The Legend of the Mermaid (Part 1)

The camera then shifts back to 233 years ago.

Two months later.

Ceresis finally learned to speak like a human.

Shen Huai'an was greatly pleased by its rapid progress. He wondered if such a learning speed was normal for a mermaid.

"I've finished reading this book." He crossed his legs, his ill-fitting jeans a good distance too short, revealing his snow-white, glowing calves. Shen Huai'an casually handed him a copy, continuing to write his own lab report.

"...a collection of poems."

Celestis frowned to express her displeasure: "What is this?"

“Art.” Shen Huai’an shook his slightly sore hands. “Human art. I think you should take a look.”

“I don’t read those,” Celestan retorted. “I want to read your professional books.”

"..."

Shen Huai'an wanted to retort, but a violent cough interrupted him.

You have two weeks left.

Celestis calmly watched him bend over and cough in pain, then calmly concluded, "Your special medicine has worn off. It can't save you."

Shen Huai'an gradually stopped coughing and stared at it with eyes filled with fear and disbelief.

So Celestis continued, "It's alright, humans don't disappear after they die. You will leave behind corpses."

"……you."

Shen Huai'an was both amused and exasperated. He didn't know whether to curse or burst into tears: "If you can't speak human language, then please stop, buddy."

A hint of confusion flickered across the mermaid's face. But the confusion vanished quickly—it turned out that humans couldn't accept the fact that their souls were about to perish, even though it was an unchangeable truth.

It remembered.

"Wait a minute?" Yunhe's voice pulled him back to reality: "You told the human Shen Huai'an that 'humans don't disappear after they die,' does that mean...?"

"Yes." He didn't shy away from the question and answered truthfully, "The death of a mermaid means disappearance."

Yunhe was somewhat surprised: "Like the Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale?!?"

"That's one way to understand it," he said nonchalantly.

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, Shen Huai'an asked him the same question. At that time, the human was on his deathbed, and it bent down and softly answered:

"Mermaids do not die, they only perish."

——————————

The seabed of the Western Sea. A sacred temple.

Annie was fiddling with something inside her vagina when someone barged in uninvited. She looked up slightly, paused for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Nixos?"

The male merman before her was nearly three meters long, with a handsome face like a god descended from heaven. Although he was no longer the "beautiful girl" she remembered, Yani still affectionately stepped forward and kissed him on both cheeks, then warmly embraced him.

"Welcome back, no matter what!"

——————————

"So, you differentiated into a male just like that? Because of a human?"

Annie stroked the "magic crystal ball" in her hand, asking in a nonchalant tone. Nixos, realizing something was off about her tone, didn't bother to explain, simply sprawling in the "sleeping pool," his tail slapping the water's surface idly.

“Yes, a human woman.” He shrugged, nonchalantly.

Annie fell silent again. The blonde, blue-eyed female mermaid flicked her tail and swam to the cave entrance. Nixos didn't even bother to open his eyes, simply asking, "Going to settle accounts with her?"

"You don't need to worry about it."

"I'm saying this coldly," Annie said, her fangs slightly showing at the corners of her lips.

“Go ahead,” Nixos chuckled. “But these humans are in a top-tier research institute. Trying to sneak in will be as difficult as climbing to the heavens.”

"..."

Somehow, the nameless anger simmering within Annie was extinguished. She looked back at Nixos, who lay in her sleeping pool, somewhat bewildered: "...Don't you care about her?"

“What does a mere lower being have to do with me?” Nixos yawned, as if utterly exhausted. “The reason I differentiated because of her is probably because she had some strange pheromones. So if you really want to kill her, don’t forget to take her body back to the sea. I need you to help me study it.”

Annie wasn't surprised. She had known Nixos for nearly a century and knew perfectly well how cold-blooded this golden-scaled man truly was.

"And Ceresis."

"What?" Annie was finally shocked. "You mean—"

“Hmm.” Nixos nodded, his emerald eyes fixed on the luminous stone lamp on the ceiling: “That traitor who abandoned the entire Silverscale Clan and left a single fish on land.”

"ah……"

Annie glanced subconsciously at the magic crystal ball in her hand. The originally transparent magic crystal gradually turned light purple as she infused it with her spiritual power, shimmering faintly in the dim underwater environment.

A mermaid slowly emerged from the magic crystal sphere.

