MASG chapter 103

 

A beautiful whirlpool.

Nixida was inside it, and that was his first thought.

There are many kinds of whirlpools in the deep sea. Some are murky and filled with the aura of death. If you are not a siren with fast swimming speed and great strength, once you are sucked in, it is likely you won’t be able to get out. Some whirlpools bring abundant nutrients — perhaps they are the ocean’s flow, its blood vessels.

The sea is a living being full of vitality and hope. It is a magnificent living being in its own right. It adjusts the climate according to its own condition. The sound of its breathing is the sound of the waves, which mermaids can understand.

But no whirlpool was as beautiful as the one before him.

A faint blue-green light hid in every drop of seawater, creating mysterious refractions. This light reflected on the mermaid’s scales, and Nixida realized for the first time that his fishtail could be multicolored black. He opened his elbow fins as if he had gained two powerful wings and threw himself into the Ocean Mother’s embrace.

The seawater brushed past his skin as if cleansing him of the fatigue and conviction of his long journey, offering warmth and comfort.

Nixida closed his eyes, devoting himself fully to enjoying it all. Many mermaids would come to see Haisiruola when they reached adulthood. Some came alone; others came in groups with their sisters. He had come alone, like a pilgrimage.

But a pilgrimage could not be that simple. One always had to pay the price. Several times, Nixida was nearly thrown out by the whirlpool; his sense of direction completely failed him. This was a harsh trial, both physically and emotionally, as well as a test of his confidence and faith. Each time he couldn’t catch his breath, it felt as if he could hear mermaids singing. Some sounded encouraging, while others tempted him to give up.

Even without seeing Haisiruola, mermaids are forever children of the ocean. It’s fine.

His gill slits seemed about to stop working; he was unable to breathe at all. Layer after layer of seawater rushed into his gills, turning the bright red flesh into a pale pink. His heart beat rapidly in his chest. His ribs expanded urgently, as if about to break through the skin. Nixida was having a harder time than any other mermaid simply because part of his tail fin was missing.

Why was part of it missing?

Nixida guessed it was a scar left over from when he hatched; mermaids have strong survival abilities, but no regenerative function. But what creature in the world can regenerate? He couldn’t think of one.

The whirlpool grew faster and faster, and the light before his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Nixida felt as if he had fallen into a kaleidoscope.

Oxygen was about to run out! He used all his swimming techniques, mobilizing every muscle and integrating the human skeleton of his upper body with the fish skeleton of his lower body to move accurately. As he swam, he tilted again. He adjusted his direction and spread all three pairs of pelvic fins horizontally.

The base of his dorsal fin and his tail were incredibly painful, pulling at his skin.

Don’t give up, don’t give up. Maybe in this vast ocean, there were other companions who hadn’t given up either. Nixida widened his eyes and pressed his ear fins tightly backward to protect them. He thought again of the others he had met along the way: Aibaoyin, Aituoda, Kuni, Qiuman, Gulynas, Hu Yu… and Little Star, who had been deceived by humans.

When he turned into a human, he was delicate and cute. When he turned into a mermaid, he had gray hair and skin. When he turned into an Abyssal Beast, he resembled a blue whale, but his eyes were compassionate. It was said that humans once went to war with mermaids, and the Abyssal Beasts had the most casualties. Many Abyssal Beasts used their enormous bodies to ram warships and submarines.

All of these were branches living in the deep sea. It is said that thousands of meters above them, there are White Sirens and double-tailed ones. The shallowest layer of the ocean was the territory of sirens. Sirens acted as warriors for the mermaids, protecting the ocean’s surface and staying alert to any foreign species attempting to enter it.

Of course, there was also the snake woman who sought justice for herself.

The mermaids became silhouettes and, in an instant, poured into his heart and turned into his source of strength.

The mermaids are me, and I am the mermaids. No matter where I grew up, the mermaids will forever be my family.

