Chapter 2: Jellyfish on the Grill. I’ll be gentle, really quq…

Although he had already seen the photo on the system’s panel, when he came face to face with the Siren, Wen Chu couldn’t help but be lost in awe for a moment.

It was the first time he had seen such a person. Every inch of his appearance seemed to have been meticulously carved, cold and indifferent, handsome and sharp.

The Siren obviously didn’t have much patience. Seeing that he didn’t speak, he impatiently lifted him and shook him. “Where did you come from? This is the deep sea, not suitable for your survival. Hurry up and get back.”

Only then did Wen Chu remember why he had crashed into the Siren. He immediately used his eighty tentacles to firmly grasp the other’s finger. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. There’s a narwhal behind me that wants to eat me.”

“A narwhal?” The Siren showed a surprised expression.

As they spoke, the seawater was suddenly stirred up. Wen Chu was like a soft flag, fluttering helplessly with the Siren’s finger as the flagpole.

The narwhal, which had been chasing closely behind, finally caught up.

Wen Chu took the opportunity to hide in the Siren’s palm. “That’s it.”

Siren: …

It had just offended him, and now it was seeking his help. He had never seen such a forward creature.

Forget it. Jellyfish don’t have brains anyway. And for a jellyfish to have survived until now, it might have eaten some contaminated plankton somewhere and turned into an idiot.

Wen Chu only felt the handsome Siren sigh, and then his long fingers closed, balling him up.

He carefully poked out a small part of his head, unable to help but think that the Siren looked very fierce, but was actually like the system—just with a bad tone. In essence, they were both good people.

“What are you doing here?” Xiu’s voice sounded from above, directed at the narwhal. “Shouldn’t you narwhals be living in the Arctic? Why have you come to the Pacific Ocean?”

The Arctic? Where is the Arctic?

Wen Chu secretly memorized this pronunciation, wanting to ask Xiu about it later.

The narwhal, however, retreated in shock, slightly lowering its horn. “Lord Siren.”

To Wen Chu’s surprise, her voice was exceptionally old, like that of a frail old woman.

The Siren’s voice was cold. “You can just call me Xiu.”

The narwhal insisted, “Lord Siren, after escaping from the aquarium, I have been searching for you. All the fish who came to the aquarium told me about the legend of you building Atlantis.”

“My home is indeed in the Arctic, but I have been living in an aquarium since I was two years old. It is thanks to the aquarium’s self-purification system that I have lived until now.”

“I heard that after the fall of Atlantis, you are searching for creatures in the ocean and can grant each creature one final wish. I want to return to the Arctic…”

“It’s too far.” Xiu paused imperceptibly upon hearing “Atlantis,” then said calmly, “I can only do what is within my power. You won’t live long enough to reach the Arctic.”

The narwhal fell silent, its yellow, spiral-patterned long horn lowering even further.

“Where is the Arctic?” Wen Chu finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

Although the narwhal was disappointed, she still answered him gently: “The Arctic is my home, at the northernmost point of the Earth. The water there is clear and free of impurities, with towering deep blue glaciers and magnificent auroras…”

Wen Chu seized the key point: “The water quality there is very good? Is there enough food?”

The system said he needed to find a clean place with plenty of food to grow. The Arctic sounded quite good.

“Little children shouldn’t interrupt when adults are talking.” Xiu pinched his bell, pressing him back into his palm.

Wen Chu was squashed out of shape and protested, “I’m not a little child. The doctor said I’m eighteen this year.”

“Oh,” Xiu replied perfunctorily, showing no intention of asking how Wen Chu had lived to be eighteen.

He wasn’t interested in any creature’s story—they were all tragedies anyway. But Wen Chu’s words did remind him of what just happened. He asked the narwhal, “How long has it been since you’ve eaten? Why were you chasing him? I remember jellyfish aren’t on your menu.”

The narwhal was stunned. “I wasn’t trying to eat him.”

Wen Chu once again poked his head out of Xiu’s palm. “Then why were you chasing me?”

The narwhal said good-naturedly, “I saw you were being targeted by the sunfish and thought you might also be looking for Lord Siren, so I wanted to help you and give you a ride.”

“You are the only living jellyfish I have seen so far. I would not harm you.”

As the narwhal spoke, she even looked at Xiu, wanting him to say a word for her.

