CH 58

Chapter 58: Like

Little Silver grabbed Mu Chen’s foot and pushed hard. Poof! Mu Chen was thrown into the water, and Little Silver let go.

Mu Chen choked on the water, skillfully floated to the surface, raised his hand to wipe the water off his face, and quickly jerked his hair back, pushing the hair stuck to his forehead away. He was blinking his eyes, trying to blink the water dry, when he suddenly heard a familiar sound of water, he knew that it was the sound of Little Silver’s tail paddling the water, and was aghast, and subconsciously assumed a defensive posture.

Little Silver slapped his right hand on Mu Chen’s left shoulder and swung his tail, quickly pressing Mu Chen to the shore.

Mu Chen, lying on his back, looked at Little Silver on top of him. Feeling the long nails against his neck, he said, “Little Silver, don’t be impulsive, don’t be angry, I apologize!”

Little Silver’s eyebrows knitted tightly. “Two-legged beast, you’re too spineless.”

“…” Mu Chen cried and laughed, tentatively inquiring, “You want me to fight back?”

“How dare you?” Little Silver’s sharp index fingertips wiggled from side to side, rubbing against Mu Chen’s neck as he bared his teeth and whispered, “I’ll kill you!”

Mu Chen’s body froze, the sound of the mermaid’s threatening voice used to sound shrill and irritable to him, and even the low growl was uncomfortable to hear. The translator was equipped with the most advanced biomimetic technology; although Little Silver’s words were translated, the voice that reached his ears and the vocal tone were exactly the same as Little Silver.

It was as if Little Silver was speaking interstellar language; the original meaningless threat had a specific meaning, sounding completely different from the previous feelings. Mu Chen could not help but feel his scalp tingle.

Little Silver raised his eyebrows and looked askance at Mu Chen, sneering, “Heh, cowardly two-legged beast, your heart is racing.”

Mu Chen saw the familiar expression on Little Silver’s face and looked back. Every time he pretended to lose a fight, Little Silver had this look on his face. The previous inexplicable feeling disappeared instantly. Although he could talk, Little Silver was still simply Little Silver.

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You move your hand away, I have to keep using spiritual power in order not to get hurt, it’s a waste.”

Little Silver’s eyes went round. “Damn you two-legged beast! Are you ordering me around?”

Mu Chen felt his fingertips closer to his neck, blinked, and said in a sincere, warm tone, “I’m pleading with you.”

“Well, even if you pout, I won’t let you go easily!”

Mu Chen’s head was big. He felt being able to communicate was more trouble; if they were not communicating, he could now directly back up, go ashore, and run away first. But it felt like Little Silver was not really going to do it, it was just a threat, so he patiently asked, “What is not satisfactory, tell me so I can change?”

Little Silver said seriously, “You are too spineless, you will lose my face! If you are frightened by the rest of the mermaids, will you recognize another mermaid as your master?” The more he said, the angrier he became. His silver eyes locked on Mu Chen. “Damn it, you are mine, you can only recognize me as your master!”

Mu Chen met his silver eyes and spread his face, not knowing what expression to make.

“You are my master and I have my hands full,” he said seriously, “If I have any other mermaid, they can not scare me, only in front of you am I spineless.”

Little Silver’s expression rose with visible pleasure as he removed his hand from Mu Chen’s shoulder and hummed softly. “Cunning two-legged beast, so good at saying nice things.”

Mu Chen was moving his neck away from the danger, and listening to his words, the corners of his mouth could not help but twitch again. He swept a glance at Silver’s tail waving leisurely, and wanted a little to laugh, but held back.

“Two-legged beast, I want to eat flattened fish!” Little Silver was in a good mood after teaching the two-legged beast a lesson and wanted to eat dinner.

Mu Chen climbed ashore. “Wait, I’ll bring it to you right away.”

Garrett put a translator on Rui Rui with an expectant face. “Big Red, can you understand?”

