LSDWTWHA chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hanging in the fishing net was not the big fish Su Su had anticipated, but rather a slender, sweet-looking mermaid girl. Her black hair flowed down like a waterfall, and her upper body was covered in a dress woven from shark silk. Her long fish tail shimmered with pearly white in the night, illuminating her pure and beautiful face, resembling a fairy made of moonlight.

However, at this moment, she was entangled in the fishing net and was struggling, causing her hair to become disheveled, making her appear quite awkward.

She was hurriedly trying to untangle the threads of her dress when she heard Su Su’s voice and turned around. When she looked back, Su Su was rushing toward her with his mouth open, suddenly halting less than a meter away.

But the mermaid girl showed no sign of fear; instead, her curious eyes widened as she scrutinized the shark before her.

What stood before her resembled a tiger shark, but its size was too small, indicating it was still a juvenile. Nevertheless, its physical features clearly indicated it was already an adult. It was indeed beautiful, its scales shinier than those of an ordinary tiger shark, appearing silver-white. The young mermaid became interested and, forgetting her struggle to escape the fishing net, swam closer to Su Su, shaking her tail excitedly: “I’ve never seen such a small adult tiger shark; are you a mermaid hybrid?”

The young mermaid spoke in a special language of mermaids, her voice crisp and melodious, reminiscent of water droplets falling onto rocks. This language contained a unique mental force, which enabled any marine creature to understand their meaning. Some less intelligent or mentally weaker marine creatures could even be controlled by this voice. Sharks, with their inherent intelligence, were not so easily affected.

Mermaids were a very unique existence in the ocean. They originated from a human city submerged thousands of years ago and had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.

Upon reaching adulthood, they would change their shape based on their preferred partner; if they fell in love with a fish or a human, they would evolve to resemble that species. If they loved a mermaid, they would retain their half-human, half-fish appearance.

Mermaids could be said to have the broadest tastes among oceanic races, as they had no reproductive isolation with any marine life. The species of marine creatures that became their partners could fill an entire encyclopedia. The offspring born from their unions with marine creatures would only emerge in fish form and would exhibit mild aberration; this hybrid between mermaids and other marine species was collectively referred to as mermaid hybrids.

Su Su was indeed a mermaid hybrid; his father was a robust tiger shark, and his mother was a beautiful female mermaid. However, that was a memory from long ago—tiger sharks did not have a habit of raising offspring, and his mermaid mother, adhering to local customs, left with his father after giving birth to him. He spent his childhood living and hunting with other juvenile sharks.

Su Su waved his tail, confirming the young mermaid’s words.

He swam closer to the young mermaid, using his teeth to tug at the fishing net in an attempt to free her.

The young mermaid would not serve as food; otherwise, the guards of the Mermaid Kingdom might use torpedoes to chase after him. So, he had to release her quickly to reset the trap.

Untangling the chaotic fishing net was not easy for a shark, but Su Su performed the task skillfully. However, with one tear after another, the net became more damaged, which made Su Su feel distressed. He silently calculated how to exact compensation from this unusable mermaid.

The young mermaid cooperated by helping to untangle the net while her eyes remained focused on Su Su, filled with excitement and curiosity: “I’ve never seen an adult mermaid hybrid shark before!”

[Is that very rare?] Su Su asked.

“Of course! After all, being part mermaid can make a hybrid’s physique weaker than an ordinary shark, and sharks tend to eat their weaker kin,” the young mermaid replied, suddenly realizing something. She looked at Su Su in astonishment: “Can you communicate using mental force?”

Mermaid hybrids could inherit part of the mermaid’s mental force and, with certain techniques, could communicate mentally even without vocal cords.

[That’s not difficult.] Su Su said nonchalantly.

For him, it was indeed not difficult. He merely mimicked the mental force fluctuations of the young mermaid, managed to communicate successfully in just one attempt. It was nothing compared to the physics or geometry problems in his textbooks.

Half the fishing net was untangled, but he suddenly heard the voices of other mermaids and sounds of swimming, estimating their numbers to be around ten to twelve.

“Did you see the princess?”

“Search over there.”

