Lansi tore through the illusion cast by the murloc and was the first to strike. From that moment on, their relationship turned hostile.
The murloc stared at Lansi with its one remaining eye, searching for the right angle and timing to counterattack.
The sound waves Lansi had unleashed earlier had caused massive internal damage. The creature had been forced to divert all its energy toward healing itself.
Even though Lansi had taken the upper hand, he didn't dare to let his guard down. He knew the creature in front of him was a murloc—one entirely dominated by animal instinct.
If it hadn't been for Lansi's clever use of his appearance to confuse the murloc and seize the opportunity to strike first, he doubted he would have been able to land such a serious blow.
Still, what intrigued him was the skill the murloc had just used. Was it something he could learn too?
At this point, both sides were wary of each other. Neither moved. They simply watched, locked in a tense standoff.
After several minutes, Lansi lost patience.
It wasn't just that he disliked having a murloc in his pool. What he really wanted was for the creature to leave so he could get out and check for any weaknesses in the villa's perimeter.
Lansi didn't think the murloc itself was the real threat. What worried him more was the possibility that the breach it created could allow others to sneak in.
He feared the people who had been trying to capture him would exploit the hole the murloc had used to slip into the villa.
But he was also reluctant to leave. His cocoon was still there. What if he walked away and someone touched it?
Lansi was stubborn in this regard. He thought his cocoon was beautiful and refused to let anyone mess with it.
Well, Wen Yu was an exception, but the problem was, Wen Yu wasn't here.
Lansi found himself caught in a frustrating dilemma. The longer he looked at the murloc, the more annoying it seemed.
After pacing back and forth across the pool a few times, Lansi finally had enough. He charged at the murloc and launched into battle.
He didn't care whether the creature was male or female. It had entered his territory, and that meant it had to obey him.
The entire pool churned with chaos as the merman and the murloc fought. Sharp cries and bursts of sound waves echoed through the water. White and blue tails flashed beneath the surface as they clashed. The water foamed and boiled from the intensity of their struggle, and the high-frequency vibrations shook the villa's windows with a loud "cara-cara" rattle.
Five minutes later, the fight was over.
Lansi sat at the edge of the pool, staring at three long scratches on his arm. He couldn't help but cry. White pearls streamed from the corners of his eyes, dropping into the water with soft clinks.
The murloc huddled in a corner of the pool, trembling as it clung to the wall. Blue blood leaked from its wounds, staining a large portion of the water.
It didn't understand. The injuries it had inflicted were nothing compared to what it had suffered. Why had things turned out like this?
And to make it even more ridiculous, the murloc still hadn't removed its altered face. From above the water, anyone watching might have thought a beautiful girl had been beaten into a swollen mess.
After watching his wound heal, Lansi lifted his gaze and looked at the trembling murloc in the corner.
This creature had tried to use its "beauty" to seduce him, but Lansi didn't care how pretty it looked. He had fought with real force and knocked it down without hesitation.
He would bet his life that the creature before him was nowhere near as delicate as it appeared.
After defeating the murloc, Lansi climbed out of the pool.
He stood there, unsure of what to do next.
Killing the creature didn't feel right. It was clearly intelligent, and in its current form, it looked almost human. In the end, Lansi couldn't bring himself to finish it off.
But letting it go didn't sit well with him either. He knew this might lead to even more trouble down the line.
For now, he decided to wait until Wen Yu returned.
In the meantime, he needed to make it clear to the murloc that it couldn't just wander around. He also needed to figure out how it got in.
After thinking it through, Lansi swam over to the murloc and gave it a stern command:
"For the sake of us both being 'fish,' I won't kill you, but you have to listen to me."
The murloc froze for a moment, then nodded rapidly. It tried to smile at Lansi, though its battered face barely moved.
From the murloc's perspective, surviving a territorial fight like this was like receiving a gift from the heavens.
Lansi flicked his tail and asked,
"Where did you come in from?"
The murloc quickly pointed toward the bushes to the east.
Lansi followed its gesture thoughtfully.
The entire villa complex wasn't open-air. It was protected by a dome-like barrier, almost like an eggshell.
Lansi suspected this "eggshell" was designed to shield the inner villa from external threats, regulate the temperature, and even project illusions of sunny weather.
Along the edges of the barrier, there had to be something like a drainage system.
The murloc must have broken through part of the eggshell, temporarily disabling the security system and sneaking in.
It was absurd. Dr. Mu Rin's assistants had tried everything to get in and failed miserably. Yet here came a murloc who just smashed its way in with brute force.
That alone made Lansi uneasy. If there really was a breach, who knew what else might have slipped inside during his fight with the murloc?
"I'll go check it out," he said, turning to the creature.
"Since you say you've surrendered, I'll spare you for now. But I'm warning you, don't touch anything in my pool while I'm gone."
