Chapter 54
Once the corridor was cleared, they traveled much faster. The Western Sea Human Breeding Center had prepared well in advance; the moment they spotted the military flying shuttle, they immediately came out to receive them.
The merman soldiers of the Third Squad swarmed down, bringing order to the chaotic crowd outside the breeding center.
“Admiral Lux!” The merman director had finally managed to wait for them. “Thank you for coming to assist us. This is truly… far beyond our expectations. In just a few short months, two purebred Huaxia humans have been awakened one after another.”
He saluted Lux, his gaze continuously peering into the flying shuttle as if looking for something.
Lux nodded in acknowledgement. “The troops I brought have arrived; they are all here.”
“Ah…” The merman director hesitated. “Actually… it’s like this, Admiral Lux.”
“The newly awakened human has quite a bad temper. No matter what we do, we can’t get him to eat. As of right now, he has been on a hunger strike for three days…”
Vincent panicked. “How could that happen? What are we going to do then?”
For a human this precious, they had to figure out a way.
“Can’t you guys just do something to make him happy? Give him toys and snacks?” Vincent asked.
The merman director sighed. “We’ve tried every method we could think of, but the personality of this one is completely different from the last. He won’t listen to reason or threats. We’re afraid of hurting him, and no matter how we coax him, he won’t listen. We are truly at our wits’ end.”
“So…” He looked at Lux expectantly. “Admiral, would it be possible to let your partner communicate with this human? I assume they might share a lot of common ground.”
This was no major issue.
Lux replied, “I will go discuss it with him.”
The merman director was overjoyed. “He came too? That’s wonderful!”
After listening to Vincent and Lux explain the situation, Ruan Chen pushed off his seat with his legs, his small face taut. “Fine then.”
From beginning to end, he didn’t give Lux a single glance, intentionally turning his head away when he spoke.
The other mermen hadn’t noticed anything yet, but Lux immediately sensed that something was wrong.
He knew it was because he had teased him like that on the flying shuttle in front of Ruan Chen’s friend, which had most likely made him angry.
Once they stepped into the breeding center, Lux tried to hold Ruan Chen’s hand, but Ruan Chen dodged it.
Lux cast a sidelong glance at him.
Ruan Chen kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, swimming rapidly with his legs, trying to bypass him to keep up with the main group ahead.
“We are truly deeply grateful, Adjutant Vincent. If you guys hadn’t come, I would have worried myself bald,” the merman director’s voice echoed through the corridor as he conversed with Vincent, masking the subtle tug-of-war going on between Ruan Chen and Lux.
Ruan Chen felt an inexplicable wave of nervousness, swimming right close to Lux’s side.
“Mph!”
Just as he thought he had successfully broken free, a pair of hands reached out from behind, covered his mouth, and forcefully dragged him into a small nearby corner.
Before Ruan Chen could even manage a struggle, he was already pinned against the wall.
Vincent and the other merman researchers were still swimming forward and chatting, completely oblivious to the fact that they were short two members at the back of the line.
Ruan Chen glared at Lux.
Lux looked down at him, remaining silent.
It wasn’t until the group of mermen ahead had completely turned the corner and vanished from sight that he leaned close to Ruan Chen’s ear and whispered, “What’s this little temper about?”
Still brooding, Ruan Chen turned his head away and ignored him.
“Ruan Ruan.” Lux pinched his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Is it because I kissed you in front of your friend?”
“…” Ruan Chen pursed his lips, tilting his head backward.
After enduring it for a moment, he finally spoke: “No.”
Lux remained quiet for a long while. “Liar.”
Having his stubborn act exposed, the tips of Ruan Chen’s ears immediately turned red. “You’re clearly the one who lied to me first.”
Lux knitted his brows. “What did I lie to you about?”
“You guaranteed me that we wouldn’t be seen,” Ruan Chen argued, lacking proper justification but sounding tough anyway. “In the end, we were completely exposed!”
“Isn’t that lying to me… mph…”
Midway through Ruan Chen’s fierce declaration, the tail end of his words was swallowed into a kiss.
His eyes widened.
He had originally banked on the fact that Lux liked him entirely too much and wouldn’t dare to truly do anything to him.
Especially after he had agreed to date him, Lux’s attitude toward him had softened even more visibly. He was completely compliant, trying to coax and spoil him at every turn; calling it coddling wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.
Ruan Chen thought this time would be just like the previous instances—he would throw a tantrum, the merman would coax him, and in the end, he would emerge victorious.
But his calculations were wrong.
Lux pressed him against the wall. This gap was exceptionally small and narrow; with a merman squeezing in, it was incredibly cramped, leaving Ruan Chen with absolutely no room to struggle.
The merman didn’t give him the chance to struggle either.
His hands held immense strength, and the kiss was deep and reckless, completely exposing the deeply repressed aggressive nature in his bones in an instant.
“Lu…” Ruan Chen still didn’t understand what was going on, capable only of letting out fragmented syllables between breaths. “Lux…”
But he could feel that Lux was angry.
Finally, after his waist had gone completely soft, Lux withdrew from his lips.
Ruan Chen’s lips felt entirely numb from the kiss, a lingering panic evident in his dark eyes.
