READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 86 - The Betrayed Mermaid Clan Leader (1)
When He Dongchen woke up, he found himself submerged in a gigantic crystal fish tank that was as large as a swimming pool. Outside the tank was a spacious, bright office decorated with oceanic features. Beyond that, there were large floor-to-ceiling windows, with towering skyscrapers standing in neat rows outside.
He Dongchen tried to climb out of the tank, but as soon as he moved his legs, he realized something was wrong. His legs were gone, replaced by a golden tail, unparalleled in beauty.
With a splash, the tail flicked powerfully in the water.
He Dongchen touched the water droplets on his face, intrigued.
He had turned into a merman.
A light spot flew from the horizon and circled He Dongchen’s tail, praising, [Boss, your tail is so beautiful.]
A system light orb transformed into a small hand, trying to touch He Dongchen’s tail, but was promptly slapped away by the tail.
He Dongchen closed his eyes to accept the memories of the original owner. After a moment, he opened his eyes, his golden gaze flashing. Naturally, he rose from the pool, his golden tail morphing into two strong, powerful legs, firmly planted on the tile floor.
He grabbed a towel from a nearby rack, wrapped it around his lower body, and walked toward the bathroom.
Merfolk were beautiful, powerful, and mysterious.
In the mirror, the man stood tall, with sword-like brows and starry eyes. His gaze shimmered with a faint gold. His slightly curled hair fell to just below his ears, the ends adorned with fine water droplets that occasionally dripped onto his broad shoulders, dampening his collarbones.
He Dongchen raised his eyebrows at his reflection in the mirror and then stepped into the shower. Soon, the sound of water began to patter.
This time, He Dongchen had become a merman, and the youngest leader of the Mermaid Clan. In an era of increasing ocean pollution and frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the original owner had led the clan to land, settling there. Relying on abundant ocean resources and the unique characteristic of mermaid tears turning into pearls, under his leadership, the Mermaid Clan quickly became wealthy and established the globally renowned jewelry brand; Ocean Jewelry.
The Mermaid Clan kept their identity hidden, starting a new life among humans. Because merfolk were strong, beautiful, and intelligent, they thrived in various industries and flourished.
Aware of humanity’s age-old envy towards them, the merfolk had a strict rule; no merfolk could fall in love or marry a human. Those who violated this rule would have their intelligence erased by the clan leader holding the Mermaid Lineage Book, becoming a complete fish.
The Mermaid Clan dared not break this rule, always adhering to it. Thus, in the eyes of outsiders, they were seen as a group of smart, beautiful, yet aloof people.
Everything was progressing well until unexpectedly, the original owner’s fiancée, Hua Xue, broke this rule first by falling in love with a human.
Hua Xue was the Princess of another Mermaid Clan. 10 years ago, her clan was destroyed by an earthquake, and she came alone seeking refuge. As she was engaged and was to become the future clan leader’s wife, all merfolk pampered her, even though she wasn’t very intelligent, often causing trouble and creating mishaps.
The original owner had felt pity for Hua Xue’s fallen clan, showing infinite tolerance and cleaning up the mess left behind.
But no one had expected that the heartless Hua Xue would betray the original owner and fall in love with a human.
Since Hua Xue hadn’t married the original owner yet, and hadn’t been included in their clan’s Mermaid Lineage Book, the punishment of erasing her intelligence was useless for her.
Despite numerous attempts to dissuade her, not only did they fail to sever Hua Xue’s feelings, but they also accidentally exposed the existence of the Mermaid Clan, bringing disaster upon them. The Mermaid Clan had no choice but to abandon everything on land and retreat to the deep sea for refuge.
The original owner was heartbroken. Even at the end, he searched through ancient texts to find a way to turn Hua Xue into a complete human, to fulfill their promise.
Unable to face the clan, the original owner resigned from his position as leader after returning to the sea and left alone, disappearing without a trace.
