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nEditor: SimoB

nThe golden dragon’s roar echoed across the ocean.

n— “I’ll eat you!”

n— ”Eat you!”

n— “You!”

nHowever, most people couldn’t understand his proclamation.

nTo be precise, humans couldn’t understand what he said because this kind of sound just made their ears ring.

nIt was only when the golden dragon was satisfied with his warning to the surrounding creatures that he returned to the sea where his little pearl was waiting.

nThe humans on the island were all on their knees, unable to even crawl by then.

nEspecially after that final roar. The whole island shook as if there was an earthquake, and even the coconuts on the trees fell down.

nOnly after waiting for a while did the group struggle to their feet and help each other up.

n“Boss, what the hell was that?! Hiss, my ears hurt.”

n“Speak louder! I can’t hear you!!”

n“I said my ears hurt!!!”

nZeng Nan didn’t participate in these trivial conversations. All of her attention was focused on the sea.

nOne of her subordinates got up shakily and asked her, “Boss, what should we do now? Will we go out to sea again?”

nZeng Nan: “Let’s fish in shallow waters first without venturing too far out. Judging by the size of that thing it shouldn’t come too close to the shore.”

nBut the fishes seemed to know that humans no longer possessed high-tech equipment after the apocalypse. Now fishing in shallow waters was like finding a needle in a haystack.

nIf you wanted to fill your stomach, you had to go to the deep sea.

nThere was something else on Zeng Nan’s mind. Did that mermaid know that these kinds of beasts lived in the deep sea?

nIf he knew, then how did he survive up until now?

nTo be honest, although Zeng Nan has always been wary of the mermaid, she couldn’t understand why he chose to act like a weak and naive person despite being powerful enough to survive underwater.

nWasn’t his act a little too obvious?

nThis was the ocean they were talking about. It was a territory that even humans did not dare to tread too deeply before they lost their advantage.

nZeng Nan couldn’t believe that something as harmless as that mermaid pretended to be could survive in there.

nBut she didn’t understand why the mermaid acted like that while approaching her either.

nOf course, what Zeng Nan didn’t know was that sirens all had a twisted nature and liked to toy with humans. She was just lucky enough to run into a fledgling siren that lacked experience.

nIn any case, it was more reassuring to be with a mermaid who was at least willing to communicate versus that fearsome behemoth who just popped out and attacked them with sonic waves for no reason.

nShe was almost hoping for the next strange creature she met from the sea to be that mermaid again.

nAnyone was better than that giant beast.

nDing! Zeng Nan’s animosity value: 97

nWhen he received the notification, Shi Qing was diving down with the golden dragon.

nFor the first time in tens of thousands of years, a creature was accompanying him. The golden dragon’s tail swayed happily as he took the little mermaid to the places he had discovered as a child.

nA place covered with shipwrecks.

nBoxes of jewels that had been corroded by the sea fell and scattered everywhere.

nThe silver and emeralds were pretty much rusted and useless, but the gold ornaments shone as brightly as ever.

nWhen he was a youngling, the golden dragon loved these piles of gold, and his favorite thing to do at that time was to search the ocean floor for more treasures to bring to his secret base.

nWhen he grew up and became a shut in, he grew bored of this game.

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nHe couldn’t eat gold and it couldn’t help him sleep either.

nBut now the golden dragon was incredibly glad that he liked to collect shiny things as a child.

nAccording to his inherited memories, sirens were very fond of shiny little baubles too.

nThe golden dragon carefully used his claws to rifle through a pile of golden jewelry. He finally decided on a radiant crown that had been down here for who knows how long.

n“Do you like this one?” The overbearing *rich* CEO dragon flaunted his wealth like a child. “Everything here is mine, and now they’re all yours too.”

nThe little mermaid took the crown and placed it on his head.

nIt really was a very majestic crown. Most importantly, it was made mainly of gold with diamonds of various sizes set on it, so the seawater couldn’t corrode it.

nWhen Shi Qing was done wearing it, he flicked his fishtail and swam to the golden dragon’s carefully spread claws.

nHe asked cutely, “Do I look pretty?”

n“The prettiest.”

nThe golden dragon continued to act like a corrupt ruler who had been bewitched by a wicked consort. His two big dragon eyes only had room for the little mermaid in front of him as he sung his praises.

n“My baby is the prettiest fish I have ever seen.”

nWell, technically Shi Qing was the only fish he had ever seen up close.

nAll the other ones got sucked into his stomach before he could get a good look at them.

nBut that didn’t diminish how sincere the golden dragon’s compliment was.

nShi Qing was happy to sit on the golden dragon’s paw and watch him carefully pick out some other good pieces.

nSirens did like jewelry, but they usually didn’t wear it themselves. After all, swimming as fast as possible was very important underwater. Ornaments, no matter how light, would only slow them down.

nBut since Shi Qing was with the ruler of the seas, he didn’t have to worry about that.

nSoon, the little mermaid was all dolled up.

nToo much gold might be a bit gaudy on humans, but they only accentuated the dazzling beauty of the fair-skinned little mermaid. Wearing a beautiful pure gold crown, golden bracelets, and a shiny diamond necklace, Shi Qing was more radiant than ever.

nThe golden dragon’s heart was bursting with satisfaction.

nHis claws carefully circled the little mermaid, shielding him from sight.

nHe sweetly asked the little mermaid, “Where do you want to go to play next? I know a lot of fun places.”

nOnce again, the golden dragon was grateful for his inherited memories.

nEven though he’s been a shut in for millennia, he still knew where to go to have some fun.

nShi Qing: “I want to go to the shore and find my human friends.”

