MASG chapter 180: Extra 20

◎ Xia Yu wanted to spoil him, but what Mo An said also made sense: “What if he can’t swim?” ◎

Xia Yu was moved by his tears.

Back then, Mo An had cried like this too. It was almost as if time had reversed itself. Maybe they should just skip going into the water today?

The moment his brows furrowed slightly and he hesitated, A’Manqi tightened his embrace as if he had calculated it perfectly. The little fish fry was incredibly smart. Although Mo An treated him well too, Mo An was a big fish, and even posed a threat to his safety. As for the group of his own kind in the water, they would not kill him, but they showed no intention of accepting him either.

Only Xia Yu would patiently explain that the blue jellyfish were natural enemies and buy him tasty food. Thinking back further, A’Manqi still remembered fragments from when he had broken out of his egg. Xia Yu’s warm body had been the cradle where he landed, giving him the very first warmth in the world.

How could he possibly let go of that warmth? A’Manqi had become a greedy little fish fry.

But the moment Mo An saw Xia Yu’s expression, he knew things had gone wrong. Xia Yu definitely could not bear it anymore.

“Come on, I’ll hold him. Let him try going down.” Mo An took A’Manqi from his arms and immediately got punched by him. “Since we’ve come all the way to the seaside, at the very least he should get familiar with his home.”

Xia Yu wanted to spoil him, but what Mo An said also made sense. “What if he can’t swim?”

“I’ll hold on to him. It’ll be fine.” Mo An reassured Xia Yu, not wanting him to worry too much. Then he lowered his head and said to A’Manqi, “Maybe once you get into the sea, you’ll get better.”

“I won’t. I can’t get better. I want Xia Yu.” A’Manqi shook his head rapidly, scattering diamond tears everywhere, some landing here, some there, and many slipping through the cracks in the reef and falling into the seawater below. The sea breeze felt completely different on his face. It was so painful and so cold.

Mo An, however, found it extremely comfortable. “You’ll get better. You have to believe in your own abilities. Mermaids cannot admit defeat.”

A’Manqi pressed his little lips tightly together until they turned pale. “Mermaid cannot admit defeat…”

“Meng Qingqing is a siren. Her sisters are sirens too. I am as well. We’re all your kind. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of.” Mo An patted him, imitating the attitude Xi Ban had once used toward him, then continued, “It’s not that scary. Don’t let your own fear defeat you.”

Perhaps Mo An’s words had some effect. A’Manqi gained a little courage and nodded tearfully. Mo An felt bad seeing him cry, but for the sake of his future, he still carried him to the edge of the reef path.

The sea breeze brushed A’Manqi’s nose again. The drizzle dampened his face, leaving tiny droplets even on his eyelashes. He lowered his head. Mo An was holding his arm and lowering him toward the water. Beneath his feet was the ocean he had never touched before.

The ocean was so vast! A’Manqi looked toward the horizon first.

He could not tell what color the horizon was. The sky and sea blended into one. It was raining today. The sky was light gray, while the sea was dark gray. A’Manqi twitched his nose and, for the first time in his life, felt a connection with the ocean. He smelled salt.

What might be inside the sea?

Unable to help himself, he looked down beneath his feet…

And saw a mass of dark hair and a pale face!

“Ah! Help!” A’Manqi screamed in terror and looked upward in panic.

At that exact moment, his toes touched the seawater. It was unbelievably cold, colder than any seawater he had ever touched before, making him want to shiver. Suddenly, a row of waves surged toward the shore, soaking not only the tops of his feet but briefly covering his knees as well.

“I don’t want to go down. Xia Yu, I’m scared.” A’Manqi’s cries became hysterical.

Xia Yu had been standing behind Mo An the entire time. Now he could not care about anything else. He stepped forward and stopped Mo An.

“If he’s scared, then don’t make him go down. We can take it slowly.”

As he spoke, he took A’Manqi from Mo An’s arms.

With his legs soaked, A’Manqi returned to Xia Yu’s embrace and hid there, quietly sobbing.

Sigh…

Mo An had no choice but to look toward the sea. Meng Qingqing, who had been waiting underwater for A’Manqi to enter the water, also shook her head. It seemed this artificial mermaid truly did not belong here.

