The door was opened from the bottom of the room, and Yi Qing swam up from the downstairs: "I heard some noise, and I guessed that you woke up..."

She had only said half of her words when she suddenly stopped, her eyes fixed on Su Su, as if she were fixed on him.

Mermaids are born with outstanding looks, and female mermaids are generally better looking. Yi Qing's appearance was already one of the best among mermaids, but Su Su is even better than her.

Moreover, Su Su's appearance is similar to that of most mermaids, either delicate or cute. He is like a fallen siren, beautiful, dangerous, and full of temptation.

Especially his ears, which were pointed and covered with silver scales. There were also a few scales at the end of his eyes, which looked like decorative diamonds or tears about to fall. These abnormal parts made him look more like a demon than a human.

Wait... Alienation?

The shock in Yi Qing's eyes slowly turned into sympathy, and she whispered, "It really failed."

[How could this happen?] Su Su couldn’t use his vocal cords to speak, so when he tried to speak, he could only make “ahhhh” sounds.

Fortunately, his mental power was still usable, and his meaning was conveyed to Yiqing accurately.

Yi Qing sighed, remembering that she had to help the high priest hide the truth about the mermaid medicine, and felt a little guilty. She explained, "You have turned into a mermaid, but this is only a short-term effect. You will slowly degenerate into a shark within a month."

[But, why?] Su Su's smile collapsed. Why did he fail? Was it because his faith was not sincere enough? But he wanted to become a human so much, so what went wrong?

Yi Qing explained to him in detail: "After you take this mermaid medicine, whether it is successful or not, your body will be catalyzed to become a mermaid in a short period of time."

"But if your body shows any abnormal reaction during the transformation, it means that the transformation has failed. Your body will gradually change back to the appearance of a shark as the effect of the drug wears off. The cycle takes about a month."

Yi Qing pointed at Su Su's reflection in the mirror and said, "Like the silver scales at the corners of your eyes and behind your ears, this is a manifestation of abnormality. Normal mermaids don't have these on their faces."

Su Su looked around and saw that the scales did not look like those of a normal mermaid. He felt a little disappointed, but he quickly cheered up and asked Yi Qing: "What does it mean to be successful?"

"If the transformation is successful, you should look like an ordinary mermaid, and your body will not be altered in any way. After three days, you will be able to fully activate your human genes, and from then on you can switch between the three forms of human, mermaid, and shark at will."

Su Su nodded and picked up the medicine box that had fallen to the side: [I must have taken the medicine too hastily just now and was not well prepared... Should I try again? ]

He unskillfully picked up his dropped medicine box from the ground, picked up a capsule and was about to put it into his mouth.

The little mermaid hurried forward to stop him: "What are you doing? This is a genetic medicine. If you take it carelessly, you will die!"

"Ah?" Su Su opened his mouth in confusion. His "electronic textbook" had never taught him this.

"If you want to take the medicine again, you need to wait more than a month. This is the time the body needs to recover," said Yi Qing.

I still have to wait another month. Su Su closed his mouth in disappointment and put the capsule he had just squeezed back into the box.

Realizing that Su Su had no knowledge of genetic medicine, the little mermaid gave a few more instructions: "The high priest of medicine only gave you seven because this is the maximum number of mermaid medicines that mermaids can withstand. If you take more, it will not have any effect."

"In other words, if you have taken all seven pills and still have not activated the human genes in your body, then you will always be a shark and will never have a chance to get ashore again."

This warning did not worry Su Su at all. That was seven chances! It was just a small mistake. Next time, or at most the next time, he would definitely be able to become a human!

Yi Qing was not as optimistic as Su Su, but since the high priest said there was hope, she could only silently wish him the best.

Out of a sense of guilt for deceiving a friend, Yi Qing took the initiative to say, "You are not used to your mermaid form yet. It is not convenient for you to live in the sea in your current state, and you are likely to be illegally captured. Why don't you stay with me in the palace for the next three days? There are many vacant guest rooms, and you will have three meals a day. I can also teach you some common sense about mermaids, so that you can prepare for your future life in advance."

When Su Su heard about three meals a day, he immediately agreed happily.

Yi Qing found another piece of shark silk and quickly wrapped it around Su Su: "You are a mermaid now. You can't run around naked. Wear this for now."

The silk was thin and soft, wrapping Su Su's upper body and covering his porcelain-white skin. The thin sand half-covered his thin muscle texture, and the extra part swayed slightly with the waves, shining brightly, adding a bit of softness that was not fully described.

Yi Qing smiled secretly: "Looking at it this way, she looks a bit like a beautiful mermaid girl."

The atmosphere in the palace today was a little different from usual. As soon as Yi Qing returned to her residence, she was surrounded by several mermaids of similar age dressed as maids.

"Your Highness, you are back. The King has an urgent matter to summon you, and I have been waiting for a long time."

"Father is looking for me? What's the matter?" Yi Qing pointed at herself in surprise, and thought guiltily: I haven't gotten into any trouble recently, have I? I sneaked out to play and came back before dawn.

