Chapter Summaries

Chi Li attended a meeting about the Aberrant Forms and began to suspect that Si Jinyan had long questioned the Empire’s account of his origins. After the meeting, Si Jinyan asked Chi Li to wait for him so they could talk.

• Base staff whispered about Chi Li and Si Jinyan, calling Chi Li the Marshal’s wife and speculating about their relationship.
• Si Jinyan met Chi Li outside the conference room and said he had missed him, then briefed him on the Aberrant Forms’ rising gene concentration and the enemy’s hidden operations.
• Chi Li noticed that the enemy’s plans began only a few years after Si Jinyan arrived and realized his phrasing might have revealed knowledge about Si Jinyan’s past.
• During the meeting, Chi Li recalled Si Jinyan’s investigations into his origins, ancient Mermaid records, and discrepancies in historical accounts, and concluded that Si Jinyan might have suspected he was not the person the Empire claimed him to be.
• After the meeting, Si Jinyan messaged Chi Li to wait for him and not wander because he needed to talk.

Chi Li asked Si Jinyan about his past and realized that others had likely manipulated him with lies to make him serve them. After Chi Li promised to take him away once everything was resolved, Si Jinyan agreed to go with him.

• Si Jinyan returned to the bedroom and teased Chi Li, who asked whether he had ever wondered why he was different from everyone else.
• Si Jinyan said he had wondered about his fish tail, scales, pheromones, and eventual death from Rampage Syndrome, but had stopped searching for answers because he believed nothing would change.
• Si Jinyan said he had found meaning in serving the former Emperor, who he believed had given him life, while Chi Li suspected that story had been used to manipulate him.
• Chi Li chose not to tell Si Jinyan that they had known each other before, deciding to protect him from further distress.
• Chi Li asked Si Jinyan to come with him once everything was resolved, and Si Jinyan promised to go.

Eggy grew larger and more attached to Si Jinyan, then asked to see Chi Li. Si Jinyan secretly brought Eggy to a meeting where Chi Li would be, and after the meeting he leaned close to Chi Li.

• Eggy grew bigger and stronger, clung to Si Jinyan, and became sad as it sensed that Chi Li did not like it.
• Eggy asked Si Jinyan to take it to see Chi Li, and Si Jinyan tucked it into his jacket pocket.
• Si Jinyan attended a meeting with Chi Li and discussed new, more proactive plans for dealing with the Aberrant Forms.
• After the others left, Si Jinyan stopped talking and leaned against Chi Li, resting his chin on Chi Li’s shoulder and placing a hand on his waist.

Si Jinyan asked Chi Li for his pheromones, and Chi Li mistook his request for a need to suppress his loss-of-control state. Si Jinyan took Chi Li back to their room and arranged for Eggy to stay there overnight so he could be near both his fathers.

• Si Jinyan asked Chi Li for pheromones in the meeting room, and Chi Li released them.
• Si Jinyan leaned against Chi Li and admitted that he had missed his scent, while Chi Li offered to go back with him.
• Si Jinyan held Chi Li close and kissed him, but Chi Li urged him to return to their room.
• While Chi Li showered, Si Jinyan asked Eggy to stay overnight and told him not to move or come out.

Chi Li discovered Eggy hiding in Si Jinyan’s coat and realized the egg could speak in Mermaid Language. The chapter left Chi Li stunned when Eggy called him “Father.”

• Si Jinyan tucked Eggy into his coat pocket before going to shower, after telling it to behave.
• Chi Li noticed Si Jinyan’s coat on the sofa, sat beside it, and ordered the hidden egg to come out.
• Chi Li pulled Eggy from the pocket and recalled how Si Jinyan had secretly been teasing it during their meeting.
• Eggy whimpered and tried to escape when Chi Li held it, and Chi Li realized it had grown and could speak.
• Eggy addressed Chi Li by name, then called him “Father.”

Chi Li confronted Eggy after it called him “Father,” then realized that Eggy regarded both him and Si Jinyan as good. After Si Jinyan came out of the bathroom, Chi Li brought wine to the bedroom, where their heated intimacy began as an incoming message flashed on Chi Li’s Neural Computer in the living room.

