Pet King

Zhang Zian mentioned that the mermaid was an imaginative elfin because it was obvious that mermaids don’t exist in the real world… right?

If mermaids do exist in reality, please give me a dozen!

Old Time Tea’s analysis was very reasonable. In fact, during the daily operations of his pet shop, Zian would occasionally encounter some children that swear––they were usually accompanied by their parents during their visit to the shop to purchase a pet. But the children themselves might not even understand what the words they were saying meant. As long as an adult in the house swore, then they would pick up what they heard like parrots. It was like the saying, “Nurture determines a person’s character.”

According to the mermaid, Germany was not her birthplace. Instead, she swam all the way here from the north, and she was only stranded here because she was exhausted from the swimming. So, it had probably been some days since she had made her appearance in the world as an elfin.

It’s difficult to make a piece of white paper clean, but to dye it with colors was very easy.

So, Zian shot a thoughtful glance over at Old Time Tea before he walked over to the mermaid and said, “Your name is Sihwa right?”

She nodded her head and pouted.

“Sihwa, you want to go to South Korea, right?” Zian asked again.

She nodded again.

“I’m a Chinese and I’m here in Germany for a short holiday trip. I’ll be heading back to China in two more days, and China is much closer to South Korea. So, if you want to swim all the way to South Korea, it’s much closer from China as compared to here in Germany.”

Ever since Zhang Zian had started running the pet shop, he had been dealing with a lot of children. So he knew very well that you could not lecture them, or else you would evoke the rebellious feelings in them and would have to go along with what they said.

Sure enough, Sihwa blinked her eyes, stopped crying, and stared at Zian in anticipation.

“I have a suggestion,” Zhang Zian said. “Why don’t you follow me back to China first… How about that?”

She thought about it for a moment before she suddenly hugged her arms tight around her shoulders and said with caution, “Ajeossi, you’re not going to take me back and turn me into a sex slave, right?”

Zhang Zian was speechless. Am I such a sick crazy person? I’ve talked to you about so many things and all you remembered were these two words?

“Of course not! I’m just inviting you over to stay for a short while, then if you’re still going to South Korea to visit your oppa, I’ll definitely respect your decision and not stop you. How’s that?” Zian said patiently.

“Okay then. That’s what you said, so no going back on them!” She laughed and turned her tears into smiles as if she had just won a victory.

But Zhang Zian did not give her his words so easily. He changed the focus of the conversation over to other elfins. Zian pointed at them and said, “Hold on a moment, I still have two conditions—first, I can’t make the decision on my own, you will need their agreement.”

Sihwa frowned and looked at Fina very reluctantly, mumbling to herself, “…why the need for all this?”

The other elfins weren’t really bothered, but Zhang Zian was worried that Fina would not be able to accept the mermaid.

Unexpectedly, Fina actually gave a light nod and said coldly, “That’s great, this queen agrees.”

Yi?

What’s going on?

When did Fina become so tolerant?

Zhang Zian carefully pondered for a moment before he understood why. When Fina had lunged at the mermaid earlier, she must have seen the danger hidden beneath the water, and knew that she wouldn’t be able to gain any advantage from having a confrontation with the mermaid here. Yet, Fina couldn’t just let the mermaid go just like this, so she’s going to wait for the mermaid to go up on land before she settled things with her…

With his thoughts running, Zhang Zian felt a cold shudder run down his spine. It truly was not too late even if it took ten years for an Orange Tabby’s revenge…

That’s not right! This thought must not be written into the novel by Pi, or else there would be trouble!

Sihwa was really surprised to hear that Fina had agreed, but she had lesser cortex folds and did not think too deeply into the matter. She happily said, “Actually, you’re not that fat!”

Fina was speechless. Sparks flew in all directions as Fina grinded her claws against the rock.

Zhang Zian was confused. Was that a compliment?

When Zian saw that the other elfins did not object, he extended two of his fingers and said, “The second condition—you are not allowed to call me whatever ajeossi anymore. I’m forever 18, how could I possibly be an uncle? Anyone who calls me uncle shall be strangled to death!”

“Very scary! Very scary!” Sihwa retracted her neck and asked reluctantly, “Then how should I address you? I’ll mention this first: I’m not going to call you oppa, it feels strangely disgusting…”

“I find it disgusting too, okay!” Zhang Zian expressed. I don’t want to be the oppa of a fish!