And so they returned without success, heading back to the middle level.

After returning, A’Manqi went to take a bath first. Xia Yu left him in Mo An’s care and went outside to start a video call with Xia Xiaoxiao.

The moment Xia Xiaoxiao saw her younger brother, she asked, “Are you feeling unwell? Why do you look so terrible?”

“Because… because I have something very difficult to deal with.” Xia Yu could not help telling her everything about A’Manqi.

At first, Xia Xiaoxiao thought they had simply rescued a mermaid, which should have been a good thing. But the more she listened, the more serious her expression became.

“What about giving him some medication?” In the end, Xia Xiaoxiao proposed a somewhat risky suggestion. “Silver Fang said there’s now a nerve-nourishing injection that’s already being used clinically.”

Xia Yu refused. “He’s too young. I can’t bear it.”

Xia Xiaoxiao could only say, “That’s true. He’s still young. There’s plenty of time. Maybe once he gains some weight, he’ll be able to swim. Perhaps all of you are worrying for nothing. Right now he’s just… too frail.”

While they were on the video call, Mo An carried the freshly bathed A’Manqi back to the bedroom.

He first placed A’Manqi on the bed, then sat by the bedside cabinet and took out a small glass bottle from the drawer.

“Mo An, Mo An.” A’Manqi crawled over and touched the powerful muscles of his thigh with his little hand.

“What is it?” Mo An asked softly.

Pointing at the bottle in his hand, A’Manqi asked, “Why are you collecting tears?”

These were all the tears he had cried on the reef path. Every one of them was light blue. Now Mo An had placed them into the little bottle, already filling nearly half of it.

Mo An rubbed his head. “Because this stuff can be exchanged for money.”

Money?

A’Manqi froze for a moment and could not help asking again, “What does money do?”

“Money lets us live better. It can buy things we like. It can buy useful weapons.” Mo An explained in the simplest way possible. He had not understood it when he was young either. Mermaid tears were the cheapest thing in the sea, yet once brought ashore, everyone fought over them.

A’Manqi’s mind was too simple. Even after Mo An simplified it, he still did not understand.

“Buy… things you like?”

Mo An put the bottle away. “That’s right. For example, if Xia Yu likes a piece of clothing, but we have no money and can’t afford it, then he’d have to stay naked. But if we exchange one tear for money, then we can afford it. Understand?”

This time A’Manqi understood. His eyes immediately reddened again.

“Xia Yu likes it… but can’t buy it. How pitiful. Why can’t he buy it? Is it because you haven’t cried enough?”

Huh?

What was going on?

Mo An felt his fish brain swelling again. His educational plan had been perfectly arranged. How had it gone crooked?

“Come on, let’s cry together! As long as we cry enough, Xia Yu will be able to buy lots and lots of clothes he likes!”

Having figured out the connection, A’Manqi hugged Mo An and burst into loud sobs. He cried with great effort, thoughtfully squeezing out huge tears, trying to leave behind the largest diamonds possible. As he cried, he became dissatisfied that Mo An was not crying too, so he cried while hitting him.

As a result, the more he hit him, the less Mo An cried. Instead, he clutched his stomach and laughed.

“You’re bad! You won’t cry! You won’t buy clothes for Xia Yu…” A’Manqi bit him fiercely.

By the time Xia Yu finished the video call and returned to the room, he was too stunned to speak.

The entire bed was covered in blue diamonds.

A’Manqi sat in the middle of the bed, tears falling nonstop, while Mo An laughed more happily than anyone else and eagerly collected the diamonds.

“Xia Yu, come quick! We’re rich this time!” Mo An still had not noticed Xia Yu’s expression changing again and again.

A few minutes later, Mo An was kneeling on the bed holding the bottle, while Xia Yu hugged the continuously crying A’Manqi and coaxed him.

“Stop crying, stop crying. I have clothes to wear.”

“I don’t believe you! I’m going to cry an entire sea!” A’Manqi’s voice was nearly hoarse from crying. “I don’t want you to be naked. You need to wear lots and lots of clothes.”

Just explaining the matter took a very long time.

By the end, A’Manqi was crying so hard that he had the hiccups and lay on the bed silently shedding tears.