A silver-white, extremely slender silver-scaled mermaid.

"...He's still alive?" Her tone was incredulous. "So, the guy the elders were talking about who sold the temple ruins to humanity was actually him?!"

"Who else could it be but him?"

Nixos's tone was cold. For some reason, he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his fracture, which had long since healed: "It's time to settle the score between me and that silver scale!"

"What did he do to you?" Annie, of course, didn't know about their past, but she still cared about him: "He's just a silver-scaled creature. Even a male of his can't match a female like me in terms of strength. How could he possibly hurt our brave and fearless golden-scaled warriors, huh?"

That last "hmm" had a hint of teasing and indulgence. Nixos felt a chill run down his spine (if mermaids could get goosebumps), and with a somersault, he sprang to his feet from the pool: "You've reminded me!"

"What?"

“What I mean is,” Nixos narrowed his green eyes slightly, seeing Annie’s confusion, “it’s time for those old fogies in the Senate to seriously reassess the threat posed by Celestis. That scoundrel probably possesses unknown powers that even we don’t know about!”

——————————

More than fifty years ago. Sego Island.

The young Xiao Lin arrived here with the research team. As the youngest chief researcher at the GI Research Institute, his purpose for this expedition was very simple:

"Searching for traces of mermaids."

In fact, rumors about mermaids have existed on this isolated island in Central Asia for decades; however, in the decades that followed, due to the outbreak of wars around the world, most scientific research in the human world was forced to stop or be put on hold until recently when it finally showed signs of recovery.

As depicted in all literary works, the people in secluded villages are likely to be kind, simple, and hospitable, and the islanders of Saige Island are no exception. This small island is scenic and abundant in resources, yet the villagers seem to have been isolated from the world for centuries, lacking even a decent modern building. Their clothing is simple and primitive, consisting of coarse linen. Although they have running water and electricity, the research team noticed that they don't seem to use electricity much, and they don't even seem to have the habit of eating cooked food.

Unlike the other Western researchers in the expedition, Xiao Lin was the most thoughtful and taciturn. His unusual quietness quickly attracted the attention of their guide, Amiya. This islander, who surprisingly knew a great deal about the outside world, soon developed a subtle fondness for this handsome young man from the East.

A subtle, one-sided affection.

Unfortunately, Xiao Lin's mind was entirely focused on his research at the time, leaving no room for romance. He soon discovered that the island's inhabitants possessed a very strange trait—

These islanders are all exceptionally good-looking.

Logically speaking, there are indeed some races in this world where almost everyone is handsome or beautiful; however, humans are not perfect beings after all. In reality, the vast majority of people are either ugly or have an average appearance.

Therefore, a group of islanders who are mostly handsome men and beautiful women living in isolation on a secluded island is indeed very "abnormal".

"What's wrong, Xiao?"

One day at lunchtime, Amiya held up two fingers and waved them in front of Xiao Lin, who was gazing into the distance with a deep expression.

Distracted, Xiao Lin subconsciously turned his head to look. The girl so close to him had a slightly tanned, wheat-colored oval face, and her long, curly eyelashes made her look like a Barbie doll.

"It's nothing," he said cryptically, slowly feeding himself a spoonful of rice. Amiya chuckled, "Stop pretending! Just say it! Or is it that you Easterners just like to act mysterious?"

"..."

Faced with the girl's blunt, almost sharp, evaluation, Xiao Lin frowned in displeasure. However, having received a good upbringing, he didn't immediately lose his temper, but naturally steered the conversation to something he himself was interested in:

“Amiya,” he asked seriously, “what else do you know about the siren rumors of your land?”

"Oh dear!" Amiya pouted, but she didn't seem unhappy at all. "Haven't I told your people a thousand and eight hundred times already? Besides, didn't I take you to see the 'Siren Altar' last time? You've seen all the scenery we have here, so what else is there to say!"

"But I am indeed very interested in sirens."

Xiao Lin remained unmoved, half-coercing and half-seducing: "To be honest, Amiya, I grew up listening to mermaid... siren legends. I've always thought, God, when will I meet my little mermaid?"

As he spoke, he subtly observed the girl's expression, his tone gentle:

"Whether it's true or not, it's right before my eyes now, the unfulfilled dream of my childhood is right before my eyes. Amiya, do you know how long I've waited for this day?"