C85 —- A Date with the Mer

Several hundred male contestants stood before him, holding their breath. The sheer spectacle was intimidating enough to bluff anyone.

At this moment, Kou Dong even felt a bit softhearted.

How should he put it—although the Siren was unreliable, perve-rted, and had a head full of wild fantasies that desperately needed some thorough socialist reeducation…

He really was a pitiful kid.

In the end, Kou Dong still remembered why he had come here. When all was said and done, it was to make the Siren happy. Otherwise, where was he supposed to get the money to buy little skirts for his kid?

Thinking of little skirts, Kou Dong’s heart instantly felt broader and more magnanimous.

—It was just humoring a mermaid, wasn’t it?

How hard could that be?

Surrounded by the merfolk, he slowly extended his arm and rested it on the bare shoulder behind him—the Siren’s shoulder. A mer’s frame was elegant yet sharp: the lines were clearly smooth, yet as keen as a blade, able to slice effortlessly through violent currents. When Kou Dong touched its skin, the icy temperature—so completely unlike that of a human—made his whole body shiver involuntarily.

The Siren felt the touch as well. Its dark red eyes gradually narrowed, its tongue flicking out to lick its lips, as though it had tasted something from that simple contact.

From beneath those long lashes, its eyes swept over the faces of its kind, each filled with longing.

Suddenly, the corners of its lips lifted sharply, and it let out a soft laugh.

This was completely unexpected. That smile made Kou Dong’s heart pound in alarm; every thread of vigilance snapped taut as he looked up at it.

He only had time to glimpse the mer’s sharply contoured face and its soft, seaweed-like hair drifting around its cheeks, casting layers of light and shadow across its features. In that instant, Kou Dong felt his waist tighten as the Siren wrapped him firmly in its arms—and then, in the next moment, it darted downward, swimming straight toward the deeper reaches of the sea!

The newly matured male merfolk behind them hesitated for only a moment before seeming to realize something and diving after them headlong.

Deep.

Deeper still.

Kou Dong vaguely sensed that they were trying to block them.

But such obstruction, in front of their leader Siren, could hardly be called a problem. The siren’s far stronger and more powerful physique allowed it to shake off these relentless pursuers with ease. Moreover, the pursuers themselves harbored an intense fear of their leader; under that overwhelming pressure, their tails trembled slightly—if not for the presence of that young man, they would not even dare to meet the leader’s dark red eyes.

Occasionally, a few stronger merfolk managed to swim closer, but even they could not touch the person protected in the leader’s arms. They could only trail behind reluctantly, following that figure toward the merfolk’s cavern.

The massive school of merfolk churned up the waters of the seabed. Wherever Kou Dong’s gaze fell, countless fish scattered in panic, fleeing alongside the movements of these powerful hunters. Light from the sea’s surface could no longer reach this place. Instead, there was another kind of light here—fragmented glimmers brought by the inhabitants themselves. They passed through deep canyons, through trenches and towering active volcanoes. The volcanic vents were narrow and jagged, with a few points of scorching crimson glowing within. They plunged through it all in one headlong descent, creating the illusion of falling from great heights, almost making one forget they were still beneath the sea.

He caught sight of a massive shadow gliding overhead, so long that his eyes could not see its end. It was clearly not a ship—at such depths, ships no longer existed. It was a mysterious native of these waters. Yet even these enormous beings quietly veered away, keeping their distance from the merfolk’s domain.

Obviously, to a certain extent, the merfolk were already the overlords of this stretch of seabed.

He had no idea how long they had been swimming downward when he finally caught sight of the caverns piled up by the merfolk, one after another. They were built into a jagged wall of sea rock, revealing only dark cave mouths. The one in the very center was the most spacious, almost like the merfolk’s central plaza, large enough to accommodate the entire clan gathering there.

And set squarely at the very center was an exceptionally deep basin.

That place was brighter than the surrounding waters, as if something within it were glowing.

Kou Dong tried hard to make it out. When the basin finally came fully into view, his heart jolted violently, then lifted in a slow, buoyant rise—

It was almost as if he had stepped into Ali Baba’s treasure trove.

From a radius of a hundred meters outward, fine grains of gold had already begun to appear in the rock, followed by scattered gold coins. Ancient coins stamped with eagles and shields lay quietly on the deep seabed, resting on cold stone, their surfaces worn dull by the scouring of seawater.

The closer one moved toward the center, the denser the golden light became. Coins gradually gathered into piles, into seas, into towering mountain ranges. Massive rubies, sapphires, pearls, crystals, jade… the light they emitted nearly dazzled Kou Dong’s eyes, making even the somber depths of the ocean shimmer brilliantly.

Merfolk were especially fond of glittering jewels, their tastes even somewhat akin to those of dragons. Even Kou Dong, upon seeing such an astonishing hoard of accumulated wealth, couldn’t help but feel momentarily dazzled and entranced.

Wow.

