Chapter 55
Several people turned around at the same time.
Guarded by Firefly and Feihua on his left and right, the true monarch of this blue ocean slowly emerged.
The fish tail turned into legs, the long robe that dragged on the ground sparkled in the dim morning light, and the long dark blue hair was spread out behind her, and the slightly curly hair fluttered gently with her movements.
He brushed aside his drooping hair, revealing his handsome and cold face.
Mephistopheles didn't panic at all as if he had been caught red-handed. Instead, he looked over with a smile, "Oh, Brother Qianxing."
Wannian suppressed all his turbulent emotions and knelt on one knee in the cage: "Your Majesty."
Ling Xi also saluted the Sea Monster King.
The maids covered the lower half of their faces with pearl-studded veils, lowered their heads, and used the hoods of their cloaks to block their eyes. They said nothing, like two silent shadows.
Everyone was extremely respectful, except for the little cub, who didn't need any formalities. He excitedly came running on his short legs, his bow-shaped tentacles fluttering behind him like real wings. "Brother Yaoyao——!!"
Qian Xing bent down and caught the little guy who jumped into her arms.
Only when facing the baby would a faint smile appear on that usually calm face: "Long time no see."
Li Jue wrapped his arms around his new guardian's neck. It took only a few seconds for his expression to turn from joy to sadness. He pursed his lips and cried in his baby voice, "Baby, I miss my brother so much. I miss..."
His language system was not yet mature enough to describe in detail the confusion of being left behind, the reluctance to separate and the anticipation of meeting again, so he could only talk about his longing over and over again.
In the end, only the word "want" is left, which is enough to keep repeating.
Qian Xing wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with her fingertips and whispered softly, "I'm here to pick you up. I said we'd see each other later, and I didn't break my promise, did I?"
Zizi thought about it and it seemed to make sense.
That's exactly what Brother Yaoyao had said before he sent him to the "factory." Now, they met again.
But why do I still feel uncomfortable?
The cub poked his chest with his little hand and said aggrievedly: "Here..."
Qian Xing asked with concern: "What's wrong?"
Li Jue repeated blankly: "Here."
He didn't know how to describe the empty and weightless feeling in his heart. He only knew that he seemed unable to be happy as usual.
The adult grabbed the cub's hand and held it to his heart: "Because you miss me, right?"
Missing someone makes people sad and heartbroken.
And reunion is the only antidote.
Qian Xing touched Li Jue's hair and said gently, "It's okay, it's good to see you."
The cub blinked.
If the guardian said so, then it would definitely be okay. He believed what the adults said.
The little devil on the side watched this scene with great interest.
The speed of time in infinite space is very special. Not only are the sub-worlds different, but the player lobby is also divided. In special blocks such as "tower" and "factory", the speed is infinitely close to zero.
In any case, he and the Sea Monster King have known each other for more than a hundred years. He has seen the other party being ruthless and cold, but he has never seen him act like a good parent and a good brother.
Thinking back to what I had seen in the surveillance video before, the furious dragon king was also very kind when facing the small system - these two guys are really interesting.
No wonder they are sworn enemies, they really are a match made in heaven.
Of course, he couldn't tell this to the person involved.
The Siren King coaxed the cub, and his eyes swept over everyone, finally landing on Mephisto with a hint of reproach: "What did I tell you before?"
The little devil wagged his tail ingratiatingly. "I was just trying to make him happy. I didn't mean to steal your cubs, I promise."
The most untrustworthy promise in this world is probably the one from the devil.
Qian Xing glanced at him sideways and said, "Don't even think about it. Just wait obediently."
Why do I feel like this person is so used to coaxing babies that he even uses this soothing tone of an adult coaxing a child when talking to me?
Mephistopheles pouted in dissatisfaction: "Didn't you do the same thing?"
He was talking about when Li Jue was still in the Dragon World, the Sea Monster King sneaked in there and saw the small system in advance, and tried to abduct the cub back to the Ocean World.
