A Mermaid's Feelings

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, but inside the cave, all was peaceful. Not even the faint sound of chewing could be heard.

"Earlier, with my lord..."

Thinking of their earlier intimate contact, Blue Moon shyly buried her burning face against her chest.

After a while, she raised her head again and stared dreamily at Van, who was deep in thought.

"The cost was 4,000 points, and the return was 7,700 points. Not a loss, I guess."

"With my 1,800-point savings, I have 9,500 points total. Time to splurge."

Van's mind was entirely on the event rewards. He did not notice that Blue Moon had already finished eating and was gazing at him lovestruck.

He happily opened the system shop, ready to try his luck and boost his strength.

However, the system had no sense of timing and suddenly delivered terrible news.

[According to the agreement, the repayment period has ended. 5,000 points have been deducted. The system welcomes the host to use its loan function again.]

Hearing that cold voice, Van suddenly felt as though his salary had just arrived, only for more than half of it to be swallowed by three loans before he could even check it.

His joy vanished in an instant. He could not help complaining inwardly, Couldn't you let me be happy for a little longer? With interest that high, only an idiot would borrow again!

The terms were utterly outrageous. Borrow 5,000 points, receive only 4,500, and then repay 6,500 in the end.

Judging by the rewards from the previous two events, he would need at least a B-rank overall evaluation just to offset the 2,000-point interest and barely break even.

The difficulty was not particularly high, but it was still an infuriating loss.

Unless he was absolutely certain he could obtain a higher evaluation, or desperately needed points to increase his strength and save his life, he would never take out another loan.

[Increasing your strength can raise your loan limit. Increasing the total amount borrowed can reduce interest. Please continue working hard, host.]

Rather than playing dead, the system released a piece of fairly good news and continued tempting Van.

"Get lost! I've got capital now. I'll never do business that loses money!"

Ignoring the black-hearted system, Van stared at his remaining 4,500 points and fell into thought.

"I remember the Vivre Card information said Diamante had both types of Haki, but he never deliberately displayed them in the original story."

"That means his Haki cannot be very strong. At most, it has only just awakened, so it will not improve his strength much."

"And at this point in time, even if he has mastered Armament Haki, there's no way he can cover his entire body with it."

"If that's the case, can I take a big gamble?"

The moment the thought appeared, Van could no longer suppress the impulse in his heart.

He had originally planned to keep 2,000 points to establish the next Fate Event and use all the remaining points to improve his strength.

But after weighing his options, he realized that killing Diamante would not be difficult. The bug-level abilities of the Op-Op Fruit alone were enough.

Rather than gaining a little strength now, he might as well go all in and use every point to "start a business."

After all, establishing a Fate Event required a fixed 1,000 points each time, and every Fate Anchor also required 1,000 points.

If he designated only one Fate Anchor, the average cost would be 2,000 points. With two, the average cost would drop to 1,500 points.

The more anchors there were, the lower the average cost. His capital was limited right now, so every point saved was a point earned.

"That settles it! Sleep first. When I wake up, I'll go kill someone!"

After making his decision, Van quickly finished the remaining food and lay down to sleep.

Blue Moon froze. She wanted to say something, but feared disturbing him, so she lay beside him and continued gazing at him adoringly.

"That was a great sleep!"

When Van woke up, he felt full of energy and drowsily stretched.

But the sensation beneath his right hand was wrong. It felt like something soft and pliant, with a springy rebound when pressed.

He could not help squeezing it a few times, only for a soft hum filled with inexplicable temptation to suddenly sound beside his ear.

His mind instantly cleared by half. He casually withdrew his hand and rubbed his eyes.

"What time is it?"

"It's afternoon. It's still raining outside," Blue Moon said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's. "I checked earlier."

"You haven't slept at all?" Van asked in feigned surprise, raising his hand to touch her burning cheek. "Do you have a fever?"

"N-No." Blue Moon explained guiltily, "I just couldn't fall asleep."

Not only did she not dodge, she even moved her face closer, as though craving the touch of his large hand.

"Your own feelings are not necessarily accurate. I'm a doctor, so you should trust a professional diagnosis."

Van could not help making a joke, but Blue Moon moved even closer, her whole body nearly falling onto him.

He sensed that something was off and was about to explain, but his hand was pressed between two soft mounds.

"Then please examine me!"

Blue Moon's tone was unusually firm. The blazing gaze that suddenly appeared in her eyes carried deep affection, as though it could melt a person.

Seriously? Going this far?

Van stared at her with wide eyes. His gaze first lingered on her face, then swept down over her chest before finally settling on her tail.

If the person before him had been an ordinary beautiful human woman, even half a second of hesitation would have been letting his brothers down. But a mermaid...

Something still felt a little awkward inside him, as though a threshold stood between them and he was not ready to cross it.

"Does Lord Van think I'm not good enough like this?"

Blue Moon lowered her head and looked at her tail. Her mood darkened for a moment, but she quickly regained her confidence.

"I like Lord Van! And I can tell that Lord Van doesn't dislike me either!"

"As mermaids grow older, we can become just like normal humans. Lord Van can like me then, too."

With things having been said this plainly, Van could not remain silent any longer.

He sighed softly and asked, "How old are you?"

"Twenty! In another ten years, I'll grow legs and be able to live like a human..."

Without pausing for even a second, Blue Moon began recounting all of her experiences growing up.

She had been born on Fish-Man Island. Her mother had died young, and her father was a member of the Sun Pirates. She had no idea where he was now.

Because she had not seen her father for two years, and because she had always longed for the outside world, she secretly left Fish-Man Island.

But the New World was not friendly. Everywhere she went, humans wanted to capture her and sell her for money, leaving her no choice but to keep running.

Later, she heard that the Four Blues were not as chaotic as the New World, so Blue Moon gathered her courage and ventured into the Calm Belt.

While resting on an island, she encountered several stranded humans. As they talked, both sides became friends.

Naturally, she could not watch her friends continue suffering, so she acted as labor and pulled their raft all the way to the North Blue.

In the end, they turned on her. The moment they were rescued, they sold her to slave traders.

"Learn from your mistakes. Fortunately, things turned out well." Van raised his hand and wiped away the tears at the corners of Blue Moon's eyes. "Don't trust humans so easily again."

"Mm! Lord Van is different from other humans. I'll always trust you."

As she spoke, Blue Moon suddenly leaned forward and wrapped Van in a tight embrace.

"What are you doing?"

Van was about to push her away when Blue Moon raised her flushed face and said sweetly, "My lord, I think I really do have a fever."

Hiss! Is she trying to press her advantage?

Van suppressed the urges of his body and asked helplessly, "So?"

"Isn't my lord a doctor?" Blue Moon blinked playfully. "You can definitely cure me, right?"

"I'm better at physical cooling. It might be uncomfortable at first, so you'll have to endure it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Van expanded his Operation Room and threw the mermaid in his arms into the sea.

"I have important business to handle. Wait here for now."