n

n

n

nEditor: SimoB

nDaddy?

nEven Shi Qing was flabbergasted, but soon the little mermaid wriggled his tail and cried out quite happily in his tender and sweet voice.

n“Daddy! Daddy, daddy!”

nSystem: ……

nSystem: …Host, what are you doing?

nShi Qing: Can’t you tell? I’m calling for my daddy.

nSystem: ……

n…If it had a heart right now it would definitely get a heart attack.

nIt cautiously reminded its Host: You two…aren’t blood related, right?

nShi Qing: Yeah, so what? Look how happy he is when I call him daddy.

nShi Qing: I’m happy to call him daddy too. Everyone benefits this way.

nSystem: ……

nIt was unable to outreason Shi Qing, but there was still something bothering the System about this situation…

nShi Qing had already swam up to the golden dragon and started playing with his whiskers.

nWhen the jubilant new father heard Shi Qing call for him, he became even more pleased.

nThis was the first time in tens of thousands of years that a creature had spoken to him.

nAnd it was the little one he had hatched himself.

nAlthough he had been doing nothing but eating and sleeping, the golden dragon vaguely understood that all the sea creatures seemed to be mute now because he had never heard one begging for mercy.

nThat, and the copious amounts of screaming whenever a party of dragons ventured out for some fun thousands of years ago in his inherited memories.

nSo he was glad to see that his little one wasn’t mute. As expected, like father, like son.

nThe golden dragon carefully controlled his whiskers to catch the frolicking little mermaid in the water. His huge claws carefully hovered beneath.

nThe ‘father and son’ duo didn’t feel awkward at all. They played happily despite meeting moments earlier.

nIf any creature capable of night vision dared to approach this place in the deep sea, they would see a long dragon coiled up with a little mermaid a fraction of his size playing with his whiskers.

nThe golden dragon was truly majestic. Every part of his body radiated an aura that could send chills down the spine of any creature.

nHis sharp claws could slice through stone with the slightest touch, his hard scales could withstand even the most powerful of attacks, and there was no need to talk about the massive fangs in his mouth.

nAs long as he bit down, no creature could escape the fate of becoming prey.

nAnd yet, the behemoth who could so easily cause destruction willingly laid still like a statue so the little mermaid could play freely.

nHe even slowed down his breathing so as to not accidentally suck the little mermaid into his mouth.

nThe giant creature showed such caution and care to the little mermaid lying in his hands.

nThe golden dragon stiffened even more as his freshly hatched little one headed straight for his claws.

nAlthough he’s done nothing but grab his pearl with them all his life, the golden dragon’s inherited memories told him how sharp his nails were.

nWhat if the little mermaid accidentally landed on his claws?

nThe golden dragon didn’t dare to dodge either, afraid that the motion would create whirlpools nearby. He could only try his best to retract his nails so they didn’t hurt the little mermaid.

nFortunately, the little mermaid gently landed in the center of his hand without touching his claws.

nThe golden dragon breathed out a sigh of relief, his whiskers fluttering happily again.

nAs expected of the little one he hatched.

nThe dragon’s tail started wagging again because he was happy, bringing doom and destruction unto the denizens of the sea.

nFortunately, the creatures living there had already fled during the previous catastrophe. Otherwise the second wave would’ve left no survivors.

n

n

nShi Qing was also quite happy.

nDespite the golden dragon’s massive size, his little inspection beforehand told him that every one of his scales were smooth, shiny and clean.

nLying on the dragon’s claw, he curiously touched the surface with a tender and white hand. Shi Qing discovered that the claw was soft like the pads on a cat’s paw.

nWell, a cat paw that was bigger than his entire body, that is.

nThe little mermaid flipped over to have a closer look of what he was lying on. The dragon’s skin was definitely thick enough to shrug off bullets, but it was still soft to the touch, like a water bed.

nShi Qing was very comfortable here. He looked up at the golden dragon who was carefully watching him.

n“I’m hungry…”

nAfter a second’s pause, he added, “Daddy!”