The moment Nixida found his sense of belonging, the whirlpool stopped. It was as if the whirlpool had never existed. All along, he had been fighting and competing with himself. His thoughts produced a corresponding reaction in the seawater. As he calmed down, the seawater calmed down too.

“You’ve come, Nixida.”

“Who?” Nixida stopped in place. It was still pitch black around him, without the dazzling colors he had imagined.

“I am Haisiruola.”

“How do you know my name? Are you really…?” Nixida looked around. He had wanted to see what Haisiruola looked like since the other mermaid wouldn’t tell him.

The voice sounded like it was slowly telling an ancient story: “Of course. I know the names of all the mermaids, and I deeply understand each of your personalities and preferences. Congratulations, you have successfully transformed into a siren. This journey was truly hard on you.”

“No, it wasn’t hard. Actually, I took a shortcut.” Nixida didn’t want to lie to Haisiruola. It was a fact he couldn’t hide. “I didn’t swim here tail by tail. Along the way, I borrowed the strength of a Abyssal Beast.”

“Oh? You really are a lovely child. You didn’t have to say that. Don’t you want me to see your speed and courage in a new light?”

“No, no, no, that’s not important. What I want isn’t praise.” Nixida continued to look around. The faint light in the sea made him feel at ease, as if countless little pearls were glowing. “I…I have something I want to ask for help with.”

Haisiruola’s voice was everywhere: “Let me guess… You want to remember everything, right?”

“Yes!” Nixida had guessed that Haisiruola would definitely know. He could say nothing at all. “And there’s another thing. I want to know—are my parents still alive?”

Haisiruola paused for two seconds.

“I knew your parents, Nixida. Back then, your mother came here too. She was a brave and pure siren. Your father loved her deeply. You were not born of a sorrowful union. You were born of love. Because of you, they experienced a happiness and joy they had never known before. You are their xla.”

“Xla… So I used to be their Xla…” Nixida couldn’t help but smile. “Are they doing well? Did I grow up as a mermaid in human society? Why weren’t they with me?”

“These matters are closely related to the memories you lost. Nixida, never doubt the love in this world. If there’s anything worth believing in forever, it’s sincerity, selfless devotion, and lofty ideals.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure.” Nixida let out a sigh. The things Haisiruola spoke of seemed to have nothing to do with him at all.

“Nixida, I possess all the memories of the mermaids, as well as their future. However, I cannot control the lives of all mermaids. True control is still in your hands. If you wish, you can remember everything. You don’t have to rely on my power. Nixida, you have really grown up. I’m very happy that you could come back.”

“If I want to? I’ve thought about it for a long time…” Nixida gradually sank into dejection. He really wanted to, but he had never been able to figure it out.

Outside the vortex, a Abyssal Beast shrank until it turned into a light-gray mermaid. It clung to Hu Yu’s back at once. “Sister, I’m very tired.”

“You’ve worked hard. These days, it’s all thanks to you.” Hu Yu fondly stroked her younger brother’s hair. “How do you feel now?”

Little Star nodded and stared at the center of the whirlpool. “I don’t know if Nixida will fully remember everything. He’s very strong. If it were me, I would have been defeated by loneliness.”

As he said this, a mermaid swam out from the whirlpool. It was Nixida, who had gone in not long ago. Everyone swam over all at once, surrounding him and bobbing up and down. Seeing that he looked troubled, they didn’t dare ask him directly about the result.

“How did it go?” In the end, Aituoda gathered his courage and spoke up. Sigh, if trouble comes, so be it.

“I met Haisiruola and listened to her wise words. She acknowledged my identity and existence, but…” Nixida lowered his head and gripped the aquamarine crystal. “She told me to think it through myself.”

Aituoda was shocked. “Ah? Think it through myself? But you’ve already been thinking about it for a long time!”

“Yes, I’m worried that I won’t be able to remember. In fact, I’m even more worried that it will take me decades.” Nixida was extremely anxious. “If I remember everything decades later, will my memories still have any value? The people I care about will have already returned to Earth’s embrace. The feelings I care about will no longer exist. If someone is waiting for me, then this will be a pitiful, sorrowful life.”

