I Was Raised After Being a Mermaid - Chapter 43

Chapter 43




An Jin took the meeting with Little Silver to heart and prepared to mention it to Norman during his lunch break. He put on his holographic helmet and went online to remove impurities from the skewers, and when he was done, he went straight offline.

His ability had just been upgraded, and he planned to practice his water control ability in reality first, and then to practice actual combat in the holographic world. But the plan to learn was equally important; to live well in this world, he must not be illiterate.

Opening the instructional video, he watched two hours of the word recognition course and then closed the terminal.

His tail flicked his silver fishtail dress in the water, flashing a silver light, and he crossed the passage to the garden. With his hands on the bank of the pool, his eyes shone brightly at the shoots in the garden; the seeds he had planted earlier were sprouting!

He carefully surveyed all the shoots, including the largest sapling, and the parts exposed to the ground were pure, no impurities. Having had the example of the sapling, he knew that he could not be too happy, and confirmed that the soil as well as the surrounding trees and plants were free of impurities, and then averted his eyes and prepared to exercise the ability.

He already knew that spiritual power was related to how long he could maintain his human form, and that spiritual power would be upgraded at the same time as his ability, so he was more eager than ever to upgrade.

He swam to the middle of the pool, and his mind moved.

A ball of water about two meters in diameter appeared in front of him, and the next moment, the ball of water turned into a water dragon, drilling into the pool and soaring up, splashing a huge water splash.

An Jin’s eyes curved. The water dragon dissipated, and the water in the pool under his control was instantly calm.

A second later, a wall of water suddenly rose to An Jin’s right, two meters long and two meters high, about five centimeters wide, reflecting a brilliant light in the glare.

An Jin reached out and passed his fingers through the wall of water, feeling only a little resistance. He frowned lightly, inclined his head to think, and with a thought, the wall of water suddenly compressed into a meter long and wide. He reached out to try to pass through the wall of water; the resistance increased significantly.

His eyes lit up, this idea was right!

He thought about it, and the water that made up the wall instantly flowed, rolling around the wall, faster and faster. An Jin looked at the wall of water, did not dare to try with his hands, but broke a branch and tried to poke the surface of the wall of water.

All of a sudden, he felt the branch against his hand, but the feeling was gone in an instant, because the branch broke with a click. The broken front end bounced off and fell to the shore. An Jin threw the remaining branch in his hand to the shore. His eyes flashed with joy.

If you continued to compress the water while keeping the water flowing at high speed, the water wall would have a very strong defensive power. And if he could raise four walls of water at the same time, he could create a very safe area.

Thinking of this, his eyes fell on the uncovered arm.

With a thought, the surface of the arm was instantly covered with a layer of water, the thickness of which gradually thinned from five centimeters to only one centimeter.

A layer of sweat emerged from An Jin’s forehead, and he withdrew the ability and exhaled lightly.

At present, he could only compress the water five times at most.

It was conceivable that if the ability continued to be upgraded, he would definitely be able to compress more water, so that the water’s defensive power would be even stronger.

With joy in his eyes, the attack and defense power of the water ability was actually great!

He had to continue to work hard to upgrade! He practiced with extra dedication until he heard the terminal lightly ringing, then he stopped and checked the message.

Norman: [An An, remember to eat lunch.]

An Jin then looked at the time and realized it was a quarter to twelve.

Since he stopped kebabbing, his lunch time, again, had changed to twelve, and he almost always ordered at eleven-thirty and ate at twelve sharp. He looked around, and as he had sensed, there was no surveillance equipment around him, and the robots had been left inside the villa because he had been instructed to do so. He couldn’t resist asking his question, “How did you know I hadn’t eaten?”

Norman sat in his office, his expression flashing with a hint of chagrin. Would the little mermaid think he was spying on him?

The mermaid very much hated being watched. The little mermaid was different from other mermaids, more on the human side, and perhaps more concerned about personal space. After a moment of silence, he typed and told the truth: [Worried that you wouldn’t eat dinner last night, I connected to the chef’s work system.]

An Jin drifted off, understanding that he hadn’t ordered dinner yet, and Norman knew he hadn’t eaten. Seeing Norman’s message, his mind couldn’t help but think of what happened last night, and after looking embarrassed, he couldn’t help but curl his eyes again.

Whether it was Norman pushing the door last night or connecting to the chef work system, it was because Norman was worried about him. Realizing this, the embarrassment in his heart couldn’t help but dissipate a lot.

At this time, Norman’s message came again: [Not eating, are you not feeling well?]

An Jin seriously typed, but looking at the emotionless “thank you” words, he deleted them, opened a voice message, and seriously said, “Thank you, I’m fine, do not worry.”

He opened the order screen and ordered two dishes and one soup.

Looking at the delicious, eye-catching food pictures, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for Norman. Norman’s lunch at noon must still be a nutritional supplement. Norman listened to the little mermaid’s voice, his eyes could not help but flash a smile, and he did not resist listening to it again.

The little mermaid’s voice was soft, his tone serious, and even if he couldn’t see the little mermaid, he could also imagine the little mermaid’s serious expression. The little mermaid was so good, how could he not like it!

At this time, there was a knock on the office door and Mu Chen’s voice came. “Your Majesty, may I come in?”

Norman’s soft expression instantly turned serious. “Please come in.”

