Chapter Six

This vial was meant to heal him.

But he was too weak, his body reacting violently to the medicine. As the liquid surged into his veins, his slender fingers instinctively clenched, the bones paling beneath taut skin as blue veins swelled and a few shimmering scales appeared, only to vanish again in a heartbeat.

His hand was trembling. Half a month ago, when Annie collected his blood and tasted the fresh essence of a merman, he’d trembled just so. She gazed down at his quivering fingertips, then suddenly clasped his palm with her other hand.

Lin’s body stiffened for an instant.

Annie’s warm palm pressed against his skin.

That only made Lin more resistant. He immediately tried to withdraw the hand she’d just pierced, but Annie gripped him tightly, her joints shifting instantly into the form of a mature female merman’s, pinning his fingers with the strength of her kind.

It was as if a true kin sought to keep him from leaving.

Her nails were a pale pink, healthy yet coldly gleaming. Annie didn’t look at him; she injected the entire vial, feeling the tension of his musculature beneath her palm, the surging pulse throbbing under his veins.

When the injection was done, Annie broke the used syringe, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and looked up at him. “September eighth is my enrollment date. Before then, we need to get to the Eighth District ahead of time.”

Lin said nothing.

Annie moved half a foot closer. “Let’s return to the place where you belong, Professor.”

Those deep blue eyes contracted sharply; as he lifted his gaze, it collided with Annie’s. The title clearly provoked him.

He didn’t seem to like being called Professor by Annie.

A few days later, Annie took him away from the Fourth District.

This time, there were no surprises—except for the hefty fee at the Eighth District’s border. Annie stared at her shrinking account balance for an entire day.

Not even the district’s fresh air and bright sunshine could console her. Depressed, she recalculated her funds, glancing at Lin, who basked silently by the car window.

He slept peacefully.

Annie watched him for a few moments before Lin opened his eyes, casting a sidelong look that asked, “What is it?”

She handed him a StarNet watch.

Lin’s eyes widened in mild surprise. He examined the device, found it full of monitoring programs, and gave a low, knowing laugh. “A new control method?”

“Yes. Professor, your identity is even more complicated than I imagined. I have to be cautious.”

Lin visibly bristled at the title, closing his eyes. “Just look at how those star pirates search for me. You can tell my family barely cares. As for being an heir... that’s just talk.”

“Three hundred million...”

“If you’d seen Hailan University, you’d know that’s pocket change for its investors.”

So Lin’s status in the Azure Dragon family was indeed delicate. Annie studied his profile, recalling some melodramatic tales humans once fed her. “That sum is astronomical. Professor, don’t take off the watch, and don’t say anything that might damage our relationship. You’d die.”

“Do we have a relationship?”

“Whether human or merman, isn’t everyone always insisting you need love to—” With her sweet, innocent face, Annie was about to utter something scandalous, but just then, the chime announcing their arrival at Hailan University sounded, drowning out the rest of her words.

Hailan University... was it truly this vast?

Annie stared, moving closer to Lin’s window.

Unlike the chaos and darkness of the Third District, the view outside was bright and clean, squadrons of airborne surveillance drones patrolling in orderly formation. The number of cyborgs was visibly scarce, the insignia of the United Police everywhere.

Suddenly, a snow-white seagull soared past.

Annie’s gaze followed it as their vehicle sped onto a transoceanic track. Other skyways merged in, crossing the sea in an orderly flow—

A deep, endless blue surged into view, flooding her senses, filling the world.

Spray flew as the unpolluted ocean teemed with the shadows of countless creatures. Annie watched the sparkling surface for a long time before noticing the warm breath by her ear.

When she suddenly leaned in, he instinctively shrank away, but the cramped space left little room. Annie’s hand fell casually to his thigh, leaving Lin with the distinct sense of being pinned.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said. “Only here, on Hailan Star, can one breathe freely without harm. The so-called premium oxygen is free here.”

This was, after all, one of the cradles of cosmic humanity—yet not a fully habitable planet.

“Type-One humans of the cosmos were born here,” he murmured. “A vast race spread across the stars, devouring everything like locusts. They gained far too much, and abandoned just as much... Now only the merman homeland remains pure.”

“In a strict sense, mermen are a branch that evolved from humanity.” Annie, her face pressed to the glass, gazed at the ocean below. “Why do you sound so unsympathetic to them?”

“...When even reproductive isolation has evolved, can you still call them kin?” Lin wasn’t sure why he confided in this little monster. After saying this, he covered his face, exhausted. “I’ve used up my quota for talking to you. Can I have my seat back now?”

“Oh.” Annie nodded. “Alright, Professor.”

“...”

The road ended at Hailan University’s information registration center.

Though term hadn’t begun, registration was already open for early arrivals. Here, the density of mermen increased dramatically. Once out of the vehicle, Annie finally saw true female mermen.

They were about Lin’s height—around 1.8 meters—closely resembling Annie’s transformed appearance, almost all with pale eyes and curly hair.

As Annie observed, a group of young mermen finishing their registration suddenly turned and met her gaze. Their faces curled with a mixture of curiosity and arrogant disdain, as if looking at something filthy.

Such haughty, cutting expressions were familiar. Annie guessed this race was rather unfriendly toward humans, but she’d been admitted as a human, and that was her only legitimate StarNet identity.

She stepped forward to register, linking her StarNet account to the school’s system.

Passing a few young mermen, she caught snatches of deliberately muddled Common—“innately lowly species,” “filthy thing”—words laced with malice.

Annie showed no reaction; after all, she wasn’t human.