Just how many little dresses could this buy for his kid…

While he was still lost in a daze, the Siren had already dived toward the vast golden sea below. Its speed didn’t slow until the youth’s back was about to touch the piled coins, at which point it suddenly loosened its arms. Though unexpected, the motion was still gentle. Kou Dong was set down amid countless gold coins, and as his hand instinctively braced itself, all he felt beneath his palm was gleaming gold.

Big gold coins, small gold coins, big silver coins, small silver coins…

Kou Dong lifted his head and gazed at the Siren with a softness in his eyes he had never shown before.

Look at this silly kid, he thought fondly.

If you’re a first-generation rich guy, why didn’t you say so earlier?

As long as I can cash this out, forget about just going on a date with you—even if you asked me to grab those merfolk one by one and fling them at you on the spot, I’d do it!

I guarantee I could fling them so hard their guts and fish tails would snap inch by inch!!

The merfolk stopped at the edge of this golden sea. They stared at the human youth amid the piles of coins, eerie light flickering in their green eyes, seeming full of unwillingness yet daring not to step inside. Watching their expressions, Kou Dong finally realized that this was likely territory only the leader was allowed to enter.

They could only remain at the perimeter, forced to watch the youth within. Suddenly, the Siren reared up its deep blue tail, the edges sharp as blades, and slammed it down angrily toward the covetous onlookers—

The violent shock sent many of the merfolk tumbling in disarray. Under the leader’s overwhelmingly authoritative gaze and the dual constraint of a forbidden zone, they finally seemed to give up.

A strong merfolk who had just tried to interfere turned away first. Then, one by one, the merfolk twisted their bodies and dove back into their respective caverns.

Yet even from within those caves, Kou Dong could still feel their lingering gazes. In the icy seawater, those looks were like burning sparks—

Almost enough to burn him to ashes.

After driving off the remaining members of the clan, the Siren finally swam back toward Kou Dong. Its long arms wrapped around the person before it, as if it were at last satisfied now that it had placed him here.

 

Its slender, sharp fingers stroked along the youth’s pale neck. Bathed in the reflection of gold, the young man’s skin appeared all the more strikingly white.

 

Lustrous white.

A radiance even pearls couldn’t rival.

A soft murmur slipped from the Siren’s throat, as if it were immensely satisfied. From above, it admired its hard-won prize, long seaweed-like hair falling against the young man’s neck.

Under normal circumstances, Kou Dong might already have pulled some outrageous stunt to mess with it.

But this time was different, in more ways than one. First, this was Siren’s date—no matter what, Kou Dong had to be mindful of the other party’s feelings, so he could earn achievement points to support his kid. Second, the mer’s status truly exceeded his expectations. He had assumed it was a penniless research subject captured by an institute; who would have thought it was actually rich enough to rival nations… There was so much gold and jewelry here that Kou Dong could practically swim in it.

That inevitably made Kou Dong, who had never been able to count himself among the wealthy, feel a bit bitter.

The happiness of rich people really was beyond imagination—they could even build mountains of gold. And what about him? If he wanted to buy his son a little dress, he had to sell his body!

Even his soul!

They were all living under the same sky, how could the gap be this wide?!

For the sake of money, Kou Dong didn’t push it away. He just sneakily grabbed a big handful.

Sigh—having a dream like this even once was still something.

His action of grabbing the gold coins didn’t escape the mermaid’s eyes. The mermaid leaned closer, its voice low and elegant, steeped in temptation.

“Do you like it?”

At this point, it didn’t even need to bewitch him—Kou Dong could nod vigorously on his own.

How could anyone not like this? He was already being quite restrained; if it were someone else, they might’ve gone mad on the spot.

The mer’s solid chest trembled slightly, as if it were laughing. With its slender fingers, it took a crown from the top of the piled gold. The large teardrop-shaped diamond set into it was dazzling enough to blind the eye. Slowly, it placed the crown upon the young man’s head, the motion like an offering to a god.

The diamond lent the youth an even more vivid, eye-catching brilliance that shone, it was impossible to conceal.

Its voice was filled with certainty.

“You like it.”

It pressed the young man completely into the gold coins.

“We’ll be right here,” it murmured, speaking softly, word by word. “Right here—”

Right here, filling you.

Through the already-soaked layers of clothing, it gently caressed the young man’s lower abdomen, thinking tenderly.

It would be from here.

From this warm body, that its eggs would gradually form, nurturing their children.

The Siren didn’t want countless offspring. Those young merfolk—even if born—would still fight among themselves, leaving only one or two survivors in the end. Besides, the mate it had brought back was so delicate; how could he possibly bear it?

The Siren wanted only two. These two would be the heirs to its supreme position as leader, becoming the masters of this sea.

And the young man would remain here forever.

By its side, in this sunless seabed…

The mer’s thin lips curled upward even more. It stroked its beloved, who was still immersed in the jewels, and murmured softly, “We’ll stay right here and give birth to our two children.”

Right in front of those covetous onlookers—cutting off their hopes entirely.

Hearing this, Kou Dong, who had been happily counting money just moments ago, stiffened all over. He slowly raised his head, eyes hollow.

“…?”

No—

He thought in disbelief, what was going on?

 

He had only been counting money for a bit—so why had the mer already drawn up a plan for a second child?

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