Several elegant, semi-transparent sightseeing boats shaped like giant jellyfish drifted slowly across the sea, trailing pale blue phosphorescent paths behind them.
Those trails gradually spread out and blended into the soft halo of light.
"Very good. It's much safer here." Yan Huan looked around and finally showed a hint of satisfaction.
"Hm? What are you talking about?" Firefly turned back. A strand of hair lifted by the sea breeze brushed her cheek, and she casually tucked it behind her ear, curiosity in her blue-pink eyes.
"I said Dan Heng has a really perky ass."
"Oh, he does."
Humming a tune, Firefly bent down again and dug a purple shell out of the wet sand. It was shaped remarkably like a tiny five-pointed star, with naturally serrated patterns along its edges.
She rinsed it in the clear seawater and held it up to the light.
The inside of the shell was as thin as a cicada's wing, refracting tiny rainbow-like glimmers that shifted constantly. It was beautiful.
"Look at this. It's so pretty." She held the shell out before Yan Huan as if presenting a treasure.
"Tch. I stopped playing with this stuff when I was three." Yan Huan curled his lip, looking disdainful.
"..." Firefly's hand froze in midair as she held up the shell. She awkwardly withdrew it. "Uh... it's all right, isn't it?"
She muttered quietly, but still carefully placed the little star shell into the paper bag containing the desserts, together with the ones she had collected earlier.
On the dry stretch of beach not far away, several small robots with round heads and colorful candy-painted shells were diligently building sandcastles.
Using their nimble mechanical arms, they dug sand, packed it down, and stacked it into castle forms with a surprisingly artistic flair.
There were spires, walls,