The next morning, Su Su swam towards the Mermaid Kingdom.
The gate of the Mermaid Kingdom is located on the other side of Anle Island. Su Su had to go around half of Yongle Island to get there. It is said that this place used to be a piece of land with a city built by humans. Later, it became an ocean due to the rising sea level.
Mermaids were born on this land.
Thousands of years have passed since the land sank. The outline of the human city in the past has long disappeared. However, the stone fortress of the Mermaid Kingdom has been built with the help of humans. There used to be a whole mountain range there, but now only the top of the mountain can still show a little land above the sea. As the geographical symbol of the Mermaid Kingdom, it is named Yongle Island.
While Su Su was swimming towards the Mermaid Kingdom, a very luxurious yacht also set out from Yongle Island and sailed smoothly on the sea.
On the deck, a large group of young men and women gathered together. Some were drinking and playing cards, some were chatting and fishing, and some had changed into diving equipment and were warming up, preparing to show off their skills underwater.
A figure jumped out from the bottom of the water, holding a rifle-shaped weapon in one hand and a hanging line at the other end. He handed it to the person on the deck: "Quick, hold it."
Everyone immediately crowded together and worked together to fix the line to a rocker, then turned the rocker to reel the line in.
This is a primitive hunting method. Nowadays, there are more mechanized methods for fishing. But this group of young people just want to seek excitement in this primitive hunting.
As the rod was tightened, a two-meter-long fish was pulled up onto the deck, and the crowd cheered.
“What a big fish!”
"Young Master Mo is so awesome!"
"It's not the same thing as saying that this world is unfair. Some people are not only handsome, have good family backgrounds, and are good at playing the piano and painting, but they can even beat us at something as unconventional as fishing."
Morin took off his oxygen mask and shook his head, revealing a handsome face, with curly blond hair spreading behind him, and his blue eyes seemed to be washed clearer by the sea. Listening to the flattery of the crowd, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing the pride and willfulness of a young man, and waved his hands: "Don't laugh at me, the real powerful people on our ship are there."
As he spoke, he walked straight to a particularly secluded corner of the deck.
Everyone's eyes followed Morin's footsteps.
In the shadow, there was a set of office desks and chairs that were totally out of place on the yacht. A young man with broad shoulders and long legs was sitting in the middle of the desk in a very upright posture, concentrating on processing the documents on the terminal. He was wearing a pair of blue military trousers and a pure white long-sleeved shirt. In the hot summer, the top button was buttoned up.
His brows were slightly furrowed from time to time, as if he had encountered a difficult problem, but soon they relaxed as if he had made a decision. His slender fingers with silver rings tapped lightly in the air from time to time, issuing commands one by one through the sensors.
He was not affected by the lively atmosphere around him. Instead, he single-handedly carved out a work area on the crowded deck where no one dared to disturb him.
Indeed, no one dared to disturb them. Although he was only 29 years old this year, Qi Hanyi was already a fierce admiral of the Empire's interstellar expeditionary force, a position higher than that of many of the young masters and ladies present.
He sat there working without even raising his head once, yet he had an aura of authority that made ordinary people nervous even if they got close to him, as if they were being drenched in a basin of ice water on a hot summer day.
So even though Qi Hanyi had a very high status, no one dared to approach him and get close to him.
Mo Lin was an exception. He sat down at the corner of Qi Hanyi's desk and tapped his fingers in front of his eyes a few times, as if to attract his attention: "Hanyi, you rarely have a break, so relax and go diving and hunting with us. It's boring to always sit in the cabin."
Qi Hanyi raised his head, revealing a pair of misty eyes that looked like they were dipped in ice water. His appearance was extremely outstanding, but it would never make people think of any words related to pretty or beautiful.
His face was so cold and aggressive, like a tempered sword or a loaded gun. Through the camera and the screen, he could still be called a cool guy, but if you were standing face to face and were glanced at by those cold eyes, the timid would probably be scared to death on the spot.
At this moment, the pair of eyes, with a bit of displeasure at being disturbed, looked at Morin who was knocking on his desk, and said indifferently without giving him face: "No, I'm not interested."
If he had talked to an ordinary person like this with Mo Lin, the young master would have thrown him into the sea long ago. But the person in front of him was Qi Hanyi, so not only could he not get angry, he had to smile along: "Hey, you can't marry your job, my brother has asked me to take good care of you this time. If he knew that I left you on the boat to work overtime while I had fun, I'm afraid my pocket money for next month would be deducted."