Rui Rui looked at him for two seconds and showed his canine teeth. “Who are you calling Big Red?”

Garrett smartly changed his mouth. “Rui Rui!” His eyes were extremely bright. “You can really understand my speech!”

Rui Rui embraced Ling Ling, frowned, and sounded disgusted. “My two-legged beast is so stupid.”

Garrett’s forehead jumped, Rui Rui can’t talk so well! He touched his earrings and wanted to take them off.

Ling Ling said to Xie Li, who hadn’t said anything, “We’re getting married, and we’ve decided to use this as our new house and live here from now on!”

When Xie Li heard about the marriage, his eyes flashed with surprise, and then he nodded his head.

“How can this be!” Garrett exclaimed, “Then how can I hear Rui Rui singing?!”

Ling Ling’s platinum eyes blinked. “Can’t you just live here too?”

Rui Rui grunted, “What a stupid two-legged beast.”

Garrett thought, That makes sense! He looked at Xie Li. “Little…director Xie, have to trouble you.”

Xie Li said in a light voice, “Next door is for sale, you can ask.”

—

The mermaids stayed hanging in the chat room and didn’t leave, the mermaid voices and the breeders’ voices mingled together, it was impossible to hear who was talking and what was being said. An Jin didn’t hear the screams and cries of pain and thought to himself that he had warned the mermaids in advance that it was useful for humans to have them as pets.

He exited the chat room, looked up, and was about to talk to Norman when he saw Norman frowning lightly. He froze and asked with concern, “Did something happen? You don’t look too happy.”

Norman’s deep eyes met his, and in a low tone he said, “You’ve spent a lot more time with mermaids than I have.”

An Jin’s eyes opened slightly, showing a surprised look, and he blinked, suddenly reacting. Was Norman jealous?

Norman added, “You also made a special trip to the mermaid center in the morning.”

An Jin’s eyelashes blinked rapidly, and the fingers resting on the bank’s edge squeezed slightly, his fingertips flattened with a whoosh, his nails popped out, and he lifted his fingertips, which retracted.

“I, I went to the mermaid center because there was something I wanted to ask Rui Rui and Ling Ling.” He took a dark breath, “you…”

He wanted to ask Norman if he felt for him as Rui Rui said he did.

At that moment, their terminals rang at the same time, and the chef informed them that it was time to eat. An Jin pursed his lips, wanting to say something to interrupt, but the courage he had gathered suddenly broke, so he was ready to say it later. “Let’s go to the restaurant to eat.”

Norman’s eyes twitched slightly, the little mermaid’s best mermaid friend was Little Silver, what was different about asking Rui Rui and Ling Ling, who were mates, instead of Little Silver? He couldn’t help but feel some anticipation, wanting to know what the little mermaid wanted to say, but didn’t ask immediately, not wanting to disturb the little mermaid’s dinner.

After dinner, thinking of not having to translate documents, An Jin suggested, “I would like to go for a walk in the back garden? And exercise my feet.”

Norman nodded his head in agreement. “Let’s go.”

An Jin separated the water from his fishtail skirt, and after it dried, he turned his tail into his feet and went to the mermaid room to put on a pair of waterproof slippers before walking with Norman to the back garden.

At this time, the sky was dark and the stars were hanging in the sky, emitting a silver-blue light, and the whole back garden was enveloped in the light, looking mysterious and quiet. An Jin crossed the corridor and walked to the back garden, when he suddenly saw the garden light up like daylight.

Norman said, “Look at the ground, and be careful not to trip.”

He walked with him side by side along the path.

After walking for a while, An Jin looked at the pond not far away and remembered that Norman didn’t seem too happy earlier, and suddenly remembered that he hadn’t played with Norman for a long time! He turned his head to look at Norman. “Wait here for me.”

After he finished speaking, he turned around and headed indoors.

Norman was a little confused, but when the little mermaid turned around, he saw the little mermaid’s bright eyes, so he let him go, but only voiced out a reminder, “Don’t rush, walk slowly.”