"I didn't really take him away early." Qian Xing didn't deny it, her pupils gloomy, "But you are capable of doing such a thing."
The young man laughed and said, "Brother Qian Xing believes in me so much. I'm very touched."
Qian Xing: "Have you asked No. Bα3L82γk if it will be your turn next?"
"I asked it, and it said no." The little devil smiled, revealing a pair of small fangs. It was as adorable as it was evil. "But I thought of a way, and asked it to change to me."
Qian Xing felt like sighing.
Mephistopheles' "find a way" is definitely not a good one; his "please" is not a simple plea.
The system and its assistants have been suffering from the stubborn Hell Demon for a long time, but they can't do anything about him.
Qian Xing looked at the soft little guy in her arms, and was really curious about who would have the upper hand between Li Jue and Mephistopheles.
The real situation is often not as different as it seems on the surface.
The baby is the most mysterious singularity in the other world, with infinite possibilities to reverse everything.
"Okay, Brother Qianxing, take Xiao Tiandou back to rest. I won't disturb you anymore." Mephisto pretended to be well-behaved. After receiving Qianxing's look that said "disbelief", he winked at him and said, "I do have a request - to borrow someone from you."
Qian Xing: “?”
The little devil pointed at the human struggling in vain within the chains of the black mist and said, "This."
Wannian, who was suddenly called, stopped, looked at Qian Xing, and subconsciously opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
In the dungeon, he is the small boss of the first level. Usually, he leads his team back to get off work after the Siren's song sounds, and he has almost never had a head-on confrontation with the Siren King.
For a moment, he thought that the other party didn't know him at all, and that a nobody like him really didn't need to be taken seriously by the monarch.
Qian Xing glanced at him, frowned, and asked Mephistopheles: "What do you want him to do?"
The boy licked his lips. "That's fun. He's exactly my style."
Qian Xing: "There are so many souls in your world, aren't they enough for you to eat?"
Mephistopheles laughed. "I didn't say I wanted to eat him—he looks much more delicious than those souls. Well, he has a better use. Brother Qianxing, just lend him to me, okay?"
The little devil can easily take advantage of anyone's coquettishness, and unlike Xiao Lijue's unconscious closeness to others, every method used by Mephistopheles has a detailed purpose. He formulates different strategies for different people, and they will never fail.
Qian Xing couldn't say she fell for his tricks, but there was nothing she could do about it. After all, before the baby came along, the little devil was the only one who dared to act cute in front of him - and with his appearance of only seventeen or eighteen years old and his childish smile, he really did look like a child.
The Sea King noticed that the little system was nestled in his arms, looking a little sleepy. He probably thought that it must be tired after traveling in the sub-world for so long. He was only thinking about taking the cub home to rest as soon as possible. He no longer worried about Mephisto's purpose and tilted his head in the direction of Wannian: "If he agrees."
The harder you hold on to the chain for ten thousand years, the more pain you will suffer.
The monarch's tone did not show any disdain for him, but rather indifference.
Simply because I am neither particularly useful nor meaningful to him, so he doesn't care.
Perhaps a small boss with good abilities is a nightmare for the players, but in the eyes of the big boss, he is not worth mentioning at all.
What impact will one more or one less speck of dust have on the world?
At this moment, the ambition to become more powerful and become the new king was rekindled.
He had to climb higher, at least to be on equal footing with these people, so that they could see him.
Wannian gritted his teeth and said, "...I agree."
He didn't look at the surprise in Mephisto's eyes, but only looked at the confused little Li Jue: "Bobo, see you next time."
Another separation came so suddenly.
The sadness that had not yet completely dissipated once again clouded his heart, and Zizi subconsciously reached out to him: "Uncle..."
And Wannian in the cage couldn't even hold his little hand.
He took off his cracked glasses and smiled sadly, "Be good and listen to His Majesty and eat well. I hope you'll be taller when we meet again next time."