Mu Chen pushed the door in and saw Norman sitting upright on the leather seat, his eyebrows raised. “Your Majesty, is there anything important in the military today?”

“What do you have to do?” Norman asked directly.

Mu Chen’s eyes leapt up. “You turned on the Wolf’s SS mode and fought me, right? Last time you said it wasn’t necessary, and I really believed it, but it turned out that you couldn’t open the SSS mode at all.” He said with a light laugh, “Did you notice how wonderful some people’s expressions were after you made the spiritual level recovery announcement! They must have regretted not taking advantage of the ‘good’ time.”

Norman’s expression remained the same. “There is no such timing.”

Mu Chen laughed. “That’s right, when you’re SS, no one is your opponent either. How about a sparring session?”

Hmmm, at noon he usually went to training, but today, because the little mermaid had not ordered, he was too worried, and he did not go to the training ground. It wasn’t until it was time for the bottom line he had set in his mind that he sent the message he had typed long ago to the little mermaid.

The little mermaid wasn’t uncomfortable, wasn’t mad at him, and even said thank you to him; everything was perfect.

Mu Chen and Norman were walking side by side towards the training ground, and he was making small talk while walking. When he turned his head, he was surprised by the slightly raised corner of Norman’s mouth. “Your Majesty, did something happy happen?”

Norman’s footsteps missed a beat, and he looked at Mu Chen. His expression was happy for a moment, and then became serious and deep. He silently nodded and then continued to walk forward.

It was the first time that Mu Chen saw such a torn expression on Norman’s face, and as a good friend, he had to be concerned. “Tell me, maybe I can help you.”

Norman hesitated for half a second and said in a deep voice, “I have someone I like.”

He said that, realizing that it was not right, perhaps it would be more accurate to say crush, but thinking about it, he felt that he was right, in his heart, the little mermaid was the teenager, not a mermaid.

Mu Chen’s heart made a long oh~ sound, and he could not help but ask, “Who is it, have I seen them?”

“You have,” Norman said, not saying the name of the little mermaid.

When he spoke to the little mermaid in the morning, he realized that his reactions lately had been off, and then he thought about it again and figured it out.

He had begun to love the little mermaid. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been so repulsed by the little mermaid pairing, and his body wouldn’t have reacted because of the little mermaid.

The whole morning he was distracted by this realization, his emotional complexity could be called the most ever; both the sweet joy of realizing the feelings, but also a kind of guilt. The little mermaid to mermaid’s algorithm is only adult, but in human terms, the little mermaid only learned to talk, and was even still learning to recognize words, like a baby!

So thinking, he could not help but self-criticize with the word “pervert”, over and over again in his mind.

However, reason could not suppress his feelings, and he realized very clearly that he liked the little mermaid.

Mu Chen quickly went through the single men and women he and Norman both knew in his head, but found no clues at all. His Majesty almost only talked to people on official business, and the one who talked to His Majesty the most was only His Majesty’s adjutant, in addition to him. He knew Norman very well. Norman did not mention the name, which means he did not want to say. He saw Norman tangled, and laughing, he said, “This is a good thing! If you like it, you can chase after them. With your condition, you can chase after them. I am waiting for your good news.”

Norman glanced at Mu Chen and wrinkled his brow. “It’s not as easy as you think. There is a big difference between us.”

“The other party is not from a good family? The nobles in the House of Lords might object, but don’t you always ignore them? It’s not like they can decide about you.”

There were few direct royal families left, but Siao had a long history of nobility, and they were all in the House of Lords, minding their own business.

Norman said, “It has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s just…I should never consider developing such a relationship with him.”

The little mermaid is like a pure white paper; his perception of the world, as well as things, was still in a state of ignorance. I’m afraid that he would not understand even feelings like falling in love.

Mu Chen looked at him oddly. “Your Majesty, when you say that, I can’t help but misunderstand that you mean me…”

Norman looked at him lightly. “You really dare to think.”

Mu Chen made a relieved face and laughed. “Did you ever think about developing a relationship with him before you felt moved? Sometimes a relationship starts with a little change of heart. Maybe if you give a hint, the other person will receive it and feel the same way you do. I can recite the plot of the movie!” He shook his fist. “Come on, when you get off, I will give you a salute.”

Norman looked thoughtful. Mu Chen was indeed right. Before, he never thought that he would fall in love with a little mermaid. Maybe, the little mermaid would think so too!

Only, before that, there was still a need to let the little mermaid know what it meant to have feelings between lovers.

After Mu Chen’s painful fight, Norman went back to the office. The brain always can not help but think of the little mermaid, unconsciously shopping at the mermaid mall. His sword eyebrows slightly wrinkled, was he not too boring? It seemed that apart from buying things for the little mermaid, he didn’t know how to be good to the little mermaid.

He pondered for a moment, searched the emotional forum, and looked through the history of topics about how to be good to people you like. He glanced at the hottest and most liked phrase, “Think what your lover thinks, be anxious what your lover is anxious, whatever he wants, satisfy him.”

Norman expressed his disappointment. Wasn’t it right to take these things for granted? He gave up the idea of seeking experience and continued to browse the mall.

As he watched, he received a message from Little Mermaid: [Can I invite Little Silver over for the evening?]