An Jin didn’t turn around and mumbled, the hem of his fishtail dress was narrow and he couldn’t go fast enough if he wanted to.

When he got to the door of the mermaid’s room, his feet got a little tired and he rested on the door frame. He did not walk far, but because of his small steps, he changed his feet very often. His feet were not exercised enough, and he was tired of walking in small steps.

After a couple of breaths, he walked to the toy section by the shelf and took the top blue leather ball and the screaming ball into his hands. He frowned at the thought of going back in small steps, looked down at his fishtail dress, thought for a moment, and made a decision.

Norman did not wait for a while in the same place. He saw the figure of the little mermaid, eyes slightly stagnant. The little mermaid’s fishtail skirt was half missing, only the part above the knee remained, slender straight calf uncovered, white shaking eyes.

An Jin felt that the modified fishtail skirt was too comfortable, and both feet were unrestricted, so walking was fast and easy. He walked up to Norman and explained, “It makes it easier to walk, I’ll wear it all the time, it won’t go to waste.”

“It’s okay, you like this style?”

An Jin didn’t like wearing short skirts, but only short skirts fit both the tail and the legs, and he said, “It’s convenient.”

Norman swept his eyes and withdrew them, not looking around.

An Jin grabbed the ball in his right hand and shook it, and with arched eyebrows said, “Go to the pool, I’ll play with you.”

Norman’s eyes paused on the ball for a moment. “Play with me?”

An Jin nodded his little head. “I’m not very good at endurance, but I can use the water ability, so we can play very well!”

Norman looked at the little mermaid’s beautiful blue eyes, realized that the little mermaid seemed to have misunderstood something and said seriously, “This is a mermaid’s favorite toy.”

“It’s okay, you think it’s fun, no one says it’s only…” An Jin’s voice trailed off and he couldn’t finish the sentence “only mermaid can play”. He blinked and suddenly realized. “Are you teasing me?”

Norman nodded and An Jin’s eyes widened as he thought of the previous “play” scene and said seriously, “I don’t like to pick up the ball.”

Norman’s eyes flashed with laughter and he took the ball from him. “I wasn’t teasing you that time.” When he met the young mermaid’s puzzled gaze, he was silent for a moment before explaining, “I wanted to exercise your stamina and take you to the battlefield.”

An Jin was stunned, not expecting Norman to have had such an idea at all. Soon, he looked serious. “Must you have good endurance to go to the battlefield?”

Norman said, “It’s safer.”

“My water ability can protect me.”

Norman looked down at the little mermaid. “Does An An want to go to war with me?”

An Jin’s eyelashes flashed quickly, but instead of averting his eyes, he nodded. “Mn, I can provide you with spiritual power, and I would feel more comfortable following you.”

In the past, the base had ordinary people and able couples, and when the able went out to clean up the zombies and look for food, the ordinary people had to stay in the base. He had seen a man’s extremely upset and distracted look because he did not know the condition of his lover. If Norman went to the battlefield, even if he could communicate with the terminal, he definitely still couldn’t feel at ease.

Norman’s eyes shone brightly, staring intently at the little mermaid.

An Jin’s cheeks burned as he looked away. “You, since you don’t like to play, I’ll put the ball back,” he said, raising his hand and signaling Norman to put the ball in his hand.

Norman looked at the white soft palm of the little mermaid and took it in his empty left hand, holding it firmly.

An Jin was stunned and quickly looked up at him. “You…”

“What questions did you ask Rui Rui and Ling Ling?”

An Jin’s heart thumped and his fingers subconsciously tried to curl, but they were held in Norman’s hand, and when his fingertips lifted lightly, they scratched Norman’s palm, so his hand was held even tighter. He looked down at his toes and honestly whispered, “How can you be sure you like someone else?”

