Chapter Summaries

Si Jinyan took Chi Li to Lu Jiu for a follow-up examination, while Chi Li feared the test would confirm the pregnancy report. The results showed no pregnancy, and Chi Li concluded that his previous diagnosis had been mistaken.

• Si Jinyan secretly changed Chi Li’s meals to a pregnancy diet and asked the butler not to tell him.
• Si Jinyan took Chi Li to a hidden base and warned him to keep his distance from Bai Qi because he could not see through him.
• Lu Jiu examined Chi Li and reported that he had no infection and his wound had healed well.
• Chi Li checked the report, found no sign of pregnancy, and concluded that the earlier diagnosis was wrong.

After Chi Li’s examination, Lu Jiu told Si Jinyan that the healthy child might be egg-shaped because of Si Jinyan’s unusual genes, and warned that Chi Li would eventually need to know. At home, Si Jinyan’s condition worsened and he used pheromones and his tail to draw Chi Li closer, leaving Chi Li flustered by his intimate behavior.

• Lu Jiu showed Si Jinyan the examination report and said the child might be egg-shaped or retain a mermaid form, though its health indicators were normal.
• Lu Jiu advised Si Jinyan to bring Chi Li back for another examination and warned that Chi Li would find out sooner or later.
• Chi Li felt reassured after the examination and noticed that Si Jinyan respected his refusals, though Si Jinyan increasingly struggled to suppress his mermaid form and pheromones.
• Si Jinyan released pheromones during breakfast, and Chi Li briefly felt nauseated before the discomfort passed.
• That evening, Si Jinyan pulled Chi Li close and used his tail to pleasure him while Chi Li was affected by the pheromones.
• Chi Li came to his senses and protested when Si Jinyan brought his tail to his mouth and called it tasty.

Si Jinyan secretly soothed Chi Li and their unborn child with his tail and pheromones, then left to suppress a violent internal rage. Nearly half a month later, Chi Li had pieced together the villa’s location and was looking in the mirror after a shower when he noticed something wrong with his body.

• Si Jinyan carefully curled his fish tail around Chi Li’s stomach, and the unborn child gently nudged his tail before settling again.
• After soothing Chi Li and the child, Si Jinyan went to a separate room and endured a painful struggle to suppress his rage.
• Over the next half month, Chi Li followed Si Jinyan to the base and on outings, gradually figuring out the villa’s location.
• Chi Li realized he needed an opportunity to send the location to Qi Yan or someone from the mercenary corps, since he could not escape alone.
• After showering, Chi Li looked in the mirror and noticed something wrong with his body.

Chi Li noticed a strange bulge moving in his abdomen while bathing, unaware that Eggy, his developing child, had broken through Si Jinyan’s concealment and nudged him. Eggy sensed Chi Li’s overwhelming killing intent and froze in fear.

• With Si Jinyan away, Chi Li showered alone and noticed he had gained weight, deciding to exercise more.
• Chi Li saw a bulge move in his abdomen through the mirror and confirmed it moved again.
• Eggy, who had gradually developed consciousness, broke through Si Jinyan’s bewitching power because Si Jinyan was gone.
• Eggy cautiously nudged Chi Li’s belly twice, and Chi Li stared at the movement.
• Eggy sensed Chi Li’s killing intent and was too frightened to move.

Chi Li suspected that his body had undergone an unexplained change and grew uneasy about what Si Jinyan might do if he discovered it. The chapter ended with Chi Li suddenly straddling and kissing Si Jinyan, releasing his alpha pheromones.

• Chi Li remembered omega physiological changes after noticing an abnormality in the mirror, then wondered what Si Jinyan would do if he learned the truth.
• Si Jinyan embraced Chi Li and told him about an Aberrant Form he had dealt with, but Chi Li brushed off his touch and remained silent.
• Si Jinyan went to shower, while Chi Li continued trying to explain the unexplained abnormality he had seen.
• Si Jinyan lay beside Chi Li, wrapped his fish tail around Chi Li's ankle, and asked to smell his pheromones.
• Chi Li suddenly straddled Si Jinyan, kissed him, and unleashed his alpha pheromones, shocking Si Jinyan.

