Chapter 9: Tacit Permission for Invasion

“By the way, what does Sardine No. 3 mean?”

By the time Wen Chu babbled out his fifth nonsensical sentence, Xiu’s patience finally ran out, and he directly pulled the jellyfish off.

Regarding being picked up by Xiu, Wen Chu had already become proficient through practice. He obediently acted as a jellyfish ornament in Xiu’s hand, which happened to be at eye level with Xiu.

“Sardine No. 3 is the name of the fishing boat. This boat is used to catch sardines.”

As Xiu spoke, he squinted at him. “Sometimes I really suspect, are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid?”

Even a jellyfish from a laboratory shouldn’t be completely ignorant, right?

Wen Chu’s performance in daily life was as if he had never been in contact with normal human society.

Wen Chu dangled from Xiu’s fingers. “I’m not stupid.”

He was very smart. He would never ask the same question twice.

It’s just that he had a lot of questions.

The narwhal finally recovered from her state of shock and looked at Wen Chu and Xiu. “Just now, that was…?”

“It’s Wen Chu’s ability,” Xiu said before Wen Chu could open his mouth.

He omitted the part about how Wen Chu obtained lifespan and said concisely, “He can transfer his lifespan to other things, and he needs to pay a corresponding price.”

The narwhal nodded blankly, looking even more dazed.

Being reminded by the narwhal, Xiu also remembered the important matter at hand. He said, “I have something to ask him alone. You wait here for a moment.”

The narwhal was already used to Xiu wanting to be alone with Wen Chu every so often. She didn’t have much of a reaction to his words, just continued to stay where she was, staring blankly at the patch of coral where the parrotfish was.

Although the coral there had already died quickly, through the bleached coral, she seemed to be able to see a glimpse of the ocean’s former self.

The ability to bring things back from the dead…?

Was she really not dreaming?
.
Xiu quickly swam far away with Wen Chu, once again hiding behind the rocks.

The scene was incredibly familiar, so much so that Wen Chu couldn’t help but ask, “Can I kiss you now?”

“No,” Xiu refused very bluntly, even subconsciously holding Wen Chu a little further away.

“Oh…” Wen Chu was disappointed.

It seemed his confession just now didn’t work.

Dying with Xiu was also not an option.

Wen Chu, having failed at learning about love, could only bring up his initial idea again. “Xiu, I just discovered that I can bring dead life back to life by giving up my lifespan. Is this very useful to you?”

“That’s what I brought you here to talk about.” Xiu looked at the jellyfish, a rare trace of nervousness in his tone. “Is the price of this ability very high?”

“I guess so?” Wen Chu said uncertainly.

Ten hours of lifespan was indeed very expensive for him now.

Xiu pursed his lips.

The jellyfish still looked the same as before, round and translucent with an orange-red core. But after Wen Chu said this, Xiu felt more and more that the jellyfish in his hand was a little smaller and more listless.

So stupid, wasting its own life on saving coral.

In the current marine environment, what’s the use of saving a patch of coral? Those corals would still die quickly under the pollution.

Xiu couldn’t describe what he was feeling now. His fingers holding Wen Chu loosened a lot, and he softened his voice, asking again, “Then are you uncomfortable?”

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Do you want to eat something?”

Xiu’s voice was a magnetic adult male tone. It was particularly intimidating when he spoke coldly, but now that he had softened his tone, it was also exceptionally gentle.

Meeting Xiu’s gaze, which held a hint of concern, Wen Chu was stunned for a moment.

Unlike the fleeting gentleness under the sunset yesterday, what was falling on him now was Xiu’s genuine concern.

When a cold person shows such a gentle side, it is most likely to throw one into disarray.

The jellyfish’s tentacles curled up unnaturally, and its bell constantly pulsed and contracted.

He was a little shy, and at the same time, there were more indescribable emotions that seemed about to burst the thin jellyfish bell.

Wen Chu’s actions, in Xiu’s eyes, looked like the jellyfish was curling up due to discomfort. Xiu’s tone became much more urgent. “What’s wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable? What did you give up?”