Norman’s eyes shone brighter and his eyes fell on the little mermaid’s reddened ears. He wanted to raise his hand to rub them, but with the ball in one hand and the little mermaid’s hand in the other, his hands were very busy. He then bent down and asked, almost in the little mermaid’s ear, “What answer did you get?”

An Jin felt the warm breath of his words, his body trembled lightly, and his head subconsciously tilted to the side, and then he heard a low laugh. The laughter was magnetic and seemed to run like an electric current to An Jin’s brain.

An Jin instinctively felt that Norman was being deliberate. Norman must have guessed and was teasing him! He pursed his lips, twisted his head to meet Norman’s deep brown eyes, repeated Rui Rui’s answer, and his eyes couldn’t help but fall on Norman’s lips.

His heart was beating fast, yet he tried to maintain a calm demeanor and asked politely, “Can I…do something a little intimate with you?”

Norman’s throat rolled impatiently. His eyes were slightly surprised, and his voice was dark as he said, “Yes.”

An Jin held his breath, stood on tiptoe, and slowly approached Norman, pausing for a moment as he approached, then quickly touched the corner of Norman’s lips with his lips.

The moment he touched it, he landed on his heels, there seemed to be fireworks exploding in his head. His eyes panicked for a moment, and then he tried to calm down, with admiration and some surprise. “Your lips are so soft.”

It was so different from Norman’s usual serious expression. He looked at Norman’s lips and suddenly felt like touching them with his fingers.

Rui Rui was right, like a person who really wanted them to be close to each other, he did not think about it before, but now, just thinking about it, it was very heartwarming.

“Don’t…” It was a light sound, and An Jin subconsciously wanted to turn his head to see, but the next moment, before his eyes went dark, the back of his head was cupped by a large hand, and the man’s lips warmly touched his. His head reflexively struggled for a moment, realizing what was happening, and quickly quieted down and cooperated.

Ten seconds later, An Jin’s racing heart calmed down a bit and he blinked his eyes, wondering. Was Norman going to stay this close?

“You…” After another five seconds, An Jin couldn’t help but speak up. Although he felt embarrassed, he really wanted to ask Norman. As he spoke, his lips moved, brushing Norman’s, whose breathing was noticeably thicker.

Norman felt the soft touch of the little mermaid, and he instinctively felt that it was not enough, but could only stick longer.

Some hot scenes flashed through his mind, but he restrained himself from moving for fear of scaring the little mermaid.

Three seconds later, he pulled back. The palm of his hand that landed on the back of An Jin’s head moved down, his other hand let go of An Jin’s hand and held An Jin in his arms with both hands, his chin gently resting on An Jin’s shoulder. He felt as if he had instantly become nearly twenty years younger, and was filled with joy when he hugged the little mermaid.

He calmed down and secretly thought in his head about how to proceed step by step.

An Jin tilted his head a little and saw that Norman was red behind the ears. His shyness suddenly dissipated, and he was a little surprised and a little tempted to laugh.

Although he had never been in love or even thought he would meet someone for life, with the explosion of modern information, he knew a little about the intimate behavior between lovers.

Especially kissing: he had seen more than one about kissing in the sand carved emoji package.

Suddenly, he remembered Norman and he had watched romance movies together. They seemed all very pure; touching lips was considered very intimate.

So, Norman was not going to do anything else?

An Jin was thinking, and his body trembled lightly while his earlobe was rubbed by Norman.

Norman’s voice was a little muffled. “You’re softer.”

An Jin covered his ears, his face was burning, not wanting to argue with Norman about it.

Norman’s eyes were bright and his face showed a clear smile for the first time. “An An likes me, don’t you?”

An Jin was a little shy, but he nodded again with an honest yes.

Norman’s finger brushed the end of his eye. “I’m glad.”

An Jin couldn’t help but curl his eyes. He grabbed Norman’s hand, his eyelashes fluttered, and he whined, “It tickles.”

His eyes swept over Norman’s lips, still unable to resist asking, “Have you, by any chance, never been in love?”