His expression froze. Why would Little Mermaid want Little Silver? Norman’s heart felt like it was soaking in vinegar. Restraining his thoughts and analyzing the situation rationally, he told himself over and over that it couldn’t be. The little mermaid personally rejected the pairing, and if he had a crush on Little Silver, he would have brought it up.

He gradually calmed down and had a solid guess that maybe Little Mermaid had some doubts after his rut and wanted to find Little Silver to answer them. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was possible. He just couldn’t help but squirm at the thought that little mermaid and Little Silver might be discussing something intimate.

Perhaps it was time for him to study mermaids, not only their habits, but also sex. He replied to the young mermaid: [Sure.]

In the afternoon, Norman walked into the mermaid room with Mu Chen and Little Silver. Norman immediately saw Little Mermaid, as usual, with his hands on the bank, facing the door.

As soon as he saw him, the little mermaid’s eyes lit up.

Norman’s brown eyes shone slightly; the color of the little mermaid’s face scales was slightly darker than before, not like when the scales had changed white. There was a kind of almost human view, but a glance could tell he was a mermaid.

However, when he saw the little mermaid’s smile, he still felt that the little mermaid looked great, and his heart could not help but rise with joy.

But the next second, his good mood was gone. The little mermaid’s eyes fell on him for a moment, then moved away, and Mu Chen greeted him, and finally Little Silver chatted him up.

He couldn’t understand a word of it. He thought with a deep scowl, perhaps he should have studied it, and added the mermaid language onto his agenda.

Little Silver put his hands against the wall of the mermaid cart and looked at An Jin and exclaimed, “It was you last night!”

He turned his head, slapping the container wall to urge Mu Chen, who, upon seeing his movement, immediately put him into the pool without waiting for him to yell.

Little Silver swam quickly to An Jin’s side, grabbed a tuft of blue hair and sniffed it gently. “An An, I’m so happy to see you. I like you more and more!”

An Jin was slightly surprised. Little Silver’s upper body was wrapped up, probably because he was always fighting, and his body was very strong, so he uncomfortably backed up. Little Silver only vaguely grabbed his hair, and when he retreated, his long hair slipped through Little Silver’s fingers.

Little Silver didn’t care. His silver eyes were full of doubt, and he said to An Jin, “It’s strange, I’m happier to see you than I am to see a delicious flat fish, but I didn’t feel this way the last time we met.”

An Jin mused, “Did you sing last night? How did you feel?”

“Yes! I was suddenly very happy, so happy that I wanted to sing!”

An Jin’s heart stirred, so the message in the dream was true: he was not dreaming, but had received the legacy of the mermaid clan. According to Little Silver, he could make the rest of the mermaids happy when he came of age, so he, then, was the king of the mermaid clan?

An Jin blinked his eyes with a sense of unreality. He looked at Little Silver and couldn’t help but be very puzzled. The inheritance said mermaids have the same IQ as humans and the same memory, much more than seven days.

And…he swept his eyes over Little Silver’s tail. “Little Silver, has your tail become…like that two-legged beast?”

“Of course not!” Little Silver said, “It’s bare and ugly!”

An Jin wrinkled his eyebrows; according to the inherited information, mermaids should be the same as him: adults would be divided and mate. After the contract, tail and feet could be switched freely, or they could also become human using spiritual force.

Whichever mermaid was in heat, after venting, there would be a brief process of changing legs.

In Little Silver’s words, Little Silver’s tail had not turned into legs.

He also did not doubt that Little Silver forgot or slept after venting, because Mu Chen was awake, and if he found Little Silver’s tail turned into legs, certainly would not be so calm.

He checked the information about mermaids during the day, and except for the experimental project that had been banned, there was no information that mermaids could change legs.

In other words, Siao’s mermaids would not change legs as adults and had a very poor memory. He couldn’t help but wonder if the mermaid gene brought back by the expedition had a memory and growth defect?

So, why didn’t he have the defect? If his memory was good because he was a transmigrator and not a true mermaid, then why was he able to transform?

After Mu Chen and Little Silver left, An Jin couldn’t help but ask Norman, “Didn’t the research institute study why I’m different from the rest of the mermaids?”

“The mermaid genes are prone to mutation, and like people, each mermaid is singularly unique, and some of your genetic sequences differ.”

An Jin pondered, did the study just not find any special differences? Or maybe the differences were caused by those genes? But when he checked the data this afternoon, he deliberately checked the pure color mermaid, and there was no information about how the pure color mermaid could change legs.

Either there was no record, which was a good possibility given the interstellar era, or the greater possibility—he was also different from the previous solid-colored mermaid. He fit the mermaid profile in the legacy perfectly. He couldn’t help but remember that he might be the “mermaid king” and smiled helplessly.

If he could live independently, he did yearn for the mermaid planet, however the mermaid planet was unknown, so he could not go there at all.

Thinking about it, if the mermaid planet was known, mermaids would be treated as a low intelligence creature, and become pets.

The Star League law prohibited the use of intelligent creatures as pets.

Star League rules for judging intelligent creatures: high intelligence, able to master language and writing, creative and social, and the object of judgment, like a group. Individuals could also be used as intelligent creatures, but the determination was stricter.

Norman thought the little mermaid asked about the difference with Little Silver and was cognitively confused about himself. He said seriously, “An An, you are a pure-color mermaid and are special. You and I are the same; there is no difference between us, only our appearance is different.”