Chi Li tested Si Jinyan by pretending to enter a rut, but Si Jinyan restrained himself despite his desire. Chi Li realized Si Jinyan was hiding something and confronted him.

• Chi Li initiated a kiss and teased Si Jinyan by licking his fish tail, provoking his pheromones and desire.
• Si Jinyan reversed their positions and restrained Chi Li, but refused to take things further even when Chi Li urged him on.
• Chi Li recognized Si Jinyan’s restraint as evidence that he had regained control and was concealing something.
• Si Jinyan claimed he was afraid of hurting Chi Li after encountering an Aberrant Form, but Chi Li doubted his explanation.
• Si Jinyan offered to help Chi Li, but Chi Li grabbed his chin and sharply confronted him.

Chi Li confronted Si Jinyan about hiding the truth about his body, convinced that Si Jinyan had knotted him and made him pregnant. Si Jinyan denied knowing anything and proposed a medical check, leaving Chi Li uncertain but still distrustful.

• Chi Li stopped Si Jinyan and demanded to know what he was hiding, but Si Jinyan continued touching him until Chi Li ordered him to let go.
• Si Jinyan released Chi Li and promised to answer his questions, and Chi Li asked what was happening to his body.
• Chi Li accused Si Jinyan of knotting him and making him pregnant, but Si Jinyan reacted with apparent surprise and denied that it was possible because Chi Li was an Alpha.
• Si Jinyan suggested that Chi Li get checked the next day and wondered whether Chi Li had been testing him by pretending to be in a susceptible period.
• Si Jinyan said his condition was unstable after dealing with an Aberrant Form and suggested waiting a few days, while Chi Li remained suspicious and unsure whether to believe him.

Si Jinyan told Lu Jiu that the developing child could communicate with him, called him Father, and wanted to live, even as Chi Li continued to resent Si Jinyan for keeping him there. The chapter ended with Chi Li waking to feel a semi-hard layer beneath the skin near his ear, bringing him close to discovering the truth.

• Chi Li remained cold toward Si Jinyan and again asked when Si Jinyan would let him leave.
• Si Jinyan visited Lu Jiu and explained that Chi Li might have noticed the changes.
• Si Jinyan told Lu Jiu that the child called him Father, liked Chi Li, and was waiting to live.
• Chi Li felt a persistent itch near his ear and woke after touching a semi-hard layer beneath his skin.

Chi Li discovered translucent scales growing on his neck and learned that his body was changing because of Eggy. After a secret examination revealed Eggy might be born very soon, Chi Li confronted Si Jinyan and vowed to kill it himself.

• Chi Li noticed two scale-like patches on his neck, and Si Jinyan realized that Mermaid scales had appeared on a human.
• Chi Li demanded to know what Si Jinyan was hiding, and Lu Jiu examined Chi Li before taking him to the base for tests.
• Lu Jiu and Si Jinyan concluded that Eggy was causing Chi Li’s changes and might be born very soon.
• Chi Li confronted Si Jinyan about the secret and declared that he would kill Eggy himself.

Chi Li confronted Si Jinyan after realizing Si Jinyan had deceived him about the test result and declared that he would not keep the child. When Si Jinyan tried to stop him from leaving, Chi Li threatened himself with a knife, leaving Si Jinyan kneeling and pleading.

• Chi Li connected the clues and concluded that Si Jinyan had fabricated his test report and hidden the truth from him.
• Chi Li told Si Jinyan, "I won't keep it," and said he would go back and handle the matter himself.
• Si Jinyan said Chi Li could not go back, and Chi Li punched him when he refused to let him leave.
• Chi Li backed toward the window with a knife and pressed the blade against himself when Si Jinyan approached.
• Si Jinyan knelt in panic and begged Chi Li to stop, promising that he no longer wanted the child.

Chi Li forced Si Jinyan to agree to help remove the egg, and Lu Jiu confirmed it was a small, silver-white egg influenced by Mermaid genes. As Si Jinyan prepared to part from it, Eggy spoke to him in Mermaid Language and told him not to cry.

