He propped his chin on his hands, staring out at the waves.
They had gathered enough seafood—there was no need to collect more—so he decided to wait for Si Lu here.
"Alright," Hei Yao nodded in agreement and sat on a nearby rock, keeping his eyes on the distant sea. He was also waiting for Si Lu. No matter how long it took, he was willing to wait.
He knew Si Lu: once she promised to return before sunset, she would definitely do so.
Tata and Xiong Da were still collecting seafood, occasionally glancing at the sea as well. They were waiting for Lu Lu too.
Time slowly passed, and Bai Fei stared at the sea, lost in thought.
At that moment, Hei Yao's eyes lit up from the rock.
"They're back!" he exclaimed excitedly.
He had known Si Lu would return.
"Where, where? I don't see them yet…" Bai Fei looked around anxiously. Then he finally saw Si Lu and the mermaid on the sea surface. His expression immediately changed when he saw the mermaid.
Quickly, he rushed to the shore, standing on the sand, his gaze burning toward Si Lu. The mermaid didn't even register—his eyes were only on her.
"Ah Yao, Ah Di, I'm back! Have you been waiting long? Tata, I'm back!" Si Lu shouted happily as she approached them.
She hadn't expected Tata to be there too—she thought Tata would leave after finishing the seafood.
"Glad you're back. We've been waiting for you," Tata smiled at her, running toward the shore to greet her. Of course, she was still impressed by the mermaid's appearance—beautiful, but not her type.
"Yes, I'm back. Sorry to keep you waiting! You gathered so much seafood—it's amazing! We can have a seafood feast tonight," Si Lu said, smiling at everyone as she reached the shore.
"That's great! Tonight I'll be crashing at your place for dinner. Don't mind me, okay? I even brought all this seafood I collected," Tata said happily.
"Sure, come anytime. I'll be more than happy to have you. Let me officially introduce him—this is Lanpo, my future partner," Si Lu said solemnly.
"Hello," Lanpo said politely, giving a small, courteous smile to everyone.
"You two are something else—decided so quickly, huh?" Tata teased, a mischievous glint in her eye. They really did make a great match!
But that tail…
"Lu Lu, what about Lanpo's tail?" Tata frowned, unsure what to do.
"Lanpo's tail can become legs—he can live on land," Si Lu said, smiling. Everyone's eyes turned to Lanpo's massive tail.
Lanpo remained calm. Nonchalantly, he transformed his tail into legs. The scales on his body naturally turned into a flowing blue robe.
He looked incredibly handsome.
Everyone's eyes widened at the sight—except Hei Yao, of course.
"How did he do that? The body… the clothes… all at once? And the robe looks amazing!" Si Lu couldn't help exclaiming. She reached out to touch the robe—it looked like an elegant traditional garment.
Lanpo's outfit matched the color of the sea—sky blue. On him, it enhanced his striking appearance, and his dazzling blue hair made him even more extraordinary.
"Lu Lu, once your strength reaches Silver Rank, you gain the power of transformation. You can also control your beast form's size," Lanpo explained to her.
Ah, so only at Silver Rank could one understand these transformations. With a single thought, one could enlarge or shrink their body and turn scales or beast hides into clothes.
Hei Yao thought this was normal, minor stuff, so he hadn't mentioned it to Si Lu before. He hadn't expected her to be so curious—he should have explained earlier.
"Wow! No way… so amazing! You can change your body and make clothes? That's incredible!" Si Lu was astonished.
"I'd heard a bit before, but never confirmed. Now it's official," Tata said, laughing.
"Looks like I was the only one who didn't know. Alright, alright, enough talking—we should head back. I'm starving," Si Lu said, patting her stomach.
Hearing this, everyone felt hungry too.
"Let's go home," Hei Yao said, patting Si Lu's head affectionately.
Bai Fei glanced at the mermaid, feeling a twinge of jealousy, but he said nothing. Si Lu had already made everything clear—she accepted Lanpo.
"Let's go," Tata said, grabbing Si Lu and heading back.
The males followed close behind, near enough to protect them but without disturbing their conversations. They knew Tata and Si Lu had plenty to talk about—they had clearly been having fun together.
The group quickly returned to the Crocodile Tribe.
The surrounding beastmen were stunned when they saw Lanpo for the first time. Never had they seen such a handsome, unique male beastman. They also caught his scent—it was clear he was a member of the Shark Tribe.
They were confused at first, but seeing the two females ahead, they realized he had come with one of them. He clearly liked one of the females.
The other beastmen glanced but didn't linger. The group continued toward the cave.