Earl Vale said he liked Lansi, and that much seemed to be true.
Instead of locking him in a small glass box and storing him in the warehouse like the others, Earl Vale took Lansi to his own apartment.
"Is the little fish hungry?"
Earl Vale limped over and pressed a button on the side of the glass tank. A small ladder extended outward. The blond man climbed up step by step until he reached the top of the tank. He pulled a small silver fish from the bag he carried and dropped it into the water.
"Time to eat."
Throughout the process, it was clear that Earl Vale's right leg was a prosthetic.
Eat your uncle!
Lansi was furious. He shot up from the bottom of the tank and grabbed Earl Vale's hand as he was lowering the fish, trying to yank him into the water. But something went wrong. As he pulled, there was a soft thud, and Lansi spun in the water, dizzy.
Sinking to the bottom, he opened his eyes and realized he was still holding the man's "hand."
Startled, he threw it away. It floated down beside him.
It wasn't a real hand.
It was a prosthetic.
Lansi stared in shock.
"What a naughty little fish."
Despite having his prosthetic hand torn off, Earl Vale didn't seem angry. He looked at Lansi indulgently and sighed.
Then, with his remaining real hand, he tapped several buttons on the control panel beside the tank. A small reptile-like robot slid into the water. Agile and quick, it retrieved the prosthetic from Lansi's tail and exited through a narrow opening above the tank.
It appeared to be a cleaning bot, specially designed for use inside the tank.
Watching the dazed white mermaid beneath the water, Earl Vale chuckled softly.
He realized he truly liked this little mermaid.
Right in front of Lansi, he instructed the cleaning robot to sanitize and disinfect the prosthetic hand, then calmly reattached it.
He stomped a few times, especially with his artificial leg, before opening his bathrobe and exposing his prosthesis to Lansi. Then he said,
"When I was a child, I contracted a disease. It started with my limbs rotting away. I wasn't human, wasn't a ghost... but I survived. I always believed Lady Luck was watching over me."
Twenty years ago, when Earl Vale was young, the world entered a time of great chaos. Humanity teetered on the brink of extinction.
Back then, it wasn't just the mutated animals, unpredictable weather, or poisoned lands that terrified humans. The real threat came from within.
A virus had been released from the melting glaciers. It evolved rapidly, with a long incubation period, and was fatal in its late stages. It spread like wildfire, wiping out nearly half the global population.
The disease broke down the human body on a cellular level, beginning with limb decay.
For five years, scientists were baffled. Vaccine research made no progress. Humanity was gripped by despair.
Finally, a scientist named Mu developed a drug. It was dangerous and lethal to many, but it did halt the virus.
Earl Vale was one of the people injected.
He survived, though the cost was the loss of an arm and a leg.
He didn't need to tell all this to the white mermaid. But for some reason, he did. He didn't even mind showing Lansi his incomplete body.
Lansi, however, only stared at the blond man suspiciously. He couldn't understand his words.
In his memory, no global outbreak like that had ever occurred. There had never been a virus that cut humanity in half.
Was Earl Vale lying? Or had Lansi slept at the bottom of the ocean for so long that the world had changed without him realizing?
He didn't want to dwell on it, nor did he want to look at the man in front of him.
Turning away, he stared out through the balcony at the ocean.
Was the man using his broken body to comfort him now that he was undergoing surgery?
What kind of comfort was that?
Lansi only wanted to drag him into the water and drown him.
"Little fish, eat."
Earl Vale's voice was soft behind him. He reached into the tank with his prosthetic hand, rippling the water gently.
"Look at me."
Lansi ignored him, his eyes focused on the horizon.
The ocean outside was bright and calm. The blue sky stretched far and wide, with a few soft, identical clouds.
Even though he was trapped in this glass prison, when Lansi closed his eyes, he could still smell the sea breeze. It was warm, tinged with the salt of the ocean.
He wondered if the baby orca had been rescued.
Since he was captured, all contact with the Sea Monster Chat Group had been lost. He had no idea what had happened under the waves.
Suddenly, several dark shapes appeared in the seascape beyond the glass.
The picture flickered, glitching like static on an old television screen.
Startled, Lansi opened his eyes and stared, wondering if he was hallucinating.
"Ah, seems like there's a bit of a problem."
Earl Vale noticed Lansi's gaze and limped toward the curtain. He put aside the bag of fish, drew the curtains open, and fiddled with something behind them.
A moment later, the seascape vanished.
The balcony was now exposed. Outside, there was no ocean at all—only a dark sky, sheer cliffs, and wind-blasted trees.
All the beautiful seascapes had been artificial.
Just display screens.
