Since Wen Yu still had some business to handle, he gave Carl a few quick instructions before logging off. He taught Carl how to deal with Lansi, then disappeared from the feed.
Lansi, meanwhile, kept up his act. He lay limp with his face buried in the water basin, blowing bubbles like a child pretending to be dead.
After Wen Yu's tutorial, Carl turned to check on him—and saw Lansi sprawled out like a dried-up salted fish. His mouth twitched.
You've been soaking for this long, and now you're back to being a soggy fish. So why do you still look half-dead?
"Alright, cut it out. Let's move you to the villa's bathtub."
Carl walked over and reached for Lansi's waist, planning to lift him up.
But just as he touched him, Lansi suddenly jolted like he'd been shocked. The only soft spot on his body had been brushed, and it startled him. He shot upright, flailing like a slippery eel, and darted away from Carl to crouch on the floor, staring at him warily.
There was nothing half-dead about the way he moved.
Carl blinked. Then it hit him—he'd been played.
As Carl's expression began to darken, Lansi immediately shuffled to the villa's glass door. In the next second, he slumped dramatically against it, letting out a soft, pitiful groan.
It was a desperate attempt to cover up the fact that he'd just sprung to life a moment ago. He was hoping Carl would buy the whole "final burst of energy" act.
Not very convincing.
Carl scratched his head, suspicion lingering. Still, he let it go and walked up to the code lock next to Lansi. He pressed a few digits, then paused, glancing sideways at him.
"Hey… can you read?"
In response, Lansi gave him a wide-eyed, innocent smile.
Play dumb. That's the move.
"A mermaid's still a fish. I doubt fish can read," Carl muttered to himself. Apparently, Wen Yu hadn't told him everything about Lansi.
Convinced by his own logic, Carl didn't hide the rest of the code. He entered the final digits right in front of Lansi.
Lansi stared intently and memorized each number.
Better to watch openly than sneak a peek and raise suspicion.
With a beep, the lock clicked, and the glass door slid open.
Before Carl could even speak, Lansi lit up with joy and sprang inside.
"Lansi!"
Carl was startled. It felt like someone had let a wild cat into a delicate shop. He imagined the mermaid knocking over furniture and causing chaos.
Thankfully, Lansi didn't do any of that. He was curious, sure. First, he rubbed his hands on the plush carpet. Then he looked up toward the second floor.
The villa had two levels—the kitchen and living room below, bedrooms and bath upstairs.
"Yeah, yeah, let's head to the bathroom," Carl muttered, relieved Lansi wasn't leaping over furniture. He gave Lansi a little push toward the stairs, trying to guide him along before things changed and Lansi decided to go full kung fu in the living room.
Just as Lansi had guessed, the second floor had a cozy bedroom and a huge bathtub. Wen Yu hadn't used the villa much yet, but he'd told Carl to bring Lansi here.
When Carl mentioned the bathroom, Lansi nodded.
There was nothing of interest downstairs anyway.
Then he reached the stairs—and stopped.
Carl stopped too.
How... was a mermaid supposed to get upstairs?
Did he have to carry him?
Carl looked at Lansi's conflicted face and hesitantly reached out. But Lansi slapped his hand away without hesitation.
Carl: "…"
In the face of Carl's awkward expression, Lansi braced himself on the ground. Using only his arms, he hauled his tail up the stairs, dragging it step by step with effort.
He trusted Wen Yu and Carl, but years of being hunted left scars. He hated being touched. So instead of being carried like cargo, he'd rather drag himself up.
Exhausting.
Lansi finally understood why the Little Mermaid gave up her tail for legs. Legs were genius. Evolution knew what it was doing.
When they reached the top, Carl watched Lansi with a sigh. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Lansi never let him get close. Why?
Five minutes later, they reached the upstairs bathroom.
The jacuzzi was massive. Nearby cabinets were filled with essential oils and certain… special props. The kind you'd expect in a place made for romantic getaways.
Or something more adventurous.
Carl flushed. He immediately began thinking about how to keep Lansi away from those inappropriate items. But Lansi didn't seem to care. He squealed with joy, dove into the tub, stretched out, and struck a relaxed pose—giving Carl a look that said, Well?
Carl: "???"