nThe term of endearment nearly melted the golden dragon’s big dragon heart.

nThe silly father immediately promised, “Daddy will take you to eat delicious food right away!”

nPreviously, as a shut in and an orphan, the golden dragon was never picky when it came to food.

nHe didn’t care what he ate as long as it was filling.

nJust by opening his mouth and sucking as he swam along, various things were sucked into his stomach. As for inedible things like stones, shipwrecks and glaciers…

nHe’s got an iron stomach, okay?

nBut while he could eat whatever, this wasn’t true for his little one.

nThe golden dragon carefully cradled his little one on his cheekbone under his eyelid, afraid of accidentally hurting Shi Qing somehow.

nYes, under his actual eyelid.

nWho let him have such big eyes?

nLook at how tiny his little one was.

nLook at his little mouth, little arms… Even his pretty little fishtail was tiny!

nA child this small needed special care.

nIt only took a second for the dragon who had been a shut in for tens of thousands of years to decide to go out.

nHe tentatively asked his child, “Daddy is going to take you to eat little fishies, okay?”

nShi Qing sweetly replied from his comfortable and safe perch in the dragon’s claws, “Okay daddy.”

nThe golden dragon’s heart swelled again.

nAh, this was really his little one.

nWhat a good and obedient child.

nNone of the younglings in his inherited memories were as obedient as him.

nThey were all dragons that could catch their own prey as soon as they were born, and some would even steal from their parents when they returned to the pack.

nDragons hated it when others stole their prey, but it was not in their nature to harm their fellow dragons. Therefore, all they could do was swim around threateningly with their tails wagging in displeasure.

nMaybe that’s why dragons didn’t raise their young.

nAfter all, a young dragon was almost invincible from birth. No one could harm them except for adult dragons. They were also especially rude and liked to steal food with impunity from the adults who wouldn’t strike back.

nAs a result, dragons didn’t have a high opinion of younglings.

nOf course, younglings had no respect for the adults either. But they too would experience the displeasure of being stolen from and not being able to retaliate once they matured.

nTo put it bluntly, no one’s happy to be robbed.

nBut the golden dragon, the last of his kind, was different. An aberration.

nHe was happy to carefully hold his little one in his claws as he swam at a very high speed for the first time. His heart was bursting with joy.

nHe didn’t feel like an aberration.

nOther dragons didn’t care about their younglings because they could live on their own.

nBut his little one was different.

nLook at his little arms and his little tail!

nHow pitiful…

nHis little arms aren’t even long enough to circle around a single tooth of the weakest fish in his inherited memories.

nHis beautiful but small and weak little fishtail seemed inefficient. Swimming so slowly in the deep sea was like a death sentence.

nThe golden dragon couldn’t bear to leave such a weak and pitiful youngling on his own.

nHe would starve to death.

nNo doubt about it.

nThe golden dragon felt more and more guilty as he thought about how his little pearl would’ve been bullied if he hadn’t woken up.

nThe silly father lightly brushed his whiskers against the little mermaid’s beautiful silvery-white tail.

n

n

nIt was all his fault for not being able to hatch a big and strong youngling.

nSince his little one was so weak, he would have to follow him and be protected by him for the rest of his life.

nAt that point, the guilt in the golden dragon’s heart was overshadowed by joy.

nIsn’t it better this way?

nHe would raise his little one with care, giving him the best of everything and not letting him be wronged.

nShi Qing looked up at the golden dragon who swam forward majestically with a single-minded focus.

nHe looked very cool and regal.

nBut when he flicked his fish tail and looked back, he could see the golden dragon’s long body wriggling joyfully.

nWhipping up a countless number of whirlpools and tsunamis.

nHe asked the golden dragon, “Where are we going?”

nSirens had a natural ability to charm others. Because they relied on their voice to lure in prey, Shi Qing’s voice was also very pleasing to the ear.

