it? It has to be Xixi! Only Xixi is so gentle and sweet!”

“Ah, it’s definitely Xixi! Think about it—aside from Xixi, what other mermaid
likes to go online?”

“Haha that’s so true. Everyone knows Xixi is a little internet addict!”

“Other mermaids are too fierceQAQ, they don’t really want to interact with us
humans o(╥﹏╥)o. I’ve never seen another mermaid who likes going online.
Apparently they don’t like having their mental consciousness captured by the
holographic helmet. It makes them feel threatened.”

“The only mermaid who likes going online seems to be Xixi!”

There had been explanations for why mermaids didn’t like going online.

A holographic helmet needed to capture brain consciousness to enter the
holographic world.

Mermaids had strong, sensitive mental energy and didn’t like this feeling of
having their consciousness controlled.

So even though mermaids had been classified as a higher intelligent race over a
decade ago, and the entire interstellar community promoted racial equality, and
holographic companies had specially made helmets usable by mermaids, they still
rarely appeared on the interstellar network.

This was also one of the reasons mermaids were so difficult to keep.

You might want to keep a mermaid, but it also depended on whether the mermaid
was willing to be kept by you.

Most mermaids preferred to stay in the Mermaid Association.

There were many mermaids there, and they were free.

In name, the association was the Mermaid Association, but humans couldn’t
actually interfere too much. It was more like they served the mermaids.

Of course, that was what the mermaids themselves thought.

In human eyes, the Mermaid Association still had a lot of power. Simply because
they had long-term contact with mermaids, the mermaids were more familiar with
them and their attitude was relatively gentler.

The Mermaid Association had become the target of many people’s flattery. No
matter what, if you wanted to keep a mermaid, not to mention whether the mermaid
itself agreed, before that, you still needed the Mermaid Association’s approval
to even enter.

Mo Bai opened a video that was said to be from the audition site.

The video was already flooded with countless bullet comments. The audition was
held on the interstellar network with holographic projection. You could freely
change your appearance, or use your real one.

The little mermaid had apparently changed his appearance, but as soon as his
voice came out, he was immediately recognized.

“H-hello, everyone. I-I’m Xiao Xi.”

The little mermaid’s voice was gentle and soft, with a hint of shyness.

It seemed he wasn’t very fluent in the common language yet, speaking hesitantly.

He soon began to sing. Even through the screen, without feeling the healing
special ability in his voice, the little mermaid’s voice was still so beautiful
that it made people feel extremely relaxed, even without feeling the power of
the special ability.

Because it was a national participation event, the auditions wouldn’t end so
quickly. But the little mermaid’s ranking was already firmly in first place,
with nearly five times the votes of the second place.

Mo Bai swung his chubby little legs. He stared at the registration option and
pressed confirm.

The next day.

The holographic helmet Mo Bai wanted had already arrived.

Mo Xiangtian had custom-ordered a limited edition small helmet for him.

Along with a very comfortable game pod.

He put on the helmet, climbed into the game pod, and lay down to enter the
holographic world.

What made Mo Bai very happy was that the holographic helmet connected to mental
consciousness. His appearance in the holographic world was his adult form.

Mo Bai touched himself, very satisfied. “Just like this. Don’t change it.”

It was rare for him to be able to use his original appearance for an extended
period. He couldn’t bear to change it.

“Okay, little friend.”

The system began the new user tutorial.

He followed the tutorial all the way through. Since it detected that he was
still a minor, and under ten years old at that, the new user guidance was gentle
and patient, and it automatically screened out all curse words and crude
language to provide the baby with a very healthy online environment.

After completing all the steps, Mo Bai went to the audition site.

The audition site was a large holographic stage. On the stage were many dense
little screens, each one an audition screen for a different contestant.

Contestants could register the day before, then enter the holographic recording
studio the next day to record their song.

The more people watched and the more people voted, the higher the ranking.

So the earlier you participated in the auditions, the more popularity you would
naturally gather.

But Mo Bai didn’t care about the ranking. He just wanted to verify his guess.

