Chapter 68: I Am Not A Merman (V)

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Chapter 68: I Am Not A Merman (V)

After Shang Ke’s injuries had mostly healed, he was finally allowed to swim freely in the waters outside the aquarium. Unfortunately, he was currently quite troubled because he had absolutely no clue how to approach the System’s Additional Mission.

The System had told him to pay attention to the punctuation, which meant the “merfolk” he needed to find might not be the kind he was imagining at all. But having no clearly defined target only made things harder. Would finding a painting or statue of a merfolk count? What about a sunken ship named Merfolk? Or did he himself—a dolphin with a human soul—count?

There were simply too many things that could be connected to “merfolk.” Who the hell knew which one met the requirement? Worse, he still had to heroically court death while completing the mission. If he found the target first, did that mean he would have to manufacture a life-threatening situation himself afterward?

Alas, life was full of bottomless traps.

Shang Ke tilted his head back and stared solemnly across the boundless sea.

When Qin Yuan arrived, he happened to see Flame looking like a brooding philosopher beneath the fading sunset, practically radiating melancholy.

Qin Yuan remembered that dolphins were creatures that loved freedom. Keeping them confined to a limited space really could make them unhappy. But if he released them completely, there would be no way to guarantee their safety.

Besides, he couldn’t bear to let them go.

Shang Ke seemed to notice Qin Yuan’s arrival and immediately abandoned the worries he had been entertaining out of sheer idleness, swimming toward him at top speed.

Qin Yuan stroked his head and asked softly, “Do you want to go out to sea?”

Shang Ke’s eyes lit up. You could even tell that? As expected, we really are connected heart to heart!

“All right. If you agree to one condition, I’ll take you out to sea,” Qin Yuan said in a negotiating tone.

Go ahead! Shang Ke turned sideways, rested one pectoral flipper on the edge, and rhythmically slapped it against the ground, looking completely attentive.

Qin Yuan’s gaze involuntarily fell on the loudly slapping flipper. “…Here’s the condition. I’ll attach a tracker to your dorsal fin, then send a submarine and a team of divers to accompany you. Once you’ve had enough fun, you come back with us. What do you think?”

Absolutely no problem. You’re my financial backer—or maybe my owner—so whatever you say! Shang Ke cheerfully leaned over and rubbed his head against Qin Yuan’s leg.

“Mm. Then it’s settled.” For the first time, Qin Yuan discovered that communicating with an animal could actually be this easy. His Flame was simply too intelligent and considerate!

Qin Yuan kept his word. The very next day, he dispatched three vessels, arranged the route and emergency measures in advance, then took Flame—now equipped with a tracker—out to sea.

Wave was left behind at the aquarium as Qin Yuan’s insurance. As long as the calf remained there, Qin Yuan did not have to worry about Flame abandoning everything and swimming off to freedom without a second thought.

Shang Ke followed Qin Yuan’s speedboat and joyfully charged into the open sea. Poor little Wave had been thoroughly distracted by a few large sea turtles and thus missed his chance to come along.

Shang Ke leapt out of the sea in a spray of white foam, showing off his graceful form in midair.

Qin Yuan rested both hands on the railing, facing the sea breeze as he watched Flame leap, play, race, and chase through the waves. His expression softened, and he felt incomparably relaxed, as though Flame had carried all his troubles away.

Qin Yuan did not notice that a nearby boat had filmed him taking Flame out to sea. The moment the footage was uploaded online, everyone following Flame became wildly excited and nearly crashed the page with traffic.

【As expected of President Qin. Other people walk cats and dogs; he takes a dolphin out for a walk.】

【No one knows how to show off quite like him.】

【President Qin, keeping all the good stuff to yourself is wrong. The dolphins belong to everyone!】

【+1 to the person above.】

【+π!】

【Hey, person filming this—couldn’t you have gotten any closer? A rare opportunity to get near Flame and you wasted it!】

【You think I didn’t want to? President Qin is insane. He stationed an escort vessel nearby. The moment my boat tried to get closer, they blocked me!】

【Isn’t that a little exaggerated?】

【It’s exactly that exaggerated!】

【Then dive over.】

【Hehe. Do you think the submarine and those fully equipped divers underwater are there for decoration?】

【…Okay, that really is insane.】

【Escort vessel, submarine, divers… Conservatively speaking, President Qin spent at least two million just taking Flame out to sea this time.】

【Tycoon!】

【Seriously rich!】

【Filthy-rich nouveau riche!】

【I’m willing to donate another million and let a certain Mr. Qin know that he isn’t the only one with enough money to support Flame!】

【Then I’ll make a modest donation of three hundred thousand.】

【As a broke bastard with no money to support Flame, I wonder if Flame would be willing to support me instead?】

【If you turned into a female dolphin, he might spare you a glance.】

【No, I heard dolphins are bisexual, so even a male might catch his interest.】

【You’re behind the times. Dolphins don’t even care about species. If they take a liking to something, they apparently wouldn’t mind even if it were a sea turtle.】

【(⊙０⊙) I have learned something new.】

【…So President Qin could theoretically become Flame’s mating partner too?】

【……】

【…】

【……】

【…】

【……】

【…】

【I feel like we’ve just discovered something extraordinary…】

The online discussion veered permanently in a bizarre direction. Qin Yuan had no idea that everyone had already designated him Flame’s first-choice mating partner. Later, he would even receive the title of “Empress,” with an entire harem of “consorts” waiting to compete with him for the position.

After playing for a while, Shang Ke submerged and released several calls in different directions, using echolocation to investigate the surrounding area. A dolphin’s hearing was dozens of times more sensitive than its vision. Through the timing of returning echoes, sound frequency, and other details, it could determine an object’s shape, size, distance, direction, and speed. Even if blindfolded, dolphins could still navigate the sea without obstruction.