Norman nodded his head, and a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

It was known throughout the Star League that his life was taken up mostly by fighting, and there had even been speculation before that Siao’s queen would be Skywolf, his mecha. Why did the little mermaid suddenly ask this question? Was it because he was possessive of him and didn’t want him to have romantic experience, or was it because of something else?

The corner of An Jin’s mouth curled up and he didn’t say anything else.

He thought, Norman and he were both new to relationships, just going with the flow and getting along, so there was no need to do certain things according to the experience of those who had been there.

“Let’s go to…” He stepped down to the side and accidentally stepped on something. His body stumbled and was caught by Norman in time. An Jin turned his head and smiled at Norman, looked down, and saw the ball he had stepped on was rolling away. He immediately understood that the previous thud was caused by the ball falling to the ground.

Norman followed the little mermaid’s line of sight, let go of his hand, and picked up the ball. “Wanna play?”

An Jin, who already knew the truth, was not interested in the leather ball. He shook his head, took the ball, and rinsed it with his ability. “I want to go to the holographic world to exercise my ability.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

So the two went back indoors. An Jin put the leather ball and scream ball back in the toy area, jumped off the pool, and looked up at Norman. “You go to your room, I’ll see you in hologram.”

Norman had just made up his mind with the little mermaid and didn’t want to leave him, so he asked the robot to bring in the couch, sat on it, and put on his helmet. An Jin was offline at the kebab store, which happened to be in town, and soon met up with Norman.

An Jin’s eyes curled at the sight of the tall Norman. “We have to go to a more remote location, or we’ll be discovered.”

Norman gently picked up the little mermaid and placed him on his arm. An Jin let out a soft cry and held his hand on Norman’s shoulder, a little embarrassed and a little sweet, not quite the same as before. He quietly looked at the side of Norman’s face and inclined his head again.

Norman walked to a street where a black metallic motorcycle, with a very wild and cool appearance, was parked.

An Jin’s eyes lit up. “Is this yours?”

“Yes.” He put the little mermaid on the bike, and then sat on it, holding the little mermaid’s hand on his waist. “Hold tight.”

An Jin was average size, his two hands could not wrap around Norman’s waist. He could only try to sit closer, and the palm of his hand clearly felt the muscles of Norman’s abdomen. Norman made sure he was seated, started the motorcycle, and ten minutes later, they arrived at the edge of a rare forest.

At first, Norman just stood by the motorcycle and watched An Jin practice, but later, he attacked and helped An Jin measure the strength of the water wall. With Norman’s help, An Jin practiced more efficiently. When Norman saw the water film on his hand, he suggested that he could use the water flow to change the direction of others’ attacks.

An Jin experimented for a while, and finally saw the first results and stronger defense. He didn’t get offline until Norman reminded him. Norman looked towards the pool and locked eyes with the little mermaid’s blue eyes, realizing it was too late to stay any longer. Norman’s eyes lingered on the little mermaid’s lips for a moment, he said good night, and went to his room to rest.

—

In the morning, the army chiefs were talking together, and the sixth army chief, with a wounded face, approached with an excited tone. “Do you know why mermaids sing in the morning and in the evening?”

The second army chief pointed to the display in front of him. “Did you not join the group?”

“What group?”

“The mermaid breeders chat group.”

The second chief pulled the sixth chief into the group, which was chatting feverishly.

“I asked, and my family mermaid also sings for the food to become delicious. No wonder the recovery is not as good as before, but with the number of times, the accumulation is very considerable.”

“I said all the good words, but also failed to ask for a delicious fish from my mermaid. Mermaid’s eat such fragrant things and I feel greedy.”

“You still dare to ask for fish? Used to it, in the morning I said, ‘I am your master’ and was taught a lesson.”

“What a surprise, mermaids actually think they are the master, you all recognize them as master?”

“What’s not to recognize?” Garrett chatted while sending a message. “Think about it, a thousand ways to coax. If they want anything we buy anything, just afraid of them being unhappy. If this is not the master what is? Singing for me is to save my life, that is my master!”

