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nThank you Miimaas for the ko-fi!

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nEditor: SimoB

nDing! Zeng Nan’s animosity value: 98

/100

nWhen the system popped out with a notification, Shi Qing was watching the golden dragon carefully loosen his claws to let him swim out.

nThere was a gentle expression on his majestic dragon face, and his gravelly voice was soft, as if he was afraid of scaring his little mermaid.

n“Baby, come eat some fishies.”

nThe little mermaid wriggled his tail and circled around his claws, as if he was afraid to leave the golden dragon’s protection.

nWhat a pitiful baby.

nIf it wasn’t for the fact that dead fish wasn’t as tasty, he wouldn’t make his little one hunt himself.

nHe twisted his body into a circle and used his tail to force the ‘little fishies’ who wanted to flee into it.

nThe dragon softly coaxed, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. They won’t dare do anything to you, so go ahead and catch whichever one you like.”

nThe multitude of sharks and orcas trapped by the dragon’s body: “……”

nThey scrambled around in panic, but the huge and terrifying tail of the dragon forced them back every time they tried to escape.

nAlthough they didn’t know what a dragon was, the fear ingrained in their basest instincts overwhelmed any desire to attack. All they dared to do was swim in circles, trembling in fear.

nThese unfortunate marine creatures barely managed to accept their current situation when a siren slipped out of the creature’s claws.

nThese otherwise apex predators of the sea panicked even more.

nSiren!

nIt’s a siren!!!

nTheir efforts to escape doubled once they noticed this newcomer.

nThe golden dragon was puzzled as he watched his prey that was calming down suddenly scatter again, as if they were provoked by something.

nWhat are these little fishies running for? They might scare his little pearl if they keep this up.

nAs expected, the little mermaid did look like he was scared.

n“Wu…”

nShi Qing clung to one of the dragon’s fingers (that was wider than him) and whined petulantly.

n“I’m scared. You catch some for me.”

nThe golden dragon’s heart melted.

nHe immediately agreed, “Okay, I’ll catch some for you!”

nBut how was he supposed to do that?

nAs an orphaned dragon with no pack, his previous way of eating was to start sucking in air, which would deposit both food and seawater into his stomach.

nHis belly was big and he ate a lot, so debris and other stuff being mixed in wasn’t much of a problem.

nBut the little mermaid definitely couldn’t eat like that.

nThe golden dragon tentatively stretched out his claws, picking and choosing between the trapped “little fishies”.

nEventually, he settled on the largest of the orcas.

nGenerally speaking, an animal’s speed decreased as its size increased, but dragons were an exception. They were all large and chubby, but every one of them was as fast as the wind.

nThe golden dragon caught the orca in one swift motion without even leaving it time to struggle. The predator that could be considered one of the top existences in the deep sea died the dragon’s claws, just like that.

nThe golden dragon would usually just swallow his prey whole, but he began to remove the excess parts of the killer whale out of consideration for the little mermaid still nestled in his other claw. He presented him with the most tender and tasty parts.

nShi Qing flicked his tail and rolled over in the water before slowly swimming over to accept the piece of meat.

nHe took a tentative bite. Sirens all had different tastes, but there was one point that they all agreed on. The more powerful the creature, the better it tasted to them.

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nThis orca tasted a bit like spicy chicken, charred on the outside and tender on the inside.

nAfter taking a bite and discovering how delicious it was, the little mermaid unceremoniously devoured the huge chunk of spicy chicken.

nThe golden dragon watched over him lovingly as he ate. He offered another piece of tender meat to his precious little pearl once he was done.

n“Good baby. There’s lots more here.”

nThe little mermaid touched his slightly protruding belly and burped. A few strings of bubbles floated up.

nHis voice was still quite spoiled, “I’m full.”

nFull?

nBut he’s hardly eaten anything…

nThe golden dragon’s heart ached as he looked at the little mermaid and his slightly protruding stomach.

nThat little bit of food wasn’t even a bite to him, but his little guy was actually full from it.

nAccording to his inherited memories, younglings that couldn’t eat well most likely suffered from a genetic condition.

nHe supposed the same logic applied to sirens.

nThe golden dragon vowed once again to take good care of his poor baby.

nSo, he slowly removed the claw that had been protecting Shi Qing and softly enticed him, “Look, there are so many little fish here! You should try exercising if you’re full.”

n“How about chasing after them for a while? I’m sure they’ll all play with you.”

nThe ill younglings in his inherited memories slowly became stronger with more food and opportunities to exercise.

nThe golden dragon himself was a strong little youngling from birth. Plus, since he was the only one left, there was no one to compete with him for food. He grew up eating whenever he wanted, resulting in him being two widths wider than even the largest dragon in history.

nDue to his lack of experience in this area, he could only rely on his inherited memories of how young dragons were supposed to play.

nIt was actually pretty similar to the adult dragons.