Wen Chu curled up even tighter, almost burying himself in Xiu’s palm and shaking his head. “I’m not uncomfortable. It was just a little bit of lifespan.”

He was just purely shy.

Xiu clearly didn’t believe him. He looked at the jellyfish’s empty stomach sac and, without another thought, quickly carried Wen Chu back to the coral reef from before.

Not only had Wen Chu revived the coral just now, but he had also revived many of the sea snails, seaweed, and shellfish in the coral reef along with it. These were much more nutritious than green algae.

Xiu quickly gathered some, gave a brief farewell to the narwhal, and then carried Wen Chu away from the shallows, swimming towards the relatively cleaner deep sea until no more trash was visible to the naked eye.

The siren, who was at least over two meters long with his tail, looked like a behemoth compared to the jellyfish. Yet at this moment, he was looking down, carefully protecting the tiny little jellyfish, his fingers gently prying open a seashell.

He took out the soft, white flesh of the clam and brought it to Wen Chu’s mouth. “Eat a little first.”

Wen Chu extended his tentacles, originally intending to curl the clam meat from Xiu’s hand. But he had grown a size larger, which made his tentacles a section longer. Wen Chu hadn’t gotten used to it yet, so with one curl, he directly wrapped around Xiu’s well-defined wrist.

Xiu’s hand was still in the state of a sharp claw. After being wrapped by the soft jellyfish, the sharp claws on his fingertips instantly retracted, turning into neatly trimmed nails.

His finger touched Wen Chu’s mouth part.

This was an extremely ambiguous action, even with Wen Chu in his jellyfish form.

The jellyfish’s soft mouth part sucked on Xiu’s finger.

Xiu only felt a soft, cold, wet sensation on his fingertip. After seeing through the jellyfish’s translucent body how it was sucking on his finger, he inexplicably felt his fingertip burn.

This was also how the jellyfish ate his nipple and tongue.

The siren uncomfortably flicked his tail again, secretly telling himself that he was thinking too much.

Wen Chu, however, didn’t notice how inappropriate the current action was. He had been shy, but after tasting the clam meat, he completely forgot about what had just happened.

So delicious.

The clam meat was soft, with a hint of fresh sweetness, melting in his mouth.

Logically speaking, jellyfish don’t have taste buds, but Wen Chu had been transformed from a human into a jellyfish, and the system had preserved his most basic five senses for him.

“Delicious. Is there more?” Wen Chu urged, nibbling on the tip of Xiu’s finger.

“Delicious?” Xiu asked back in confusion, while looking at the shell in his hand, confirming that this was just an unknown and overly old clam, not some oyster or scallop.

“It’s sweet!” Wen Chu savored the taste. “Sweet, and a little salty. I only got to taste this when I ate noodles before.”

Most of the time, he could only get nutrients from an IV drip. Let alone tasting anything, even the air in the hospital room was as dead as plain water.

Xiu’s expression became even more complicated. He didn’t know much about Wen Chu’s past, but he had guessed most of it from Wen Chu’s few words. He didn’t say anything, just continued to shuck clams for Wen Chu and patiently tore the seaweed into thin strips.

“Most of the creatures in the sea are dead or contaminated and inedible. These clams just grew along with your life transfer, so they are safer than other food.”

Xiu explained as Wen Chu ate them one by one.

The deliciousness of the clam meat completely overshadowed those懵懂 (muddled/ignorant) stirrings. Wen Chu completely forgot about the strange feeling from before.

He was already starting to plan whether he should regularly set aside ten hours of his lifespan to grow clams to eat in the future.

Just then, the light screen popped up.

[Warning: Due to long-term exposure to contaminated water and contact with heavily contaminated water, lifespan will begin to decrease rapidly after 10 days.]

Wen Chu stopped eating the clam meat. [Wait, didn’t I get away from the shallows right away?]

He could understand being in contact with heavily contaminated water. Just now, to find Xiu, he had had intimate contact with the water around the fishing boat.