• Eggy cautiously called Chi Li “Father,” and Chi Li noticed that he had been gripping the egg too tightly.
• Chi Li asked the egg its name, and it answered, “Eggy.”
• Chi Li told Eggy that Si Jinyan liked it, and Eggy said that Si Jinyan and Chi Li were good.
• Chi Li tucked Eggy into his pocket and rubbed its shell, leaving his pheromones on it.
• Chi Li brought wine to Si Jinyan, and they drank before becoming intimate in the bedroom.
• Chi Li’s Neural Computer flashed with an incoming private message in the living room.

After Si Jinyan helped Chi Li recover from his loss of control, they found an emergency message reporting a monster attack on Bo Lang and the mercenary group. Chi Li asked Si Jinyan to help find them, and Si Jinyan agreed.

• Si Jinyan washed and cared for an exhausted Chi Li, whose concern over Si Jinyan’s fading symptoms interrupted his complaints about their encounter.
• Si Jinyan found an emergency message on Chi Li’s Neural Computer and brought it to him.
• Chi Li and Si Jinyan listened to a message describing a monster attack and a plea for reinforcements.
• Chi Li recognized that the message might concern Bo Lang and the mercenary group, then found that other contacts could not be reached.
• Chi Li asked Si Jinyan to help find the missing mercenaries, and Si Jinyan agreed.

Chi Li and Si Jinyan learned where the missing mercenaries were and prepared a rescue while growing closer over Eggy. Meanwhile, Yao Di awakened a Black-tailed Mermaid resembling Si Jinyan in a secret military laboratory.

• Geng Ji located the missing mercenaries in the rainforest region of southern E Country near the upper reaches of the E River, and Si Jinyan called a meeting to arrange an immediate search.
• Si Jinyan secretly spoke with Eggy, who said it wanted to stay with its fathers, while Chi Li realized he could understand Mermaid Language without any medium.
• Chi Li touched Eggy through Si Jinyan's coat and asked about its need for food and pheromones, then told Si Jinyan he had known about the egg for a long time.
• Si Jinyan shared pheromones with Eggy, and Chi Li entered the meeting room with Si Jinyan following close behind.
• Yao Di awakened a Black-tailed Mermaid in a secret military laboratory, and the golden-eyed captive swam toward him after recognizing him.

Yao Di and Rui Xi admired the apparent success of a soldier’s mermaid transformation. Meanwhile, Si Jinyan refused to let Chi Li join the search for danger but brought him to see Eggy’s lavishly equipped room, where Eggy spoke to them.

• Yao Di and Rui Xi praised the transformed young soldier’s strength, intelligence, and orderly scales as he endured pain inside his glass chamber.
• Si Jinyan rejected Chi Li’s request to join the search for the signal source, and Chi Li agreed to trust him to handle it.
• Si Jinyan confessed that he was taking Eggy back to the incubator, and Chi Li chose to come along.
• Chi Li saw the pink mats and miniature toys Si Jinyan had prepared for Eggy, including his plan to install a slide.
• Eggy grew excited in Si Jinyan’s pocket and called out, “Father...”

Si Jinyan worried that Chi Li was upset after Eggy called him “father,” but Chi Li assured him he would not harm or reject the egg. Back in their room, Si Jinyan apologized and asked Chi Li to help satisfy his desire for closeness.

• Eggy called Chi Li “father,” and Si Jinyan panicked while Chi Li calmly went outside to wait.
• Si Jinyan placed Eggy in the incubator and reassured it that Chi Li was not angry and did not dislike it.
• Chi Li reflected that he struggled to accept the egg as his own child, though he did not dislike it and would not hurt it.
• Si Jinyan joined Chi Li outside, and they returned to their room together.
• Si Jinyan hugged Chi Li, apologized for wanting too much, and asked him to help him again.

When fifteen members of Si Jinyan’s elite team vanished while investigating possible Aberrant Form scales, he prepared to go search for them. Chi Li insisted on accompanying him, and Si Jinyan finally agreed on the condition that Chi Li stayed close and followed his orders.