An Jin’s eyes suddenly lit up. His previous feeling was right: Norman didn’t see him as a pet anymore! Although he always had this feeling, Norman never said anything, and he couldn’t be sure and worried that he felt wrong, but now, Norman said they are the same!

Norman’s terminal rang softly. He looked at the message and said to the little mermaid, “Go play in the garden for a bit, the housekeeper is sending something in.”

An Jin, still delighted by what Norman had just said, obeyed very well and went through the passage to the garden. A short while later, Norman also walked to the pool, and the garden was lit up like daylight.

An Jin looked around and found a lot of neon lights hanging from the trees, and it looked festive. He looked at Norman and asked, “Is it a holiday today?”

The little mermaid’s eyes reflected the light so beautifully that Norman was distracted by it, and he said in a deep voice, “Well, it’s a memorable day.”

An Jin was curious and his head tilted. “What day?”

Norman met the little mermaid’s pure eyes and laughed softly. “I can’t say yet.”

The little mermaid was still too ignorant, so he had to wait for the little mermaid to grow up. Thinking of this, he seriously asked, “What does An An want as an adult gift?”

An Jin froze, and when he met Norman’s serious expression, he was suddenly touched. When he came of age, Nanny Zhang cooked a table full of food, yet by the time he turned the corner, none of his parents had returned.

The next day he saw the news on TV that his parents were dating new lovers separately, and he learned that the original birthday cake, too, was sent by Grandpa Gardener and Nanny Zhang in the name of his parents.

His parents didn’t even remember that he was an adult, let alone ask him what he wanted as a gift.

Norman was so good to him that he couldn’t help but think that if he wasn’t a mermaid and couldn’t provide Norman with spiritual power, would Norman still treat him this way?

His eyes dropped. He did not want or dare to think about it. His parents had been good to him too, especially when Grandpa was still around, and Grandpa, most of all, cared for him.

“Is there nothing you want?” Norman asked. “Anything you want, I’ll buy it for you.”

An Jin thought about it and raised his eyes. “How about sending me a live ball?”

With the change in his scales, in at most three days, the color of his scales will be dark enough for him to be seen, not particularly looking like a human.

Norman’s expression stiffened slightly. The little mermaid really wanted to broadcast live! At the thought of the little mermaid being seen by others, his heart was a million times reluctant. However, he still nodded. “Okay.”

He had promised the little mermaid that he would buy anything, and he couldn’t refuse if the little mermaid wanted it.

Five minutes later, Norman got the message and said to the little mermaid, “You can go in now.”

An Jin swam back to the mermaid room through the splendid passageway, and once inside, his attention was drawn to the giant clam-shell bed in the corner.

The mussel shell bed was very large, keeping the shape of the open mouth; the lower shell was about three meters long and two meters wide, padded with water cushions; and at the head of the bed was a white pearl, about the size that two hands could barely hold, glowing with a luminous glow.

“Try it and see if it’s comfortable to sleep in?”

An Jin swam to the bed and first pressed his fingers on the mattress, which immediately sank into his fingertips, and his fingers felt very softly wrapped in water. He wiggled his tail, swam to the mattress, then slowly sank, and finally almost half of his whole body sank into the water bed.

An Jin felt like he was sleeping on a ball of cotton; it was extraordinarily soft and different, and he felt especially comfortable being wrapped in water.

Norman explained, “There are buttons at the top, which can also be controlled by a terminal, and with massage function, you will usually use your hands to relax.”

An Jin moved forward and pressed one of the buttons to try it. The water bed, against the top of the position, immediately sprayed water upwards, and because he was lying on his back in the front, the water rushed to his abdomen. His abdomen was very ticklish, so a little suddenly, he could not help but laugh out loud.

Norman heard the little mermaid’s little voice, and his eyes could not help but overflow with laughter.

An Jin stayed for a while, then surfaced and thanked Norman. Norman smiled and invited him to watch a movie. An Jin was a little curious, he hadn’t seen Siao’s movies yet! He was a little surprised that Norman had chosen a romance movie.

In the next few days, Norman invited him to watch movies every day, and all of them were romance movies without exception. An Jin was a little surprised. An Jin thought it was strange, but he couldn’t help thinking that while Norman looked serious, he was actually full of romance.

—

In the morning, when An Jin washed up, his eyes lit up when he saw his face in the mirror. His scales had darkened and turned completely blue, which was nice to look at but definitely not reminiscent of a person.

Norman knocked on the door, and after hearing a little mermaid say please come in, he pushed the door in and saw the little mermaid operating the live ball.

An Jin’s eyes lit up when he saw Norman, and he held up the live ball. “How do I get it to not play in full view?” He pointed down to the shelf. “So that no one can see that side.”

Norman silently sighed that the little mermaid was so smart to remember not to expose the A agent. He helped the little mermaid adjust the mode and hesitated. “You really want to live broadcast?”

An Jin nodded and said well in advance, “I can’t talk to you when I’m live.”

Norman looked at him. “An An, why do you want to live stream?”

An Jin was silent for a moment. “I want everyone to feel like you, that we are all the same.”

A mermaid only had seven days of memory, and he was limited by his identity, so there was no way for the Star Alliance to recognize a mermaid as an intelligent creature. Through the live broadcast, he was trying to carry out the determination of individual intelligent creatures.

