LSDWTWHA chapter 13

Chapter 13

Just when Qi Hanyi was racking his brains on how to end this ridiculous marriage alliance, Su Su continued to live comfortably, sleeping soundly after eating his fill every day.

There was still a week until the next dose of mermaid medicine, and Su Su diligently counted the days each day.

Next time, next time I’ll surely be able to transform into a human!

Although living without worrying about food and being able to browse forums online made him quite happy, Su Su still wanted the chance to see the real human world.

After all, he had come all this way.

On the fifth day after Qi Hanyi returned home, he received news from his subordinates that Qi Xingli had returned to the main residence.

Qi Hanyi immediately set off for the main residence, preparing to discuss with his grandfather once again the matter of not marrying a mermaid.

When he arrived at the main residence, Qi Xingli was already dressed in home clothes, sitting in the tea room talking to several visiting officials.

Qi Xingli was nearly seventy years old but looked remarkably vigorous, with an imposing presence even without being angry. If one disregarded his graying hair, one could easily believe he was in his forties.

He had the tall stature characteristic of the Qi family, and his eyes were as fierce and sharp as an eagle. The officials visiting him unconsciously adopted a respectful and submissive posture in front of him.

“Family head.” Qi Hanyi stopped at the door.

Qi Xingli glanced at him without surprise: “You’re here.”

But he only greeted him briefly, seeming not inclined to entertain his grandson and future heir.

Qi Hanyi held a high official position, and those officials who had been drinking tea stood up one by one to greet him.

“General Qi.”

“Mm.” Qi Hanyi gave a simple response, as he had never quite learned the art of civil officials’ empty politeness.

Since Qi Xingli didn’t invite him in, he quietly stood at the door, his icy gaze sweeping over the people in the room, like a large cold storage that made others involuntarily shiver.

Soon, the officials could no longer sit still. They didn’t know what conflict was between the grandfather and grandson, but they understood the logic of when the king fights, the little ghost gets hurt. They couldn’t afford to offend either side, so they each found a reason and excused themselves.

The tea room became empty, leaving only Qi Xingli alone in the main seat, silently confronting Qi Hanyi standing outside.

Qi Xingli picked up his teacup and drank leisurely. Qi Hanyi stood firmly at the door, motionless, waiting.

Stealing glances, Qi Xingli observed Qi Hanyi’s well-fitted attire and straight posture, resembling a sword sheathed, patiently waiting for the moment to draw it.

Indeed, he looked like the heir he was most satisfied with. Unfortunately…

Qi Xingli finally spoke: “So, you want to break off the engagement?”

“Yes. I will not marry a mermaid.” Qi Hanyi stated directly.

Qi Xingli placed the teacup back on the table: “Oh? Is the mermaid princess not pretty enough? Not to your liking?”

“It’s not that. I just… don’t like mermaids.” Qi Hanyi replied.

“If you don’t like them, then kill them,” Qi Xingli deliberately twisted his words, “Just have the Mermaid Kingdom send another one over, as many as you want, until you’re satisfied.”

Qi Hanyi sensed the threat behind Qi Xingli’s words and pursed his lips: “You know very well that’s not what I mean. I don’t like the mermaid race, nor do I want to form a marriage alliance. No matter how many mermaids there are, I will never be satisfied.”

Qi Xingli scoffed coldly, his voice deep: “But that’s what I mean.”

The killing intent in his words was almost undisguised, implying that if Qi Hanyi refused to marry, he could wipe out all the eligible mermaids in the Mermaid Kingdom.

Seeing Qi Hanyi silent, Qi Xingli continued: “I know you harbor resentment. It’s fine; you can take your revenge. There are plenty of mermaids. Kill as many as you like, until you’re no longer angry, until you’re willing to marry them.”

Qi Xingli slammed the table: “But I only have one heir.”

Qi Hanyi’s gaze moved slightly. He could tell his grandfather’s determination. He was being threatened, but if he insisted on not marrying a mermaid, these threats might very well become reality.

Mermaids were important to humans, but not that important; as long as they weren’t wiped out, new mermaids would grow up quickly. As the Minister of Defense of the Empire and a general who had fought for many years, Qi Xingli didn’t place much value on human lives, let alone the lives of mermaids.

