MASG chapter 83

 

So cold.

A mermaid’s body temperature is lower than a human’s and better suited for survival in the deep sea.

However, Xia Yu’s mouth was warm. Despite being a genetically modified human, he had a normal body temperature. He warmed Mo An and had been doing so for many years without realizing it. The warmth lingered as the little chubby fish grew up, reaching nearly to the sky with his frighteningly bold courage.

When had the two of them become like this?

Xia Yu wasn’t too sure. It was unexpected and unimaginable yet perfectly natural, a matter of course. He wasn’t a fool. Even if he couldn’t determine whether his affection for Mo An was love, he could tell how important this person was to him. They had surpassed being mere “companions.”

There were many companions: Mi Dou, Xi Ban, Silver Fang, and Yan Xia, for example. But Xia Yu would never kiss any of them, nor could he imagine doing so. Yet, when Mo An was reckless and impatient, pressing down without warning, Xia Yu did not push him away.

His body’s acceptance ignited a roaring fire in Xia Yu’s mind, burning everything to the ground. The fire reached the reason he had always prided himself on. His reason waved goodbye as the backyard went up in flames.

Then, he heard Mo An’s laughter.

“You don’t seem to hate it.” Mo An tasted him lightly, then smiled. “Do you like it?”

Xia Yu pressed his lips together, not speaking. At times like this, his usual sharp tongue vanished. But he really didn’t hate it—he was uncertain, half-pushed, half-accepting of being held by his younger brother and even kissed. He hated the evasion and timidity in that moment, acting like a stubborn child.

Yet, Mo An didn’t care. He looked down at Xia Yu with complete satisfaction. Everything about Xia Yu was beautiful. He didn’t only look at him from a male’s appreciative perspective, but a single glance softened his heart.

Meng Qingqing always said that sirens were cruel and terrifying, doomed to resurrect their bloodthirsty genes. But Mo An wasn’t like that. He believed that Xia Yu had softened him. How could he be cruel, growing up with someone like this?

“You’re really beautiful.” Mo An said, panting, and kissed Xia Yu’s smooth, full forehead again. He parted Xia Yu’s jet-black, silky bangs with his hands, his fingertips still not satisfied, lightly tapping the space between his eyebrows.

This time, Xia Yu didn’t pull away; he closed his eyes instead. Mo An’s fingertips remained cold, slow, and careful, afraid of leaving a mark on Xia Yu’s skin. Xia Yu knew all too well how mermaids tore their prey, so he was particularly shocked by Mo An’s carefulness. When the touch ended, light snow began to fall over the frozen island.

The snowflakes drifted lightly, unaware of the impending battle. They melted on Xia Yu’s face and rested on Mo An’s.

“Actually, you’re also very beautiful.” Xia Yu brushed the snowflakes from Mo An’s head.

Mo An smelled the icy water and the cold of the surrounding ocean. His hand paused at Xia Yu’s lips, touching their slightly upturned corners. He heard footsteps—not from behind or the side, but from the front. But was it really approaching? It didn’t seem so; it was just a small forward movement.

At that moment, Xia Yu stood on tiptoe and placed both hands on Mo An’s shoulders.

The control center training suit was rough and hard, making Mo An’s shoulders appear straight and strong. Xia Yu thought of Lao Gui’s bombproof suit—made of metal and stone slabs, not very pleasant to the touch.

Getting closer and closer, Mo An’s ear fins stood up involuntarily like two waving flags. When Xia Yu’s trembling lips pressed against his, the fins stood straight up as if saluting someone. They were inexperienced and didn’t know to close their eyes for romance. Like toddlers learning to walk, they were mindful of each other and studied each other before finally approaching without hesitation.

This was the second kiss, initiated by Xia Yu.

Did Mo An like him this much? Was he willing to risk being poisoned just to kiss him? Xia Yu was confused, his chest warming and his lips parting slightly. His soft lips became pearls between their mouths. Mo An was slow to react. When he realized that Xia Yu’s tongue had entered his mouth, the mermaid finally understood—this was a real kiss.

It wasn’t just pressing lips together.

As their lips opened and closed, Mo An dared to take Xia Yu in.