nThey all chased other creatures, playing with them when they caught them and eating when they had their fill of fun.

nThat was pretty much it.

nAlthough his little pearl lacked killing power, it would be okay because the golden dragon was here watching over him.

nThe golden dragon was confident that he could stop these little fishies with his claws if they dared to attack his baby.

nThinking about it, his voice grew softer.

n“Don’t be afraid of them. I’ll always be watching over you.”

nAs the claws of the dragon that covered Shi Qing moved away, the trapped sea creatures felt very wronged.

nM-mommy!

nSave meee!!!!

nNormally, even a siren would have to reconsider going after so many predators at once.

nBut now that there was a golden dragon watching his back…

nThe little mermaid flicked his tail eagerly, looking unkindly at these large creatures.

nThe various sharks and orcas: “……”

nThe area circled by the dragon’s body immediately descended into chaos as all kinds of fish tried desperately to swim away. Some were even forced to leap out of the water.

nOf course, what went up must come down.

nThen they would once again experience the fear of being hunted.

nThe creatures that used to be the predators now became the prey.

nBack on the island, Zeng Nan and the others stared dumbly at the churning waters. They could only watch as sharks leapt out of the ocean one after another in a bid for freedom.

nDamn, was this behemoth hunting for food??

nShi Qing chased after them to hone his speed, but he didn’t use his claws.

nAfter all, the sea might be a place where the strong preyed on the weak, but most creatures only hunted when they were hungry. However, there were exceptions to this rule, sirens being one of them.

nHe wasn’t hungry right now. He was just chasing them for fun, so he kept his claws in.

nBut this nonchalance, in the golden dragon’s eyes, translated to the little mermaid being too weak to swim fast.

nHis baby hasn’t caught a single fish yet after such a long time.

nBut it didn’t matter if the little mermaid was bad at hunting. He wouldn’t starve either way…

nAs the deep sea predators screamed for their mothers and fled for their lives from the maniacal killing machine behind them…

nThe golden dragon hummed as he watched this scene. If the images in his mind were put to words, it would probably be best described as a cute little chubby baby waddling around with a net in hand, chasing after butterflies in a meadow.

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nAnd the little guy looked like he might fall over at any moment.

nA great white shark was so scared of Shi Qing that it darted past the siren.

nThe great white shark was a bit farsighted, so it scurried right up to the golden dragon’s face in its panic.

nIt then saw the behemoth in front of it bare his sharp teeth gloomily.

n“You’re scaring my baby, swim slower!”

nThe great white shark: “……”

nIts eyeballs could roll inward when faced with danger as a protective measure thanks to a layer on top of its eyelids.

nHowever, the golden dragon thought this shark was rolling its eyes at him disdainfully.

nThe golden dragon: “……”

nWhat?!? Did these little fish that he could easily crush with one hand dare to look down on his little pearl, even with him here?!

nHe was stunned for several seconds before he angrily opened his mouth and sucked the great white shark into his mouth along with the surrounding seawater.

nAfter eating it, the golden dragon’s head broke through the surface of the water and roared regally for the first time in millennia.

n“—-”

nThe biggest strength of dragons wasn’t their enormous bodies. The golden dragon’s roar shook the entire sea surface.

nEven Zeng Nan and the others on the shore covered their ears in pain and fell to the ground, waiting for the shockwaves to pass.

nOnly after it was over did the group stagger to their feet, while helping each other up in a daze.

nZeng Nan patted her ears that were still ringing. She felt like that racket might’ve scrambled her brains.

n“What the hell just happened? Holy **, my ears hurt.”

n“I don’t know. The ground was shaking, but it wasn’t an earthquake.”

nEveryone was talking very loudly.

nOtherwise their poor ears wouldn’t be able to hear a thing.

nZeng Nan calmed down. “I guess it’s the guy we just saw.”

nThe group of people went silent.

nSo not only was that thing’s body huge, it was also that loud?? How was this fair???

nIf it was that loud from a distance, then they would probably combust on the spot if they were closer.

nOne of her subordinates could no longer hold back his fear. “Boss, let’s leave this place. The creatures living here are way too weird.”

n“Where would we go? We might get killed by monsters out on the water, but we’ll surely die of starvation on the mainland.”

nAs soon as Zeng Nan patted her ears, she heard that creature again. She quickly shouted, “Cover your ears and get down, all of you!”

nEveryone dropped to the floor.

nThere was confusion and panic in their eyes.

nWhat the hell was this thing doing? Was it planning to kill all the creatures around it with shockwaves??

nUnderwater, the unaffected Shi Qing looked at the hunters fleeing for their lives. With a flick of his tail, he retreated into the golden dragon’s hands again.

nThe golden dragon flicked his tail when he felt his little pearl return to him.

nBefore returning to the water, it couldn’t help but roar once more:

n— “No one is allowed to look down on my baby for being weak and small!”

n— “If you do, I’ll eat you!!!!”

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