nThe golden dragon was stunned.

nHis little mermaid…actually had friends??

nHe thought they had something special!!

nThe golden dragon completely ignored the question of “how can my pearl have friends?”

nHis tail started whipping up a storm again.

nFinally, he managed to utter a question. “Do you like your human friends?”

nThe golden dragon knew of humans.

nBut he didn’t like them.

nThey were so small and weak.

nHow could his little pearl be friends with humans?

nMost importantly, the golden dragon was too big to go to shore. How would he look after his baby if he went there?

nThere was a sour feeling in his heart as he muttered something else.

n“Humans live on land and baby is a fish. You’ll run into problems if you leave the water. How about this? I’ll catch some small fishies to keep you company.”

nThen he accelerated and quickly captured a fish that was just minding its own business. In an attempt to appease Shi Qing, he made an enclosure with his body again so the two could play.

nShi Qing looked at this slow swimming basking shark that was almost eight meters long. It had a big mouth and looked horrifying.

nBut basking sharks were actually very docile despite their appearance. They fed on small creatures in the water, and sirens didn’t hunt them because they preferred the challenge of strong predators.

nThis basking shark was still unaware of the danger ahead as it swam forward.

nUnfortunately, it was as slow as a snail.

nAll the golden dragon knew about this creature was that it looked like a small fish to him. He worried that his little pearl would think this ‘toy’ boring, so he quickly lowered his head to threaten the basking shark.

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n“You! Swim faster!”

nThe basking shark couldn’t understand what the golden dragon was saying, but it could feel the intense aura coming from the huge creature in front of it.

nAlthough its eyes were small, its eyesight was better than average since it relied on its eyes to view its surroundings.

nIt saw how large and sharp the dragon’s teeth were.

nAs slow as it was, it finally realized that there was danger ahead.

nIt tried to slowly swim away, using its mung bean eyes to get a good look at the enemy that had somehow separated it from its pack.

nSince it could only see a portion at first, the basking shark slowly swam upwards, trying to figure out what it was looking at.

nIt inched forward slowly, slowly, ever so slowly…

nThen finally!

nThe basking shark that looked like it was moving in slow motion did a 180 turn. It finally realized that it was facing a behemoth of immeasurable length.

nThe basking shark’s mung bean eyes shook with fear.

nIt tried to turn and run.

nThe golden dragon watched this small fish move slowly with displeasure.

nThis was a provocation.

nIt must be.

nAngered, he opened his mouth wide to eat this fish that didn’t know its place. However, the little mermaid casually swam over and settled on the basking shark’s back before he could.

nThe golden dragon immediately closed his mouth and looked at the little mermaid lovingly like a doting father.

nShi Qing sat on the back of the basking shark that was too busy swimming for its life to notice him.

nUnfortunately, while the shark believed itself to be as fast as a train, Shi Qing felt this was more like a merry-go-round ride, super slow.

nHe didn’t mind though. When the basking shark happened to stray from course, the ‘driver’ would use his siren claws to force the shark in another direction.

nThe golden dragon’s anger faded away. He happily wagged his tail and followed along as the little mermaid had fun with the ‘friend’ he had found for him.

nThe poor basking shark was even more frightened as it felt the terrifying gaze of the huge creature land on it from above.

nIt accelerated desperately, upgrading from a slow carousel to a slightly faster one.

nFinally, under Shi Qing’s guidance (threats), the basking shark swam to a new underwater area.

nThe siren that had been using it as a mode of transportation finally let it go.

nThe basking shark: Wuwuwuwu…

nIt looked pitifully in their direction with its mung bean eyes before swimming away slowly.

nThe golden dragon didn’t care about it anymore. He was busy directing a loving look at Shi Qing, filled with sentiments like “my baby is so lively”, “my baby is so pretty”, and “my baby is the prettiest one under the sea”.

nHe watched indulgently as Shi Qing went under a large rock nearby.

nHis baby was so cute.

nDid he like rocks that much! Great! He also collected rocks when he was younger.

nSuddenly, all the contentment on the golden dragon’s face froze.

nBecause the little mermaid emerged from under the rock holding a very familiar looking pearl.

nHe flicked his long, glittering fishtail and presented the pearl that was half his size to the stiff golden dragon.

nHis fair little face tilted slightly up, like he was waiting to be praised.

nThe golden dragon: “……”

nHe was utterly dumbfounded.

nDidn’t he hatch the little mermaid out of his dragon pearl?!

nDidn’t he?!!

n?!!!

nThe golden dragon suffered a huge shock as the little mermaid placed that huge pearl in his paws.

nAn equation quickly emerged in his mind: Finding his pearl = His baby wasn’t the pearl = His baby wasn’t his baby.

nHe slowly reached out and closed his paws around that huge pearl…

nBefore turning at the speed of sound and throwing it away!

nThe huge pearl was unceremoniously tossed out like garbage.

nThe golden dragon breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back and affectionately used his whiskers to nudge the little mermaid’s pretty tail.

n“Baby, are you hungry?”

nShi Qing: “…That pearl just now……”

nThe golden dragon: “Do you like pearls? I collected lots of pearls a long time ago! Daddy will take you to see them!”

nAs for his dragon pearl…

nWhat dragon pearl?

nDo you see any dragon pearls around here?

nNope. Never seen it, never heard of it.

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nAuthor’s Corner

nLet’s learn a new idiom: The foolish dragon fools himself.

nAn explanation for the foolish dragon’s actions: This dragon is willing to do anything to stop little Shi Qing from leaving him. He’s even willing to ignore the truth that was right before his eyes! Not only that, he also got rid of all the evidence so no one will ever know!!

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