This was the Blue jellyfish, capable of killing millions of mermaids and the mermaids’ natural enemy. However, when the artificial mermaid appeared, the Blue jellyfish might become their guardian. Nature’s craftsmanship was cruel, yet these two could only express their feelings through their arms and lips. They used force to grind and savor the moist taste in each other’s mouths.

They gradually progressed from slow and clumsy to shallow and deep, from unskilled to finding a knack, savoring various pleasures along the way. A snowflake landed on Mo An’s eyelash. Xia Yu couldn’t wait for it to melt, so he hooked both hands around Mo An’s neck. His waist was slim; Mo An needed only a little force to nearly strangle him. One hand rubbed his scalp and slid into his hair. They both closed their eyes together.

The world was on the verge of destruction, but theirs had been rebuilt.

Separated from them by a wall, Mi Dou didn’t dare make a sound or look outside. He hurried back and bumped straight into 107’s arms. “Ouch…”

“Why are you so panicked?” 107 slowly held him. “Where are they?”

“Don’t go over there! Absolutely don’t go over there!” Mi Dou blocked 107, not daring to let him ruin the good situation outside; otherwise, Mo An’s tail would lash out and who knows how many people would get knocked away. “That…that…Xia Yu and Mo An are outside…”

“It’s snowing. What are the two of them doing outside?” 107 curiously peeked out.

Mi Dou quickly covered his eyes. “They’re… cough, cough… doing couple things.”

107 pushed Mi Dou’s hands away and tilted his head in confusion. “Oh, right! It’s Mo An’s breeding season, so they’re breeding!”

“Shh! Don’t speak so loudly. Don’t be so blunt.” Mi Dou’s little round face burned red as he touched his fingers together to gesture. “They’re doing this, got it?”

As his fingertips touched, Mi Dou added onomatopoeia: “Pop, pop, pop, pop.”

“Oh… now I get it. They’re kissing. Kissing is the precursor to breeding. After the kiss, they’ll start breeding.” For mermaids, this process was simple and natural. They express love to their partner, feed them three times, acknowledge their bond in front of the sisters, never part, and then engage in intense breeding behavior.

Isn’t this normal? The only thing that shocked 107 was that Mo An liked males, not females. 107 had never seen a male mermaid love another male mermaid. However, he didn’t intend to judge. Only Haisiruola had the authority to evaluate others’ love.

“Stop talking! They…they won’t breed!” Mi Dou didn’t dare think too deeply about it. The idea of his former friend wanting to breed—ah, he didn’t want to imagine it. He couldn’t accept that Mo An had asked him for an antidote for that reason.

“They’ll breed sooner or later. They just can’t produce fish eggs. Too bad.” 107 sighed. “By the way, Silver Fang is looking for you. Go quickly.”

Mi Dou didn’t dare listen to 107. After hearing that, images of Xia Yu spawning filled his mind—strange and terrifying. He ran back to the control room following the stairs. Silver Fang had just finished connecting the device, and the holographic screen was split into two parts: one showing Yan Xia and the other showing Lao Gui.

“Really decided?” Lao Gui kept smoking.

“Decided. Once the time comes, we’ll go to Yukun City. How are things on your side?” Silver Fang adjusted the gun on his wrist.

“Things are still the same here. Nuwa is watching me.” Lao Gui clearly had something on his mind. “You really have to think carefully. Once you go, it’s equivalent to officially declaring war on Nuwa. I can’t help you much…”

“Are you really decided?” Yan Xia frowned.

Silver Fang let out two short, dry laughs. “Since we’ve come this far, we’re obviously going to do something big. Take care, especially you, Yan Xia.”

“I don’t need you to remind me.” Yan Xia was also smoking, and the ash from his cigarette was almost filling the ashtray. “Old buddy.”

“What?” Silver Fang raised his head.

“I don’t know how I can help, but if there’s anything I can do, let me know. The electronic corruption zones are spreading more and more. If this continues, the whole world might be finished. Even the middle layers have had a small accident. I always say the Earth should just explode, but…” Yan Xia paused briefly, the words he wanted to say pressing against his eyes. “But I still deeply love this ocean-blue planet.”

“Hahaha, you rarely get so sentimental. Are you going to cry now? Are you really crying?” Silver Fang laughed heartily.

“Get lost.” Annoyed by him, Yan Xia pressed the end-call button early. Only Lao Gui remained on the screen. He wore a bitter smile instead. “Robot, can you promise me one thing?”