He entered the holographic recording studio, read the instructions, and started
recording.

Since it was an a cappella performance and didn’t require any sheet music, Mo
Bai finished recording quickly and chose to upload.

Just after uploading, he heard Mrs. Mo calling him.

Mo Bai pulled the helmet up slightly.

A pair of clear, black and white eyes peered out from under the helmet.

“Is something wrong?”

The limited edition small helmet was still a bit too big for a six-year-old
child.

The large helmet sat on his little head. When he looked up, the helmet tilted to
the side.

He looked like a little kitten wearing a hat.

Mrs. Mo couldn’t resist ruffling his head. “Baibai, it’s time for lunch.”

Now that the Mo family company had survived the crisis, Mrs. Mo immediately left
the company matters for Mo Xiangtian to handle alone and stayed home with her
son.

Poor Mo Xiangtian had to deal with both the inheritance on the trading planet
and the company’s affairs. He could only see his son through video calls every
day.

Mo Bai said, “Okay.”

He took off the helmet and followed Mrs. Mo to the dining room.

As he passed through the living room, he noticed robots assembling slides and
other children’s play equipment.

Mo Bai glanced at the big slide. Beneath the slide was a ball pit.

It looked like they were turning the living room into his personal playground.

Mo Bai said to Mrs. Mo very seriously, “I don’t want to play with this.”

He wasn’t a little kid. He didn’t need slides.

Mrs. Mo said gently, “Baibai has never played on one before, so he doesn’t
understand. This is a lot of fun. Other children like it very much.”

Mo Bai said, “I’m different from other children.”

Mrs. Mo praised him, “Of course, Baibai is definitely different from other
children. But why don’t you try it first and see if it’s fun?”

Mo Bai had no choice but to go along with Mrs. Mo’s wishes and climb onto the
slide.

Whee—

The nearly three-meter-tall slide was smooth and unobstructed. He tumbled into
the ball pit full of ocean balls, surrounded by all kinds of cute animal plush
toys.

Mo Bai slowly stood up.

Mrs. Mo asked with a smile, “Does Baibai think it’s fun?”

Mo Bai’s face was expressionless. “Let me try again.”

Then he climbed onto the slide again and zoomed down.

What was this?!

It was actually… kind of fun…

Mrs. Mo asked, “Shall we keep it?”

Mo Bai’s voice was light and airy. “Keep it if you like it.”

Mrs. Mo smiled. “Mm-hmm.”

Lunch was also full of Mo Bai’s favorite dishes, cooked by Mrs. Mo herself.

After eating, he planned to go back to his room to go online.

But as he passed through the living room, Mo Bai stopped.

He looked at Mrs. Mo. She was still in the kitchen.

He clasped his little hands behind his back and walked over.

Whee—down the slide.

It was amazing.

Mo Bai decided not to go online anymore. He started exploring the other
playground equipment.

Meanwhile.

On the interstellar network, at the public singing competition, a strange singer
had appeared at the auditions.

He was a youth in a long robe with long black hair.

With just that level of beauty, many people would vote for him.

But the song he sang…

Wasn’t very good. In fact, it was very strange!

Completely incomprehensible!

Yet, despite being so strange and not very pleasant to listen to, his ranking
kept climbing higher and higher.

Netizens clicked on the audition video and found a pile of comments underneath.

“What’s going on… I can’t understand a word he’s singing, and I don’t think it
sounds good, but listening to it makes me feel really comfortable.”

“Comfortable +1! I feel like my consciousness sea has become so calm!”

“It’s really relaxing! So peaceful! Even though the song is so strange and not
very nice to listen toQAQ”

“I’ve already looped it over ten times. I can’t stop, what do I do? It’s so
strange! I was feeling really agitated before. I sprayed a lot of calming spray
but still felt agitated. My parents were worried something was wrong with my
mental energy. But now I feel so comfortable…”

Some netizens didn’t believe it. What song could be unpleasant yet still soothe
the consciousness sea?

They looked at the contestant and the song title.

[Contestant: Mo.]

[Song Title: The Great Compassion Mantra]