• Si Jinyan told Chi Li that all contact with the fifteen-person team had abruptly disappeared, and Chi Li joined him in the communications room.
• After learning the team had last reported finding something resembling Aberrant Form scales beside a swamp, Si Jinyan decided to lead a search while dispatching another team.
• Chi Li followed Geng Ji to the armory and prepared to go, but Si Jinyan objected and told him he could not come.
• Geng Ji argued that Chi Li could handle himself, while Si Jinyan countered by bringing up Geng Ji’s brother, Geng Xing.
• Chi Li comforted Si Jinyan and insisted he could help if danger arose, persuading Si Jinyan to let him come along as long as he stayed by his side.

Chi Li, Si Jinyan, and Eggy celebrated New Year's Day by learning about the holiday and traveling north to see snow. After welcoming the new year together, Chi Li and Si Jinyan told each other their wishes had already come true.

• Eggy asked Chi Li what New Year's Day meant, and Chi Li taught him to write “Happy New Year's Day.”
• Eggy wanted to see snow, so Si Jinyan took Chi Li and Eggy to the northern part of the Empire after dinner.
• Si Jinyan carried Eggy and held Chi Li's hand as they explored the crowded H City snow festival, where they met Geng Ji and Geng Xing.
• Chi Li and Si Jinyan hugged during the New Year's countdown and made wishes while Eggy joined the crowd in shouting “Happy New Year!”
• After Eggy fell asleep, Chi Li and Si Jinyan asked about each other's wishes and said they had already come true.

Before leaving for Country E to investigate the Aberrant Form incident, Si Jinyan prepared Eggy for his absence and taught Chi Li about merfolk and Aberrant Form cores while revealing his fear that he might lose control. The group was ready to depart the next morning, with Si Jinyan supplying Chi Li with bullets made from naturally shed merfolk scales.

• Si Jinyan agreed to take Chi Li to Country E, and Lu Jiu reminded him to prepare for Eggy before leaving him behind.
• Eggy clung to Si Jinyan after learning about the trip and settled only after Si Jinyan promised to take him and Chi Li on a special trip later.
• Si Jinyan comforted Chi Li and promised to protect him, then explained that his heart was vulnerable and told Chi Li where to strike if he lost control.
• Si Jinyan taught Chi Li how merfolk and some Aberrant Forms had cores, and Chi Li asked whether a removed core could be returned.
• Before departure, Si Jinyan loaded one hundred bullets into Chi Li's gear; Geng Ji explained that they were made from naturally shed merfolk scales and could suppress Aberrant Forms.

Chi Li and Si Jinyan searched the rainforest for traces of Aberrant Forms and discovered a deserted village. After Chi Li sensed someone nearby and reunited with Si Jinyan, they entered a freshly cleaned house and encountered an elderly woman.

• Chi Li and Si Jinyan found an Aberrant Form scale in the rainforest, while soldiers reported other signs of Aberrant Form activity.
• A survey team discovered an empty village, and Si Jinyan led Chi Li and the soldiers there to investigate.
• Chi Li searched the village houses, noticed blood and a faint trail of smoke, and briefly lost sight of Si Jinyan and the others.
• Chi Li found Si Jinyan and led him toward the house where the smoke had risen; they noticed it was unusually clean and sensed something was wrong.
• Chi Li and Si Jinyan entered the house and were startled when an elderly woman carrying a bowl came out.

Chi Li and Si Jinyan stayed in the eerie village with an old woman whose strange behavior centered on her son and the army. After a monstrous figure appeared in the courtyard, Chi Li followed a shadow into a blood-stinking cellar, leaving Si Jinyan outside.

• Chi Li and Si Jinyan accepted the old woman's offer to stay, and she told them her son had joined the army and returned changed.
• After nightfall, the old woman brought them water, and they stayed alert in her house without drinking it.
• Si Jinyan heard chewing beneath the floor, and the old woman peered at them through a hole in the door before a scream sounded outside.
• Si Jinyan found a grotesque black creature in the courtyard while the old woman cried out in terror.
• Chi Li followed a shadow to an open cellar and entered it with his gun drawn.

Chi Li and Si Jinyan fought separate Aberrant Forms in the village and discovered that one was the old woman's son. She began explaining that villagers who returned from military service had become ill and transformed, but her account remained incomplete.