Lansi rushed to the glass, furious. He opened his mouth to yell, but only a few strangled breaths came out.
"Hush now, don't shout."
Earl Vale placed his hand gently on the glass where Lansi's webbed fingers pressed.
"Your throat still hasn't healed. If the wound tears open again, that'll be your fault."
Lansi glared at him through the glass.
"Why are you so angry?"
Earl Vale grinned without shame. "Is it because I shattered your little illusion?"
Lansi bared his teeth and scratched the glass, aiming for Vale's smug face.
The man stepped back, laughing.
"After I took you, a black storm broke out over the sea."
Earl Vale smiled as he said, "Do you think Poseidon got angry because he lost you?"
Lansi's lips tightened. He thought of Winsor, still waiting for him.
"But Poseidon can only do that much."
Earl Vale's smile turned cold. "So what if he controls the ocean? On land, he's still just prey."
The words weren't just a taunt toward Poseidon. They were a warning to Lansi not to get any ideas.
"The nearest coastline is ten kilometers away."
He shattered Lansi's hopes completely. "Do you think you can walk ten kilometers through the black market?"
His eyes drifted to Lansi's tail.
"I wonder if it can turn into human legs like in the fairy tales."
Lansi instinctively curled his tail.
"Well, little fish, I'm going to bed now."
Earl Vale yawned and tapped on the glass.
"Play alone or sleep. Oh, and as punishment for stealing my prosthesis, there's no dinner tonight."
Lansi: "..."
With that, Earl Vale walked off, satisfied.
Inside the tank, Lansi raised a middle finger toward his retreating back.
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the sea, a black storm raged.
Dark debris floated through the water. Even the sky above was not spared.
The Sea Monster Chat Group had gone silent.
In Sunset Bay, two sea monsters clung to each other, shivering despite their massive size.
A sunken ship loomed before them. From its hull, thick black tentacles poured out, twisting like vines, spreading into the sea.
The tentacles pulsed as if alive, slithering toward the two monsters.
Inside the ship's cabin, a strange, hoarse voice echoed. A red core blinked amid the darkness.
[Two sea monsters...]
[Failed to retrieve the human... damn it...]
The hermit crab stepped forward.
[Eat me then. The human left with Lansi. I don't have wings!]
Quirrell's eyes widened. Would the creature target the hermit crab now? What if it really ate him?
[I'm to blame too. I didn't dare go ashore.]
Quirrell pushed the hermit crab aside with his tentacles.
[Haha… how touching.]
The voice inside the wreck sneered.
The tentacles surged, swelling into fleshy mounds and engulfing both sea monsters.
[You think I'll let you go?]
Quirrell struggled as acid-like fluids began to dissolve their flesh.
But he gritted his teeth and pleaded:
[The hermit crab is only a guest. I'm the one responsible. Please, let him go.]
[I won't leave! I'll die with Quirrell!]
The hermit crab roared heroically. He smashed at the tentacles with his claw, fighting to reach Quirrell. He shouted:
[You look like a monster, but what good does it do Lance? Instead of attacking us, why not attack the humans and get the mermaid back?]
Quirrell was overwhelmed.
[Hermit crab—]
Suddenly, the tentacles stopped. The hermit crab kept slicing, freeing Quirrell.
The two sea monsters hugged tightly.
The red core in the wreck seemed to pause, thinking.
The hermit crab tucked Quirrell into his shell and looked up at the wreck.
[Go save the mermaid. We'll go ashore with you this time. Even if we die, we'll help you rescue him. Better that than being dissolved here.]
Quirrell peeked out from the shell, still trembling.
[Even if I die in the sun, I'll help bring Lance back.]
There was silence.
[You there?]
The black tentacles began to retreat, vanishing into the ship.
A low chuckle followed.
[Your change… is truly interesting.]
The hermit crab blinked.
[What?]
Quirrell, being smarter, blushed.
The sounds of flesh reforming echoed from inside the ship.
And then, the voice spoke again.
[For Lance's sake… I'll let you go. But next time, I'll make the entire ocean my grave offering.]
A black mermaid emerged from the wreck, whispering his last command.
[Take care of my body.]
The two sea monsters nodded solemnly.
[We swear on our lives.]
Winsor looked up.
Outside, the black storm blotted out the sun. The sea was cold and dark.
He had been too confident.
He never expected humans to move so quickly, to attack Lance before he had finished his plans.
But maybe this was for the best.
He always knew Lansi wouldn't stay in the ocean. His curiosity and loneliness would drive him to leave.
Now, this was a chance.
A chance for Lansi to see for himself what the world was really like.
Only after tasting bitter fruit would he know it wasn't sweet.