CH 73.1

Translate by Hua

[Did anyone watch the live broadcasts of those TV stations today? I’m completely confused and in disbelief right now. To put it simply, I have mixed feelings… Is there anyone out there with me?]

1L: As the title states, the OP casually clicked on a live broadcast of a TV station while loafing at work today. They thought that even if they were discovered, they could say that they were paying attention to current affairs and looking for source material. Unexpectedly… I was witnessing history?

8L: I understand you, so OP, do you want to discuss the fact that His Majesty suddenly surrounded the Orfield mansion and hasn’t removed the cordon until now, or do you want to discuss the three charges that His Majesty mentioned in an interview with reporters, which could make anyone’s jaw drop?

15L: Come on, these two things are not the same. With His Majesty’s character, I still think it’s a miracle that he can tolerate those few nobles. Although it is a bit unexpected, this is something that has been discussed and predicted in many posts. What you and I dare not talk about is the royal family member who was tortured, and…my Cub Jiang! ! ! What happened to my baby? Why did he appear on my screen with those long legs?! Isn’t he a genuine mermaid certified by the Mermaid Center? Has the species mutated? ? ?

30L: Has anyone finally mentioned this? I see that in the afternoon everyone is chatting very seriously about the deep meaning of His Majesty’s action today and the future policy towards the established nobles, but they dared not talk about… I’m really devastated wuwuwuwuwuwu.

37L: I don’t get it. I don’t watch a lot of Ji Mingjiang’s live streams, and I don’t understand how he’s adapting to having legs, but what’s so devastating to the fans? Isn’t he still a mermaid? Or do you guys just like his racial label of “mermaid”?

50L: That’s not the case; it’s just a bit… complicated. But Cub Jiang is very good-looking, no matter what. Do you know how fast my heart beat when I saw him for the first time? Those legs, that waist—I’m so envious and like it so much.

66L: I’ll admit that Ji Mingjiang did play a big role in today’s events as well, but… aren’t you guys skewing the building? Why are you guys getting sidetracked into face-licking again? How likely is it that he’s a product of human experiments?

67L: nonono, big no, special no! Last time someone in the live broadcast room said something that questioned His Majesty, you could see that Cub Jiang was already a little angry. This time, Jiang Jiang denied it personally during the interview. It would be too much to guess in this direction…

68L: Anyway, I don’t want to be lectured by Cub Jiang in that tone again. I will believe whatever Cub Jiang says.

123L: This post is blowing up. Where’s the OP?

……

138L: Leave the OP alone! Cub Jiang started a live broadcast! Go quickly! ! !

After clicking into the live broadcast and looking at the black screen, many people were leaving a series of question marks, almost suspecting that there was something wrong with their equipment.

“Can you hear me? If you can hear me, it’s okay. I have something going on here, so please be patient.”

After a few seconds, the screen still didn’t light up, but Ji Mingjiang’s familiar voice made them quiet down quickly. Although before the live broadcast, many people were still arguing with others in the forum post about the possibility of the so-called “human experiment,” at this time, they all tacitly didn’t bring this up…

[Received ~ audible ~]

[Hehe, I’m so happy. In the afternoon, Cub Jiang said that there were questions that would be answered during the live broadcast tomorrow morning. I was very impatient. I wished that it would be the next day as soon as I opened my eyes. I didn’t expect to receive a notification during dinner! ]

[Same! But what is Cub Jiang doing over there? There seem to be voices. Is His Majesty beside him? ]

[Cub Jiang, what are you doing—]

“Do you want to come together?”

Glancing at the rapidly swiping barrage, Ji Mingjiang turned his head to look at Kiro, who was leaning on the edge of the pool, and asked softly.

Nervousness and weariness both magically appeared on the mermaid’s face at the same time. Half of the obsidian-like fish tail that had been treated sank underwater, and from time to time, an inexplicable flash appeared where it met the water surface due to the combination of water waves and lights—just like the feeling Kiro gave him. It was a far cry from how he had initially seen the other party in the basement.

“What…? can I?”

Not expecting Ji Mingjiang to take the initiative to talk to himself, Kiro, who was clearly quite a bit older than this mermaid in front of him, pointed to himself half a beat slower, his fingers resting on the edge of the pool and curling up a bit nervously.

After coming out of the treatment cabin, Kiro only briefly talked to Lin Feng and Leiden. Ji Mingjiang was also present at the time, and he had a favorable initial impression of the mermaid who rescued him and seemed to hug him all the way.

But when they were in the current environment where there were only two of them, as a mermaid who had been living in a dark basement all year round without any social interaction and whose only “communicable person” could be called Bisnar Orfield, he inevitably still felt a little restrained.

Ji Mingjiang smiled when he heard his question. Thinking of the original arrangements of the emperor and empress in the diary he had seen before, he said thoughtfully, “Of course, it may be helpful for what you may need to do in the future.”

The two were not separated by much distance. Ji Mingjiang stretched out his hand tentatively. Seeing that he didn’t dodge despite being a little tense, he tilted his body and pulled the person over.