Xiu said concisely, “Indeed. This is also the first time I’ve seen a living jellyfish.”

Wen Chu: …

He remembered now. The system hadn’t added the note “doesn’t mind eating a jellyfish” to the narwhal’s introduction earlier.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized sincerely to the narwhal. “I thought you wanted to eat me too.”

The narwhal shook her head and smiled. “It’s alright. It’s good to be vigilant.”

After confirming the narwhal had no ill intentions, Wen Chu carefully swam out of Xiu’s hand and perched on Xiu’s shoulder.

He still remembered his mission. To survive, not only did he need to find a suitable environment, but more importantly, he had to have physical contact with Xiu.

The thrilling escape just now wasn’t entirely useless. Although he didn’t know if “acting pitiful” had succeeded, at least he knew how to swim now, so he wouldn’t make Xiu and the narwhal suspicious of his identity.

Xiu frowned at the soft, wet sensation on his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything in the end. He just turned his head and asked, “So where did you come from? The shallows?”

Wen Chu couldn’t answer, so he could only describe from memory: “It’s a place with a lot of white coral. It’s dark there, but different from the dark here. The water itself is black there.”

“Then it’s the shallows,” Xiu said with understanding. “Did you see any fishing nets or boats in the shallows? I need to go there to save a parrotfish. It’s her child’s wish.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t notice,” Wen Chu apologized again.

“I saw a fishing boat. It’s solar-powered and still operating,” the narwhal spoke up at the right time.

Xiu raised his eyebrows, a bit of expression finally appearing on his face. “That should be the place. Can you lead the way for me?”

The narwhal first nodded, then asked carefully, “After you find that fish, can you take me back to the Arctic?”

“Can you take me too?” Wen Chu popped up.

Xiu pinched him again. “Little children shouldn’t interrupt.”

Then he looked at the narwhal and refused coldly, “No. You can make another, more practical wish.”

Wen Chu swayed. “What about me?”

Xiu gave him a chilly glance. “Same for you.”

Wen Chu actually wanted to ask Xiu what “Atlantis” was, but he was currently being pinched by Xiu and had just been glanced at. He subconsciously felt he had said the wrong thing and angered the fish, so he quietly hung in place like a jellyfish ornament.

This was fine too. If he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t talk. He would find another chance later. Anyway, as long as he was clinging to Xiu, his lifespan would…

Wait?!?

Wen Chu stared in astonishment at his lifespan, which was still continuously decreasing.

[Remaining Lifespan: 5 days, 0 hours, 34 minutes]

He had clearly gained an hour when he bumped into Xiu. He had been clinging to Xiu ever since, so why was his lifespan still dropping?

He wanted to call the system but didn’t dare to make a sound. He immediately began to flail, waving his tentacles everywhere.

Xiu was asking the narwhal about the specific location and was stung several times by his tentacles. A few red marks appeared on his long fingers.

Xiu frowned and shook him. “Behave.”

Wen Chu behaved.

[Remaining Lifespan: 5 days, 0 hours, 33 minutes]

Wen Chu wanted to flail again.

System: [Stupid. Just communicate with me telepathically.]

Wen Chu: [Oh… I’m sorry.]

This time, the system wasn’t typing on a light screen but speaking directly in his mind.

Unlike the flat, mechanical voice Wen Chu had imagined, the system’s voice was clearly that of a real person, deep and magnetic, just cold and impatient.

Wen Chu felt that this male voice was a bit familiar, so familiar that it seemed he had just heard it.

Was the system someone he knew?

But he hadn’t heard many people speak in his entire life.

Wen Chu tried to recall the doctors he knew, but he had never been sensitive to voices. Plus, the system’s voice was somewhat distorted. After trying to recall for a long time, he couldn’t match any of them to the system’s young voice, so he temporarily set the matter aside.

He decided to ask the most important question first.

Wen Chu: [System, is this countdown broken? I’ve been in physical contact with Xiu the whole time, but my lifespan is still dropping.]

System: [It’s not broken.]

Wen Chu: [But I…]

System: [You’re clinging to the wrong place. It should be on the [censored].]

The system hurriedly said this and disappeared, not even noticing that its words had been censored.

Wen Chu inexplicably sensed a hint of embarrassed anger in the other’s disappearance.

