Turning her legs into a fish tail would be inconvenient out here.
Miaomiao thought for a moment, then took off one glove, deliberately revealing the tiny scales on her arm.
"Touch my arm. It's okay, just touch it."
At Miaomiao's repeated urging, Matt hesitantly raised his hand and lightly brushed the girl's arm with his fingertips. The unusual texture beneath them instantly made his eyes widen behind his mask.
"This is..."
Matt tentatively touched her arm again. This time, the sensation at his fingertips registered more clearly in his mind.
They were scales like those of a fish, extremely fine and densely arranged over the girl's skin. They were barely noticeable when she wasn't deliberately revealing them, but when she consciously tightened her skin, those tiny scales would protect their owner as steadfastly as the toughest armor.
It was like a splash of cold water, dousing the flames of Matt's anger.
"This..."
"These are my scales." Seeing Matt calm down, Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief too. "You know, I actually have a tail, too. It's blue and purple, and it's really pretty."
Her voice brimmed with pride as she spoke of her beautiful, powerful tail, though remembering that Matt couldn't see left her feeling a little disappointed.
"A tail?" Reeling from one shocking revelation after another, Matt struggled to get his brain working. "Are you a mutant?"
"No. Bruce said mutants are people too, and I'm completely different from them." Miaomiao leaned close to Matt's ear and whispered, "I'm actually one of the merfolk. I live in the ocean."
"Merfolk? The kind from Eastern mythology?"
Matt had read a few Eastern legends. As he recalled, Eastern merfolk seemed to look somewhat like the mermaids in their fairy tales: human bodies, fish tails, exquisite features, and beautiful, melodious voices.
"Yes!