Mo An desperately held back his laughter. He had finally discovered the joy of raising a little fish. If he got the chance in the future, he would trick him again!

Two more days passed.

A’Manqi finally believed that Xia Yu had more clothes than he could ever wear. However, another problem had arrived—treatment and rehabilitation.

In the mornings, Mo An carried him to the laboratory. Professor Wang Qin and Brother Xiang Xing would use small needles on his legs and then apply electricity, constantly observing the reactions in his legs.

Two days later, in the afternoon, Mo An and Xia Yu brought him to an unfamiliar place—a swimming pool.

“Starting today, you’re going to learn how to swim. At the very least, you need to overcome your inner fear and stop being afraid of water,” Mo An said seriously.

A’Manqi was still planning to use the same trick and pretend to be pitiful so that Xia Yu would take him home again.

But today, Xia Yu had made up his mind as well.

Professor Wang and Xiang Xing had both encouraged A’Manqi to try entering the water. He could not keep giving in anymore.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll be right by the pool.” Xia Yu rubbed A’Manqi’s ear. “Look, this is a swimming pool. It’s only a little over two meters deep. The water is very clear. I’ll be able to see you at a glance.”

“Will there be big dark fish in the water?” A’Manqi remembered the sirens from that day.

“No. Only Mo An will be with you.” Xia Yu nodded.

Seeing that there was no escaping this time, the clever A’Manqi accepted reality and reluctantly released Xia Yu’s hand.

Mo An took him. “We have two ways to enter the water. One is to walk down the steps. The other is to go straight in.”

“I choose the steps,” A’Manqi said.

Mo An smiled subtly. “Mermaids never use steps.”

After saying that, he carried A’Manqi and leaped into the water.

It happened so fast that Xia Yu could not even react.

Water splashed everywhere, even reaching the ceiling. Nuwa and Jingwei immediately redirected the surveillance cameras toward them, and the underwater cameras activated at the same time.

A’Manqi swallowed water with his first breath.

Fortunately, it was not seawater.

Driven by fear, he tried to cling to Mo An, but Mo An released him instead.

“Open your eyes, A’Manqi. Mermaids can see clearly underwater,” Mo An ordered.

Open his eyes?

Could he?

A’Manqi dared to open his eyes in the aquarium, but not here.

His tear membrane had not developed properly and could not turn black. Now he could not move either. He could only allow his body to keep sinking until he slowly settled on the bottom of the pool.

Fortunately, his gill slits were functioning normally and opened completely.

Could he really open his eyes?

He still did not believe it.

Both hands stretched forward, searching aimlessly for Mo An.

He wanted to call out Mo An’s and Xia Yu’s names, but in the end, only two bubbles escaped his mouth.

At that moment, he remembered Xia Yu’s promise.

The water was clear.

Xia Yu would be able to see him.

Thinking of this, A’Manqi opened his eyes into a narrow slit.

A huge dark shadow flashed past!

What was that?!

Startled, A’Manqi opened his eyes completely.

The first thing he saw was the ceiling light.

Through the water’s surface, he could see Xia Yu waving at him.

Then the terrifying shadow approached again.

The powerful current forced A’Manqi to flip over involuntarily, then roll back again, as though he had been caught in a whirlpool.

When he looked upward once more, Mo An, his silver hair spread out, drifted past him like an indestructible ship.

So… so big!

So big!

A’Manqi was stunned, staring at Mo An’s tail with admiration.

This was the first time he had seen Mo An’s mermaid form.

Just the tail alone was too much for him to take in.

The black tail reflected all kinds of colors, and the scales looked like glass.

His fins were different from A’Manqi’s. He had them on his arms, on his back, and on his tail.

He had more gill slits than A’Manqi and more pelvic fins as well.

No matter how he looked at it, he was an enormous fish.

“Come, grab hold of me.” The sea demon Mo An extended a hand toward A’Manqi.

This time, A’Manqi gathered all his courage and grabbed it.

If hard work could allow him to become a mermaid as powerful as Mo An, then he was willing.

 

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Author’s Note:

The fish fry in Xia Yu’s eyes: a fragile little fish.

The fish fry in Mo An’s eyes: an investment product!!!