I hope that by then, I will be a different person.
The man finally turned to look at the young man who had been waiting for a long time, his eyes becoming calm, like an ancient well without ripples.
"Take me away."
*
The child was very lost.
He said nothing, and his always bright golden eyes became dim. He lay on his guardian's shoulder in a daze.
Qian Xing noticed that although Zizi was sad, he did not shed tears like he did when he said goodbye to Finks or herself before, and he did not cry and beg not to leave.
Maybe it was because of the different depths of their feelings (of course, the Siren King disdained to compare who was more important in the baby cub's heart, especially when compared with Finks), or maybe the cub had slowly accepted the separation.
This is something he has to go through as part of a system that has to travel between various sub-worlds, or something that every child must go through during their growth.
All Qian Xing could do was to provide him with a safe and secure embrace where the cub could learn to lick his own wounds.
"His Majesty."
Someone called him.
The Siren King looked down and saw the other child, who had been silent since his arrival and had almost been ignored.
The six-year-old boy's brown eyes were filled with worry: "Can I take a look at Juejue?"
Qian Xing's first reaction was to refuse, but then he remembered that this boy who was always with the little system might be the one who understood the baby best, and could do things that no one else could do, such as making the baby happy now.
Thinking of this, he put down Li Jue.
When Li Jue saw Ling Xi, he immediately reached out to hold her hand.
The little cub's voice was thin, like a fledgling in the nest that hadn't yet learned to fly, hopeful and helpless: "Xixi, you won't leave, will you?"
Qian Xing noticed that his bow-tie tentacles curled up slightly with anxiety at this question. Just like a cat's tail in the previous world, it was easy to tell what Zi Zi was feeling.
Ling Xi held his hand, as solemnly as she had promised every time: "No. I will always be by your side."
With this promise, the little cub felt better, as if he had grasped the biggest and brightest gem.
He hooked his little brother's finger, his eyes showing worry beyond his age: "So, when can I see uncle again?"
Ayaka didn't understand the answer.
The adults did not deliberately hide Wannian's intention to open up his own territory and be promoted from a small boss to a big boss from the children, and he knew a little about it.
Ling Xi didn't know much about the devil from hell who claimed that he could "fulfill any wish", and for a moment it was hard for her to imagine what the consequences would be if these two people colluded with each other.
If the cooperation goes smoothly, Wannian might actually be able to be ranked among the immortals and become one of the second parties in the small system;
If things don't go well, with the little devil's personality...
Juejue didn't want to hear the unpleasant part, the boy knew this very well.
He didn't think any further, but instead picked up the curl at the end of Li Jue's hair and gave a rather ambiguous, almost deceptive, answer: "You'll see it when you grow up to be as old as me."
As a spirit beast born to protect the child of God, Ling Xi couldn't lie to Li Jue. However, over the years, he had also learned some of the language arts that are unique to humans.
For example, the sentence just now can be understood as when the two of them reach the same age, or it can be understood as when Li Jue grows up to be five or six years old in two years.
It's just a little circuitous and ambiguous. It shouldn't be considered cheating, right...?
The little cub shook the boy's finger, a smile returning to his eyes: "Then cub must grow up quickly!"
Ling Xi also smiled.
The sad little mushroom was comforted in this way.
Qian Xing couldn't help but marvel at how well the two children understood and relied on each other. He had originally been a little bothered by the buy-one-get-one-free promotion for raising a small system, but now he realized that this was not a "free gift" at all, but a necessity that was tied to Li Jue.
Without Ling Xi, Li Jue cannot face this treacherous world alone.
As they were talking, they had already reached the edge of the turtle's back, and the waves were splashing at their feet.
Every drop of water that wet the Siren King's robe turned into a spot of light on his skin, like fish scales. He walked barefoot into the sea, step by step, and his originally fair skin was gradually covered by dark blue scales.
