Lu Xi’s grip loosened slightly, but he didn’t completely let go. Sirens rarely faced such situations. Their battles were either to the death or stopped just before that point, with the former far more common than the latter.
Only through true combat could one become the strongest.
He restrained the man who looked just like him. Li Shu took a few steps forward and stood side by side with Lu Xi, asking, “Lu Xi, think again. Don’t you have any impression of someone who looks like you?”
Lu Xi shook his head again. There was indeed no one. If there had been, he wouldn’t have no memory at all. But, “We can change our appearance, uh… just like the cosmetic surgery you mentioned.”
Li Shu was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t thought of that. The power of the Sirens in this world was incredibly strong, but it was different from true cultivators. They didn’t have all sorts of complex spells. Other than some simple manipulation of the ocean, most of their battles relied on hand-to-hand combat.
However, with this in mind, some things began to make sense—why someone looked exactly like Lu Xi, and why Lu Xi had no memory of it. It was simple: that face had been acquired later.
“Why did you make yourself look like this?” Li Shu asked.
The man tilted his head slightly and didn’t respond.
Li Shu didn’t get angry and continued to ask, “What’s your real name? Who does the name Daniel belong to?”
“My real name… I’ve even forgotten it myself.” Feeling the grip on his neck tightening, the man struggled to speak. “But I can tell you the answer to the second question. Daniel? He’s right in front of you.”
In front of him? Li Shu frowned. The only people in front of him were Lu Xi and the man. The man wasn’t Daniel, so it had to be Lu Xi. But was it really Lu Xi? Lu Xi was Daniel?
He looked at Lu Xi, whose expression didn’t change at all. The name Daniel didn’t seem to affect him at all. Li Shu thought for a moment and changed the question.
“What happened to Lu Xi earlier?” The man’s calm reaction to Lu Xi’s behavior showed that he knew something. As expected, the man provided a clear answer.
“That… that was many years ago. Someone took advantage of the King’s injury and conducted a small experiment on him, and he ended up like this.”
This so-called “small experiment” was clearly not small in the literal sense. “Was it done by humans?”
The man’s expression became strange. “How could that be possible?” His current state was undoubtedly linked to that experiment.
“You can stop wasting your efforts. That person died long ago. As for what exactly happened to the King, I have no idea either.”
The clues abruptly ended there.
His hand hanging by his side was suddenly grasped. Li Shu turned his head and looked at the incredibly handsome man in the afterglow of the setting sun. His heart suddenly relaxed. It didn’t matter. He still had a long time to slowly figure this out and solve this problem.
When the clouds dispersed, the rescue team arrived. Upon finding everyone unharmed, there was an obvious sigh of relief.
Everyone in the cabin had fallen unconscious so Lu Xi woke them up. They had not suffered any real harm and would recover after resting for a couple of days. Lu Xi himself was covered in injuries, but with his powerful self-healing ability, he would be fully recovered within a day. The only one who was seriously injured was the captain.
During the storm, the captain had accidentally hurt his waist. Compared to the thrilling and dangerous journey, he didn’t care much about these injuries.
After checking, everyone boarded the rescue ship. Their own ship had been severely damaged by the two sirens and was no longer usable.
With Yasu there, Lu Xi didn’t need to do everything himself. He handed the man over to Yasu and then took Li Shu into the lounge.
When Yasu saw the face that was identical to the King’s, he was momentarily surprised but he quickly suppressed it.
A lot of time had passed from the moment they entered the danger until now. After being tense for a long time, exhaustion swept over them after they relaxed. Li Shu leaned on Lu Xi’s shoulder, drowsy.
“I’ll have to investigate it thoroughly when I get back. I didn’t expect that even at the bottom of the sea, you’re not safe…”
While they were talking, Li Shu suddenly fell silent. Then his shoulder sank. When Lu Xi looked down, he found that Li Shu had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
The sleeping Li Shu lost his usual coldness, appearing soft and gentle. But Lu Xi knew that this person’s character had nothing to do with softness or gentleness.
As the King of the Sirens, he had never imagined he would fall for a weak human. Before meeting Li Shu, he saw everyone the same way and had no intention of seeking a mate. During estrus, when others were looking for mates and being affectionate, he was fighting, using killing to vent and release his excess energy. At those times, every creature in the ocean avoided Lu Xi—they had no desire to provoke the sexually frustrated Siren King.
After meeting Li Shu, everything changed. The first time he felt warmth was from Li Shu. The first time he broke free from the mania was also because of Li Shu… Li Shu had given him so many surprises, surprises that he carefully stored in his heart, savoring them from time to time.
He kissed Li Shu’s hair. Over time, he had realized that Li Shu wasn’t really Li Shu—there were two entirely different souls before and after. But so what? As long as Li Shu could stay by his side, he wouldn’t ask any questions. He carefully protected this pearl in his palm, and would never let anyone take it away.
This pearl was his, and only his!
The color of his eyes darkened, and the air pressure in the room dropped rapidly. Only the small area around Li Shu remained normal. A storm brewed in his eyes—if anyone dared to snatch Li Shu from him, he would never let it go.
Li Shu had a good sleep, and when he woke up, the ship was already close to shore. After what happened, their original plans were canceled. Even if Li Shu wanted to continue, the Li family and the higher-ups wouldn’t let him take any more risks.
When he woke up, Lu Xi wasn’t there. He put on a coat, touched the wound on his neck, and walked out.