Zian then did a self-introduction. “My name’s Zhang Zian. The other elfins address me as Zian, but you can address me by my full name, too, if you want.”

“Ga ga! That’s not right!” Richard clarified. “I always call you idiot!”

Snowy Lionet had also raised an objection. “Meow meow meow! I have always called him a stinking man, I suggest you call him that, too!”

Zhang Zian was speechless.

Zhang Zian was now having doubts about whether it was a good idea to bring the mermaid back. Instead of purifying her, she might be dyed black by these two “inksticks…”

Sihwa swayed her head around with her chin rested on her hands, and out of everyone’s expectations, she said, “I guess I’ll go with Zian. I like that name.”

Yi?

Zhang Zian was stunned for a moment. He raised his mobile phone and said, “Okay then, you can come out of the water now and I’ll bring you back.”

“Get ready!”

Before his voice had died away, Sihwa jumped out of the water with a splash. Her arms stretched out like she was going to embrace the sky; her waist and fishtail arched like a bow, while beads of water and her scales glistened in the sunlight.

At that moment, even Fina had to admit that she was very beautiful, provided that she kept her mouth shut.

When she was at the highest point of her jump, her entire body, including her caudal fin, was completely out of the water. That was when Zhang Zian pressed the “capture” button. After pressing the button, he regretted pressing it too early, because according to the laws of physics, when she fell, her hair would be moved away from her chest…

The mermaid disappeared in mid-air, leaving only a few drops of water that fell back down to the surface of the sea.

[Game Notification]: Captured! Mermaid!

The mermaid appeared in the elfin pet bar. Her eyes were closed and her hands were placed atop one another on her lower abdomen, looking like she was asleep.

Zhang Zian pressed on the mermaid and a notification from the game popped up.

[Game Notification]: Pet Attributes

[Known As]: Mermaid

[Rarity]: Epic/Legendary

[Feature]: Forgo being a dragon keeping one’s tail, yet descend as an immortal upon the world. Creatures with scales will all miss her, gathering together for a sleepover!

[Origins]: Locked

[True Name]: Locked

Zhang Zian was lost in thought as he stared at the screen when Old Time Tea suddenly shouted, “Zian! Get on the rocks!”

Zian quickly recovered from his thoughts when he saw an uncountable variety of marine life gush out from below the rocks of the headland, just like an ebbing tide, gushing towards the sea. Most of the creatures were unheard of and never before seen by Zian. Their appearance was all so peculiar, it was just hair-raising.

Among the marine creatures, there had to be some that bit or carried a lethal poison. Zian was dazzled by the view before his eyes; he had no time to be concerned about catching them as his life was now at stake, so he quickly jumped up onto the nearest rock.

The marine creatures either jumped, crawled, or rolled; they used various different methods to get to the beach and then they threw themselves back into the sea. It did not take long before all of them had disappeared.

As if it had just been looted, the headland became deathly still; it no longer had the abundance of life it had earlier.

The surface of the water in the vicinity started bubbling like boiling water––like there were countless creatures creeping beneath the water. It took some time before the water calmed down.

Zian and the other elfins all hid behind the rocks as they marveled at the incredible scene in front of them.

After ensuring that everything was okay, Zian and the elfins jumped off the rocks one after the other. There were only a few odd-shaped scales, tentacles, carapace, and bristles on the ground, but it was not known who they belonged to.

On the northern coast of Germany during February, there were still drifting ice remnants floating around the rocks and on the surface of the sea. Cracking sounds could be heard when they were stepped on.

Zhang Zian suddenly noticed a thin layer of ice that was moving between the rocks. It was moving very slowly and was very easy to miss if he did not pay attention.

It was obvious that the drifting ice could not have grown legs and moved by itself.

Out of caution, Zhang Zian picked up a branch and carefully flipped the drifting ice over; he was immediately stunned.

“Could this be…”

At the same time, Fina seemed to have been dazzled by the sunlight. It couldn’t help but squint its eyes as it walked towards the source of the reflected light.

Fina reached out its paws to pick up a round ball from the ground. She raised it above her head to make use of the sunlight to take a better look at it; her eyes immediately widened in surprise.

It was a big pearl of very high quality.