And the determination of individual intelligent creatures, not of a particular person who thinks that it is an intelligent creature on the line, has to vote.

Norman said, “I promised you that I would get everyone to accept that you can talk.”

An Jin’s eyes curled and his eyes were firm. “I want to work on that myself.”

Norman looked into the little mermaid’s penetrating eyes. His heart was beating extremely fast and he rubbed the top of the little mermaid’s head. “An An can definitely do it.”

He said, “I will help An An too.”

An Jin said seriously, “Thank you.”

He thought it was really good to have Norman leading the rhythm. As long as someone was leading, the audience’s thoughts could be easily influenced. However, he didn’t expect that what Norman said about helping was not pop-ups leading the rhythm.

Norman connected the little mermaid’s terminal to the live ball and taught the little mermaid how to adjust the shooting mode. In his heart, the little mermaid was a child with adult intelligence; he consciously guided the little mermaid to grow up, so he did not directly adjust it, but taught the little mermaid.

An Jin learned very seriously, both hands on the shore, head close to watch Norman explain the control interface. Norman was on the shore; he was in the water. Norman was tall; he was slender. He was close enough to listen, almost close to Norman’s arms.

Norman’s breath stalled slightly, and he barely managed to keep his voice steady and natural sounding. “You try.”

An Jin’s terminal took control of the live ball, switched modes, and demonstrated a few times. The little mermaid looked down to operate the terminal, long eyelashes up, red lips slightly pursed. He looked extra serious and also looked very cute.

Norman’s heart itched, and his fingers moved, especially wanting to touch the little mermaid, but afraid of scaring the little mermaid, he restrained himself. Thinking that the little mermaid would be seen by many people, his brown eyes sank slightly. “An An.”

An Jin looked up and blinked, indicating doubt.

Norman’s expression was serious, his tone serious. “It’s office hours during the day, and there are few people watching the live broadcast. I think it would be better to broadcast live after dinner every day, since there are many viewers.”

He said all the truth, however, his heart was still weak; the small mermaid’s identity was not ordinary, and even if it was office hours, as long as even one person found him in the live, the popularity would definitely whoosh up.

In private, he hoped that the little mermaid would broadcast live at night, not only so he could watch the whole time, but also to help.

An Jin thought about it and agreed with Norman. His little head nodded. “Mn, I’ll broadcast  after dinner.” He was not worried about popularity, but his daily life would not be affected if he broadcasted after dinner.

He had to go to the holographic world in the morning to remove impurities, but also to learn to recognize words, and in the afternoon to practice his ability. Norman was home at night, so he could not exercise, but he could go live.

Thinking about it this way, he sighed: he was so busy.

It was a pity that he became illiterate once, otherwise it would be much easier, and it was good that his learning ability had been strengthened.

Norman saw the little mermaid sigh, thought the little mermaid was disappointed, and his heart could not help but blame himself.

The little mermaid didn’t know anything, so he believed whatever he said, and he took advantage of the little mermaid’s naivety for selfish reasons. So he changed his tune. “Actually, if you want to go live during the day you can. I was just talking about people in general. You are a pure color mermaid, no need to worry about popularity at all.”

An Jin smiled and shook his head. “I think it’s better at night.”

Norman was happy and rubbed the top of the little mermaid’s hair.

An Jin thought about it and asked, “Which platform do you think is better to broadcast on?”

“Tang Rin has a live platform under his name, Star Ocean Live. I’ll have my special assistant give you the highest share of the contract!”

An Jin’s main purpose was not to make money, but to make money was considered an unexpected pleasure; after all, after he lived as a human he needed to have money.

Although the type A agent was worth a lot of money, that part of the money earned was mainly used for “ransom”. He could not help but look at Norman, and did not know whether Norman would agree.

But Norman had admitted that they were the same, so he should agree to it, right? He was ready to talk to Norman about selling type A agent before, but now he decided to postpone it and talk to Norman again after his identity became independent.

After all, before his identity became independent, he belonged to Norman, and by definition, the money he earned, also belonged to Norman. His thoughts returned to the matter at hand, and thinking of the terms of contracts in the previous world, he couldn’t help but worry. “Can I sign a contract even if I don’t have an ID card?”

“Sign a contract with my ID and bind your account.”

He said this in a heartbeat since he liked the little mermaid; not only did he want the little mermaid to be attached to him, but he also wanted the little mermaid to be his mate.

But his status and the status of the little mermaid were completely unequal.

Even if they became mates, it should be an equal relationship. But the little mermaid’s current social status was as a pet, not an independent intelligent creature with ID. He immediately had an idea in his mind, and became more attentive to the little mermaid’s live broadcast.

He contacted his special assistant and asked him to send a high share contract, binding the receiving account to the little mermaid’s personal account and signing the contract in his name. The special assistant received the successfully signed contract and was shocked to see the real name “Norman Leysin”.

Leysin was the last name of the royal family of Siao, and for this name, there was absolutely no homonym. He hurriedly sent a message to his boss: [Mr. Tang! Is it true that His Majesty has registered as the anchor of Star Ocean?]

Norman replied with Tang Rin’s account: [Yes, when the broadcast starts, arrange more room management.]

The special assistant: [Don’t worry, as long as there have been bad comments posted, all of them will be blocked.]

Immediately after, the assistant asked: [Do you want to arrange a super tube? Do we need to advertise His Majesty?]