• Chi Li lowered the knife after Si Jinyan promised not to lie again and to help him.
• Si Jinyan wiped the blood from the knife, broke it in half, and followed Chi Li out of the office.
• Chi Li told Lu Jiu to get rid of the egg, and Lu Jiu treated his wound and showed him the test reports.
• Lu Jiu said he would find a way to remove the egg as soon as possible, and Chi Li returned to the bedroom without speaking to Si Jinyan.
• Si Jinyan quietly spoke to Eggy as Chi Li slept, and Eggy told him, in halting Mermaid Language, not to cry.

After Lu Jiu explained that Si Jinyan was an enigma, Chi Li began looking at him with new questions, while Si Jinyan grew uneasy about having his true nature exposed. The next day, Bai Qi arrived to see Chi Li.

• Si Jinyan comforted Eggy while Chi Li slept, then watched Chi Li from beside the bed.
• Lu Jiu explained to Chi Li that Si Jinyan was an enigma, describing the traits and drawbacks of the rare identity.
• Si Jinyan felt awkward as Lu Jiu revealed his nature to Chi Li, and Chi Li studied him with complicated emotions.
• After returning, Chi Li kept glancing at Si Jinyan, who asked whether Chi Li wanted to know something.
• Bai Qi visited the next day and greeted Chi Li with, "Long time no see."

Bai Qi told Chi Li that he had foreseen a future of war and monsters, and revealed that someone had obscured Chi Li’s childhood memories. He offered to help restore them, leaving Chi Li to decide while Si Jinyan’s worsening loss of control weighed on them both.

• Bai Qi visited Si Jinyan’s residence and asked to speak privately with Chi Li.
• Bai Qi explained that the Emperor kept him as a diviner and described visions of war, scaled monsters, collapse, and a new god.
• Bai Qi told Chi Li that his past had been deliberately obscured and offered to lift the fog, but Chi Li said he needed time to think.
• After Bai Qi left, Si Jinyan admitted that the substitute inhibitor was becoming less effective.
• Chi Li realized he might be the only person who could help Si Jinyan and felt distressed at the thought of Si Jinyan becoming an Aberrant Form, then left the room.

Bai Qi hinted that he was helping fate move forward, while Si Jinyan offered Chi Li help and received a guarded refusal. That night, Chi Li dreamed of his fathers dying in a fire and witnessed a young Si Jinyan implanting a black Scale into his heart before waking at dawn.

• Bai Qi told his attendant that those swept into fate had no choice and that he was only helping fate along.
• At dinner, Si Jinyan apologized to Chi Li and promised to help him, but Chi Li said he needed nothing from him.
• Chi Li dreamed of his fathers trapped in a fire and realized they had died in circumstances unlike the accounts he had been told.
• In the dream, Chi Li watched a young Si Jinyan remove a black Scale from his own chest and implant it into Chi Li, saying their hearts were pressed together.
• Chi Li woke at dawn, shaken by a dream that felt both unreal and true.

Chi Li let Bai Qi guide him through his recovered memories, reliving his loving childhood and the trauma of his fathers’ deaths. He discovered that Jin was the young Si Jinyan and saw how their friendship began, leaving his past tied to the child his fathers had tried to protect.

• Chi Li agreed to let Bai Qi help recover his memories, trusting that Bai Qi could not harm a descendant of the Mermaid Royal Family.
• Chi Li remembered the warmth of life with his fathers and the pain of being held back as he watched their home burn.
• Chi Li recalled that his fathers had worked at the Luolan Direct Research Institute, where he met the quiet child Jin in a wheelchair.
• Chi Li learned that Jin was the child entrusted to his fathers by the emperor, and that his alpha father feared Jin’s dangerous nature while his omega father wanted him to have a childhood.
• Chi Li pitied Jin and offered him eager friendship, while Jin began drawing him closer by saying he envied Chi Li’s many friends.

Chi Li recalled his closeness with Si Jinyan as a teenager, including an alarming mark on his neck and their conversation about marking. As Si Jinyan grew increasingly exhausted from examinations, Chi Li tried to comfort him, while beginning to recognize the unease he had once ignored.

