Chapter 33
Ruan Chen hugged the lustrous fruit tightly. As the safety line around his waist reeled back in, he let it slowly haul him along the outer shell of the airship and back inside.
The moment his feet entered the water, he rushed straight toward Lux with the fruit in his arms and held it up for the merman to see, looking as though he were demanding praise.
All the other merman soldiers heard was a string of soft, sweet—
“Meow meow meow…”
Only Lux, who was wearing the translator earpiece, understood him.
Ruan Chen was saying, “Still looking down on me?”
His smug little expression was unmistakable.
Lux suppressed a smile. “I’m not looking down on you. Ruan Ruan is very impressive.”
With that, he reached out and removed Ruan Chen’s breathing equipment and military headset.
Once Ruan Chen switched back to the translator earpiece, the merfolk’s conversations instantly flooded his ears.
“He’s so tiny. He has to hold the fruit with both arms.”
“That cry just now was way too cute…”
“When I heard him straining, I instinctively started straining along with him.”
“This human is so brave!”
“Shh—he’s looking at you!”
Ruan Chen glanced at the merfolk discussing him, then lowered his head.
The fruit in his arms really was large compared to him, but he was only holding it with both hands because he knew how precious it was.
His pride stung at the words “so tiny,” and Ruan Chen pursed his lips.
While Lux carried him toward the safety seat, Ruan Chen secretly twisted around and lifted the source crystal fruit with one hand.
Then, as though it were completely casual, he even balanced it on his index finger and spun it once like a basketball.
After completing that little performance, Ruan Chen hugged the fruit again just as Lux set him down in his seat.
Once his safety belt was fastened, he glanced at the merfolk again.
“Did he get angry because you called him tiny?”
“Ah… somehow that makes him even cuter.”
“He even deliberately showed us he could hold the fruit with one hand. Hahaha!”
Ruan Chen, whose every little thought had been seen through: “…”
His ears red, he turned away and pretended to admire the scenery outside.
He was done with this group of merfolk.
“Everyone, return to your positions.”
After settling Ruan Chen in, Lux stood and gave the order.
“Continue collecting crystals.”
All the merman soldiers immediately put away their relaxed expressions and answered solemnly,
“Yes, sir!”
Lux rubbed the top of Ruan Chen’s head.
“Is Ruan Ruan hungry?”
Still embarrassed and annoyed, Ruan Chen muttered, “No.”
The moment he finished speaking, he felt the merman lightly press a hand against his little belly.
Ruan Chen: “!”
Before he could snap at him, Lux had already opened one of the cans of food Ruan Chen had brought, scooped up a spoonful, and pushed it into Ruan Chen’s conveniently open mouth.
“Mm—”
Caught completely off guard with a mouthful of canned food, Ruan Chen’s eyes widened.
Lux looked as though he were about to continue feeding him, but then seemed to remember something.
He turned the spoon around and handed the handle to Ruan Chen.
“Here. Ruan Ruan can eat by himself.”
The first bite awakened Ruan Chen’s hungry stomach.
His little paw shot out and snatched both the can and spoon.
“I want a drink too.”
Several minutes later, Ruan Chen sat with the source crystal fruit in his lap, a straw between his lips, and a can of food in his hands as he watched the merfolk diligently collect crystals.
Ruan Chen looked every inch the little supervisor.
By afternoon, he shared the rest of his canned food with Vincent and Pegg, who had both been busy all day.
He did not give them any of his milk-bottle drinks.
That would have been far too humiliating.
Human-specific food did not seem to taste particularly good to merfolk.
But the two starving mermen still ate happily, practically scraping every last bit stuck to the inside of the cans.
By nightfall, the collection mission finally ended.
Only then did Ruan Chen follow the merman soldiers back to Base X.
Lux carried Ruan Chen into the command room and placed him on the sofa.
Ruan Chen had expected Lux to send him back to his room.
Still hugging the source crystal fruit, he looked up in slight confusion.
“Am I sleeping here tonight?”
Lux sat down beside him.
“No.”
Ruan Chen felt strangely nervous under his gaze.
Uneasily, he looked away and lowered his eyes.
“Then…”
Why had Lux brought him to the command room?
And why was he wearing the expression of a strict school administrator inviting a student in for tea?
