CH 85.2

Translate by Hua

After dinner, the sky outside had completely darkened. As the two of them walked outside, a cold wind hung over them, and Ji Mingjiang’s hands hanging on both sides suddenly felt the feeling of raindrops. When he looked up at the sky, he saw tiny snowflakes flying under the warm yellow light of the street lamp.

“It’s snowing in the capital city too.”

He still carried the warm atmosphere of the restaurant on his body, and when he first came into contact with the cold air outside, he couldn’t help but pull his shirt collar.

“Go back quickly.” Seeing Ji Mingjiang’s actions, Kiro said helplessly, “The Capital Planet is only relatively warmer than other planets, but it’s still winter after all.”

How can you go out with Leiden and only learn the bad things? Who told you it’s a good idea to only wear a shirt in the middle of winter?

“Um?”

Realizing the strangeness of his choice of words, Ji Mingjiang looked back in confusion and asked, “Aren’t you going back with me?”

“Need I remind you how many days you’ve been out there and how many days I’ve already been at your place, counting the days before that?”

Kiro also looked back, with some concern in his eyes, as if he were worried that Ji Mingjiang, the little mermaid, brain was frozen silly. “They are just helping me clean up the house; their efficiency is not so low.”

“Speaking of which, I remembered it.” While leading Ji Mingjiang to his new residence, Kiro said, “Rowlett also prepared a room without a swimming pool for you. It’s next to Leiden’s.”

Rowlett was talking about how the weather is getting colder and colder. And since Ji Mingjiang can maintain his human form for a long time, having a pool that takes up almost the entire first floor and being very cold and humid in winter doesn’t suit him anymore. In addition, Ji Mingjiang also had many things to discuss with Leiden. In order to make his stay more comfortable and to facilitate communication between the two, he tidied up the empty room next to Leiden’s bedroom.

But in Kiro’s eyes, this arrangement just… has a meaning that is difficult to explain directly.

Rowlett, an old man who has always regarded Ji Mingjiang as his own child, must not have had this intention when he made this arrangement.

Thinking of this, Kiro looked a little strange.

It’s really not his fault for thinking too much. Leiden’s behavior in things related to Ji Mingjiang and his impression of that brother, who had a blank face all day long, was just too big a difference. If people change as they grow up, then other citizens of the Empire will also have the same thought as him.

So it’s definitely not his problem!

That’s not to say that Leiden can’t have someone he likes, but…

Thinking of this, he turned his head and glanced at Ji Mingjiang, whose facial contours were soft and blurred under the misty snow and dim street lights. He sighed silently in his heart, and his head ached faintly.

But if he remembers correctly, Ji Mingjiang is only 16 years old, right? Although his words and deeds are very mature and give people a very reliable feeling, the fact is that Ji Mingjiang is still a little fish cub who is still two years away from adulthood!

Okay, since he doesn’t know his specific birthday, let’s assume that he will be 17 years old after the New Year. It’s still one year away from adulthood!

But fortunately, neither of them, especially Leiden, seems to realize the meaning of their feelings, so hopefully it could wait until Ji Ming Jiang becomes an adult before his stupid brother understands.

Otherwise… Kiro couldn’t help but feel his breath stagnate when he thought of the piles of warnings and punishment letters that Leiden might receive from the Mermaid Center and the Primary Beastmen Protection Center.

Oh, the person in charge of the Mermaid Center should be Ji Mingjiang in the future. It may be better than he imagined.

As he thought about it, the expression on Kiro’s face changed at an extremely fast speed.

“Kiro?”

“…We’re here, Kiro; what are you thinking about?”

Looking at Kiro, who was obviously immersed in his own thoughts, with a series of emotions flashing across his face, including but not limited to contemplation, entanglement, worry, happiness, etc., a trace of confusion flashed across Ji Mingjiang’s face.

After calling him twice and still getting no response, JJi Mingjiang huffed and directly took Kiro’s arm, then stepped forward.

He can withstand freezing, but Kiro cannot.

“Huh? Huh? What’s wrong?”

Kiro, who was suddenly pulled back to his senses by the sudden action, looked confused and asked three questions.

“I said we’re here. Hurry up and open the door. What were you thinking about along the way?”

Ji Mingjiang pushed Kiro, who was much shorter than him, to the door and repeated what he had just said helplessly.

“Ah……”

With a couple of vague dry laughs, Kiro quickly opened the door and stepped inside, then changed the topic to “Have a seat and warm up before you go back.”

Because he can only stay in human form for at most half a day every day, the structure of his small villa isn’t too different from that of Ji Mingjiang, with a pool on the first floor and a living area on the second floor. It’s just that the pool here is a lot smaller under his strong request, and it won’t be too humid after turning on the fireplace.

Seeing that Kiro didn’t want to talk anymore, Ji Mingjiang didn’t pursue this matter. Instead, he talked about other things, which he suddenly thought of when he was blown by the wind.

“Do you want to exercise with me?”

“What?” The sudden shift from romantic comedy to sports left Kiro’s mind a little confused.

