Lansi thought it over. He wanted to stay on this small island, wait for Winsor to think things through, and then come to him to apologize.
If Winsor was unwilling to come over, then the two of them would be cut off entirely.
Lansi swore furiously and said so to the turtles.
The little turtle hesitated, unsure whether to speak.
This kind of worldview about love—if you say it is naive, it is indeed naive; but if you say it is not, it is also something worth taking seriously.
The uninhabited island was quite small, and the weather had been good these days without storms, so Lansi was living quite comfortably.
Lansi spent most of his time on the island, occasionally turning his fish tail into two legs for fun. It had been a long time since he became a mermaid and swam in the water to find food along the way.
Fortunately, Lansi was a mermaid. Otherwise, as a human who needed fresh water to survive, he would have been in real trouble.
As for food and daily necessities, Lansi traded with the little seagull.
Since Lansi gave the little seagull all his jewelry, he had become a gold VIP customer on its side, and it would answer almost all his questions.
A few days later, Lansi also discovered that this little seagull was rather strange. Every time it brought him things that were, how should he put it—very "human."
Bread, fruits, and sometimes even snacks.
But it happened to match Lansi's needs perfectly.
Ever since he went ashore, Lansi had become reluctant to eat raw fish directly.
Sure enough, Lansi was still human at heart, and he longed to live like one.
[Thank you.]
After trading with the little seagull today, Lansi held a slice of bread in his mouth. He also crushed another piece to feed the little turtles and seagulls, then asked,
[Why do you bring these things every time?]
While pecking, the little seagull looked at Lansi contemptuously and said:
[Buy.]
Lansi: ?
Damn it, he knew its voice sounded like "buy," but that still didn't answer his question.
[I look for a human to buy them.]
The little seagull continued to look down on him. [Otherwise, how do you think I get these things?]
Lansi: [...]
Damn. He was looking at a sea creature that actually dared to trade with humans.
For a moment, Lansi didn't know whether he should admire this tiny seagull for its courage, or be shocked that someone would actually trade with it.
But in any case, this could be considered an instance of humans indirectly accepting sea creatures.
Lansi now looked at the little seagull with genuine admiration. He finally understood why it could become the leader of its group.
That courage, that vision—it surpassed ordinary humans.
However, Lansi still thought that if it was trading with humans, then exchanging jewels for such things was really a loss.
Of course, after thinking it over for a long time, he still didn't say it to the little seagull.
After all, it wasn't easy for it to trade with humans as a small seagull.
After finishing the bread, Lansi searched through the items brought by the little seagull.
The one responsible for carrying the goods was the huge seagull large enough to snatch Lansi and carry him into the sky.
Because it was so big, it sometimes accidentally mixed other small objects into the cargo when delivering things.
These small objects would then be given to Lansi by the little seagull as gifts.
Of course, Lansi accepted them, treating them as daily surprises.
Under normal circumstances, these items were small and inexpensive. Sometimes they were a box of marbles, sometimes a box of plum candy, and sometimes a lighter. In short, they were cheap and small—but not useless.
Sometimes, when Lansi received these little things, he couldn't help wondering whether they were deliberately included by the little seagull.
Of course, he didn't dare ask, afraid the little seagull would laugh at him.
Today, Lansi touched a communication device.
Lansi:?!
He was both surprised and overjoyed because he realized that this communication device was his own.
[buy--]
The little seagull did not know when it had flown to Lansi's side. Seeing him turn on the communicator, it called out and then explained impatiently,
[This shiny thing you gave me kept flashing during this period of time. I don't like it, so I gave it back to you.]
Lansi was stunned for a moment. Then he smiled slightly at the seagull and said:
[Thank you.]
[Hmph, then you buy more.]
The seagull quacked a few times, signaling that its gold-medal VIP was still worth keeping.
After delivering today's goods, the little seagull led its group of followers and flew away. On the island, only Lansi and the little sea turtle were left.
It felt lonely.