Lux stared at Ruan Chen for a long moment before asking,
“Is something bothering you, Ruan Ruan?”
Ruan Chen blinked.
“What?”
Ruan Chen had successfully picked the source crystal fruit, but Lux could not stop thinking about the words he had said earlier—
“Stop looking down on me all the time.”
“I’m not as weak as you think.”
Actually, there had been signs of this problem for quite some time.
Before they had been able to communicate, Lux had often relied entirely on advice from the forum when deciding how to treat his human.
On the way back, he had recalled every detail of his time with Ruan Chen and instinctively felt that this was something they needed to discuss.
Seeing that Ruan Chen did not understand, Lux asked again,
“Why do you think I’m always looking down on you?”
Ruan Chen choked.
“Is it because I don’t let you touch dangerous things?” Lux continued. “You’ve only just entered the transformation period. This is when your body is at its weakest. There are too many uncertainties on this planet. Many times, even I can’t guarantee that I’ll come back completely unharmed.”
Ruan Chen pressed his lips together and hugged the fruit a little tighter.
He did not reply.
Lux realized the atmosphere had become a little too serious.
He smiled and rested an arm along the back of the sofa, lowering his head to look at him.
“Protecting you is my responsibility. It doesn’t mean I look down on you.”
“But I picked the fruit.”
Although he found it somewhat embarrassing to say aloud, Ruan Chen still quietly told the truth.
“All of you work so hard. I don’t want to sit beside you like some mascot and just look at the scenery.”
He knew Lux had only brought him along so he could admire the Spore Forest.
But in that kind of environment, his pride would not allow him to sit around doing nothing.
“I can help. I’m capable of doing things within my ability,” he added.
Lux thought for a moment, then openly admitted,
“I was wrong today.”
Ruan Chen froze and raised his eyes to the merman.
“You’re the first human I’ve ever had.”
Lux’s gaze was gentle.
“When I’m with you, there are many things I don’t have experience with, so I haven’t handled them very well.”
“I’m sorry about the fruit today. I really did underestimate Ruan Ruan.”
Lux sincerely apologized to him again.
“I should have considered your feelings more.”
With the merman lowering himself so sincerely, Ruan Chen suddenly felt embarrassed instead.
It was his first time interacting with a merman too.
It was only natural that their ways of thinking would clash sometimes.
Ruan Chen lowered his head.
“…Then in the future, you can’t stop me from doing what I want.”
After listening, Lux negotiated with him.
“I’ll consider your abilities and avoid protecting you excessively.”
Then he lifted Ruan Chen’s chin.
“But Ruan Ruan, you have to promise me something too.”
Ruan Chen blinked.
“What?”
“When you encounter something you truly can’t handle, don’t act impulsively. And you can’t refuse my protection.”
Lux’s expression turned serious.
Ruan Chen had an impatient temper and sometimes deliberately tried to act tough.
After spending this much time with him, Lux had already noticed.
Ruan Chen understood his own personality too.
Back then, his short temper had made it impossible for him to tolerate seeing anyone bully the weak. Unfortunately, he had also learned some martial arts and possessed a bit of skill.
As a result, he had caused plenty of trouble and lost count of how many times his grandfather had punished him.
Ruan Chen gently nodded his little head.
“Fine. I promise.”
Words alone were not proof.
Ruan Chen raised his fist and extended his pinky.
“Pinky promise with me.”
“What does that mean?” Lux asked in confusion.
Ruan Chen explained, “Hook your little finger around mine. It’s a kind of… ritual.”
“Once we pinky promise, neither of us can break our vow.”
The merman extended his hand and gently hooked his little finger around Ruan Chen’s.
The size difference was so extreme that Ruan Chen’s hand looked like a miniature version.
Ruan Chen’s face reddened.
Avoiding the merman’s gaze, he said,
“Now stick out your thumb and seal it with mine.”
Lux obediently did as instructed.
The merman’s skin was cool.
When their thumbs pressed together, Ruan Chen trembled almost imperceptibly.
“Done.”
The moment the ritual was complete, he quickly pulled his hand away.
This strange new way of making a vow was something Lux had never encountered before.
He raised an eyebrow and lowered his gaze to his own thumb.
For some reason, it really did feel as though a bond had formed between them.