Many people echoed this.

“In fact, have you not found it? Mermaids are very simple, and now that they can communicate, I feel like I’m raising a son.”

The group was quiet for a moment, followed by a flurry of “Shh—”.

“Be careful of being heard by the mermaids!”

“What horrible things are you saying?! Luckily I didn’t say it in an outside voice, or my mermaid  would hear it and definitely make a scene!”

Only after the truth was lost did someone say, “That really feels like it.”

“Same feeling.”

—

As soon as he finished work at noon, Norman took a hover car and returned to the palace. He asked the robot where the little mermaid was and went straight to the dining room. The little mermaid, with his back to the door, was wearing a half-fishtail dress and a pair of open-toed sandals, pouring juice.

An Jin finished pouring, put the two glasses of juice on the table, turned his head to Norman and smiled. “You can eat now.”

Norman came closer, not as patient as before, and raised his hand to touch the white side of the little mermaid’s face. The little mermaid was so familiar with his touch that he should not be frightened if he takes a step closer in the future!

An Jin froze, then saw Norman’s expression unchanged, withdrew his hand, sat down, and gave him a dish. “Eat more.”

An Jin wondered, did Norman think he was too skinny?

After lunch, An Jin changed into a full fishtail dress and went to the mermaid center. After the hover car landed, An Jin was about to get up and move to the wheelchair when Norman grabbed his hand and he turned his head. Norman said seriously, “Can I kiss you?”

The entertainment area would be full of mermaids and people, and the little mermaid would be embarrassed.

An Jin’s eyelashes flashed quickly. “Yes, yes.”

Norman came closer, touched the little mermaid’s red lips, left after a while, and carried the little mermaid to the wheelchair.

An Jin’s cheeks burned and he tilted his head and whispered, “It tickles.”

Norman didn’t touch him again and walked the little mermaid to the entertainment area. When he arrived at the recreation area, An Jin was surprised to find that many mermaids were floating on the shore, not in the middle of the water.

The mermaid at the front was an orange mermaid rescued from the black market, and he shouted to the glass house keepers, “Hey, two-legged beast, I’ll give you some good fish if you give me star coins!”

The glass house keepers looked at each other. “Whose mermaid?”

Shaking each other’s heads, someone asked in the group, and no one answered. They hesitated for a moment, walked outside the house, and one asked, “How many star coins do you want?”

The orange mermaid crossed both arms. “Not 8888, just 888!”

The breeders listened to the familiar tone and slogan and froze for a moment, then there were surprised and stifled laughing expressions. “What do you need star coins for?”

The orange mermaid’s chin was raised and his tone was impassioned. “To settle the sea beast in one move and become the king who conquers the sea!”

“Is it really that powerful? I want 888 star coins too!”

“I want it too, I want to conquer the sea too!”

The mermaids who were listening were excited.

“Pfft…” The breeders didn’t hold back and all laughed.

“Damned two-legged beasts! Are you provoking us?”

The breeders hastened to explain, “Don’t get me wrong, we were just laughing.”

Luckily there was a translator; they now knew that the mermaid would see a human smile, especially a toothy one, as a provocation. An Jin listened with a confused look on his face, where did the orange mermaid get the false information that 888 would be able to conquer the sea?

At that moment, a breeder answered his doubts.

The breeder opened the terminal, entered a random webpage, pointed to the advertisement at the bottom right corner of the webpage and asked the orange mermaid, “Did you click in?”

The mermaid terminal was tied to a translator, and all of the terminal’s interstellar language was translated into the mermaid language.

The breeder, unsurprised to see the orange mermaid nod, explained, “This is a game advertisement, it’s fake.” Holding back a laugh, he added, “Charging money only makes you stronger in the game, in reality is useless.”

Someone quickly brought this up in the group.

“Geez, mermaids are too simple!”

“I’m starting to worry that my son, bah, my mermaid is being cheated.”