Norman: [No, I don’t think so.]

After signing the contract, Norman switched the live ball to Star Ocean Live and said to the little mermaid, “When going live, just turn it on directly.”

An Jin nodded and after some thought said, “I’ll live stream at night when you get back.”

He wanted to gradually let the audience realize that he had a high IQ, step by step, and it was more reasonable to have Norman with him for the first live broadcast, and then open the live broadcast alone later.

He decided to observe the receptiveness of the Siao people at night, and if it was great, he would speed up the progress and proceed to the step of learning the language as soon as possible, and if it was not so good, he would take his time.

Norman was pleased that the young mermaid’s idea of waiting for him to return before going live coincided with his. He returned to the military, although with a million points of reluctance, but he knew very well that, as long as the live broadcast showed the little mermaid, it would certainly explode all over the network.

Since this was the case, why not let the little mermaid be happier?

What’s more, the more people there were, the easier his plan would be to carry out. He opened Smooth Talk and logged into his private account: [Tonight at 7:30, Star Ocean Live platform, An An will go live.]

Within a minute of posting it, the comments exploded.

[? Am I dreaming?]

[I’ll lie back and sleep again.]

[Ahhhhh! I finally get to see the little mermaid again! Thanks to His Majesty.]

[Now I’ll have no heart to work! Hurry up and get to night! Aaaaahhh!]

[No heart to work +1.]

Starnet’s topic about “pure color mermaid live” quickly exploded, with people squatting inside the topic post waiting for the start of the broadcast.

An Jin knew nothing about this. After Norman left, he first went to the holographic world to clear the skewer impurities, and then checked the balance. The balance of his personal account had exceeded half a million!

An Jin deeply felt that this job was really great: he only spent a small amount of time every day. The holographic world consumed spiritual power without affecting the real world, it was equivalent to a no-brainer.

After getting offline, he leaned against a large crab and floated on the surface of the water to watch the instructional video. When he learned the word “jin”, his eyes lit up and he immediately followed the recitation several times, cycling his hands on the surface of the water until he remembered it.

In the afternoon, when Norman walked into the mermaid room, he saw the little mermaid with his hands on the shore, and as soon as she saw him, his eyes lit up and he smiled brightly. His mood soared and he went to squat down in front of the little mermaid. “Why are you so happy?”

An Jin opened the terminal and brought up the virtual screen, on which there were only two words that had been typed long ago: An Jin.

He pointed to the screen, his tone was excited as he said, “My name.”

Norman was slightly stunned. “An Jin?”

An Jin nodded and he thought for a moment. “An An is a nickname, and An Jin is my formal name.”

Norman realized that the little mermaid’s mind was already very much on the human side, even to the concept of naming. He praised, “Very good name, An An is so smart!”

An Jin’s eyes curled, happy to hear Norman’s praise. This was the name his grandfather had given him, and he loved and cherished it. Norman looked at the little mermaid. The little mermaid was a strong learner, and was growing fast. Perhaps soon, he would be able to really grow up and understand feelings. His heart could not help but beat much faster.

He secretly decided to get the little mermaid’s ID card as soon as possible.

An Jin was so happy that he ordered a few big dishes for dinner to celebrate, and also ordered watermelon juice that was a bright red color and looked festive.

Keeping this good mood, he was ready to start the live broadcast. He looked down and checked his dress and fishtail skirt to make sure they were all neat and tidy, thought about it, and untied his hair, leaving it draped behind him and the hair band on his wrist.

When it suited him, he could put up his hair with a tie and show off his hands!

The little mermaid’s delicate face was blocked by the hair, becoming smaller, and Norman’s heart jumped. The little mermaid was so fascinating to him.

And at that moment, the little mermaid turned his head and smiled at him, his eyes half-curved. “I’m ready to turn on the live stream.”

Norman instantly felt like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy; he could not control the speed of his heart. 

At least he could maintain a serious face all year round, and his face still looked unperturbed and not out of shape. “Do it. I’ll be right next to you.”

The robot moved a sofa chair and put it in front of the shelf; Norman sat down and was just outside the live camera range.

An Jin turned on the live screen, waited for Norman to sit down, and turned on the live ball. He looked at the panel and was surprised to find that the number of fans was actually not zero, but was instead, very, very high, followed by a string of zeros, and before he could look at them clearly, he was stunned by the crazy scrolling pop-ups.

In the blink of an eye, the popularity of the live stream instantly skyrocketed, and the pop-ups were stuck. Luckily, the special assistant learned that the mermaid was going to start the broadcast, and had made the relevant arrangements long ago, and the jam was quickly restored.

[Ahhhhh, An An is still so beautiful!]

[So good, actually watching cartoons, too cute, right?]

[I thought it was a beautiful teenager without looking at the tail.]

[Wow, the little mermaid’s fingers are so long and slender, he doesn’t have long nails.]

[Hey, the long nails are back.]

An Jin occasionally glanced at the pop-ups, but they were so fast that he couldn’t see them at all. He thought about it and decided to test the audience’s reaction first. He clicked on the control panel of the virtual screen and selected the intelligent pop-up mode to sift through the duplicate pop-ups, which suddenly became much fresher.

[Oh my God, he can actually operate the panel.]

[I saw it! It was the little mermaid who moved his hand, not His Majesty!]

