Norman went out, took the food that the robot had put on the table to the bathroom, and handed it to the little mermaid. An Jin sat up holding the edge of the bathtub, took the tray, and set it across the bathtub. He looked at Norman expectantly, waiting for Norman to go out so he could start eating.
When Norman saw that he wasn’t eating, he asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”
An Jin blinked and circled his arm around the food, trying to make Norman understand what he meant. He was worried that Norman would hate him for protecting his food, so he quietly looked at Norman’s face.
If his master was not pleased, he would send a crab leg to apologize!
Norman’s expression remained unchanged. It was common knowledge that mermaids were protective of food, and he had noticed early on that the little mermaid didn’t seem to like to be watched eating.
These days it was only when he left that he started eating.
Norman obeyed the little mermaid’s wishes, left the bathroom, went to the bedroom outside, and sat down on the sofa, drinking a nutrient drink. He finished it and turned on Starnet. There was very little talk on Starnet about his spiritual riot, and a few users questioned the impossibility of recovering that quickly, saying they didn’t see His Majesty’s announcement and didn’t believe the Ministry of Information.
More people were curious as to why the haru beast appeared at the palace.
Haru beasts were a famous unique planetary beast, and because of the powerful leaping ability, any planet could see them. However, there were not many haru beasts and they usually did not appear easily, unless they were attracted by spiritual forces.
Haru beasts, like many star beasts, would eat anything, and spiritual power was the favorite of haru beasts. Netizens knew that His Majesty was returning to the palace from the military, so it was unlikely that the attraction to the haru beast was His Majesty. Then who would attract the haru beast?
Some people speculated that it was a mermaid, but all Siao people knew that His Majesty was still on the blacklist, so it was impossible for him to have a mermaid.
As the remarks about His Majesty raising a mermaid privately were restricted by the Ministry of Information, the topic was shifted to the captain of the second team that stayed at the palace.
The reasoning was also very good: the escort training’s spiritual fluctuations caused the haru beast to focus its attention.
The royal escort captains’ spiritual power were all A+, and attracting a haru beast was also considered normal.
Norman was satisfied with the direction of the wind on the Star network, affirmed the ability of the Ministry of Information, and scanned the current hot topics.
The top trending topic already had a popular hot tag: [Pure color mermaid’s spiritual force transmission rate of 100%.]
Norman knew after reading it that the poster must have been someone he met on the return trip.
Beep— with a light ring, Norman’s terminal received a message. It was from Tang Rin’s terminal and forwarded to him, from the Scientific Research Institute: [Mr. Tang, is it true what is talked about on the internet? The pure color mermaid can transmit the spiritual force 100%? I would like to arrange for a researcher to come to your home to check the body of the pure color mermaid, is that okay?]
“Not sure, no need.”
The director of the Scientific Research Institute tried to persuade him and was ruthlessly refused. There was nothing he could do; the moment the auction ended, the ownership of the mermaid was transferred. As long as the owner did not harm the mermaid, they had no right to interfere.
An Jin was full after eating a fish, a shrimp, and two crab pincers.
Considering Norman was outside, he did not cook the crab and ate it raw without the impurities. It was the first time he ate crab like this, but the meat in the crab pincers was very tender, and after removing the impurities, the taste was slightly sweet and delicious. He curled his eyes with satisfaction, picked up the tray, and bent down to the floor.
He ran the ability and controlled the water in the bathtub, which formed a small water dragon. He reached his hand out of the tub and the water dragon flew around between his fingers, which quickly rinsed everything clean.
He cocked his tail in pleasure and held the bathtub, stretching his head, looking out of the bathroom. “Ahhh~”
He let out two soft barks, and almost as soon as the words left his mouth, he heard Norman’s footsteps.
Norman entered the bathroom, swept his eyes over the remaining crabs, and asked, “Are you full?”
An Jin put his palms on his little white tummy and tilted his little head to look at him.
Norman looked at his well-behaved appearance, and a big word “cute” suddenly flashed in his head. He swept his eyes over the little mermaid’s slightly bulging stomach, knew he was full, and asked the robot to take the tray away.
An Jin’s right hand reached for Norman.
Originally ready to pull the sleeve, but Norman had just changed clothes, so he pulled Norman’s fingers. Norman was a little confused, not sure what the little mermaid was up to, but he didn’t hide and let the little mermaid pull.
An Jin thought about it and pulled the fingers of Norman’s other hand as well to prevent Norman from covering his mouth.
When he saw that Norman was cooperating, he was in a better mood and his eyes curved into a crescent shape. He thought about how good Norman had been to him and brewed up his emotions.
After a while, his lips slightly opened and a song expressing his gratitude rang out in the room. The tune was soft and warm, like a springtime glow, warm from the bottom of his heart.
Norman looked into the little mermaid’s transparent eyes, and his expression was soft.
The little mermaid was too good.
Not long ago, he was angry with him, and before he could coax him, the little Mermaid was no longer angry and sang to him.
After the song was over, he clearly felt that his spiritual sea was in better condition and his spiritual power had increased by another ten percent.
Thinking about how the little mermaid looked after the last time he sang, he immediately surveyed the little mermaid’s demeanor.
An Jin let go of Norman’s finger and looked at him brightly with a look of expectation that said “Isn’t it great!”