The little turtle watched Lansi playing with the communicator, then slowly crawled toward the beach and said:
[I——underwater——swim——go——play——]
[Mm.]
Lansi focused all his attention on the communicator and didn't even notice where the little turtle had gone.
Being a mermaid was actually quite boring. There was no TV, no books, no games—nothing at all.
But Lansi wasn't thinking about entertainment now; he was just curious about who had sent messages to his communicator.
There were very few contacts on it.
After turning it on, Lansi looked at the series of unread messages and fell silent.
…
The little turtle swam back to Sunset Bay.
First, it did not find Winsor, but instead encountered Quirrell and the hermit crab.
There was no helping it—the hermit crab was simply too big and too conspicuous.
The little turtle swam up to Quirrell and asked:
[Win—sor—where—]
Quirrell was an agitated spirit. Hearing the turtle's slow speech, he laughed until his body changed colors randomly—red, white, then purple, like a neon light.
[What are you?]
The little turtle was not annoyed. It simply looked at Quirrell with a calm, patient gaze.
Quirrell laughed, then suddenly "ran out of battery."
What Quirrell feared most was this kind of calm, unwavering sea creature.
If no one reacted, how was it supposed to perform?
[Sulking in the cabin.]
Quirrell stopped changing colors and said gloomily.
That color of despair showed the state of its heart.
It wasn't sure if it was because Lansi had left on his own, but Quirrell hadn't been as lively as before.
It was even a little afraid that Lansi had simply abandoned them.
The little turtle thanked it and swam toward the cabin.
Sure enough, it found Winsor lying inside.
Winsor was sprawled on the floor, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes. His chest barely moved, and his face was pale—like a lifeless statue.
The little turtle swam around him a few times, but Winsor did not react, as if he couldn't see it at all.
[You—should—take—the—initiative—to—go—find—Lan—si—]
Seeing that Winsor had completely fallen into despair, the little turtle had no choice but to speak more forcefully to get his attention.
Because it had met Wen Yu before, the little turtle knew about the relationship between Wen Yu and Winsor, so it was not afraid of him.
On the contrary, it was genuinely worried about the situation between Lansi and Winsor.
Hearing the name "Lansi," Winsor finally reacted. He rolled his eyes and looked at the turtle.
[Lansi doesn't want to see me.]
[Every—day—Lan—si—just—waiting—on—island—for—you—to—go—now—]
If it had been able to, the turtle would have rolled its eyes.
Lansi had basically already done everything possible to leave Winsor a way to apologize, and yet this fool—who had clearly never been in a relationship—still didn't understand anything at all.
Alas, as a sea monster, he had to worry about that kind of love.
Tired.
The current relationship between the sea monsters and Winsor was nothing like the strict hierarchy between a king and his subjects.
The sea monsters were trying their best to "coach" Lansi and Winsor. The effort was almost like an exam review session—questions being passed around in the back row, with everyone wishing they could just hand Winsor the answer directly.
As a result, Winsor still handed in a blank paper.
The little turtle used its slow way of speaking to sort out the entire situation for Winsor and finally managed to convince him.
Only then did Winsor realize that he had not been completely rejected by Lansi.
He still had a chance.
[I——first——go——back——come——on——]
Seeing that Winsor showed signs of revival, the little turtle felt satisfied.
Afraid that Lansi might become suspicious (after all, its behavior was no different from a student sneaking answers before an exam), the little turtle did not give Winsor direct instructions. Instead, it quietly returned to the beach.
Winsor fell into deep thought.
When the little turtle returned to the shore, Lansi was already preparing dinner for himself.
Lansi saw it crawling out of the sea and, while grilling fish, asked casually:
[Why were you gone so long?]
The little turtle felt slightly guilty, but its slow speech made it sound calm and steady:
[with——mother——turtle——meeting——]
Lansi nodded, not suspecting anything.
Once he knew the little turtle was fine, his attention returned to the fish he was grilling.
Most of the time now, Lansi preferred cooked food, so after a few attempts, he had started trying grilled fish again.