Su Su looked at the young mermaid caught in the fishing net and let out bubble-like sounds. Sharks had no vocal cords and could only create sounds by controlling water flow through their gills.

[Your kin is coming this way.] The young mermaid read this information from Su Su’s mental fluctuations.

“Oh no.” The young mermaid’s expression changed; she lost her previous casual demeanor as she frantically tugged at the fishing net.

[Are they here to look for you?] Su Su guessed.

“Yes.” The young mermaid anxiously slapped her tail against the net: “What should I do? I can’t let them find me; I’m supposed to meet Pang Pang here. If they find out, they’ll definitely stop me from seeing Pang Pang!”

[I can help you hide, but I want compensation.] Su Su recognized an opportunity. Those mermaids referred to the young mermaid as ‘princess,’ and he recalled from the chip that this term was used for those of noble status.

The Mermaid Kingdom wielded significant power in the ocean. An individual mermaid might not be strong, but if it were an organized team of armed mermaids, even a strong group of sharks would surely be defeated.

The young mermaid was of noble birth in the Mermaid Kingdom; it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to procure some food for him.

“Okay! As long as you help me evade them, you can ask for whatever you want.” Indeed, the young mermaid waved her hand generously, agreeing without hesitation.

[Then how about a sea turtle?] Su Su cautiously probed, initially proposing a higher-than-expected price, thinking if she wouldn’t agree, he could lower it. He was really hungry.

What? The young mermaid looked momentarily stunned and then displayed an expression of ‘is this all you want?’: “What’s so special about a sea turtle? If you help me avoid them, I’ll treat you to an entire fat yellowfin tuna.”

“Deal!”

Yellowfin tunas are large, incredibly fast, and have delicious, fatty flesh, but their speed and attack power are also formidable. Only strong and brave sharks could typically hunt them. Forget about a single yellowfin tuna; even scraps of flesh would require him to compete with other sharks.

Seeing that there was no time left to untangle the fishing net, Su Su removed the four corners of the net, swept the ground with his tail, lifted the box lid, estimated the space, and told the young mermaid: [You can dive in directly.]

The young mermaid didn’t have time to ask many questions and dove into the box, curling around her fish tail.

Her tail was too large; even curled up like that, the lid couldn’t close completely, leaving a bit of her tail tip exposed.

Su Su swept away the sand with his tail to conceal the trace on the ground. Then, he pushed a small rock over to cover the mark where the box lay.

The group of mermaids arrived quickly. They were warriors among mermaids, their builds significantly taller than that of the previous young mermaid. Their upper bodies were clad in armor to protect vital areas, revealing muscular arms, while their lower bodies were equipped with long and powerful tails. They held black harpoons in their hands, with one end capable of launching grappling hooks attached to ropes to capture targets, while the other end was designed for close combat.

The group of mermaids swam around a few times in the vicinity but couldn’t find the hidden young mermaid. After a while, they drifted toward Su Su’s location.

“This is the area where we lost her; there are many rocks and corals here, making it easy to hide. Everyone, search carefully.” The leader was a tall female mermaid, her beautiful red tail more vivid than the corals surrounding them.

The little shark hid behind a rock and, seeing them approach the spot he had just concealed, had to push himself forward. He quickly waved his tail and emerged from behind the rock, taking an attack posture as if he had been disturbed from resting, proclaiming arrogantly: [Get out; this is my territory.]

“Oh, look at this talking mermaid hybrid shark, how rare!” A young male mermaid with a purple tail approached the little shark, his gaze shamelessly evaluating him. He even reached out to touch the scales on Su Su’s body: “You can talk; did your elders teach you? Don’t be shy, little one. What’s your name?”

[Get lost!] Su Su bit the back of his hand, blood gushing from the young mermaid’s hand.

The purple-tailed mermaid let out a pained scream, reaching for the weapon at his waist with his other hand: “Ow! Why did you bite me?!”

Su Su had already distanced himself before the retaliatory strike arrived just in time, narrowly avoiding the incoming grappling claw. Tasting the blood in his mouth felt strange; it seemed that mermaid meat wasn’t very tasty.