But he had left the shallows yesterday, and last night he had rested with Xiu at the very edge of the continental shelf.

System: [Leaving the shallows doesn’t mean leaving the pollution. This entire ocean has not been spared. You have been in contaminated water all along.]

Wen Chu was stunned. [Then will there be pollution even if I swim to the Arctic?]

System: [The Arctic is temporarily free of it. Jellyfish have extremely high requirements for water quality to survive. You’d better accumulate enough lifespan quickly, or find a place to survive quickly.]

Wen Chu suddenly found that the clam meat delivered to his mouth was no longer delicious.

He was troubled. [It’s a bit difficult to save up lifespan. Xiu hasn’t agreed to be my lover yet, and he hasn’t agreed to take me to the Arctic.]

The system said faintly, [Aren’t you very good at acting pitiful? I see you have your ways. You even got him to feed you by hand. Are you still worried he won’t take you to the Arctic?]

[I wasn’t acting pi—]

Wen Chu’s words stopped halfway.

Because Xiu, seeing that he hadn’t eaten for a long time, pinched his bell. After seeing his only half-filled stomach sac, he finally showed a worried expression due to his various abnormalities. “Uncomfortable?”

The system let out a cold laugh: [Not faking it?]

Wen Chu: […]

He seemed to be starting to understand what “acting pitiful” meant.

The jellyfish slowly released the tentacles wrapped around Xiu’s wrist and tentatively squeezed into Xiu’s arms.

He clumsily rubbed against Xiu’s chest and lied with a guilty conscience, “I’m uncomfortable.”

“Xiu, I’m uncomfortable. Can I kiss you?”

Xiu froze.

The memories of every time he felt pity for Wen Chu, only to be offended by the other’s various actions, resurfaced.

Xiu found that at this moment, he couldn’t even muster any anger or shame, only a sense of “as expected” resignation.

“Go ahead and kiss,” Xiu said with a sigh. “If it will make you feel better.”

In the end, Wen Chu was in this sickly state because of him. He couldn’t just abandon Wen Chu, who couldn’t even eat.

Wen Chu’s spirits lifted, but he quickly remembered that he still had to “act pitiful” and quickly wilted.

“But just kissing is not enough,” Wen Chu said.

“What else do you want to do?” Xiu became a little wary, his expression, which had softened a little, turning cold again.

The tip of his translucent, fan-shaped tail curled slightly.

Kissing was already crossing the line enough. He couldn’t possibly accept Wen Chu proposing any ideas that extended to his lower body.

Facing Xiu’s cold gaze, Wen Chu said in a small voice, “I need to go to the Arctic…”

He added, “The water quality here is very bad. If I stay here, the rate at which my lifespan decreases will speed up. Please, this is my wish.”

Realizing he had been overthinking, Xiu fell silent for a moment.

Wen Chu mistook Xiu’s silence for a refusal and hurriedly added, “I’m useful. You saw it just now. If you take me to the Arctic and let me save up more lifespan, I can revive all your friends. Is that okay?”

“The Arctic is very far. We are now in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, at least three thousand kilometers away from the Arctic.”

Xiu didn’t refuse immediately, just stated the facts.

“How much longer can you live?”

Wen Chu glanced at the system panel. “10 days, 11 hours, and 43 minutes.”

Xiu calculated the distance and then said, “There’s not enough time. Even excluding detours for nuclear power plants and underwater mountain ranges, it would take at least half a month to get there.”

“Half a month is wha—”

“Half a month means fifteen days.”

Wen Chu’s questioning voice and Xiu’s supplementary explanation sounded at the same time.

Wen Chu hadn’t expected Xiu to take the initiative to explain.

Few people had been willing to listen to him before, let alone patiently explain things to him in advance.

Those indescribable emotions surged up again. Wen Chu uncomfortably curled up his tentacles.

He thought, it would be better if Xiu was a little fiercer to him.

He now didn’t even dare to look directly into Xiu’s transparent blue eyes.