"You don't lack pocket money. If it's really not enough, you can always sell paintings." Qi Hanyi seemed not to hear that this was a joke and retorted seriously.
Maureen was silenced.
Actually, although the Mo family and the Qi family are old friends, and he and Qi Hanyi are the same age, the two of them are not much more familiar with each other than strangers.
Maureen has an older brother, so she has no pressure to inherit the family business. She has lived her life as she pleased since she was a child. Her main occupations are music, photography, and painting. As for her hobbies, they are too numerous to count.
Maureen himself was somewhat famous in the art world, but he also understood that much of his fame was due to his father, who was the president of the parliament, and his elder brother, who was the president of the Chamber of Commerce.
He is already nearly 30 years old, and it is time for him to understand things and learn to share the worries of the family. Recently, his eldest brother has an arms business and wants to cooperate with the military, so he took the initiative to ask for permission to get closer to Qi Hanyi.
It is not difficult to make an appointment with Qi Hanyi. The old man of the Qi family has always felt that Qi Hanyi is too cold and should socialize more with people of the same age. As long as he gives the order, Qi Hanyi will definitely keep the appointment, no matter if it means going through mountains and seas, even if it means going through fire and water.
What Maureen didn't expect was that after finally getting an appointment with this person, he turned out to be more difficult to approach than she had imagined.
Mo Lin remembered his elder brother's suggestion that if Qi Hanyi ignored him, he should talk more about the old man of the Qi family in front of him. Qi Hanyi lost both his parents when he was young, and he was raised by the old man since he was a child. He always obeyed his words.
So Morin pretended to be relaxed and tried to test him: "You are really boring. No wonder Mr. Qi said you are lifeless like a working machine. Let us take you out to play more during your vacation."
"What did grandpa say?" Qi Hanyi's face finally showed some emotion.
"Yes! That's what Mr. Qi said. He also said that you are on vacation now, so you should relax yourself. Otherwise, you will just work every day and it will be difficult to find a partner." Mo Lin answered seriously.
Qi Hanyi thought that this was not something his grandfather would say. His grandfather always required him to be more serious and strict in his work and not to slack off for a moment. However, when they met recently, he did mention that he would arrange a marriage for him. And this trip was also requested by his grandfather. Although Qi Hanyi did not quite understand the meaning of participating in such an activity, as long as it was requested by his grandfather, he would try his best to do it.
"How do we play?" Qi Hanyi finally turned off the terminal and stood up. As he stood up, he did not forget to smooth out the wrinkles on the hem of his shirt to keep his clothes neat.
Speaking of the word "play", he couldn't help but feel a little unfamiliar. When he was a child, he knew how to study and how to train. When he grew up, he knew how to drive a mecha and a starship, how to command a battle, and how to manage soldiers. But the only thing he didn't know was how to play.
Seeing Qi Hanyi finally stand up, Mo Lin felt relieved and whistled happily, "That's right. I heard that you have the legendary SSS gene that is rare in a century. You should have a very good physique. Can you show us your skills and let us open our eyes?"
"Force is not something to be shown off." Qi Hanyi showed a hint of disapproval in his eyes, but his tone remained indifferent.
Mo Lin hated being lectured the most and would pout in boredom. Sometimes, he really doubted whether Qi Hanyi was the same age as him. Why did he act like an old stubborn man who had traveled through time from a thousand years ago whenever he opened his mouth?
Mo Lin was trying to be naughty. He pointed to the corner of the fish pond and said deliberately, "We actually have a competition today. Did you see that fish? It's called yellowfin tuna, the most valuable fish in this area. Whoever can catch it will win the first place in this competition. I heard that you always won first place in the military academy assessments, so you can't lose to people like us, right?"
"That's right."
"You are an admiral of the Empire. You have killed so many Zergs, so a fish should be easy to catch."
There were some malicious echoes from the side.
They are all children of noble families who often play with Mo Lin. They have been surpassed by Qi Hanyi since childhood. Although they may not have much interaction with Qi Hanyi in reality, Qi Hanyi's existence makes him the child of someone else's family in the eyes of their parents.
"Yeah." Qi Hanyi just glanced at the fish pond, leaned over and picked up a spear from the ground. He didn't have any thoughts of winning, but his grandfather said that when he was away from home, he represented the Qi family, and his words and deeds must not tarnish the honor of this family.
Catching a tuna was not a difficult task for him.