“You’re threatening me,” Qi Hanyi said. “But I already dislike mermaids; whether they live or die is irrelevant to me. I will not marry a mermaid, that is my answer, and it will not change.”

“Fine, then we’ll start with the one from your household,” Qi Xingli raised his hand to summon several Qi family guards: “Go, bring that mermaid princess over. I’d like to ask her how she got our General Qi so upset.”

As Qi Xingli spoke, a silver-white small shark flashed before Qi Hanyi’s eyes.

The mermaid hybrid. As the first candidate for marriage, she was even disguised; if Grandfather found out, she would undoubtedly die.

“Wait!” At the moment the guards exited the door, Qi Hanyi spoke up: “She didn’t upset me.”

“Is that so? Since there’s no issue, then you two should get along well. Don’t rush to break off the engagement. I’ve always praised you for being mature; how come as you grow older, you’re acting more like an impulsive child?” Qi Xingli’s tone trailed off, as if waiting for Qi Hanyi’s response.

“Yes.” After a long moment, Qi Hanyi closed his eyes briefly.

After Qi Hanyi left, the old butler refilled Qi Xingli’s teapot and curiously asked, “Family head, how did you know that your young master would compromise under such arrangements?”

“I don’t have complete assurance. However, if he wants to break off the engagement, he won’t find anyone here, and naturally, he’ll need to return to meet that mermaid.”

“Since he’s negotiating a break-off, he’ll surely promise the other party some conditions. Hanyi values promises heavily; he’s been through hardships since childhood, and he’s especially good at remembering the favors of others. If that mermaid princess is willing to help him, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch me kill her.”

The old butler flattered, “You’re still impressive.”

Qi Xingli gazed at the back of Qi Hanyi as he left and sighed softly, with no hint of pleasure about achieving his goal: “Impressive? If I truly had a way, I wouldn’t want to force him like this.”

That night, Qi Hanyi had a nightmare.

The dream began as it always did, that woman sat at the bow of the boat, screaming madly: “I hate you all! I hate you all! Die! Let’s die together…”

Then he was pulled down into the icy, bone-chilling sea water.

As the water submerged him, he was dragged down constantly. There was no escape, no way to break free.

At first, he only felt cold and darkness. Then came the painful burning sensation in his lungs as oxygen was exhausted.

The feeling of suffocation reemerged. His consciousness began to blur.

“Blub blub blub—” A stream of bubbles appeared in his field of vision, and a silver-white shark’s figure overlapped with his memory. That shark was significantly larger than in his memory, its mouth wide open as it rushed toward him.

Am I going to be eaten? Such relief would be good enough.

Qi Hanyi closed his eyes.

But—

His collar was caught, and he began to ascend. That shark actually saved him.

“Ha!” Qi Hanyi opened his eyes, gasping for air. Oxygen rushed into his nostrils, and he was revivified. With his vision restored, the beach, the coral rocks, and the shark all vanished without a trace.

He lay in his bed at home, his heart racing, his body still numb from the suffocation.

Getting out of bed, he pulled back the blackout curtains in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The moonlight was bright, just like the night he awakened on the rocky shore.

Qi Hanyi opened the window. The late summer evening breeze carried a hint of chill, yet he seemed oblivious, wearing only a thin garment and standing barefoot in front of the window.

He lit a cigarette.

If someone he knew saw him, they would likely be shocked. After all, in others’ eyes, Qi Hanyi was a robot who abstained from smoking and drinking, with only work on his mind.

But Qi Hanyi actually smoked; he had learned it many years ago.

He had no addiction to it and didn’t smoke in front of others.

This habit was bad; it harmed the body. He knew that.

Qi Hanyi cherished his body. He was the heir his grandfather hoped for in the Qi family, and he had the obligation to take good care of himself.

Only occasionally, on nights when he woke from nightmares and didn’t want to return to the suffocating dreams, would he use the pungent smell of tobacco, like now, to confirm he had returned to reality.

That was his memory, fragmented into vague pieces under the passage of time, repeatedly playing out in his dreams.

The ending shark was different from his memory. The little shark from his recollection was smaller, perhaps only about one meter long, struggling hard to swim through the water.