She focused on the forms, trying to fill out the required fields. Her unflappable response seemed to irritate the young mermen even more.

Here, humans were a rare sight. Annie’s presence drew more mermen to pause, watching, listening, quietly supporting this show of racial bullying. The stares multiplied, the whispered jeers grew bolder.

Annie merely found it noisy, her mind occupied by the forms—she was required to fill them out in the merman tongue, which she had yet to master.

She reached into her student bag for her notes. The action made Lin’s eyelid twitch inexplicably. He stepped over and pressed her hand down. “Don’t reach for your gun.”

Annie looked up, puzzled.

He told her, “If you commit murder here, you’ll be utterly destroyed. The security is tight—this isn’t the Third District. You—”

“Professor, are you afraid I’ll hurt them?” Annie asked.

Lin hesitated.

She pointed at the young mermen nearby—students, clearly, not much older than herself.

She looked at him. “You’re afraid I’ll kill them, just as you suddenly agreed to cooperate with me. Lin, your fear of death is nothing compared to your terror of harming your own kind. You care so little for your own life it borders on hatred, but for others—oh, other fish—you’re so full of pity you’d sacrifice yourself. What twisted you like this? Is it just because you’re a teacher?”

His deep blue eyes flashed with something he tried to hide, but even that intent was transparent. Lin couldn’t fathom Annie’s intentions and dared not let go. “...I’ll make them leave you alone.”

“Make them leave?” Annie still didn’t understand. She was clever, but sometimes conversations with males felt full of walls. She pressed further, “You think they’re harassing me? Well, I’ve heard all their taunts already. Only when I was about to retaliate did you stop me and say, ‘Let’s make peace, I’ll drive them away.’”

Annie smiled. “A compromise is only a compromise if both sides give way, Professor.”

Lin was at his wit’s end. “I’ll apologize on their behalf. Don’t be angry, Annie.”

“That’s the first time you’ve used my name,” Annie said. “Now I know how to threaten you—hardly good news for you, is it? And when you apologize, you should bow your head to show sincerity.”

She was a troublesome creature, not some human girl to be bullied.

Lin exhaled softly and lowered his head. His deep blue hair, like seawater, slipped down, catching the sunlight in crystalline ripples—

Annie reached through the curtain of his hair.

Then, in the next moment, she seized him by the nape, yanked the blue-haired merman in front of her, and pressed her lips to his.

A hush fell over the crowd.

All the noise, all the jeering, all the heated gossip—at the sight of her kissing a blue-haired merman of noble blood, it was as if a punch had driven the words back down their throats. Lin’s eyes widened in shock, but in the next instant, he realized what Annie truly wanted from this “sincerity.”

She demanded sincerity in cooperation.

She wanted an excellent research specimen, a means to unlock the breeding lock, to pollute the merman bloodline, to trample this proud, insular race.

Lin began to struggle instinctively.

Annie seemed to expect his resistance; she swiftly caught his wrist with her other hand. As their lips met and she parted his teeth, Annie, having observed true female mermen, revealed something new—a forked tongue, wholly unlike a human’s, slid into his mouth.

This was the merman’s unique prelude—foreplay. The forked tongue seemed longer, probing deep, as if to swim down his throat. The intense sense of invasion repulsed Lin; he could barely breathe, his crystalline blue eyes misting with tears. In the end—he nearly bit her.

Just as Lin was about to rebound, Annie released him, her tongue reverting to normal. She turned to continue her registration, casually asking him the meaning of a merman word.

Lin replied hoarsely and swiftly, then turned away, covering his mouth. Even without looking, Annie could imagine his expression—indeed, half a minute later, he was doubled over, retching.

It was purely psychological. His body yielded nothing, but he couldn’t stand.

Meanwhile, whispers in the air shifted: “How could a noble act so wantonly,” “Kissing a human? By the Sea God...,” “Wretch.”

Clearly, in the minds of these young mermen, such a delicate human girl could never force a merman. He must have been willing.

Annie finished her registration at last, the screen lighting up with, “Welcome, Annie.”

She walked over; now the insults were for Lin. The scene had shattered their worldview, but perhaps because of Lin’s status, none dared confront her directly. Annie took a bottle of water from her bag, drank, and lazily spoke from behind him: “I caught a few of their insults. How do they know you’re noble? Is the Azure Dragon family crest your hair?”

Lin gave no answer, only asked hoarsely, “When did you realize—”

“My tongue?” Annie guessed his question. “They laughed so hard when they insulted me. Of course I noticed—I wasn’t simulating it right before. No wonder you never reacted last time.”

“Don’t say any more.”

Annie gazed out at the beautiful ocean in the distance, handed him her water, and mulled over the new student guidelines she’d just read. “By the way, what’s the F Division? Was my entrance score really that bad?”

The F Division was the lowest-ranked department at Hailan University.

“In the Third District, you’re a once-in-a-generation genius.” Lin drank, his voice still raspy. “But here, you’re just barely scraping by as one of their classmates. Whether it’s skills, academics, combat, or physical ability—your scores...”

She’d drunk from the bottle, but as long as no one reminded Lin, he wouldn’t be repulsed enough to vomit.

Annie smiled.

Just then, a mechanical voice sounded nearby.

“Detecting—beep—detecting missing person.” A flying camera hovered beside Lin. “Scanning identity—verifying—verification complete.”

“Teacher ID 2513, StarNet account XXX... Dear Mr. Lin, news of your appearance in the Eighth District will be relayed to all authorized parties. Notification of your arrival will also be sent to the Chancellor’s inbox...”