Afraid that the invitation was a bit abrupt and that he didn’t want to exercise, Ji Mingjiang explained patiently: “You’ve also heard it before. The Federation must have a conspiracy against me, or more likely, against the mermaid. Although we don’t know their exact plans, I think it’s always beneficial to get your body in shape first.”

“I will mention this to Oddo after I go to the mermaid center. By then, all the mermaids will be exercising. If you are a keeper, don’t even think about running away.”

Having said this, Ji Mingjiang smiled sinisterly at Kiro, like an evil villain.

“I didn’t say I disagreed.” Looking at Ji Mingjiang, who rarely takes a tough stance, Kiro said helplessly.

***

At 8:20 the next morning, due to the weather, a layer of gauze-like fog still lingered outside for a long time. The snow from last night had already stopped, and the snow on the main road was swept onto the grass on both sides by cleaners who got up to work very early. In order to prevent himself from being nagged at, Ji Mingjiang wrapped himself in a padded coat, drove a car all the way to Kiro’s door, and knocked twice.

“Coming–”

A feeble sound came from behind the door, followed by the patter of slippers on the ground from far to near. After four or five seconds, the closed door was slowly opened by the owner from the inside. An exceptionally pale face with a hint of greenish black appeared in front of Ji Mingjiang, and then, under Ji Mingjiang’s somewhat shocked gaze, he slowly yawned.

“Why are you so early? You don’t need to be this excited on your first day at work, right?”

Glancing outside, the sky was still bright, and the warm yellow street lights were still working diligently. Kiro asked in a vague tone.

“It’s already past eight o’clock. It’s not early at all, okay?” Ji Mingjiang reluctantly called up the time on his light brain and gave Kiro a look.

“!”

“Why has it come to this time?!”

Kiro’s eyes suddenly widened. He quickly let go of the hand holding the door and ran back to the bathroom upstairs. Before his figure completely disappeared around the corner of the stairs, he didn’t forget to shout to Ji Mingjiang: “You sit down there for a while; I’ll be down soon!”

Less than five minutes later, there was another rush of footsteps at the top of the stairs. Kiro, who had packed up, rushed down quickly and stopped in front of Ji Mingjiang.

After he stood firm, the dull pain from his legs to his back came back again. Kiro, who had just washed his face and was full of energy, took another step and fell weakly on the back of the sofa.

“It hurts……”

He half raised his head, looked at Ji Mingjiang, and complained.

“…”

“It’s not that bad, right?”

Looking at Kiro, whose arms draped helplessly onto the sofa cushions, Ji Mingjiang somewhat sheepishly parted his originally folded legs and coughed lightly as he sat upright.

“What do you think?”

Kiro glanced at him faintly, not really wanting to speak.

Thinking of what he had agreed to in a flash of his mind last night, Kiro now simply wanted to go back to last night and give his ignorant self a slap in the face. It would be better to knock out all the water in his head.

Last night, after he agreed to Ji Mingjiang’s invitation to exercise, Ji Mingjiang, who had warmed up his body, had planned to go back to his room, but at that time, his light brain happened to receive a message.

When he finished replying to the message, he saw Ji Mingjiang staring at his light brain with a thoughtful look, not knowing what he was thinking.

Then, as he was filled with doubt, the other party spoke up unexpectedly: “It just occurred to me that for exercise, dragging you on a run or doing some other sport is one thing. However, you can also play holographic games with me!”

“Ah?”

After getting the light brain and simply looking through the dazzling assortment of software without carefully clicking any of them, Kiro was still a bit confused when he heard this: “Games?”

He recalled for a moment before hesitating and saying, “But in my impression, aren’t those all kinds of mecha starship confrontation games? Can this be related to the physical exercise you mentioned?”

“There is a simple confrontation game between two people.” Ji Mingjiang clicked his tongue, then crossed his long legs and excitedly sat down near Kiro’s arm, which was wearing a light brain.

“You click in first to register your account information. I’ll go in and invite you in a moment, and then you just click agree.”

Kiro glanced at him dubiously, thinking it was just a game, so he followed his steps.

After seeing the person next to him close his eyes, obviously entering the holographic space, Ji Mingjiang also quickly logged into the game.

After finding the real-person arena competition that he had played online before and setting up the match, Ji Mingjiang pulled up his friend list. Among the few friends, Kiro, the only one with a green light showing online status at night, was very conspicuous, so Ji Mingjiang immediately sent a game invitation.

The scene in front of him became distorted and blurred for a moment, and a person with a somewhat unfamiliar face appeared on the spot. It was obvious that he had directly used the appearance-changing item in the cloakroom.

The sudden space transformation made him close his eyes in discomfort, but after finding that there was no adverse reaction of dizziness or nausea, the eyes that also changed color quickly opened.

However, the eyes that were originally curiously looking at the surroundings froze in place after seeing Ji Mingjiang dressed in a black robe that looked like a criminal.

“…”

After taking time to organize his words, Kiro asked with great difficulty and disgust, “Why are you dressed like that?”

In the ring with only two people, Ji Mingjiang took off his hat. He tied up his silver, tucked the loose strands behind his ears, then shook his head and said, “I didn’t want to reveal my identity and didn’t want to use the face provided by the system. It was too time-consuming to make my own face, so I just put on a random cloak.”