Ruan Chen secretly rubbed his own thumb several times.
Yet the sensation of the merman’s skin seemed to cling there, impossible to shake off.
Lux suddenly remembered something.
“There’s one more thing. Ruan Ruan, you’re not some mascot.”
Ruan Chen’s little paw was suddenly captured and held again.
“Do you know how much you helped everyone when you argued with Sain in the news comments?”
Ruan Chen genuinely had not thought about that.
He shook his head, eyes widening.
“There was more after that?”
He had ignored all the crazy netizens tagging him on the forum over the past few days.
“Of course.”
Lux saw no problem with telling his human about these matters, so he briefly explained.
“The royal family originally withheld the special energy supplies intended for Base X. That was why we lacked resources during the first battle and gave the Zerg an opening.”
“If things had continued that way, we might have lost the entire base.”
“But you made such a huge commotion that public opinion shifted toward the military. The royal family didn’t dare anger the people, so naturally, they no longer dared withhold Base X’s energy supplies.”
Ruan Chen’s mind turned quickly.
He immediately understood the situation.
He had accidentally helped them that much?
Just as they finished speaking, someone knocked on the command room door.
“Lux, it’s me. Vincent.”
“Come in.”
The moment Vincent entered, he excitedly announced,
“Great news, Lux! I just received word. The royal family has completely backed down and agreed to immediately restore energy supplies to Base X!”
Seeing them so happy, Ruan Chen, who had only just been declared a great contributor by Lux, actually felt a little shy.
He lifted his head ever so slightly—And met Lux’s lowered gaze.
The merman’s eyes were bright.
Before Ruan Chen could react, Lux picked him up.
The source crystal fruit fell onto the sofa.
Ruan Chen turned to glance at it.
In the next instant, Lux kissed his cheek.
“Ruan Ruan, I really do need to thank you properly this time.”
“Meow—! (You ambushed me again!)”
Vincent watched helplessly as Lux once again got his face scratched by his human’s little paws.
But not only was Lux not angry, he seemed even happier.
He caught Ruan Chen’s paws and gave them another loud kiss.
“MEOW MEOW MEOOOW—!”
This time, Ruan Chen completely exploded.
With their biggest energy problem resolved, Lux soon left the command room with Vincent to handle negotiations with the royal family.
Ruan Chen remained alone on the sofa.
He was not sleepy yet and did not want to go back to his room.
Most importantly…
He had been craving this fruit for a very long time.
After being picked, the source crystal fruit no longer had its original hazy halo, but it was still extremely eye-catching.
What attracted Ruan Chen even more was its faint fragrance.
The scent was very subtle.
The merfolk did not seem to notice it at all.
But Ruan Chen had been able to smell it the entire time.
He did not want the merfolk to think he was too gluttonous, so he had restrained himself again and again.
Now, however, he was the only one left in the command room.
Ruan Chen’s eyes lit up.
He stretched his sinful little paw toward the fruit.
Two hours later.
Lux returned to bring Ruan Chen to bed.
The moment he opened the door, he froze for a second at the sight of the human sitting on the sofa, hugging the fruit and drinking from it with his head lowered.
“Ruan Ruan, you can’t—”
Lux rushed over.
You can’t drink too much at once…
He had assumed Ruan Chen would not be hungry after eating canned food.
Besides, the fruit’s shell was hard and not easy to open.
But once again, he had underestimated the creativity of a gluttonous human.
Several metal shards snapped off from food cans were scattered across the sofa.
They were clearly the tools used in the crime.
Caught red-handed, Ruan Chen dazedly lifted his head.
Two obvious red patches bloomed across his cheeks.
Lux reached out, took the fruit—with a straw sticking out of it—from Ruan Chen’s arms, and weighed it in his hand.
It was completely empty.
Only the shell remained.
“Mew…”
Drunk and bleary-eyed, Ruan Chen squinted at Lux and shakily raised a finger to point at him.
He opened his mouth to speak—
But first let out a loud milky burp.
“Burp—”
A milky-white bubble slowly floated upward in front of Lux.
Ruan Chen swallowed.
Looking deeply confused, he poked his chin with one finger and stared at Lux through unfocused black eyes.
Then, with complete seriousness, he asked,
“Meow meow meow? (Why do you have… three heads?)”
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