Weaving Water into Silk

The mystery and beauty of the ocean depths were beyond the reach of even the world's most advanced cameras.

Following Miaomiao and the dolphins, Bruce saw a true underwater starry sky for the first time, along with countless things he had never seen before.

With breathing no longer a constraint and no danger of getting lost beneath the sea, this expedition became nothing more than an exploration of a new world, full of discovery and fun.

Even Batman could not help temporarily setting aside his formidable appetite for gathering intelligence amid such vast, boundless splendor. Little by little, he began to enjoy this magical journey.

Miaomiao had named every dolphin in the Dolphin Pod. The little dolphin that kept eagerly eyeing the bubble around Bruce's head was called Tiaotiao.

Tiaotiao was the most curious and daring calf in the pod. Despite repeated warnings from the adults, it could not resist darting about, nibbling here and gnawing there before opening its mouth to let out whistles that sounded like human laughter.

"That means it's happy."

Miaomiao explained from beside him.

After Tiaotiao repeatedly courted disaster, the large dolphin finally lost patience. She swam over and smacked Tiaotiao with her tail, sending it tumbling several times before letting out a different kind of cry.

"Oh, Tiaotiao's mom is unhappy."

That much was obvious.

Bruce thought that raising young was evidently quite a challenging job, whether for humans or animals.

After getting a beating from its mother, Tiaotiao finally behaved a little better. It swam forlornly over to Miaomiao for comfort and received a pat from the kind, gentle Little Merfolk.

Tiaotiao opened its mouth and called a few times, then brought its head over to Bruce and kept nuzzling him.

"Is it..."

Asking me to pet its head too?

After Miaomiao confirmed it, Bruce tentatively reached out and awkwardly stroked the little dolphin's head a few times.

Having received its petting, the little dolphin Tiaotiao was instantly satisfied. It wagged its tail and swam toward its siblings.

Time to show off! That good-looking two-legged creature petted me! Jealous? Hahahahaha!

Bruce had no idea what the little dolphin was thinking. He merely felt that there was something indescribably... about its retreating figure.

Smug?

Though they still wanted more, their underwater journey came to an end. Reluctant to part, the dolphins escorted Miaomiao and Bruce to shore, called a few times in farewell, then slowly swam away.

Bruce was still immersed in the deep, mysterious beauty of the underwater world when he suddenly felt a chill.

Miaomiao had dismantled his Batsuit, leaving him lightly dressed. These past few days, he had relied entirely on his physical constitution to endure it.

Tonight, he had gone into the water as well. As soon as the island's night breeze blew over him, the chill rushed in.

The island's temperature varied drastically between day and night. Hit by the cold night sea breeze, even Batman, whose physique stood at the pinnacle of human capability, could not help sneezing.

"Achoo-"

"Bruce?"

Still waving goodbye to the dolphins, Miaomiao heard the sound and quickly turned to look at him.

"Bruce, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I've just come out of the water, and my clothes are wet. I'll be all right once I warm up by the fire."

"Your clothes... are wet?"

Both instinctively looked at the other's clothes, then froze together-

Bruce's shirt and shorts were already soaked through with seawater, clinging wetly to his body. They looked cold, clammy, and terribly uncomfortable. Miaomiao, on the other hand, was dry from head to toe. Not only was her gauzy dress still untouched by a single drop of water, but even her hair fluttered in the breeze.

They had both just emerged from the sea, yet Miaomiao was perfectly dry while Bruce was dripping wet all over.

Of course, this did nothing to diminish his appeal. If anything, it gave him an extra touch of wild allure.

Back on the cruise ship, they had been farther apart, and Miaomiao had spent almost all her time in the water, making it difficult to see clearly. After they reached the island, Miaomiao had only gone diving during the day.

At those times, Bruce was usually busy with his various tasks. Knowing that Miaomiao could protect herself, he naturally had not paid much attention to that aspect of her.

After all, the gauzy dress worn by the beautiful young girl seemed a little too sheer. As a gentleman brought up with good manners from childhood, Bruce did not consider staring at a lady's clothing particularly polite.

Through this series of coincidences, it was only now that Bruce first discovered Miaomiao's body and clothing could remain completely untouched by water.

"It seems this is another of your innate abilities."

Bruce was almost getting used to the new surprises Miaomiao brought him from time to time.

Miaomiao blinked at Bruce, whose hair and clothes clung to his body, and only then realized: Oh, right. Human skin and clothing get "wet."

For Miaomiao, who had lived in the water since childhood, this was a truly novel thing.

But had Bruce sneezed just now because of that "wet" hair and clothing? Because he was cold? Was that why he needed to warm himself by the fire?

With Bruce standing before her as a real-life example, Miaomiao quickly connected what the Elders had taught her about land-dwelling humans with Bruce's lessons.

Land humans' clothes get wet. If Bruce wears wet clothes, he'll get cold, catch a chill, and then get sick. If he gets sick, he'll die.

So if Bruce wears wet clothes, he'll die!

Miaomiao was terrified by this conclusion.

She had only wanted to invite her good friend to see the beautiful places that were part of her everyday life. She had never imagined that such a small gesture could cause her friend's death!

This was terrifying!

Land humans were far too fragile. She had to protect him properly!

Bruce watched as the Little Mermaid before him suddenly changed expression, her thoughts a mystery to him. Without giving him a chance to argue, she pushed him down to sit in front of the campfire, then turned and rushed into the sea.

Miaomiao gently swept her fingers through the clear seawater, and a gleaming, threadlike strand appeared in her hand.

Beneath the moonlight, the beautiful girl with a human upper body and a fish tail moved her hands up and down like butterflies flitting among flowers. Using her hands as shuttles and water as thread, she began weaving "cloth" out of thin air.

Bruce watched the girl's hands move so fast they almost left afterimages. Gleaming threads interlaced and crisscrossed, quickly forming an inch of cloth, then a foot...

When the girl stopped moving her hands, a bolt of exquisite, plain silk woven from water lay before her.

In the moonlight, this magical "plain silk" resembled the rippling sea, shimmering with tiny specks of starlight.

Miaomiao gestured toward Bruce a few times, then extended her sharp little claws. Snip, snip-with a few quick cuts, she divided the freshly woven mermaid silk into pieces of different sizes, then drew out another strand of water and stitched the cut pieces together.

In no time at all, a men's robe resembling traditional Eastern clothing appeared before Bruce.