[I’m jealous, where’s a good and smart mermaid, give me one too!]

[There’s everything in your dream, you can get it if you sleep.]

An Jin found that the audience did not seem to be surprised and had an initial judgment in his heart about the audience’s receptiveness. His eyes curled and he continued to watch the cartoon, not saying a word the whole time, with a look of obsession.

The pop-ups, however, never stopped, and the words “cute”, “good boy”, and “want” appeared frequently.

An Jin’s cheek was slightly itchy from his hair, and he raised his hand to hook the hair behind his ear, and put his hand back on his abdomen again—a good and coquettish look.

With such a simple action, a bunch of screaming monsters appeared on the pop-up screen, all of them saying: [ahhhh ……]

An Jin unintentionally looked at the pop-ups and couldn’t help but feel his cheeks burning. Even through the screen, he could feel the enthusiasm of the audience. His eyes lit up slightly, this was good for him; the more the audience liked him, the easier it was to accept his differences.

Norman and Hornád, for example, were quick to accept.

In the cartoon, Joey’s class was holding a cultural performance, and Joey walked to the podium and sang a children’s song, to the applause of the students on stage. An Jin blinked, raised his hand, and clapped along, his eyes shining brightly, just like the children’s expressions.

[He’s so cute, I’ve taken a screenshot of the applause!]

[Why do I feel that he is imitating them?]

[The little mermaid’s eyes are so beautiful and flexible, he is so smart!]

[I’m not going to lie, I swallowed a lemon, I’m so jealous of His Majesty, I want a mermaid like that too.]

[Want +1]

Norman sat on the sofa cushion, watching the pop-ups and looking up at the little mermaid from time to time. Sure enough, just as he thought, the little mermaid was very pleasing to the eye.

When he saw the little mermaid’s applause, his eyes couldn’t help but flash with thoughts that the little mermaid was deliberately imitating the cartoon.

He knew the little mermaid very well, and an action like clapping was one that the little mermaid simply did not need to learn, at this time this look was obviously deliberate.

In his head, he inexplicably thought of the little mermaid speaking.

At that time, the little mermaid was also like this, imitating the main character of the cartoon, but then learned to talk. He flashed a guess quickly and looked at the little mermaid in surprise, could it be what he was thinking?

Could it be that the little mermaid could actually talk long ago, and just because of caution, did not open his mouth, to make sure that even talking was safe, before opening his mouth to speak?

If this was true that would mean that the little mermaid was a lot more mature-minded than he thought, and smarter than he thought he was. His brown eyes flashed darkly, his eyes sweeping over the little mermaid’s face, eyes flashing with amusement as he dropped them. His heart was beating fast, even as he desperately wanted to verify his suspicions with the little mermaid.

It was not the right time yet, he reminded himself, resisting the impulse. He didn’t want to disturb the little mermaid’s plans and wanted to see what else the little mermaid would do. The way the little mermaid was acting now, it was clearly a deliberate display of intelligence.

The smile in Norman’s eyes deepened, in exactly the same way as when he was shown the language ability step by step. He scanned through the “want little mermaid” type of pop-ups; his eyes narrowed slightly, and he anonymously sent two words “dream on”.

Suddenly, a pop-up screen swept by and Norman’s face fell.

[Ahhhhh. The little Mermaid is so nice, he’d be a great wife. I want to marry him.]

[Your Majesty, from today onwards, you are my father-in-law.]

Norman’s face immediately darkened. He originally wanted to see more of the little mermaid’s next plans, ready to strike later; now, he could not restrain himself. He walked to the edge of the pool and entered the range of the camera.

[His Majesty is so handsome!]

[His Majesty in his regular clothes looks like he has a good temper!]

Norman called warmly, “An An, come here.”

An Jin subconsciously turned around and looked at him with some confusion, saw him beckoning, hesitated for a moment, and swam over with his tail swinging. He swam to the edge of the pool, holding his hand on the pool bank, his head tilted, showing a puzzled look.

The pop-up screen was again full of: [ahhhhhh!]

[His Majesty’s little mermaid is too good, right?]

[I think I want it, Your Majesty, sell it to me, please.]

[Why is he so obedient? His Majesty’s tone of voice is so gentle.]

Norman looked at the virtual screen that had been deliberately enlarged; An Jin followed his gaze and frowned, his lips slightly pursed. Norman immediately sensed that the little mermaid was depressed and his eyes moved slightly.

The little mermaid should have self-awareness, so he was not happy to see those pop-ups.

This made him even more determined to follow the original plan.

An Jin turned his head in surprise to see Norman looking at the live ball and saying with a serious face, “Introducing my mate, An Jin.”

An Jin froze. Before, Norman was so good to him, and now, he couldn’t help but agree with Little Silver that he was a mermaid master. How could it be mate!

Frozen, he suddenly realized the deeper meaning of the word, and his heart suddenly beat fast, his blue eyes looking at Norman in surprise.

Norman did not care about the fast-scrolling pop-ups, seeing the little mermaid frozen, and thinking that the little mermaid was frightened by him. He rubbed the top of the little mermaid’s hair as he looked into the live ball, his gaze no longer gentle but extra sharp, adding, “Technically, he’s the mate I’ve identified and am pursuing. He’s very smart and very cute, and I’m obsessed with him.”