“Wow——”

The tilting of the body and the reflexive flapping of the tail as the mermaid approached caused a series of water splashes. The audience, who were chatting to themselves, heard this movement and raised a series of questions, becoming even more curious as to what exactly Ji Mingjiang was doing.

[Take a bold guess! Is Jiang Jiang preparing any surprises for us to appease our frightened hearts today? ]

[…It’s a beautiful idea; I vote for it! ]

[It’s been a long time. What exactly is Cub Jiang whispering to His Majesty behind our backs?]

“Not Clarice.”

After pulling the person down to his side, Ji Mingjiang glanced at the screen and saw the last barrage floating in front of him. After explaining, he turned over the small camera ball that he had kept on the ground and pressed the start button.

In the swaying picture, to the surprise of the audience, a somewhat blurry figure of a black-haired mermaid appeared on it, seemingly the one that Ji Mingjiang had carried out this afternoon.

“There should be an official announcement tomorrow, together with Bisnar Orfield’s charges, but it’s not a big problem to let you know in advance now.”

Reaching out to steady the camera ball that was somewhat blurry, Ji Mingjiang blinked at the screen and calmly introduced the mermaid beside him amidst the overwhelming barrage of meaningless exclamations and doubts.

“This is Clarice…well, wouldn’t it be easier to tell them apart by calling them their first name?” At this point, Ji Mingjiang remembered that Kiro’s surname was also Clarice, and he quickly changed his title and continued: “This is Leiden’s brother, Kiro Clarice. He was kidnapped by the Orfield family ten years ago and has been hidden until now. In the future, he will probably…”

After seeing Kiro nodding, Ji Mingjiang said with a smile, “He will probably appear in the live broadcast in the future.”

After the words fell, except for the slightly nervous sound of another mermaid slapping the water in the room, there were only two breathing sounds left, and the screen of the live broadcast room in front of Ji Mingjiang strangely appeared blank for more than ten seconds.

Just when one of the two people suspected that there was something wrong with the equipment and the other suspected that he wasn’t welcome, the audience finally regained their composure after digesting this passage. Driven by the sudden rise of mixed emotions in their hearts, they were frantically tapping on the input box, and the dense barrage instantly flooded the entire live broadcast room.

[…There’s a lot I want to say, but in the end, with my meager knowledge base, I can only utter a curse word…]

[Thank you; I’m stupid. I’m talking nonsense face-to-face with my boss. Who will believe me if I tell them His Majesty, who can say something like he’s not interested in mermaids, has a brother who’s a mermaid?!”]

[F, f, f, I was originally wondering if His Majesty had a bad relationship with this brother, but then the news playing at my house reminded me that the cordon outside the Orfield family’s big mansion has not been removed yet. ]

[This reminds me…such a beautiful mermaid was imprisoned for ten years? ! Damn it, I’m so pissed!]

[Orfield and his lackeys are going to hell ahhhh! Before, I’d only been paying attention to Jiang Jiang’s long legs when he walked out, and now that I’ve watched that video again, the physical condition of Kiro, who was carried out, was definitely not good! ]

[I’m so angry! I’m so angry! I hope the Primary Beastmen Protection Center does something this time!!!]

“They will get the retribution they deserve. You can wait for the official announcement tomorrow.”

After throwing out such a sentence that makes people anxious, Ji Mingjiang didn’t even stop for a moment before starting to throw out words that could directly subvert the worldview of this generation or several generations of interstellar people.

“I did intend to deal with today’s issues during tomorrow’s daily broadcast, but I’ve just seen some of the comments under the news, and it looks like people are still a bit curious and worried about my state today, so I’m simply going to talk about it now.”

​[? ? ? ]

[I have an ominous premonition, friends…]

Seeing a few barrages floating slowly over and talking about their sudden premonition, Ji Mingjiang didn’t even raise his eyebrows. He said very calmly and matter-of-factly: “In the reporters’ live videos this afternoon, were you surprised that I walked out as a human?”

Although they knew that he couldn’t see their expression, the audience in front of the screen, who were either eating, working overtime face-to-face with their boss, or slumped on the sofa, nodded vigorously.

—That’s not true! Being surprised isn’t enough to describe their mood at that time, ok? ! People were almost scared to death!

—So it must have been some new technology that His Majesty first used on Cub Jiang! Could it be the new exoskeleton developed by the institute?

—It can’t actually be a mutation, right?!

Hundreds of thousands of viewers were staring expectantly at the light brain screen in front of them. Of course, among these hundreds of thousands of people, those whose minds were at odds with the crowd and who were always ready to drag Clarice weren’t few.

Then, those who wanted to consolidate their worldview and consolidate or even advance their status saw Ji Mingjiang’s lips open and close as he said something they couldn’t quite understand.

No, what does he mean by “without new technology or human experiments, I can freely switch between human form and mermaid form”?

What does he mean by “and Kiro can actually do too. When we went to the place where he was locked up, Bisnar Orfield was knocked unconscious by him after he turned into a human form; otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be able to see him now”?

If you have the guts to say that, don’t turn off the live broadcast and explain it properly! What does he mean by “In fact, mermaids have the characteristics of the two species combined. They were originally able to freely transform between human form and fish tail form, but something that happened later made them forget their instincts.”?!