Granny Purple Tail acted swiftly; three days later, a significant earthquake struck the entire Pearl City, accompanied by lava erupting from the crater of Granny Purple Tail's restaurant.

"Boom—"

The fiery red lava spewed up a hundred meters high, crashed into the sea, and quickly cooled into charred black rocks. Grandma Purple Tail's life's work also turned to ashes.

"how so--"

Ahai was even more heartbroken than Granny Ziwei. He looked worriedly at Granny Ziwei, who was using a small boat for transportation, and found her with a serious expression.

"Ah Hai, the volcano is about to erupt! Tell everyone to run!"

"But there have been no signs of an eruption in all these years, why now of all times!"

Ah Hai was somewhat unable to accept it. Pearl City was his home; he had lived there since birth, and he had never imagined that it would one day disappear.

“Ah Hai, as long as everyone is alive, there will be a second Pearl City.”

Grandma Purple Tail didn't know whether she was comforting herself or Ah Hai. She looked at the shop that had been burned to ashes in the distance, her eyes full of reluctance.

Just as Granny Purple Tail had predicted, the news of the impending volcanic eruption plunged the entire Pearl City into panic. Countless ships sailed out of the harbor overnight, and even the municipal government issued a volcanic eruption warning, halting all ships from entering the port and organizing citizens to evacuate.

Even reporters from the Food Association gave extensive coverage to this disaster warning, even referring to it as "the last glory of Pearl Island."

Many food hunters have come to witness the final splendor of this city destined to sink.

Ahai moved to his new home in the deep sea with Nanako and the children. Before leaving, Nanako said goodbye to Xu Milu and handed her the breeding manual for the Luo Luo pig.

"Perhaps we won't be able to eat the Luo Luo Pig from Pearl City anymore. Ah Hai plans to go back to Siren Port to open a small shop and continue to research new dishes. Grandma Purple Tail refuses to come with us, so this is probably the only way."

Nanako seemed quite calm. They believed that after a siren dies, she turns into foam and feeds back to the sea. They firmly believed that death was not the end of life, so they didn't feel much sadness about Granny Purple Tail staying in Pearl City.

"Okay, I will write to you often. Once your child hatches, you must write to me."

Xu Milu didn't say much.

...

...

{Waaaaah... Why did Ah Zi burn down her precious shop? She promised to roast those little pigs on my back for the rest of her life... Her dream was to become a top chef, and now it's all gone, all burned to the ground—}

On the seabed, a giant lava whale was crying uncontrollably, large tears falling with a "plop, plop" sound. Xu Milu dodged while trying to comfort it:

"Grandma Purple Tail did this to drive everyone away so she could let you go. She must really want to see the outside world with you, that's why she did it. Stop crying, or the sea will become salty again!"

Xu Milu was extremely annoyed; she had finally witnessed firsthand just how much this talkative whale loved to cry.

{Although these little cuties often dig holes in my back, causing me a lot of pain, and they love to build heavy houses on my back, make holes in my stomach, and dig open my skin with a shovel... they are really cute. These tiny little things, swimming around on my back, melt my heart—}

The giant whale let out two soft "woofs":

{But I also really want to take Azi to see the outside world. I want to take her to see the colorful aurora borealis over the Croatian Sea, to the snow-covered land where snow falls all year round, to see the Yeti there, and to the flower island of Oroq, where I heard it's spring all year round and all the ingredients are made from various kinds of flowers—}

Xu Milu was so impressed by the travel map the other party described that she couldn't help but take out a pen and paper to write it down.

[Host, I cannot understand your actions. From a purely economic perspective, the freedom of a whale seems more important than the forced displacement of thousands of people from their homes.]

The previously silent dimensional jump system finally voiced its question:

[The host could have revealed the truth to the Siren Clan, thus forming an alliance of interests and engaging in long-term pearl trade. Why did the host choose the option with the least benefit?]

Although it is a declarative sentence, one can still sense a slight confusion.

Xu Milu rested her chin on her hand and slowly scratched her face:

"Because people are very complex individuals. Although we are constantly pursuing the maximization of interests, we still can't help but be moved when we see beautiful things. What you see is that Pearl City has existed for hundreds of years, but what I see is a whale guarding its friend here, not eating or drinking for hundreds of years. It can give up its freedom for Granny Purple Tail's joke, but that doesn't mean it doesn't yearn for freedom."

She paused for a moment, then slowly stretched:

“I am not a sea monster, so I can’t empathize with you, and I can’t make decisions for Granny Purple Tail and the whale. After all, I’m just an observer. As long as my bottom line isn’t crossed, these things have nothing to do with me. By the way, to answer your first question, these kinds of options never have any priority. In my opinion, freedom and love are equally important.”

Although I don't understand it, I've already made a note of it.

The voice of the dimensional jump system sounded somewhat confused; Xu Milu's viewpoint clearly contradicted its long-held principle of "profit above all else."

{Little human, who are you talking to?}

The giant whale lowered its eyes, struggling to see Xu Milu clearly, but Xu Milu smiled:

"No, I was just talking to myself. By the way, where were you? Orok's Flower Island, is it really all flowers?"

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