***
He Dongchen put on a suit, his long fingers gently placing a pair of contact lenses that concealed his eye color into his eyes, transforming them into a pair of plain brown eyes, blending in with the crowd.
The Mermaid Clan was divided into golden tails, blue tails, and ordinary silver tails, with eye colors corresponding to the tail colors, which were completely different from humans.
There were many rare eye colors in the world, such as green, purple, and amber, but they were less common and more noticeable. Since merpeople had to conceal their presence, they naturally avoided drawing attention.
Especially since most merfolk worked for Ocean Jewelry company, where unique eye colors would be conspicuous.
He Dongchen took one last look at himself in the mirror, left the bathroom, and the system approached, quickly presenting the rewards from the previous small world and the plot tasks for this world.
[Previous small world: ” The Caged Canary’s Rise to Power”]
[Basic Mission: An eye for an eye (Complete), Be filial to parents (Complete).]
[Mission Merit: 3,458,700]
[Points Gained: 200+ can be exchanged for merit 3,458,700]
[Current small world: “The Runaway Little Mermaid Princess”]
[Synopsis: Hua Xue’s family was destroyed, and she lived under the care of others. Due to her lack of intelligence and dull tail, she didn’t fit in with other mermaids.
Hua Xue liked to stay by the sea, and one day, she found a man with amnesia. He was so naive that he even complimented the beauty of her tail.
Hua Xue was thrilled and secretly hid this human, making him praise her every day.]
[Basic mission: Protect the Mermaid Clan (Incomplete)]
[Mission Merit: 0]
At the current time, Hua Xue had already picked up the male lead, An Yanshang, and was enjoying a sweet romance on an island. Soon, the Mermaid Clan would discover her.
The island was a pearl cultivation base contracted by the Ocean Jewelry Company. Although mermaid tears turned into pearls, they couldn’t cry all the time. Given the company’s annual sales, even if they cried endlessly, it wouldn’t be enough. Therefore, the company established a pearl cultivation base. The merfolk were skilled in cultivation, producing pearls with a smooth luster and full roundness, dominating a large portion of the top-tier pearl market and making others envious. People often tried to sneak into the cultivation base to steal the so-called secret techniques.
The male lead, An Yanshang, was one such person. He was a bastard from a prominent family, scorned and living in humble conditions since childhood. To gain favor in his family, An Yanshang volunteered to secretly infiltrate the cultivation base, but he was washed ashore by the waves and lost his memory.
Hua Xue, naive and inexperienced, not only failed to report finding him but also hid him after a few compliments from An Yanshang.
The two secretly started a romance on the island. When they were discovered, they were entangled in a chase, and An Yanshang unexpectedly regained his memory. Not only did he learn the secrets of pearl cultivation, but he also discovered the secrets of the Mermaid Clan!
***
He Dongchen traced his finger along the edge of the fish tank, considering whether to simply throw the male lead into the sea to prevent any future problems.
Wait, perhaps there’s another, more interesting way to handle this.
Since ‘those not of our kind must have different intentions,’ and since the original owner had found a way to turn Hua Xue into a human in the story, there might also be a method to transform a human into a mermaid.
Once An Yanshang became a mermaid, he would surely keep the Mermaid Clan’s secrets. As for whether An Yanshang would be willing, He Dongchen thought, since Hua Xue was willing to become human for him, why wouldn’t An Yanshang be willing?
He Dongchen stroked his chin, summoned his assistant, and said he planned to return to the Mermaid Palace.
The assistant, a blue mermaid named Jiu He, who was handsome and dashing, couldn’t help but ask, “Why does the Clan Leader suddenly want to return to the palace?”
“I need to find some ancient texts,” He Dongchen replied.
When the Mermaid Clan had relocated, they had sealed the Mermaid Palace, which contained the clan’s treasured gold, silver, and jewels collected over generations. Deep within the palace was a library accessible only to past clan leaders. The original owner had found the method to turn merpeople into humans from this library.