Qi Hanyi could still vividly remember how it struggled to save him, trying again and again to push him onto the coral, fighting to let him live. Thanks to it, he rediscovered his will to live.

During the day, he had failed to negotiate with his grandfather, but Qi Hanyi wasn’t surprised.

However, he did not intend to give up.

His compromise in front of his grandfather was merely a tactical delay to make him believe he had given up on sending the mermaid away. In reality, he planned to secretly send Su Su back to the sea the next morning. Afterward, he could push the narrative that he had never differentiated and therefore was not suitable to be seen, buying him some time.

Next, it depended on Xiang Chen’s research speed regarding Mental Force Recovery Therapy. He would use his authority to provide financial and manpower support to the other party. Once the research results were completed, he could negotiate with his grandfather again.

The communicator lit up.

It was Qi Hanyi’s deputy, Jian Cheng, calling.

His tone was somewhat excited, and he unconsciously spoke quickly: “Commander, we have new clues regarding the information leak from the insect race.”

Qi Hanyi extinguished his cigarette, gathered his thoughts, and reverted to his usual calm and capable demeanor: “Speak.”

“We tracked those insectoids disguised as humans and discovered that they were able to pass the regular identity checks at the space station because there had been tampering with the information of those three by the Defense Bureau during their review.”

“Following this lead, we investigated the personnel in the Defense Bureau’s review department. One reviewing officer named Chong Zhou has an A-level authorized hidden account that receives deposits from Freedom Island every two months, and the amount is significant. We suspect it may be related to this matter.”

“A-level authorization.” Qi Hanyi repeated each word carefully. This kind of authority could only be held by senior officials, and even a reviewing officer could only obtain C-level authority at most.

If the authority was conferred by someone else, then the conferrer had to hold at least an S-level authority.

There were no more than a hundred holders of S-level authority in the Empire, all of them nobles with prominent family backgrounds, or key officials controlling a sector.

And now, there might be a traitor among them colluding with the insect race.

It was no wonder it had not been discovered earlier; generally, the investigation privileges for such events would only be given to A-level. Had he not been uneasy and specifically granted Jian Cheng S-level investigation authority for a covert investigation, this lead would never have been uncovered.

“Keep a close eye on this account; do not alarm the snake in the grass.” Qi Hanyi tapped the floor-to-ceiling window with his knuckles: “If it involves S-level authority, their objectives are not merely the simple theft of information. They must have other plans behind this.”

“Yes!” His deputy replied, somewhat indignant: “These people are truly shortsighted, betraying their own planet for immediate interests!”

“Is this merely a family affair? If the insect race truly invades successfully, all of humanity, no, all beings on the planet will suffer. When the time comes, do they think they can escape, no matter who they are?”

“They’re not unaware; they just don’t care.” Qi Hanyi said indifferently. He had seen how crazy people could become out of hatred, so he wasn’t surprised that such things would happen.

“Moreover,” Qi Hanyi added, “send someone to Freedom Island to investigate Chong Zhou’s background and see if he has ever been to Freedom Island. You handle this personally; it needs to be kept discreet, and don’t let anyone discover it.”

“Yes.” The deputy further mentioned: “Commander, there’s also something, how lucky. When we were investigating Freedom Island, we discovered that others had also accessed these records recently, and I casually checked it out. It turns out it was someone from the family head’s side. They were investigating matters related to the marriage alliance. Apparently, the two who attacked the Qi family guards and impersonated them to get engaged were also from Freedom Island.”

What a coincidence.

However, Qi Hanyi didn’t believe in coincidences.

He suspected whether there was a connection between the two matters. Otherwise, why was the timing so coincidentally aligned? The marriage alliance ran into trouble over there, while he himself had to leave due to an urgent mission.

Su Su had mentioned that the other party planned to undress him. Could this mean that the other party also intended to infiltrate his home disguised as a mermaid? He had left for quite a while, and if a spy had truly slipped in, a lot could have been done.

If that were the case, Su Su’s appearance might have been a key step to disrupting the other party’s plans. Perhaps he could turn the tables and keep Su Su by his side, waiting to see what the other party’s next move would be.

However, he had originally promised Su Su that he would find an opportunity to send him away, so would Su Su be willing if he asked him to stay and cooperate with his investigation?