How could it be like this? Nixida couldn’t understand it. Along the way, he had encouraged Nixida precisely because they believed in Haisiruola’s power. But now… He wanted to say something more, to speak up for Nixida. However, Aibaoyin suddenly grabbed his hand and shook her head.

“Let him think it through himself,” Kuni said as well.

Aituoda could only fall silent and let Nixida swim off into the distance. There was an ocean current in the distance. Nixida positioned himself within the current and began to reflect on his memories.

If I think it through myself? How do I think?

His head hurt badly, and he felt dizzy. Every time he tried to think more deeply, it was as if an unfamiliar force was preventing him from remembering. But this time, he tried not to care about the pain. If even Haisiruola told him to do it himself, who else in this world could help him?

The only thing he could rely on—was it only his own strength?

Nixida closed his eyes and covered his ears with both hands. Without the flexible ear fins of a Black Siren, he could only block out external sounds this way. The seabed was not noisy. What he wanted to block out was the scattered fear. He was afraid he wouldn’t remember.

Remember, remember, Nixida, Nixida!

That silhouette appeared before his eyes once again—somewhat thin and walking slowly. In his mind, he chased after it. Stop, wait for me!

The pain intensified. His temples hurt so much that they went numb, and the back of his head hurt too.

In the past, whenever the pain reached this level, Nixida stopped thinking because he felt certain that Haisiruola would step in. She would explain everything clearly to him! But now it wasn’t like that. He could only keep moving forward. The silhouette grew larger, but was still unclear.

He didn’t know how long he had been in mental pain when he suddenly heard a voice that was both unfamiliar and familiar.

“Mo An.”

“Mo An.”

“Mo An.”

Wait! Who is Mo An? Who is Mo An? Is that silhouette Mo An? Nixida gasped, gulping down seawater. His head hurt too much—not just the back of it. This time, his spine hurt too. The intense pain spread to his fishtail. He swung his asymmetrical tail fin, trying to drive away the pain. But the moment he saw the fin, he saw something else.

In a gray, deep-water pool in an abandoned dump, separated by a layer of egg membrane, he could only vaguely make out things.

The silhouette was still in front of him. Nixida stared at him in his mind and continued to chase him. More and more voices gathered in his head. Someone spoke to him.

“Mo An, what does getting married mean? Does it mean eating good food together in the future? Then we can get married.”

“You’re still so small. What am I supposed to do with you?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little jellyfish.”

“I’m a little jellyfish, sinking and floating every day.”

“Run! Run!”

“Ah…” Nixida squeezed his temples with both hands. The veins on the backs of his hands were about to burst. Was he about to catch up to that silhouette? Who was that person?

Left with no other choice, Nixida opened his eyes and suddenly saw the aquamarine crystal. The transparent crystal stabbed straight into his heart, leaving behind a faintly aching wound. Gathering his resolve, he caught up to the person in his mind. Trembling and carefully, he placed his hand on that person’s shoulder.

He wanted to see who they really were!

The person slowly turned around, revealing a pair of watery eyes. “A-Ni.”

Nixida froze, unable to move. A-Ni, Nixida, Mo An—the three names circled back and forth in his heart, none willing to settle. He was lost. His tear membrane retracted uncontrollably. The whites of his eyes were filled with blood vessels, yet he still couldn’t think of the right answer.

At that moment, a new stream of seawater flowed into his gill slits.

His frozen body thawed. Nixida’s arms dropped. The bloody smell of the seawater made him come to his senses, clearly sliding through every cell of his body. His ear fins folded up and his tear membrane lowered again. Nixida’s fishtail seemed unable to move, suspended in the water.

“A-Ni.” The person in his memories was finally clearly seen by him.

Mo An opened his eyes once more and let fall a single pink diamond tear:

Xia Yu. Mo An trembled uncontrollably.