Norman saw that his mental state was good and put his mind at ease. When he met his bright eyes, he couldn’t resist and rubbed his hair. “That’s good, thanks An An.”
An Jin’s mouth curled up, and recalling the pet’s pampered look, rubbed the top of his head against Norman’s palm and let out a soft, “Ah~”
The cat’s meowing voice was so good that it would be pleasing to the owner, right?
He raised his eyes and quietly looked at Norman’s expression. Norman’s lips curved unnoticeably. The little mermaid’s voice was soft and sweet, making his heart soft. This was the first time, too, that a creature had been explicitly close to him.
When he thought of the spiritual riots not long ago, when the little mermaid was not only not afraid, but also worried enough to sing to him, he could not help but love. He felt the joy of having a pet.
Seeing that the little mermaid liked to have his hair rubbed, he rubbed it again before removing his hand.
“I have to go back to the military, so you stay in the bathtub and play this afternoon.” Norman finished and gave the robot the order to look after the little mermaid. He also put all the goods he bought earlier next to the bathtub to make it easier for the little mermaid to play.
An Jin obediently stayed in the bathtub until Norman left. He gazed and felt to make sure Norman had left the villa, then he looked at the robot standing at the door, braced himself, and moved outside the bathtub. He crawled into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, shutting out the robot’s view.
With his tail flat on the floor, he sat with his back against the door and looked serious after holding the beast’s core and examining it carefully. He placed the beast core in the palm of his left hand, closed his eyes, and used his water ability to draw energy from the core.
Soon, the energy consumed by his singing was replenished, and the spiritual sea glowed bright and dazzlingly watery blue.
An Jin took a deep breath and continued to draw energy, the spiritual sea vibrated slightly, and in a short time An Jin’s forehead was covered with a layer of sweat.
After about half an hour, An Jin’s spiritual sea doubled in size, and the number of spiritual filaments also doubled. An Jin exhaled lightly, wiped off the sweat dripping from his forehead to the end of his eyes, and looked down at the beast’s core.
The fiery red core of the beast was now only faintly red, and a few cracks had surfaced inside.
An Jin’s eyes twinkled. He ran his ability, and almost instantly, a basketball-sized water ball appeared in front of him. His eyes arched, and controlling the water ball to change shape, felt over the strength of the primary ability, then he withdrew the ability.
The first level of a person with an ability was so much stronger compared to the entry level.
During the apocalypse, he could only make records in the warehouse, while the primary ability person could go out and find supplies. He looked at the beast core, and although with some reluctance, still absorbed all the remaining energy. His spiritual force was back to a full state.
There was no energy in the beast core, and it cracked and split in pieces. His spiritual power recovered quickly, but this was really a waste. The change in the beast core was too obvious, and he could not hide it, and could only destroy it to not arouse suspicion.
He used his fingernails to cut the fragile beast core into smaller pieces and flushed it down the toilet. After doing so, he opened the bathroom door and saw the robot, with its eyes shining silver, standing upright in the doorway. He was startled and let out a soft cry.
The robot made sure that all the vitals of the little mermaid were normal and went back to the bathroom door to keep watch.
An Jin went back to the bathtub with doubts.
When Norman returned in the evening, An Jin heard the robot report and realized that the robot had detected that he had stayed too long in the bathroom and was guarding the door.
Norman had made a trip to the military headquarters to break the rumors that suspected his spiritual state and returned only after taking care of military affairs. He took off his uniform jacket, bent down to pick up the little mermaid, and headed downstairs.
It was about seven-thirty, already dark, and the villa was lit up with bright lights all around, almost as if it were daylight. An Jin was carried by Norman, not daring to move for fear of slipping down.
Back in the mermaid room, An Jin noticed at first glance the changes in the room. The side of the pool wall near the wall was opened up to form a circular passage, which was wide enough for four people to swim side by side.
An Jin raised his eyes to the window and saw that the branches were gone on the side and were farther away there. He tugged on Norman’s sleeve and pointed to the garden.
Norman knew that the little mermaid was really smart and carried him to the back garden. The piece of land in the garden near the villa had been transformed into an oversized pool.
The pool and the walls were covered with smooth white material, the water was crystal clear, and two ghostly moons were reflected in the water, beautiful and dreamy.
Norman walked to the pool and put the little mermaid into the pool.
An Jin did not swim away immediately, but smiled at Norman with his little head up before wagging his tail. The aquamarine scales shone brightly and cut through the water, bringing out a white line of water.
An Jin sank into the water and was not surprised to see the passage leading to the room. He flipped his body, looked up at Norman on the shore, raised a bright smile at him, flipped back and swam into the passage.
After entering the passage, he found that the walls of the pool in the passage were inlaid with colored luminous stones, and the luminous stones were particularly bright in the middle where the lights at the two ends could not shine.
An Jin wagged his tail and swam through the colorful water, feeling for a moment that he was in a fairy tale. Soon, he crossed the passage and came to the familiar room.
He happily spat a scurry of fine, crystalline bubbles.
In the future, when he went to the back garden, he wouldn’t have to crawl around, and he didn’t have to worry about his tail drying out if he wanted to sunbathe: he could soak in the pool and sunbathe.
Everything was too much to his liking. He felt the joy of being a pet!
Norman was really the best owner in the world! He was so happy and touched that he turned around and swam back.
The author has something to say: Thank you for your support (づ ̄3 ̄)づ