Seeing him like this, Lux let out a soft chuckle, using the pad of his finger to rub the corner of his mouth. “Are you still going to let me kiss you?”
Ruan Chen’s breathing hadn’t settled yet, his face filled with shock. “You…”
Finding himself pinned and semi-forced into a kiss, he came to his senses and kicked Lux’s fish tail in a fit of defensive embarrassment.
He failed to budge it. Terrified that a large commotion would cause them to be discovered, Ruan Chen lowered his voice and bluffed, “What if I don’t let you kiss me?”
“Nothing much.” Lux lowered his head again. “If you won’t let me kiss you, then I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands.”
Again?!
Ruan Chen assumed he would just do it once out of spite, but he hadn’t expected Lux to keep him pinned in this corner, kissing him over and over again. He didn’t let go even when Ruan Chen grew so anxious he wanted to cry.
Worse yet, he simply couldn’t beat him.
After what felt like the nth deep kiss, Lux finally relaxed his force a bit, running into Ruan Chen’s watery eyes.
He curled his lips. “I’ll give you another chance. Will you let me kiss you in the future?”
“…” Ruan Chen’s heart was beating like a drum. The words “No way” rushed to the tip of his tongue, only to be swallowed back down.
“Mm, looks like it’s still not enough.” Failing to get an answer, Lux leaned down overbearingly once more.
Ruan Chen panicked. “They’re coming back…”
He could already hear the voices of the group of mermen coming back to look for the two of them from the distance.
“It’s perfect if they come back.” Lux raised an eyebrow. “I’ll kiss you right in front of them, for all the mermen to see. Let everyone, whether they know us or not, take a good look.”
Ruan Chen’s eyes genuinely turned red.
Lux pressed his forehead against his, asking once more, “Will you let me kiss you in the future?”
Catching the grievance in Ruan Chen’s gaze, his heart still softened for a brief instant. “If you give a nod, I won’t kiss you in front of them.”
Threats were the absolute last thing Ruan Chen would yield to.
He stared straight back at Lux, refusing to give in.
“Do you humans hide away in secret whenever you’re dating?” Lux’s pale gold eyes reflected his image.
Ruan Chen froze.
He was stumped by the question.
Lux said, “Before, you said we had to mutually like each other to be partners, and only then could I touch you. I respected your thoughts.”
Lux added, “I like you, you know that.”
The shame and annoyance Ruan Chen had built up slowly receded.
Lux’s tone was flat: “You were the one who agreed to date me that day, weren’t you?”
“Dating is just…” Ruan Chen mumbled.
“Just trying to get along using the premise of a partnership, with the option to return the goods at any time.” Lux helped him finish the sentence. “Do you feel like you don’t like me, and you’re backing out?”
“I…” Ruan Chen’s lips moved slightly.
“If you truly didn’t like it, you would have bitten me to death when I kissed you just now,” Lux stated the fact in a calm voice. “But you didn’t.”
Ruan Chen’s head dropped lower and lower. “…”
“I didn’t say I don’t like you…” He stared at a spot on the floor, his eyelids drooping.
A low chuckle sounded beside his ear. “Then that means you do like me.”
“…” Ruan Chen’s neck turned red from his laughter. “Whatever you say.”
Lux still didn’t let him off: “Then why won’t you let me kiss you?”
“Ruan Ruan.” He released his hands and cupped Ruan Chen’s head. “I’m very happy that you’re willing to try with me. My desire to kiss you also stems from liking you. I don’t feel our relationship needs to be hidden away.”
“The moment you agreed to date me, I wished I could let every single merman on Ocean Planet hear it,” he said softly. “Does Ruan Ruan not want your friends to know about our relationship?”
Very slowly, he heard another sentence: “Is it… because you still don’t like me enough?”
“…I…” Ruan Chen closed his eyes a few times. “I like you, I like you, alright!”
“Then why…”
“Because I’m fucking shy!” Ruan Chen didn’t care whether the other mermen could hear him anymore. “The moment I kiss you, I… I don’t even know how to breathe. I… my entire body just feels off…”
It wasn’t just kissing. Ever since the realization that they were dating entered Ruan Chen’s mind, Lux’s gaze, the touch of his palms—any contact would bring about a strange sensation.
His face would flush, his eyes would well up with moisture, his heartbeat would spin out of control, and every single cell would escape his mastery.
A version of himself like this made him feel very unfamiliar, and it felt highly private.
Ruan Chen didn’t want other mermen to see it.
Humans wouldn’t do either.
“I didn’t want to hide it away, am I that kind of person?” Ruan Chen sniffled aggrievedly. “If I said I agreed to date you, I’ll stick to my word, I haven’t backed out… I just don’t want them to see me looking like that, it looks… like something else…”
But he couldn’t control it either.
If a physiological response could be controlled, it wouldn’t be called liking someone anymore.
Lux froze.
After digesting the words Ruan Chen had spoken a few times, it clicked.
His eyes lit up, and he grasped Ruan Chen’s hand. “Only allowed to show it to me?”
“…” Ruan Chen threw caution to the wind. “Yes, only allowed for you to see. In the whole wide world, only you can look at it. Are you satisfied now?”