• Chi Li recalled how he often visited Jin after school, and how Jin built military models for him and taught him to assemble them.
• After an examination, Jin held Chi Li close and left a mark on his neck; Chi Li later heard his fathers worry that Jin wanted to mark him.
• Chi Li asked Jin about marking, and Jin denied wanting to mark him, easing Chi Li's fear as they called themselves good friends.
• Chi Li recalled seeing Jin return from examinations exhausted and secretly visiting him despite being told to let him rest.
• When Chi Li noticed blood seeping through a bandage on Jin's wrist, Jin asked him to blow on the wound and then pointed out needle marks on his neck.
• Chi Li kept trying to comfort Jin by blowing on his injuries, but Jin stopped him and refused to explain his reaction.

Chi Li remembered how Jin had revealed his fish tail and how he accepted it without fear, while Jin’s hidden precognitive visions explained why he had shared the secret and given Chi Li a precious scale. Jin hoped the scale might change the fate he had foreseen, though the future remained uncertain.

• Jin refused to tell Chi Li why he had always been confined to the research institute, calling it a terrifying secret.
• After Chi Li secretly visited Jin with beer, Jin revealed his fish tail, and Chi Li called it pretty and promised to accept him.
• Chi Li regularly touched Jin’s tail, and Jin told him that touching its tip meant lifelong responsibility; Chi Li agreed, then qualified his promise.
• Jin’s visions of the future dwindled until he foresaw Chi Li’s death, and he realized a scale over his heart carried a powerful life force.
• Jin persuaded Chi Li to cut out the heart scale and place it in his chest, hoping it could alter their destined fate.

Chi Li recovered memories of Jin's violent abduction and the later deaths of his fathers, then woke after four days unconscious. Si Jinyan comforted him and resolved to honor whatever Chi Li wanted, even if it meant letting him go.

• Chi Li remembered Jin hiding him in a wall compartment before strangers injected Jin and stabbed his fish tail, while Jin told him to wait.
• Chi Li recalled that his fathers reacted with helpless sorrow, then something happened to them, and Chi Li was taken away with a fever that erased his painful memories.
• After Bai Qi helped Chi Li recover his memories, Chi Li remained unconscious, and Si Jinyan nearly attacked Bai Qi before Lu Jiu and Bai Qi's attendant stopped him.
• Si Jinyan regretted accepting Bai Qi's offer to help him in exchange for support in claiming the throne, believing the bargain had put Chi Li in danger.
• On the fourth day, Chi Li woke with a vacant, sorrowful gaze, and Si Jinyan promised himself he would let Chi Li go if that was what he wanted.

Chi Li investigated whether his painful memories were real and learned more about Si Jinyan’s traumatic childhood, which deepened his suspicions about their past. After Si Jinyan disappeared for several days, Chi Li went to the base and found him chained inside a laboratory.

• Bai Qi told Chi Li that he had only uncovered memories already in Chi Li’s mind and had not altered them.
• Chi Li asked Lu Jiu about Si Jinyan’s childhood and heard that Si Jinyan had been withdrawn, confined to bed, and subjected to experiments when Lu Jiu first met him at fifteen.
• Chi Li suspected that people from the Empire had taken Si Jinyan and experimented on him, possibly leaving him with forgotten memories.
• After Si Jinyan failed to return home for several days, Chi Li went to the base when he could not reach either Si Jinyan or Lu Jiu.
• Lu Jiu opened a security door, and Chi Li saw Si Jinyan chained inside a large, translucent laboratory.

As Si Jinyan’s pheromone deficiency worsened into uncontrollable beastification, Chi Li learned that the chains and glass chamber were Si Jinyan’s own precautions against becoming an Aberrant Form. Seeing the last traces of reason in Si Jinyan’s gaze, Chi Li asked whether becoming an omega could help him.

• Chi Li saw silver-black scales and fins erupt across Si Jinyan’s body as he writhed in the glass chamber.
• Lu Jiu told Chi Li that Si Jinyan had chosen to be chained up and that the pheromone substitute had failed after Si Jinyan encountered Chi Li’s pheromones again.
• Lu Jiu explained that Si Jinyan had been in the chamber for twenty-seven hours and that no better solution had been found.
• Si Jinyan opened his golden eyes, briefly showing signs of reason as he struggled against the chains.
• Chi Li asked Lu Jiu whether becoming an omega could help Si Jinyan, saying that only he could help him now.