The warm and soft touch on the top of his head made An Jin come back to his senses, only to hear such a sentence again, and his whole brain was in a dazed state. He reacted and turned off the live broadcast in a hurry.

[????]

[What’s wrong? Are my ears ringing?]

[I heard His Majesty’s confession, and the confession was made to a mermaid.]

[I heard it too! Oh my God, is this a live movie?]

[I can’t believe it, but the Little Mermaid is so pretty and obedient and quiet and nice, if it were me, I’d want a mate like that too.]

[I want a mate like this plus one, who can save my heart and look good, and can restore my spiritual power!]

[Oh my god, I’m getting the feeling that a mermaid is the best choice for a human mate.]

[Wake up, do you think mermaids are all like An An? You haven’t experienced how sharp a mermaid’s claws are, have you?]

[Why did he cut off the live broadcast? I still want to watch!]

[What do you want to look at? Didn’t you see His Majesty’s fierce eyes?]

An Jin’s emotions rose and fell dramatically, his fingers clenched into fists, and he took a deep breath before his brain finally started to work. He looked at Norman, a little nervous. “Why did you…say that?”

Norman sensed the little mermaid’s nervousness and panic and his eyes twitched slightly. Reminding himself not to scare the little mermaid, he asked, “An An, what is the purpose of your live broadcast?”

An Jin froze, not expecting him to ask this question again. “As I said before, I want everyone to be like me, to feel that we are the same.”

“So you want to make the audience slowly realize that you are smart and have the ability to learn through the live broadcast, and later you plan to speak interstellar language, right?”

An Jin wasn’t surprised that Norman could see that, after all it was obvious from his performance tonight. “Hmm.”

“I told you, I’ll help you.”

An Jin squeezed his fingers. “But, why did you say that?”

“I want everyone to know that I’m pursuing you because you’re independent-minded, very intelligent, and I’m attracted to you.”

To his deep brown eyes, An Jin’s heart thumped wildly. “Thank you. Actually you don’t need to come down personally, just anonymously bring the rhythm of me being very smart in the pop-ups.”

He did not expect at all that Norman would actually bring rhythm like this. He rationalized that Norman’s approach was so effective that even Norman stated that he was smart, even smart enough to let Norman “woo him”.

Then the Siao people must have been extra interested in his cleverness and would pay more attention to him when watching the live broadcast again. When it turned out that he was indeed smart, they would unconsciously agree with Norman’s statement.

This was obviously more efficient than letting the audience slowly realize that he was smart when he was live. Although reason analyzed it that way, Norman’s words still gave him a big shock, not to mention Norman’s eyes were so sincere that he almost misunderstood. He averted his eyes in a panic. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m doing myself a favor too.”

An Jin raised his eyes in confusion and Norman looked at him seriously. “An An, you are a mermaid but special, and I want to help you apply for intelligent creature determination. I’m sure you can pass. You should have your own ID.”

An Jin froze, and Norman met the little mermaid’s frozen eyes and rubbed the top of the little mermaid’s hair. “An An wants to become an independent individual and no longer be dependent on humans?”

An Jin immediately nodded, only to feel extraordinarily disbelieving and a little confused in his head. “You…this is not good for you.”

If he became independent, Norman would no longer be able to own him, and Norman needed him very much to provide spiritual power.

Norman was slightly flabbergasted; he did not expect the little mermaid to say this sentence, which showed that the little mermaid was very clear about his importance.

“After An An becomes independent, will you continue to provide spiritual power for me?” Norman asked.

“Of course I will!” An Jin subconsciously replied.

A smile flashed in Norman’s eyes. “Then it’s a deal, after An An becomes independent, I will hire An An to continue to provide spiritual power for me.”

Things had gone beyond An Jin’s expectations, but with Norman’s help, it would obviously be easier for him to achieve his goal. Only, his original plan was to use independence and then leave to live as a human being. He wondered if he became independent, would he be able to leave with confidence?

The answer was no, he would worry about Norman, and, as he was not able to remain in human form at all times, staying in the capital of Siao would undoubtedly be the safest as well. He nodded. “Okay.”

He still had doubts in his eyes. Norman was not doing this for himself. What if he refused to hire him? Not to mention, definitely owning was much more solid than hiring. He didn’t hold back and asked; it was too hard to keep such doubts pressed into his heart.

Norman met the young mermaid’s puzzled eyes and said seriously, “I like you, and I want to be with you, and it’s only fair to you that you have an independent identity.”

An Jin was stunned in place, he had never thought Norman would like him.

Norman was very good, the best one among the men he knew, and if it was the old world, he might have thought something about it. After all, he liked men, and when faced with an excellent male, how could he not have ideas?

It’s just that after he came to this world, survival was the first thing. After he realized that his identity was a pet and there was no threat to his survival, he hadn’t thought much about what ideas he had about people.

Norman saw the little mermaid stay in place and said in a warm voice, “It’s okay that An An doesn’t understand, you are still young, and I will wait for you to grow up. After certifying intelligent beings, I will apply to become your guardian,” he said, opening the terminal and passing a material to the little mermaid. “This is the curriculum of the Siao primary department. You first study at home to familiarize yourself with it, and later, after having an independent identity, then make another arrangement.” He said seriously, “If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me.”

Before An Jin could recover from his confession, he was overwhelmed by a mountain of materials to study.