"There is no one else here. You can speak honestly," Kazel said, glancing at Su again with a faint chuckle. "The live feeds are all turned off—what are you so worried about?"
"I do have a condition. Why will you not believe me?" Su frowned, determined to stick to his story.
If he admitted the truth now, there would be no explaining why he faked being ill in the first place. Besides, his so-called symptoms were vague enough to make denial plausible. He would stand his ground.
"I mean no harm to any of you," Kazel said as his ears twitched. His translucent violet pupils locked onto Su's eyes, as though searching for something hidden.
For some reason, Su felt a sudden jolt of panic. Instinctively, he averted his gaze and looked down, unwilling to meet Kazel's stare.
"Heh, fine then. If you do not wish to talk, so be it." A hint of coldness passed through Kazel's eyes as he called out loudly, "Mu Qingyun!"
"Is it done?" Mu Qingyun quickly approached upon hearing his voice, concern etched across her face. "How is he? Were you able to help?"
At her words, Kazel glanced down at his own shimmering fish tail and replied lazily, "My medical skills are limited. I could not detect any illness."
"Huh?" Her brows furrowed.
"Please do not say that, Mr. Merman," Su quickly interjected, lowering his gaze with feigned sorrow. "It is not your lack of skill. My condition is simply strange. None of the doctors I have seen before could figure it out either."
Kazel: …This guy is really committed to the act.
"It's alright," Mu Qingyun said softly, gently patting Su's head with a touch of sympathy. "From now on, I will protect you. You will not need to use your powers, and I will make sure you stay warm."
"Mu-ge…" Su murmured, clearly moved. He threw his arms around her waist, leaning his head toward her chest.
Startled, her heart skipped a beat. She immediately raised her hand and pressed it against his head to stop him. "Enough. Let's go back."
[Ahhhhh! My goodness!]
[Too sweet! This is illegal levels of sweetness!]
[Why do they suit each other so well? If only Su were a girl…]
[Actually, I wish Mu-ge were the girl. Female alphas are so swoon-worthy!]
[I am literally pinching my philtrum right now. How are they this compatible? Why are they not a couple yet? Why haven't they kissed? Why haven't they—]
[Stop right there! Keep going and Mu-ge's stream is getting banned.]
"You two…" Kazel gave them a curious look. He knew Mu Qingyun was actually a woman, so he found their dynamic rather intriguing.
Su might be clueless, but Mu Qingyun clearly harbored feelings for him—why else would she be so kind?
"Do not overthink it," Mu Qingyun said coldly, shooting him a glare.
But Kazel only curled his lips into a playful smirk. He made no effort to hide his continued scrutiny of the pair. "I may not be able to cure him, but would you like to try some plants instead?"
"You have plants?" She raised her brows, her eyes drifting toward the storage pouch at his waist. Mermaid tears could crystallize into pearls—rare and precious indeed.
But plants? On this planet, most vegetation was reserved for research purposes and strictly forbidden from being sold.
"Deep underwater, there is algae," Kazel explained, his tail swaying lazily. "Though the texture differs from land plants, the taste is still quite good."
The depths he spoke of were not ordinary depths, and as far as humans knew, those algae were inedible.
Several years ago, he had come across a human sea vessel in the deep ocean. They had studied the algae briefly before abandoning the research.
Indeed, deep-sea algae were inedible to humans. However, the merfolk possessed a secret method to make them edible.
"Algae from the deep sea? I thought they were toxic," Su frowned. The structure of ocean flora rendered them unsuitable for consumption.
The research team had even tried to use deep-sea algae to resist that incident, only to discover they were too soft to be effective.
At his comment, Kazel grinned and, while only Mu Qingyun's live feed remained active, mouthed silently: We have a secret method. It's safe to eat.
With that, he turned and dove headfirst into the ocean.
His dazzling tail cut through the air in a graceful arc, its shimmering scales gleaming brightly under the sunlight.
"He's quite beautiful," Mu Qingyun murmured, her gaze lingering on the ripples where Kazel had vanished. Her eyes glimmered with awe. "It's my first time seeing a merman."
"You like merfolk?" Su raised an eyebrow. After all, the lab's lead scientist kept a stunning mermaid by his side—gentle, seductive, and utterly enchanting.
If Mu Qingyun ever refused to take over the lab in the future, maybe he could use a mermaid to lure her back with charm.
"I wouldn't say I like them. I would say I admire them."
Mu Qingyun's eyes remained fixed on the sea. In ancient myths, merfolk were always shrouded in mystery—beautiful and wondrous.
Sure, myths spoke of other hybrids like centaurs and bird-people, but none evoked the same longing and imagination as mermaids.
[Did I just hear what I think I heard?]
[Ha! Got you again—you're totally shipping them!]
["Admire," she said! Do you know how powerful that word is? It means more than just "like." Who could earn Mu-ge's admiration?!]
[Please, let's be clear—she said she admired the race, not the person. If it were a different merman, she would admire him too.]
[Wait, are we the only ones concerned about whether those sea plants are actually edible?]
[Yes, just you.]
[Sigh, don't even bother explaining. In front of shipper brains, seaweed is meaningless.]
Not long after, Kazel emerged from the water with a large handful of seaweed, which he offered to them. "Here. Try it."
"You are not trying to poison us, are you?" Su eyed the seaweed skeptically. The professor had never once mentioned that merfolk could make seaweed edible.
"Try it and see," Kazel said with a carefree smile, shoving the bunch into Su's hands. "If I do end up poisoning you, I will willingly submit to the Planetary Defense Corps for judgment."
Su: …What?
Hah! Submit to judgment?I am the head of the Planetary Defense Corps!
"No, for safety's sake—"
"Oh, you two are so annoying," Kazel sighed, rolling his eyes. He popped some seaweed into his mouth and chewed. "See? I ate it. I'm fine. Now do you believe me?"
Mu Qingyun pinched the seaweed between her fingers, her eyes narrowing. "Kazel, how much of this seaweed is in the ocean? How much can you bring me?"
"The seabed is covered in it, dense and thick. But you cannot eat too much—even if it is edible, it must be consumed sparingly," Kazel said, looking up at them seriously.