It was still dark outside, and everything was quiet. Li Shu walked to the deck without encountering anyone.
There were already people on the deck—Lu Xi and Yasu. The two seemed to be discussing something. Li Shu hesitated, unsure whether to interrupt, but Lu Xi had already noticed him.
After saying a few words to Yasu, Lu Xi walked toward Li Shu, took his hand, and led him to the bow of the ship.
Yasu had already left. Li Shu nestled in Lu Xi’s arms, narrowing his eyes contentedly as the gentle sea breeze blew over them.
“I’ve already asked Yasu to investigate. Don’t worry,” Lu Xi whispered as he wrapped his arms around Li Shu from behind.
“Mm.”
“I’ve also arranged for someone to handle cooperation with humans. As long as you want, all the things you’re worried about will never happen.” Everything you want to do, I will accomplish for you.
Li Shu’s heart skipped a beat. Did Lu Xi know something?
He thought Lu Xi would ask him something, but he didn’t. After quietly holding him for a while, Lu Xi suddenly spoke, “Look, the sun is rising.”
A red sun slowly rose from the sea—an unmissable beauty in this world. The light chased away the darkness, and after the storm, they welcomed a brand-new day.
When they reached the shore, Li Shu immediately saw Li Yan, who had been waiting for a long time. Because he was worried about his brother, Li Yan had followed the team to the shore, wanting to be the first to hear about his brother’s safety.
Fortunately, he wasn’t disappointed. Under the morning sun, his brother had returned unharmed.
From there, Li Shu no longer needed to be involved. A special team was assigned to handle communication between humans and Sirens. As Lu Xi’s partner, Li Shu was kept informed of every new development. And due to the relationship between Lu Xi and Li Shu, communication between the two sides was smooth. Gradually, people began to notice merfolk appearing in their view. They slowly integrated into human society and gradually became accustomed to it.
After things settled down, Lin Luo confessed Yasu’s identity to his family. Despite some ups and downs, the two received the Lin family’s blessing. Gradually, many Sirens found their own partners. As more people and Sirens fell in love, the integration of Sirens into human society took a big step forward.
Li Shu took Lu Xi back to the base for a thorough physical examination. While Lu Xi was asleep, Li Shu also used his own faint power to probe Lu Xi’s body. Hefl found that after the seal was repaired, no problems could be found on Lu Xi’s body.
Not long after, Yasu brought news related to the man who looked exactly like Lu Xi, and also about Lu Xi himself. It turned out that before Lu Xi reached adulthood, a severely injured Siren on the brink of death tried to transfer his consciousness into Lu Xi’s body using a magical box, with the aim of returning to his peak state. At that time, Lu Xi was also gravely injured and was almost caught off guard, but later, that Siren died, leaving Lu Xi with some damage.
At that time, the man happened to be there. After Lu Xi completely lost consciousness, he nervously went to pick up the box. The moment he touched it, he was attacked by a powerful mental force and passed out. When he woke up, his appearance had changed, and the magical box had disappeared.
Lu Xi sent people to search the ocean floor for the box, but there wasn’t much hope—it was likely gone.
Yi Ziqi and the others also brought good news. Their research had made significant breakthroughs, and they believed that results could be achieved in the near future.
After dealing with Jiang Tao and his group, Li Shu lifted the information blockade on the base. During these days, everyone had heard about the news from the outside world and knew that the appearance of merfolk was no longer a secret. Moreover, their country was preparing to introduce merfolk into human society as intelligent beings on equal footing. It seemed that they were planning to unite as one family.
After bringing Lu Xi back to the base, Li Shu reintroduced Lu Xi’s new identity. From then on, when Lu Xi entered the base, he was no longer a mere experimental subject at the mercy of others but an equal presence among them.
After that, Li Shu took Lu Xi back to the Li family. This time, not only was his eldest brother present, but also his father, mother, sister, uncle, second uncle… They all came after hearing the news. It was only then that they learned Li Shu had a non-human boyfriend.
The relatives were all quite emotional about this. This child had always been eccentric since he was young. Not only did he like to study all sorts of strange species, but now even his choice of partner fell into the category of strange species.
“Have you really thought it through?” In the serious study, Li Shu’s parents were seated, while Li Shu and Lu Xi stood in front of them. After facing a barrage of “friendly” inquiries from relatives, the two were called into the study alone by Father Li and Mother Li.
The Li family had long been prepared for Li Shu to remain single for life. The only things that caught his attention were those rare and peculiar creatures. Ever since they could remember, Li Shu had been dealing with these things. Dating? What was that—was it something you could eat?
Facing his parents’ questioning gaze, Li Shu held Lu Xi’s hand, interlocking their fingers, and said firmly, “Dad, Mom, I’m very sure. I want to be with him.”
“Is it really not because he’s a merfolk?” Father Li couldn’t help but ask. He knew his son well. As long as his son didn’t say he wanted to be with some strange experimental creature, as long as the person was human, he could accept it.
But now, the one standing before him was not, strictly speaking, “human”.
Li Shu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Dad, what are you thinking? I’m with Lu Xi because I like him.” How did this end up being about Lu Xi’s species?
This was the first time Li Shu had said “like”. Lu Xi’s crimson eyes darkened, and he clasped Li Shu’s hand tightly. “I like him too. No, I love him. I promise to cherish him more than I cherish myself, and make him happy and worry-free for the rest of his life.”
His gaze was profound, like a sky full of stars, carrying an unwavering determination.
That’s what he thought, and that’s what he would do.