But later, he also discovered that this cloak was indeed very convenient. It directly covers most of his face. Others can’t see his face or the expression on his face. When he didn’t want any physical movements, he could simply retract his hand into his robe, which was very convenient and labor-saving.

“Okay, let’s get started. Let me see how it plays in holographic mode…”

As he spoke, Ji Mingjiang pulled out the game panel with his hand and started selecting from it.

“1v1 guided confrontation mode?”

Ji Mingjiang, who was not very clear about this game, turned his head and asked.

Kiro, who also knew nothing about this game, nodded.

Then, in the next match, which was within twenty minutes, the two followed the system’s prompts….

Forget it; Kiro couldn’t help but stop his memories.

The next time he thinks about it, his body will start to hurt again.

God knows that the guide actually gave the two of them corresponding movements and asked them to perform them in a standardized manner. Ji Mingjiang was born with the same strange strength, although the pain in his body was greatly weakened because of the holographic mode.

But the residual pain and muscle strain brought into reality still exist.

Rubbing his arms, Kiro straightened up and sighed, “Let’s go have a meal.”

***

“Come on, let’s have breakfast!”

A plate of small whitebait that had been deboned and arranged neatly was brought out of the kitchen. Carrie quickly returned to the room she was currently responsible for with brisk steps and gently lifted the little one, who was still sleeping by the pool. The mermaid woke up and spoke softly.

“Well……#%@&.”

The fair-skinned mermaid rubbed his eyes with his hands and muttered a few words. After saying something that Carrie didn’t understand, he swung his tail, took the small plate, and went to his fixed place to have breakfast.

Lifting up the hem of her work clothes, Carrie sat cross-legged on the ground and chatted with Qin Shasha beside her.

“I heard that a new keeper will come today.”

Looking at the mermaids eating happily at the other end of the pool, Carrie had a satisfied smile on her face but also some obvious doubts. “But it seems that every mermaid here has their own keeper, right?”

Even the new mermaid that was picked up a few days ago already has His Highness Kiro as his keeper.

“But it’s really surprising. I always thought Jiang Zai was the most different one, so when he walked in front of the camera for an interview not long ago, I thought, ‘It would be normal if it was him.’ I feel like I was really shocked when His Highness Kiro was suddenly brought to us by the director that day.”

Having said this, Qin Shasha nodded in agreement. “Is what Cub Jiang said true?”

She looked at the few little mermaids scattered in the pool. Some of their tails were sinking under the water, and some were rising out of the water from time to time. Qin Shasha’s tone gradually became incredulous: “These little guys can all become like us?”

“Isn’t that too far-fetched?!”

“It’s true. When did I ever lie to you?” Just as the two of them looked at each other in silence, a very familiar voice abruptly sounded at the door.

Carrie’s eyes widened before she could turn her head, and after the two of them got up from the floor in a bit of a panic, they looked at Ji Mingjiang, who had walked in through the doorway with Oddo, in a bit of a daze.

The feeling of meeting a real person face-to-face and meeting through an electronic screen is completely different. It’s impossible for the live broadcast equipment to completely capture Ji Mingjiang’s entire body every time.

Therefore, Carrie, who could be said to have seen Ji Mingjiang for the first time since he left the Mermaid Center, was stunned on the spot.

She clearly knew in her heart that the Ji Mingjiang standing in front of her at this moment was the 16-year-old little mermaid that she had taken care of for nearly a month. However, looking at the upright and slender figure standing next to Oddo, she was suddenly at a bit of a loss for words.

If she had to use a metaphor to describe it, then what she was feeling right now would probably be: an old mother who hadn’t seen her child for a full decade or so was suddenly knocked on the door by her grown-up child.

Well, that’s right, that’s it.

Although she didn’t know what to say, Carrie nodded as if she recognized her thoughts deep in her heart.

“Ahem.” Seeing that neither Carrie nor Shasha said anything, Oddo made a fist with one hand, put it against his mouth, and coughed twice. When he saw that the other party was paying attention to him, he stood on tiptoe and patted the young man on the shoulder while saying to the two of them, “I’m not sure about what you guys just said about the transformation of the human form; you’ll have to ask Mingjiang himself. But the new keeper that Carrie mentioned just now…”

Oddo paused for a moment. When he saw that the people and mermaids across the room were looking at Ji Mingjiang, he made a cold, sharp turn. “No, our current number of keepers is already full.”

“???”

“Ah?”

Then why did you come here specifically with Ji Mingjiang? Could it be that he simply accompanied the graduated “students” back to see the teacher?

Carrie and Qin Shasha glanced at each other, both saw the same confusion in each other’s eyes, and both secretly complained.

But they heard Oddo say very calmly: “That’s why Ji Mingjiang is here to take over my shift, and after he familiarizes himself with the operation of the center’s affairs and passes the assessment, the director position of the Mermaid Foster Center will be handed over to him.”

“What?!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

Early in the morning, Carrie and Qin Shasha both fell into doubt about life.

They couldn’t have just woken up!