nHowever, the sea creatures from 10000 years ago didn’t yet have the ability to appreciate good music. They would beat up sirens viciously after hearing them sing. Apparently, the golden dragon was different.

nFirst, he thought, “What a beautiful voice my little one has.”

nThen he remembered the ear grating voices of the sirens from his inherited memories.

nInstead of realizing that his musical tastes were different from the average dragon, the golden dragon instead thought, “As expected of my hatchling. Even his voice is so much better than all the other sirens.”

nEnchanted for a second, the golden dragon eventually answered the question posed by its youngling.

n“I remember the fishies in the area up ahead tasted good. I’ll take you to eat there.”

nAlthough he didn’t remember what he ate, the golden dragon remembered that he cleared that area out 1000 years ago before going home on a full stomach.

nThe golden dragon didn’t know about what overfishing was, but he knew that there was merit in letting populations recover.

nSince a thousand years have passed, that area should be filled with tasty food again.

nThe area the golden dragon was talking about would take about an hour to reach, even at the extremely high speeds he was travelling.

nMoreover, he was also swimming towards the surface.

nFrom his perch in the dragon’s claws, Shi Qing noticed that this part of the sea seemed familiar.

nWasn’t this near the island where the protagonist lived?

nThe golden dragon didn’t know what a protagonist was. But adult dragons had very good eyesight, so he could clearly see the small school of fish in front of him.

nThis number of fishes wasn’t even a mouthful for him so it would take a long time to feel full. But it should be enough for his little one, right? Time to eat.

nWith that thought, the golden dragon rushed over ever faster.

nOn the island, Zeng Nan was preparing to go out to sea with a cigarette in her mouth. One of her subordinates carefully approached. “Boss, maybe we shouldn’t go out. What if you meet that mermaid again?”

nZeng Nan exhaled a mouthful of smoke. The scar on the right side of her face was faintly visible under the sunlight. Her hair was shaved and her skin was the colour of healthy wheat. Her features weren’t bad, but they were marred by the scar. She narrowed her eyes at the sea as she considered her subordinate’s words.

n“If we don’t go out to sea, where will we get food? We’ll starve to death at this rate.” she said, taking in another puff of smoke. “There’s all kinds of messed up things in the world now. Mermaids aren’t the worst creatures we can run into. I don’t know why he pretended to be a weakling, but at least he didn’t try to kill us outright. Who knows what horrors are hidden in the depths of the ocean?”

nHer subordinate looked bitter.”A mermaid is bad enough. I don’t think there’s anything else.”

n“Maybe. If there really is something else, it’s probably the size of the mermaid at most. Otherwise scientists would’ve discovered it by now.”

nFinished speaking, Zeng Nan stubbed out her cigarette and turned around. “Okay, let’s get ready to head out.”

nShe was greeted with the shocked faces of her subordinates staring at something behind her.

nZeng Nan: “?”

n“What are you guys doing standing around?!”

nHer subordinate “B-Boss, look behind you…”

nZeng Nan frowned as she brought the cigarette to her mouth. Biting impatiently, she turned around. “Don’t act like country bumpkins all the time. What is it this time–”

nThe cigarette butt fell out of her mouth.

nIn the distance, a gigantic golden body rose from the sea before diving back in.

nZeng Nan: “……”

nEveryone knew that objects in the distance were larger up close.

nShe’s been leading her subordinates in this part of the sea for almost three years, so she knew this place pretty well. The place where that huge golden body appeared was already the farthest point that could be seen from where they were standing.

nIf it was that big when it was so far away, how much bigger it would be if it was closer?

nFrom their position, they could only see parts of a huge golden body appearing in the sea from time to time. It even glittered under the sunlight.

nIt was clearly part of a living creature because its direction kept changing.

nIf that was just one part of the thing’s body…

nZeng Nan’s hand was still frozen in the position of holding the cigarette.

n“I suddenly feel like that mermaid really is quite harmless.”

nAt least, he was willing to pretend to be harmless.

nThis behemoth was so big that no one would believe it even if it tried.

n

n