The young male mermaid with the purple tail was reluctant to accept this defeat and was about to chase after Su Su for revenge.

Mermaid hybrids counted as half-kin, and under normal circumstances, mermaids didn’t harm each other unless they committed unforgivable acts against mermaids. However, since Su Su had simply bitten him first, and it was the purple tail that had provoked him, the other mermaids merely observed coldly without any intention of intervening.

The purple-tailed mermaid attempted several attacks, all of which Su Su dodged with agility. To his perspective, while mermaids might be intelligent, their physical capabilities were far inferior to those of sharks, and their attacks lacked ferocity. Avoiding such attacks seemed like a game to him.

“Purple tail, come back.” The leader, a red-tailed mermaid, called the boy back: “Find the princess first. Don’t stir up trouble.”

“But he bit me!”

“If you hadn’t provoked him, why would he bite you?” The red-tailed mermaid reprimanded sharply.

The purple-tailed mermaid sulkily pouted but ultimately chose not to pursue.

The red-tailed leader continued: “Alright, stop wasting time. We’re already near the shark hunting area. To prevent the princess from encountering danger, we need to act quickly. Everyone, speed up, and after we finish searching here, we’ll move to the next area.”

The group of mermaids departed in a grand manner, leaving Su Su to breathe a sigh of relief. It was only after they had gone far that Su Su returned to the reef and opened the box to let the young mermaid out.

The young mermaid emerged from the box, the last few strands of fishing net untangled. She shook her dress and asked, “Did they leave?”

[Yes.] Su Su didn’t forget about his meal: [Compensation.]

“I know, I know. Wouldn’t I, a princess of the Mermaid Kingdom, owe you a meal?” The young mermaid replied: “I’m Yi Qing. When you come to the Mermaid Kingdom to find me next time, use this name; that yellowfin tuna will be more than enough.”

[Then I’ll go find you tomorrow.] Su Su said, already feeling very hungry and not wanting to wait any longer.

“Alright, tomorrow then.”

Just as the two agreed, Su Su suddenly caught a whiff of a dangerous aura.

Su Su’s whole body tensed up, and he looked warily in one direction, speaking seriously to the young mermaid: [Leave.]

She couldn’t die; he hadn’t yet received his compensation.

The young mermaid, however, seemed completely oblivious to the approaching danger: “What’s happening? Did those mermaids who were looking for me come back?”

[Orca.] Su Su stated, noting that orcas are marine creatures that rank alongside sharks at the top of the food chain, possessing superior size and lethality compared to ordinary sharks. In front of it, he might not last a single bite.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the young mermaid not only did not hide but instead shot like an arrow towards the orca.

Su Su had no time to stop her when he saw the orca already appearing above the reefs, its massive body casting a shadow over the rocks.

“Pang Pang, you’re here!” The young mermaid flew at the orca’s snout, embracing it and nuzzling affectionately.

The orca emitted a delighted sound and then turned in the water, performing a somersault and stirring up the currents around it.

[Pang Pang…?] Su Su realized that this orca was the one the young mermaid had been waiting for.

“Exactly! Look at him; he is so round and adorable.”

“Woo!” The orca flapped its fins and let out a loud whistle.

[?] Su Su did not see anything particularly adorable about a creature that could swallow him whole.

“By the way, let me introduce you. This is my new friend I met today, named…” The young mermaid then realized she hadn’t asked for his name: “Do you have a name?”

[Su Su.] Su Su replied with his name; it was the first time anyone had asked him what his name was from childhood to now.

He had given himself this name long ago, as in the textbooks he read, everyone had names. However, later he discovered that sharks did not require names.

“Your surname is Su. That’s a prominent name in the Mermaid Kingdom,” Yi Qing naturally knew.

[Yes, it’s my mother’s surname.] Su Su said, considering his father didn’t have a name either.

Although orcas generally wouldn’t eat him, a shark with thick skin and little flesh, Su Su still wanted to avoid dealing with such apex predators. He swished his tail, bidding farewell to the young mermaid: [I’m leaving first.]

“See you tomorrow, Su Su.”