“Fifteen days, that’s five days. If you kiss me for a while longer, my lifespan will be enough,” Wen Chu said in a small voice.

He stuck to his original intention. “So can you take me to the Arctic?”

The topic had come full circle.

Xiu looked down in thought. This time, he began to seriously consider Wen Chu’s words, weighing the pros and cons one by one.

He sought out the remaining creatures in the ocean precisely because he was powerless to change their final fate of death and wanted to at least let them leave in peace at the last moment.

There were almost no living things left in the ocean now, and Wen Chu had already demonstrated the ability to bring plants back from the dead in front of him.

If he took Wen Chu to the Arctic and really raised the jellyfish to be big… perhaps this ocean could really have a turning point.

The premise of everything was that this stupid jellyfish, full of loopholes, was telling the truth.

Xiu looked at Wen Chu again.

The little jellyfish lay on his chest, its frail and slender tentacles swaying, nervously watching his expression.

A jellyfish this dumb probably couldn’t even comprehend the meaning of “lying.”

“Okay,” Xiu’s thin lips parted slightly. “As long as what you said is true.”

“This doesn’t count as your wish, because in a way, I am also asking for your help. You can save your wish for later.”

“But for now, you don’t need to revive anyone. Your mission is to live well, to live until you reach the Arctic.”

Wen Chu was too small now.

He had to at least raise the jellyfish to be a little bigger, to not be so sickly, before Xiu could feel at ease letting Wen Chu use his so-called ability.

“Okay!” Wen Chu replied cheerfully.

Xiu was willing to take him to the Arctic! He could complete the system’s mission!

He climbed up Xiu’s chest. “Then can we kiss now?”

Xiu felt the coolness at his throat and tilted his head back slightly, his hand behind his back grabbing the rock.

It was too much to ask Xiu to verbally invite and permit Wen Chu to kiss him.

Xiu did not respond.

He just opened his lips, tacitly permitting the jellyfish’s invasion.

Wen Chu had been apprehensive. He first carefully touched Xiu’s lips with his tentacles.

The moment the tentacles touched, they were held by the other’s warm lips and tongue, causing the entire jellyfish to shiver from the heat.

Xiu closed his eyes. Wen Chu could no longer see that blue, but because he had braided the hair by Xiu’s ears, the previously hidden, flushed earlobes were now fully exposed.

So strange.

It had never been this strange when they kissed before.

Wen Chu’s thoughts were in a jumble. He quickly looked away from Xiu’s earlobes and focused on eating Xiu.

He had grown larger, and it was obviously a bit of a squeeze for all his tentacles to enter Xiu’s mouth. Not wanting to make Xiu too uncomfortable, Wen Chu separated the outermost circle of tentacles and used them to hold the siren’s head.

The remaining tentacles were all used to eat Xiu.

Including his mouth part. The jellyfish seemed to want to fill its not-yet-full stomach sac with the tip of Xiu’s tongue, forcefully pulling Xiu into its mouth.

[Lifespan +12h]

The siren let out a low, hoarse hum. Along with the sound of lips and tongues intertwining, it fell into Wen Chu’s ears and became an existence that made his heartbeat even harder to calm.

He couldn’t control himself and accidentally stung Xiu with a tentacle.

A sudden red mark appeared on Xiu’s flawless cheek.

Wen Chu became anxious. He wanted to end it quickly to heal Xiu, so he ate even more fiercely.

[Lifespan +12h]
[Lifespan +12h]
[Lifespan +12h]
…

When the tenth twelve-hour increase occurred, Wen Chu’s lifespan reached fifteen days, and the entire jellyfish grew a size larger.

He was already eating the tip of Xiu’s tongue very deeply. Now, with the sudden growth, his previously restrained tentacles grew another section longer, directly reaching Xiu’s tight, hot throat.

Xiu’s tightly closed eyes suddenly widened. He almost subconsciously struggled, his fish tail thrashing violently, stirring up a wave of water.

But the jellyfish was like a transparent nail hammered into his throat, clinging tightly to him.

