Hao Ren turned his head when he heard the commotion from the small plaza and happened to see the staff stationed beside the signal tower walking toward the blood pool in the center of the plaza. The red liquid in the pool was surging rhythmically, its center slightly bulging as though something was about to emerge. Lily, with half a spicy strip hanging from her mouth, craned her neck and leaned over the windowsill. "What's that for?"
"That's the process of returning to the real world," Ulanov explained. "Everyone is born from the blood pool."
Hao Ren immediately became very interested, but before he could say anything, he felt something cool and slippery move inside his chest. Then Doudou wriggled out. The Little Merman hopped onto the windowsill and happily slapped her tail against it, drawn by the commotion outside. Ulanov froze the moment he saw the mysterious creature. "What's that?"
Hao Ren supported Doudou's body to keep the little one from falling off the windowsill as he explained, "Uh... my daughter. She's from the Mermaid Race. You don't have those here."
Ulanov's gaze at Hao Ren instantly turned rather strange. "So you walked with your tails when you were born?"
Hao Ren: "..."
He had no idea how many times he had explained similar questions because of his fish daughter. At that moment, he had absolutely no motivation to speak, but he couldn't leave the misunderstanding uncorrected either, so he could only wave his hand listlessly. "It's complicated. She's not my biological daughter. The process by which I adopted her was rather special."
Doudou had no idea she had become the subject of an adult discussion. She simply waved enthusiastically at the lively scene in the plaza, brimming with curiosity like any normal child. At the same time, she