“Call me Robot again, and I’ll kill you.” Silver Fang urged. “Say it quickly. Mi Dou still needs to use it.”

“Alright, alright. I only have one request: carry the contact device with you. If you can’t make it, open it quickly so we can see you one last time.” Lao Gui laughed dryly. Silver Fang cursed under his breath as he ended the call and selected a new channel.

The screen flickered, and Mi Lian appeared.

“Mom!” Mi Dou ran to the center of the screen.

“Why are you wearing so little? Judging by the coordinates you sent, you’re on Frozen Island now. It’s too cold there. Can you handle it?” Mi Lian’s gaze never left her son, expressing all her worry and longing. Mi Dou thought he was strong and mature enough, but at that moment, he felt a sharp ache at the bridge of his nose.

“Mom, I’m sorry.” He spoke with tears in his eyes. Ever since he was little, he had been causing trouble, and now he had caused a huge one.

“Don’t say that. I don’t want to hear you say these things to me.” Mi Lian gratefully glanced at Silver Fang, thanking him for taking care of her son, but she knew that now that he was grown, she could no longer control him. All the emotions tangled together and condensed into a short question.

“When are you coming home?”

The ache at the bridge of his nose exploded. Mi Dou smiled and said, “When we finish solving everything, we’ll go back.”

Of course, this “everything” included Yukun City. He didn’t dare mention it because it might take a very long time. Or maybe… Mi Dou shook his head quickly and smiled again. “Mom, I’ll return to Qingyao City like a big hero.”

“You’re just a little bear. Don’t force yourself to be a hero. Mom can protect you.” Mi Lian sensed that she could no longer persuade her son, and everyone knew the situation in Yukun City—it was most likely a death sentence.

“I will become a big hero. Wait for me to come home. After I get back, I want to eat a hundred honey cakes.” Mi Dou scrunched his nose, trying to drive away the pain on his face. “A hundred. We agreed.”

“Looks like I need to prepare in advance. A hundred isn’t a small number.” Mi Lian also held back her tears. As a mother, she only wanted Dou Dou to come back. She didn’t want to be the selfless mother who lets her son solve world peace and fix the conflict between humans and Nuwa. In the end, however, she swallowed her unease and didn’t let the child go off with wild thoughts of being a world hero.

“Silver Fang, please take care of Dou Dou.” With little time left, Mi Lian hurriedly thanked Silver Fang.

Silver Fang nodded in response. Then the screen disappeared—the signal on Frozen Island had never been very good. Only then did Mi Dou dare to wipe away his tears. He was choking so badly that he couldn’t speak. Meanwhile, Xiang Xing sat with a pile of mushrooms, ready to leave. It seemed he had no one to give instructions to. He had grown up in Yukun City, and he was finally going back.

Preparation time passed in a flash. The weather on Frozen Island was unpredictable, quickly turning from light snow to a blizzard. Snowflakes the size of half a palm slapped against faces, causing sharp pain. Visibility on the sea was extremely low. Even with the ship’s lights at maximum brightness, very little could be seen.

Xia Yu stood at the bow. They set off in such extreme weather. His wristband vibrated—Jingwei had finally come online.

Jingwei: [Xia Yu, are you all okay?]

“For now, everything’s fine,” Xia Yu replied into his wristband. “How about you?”

Jingwei: [I turned back into a human again, but I still can’t fly. Sigh.]

“I believe you’ll definitely be able to fly in the future. Give us some time, and give yourself some time, too.” Xia Yu found a place to sit and quietly asked Jingwei, “There’s something I’m very curious about. Where exactly is your mainframe? Why have I never heard you talk about it?”

Jingwei: [This question… do you really want to know?]

“Of course,” Xia Yu answered firmly.

Jingwei: [The answer is… actually, I don’t know either. I can clearly sense that I have a physical mainframe; I just can’t find it.]

“So that’s how it is…” Xia Yu took a sip of hot water and answered, drawing on his extensive knowledge. “Before I met you, I hesitated. I thought you were just called ‘Jingwei.’ But after meeting you, I realized that you really are Jingwei. In the legends, the Jingwei bird gathers stones from the Western Mountains and throws them into the Eastern Sea in an attempt to fill it. Yukun City borders the Eastern Sea. Could your mainframe be hidden in the mountains west of Yukun City?”