When the water reached above her knees, Qian Xing turned around and looked at the two little ones peeking out, "Can you swim?"
Li Jue, who had completely adjusted his mood, cheered and ran towards him, his little feet clattering on the snow-white waves, and disappeared the moment he dipped into the sea -
Qian Xing lowered her head and saw a small jellyfish the size of a palm swimming around her happily, trying to attract her attention by splashing water with its thumb-sized tentacles.
"I saw you."
Qian Xing stretched out her index finger and poked the soft umbrella body, then entered the water, completely transformed into a fish tail, and let the little jellyfish play around her.
In the dragon's world, it is a cat; in the siren's world, it is a jellyfish; the small system can become anything it wants.
Li Jue is now very skilled at transforming. The light blue little jellyfish blends into the sea water and becomes almost transparent. Fortunately, he can also glow, so he is not completely invisible.
Ayaka also turned into a black little seal, staying by the little jellyfish's side all the time.
After the fireflies and flying flowers had also entered the sea, the giant sea turtle whimpered softly as a greeting and farewell to the monarch.
The little jellyfish flapped its umbrella and spit out a string of bubbles: "Turtle, thank you, bye!"
The underwater palace and the habitat of the four spirits are in opposite directions. Li Jue watched the turtle leave and paddled hard with his little tentacles to catch up with the mermaid that had left him behind.
There is still light beneath the sea, reflecting the blue gradient of the fish's tail, making it sparkle, and the tail fin flutters gently like silk, like a dream.
"Brother's tail is so pretty!"
Zizi admired it sincerely and followed the siren's tail, floating wherever the tail fin turned.
The humans on the shore couldn't understand the jellyfish's gurgling sounds, but Qian Xing, as the master of the ocean, could certainly understand every word of their childish babbling.
He was afraid of hurting Li Jue, so he gently swept his tail over and pulled the little guy in front of him: "Are you still used to the sea?"
The little jellyfish waved its bow-tie tentacles in response: "Get used to it!"
When we were in the dragon world, we thought that the Night Pearl that was taken away by Phinks would be used on Li Jue, but we didn't expect that the baby could breathe freely in the water and mastered the swimming skills very quickly, so there was no need for it at all;
Not to mention when you arrive at the ocean world, the cubs will directly become part of the aquatic creatures and there is no need to worry at all.
The adaptability of children is truly amazing.
With the Siren King around, no aquatic predators dared to approach. They consciously stayed still at a sufficient distance, watching the monarch come and go with attentive salute.
Not only animals, but even plants understand etiquette. Algae of various colors and sizes retract their tangled branches to make way for the monarch.
His majesty is the scepter of Moses. Even if he suddenly gets tired of swimming, the sea water will devoutly retreat and sink for him until the reefs and the moon are revealed.
In the present world, Chen Yan took him to an aquarium, but Li Jue was too young at that time and had little knowledge of the creatures kept there.
This was the first time he had touched the ocean so deeply and truly.
The cubs looked at the schools of fish passing by them with curiosity. They were colorful and arranged in different formations, politely meeting and saying goodbye.
The little jellyfish sped up and joined in, becoming the most dazzling spot of light. Then it slowly fell down because of being dazed, and was rolled back to the correct route by the monarch's tail in the vast sea.
The fish looked at this unusual little jellyfish that looked like a pear blossom and whispered to each other:
——Whose child is this?
——I have never seen this kind of pattern.
——Are you lost?
——But he has always been following Your Majesty.
——Miss Feihua didn’t expel him.
——It seems that his identity is very unusual.
——Could it be someone related to Your Majesty?
——You don’t mean illegitimate child, do you?
——Don’t talk nonsense, or your fish bones will be pulled out.
…
Li Jue couldn't hear their chatter and was still immersed in the joy of entering a new perspective.
He swam forward, then backward, and the jellyfish could position its body any way it wanted.