The maids were unaware of the situation and just urged Yiqing to go quickly, saying that if they waited a little longer, the king might get angry.

Yi Qing had no choice but to push Su Su, who was beside her, towards them and said, "Then I'll go to my father first. This is my friend, please treat him well."

Then he turned to Su Su and said, "You can sit in my palace for a while. You can tell them what you want to eat. I will be back soon."

Su Su naturally had no objection. He held his medicine box in his arms and nodded.

After Yi Qing left, her maids surrounded Su Su and asked about his background: "You are so beautiful, where did Your Highness kidnap such a beautiful girl?"

Su Su was surrounded by several mermaids, but he was not nervous at all. He answered openly: "We just met. I am Su Su. I took the priest's medicine and turned into a mermaid."

When the maids heard that he was a mermaid, they were even more surprised and kept staring at him.

Su Su was taken to the palace where the little mermaid lived. Compared with the high priest's residence, there were fewer traces of the human world here and it looked more primitive. The furniture was mostly built of stone and decorated with corals, shells, pearls and other decorations.

Before Su Su could make any request, the enthusiastic maids brought a large can of fresh fish, shrimp and crabs for him as snacks.

When Su Su saw the food, a smile of extreme happiness immediately appeared on his face, which made the mermaid maids blush and their hearts beat fast again.

On the other hand, Yi Qing, who was summoned by the king, was not so happy. She just received bad news that her marriage contract had been brought forward, and a human would pick her up at the dock tonight.

"What! Leaving for the marriage tonight? That's too hasty!" Yi Qing was stunned by this sudden bad news, as if she was hit by a bolt of lightning from the blue.

She confirmed reluctantly, "Didn't you say the wedding is in more than a month? Why are you so anxious all of a sudden?"

"That's what the Qi family wants. They hope that you can go there earlier to adapt to the future environment and that you two can take some time to develop your relationship while your fiancé is on vacation." The Mermaid King also suddenly learned of the news that the other party's fleet would arrive at the port tonight.

"I don't want to go ahead of schedule. Why can't we go ahead of schedule as agreed?" Yi Qing was angry. She had already accepted her fate of marrying a human. She just wanted to spend more time with her favorite killer whale in the last month. Now even this has become a luxury?

"Qingqing, don't be willful. The marriage is a matter of life and death for the Mermaid Nation. The Qi family is the top noble family of mankind. The head of the family, Qi Xingli, is the Minister of Defense who holds military power. Your future husband, Qi Hanyi, is the commander of the Interstellar Expeditionary Force. No matter which one, we cannot afford to offend them."

"You are the princess of the mermaid kingdom, a member of the royal family, and you should set an example for all mermaids who want to get married. If even you are resentful of the marriage and refuse to do so, how can you expect your father to obey the others?"

"But I haven't said goodbye to Pangpang yet. He will be sad if I leave suddenly..." Yi Qing bit her lip, her eyes full of grievance.

She had long heard her father's words so many times that her ears were worn out. She was a princess, and this was her responsibility. But she was also a living mermaid with feelings. If she was asked to marry a human she had never met and accept her fate of becoming a breeding tool, she would resist and be sad.

Now she wasn't even given time to say goodbye properly to her friends and lover. How could she accept this?

"If you're talking about that killer whale, then it's fine if you don't meet him. You're already an adult, and you're about to separate. You shouldn't meet any members of the opposite sex before you get married. Otherwise, if you separate into a killer whale before the marriage, wouldn't that make everyone laugh at your father?"

Without giving Yi Qing a chance to refute, the king said domineeringly: "Okay, it's settled. Go to your room and pack your things. I will send someone to pick you up before we leave."

When Yi Qing returned to the palace, her brows were furrowed, the corners of her eyes were a little red, and she looked like she was about to cry but didn't.

She said to Su Su with apologetic look: "I'm sorry, you can't stay today. I'm leaving tonight and can't continue to entertain you."

[What happened?] Su Su subconsciously held the food can tightly. He could see that Yi Qing must have encountered trouble, so he asked: [Where are you going?]

"I'm going to get married. The other party has brought forward the time and will leave tonight." Yi Qing finally couldn't hold back her tears.

"I know I have to go to marry, I just want to say goodbye to Pangpang properly, it's just such a small request, why doesn't my father agree..."

"I had an appointment with him to meet him this evening at the coral forest. Although Pangpang looks fierce, he is actually very clingy. Last time I was late, he was unhappy for a long time. If he can't wait for me today, he will be very sad."

Su Su listened to her crying while finishing a whole can of fish and shrimp. He was always grateful for what he had done, so he felt a little guilty. He wiped his mouth and said, "If you're just going to say goodbye, I have a plan."

Yi Qing was sobbing. When she heard this, her breath got stuck in her throat. She was so choked up that her face turned red. She asked with wide eyes, "What can we do?"

Su Su leaned to the side, his tail casually swinging back and forth under the table: [Let's exchange identities.]

The author has something to say:

I changed the pre-collection copy several times but was never satisfied with it, so... I changed the pre-collection!