Why be embarrassed and angry?

Wen Chu didn’t understand.

Was clinging to a certain part of Xiu something hard to talk about?

Or was the system actually angry?

At this time, Xiu had already learned the location of the fishing boat from the narwhal and was asking her about the condition of the shallows.

“The shallows are even worse. There’s trash floating everywhere. The places I saw were all desolate. Even sea urchins can’t survive…”

The narwhal spoke slowly, calmly recounting what she had seen and heard.

Perhaps it was because she had grown up in an aquarium, or perhaps her voice was too old, but to Wen Chu, it sounded more like a kind old woman slowly telling a story, which made him a little drowsy.

Mainly because he didn’t really understand the terms the narwhal was using.

The system was ignoring him, and Xiu and the narwhal had things to discuss. Wen Chu could only think for himself.

First, he had initially gained an hour of lifespan.

Second, he had since touched Xiu’s shoulder and fingers, but neither increased his lifespan.

Finally, the system said he was clinging to the wrong place.

Wen Chu had a sudden realization.

He knew what the [censored] was.

—So, he had to cling to Xiu’s chest to increase his lifespan.

He hadn’t even noticed such a simple thing.

So the system was indeed angry at him and left.

Wen Chu extended a tentacle, hooked the corner of the countdown screen, and swayed it. [Don’t be angry anymore. I understand now. I’ll do it right.]

As he said this, he swayed his body from side to side, trying hard to struggle out of Xiu’s hand.

Xiu happened to be tired of pinching him. Seeing Wen Chu struggling to escape, he thought he had hurt him and let him go.

Wen Chu broke free and swam a circle around Xiu’s waist. He had intended to go directly to the chest muscle he had first clung to, but as soon as he looked up, he saw the red mark on the other’s chest.

He had crashed into him with his whole body, and all his tentacles had subconsciously grabbed onto Xiu. As a result, his entire right pectoral muscle was now an inflamed red.

It was only because the narwhal couldn’t see colors that she didn’t notice anything was wrong.

Wen Chu was stunned, unable to look directly at Xiu’s chest for a moment. [How… how did it turn red…]

The system finally appeared: [Your tentacles have stinging cells. You stung him just now.]

Wen Chu guiltily curled up his tentacles.

No wonder Xiu was impatient with him. It turned out he had accidentally hurt someone again.

Wen Chu asked: [Is there a way to fix it? Is he in a lot of pain?]

System: [Yes. You can transfer your lifespan. Transfer ten hours of lifespan to him, and it will heal his injury. But you need to touch his wound first.]

Ten hours.

But he had only earned one hour in total.

He was only the size of a palm now. If he gave away ten hours of lifespan, he might become only half a palm-sized.

Wen Chu fell silent: [Then do you think I can earn ten hours from him first? I’ll be gentle this time.]

System: […]

Wen Chu: [Last time was an accident. This time, I’ll touch him politely and with restraint.]

Wen Chu: [Really quq]

System: […Whatever you want.]

Wen Chu did as he said. He floated over to the other side of Xiu’s chest with his tentacles curled up.

Xiu was listening to the narwhal’s account, his heart growing colder with every word. He closed his eyes, barely able to imagine the situation in the shallows, and even felt a trace of pity for Wen Chu, who had come from there.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a wetness on his left chest.

Xiu: …

Such a familiar feeling.

He snapped his eyes open and looked down, only to see a jellyfish stuck to his left chest.

The jellyfish was audacious. Not only was it lying on his chest, but it was even spreading its tentacles one by one, clinging to half of his chest.

This time, there was no stinging pain. Instead, there was a soft numbness, like countless sticky, fluffy brushes sweeping randomly across his left chest.

And because the jellyfish was transparent, he could see the movement of its tentacles clearly.

Xiu glanced at the narwhal, lost in her memories, and endured it.

Splat.

After coming into contact with prey, the jellyfish’s tentacles began to contract, and at the same time, its mucus cells secreted a sticky substance. The hundreds of tentacles briefly attached and then limply detached, creating an unbearable sucking sensation.

Then came another contraction.

Xiu’s fish tail twitched unnaturally.

…Is it not over yet?

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Author’s Note:

Right, about Wen Chu thinking, I have a cold joke (why do you have so many cold jokes).
When a jellyfish thinks, [censored words].