Just then, the little jellyfish saw a big pancake.
It is very flat, about the size of my arms outstretched when I am in human form. It looks very much like the giant sugar cakes that my neighbor’s grandmother used to make during the Spring Festival. All the children playing in the community could get a piece.
Sugar cake?
Zaizai wondered why there were sugar cakes here.
Is there an old lady making pancakes in the water?
Seeing that the little jellyfish fell behind because of distraction again, the little seal had to stop and wait for the waves to push the soft little guy to his side.
Ling Xi asked: "Juejue, what are you looking at?"
Li Jue said: "Xixi, I saw the sugar cake!"
The two words "sugar cake" were pronounced clearly and resoundingly.
Ling Xi hoped that he had misheard, but based on his understanding of Li Jue, the two words "tangbing" meant sugar cake.
Why is there such a thing in the sea?
The little seal's eyesight was not very good. The little jellyfish pointed it out to him several times before he could barely make out the flat, dark cloud that was rolling along with the sea water.
Well, it does look a bit like a sugar pancake, and a bit like a diving plane.
In short, these are not creatures that appear in the sea.
"What is this?" Li Jue asked, "Is it a sugar cake?"
"No." After observing for a while, Ling Xi came up with the answer, "It's a stingray."
"Skate, fish. Skate - fish. Skate skate -" Li Jue was thinking about the name when an idea suddenly occurred to him, "Is it the same as Brother Yaoyao?"
Ayaka: “…It’s different.”
Although he didn't know what species the Siren King's fish body was based on, or whether the Siren King was just a separate category of siren, what was certain was that it was definitely not a sugar cake.
The cubs stayed behind a cluster of orange corals, watching the sugar cake somersault in the sea.
The little jellyfish was a little worried: "It doesn't look good."
The little seal also discovered it.
The speed of the fish rolling around was about the same as if it were actually pancaked on a frying pan. A normal fish shouldn't be like this.
The little jellyfish's tentacles fluttered as it asked worriedly, "Sugarcake, are you sick?"
The low-level NPCs in each sub-world have survival settings that are infinitely close to reality. For these most basic fish, birth, old age, sickness and death are all real. Some of those with weak constitutions may even be eliminated after the copy is refreshed - that is, they will fall into the fog and will never wake up again.
Ling Xi couldn't tell such a cruel fact to the little cub who still had naive expectations of infinite space.
Whether in the dragon world or the ocean world, everyone Li Jue met took good care of him; life here was much better than the Shen family, which was despised by everyone.
The nature of the small system's work determines that it is difficult for him to see the cruel and brutal side of the escape. This fairy tale dream woven by the boss guardians may continue forever.
Not all truths have to be revealed.
Ling Xi was thinking of a solution in distress: "How about asking Sister Liuying and Sister Feihua?"
Li Jue agreed, and swam towards the nearest flying flower with her bow in hand.
Her tail is ochre-red and looks like a cluster of flowing flames when it swings.
The little jellyfish approached, bathed in a pale blue glow, and even the flames became gentle.
"Sister, sister!" The little jellyfish blew out a string of bubbles, "Please help my cub!"
He is so tiny that no matter how hard he tries to puff up his little body and blow bubbles, they will disappear into the water before attracting the attention of the flying flowers.
Li Jue tried several times but failed. Feihua swam too fast and neither he nor his bubble could catch up.
The little jellyfish had to suspend this plan, rubbed his little tentacles in frustration, and wondered whether he should ask for help from his brother Yaoyao.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
The sick ray had not been as careful as the other fish to avoid the monarch's path. At this moment, it was tumbling around in a tangle, completely losing its swimming balance, and falling uncontrollably into the deeper parts of the sea like a crashing plane.
The little jellyfish's eyes blurred and he only heard a scream of "Young master, be careful--!!".
It's too late.
The sugar cakes crashed into him with great force, earth-shaking and overwhelming force.
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