"Hey, do you really want to catch this? Using a spear gun?" Mo Lin was shocked when he saw Qi Hanyi really agreed.
Remembering that Qi Hanyi was a complete novice at fishing, he explained to him, "I was just teasing you. I know you're good, but that's on land. This thing swims faster than a boat in the sea, so it's hard to aim. And even if you hit it, it will take a lot of effort to drag it over, and it may attract schools of sharks to grab food, and you might get attacked by sharks. Not to mention us, even experienced old fishermen find it difficult to catch it with a spear gun. Usually, special equipment is required. This one of ours was not caught by anyone. I bought it from a fishmonger for good luck."
He came to build a good relationship with Qi Hanyi, not to really have a grudge against him. Yellowfin tuna is not a small fish that can be slaughtered at will. If Qi Hanyi was injured, he would not be able to explain to the elders of both families.
"Got it." Qi Hanyi was indifferent to Mo Lin's dissuasion. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt one by one, revealing the tight honey-colored muscles on his waist and abdomen.
He quickly folded his clothes and placed them in the locker, then expertly put on his diving suit and equipment.
Diving and swimming are both compulsory courses for them in military academies. Although the main battlefield is in space, there is always a chance that a ship will be shot down and forced to land on the sea.
As long as it is a course he has studied, no matter whether he likes it or not, Qi Hanyi is always the best.
Qi Hanyi jumped into the sea with very little splash. He moved his body skillfully, as freely as a mermaid who grew up in the sea.
There was sea water all around him. Qi Hanyi closed his eyes, feeling the sea water surrounding him and squeezing him.
Qi Hanyi didn't like the feeling of being wrapped in sea water, as it reminded him of a nightmare many years ago. That hysterical woman held him tightly, and he kept sinking in the cold sea water...
The urge to vomit surged up in his mind, but he tried his best to suppress it.
For a long time, Qi Hanyi suffered from severe phobia. He would vomit bile when he was not only afraid of diving but also when he was on a boat. However, diving assessment was written into the training standards of the Imperial Army. In order to become the top student in the Imperial Army Academy as required by his grandfather, he forced himself to relive the feeling of drowning over and over again until his body was completely accustomed to this fear.
Qi Hanyi swam towards the depths. Schools of fish, big and small, passed by him, but Qi Hanyi didn't even look at them. Competitiveness was ingrained in him, and even when playing, he would only accept the best outcome. He had to catch a yellowfin tuna.
After searching for a while, he found a prey. Qi Hanyi took the lead in attacking. The hook in the spear gun was fired, plowing a long wound on the back of the tuna.
But it missed and instead angered the opponent. The angry tuna, with the spear-like spikes on the tip of its nose, rushed towards Qi Hanyi.
Facing the oncoming prey, Qi Hanyi lowered his brows, revealing a fierce murderous intent.
He turned the weapon in his hand to expose the barbed side, and at the moment the tuna rushed over, Qianjun grabbed the opponent's "lance" in one shot, and inertia pulled his body sideways, moving forward with the tuna.
Qi Hanyi raised the weapon in his hand and stabbed it into the belly of the tuna. Then he let go and slid backwards by inertia.
The poor tuna was ripped open by Qi Hanyi and died instantly.
Qi Hanyi put away his weapon and swam towards the boat, dragging the tuna that was heavier than himself.
Su Su swam towards the direction of the mermaid kingdom, thinking that he would be able to eat delicious food soon, and even his tail was wagging more happily than usual. He was in a particularly good mood at the moment. I don't know if it was because he was eager for food, but the unique bloody scent of yellowfin tuna wafted to his nose.
It was a dying, delicious yellowfin tuna. Su Su's body turned unconsciously and deviated from the starting direction.
You can get the reward tomorrow, but you have to eat the food that is in front of you.
Su Su chased after him, becoming more and more certain that he was not mistaken. At such a close distance, he could even sense the other party's faint breath. At the same time, there seemed to be something else beside him, but it was no more than two meters in size and did not pose any threat.
Su Su got closer and closer, and gradually saw the outline of the thing clearly.
Mermaid? No, without a tail, it seems like... Su Su's eyes widened.
A human!
The muscles are tightly wrapped in the diving suit, revealing smooth muscle contours. They are not overly exaggerated, but appear very powerful.
He dragged the more than two-meter-long tuna with one hand, and his long webbed feet moved in imitation of the movements of the fish's tail.
Su Su stared with wide eyes.
So cute!