After yelling it out, Ruan Chen lowered his head in utter self-abandonment. “You just had to force me to say it, you’re so damn annoying!”
Having cleared up the root cause, the burden weighing on Lux’s heart vanished instantly.
But the person seemed to have been thoroughly provoked by him.
“Ruan Ruan…” He encircled Ruan Chen’s calves with his fish tail. “I’m sorry, it was my fault for not considering these things.”
To his surprise, Ruan Chen took a few deep breaths and surprisingly didn’t lose his temper at him: “I’m at fault too. I didn’t think you would mind this.”
“In the future…” He ruffled his hair. “We’ll take things slow in the future, alright? I’ll try to adapt to it…”
Lest the merman always cater to his thoughts, making him look very weak.
Besides, he was the one who proposed dating, and for a couple to be a bit intimate… was only normal.
If he were constantly rejected, he would probably feel quite sad too if he were in his shoes.
He had already made a concession, yet who knew Lux would say, “No.”
Ruan Chen: “?”
“I don’t want Ruan Ruan’s appearance to be seen by other mermen either.” While he enjoyed teasing him verbally, when their kiss was actually walked in on earlier, he had still pulled Ruan Chen into his embrace at the very first instant. “I was just bluffing you earlier, don’t take it seriously.”
A merman’s innate possessiveness over their partner was stronger than any other species; they were a bunch of creatures raised inside vinegar jars.
“The way Ruan Ruan looks when he flushes is so beautiful.” Lux squeezed his earlobe. “How could I ever bear to let other mermen see it?”
He especially loved seeing Ruan Chen being bullied by him to the point that his entire face turned completely red, his eyes pooling with watery light.
He liked it beyond measure, wishing he could hide him away.
Having his face turn even hotter by his words, Ruan Chen raised his head. “…Then what exactly do you want!”
He gets upset if they don’t kiss, yet when he agrees, the merman turns out to be unwilling himself.
Why was this fish so difficult to handle?
“Lux? Why are you guys here?” Vincent and the researchers he was leading had finally tracked the two of them down.
Without wearing translation earpieces, they couldn’t hear the dialogue between Ruan Chen and Lux clearly; they only knew that as they swam along the way, their ears were filled with nothing but rapid meowing.
Lux and Ruan Chen were still maintaining their posture pinned against the wall. Hearing the voices, Ruan Chen’s entire body went rigid.
Quick-witted and agile, the merman yanked Ruan Chen behind him in a flash, standing his fish tail up to shield him completely.
Vincent only blanked out for a single second before also realizing what situation these two were in.
He hurriedly smoothed things over, speaking to the breeding center director and researchers behind him: “Ah… ahahaha, nothing, nothing’s wrong. They’re just discussing matters, let’s head over first. Let’s go, let’s go.”
The remaining mermen: “…”
Lux turned his body to help Ruan Chen straighten the collar that had been messed up by him.
Following at the end of the group, he murmured quietly by Ruan Chen’s ear: “We’ll do exactly as you said, we’ll take it one step at a time, alright?”
“…” Ruan Chen lowered his eyelashes. “Sure.”
After waiting for three seconds, Lux felt a wave of warmth in his palm.
He looked down.
It was Ruan Chen’s tiny hand, quietly reaching out to grasp his.
“Then… let’s start with holding hands first?” Ruan Chen’s ears felt burning hot. “I’ll teach you a new way to hold hands.”
Lux smiled. “What is it?”
Ruan Chen shifted his wrist, threading his fingers through the gaps between the merman’s fingers one by one.
“This is called interlocking fingers, exclusive for couples.” He said in a small voice, “In the future… you’re allowed to hold me like this in front of everyone.”
It felt as if a feather had gently brushed against Lux’s heart.
He used his fish tail to sweep imperceptibly across Ruan Chen’s ankle.
Feeling the tickle, Ruan Chen’s swimming legs gave a slight pause.
Yet he didn’t break free either.
Once the words were spoken openly, his courage had grown quite a bit for no apparent reason.
Taking advantage of the fact that the mermen ahead weren’t paying attention, he extended a leg to the side and hooked Lux’s tail fin.
Vincent and the other merman researchers had long since noticed the little couple behind them brushing and touching against each other.
However, no one had the guts to turn back. They could only pretend to be completely oblivious, continuing their advance toward the human breeding room.
Finally, the commotion behind grew louder and louder. After Lux vigorously stirred the water currents into a small swirling vortex, Vincent couldn’t hold back anymore: “Uh, did this breeding center turn on a wave-making function today? Why do I feel like the water is constantly shaking?”
Hearing this, Ruan Chen hurriedly stopped, slapping the upper section of Lux’s fish tail to signal that he wasn’t allowed to move anymore either.
“Ah?” The merman director let out a soft cough. “Uh, about that… it might be that the water here tends to get quite excited and easily forms waves when it encounters a couple with deep affection.”
Vincent: “?”
You’re entirely too good at flattery, why don’t you publish a book?
![After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]](https://i1.wp.com/panda-translations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20220822190944_300_420.jpg?resize=151,215 "After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]")