He Dongchen intended to see if there was a ready-made method to transform humans into mermaids.
Jiu He said no more, trusting the leader’s decision.
“By the way, Leader, there have been some issues at the Pearl Sea Island recently. I’ve already arranged for round-the-clock patrols.”
He Dongchen raised an eyebrow slightly and thought for a moment before responding, “Don’t alert them. Wait until I return to decide.”
With two living people on the island, they would inevitably leave traces, and discovery was only a matter of time.
“Understood.” Although Jiu He was puzzled, he nodded obediently.
***
The next day, He Dongchen set out to sea by ship.
The Mermaid Palace was at the ocean’s deepest point, and it was impossible to swim there with just a tail. He Dongchen bought a ship, fully equipped with mermaids, and meticulously checked all equipment to ensure no traces would be left behind.
Merfolk loved the water. Even though they could maintain their human form on land for 24 hours a day, their inherent nature remained unchanged. He Dongchen, influenced by his new body, developed a fondness for playing in the water, spending most of his time immersed and occasionally swimming in the sea.
The underwater world was vibrant with colors, with various fish and merfolk passing by, creating a stunning view. However, alongside its beauty, it was filled with countless dangers. Large fish preyed on smaller ones, and small fish ate shrimp. He Dongchen encountered several large, unidentified fish searching for food. With their massive sizes and incredible speed, a single flick of their tails could annihilate hundreds of small fish.
The Mermaid Clan lived in the deep sea, with formidable combat abilities. Their tails were powerful enough to send fish several times their size flying. However, He Dongchen had no desire to fight a fish, so when confronted by hostile fish, he would simply climb onto the boat and promptly drop a large net, enjoying a delicious fish feast in the evening.
Fish: No sense of fairness!
On the fifth day at sea, Jiu He opened his phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally whispered, “Leader, they caught someone on the island. It’s Hua Xue, and a male human.”
He Dongchen wasn’t surprised and asked, “Didn’t you alert them?”
“No, no. We followed your instructions and watched from the shadows,” Jiu He said through gritted teeth. They had been distressed, watching the future clan leader’s wife being affectionate with a human and putting a metaphorical green hat on their leader!
(T/N: Green hat = being cuckolded.)
Several times, they had wanted to rush out and kick the human into the sea.
“Leader, about your marriage with Hua Xue?” Jiu He cautiously probed.
The Mermaid Clan was divided into many tribes living in different sea areas. Hua Xue was a Princess from another clan, and she had a marriage agreement with their leader. 10 years ago, Hua Xue’s clan had been destroyed by an earthquake, and she had sought refuge with their clan, settling on land together.
Over the years, Jiu He believed they had been very kind to Hua Xue. Despite Hua Xue’s lack of intelligence, her unappealing tail, and her reclusive nature, they had never complained. She had a tendency to run off alone while others worked for the company, but their leader had always been strong and gentlemanly, never showing disdain.
Yet Hua Xue had betrayed their leader! It was unacceptable!
Jiu He was seething with indignation.
He Dongchen said, “The marriage agreement is naturally annulled. You keep an eye on them and try to avoid any conflicts to prevent revealing our identity.”
Jiu He felt somewhat reassured. He had been worried that the leader might, as before, blindly tolerate Hua Xue and forgive her actions.
It looks like the Clan Leader remains wise and resolute!
After ending the call, He Dongchen ordered the ship to speed up.
3 days later, the ship arrived at a calm sea area. He Dongchen left a few mermen on the ship for guard duty and took five or six clan members into the water, heading towards the Mermaid Palace.
As they descended deeper into the sea, the light diminished, and the temperature dropped. They encountered fish attacks along the way, and this time there was no avoiding it. He Dongchen led his clan members in a fierce battle against the fish, his golden tail swiftly moving through the water with agility and strength. With a powerful flick of his tail, he sent fish flying.