Xiu once again crushed the rock beneath him.

Wen Chu was worried that Xiu would take several days to agree to kiss him again next time, so after saving up fifteen days, he ate a few more times, pulling his lifespan up to sixteen days before releasing Xiu.

Before letting go, he didn’t forget to transfer ten hours of lifespan to Xiu, erasing the sting mark on his face.

Xiu panted heavily, his lips red to the point of being inflamed, his tail curled up. Even though Wen Chu had cleared the sting on his face, his face was still flushed.

Was he not healed yet?

Wen Chu asked nervously, “Does it still hurt? Should I heal you again?”

Xiu: …

He had felt the sudden disappearance of the stinging pain on his face and in his throat. A moment’s thought told him that Wen Chu had transferred his lifespan to him again.

Xiu’s breathing slowly returned to normal. He looked at the worried jellyfish, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say any words of blame. He only said, “Next time, don’t transfer your lifespan to me for such a small injury.”

Wen Chu’s lifespan could bring the dead back to life. Using it to heal his… unspeakable injuries was simply a waste of a precious resource.

Wen Chu said seriously, “It’s not a small injury. You will be hurt by my sting. I’ll be careful in the future.”

Xiu said expressionlessly, “When you stick your tentacles down my throat, I feel pain too.”

Wen Chu was stunned.

So Xiu’s strong reaction just now was because he had hurt him?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would hurt.” Wen Chu was a bit conflicted.

He couldn’t not kiss Xiu, or he would die.

“Then I’ll be gentle in the future. No, I won’t use my tentacles anymore. You can just stick your tongue out for me to eat.”

Wen Chu thought he had come up with a perfect solution, but when he looked up, he saw Xiu, whose ears were once again flushed red.

“Impossible,” Xiu refused with a cold face.

That’s not okay either. Xiu is so demanding.

Wen Chu was dejected.

Before he could be dejected for more than a few seconds, he felt himself being picked up by Xiu again.

“Alright, we’ll talk about these things later.” Xiu awkwardly changed the subject from 18+ to business. “How are you feeling now? Any better?”

Wen Chu stuck to his sickly and weak persona. “A little better.”

“That’s good. Don’t use your ability randomly in the future. Otherwise, if you faint, you’ll just be more trouble for me.”

Xiu’s words were harsh, but his hands were already shucking clams.

Wen Chu hadn’t eaten his fill earlier. Now that he was a size larger, his stomach sac was only a third full. He was still thinking about continuing to feed the jellyfish.

The vigorous movements just now had loosened the braid by Xiu’s ear. He bent down again to pick up clams to feed Wen Chu. The small yellow flower Wen Chu had placed by his ear loosened and fluttered down with his movements.

Wen Chu ate the clam meat from Xiu’s hand with an “om nom” and, at the same time, didn’t forget to send out a tentacle to catch the small flower.

After so long, the small flower had wilted a bit.

Wen Chu looked at Xiu’s now-unbraided hair, hesitating whether to throw the flower away.

He just felt that this flower’s color was very similar to Xiu’s golden hair. Now that the flower was no longer pretty, it wasn’t worthy of Xiu.

Xiu also noticed this small, fluttering yellow flower.

He held out his hand to Wen Chu. “Give me the flower.”

Wen Chu thought Xiu wanted to throw it away himself and obediently handed the flower to Xiu.

Then, he saw the golden-haired siren carefully holding that small flower and placing it in a washed-clean seashell.

He tore another long, thin strip of seaweed and tied the seashell with it, turning it into a seashell necklace.

Xiu put the necklace around his own neck.

He was still as harsh on the jellyfish with his words as ever. “This is better. It’ll save you from crying secretly at night because you’re sad. What a bother.”

---

Author’s Note:

Jellyfish_has_an_epiphany.jpg
A friend said that every time they see me write the word “jellyfish,” they feel it’s so stupidly cute.
Me: Maybe because I’m a bit dumb, it makes my writing seem not very smart (chokes up).