• Chi Li lured a large, tentacled Aberrant Form out of the cellar and realized Si Jinyan might be facing another one.
• Si Jinyan killed one Aberrant Form in the front yard, then rushed to the back yard when he heard gunfire.
• Chi Li slowed the Aberrant Form attacking him by shooting its tail, and Si Jinyan pierced the creature's tail with his own.
• Chi Li stopped the old woman from approaching and demanded to know who she was and what had happened in the village.
• The old woman said her son and other returning military personnel had fallen ill, and that some villagers transformed into monsters who ate people.

Si Jinyan and Chi Li learned that Yao Di had used villagers in experiments that produced Aberrant Forms, and Chi Li recognized the process as Gu Rearing. Liasuo arrived under the Emperor’s orders to seize a living Aberrant Form, and Chi Li challenged him as the chapter ended.

• Geng Ji joined Si Jinyan and Chi Li, and the old woman explained how people recruited for the military returned gravely ill before Aberrant Forms devastated the village.
• The old woman admitted that burning or boiling her son’s hair or body parts attracted Aberrant Forms, and Si Jinyan, Chi Li, and Geng Ji suspected Yao Di was regularly producing them.
• The old woman hurried her son into the cellar when Liasuo arrived, claiming he had come under the Emperor’s orders to capture monsters.
• Liasuo’s men dragged the old woman’s son out alive, but Si Jinyan refused to let them take him.
• Chi Li threatened to shoot the Aberrant Form and told Si Jinyan that they could not let Liasuo take back a living Gu King, accusing Liasuo of raising him through slaughter.

Si Jinyan and Chi Li confronted Liasuo over the Gu King and learned that missing members of their group might have been taken to an Imperial experimental base. Liasuo withdrew after fighting them, having detected that Chi Li carried a scent like Si Jinyan’s.

• The group learned that the Gu King had been created by making escaped Aberrant Forms devour one another for an Imperial experiment.
• Liasuo ordered his subordinates to remove the Gu King and the old man, but Geng Ji knocked down soldiers transporting it.
• Liasuo revealed that missing soldiers and mercenaries had been captured and taken for treatment, hinting that they were part of the experiments.
• Chi Li attacked Liasuo to demand what he had done to them, while Geng Ji held off Liasuo’s attendants.
• Si Jinyan intervened when Liasuo nearly struck Chi Li, and Liasuo sensed a Pureblood Mermaid-like scent on Chi Li before ordering his subordinates to leave.

Chi Li and Si Jinyan learned that Yao Di was holding their missing comrades and planned a dangerous operation to infiltrate his experimental base. As Si Jinyan resisted putting Chi Li at risk, Chi Li promised to reveal a secret that might change his mind.

• After Chi Li compared Liasuo's strength to Si Jinyan's, Si Jinyan warned the group not to underestimate the possibility of humanlike Aberrant Forms.
• Liasuo reported his encounter with Si Jinyan and Chi Li to Yao Di, then overheard a conversation about Si Jinyan that enraged him.
• An unknown sender sent Si Jinyan, Chi Li, and Geng Ji photographs of the captured comrades and demanded negotiations for the Empire's great cause.
• Chi Li proposed infiltrating Yao Di's experimental base while Si Jinyan waited in secret with reinforcements, but Si Jinyan objected to Chi Li taking the exposed role.
• After the sender sent videos showing the captives being tortured, Geng Ji and the officers approved Chi Li's plan without Si Jinyan, and Chi Li tried to persuade Si Jinyan to accept it.
• Chi Li promised to reveal a secret if Si Jinyan agreed to the operation, then walked with him into the jungle under the stars.

Chi Li told Si Jinyan about their childhood and revealed that Si Jinyan had always been a Mermaid, not someone altered by experiments. Si Jinyan found relief in learning the truth and asked Chi Li to tell him more about their past.

• Chi Li told Si Jinyan that one of Si Jinyan’s scales was with him, though they had both forgotten how it came to be there.
• Chi Li began recalling how he and Si Jinyan had known each other since they were very young.
• Chi Li explained that Si Jinyan had been a Mermaid and had used a wheelchair before the experiments conducted by Yao Di.
• Si Jinyan realized he had always been a Mermaid and felt years of doubt and exhaustion lift.
• Si Jinyan asked whether Chi Li had been afraid when he first saw his tail, and Chi Li told him he had thought it beautiful.