After a moment of confusion, Carl realized what Lansi wanted. With a resigned sigh, he turned on the water.
The tub filled. Lansi floated in bliss, head resting against the edge.
He even found the massage switch on his own, activating it without hesitation. Now he was surrounded by bubbling water, eyes half-closed in total comfort.
The only downside? No bath foam. What a waste.
"What a little ancestor," Carl muttered. His voice was sour, but he was mostly teasing.
Then, from who-knows-where, he pulled out a yellow rubber duck and placed it gently into the water.
"Play here. Don't run off. I'm going to clean your pool."
The other sea creatures in the backyard weren't as adaptable as Lansi. Without water overnight, most of them hadn't survived.
Their dried-up bodies now lay in the bottom of the pool. If Carl didn't clean it soon, it would start to stink—and possibly make Lansi sick.
He had to empty, scrub, and refill the entire pool before bringing Lansi back.
Lansi just waved lazily and let the bubbles jiggle him. No objections.
Carl, seeing Lansi was settled in, turned and left with a sigh.
Being a mermaid caretaker was exhausting. He really wanted to smack Lansi sometimes.
…
As soon as Carl left, Lansi sprang into action. He climbed out of the tub and tiptoed to the bathroom window, watching Carl head out of the villa with cleaning tools.
Once sure Carl would be busy for a while, Lansi dried off quickly and carefully cleaned up after himself to leave no evidence behind.
He opened the bathroom door and slipped out.
He had a mission: explore the villa and find a way online.
He remembered seeing a study and a bedroom on the way up.
Both likely had computers.
He tried the study first. Locked.
On to the bedroom.
Bingo. The door opened, and on the desk was a pristine, untouched computer.
Wen Yu had probably never used it.
Lansi sat down and immediately booted it up. He opened a browser and typed "Lansi Queen Mary" into the search bar.
Just as he expected, results popped up.
But the focus wasn't the shipwreck.
It was the sea monster. His appearance had caused a stir.
The Queen Mary? Barely a footnote.
When he tried to find a list of victims from the shipwreck, nothing came up.
The topic seemed to be highly sensitive. Even with admin-level access, it was blocked.
He tried to calculate how long it had been since the shipwreck. With the new post-doomsday calendar, it took him a while—but he finally arrived at an answer.
Over 50 years.
The realization made Lansi's heart sink.
He'd been asleep at the bottom of the sea for over half a century.
His human life, everyone he knew… all gone.
Fifty years, plus the chaos of the apocalypse and virus outbreaks, meant his entire past had turned to dust.
He had come from the bottom of the sea.
From the past.
He didn't belong here.
After sitting with the thought for a while, he pulled himself together.
The past was gone. What mattered now was the future.
It was time to act on his plan—to return to the ocean.
He opened the map and searched using a major brand he remembered from the old days. To his surprise, it still existed.
Even better, the villa's network was connected to a local intranet, and some permissions were still open. That let him find his exact location.
He saw a red dot on the map marking his place: a private estate in the inner city.
Lansi zoomed out and studied the map.
The world had changed drastically.
Entire landmasses had shrunk. Islands and even smaller continents had been swallowed by the sea. Most of the globe was now ocean.
His current location was in a coastal federation.
The region was fortified with high walls, separating human zones from the sea. The outermost areas were military-controlled, followed by residential districts, then a central government core.
People were divided by class—slums and elite zones.
Based on the villa's décor, he was definitely in the rich part.
Had he become one of the privileged?
Lansi cupped his cheeks and smiled to himself. Then he frowned again, eyeing the distance between his red dot and the shoreline.
Thirty kilometers.
And he'd have to cross multiple checkpoints and slums.
That would be suicide.
Plan A: escape. Rejected.
He needed a new strategy—like mailing himself back.
He opened the courier service to place an order.
No account.
He sighed. Time to use Carl.
Maybe he could trick Carl into logging in on this computer.
He shut everything down and wiped the history, then started planning how to get Carl to help.
First, back to the bathroom. Carl would check in soon.
As he turned to leave, Lansi's eyes landed on the bed.
Black sheets. Clean. Soft pillows. A plush mattress that seemed to whisper his name.
He hadn't slept in a bed since becoming a mermaid.
His tail gave a happy twitch.
He really, really wanted to try it.