Shang Ke wanted to use this method to search the nearby waters. If “merfolk” truly existed in this world, he might be able to uncover some trace of them. Even if he found nothing, he could still use sound to send information outward in case any were nearby.

Shipwrecks, objects associated with merfolk, and other creatures resembling merfolk were also included in his search. In short, he intended to overlook no possibility.

Qin Yuan stayed out at sea with Shang Ke until dusk. After checking the sky, he whistled toward the water.

Before long, Shang Ke surfaced.

Qin Yuan called, “Flame, let’s go back.”

Shang Ke leapt once above the surface, then took the lead and swam toward the aquarium.

Although Shang Ke found no clues related to “merfolk” that day, he had thoroughly enjoyed himself.

After returning to the aquarium, Shang Ke waited for Qin Yuan to get off the speedboat, then swam over while bobbing his head mysteriously.

When Qin Yuan approached, Shang Ke lifted his snout and began making muffled little noises.

Seeing how strained he looked, Qin Yuan crouched down and asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Shang Ke placed a pectoral flipper against Qin Yuan’s hand, then spat something into his palm.

Qin Yuan looked down and discovered, to his surprise, an antique-style sapphire ring.

Surprise flashed through his eyes as he looked at Flame. “Where did you get this?”

I found it in the sea, of course. What do you think of it as an engagement ring? Shang Ke looked at Qin Yuan with smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.

Qin Yuan quickly guessed where it must have come from and smiled. “For me?”

Shang Ke nodded.

“Thank you.” Qin Yuan immediately slipped the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand.

Shang Ke gave several delighted whistles. Putting that ring on means you’ve accepted my proposal. No taking it back. In this life, I probably won’t have the chance to wear a ring you give me. Next life, you can fulfill that wish for me.

Shang Ke’s crystalline blue eyes reflected the sapphire on Qin Yuan’s hand, as though the two held the most beautiful scenery in the world between them.

Warmth surged through Qin Yuan’s heart. Unable to resist, he embraced Shang Ke and kissed him on the snout.

The tender scene, bathed in the glow of sunset, was captured by a crew member not far away, preserving that beautiful instant forever.

Several days later, after overwhelming public demand, Qin Yuan finally agreed to let Flame and Wave make their first public appearance. To avoid disturbing them, he selected a suitable aquatic area, limited attendance to fewer than fifty people, and allowed only three reporters inside to film.

As a national-treasure-level dolphin, Shang Ke had long since prepared himself to be stared at, so he did not mind. He also wanted to use the opportunity to help Wave gradually grow accustomed to larger groups of humans.

Under Qin Yuan’s guidance, the group arrived beside Shang Ke and Wave’s pool.

At the sound of a whistle, both dolphins leapt from the water at once, enthusiastically welcoming the visitors.

The visitors immediately let out excited but restrained exclamations, followed by a frenzy of cameras.

The people on shore were observing the dolphins.

The dolphins were also observing the people on shore.

Shang Ke said to Wave, Look at that person’s clothes. So flashy and gaudy. Even we dolphins have better taste.

Wave looked at his own smooth, gleaming skin and strongly agreed.

And look at that one. His hair looks like he was struck by lightning. Does he even know how to comb it properly?

Wave looked at Shang Ke’s smooth, shiny head and imagined it covered in a mass of curly hair. He immediately shuddered.

As expected, bald was the most beautiful!

When Wave looked at the humans on shore again, his eyes were filled with sympathy.

“Ah! They’re just too cute!” one girl couldn’t help squealing.

Wave flinched and immediately dove beneath the surface, apparently frightened by the scream. Only after Shang Ke soothed him did the calf cautiously poke his head above water again.

Qin Yuan’s expression darkened. He coldly reminded the girl, “Miss Wang, please don’t scream. You’ll frighten the dolphins.”

“Ah, sorry.” The girl covered her mouth and lowered her voice. “I got too excited and couldn’t control myself.”

Seeing that her apology was sincere, Qin Yuan said nothing further.

Wave was nervous about the crowd at first, but with Shang Ke guiding him, he gradually relaxed and began playing happily. An endless stream of adorable expressions and antics delighted the visitors, who took photograph after photograph.

When visiting time ended, Qin Yuan prepared to lead everyone away. But one child clung to his father and loudly refused to leave. His father scolded him a few times, and the boy immediately burst into tears.

Qin Yuan frowned and was about to have someone intervene when Flame suddenly swam over and called to the child several times. Still sniffling, the boy looked toward him.

Flame flicked his tail and knocked a small floating ball toward the child’s feet, looking up at him with his naturally smiling face.

The boy stopped crying and looked at his father. His father, in turn, glanced at Qin Yuan. After Qin Yuan nodded, the man picked up the ball and placed it in his son’s hands. “Go return the ball to Flame, then say goodbye.”

The child carried the ball over and carefully held it out to Flame.

Flame leaned over and rubbed against the back of the child’s hand, then balanced the ball on his snout and performed a playful trick in the water. Finally, he winked at the boy with his left eye.

Everyone completely melted. How could a creature this adorable possibly exist? It was practically cheating!

The child broke into a delighted smile and clapped his small hands repeatedly.

When his father came to lead him away, the child no longer protested. He merely waved goodbye to Flame before reluctantly following his father out.

With their first public appearance, Shang Ke and Wave gained another enormous wave of fans. Flame voluntarily cheering up the crying child moved everyone in particular, giving the public an even deeper appreciation of his intelligence and empathy.

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