He paused and added firmly,
"That includes my cocoon. My fish."
Especially that little octopus still snoozing on the reef.
Seriously, how was that little guy still asleep after all that noise?
Lansi scowled at the thought.
The murloc nodded quickly in response.
If its throat hadn't been damaged, it might have sworn a solemn oath on the spot.
"You said it yourself," Lansi told it sternly. "If you go back on your word, the 'peace' between us ends."
For its own survival, the murloc nodded even harder.
Seeing this, Lansi tilted his head slightly.
The murloc didn't seem stupid. Maybe it really could be trusted.
After a moment's thought, he turned and began making his way toward the bushes to investigate the breach.
But as soon as Lansi disappeared, the obedient murloc's expression shifted.
Creatures with high intelligence sometimes deceive others. They believe they can manipulate situations to their advantage.
The wound Lansi left on the murloc wasn't especially large, but the raw power behind it—the force of a real merman—ignited a deep and dangerous envy in the murloc's heart.
The murloc's earlier obedience had been nothing more than an act. These creatures were naturally cunning; otherwise, they wouldn't have come up with the idea of "transforming" to lure humans as prey.
Although it had been severely injured by Lansi and was now deeply afraid of him, that fear did not mean it would actually obey him.
Realizing it couldn't confront Lansi directly, the murloc set its sights on a new target in the pool.
The little octopus.
From the moment it entered the water, the murloc's instincts told it that aside from the white-haired mermaid, the most valuable creature in the pool was the tiny octopus clinging to the reef.
To a murloc, the little octopus was a powerful tonic. It immediately decided to devour it the moment Lansi was out of sight, using it to recover from its injuries.
It even had a sly plan in mind. If it could swallow the little octopus in one bite without leaving a trace, the white mermaid would never notice it was gone.
With that thought, the murloc swam quickly toward the reef in the center of the pool.
As soon as it spotted the little octopus, the murloc slowly opened its mouth.
Ka—
Just as the murloc's jaws were less than half a meter away, a powerful sound wave suddenly blasted through the water. Sensing the danger, the murloc twisted its body with an almost impossible contortion to narrowly dodge the attack.
Still rattled from the dodge, it didn't even have time to turn its head before a white figure swooped in from the side. A firm grip landed on its shoulder, and it was thrown aside with brutal force.
Lansi, who was supposed to have left, had returned without warning. He gently pried the little octopus from the reef and held it close to his chest, his ear fins flaring with rage.
"I warned you not to eat my fish!"
Lansi had originally planned to check the gap where the murloc had entered the pool, but halfway there, an uneasy feeling stopped him. He turned back quietly, slipping into the water without a sound. That's when he caught the murloc in the act, about to attack the little octopus. His anger exploded on the spot.
That little octopus was no ordinary creature.
It was Wen Yu's symbiote.
Even he hadn't dared to eat it.
Lansi glared at the murloc, now seeing it as far more trouble than it was worth. So troublesome, in fact, that the urge to kill it outright grew stronger by the second.
"Yi—ai—"
Realizing it had been caught, the murloc whimpered and slowly approached Lansi. With its flawless features, it feigned a sorrowful expression, eyes filled with tears. Any ordinary man would have probably forgotten his anger on the spot, thrown his arms around the beautiful "woman," and offered comfort.
But Lansi frowned, holding the still-sleeping little octopus against his chest, suspicious as he looked the murloc over.
Unaware of the danger it had just escaped, the little octopus clung to Lansi's arm with a contented suction cup, rubbing its head lazily and falling back asleep. The warmth was soothing, soft, and safe.
The murloc continued to act pitiful as it moved closer, keeping its eyes locked on Lansi.
But when it was just a meter away, it suddenly dropped the act. With a twisted grin, it lunged at him with a roar.
If it couldn't eat, then it might as well fight.
Creatures like this were always cunning and selfish. They would never submit willingly.
Lansi's fury erupted. The wild nature of the sea surged through him. His pale blue eyes narrowed, the pupils transforming into sharp vertical slits. He shot forward like lightning.
The water churned violently, stirred by the powerful swing of his tail, clouding the pool into a murky swirl.
After a few seconds of frenzied motion, a thick cloud of purple-red blood spread through the water, staining the pool with chaos.
Splash.
Lansi emerged, dragging himself onto the edge of the pool. Wounds streaked his back, bleeding slowly before beginning to close. His once-white tail was now stained with the blood and grime of the fight. He scowled at the dirty color.
The contaminated water made it impossible to stay.
He glanced at the little octopus stuck to his arm and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least the little one was safe.
He should go to the villa's bathroom and clean himself off.
Lansi sniffed at his own scent and instantly felt a wave of resentment toward himself.
If only he had a pair of legs.
If he had legs, he could live like a human, enjoy the comforts of the villa, and take a proper bath whenever he liked.
How could he get a pair of legs?