But unlike a stove, the fire here couldn't be controlled precisely. The fish he grilled was either undercooked or completely burned.
This frustrated Lansi.
Grilling fish took time. After a while, his thoughts drifted back to the communicator, and in his distraction he forgot to keep turning the fish.
"If you don't flip it, it'll burn."
Suddenly, a familiar male voice rang out behind him.
"Ah—ah—ah—!"
Lansi jumped in shock.
On this deserted island, another voice appearing out of nowhere was like something from a horror story.
He quickly turned around—and when he saw Winsor standing beside him, he nearly stabbed the grilled fish straight out of his hand.
"You scared me to death!"
Winsor looked at him with a slightly aggrieved expression.
He was still in mermaid form.
Lansi glared at him, then suddenly remembered he was still "Ranko." He turned his face away, sneered, and flipped the fish again.
"Who are you? I'm Ranko. I don't know you."
Winsor thought for a moment and stayed where he was.
While Lansi was still focused on grilling fish, he suddenly heard several faint crack sounds behind him. Curious, he turned around—and nearly dropped the fish in shock.
Winsor's fish tail was gone, replaced by a pair of human legs.
Lansi inhaled sharply.
He still needed to build a nest to transform, but Winsor had directly shifted into a human form.
What surprised Lansi even more was that there wasn't a single piece of clothing on him at first glance. In the moonlight, Winsor's figure was completely visible—perfectly shaped, almost like a sculpture that had come to life.
Before Lansi could process it, a viscous black liquid began to seep across Winsor's skin, quickly covering his body and reshaping into a black military uniform.
The design was exactly the same as Wen Yu's.
Lansi: "..."
He froze for a moment.
Winsor took advantage of his distraction, walked over, sat beside him, and casually kissed him before taking the grilled fish.
"Let me help you."
He began seasoning the fish with practiced ease.
This wasn't anything supernatural—if Winsor retained Wen Yu's memories, it wasn't surprising he also inherited his skills.
Lansi wasn't paying attention to the fish anymore. Instead, he curiously touched Winsor's body, feeling the texture of the uniform under his palm, and asked blankly:
"So now… are you wearing clothes or not wearing clothes?"
Winsor smiled. He leaned closer, taking Lansi's hand and pressing it against his chest.
"Guess."
Feeling the warmth beneath his palm, Lansi widened his eyes slightly and unconsciously moved closer.
The sea breeze grew stronger at night, and the temperature dropped.
As a mermaid, Lansi's body was naturally cold—so he instinctively leaned toward the warmth of a human body.
Seeing that Winsor did not refuse, Lansi ultimately couldn't resist the temptation. He simply leaned against Winsor, no longer caring how the clothes on him had come to be, greedily absorbing the warmth from the other side.
If not for physical limitations, Lansi would have wanted to curl himself completely into Winsor's embrace.
"Is this your ability?"
Lansi leaned on Winsor's shoulder, watching the flames of the campfire as he asked.
"Can you change into anything?"
"Technically speaking, yes."
Winsor kissed the strands of hair drifting over Lansi's head and asked in a subtle tone,
"You should already understand what I mean."
He had transformed in front of Lansi for the first time, hoping Lansi would grasp the implication.
He was indirectly admitting that he had been the one who created the black tendrils that once tried to restrain Lansi.
"Then can you become a super soft sheep?"
Lansi asked happily, completely missing the subtext. "One that's huge and fluffy. When I was a kid watching cartoons, I always wanted a sheep I could lie on."
Winsor: "…"
Why was his little fish so carefree? Was he not even afraid of this ability?
Lansi looked up, disappointed.
"Didn't you say you could change anything?"
"Yes."
Winsor handed him the grilled fish and mercilessly rejected the request.
Then, while Lansi ate, Winsor explained with a slightly aggrieved tone,
"If I become a sheep… I won't be able to fall in love with you."
Lansi froze when he heard that and immediately choked on his grilled fish.
"Cough, cough, cough—!"
Oh no. Had Winsor finally learned how to flirt properly?