Chapter 120
Extra 6: Big Lion Enters the Scene
So Ossi watched as A-Ran wagged his little fishtail and slipped away from the small sea anemone.
He tried to use his merman instincts to find something to fill his tummy.
However, this central area of the Ross Sea was already dead silent.
After A-Ran left the sunlight and his small anemone bed, the further he swam, the darker and more terrifying it became.
The silent depths of the sea seemed to contain some kind of giant creature.
His originally agile little white fishtail also swam slower and slower, gradually becoming hesitant.
However, the next second after the cub stopped by a reef, this unmanned area known as the seabed desert was like a huge and magnificent palace whose curtains had finally been opened by the owner, and soft sunlight shone down from the upper layers of the sea.
Actually, the seabed of the Ross Sea had been very beautiful in the past, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been chosen as their territory by the Scythe Clan, who loved beauty.
The white sea sand was soft and pure, and the faint pearly luster shimmered like scattered diamonds.
Only then did A-Ran realize that the seabed was vast and terrifying. He had already swum several hundred meters, and his small anemone bed had become a tiny dot.
If he swam around randomly, would he get lost? But if he didn’t find food, his tummy would be so hungry.
He rubbed his tummy and suddenly missed Grandma, Grandma could always conjure up a lot of delicious food.
“Click…”
But just as A-Ran’s eyes drooped, a beautiful opened oyster fell beside him.
It was food!
Picking up the oyster with his fishtail, A-Ran sniffed it, and his merman sense of taste told him that this was indeed edible.
But… Grandma said he couldn’t eat raw food.
Holding the oyster with a troubled expression, A-Ran was conflicted, should he eat it or not?
He didn’t realize how anxious his frowning and conflicted look made the guardians who were watching him from afar feel, the seawater almost evaporating from their anxiety.
Although it seemed quite common for cubs to be picky eaters.
A-Ran held the oyster, wanting to look for something else. If he couldn’t find anything else, he would eat this.
But as he searched, he started to find a lot of strange food in the sand.
From clams, scallops, to oysters… all seafood.
If he wasn’t worried that the cub would be scared of seeing blood, Ossi would even consider putting a small fish in the sand for A-Ran to dig out.
“Seems like there’s only these.”
A-Ran looked down at the seafood he could barely hold and finally decided to take a bite and see!
The first bite of the pink shellfish meat tasted sweet to his merman taste buds.
Like a small snack.
His eyes widened slightly, and since he was a little hungry, he couldn’t help but eat more. After finishing all the small seafood he “found,” although his tummy was full, he felt a little cold.
He wanted to eat something warm.
But before going back, he looked at the beautiful seashells on the beach and couldn’t help but pick up a few of the best-looking ones and take them back.
[OMG, he’s finally back! My god, how can such a small fish go hunting by himself!?]
Seeing the familiar small white figure return, the orange sea anemone was greatly relieved.
In fact, even Ossi, who had been following him, finally relaxed.
His favorite food was scallops, especially the sweeter ones, which he would eat very cleanly.
Silently remembering the cub’s dietary habits, Ossi decided to bring back a pile of scallops for him to eat, and those he didn’t finish could be used as toys.
However, not long after, Ossi, who came back with a pile of scallops whose shell colors had even been carefully selected, found that the cub was curled up motionless in the sea anemone and instantly sensed that something was wrong.
[Ahhh, Your Excellency Dilan Ossi, you’re finally back! The cub has a stomachache!!! Help——]
The sea anemone, which was so anxious that it almost sprayed water, instantly swayed, trying to tell this great demon, whose cub-raising skills were terrible, to quickly check on the cub.
And Dilan Ossi, upon hearing the news, almost forgot his usual restraint. The strong merman instantly swam to the edge of the sea anemone and lifted the little fish curled up inside.
“Sob…”
A-Ran’s face was a little pale from the pain, his dark hair softly plastered to his ears, and only after opening his moist eyes did he finally see the guardian who had been hiding in the shadows – Dilan Ossi.
Ossi’s features were extremely sharp after he grew up, his thin lips pale. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, strong and powerful, as a merman, his muscles were firm and smooth, his explosive power visible.
Especially his terrifying merman fishtail, its fins sharp and aggressive, the oppressive aura of a deep-sea behemoth’s weapon.
However, at this moment, this dangerous adult demon’s eyes were filled with anxiety and panic for the first time.
He even carefully controlled his strength as he held the soft cub in his arms.
It was actually the fault of the cub.
But a merman’s sense of smell was very keen, and A-Ran instantly smelled food…
A few minutes later, the obedient cub let the acting guardian examine him with a gloomy expression. His face was still a little pale, and he looked like a small ice crystal that was about to melt.
“No problem.”
But Dilan Ossi’s expression was still unpleasant, being comforted by the cub.
The old sea turtle that had been brought over was trembling under the immense pressure, reporting the diagnosis after a long time.
“Your Excellency Dilan Ossi, the cub isn’t poisoned, those foods are indeed suitable for cubs to eat, the only problem is that he ate too much at once, and the cold food caused a stomachache.”
“The biggest suggestion is to feed him some cooked food after he takes his medicine. When he grows up a little more, it will be fine for him to eat raw food.”
After the old sea turtle demon carefully explained, Dilan Ossi’s expression finally improved a little.
But the look of regret and remorse still lingered between his brows.
A-Ran, on the other hand, guiltily touched his tummy and carefully looked at the acting monster guardian holding him.
Dilan Ossi?
Recalling the name the old sea turtle grandpa said, A-Ran suddenly realized that this was clearly the character from the picture book!
But he seemed subtly different from a mermaid.
The mermaids in the storybooks at school were all very gentle and dreamy, but the monster guardian’s fishtail in front of him looked a bit fierce, and even the sharp dorsal fin on it looked a bit scary.
Dilan Ossi, noticing the cub’s gaze, tried to retract the sharp spines on his tail for the first time, and after a few seconds, it turned into a very beautiful fishtail.
A-Ran: !
A-Ran looked at his own little fishtail, then at his guardian’s fishtail, still feeling that they were a bit different, both in size and shape.
His own fishtail looked round, and the tail fin was like a small fan.
“We’ll go ashore soon, just hold on tight, okay?”
But before Lin Ran could finish examining it, he was held in Ossi’s arms.
“Eh…”
The cub quickly hugged his guardian’s neck and buried his head in his arms, and the next second, he was quickly taken to the island by the adult merman.
The rapidly changing underwater scenery made Lin Ran realize how fast his guardian’s swimming speed was!
Actually, even Ossi himself hadn’t been back here for a long time, the Scythe Clan’s former island palace.
But if the cub needed to eat cooked food, he clearly had to come back here.
The moment they went ashore, Dilan Ossi had already grown his legs back. Ossi in human form was almost two meters tall, with broad shoulders and long legs, easily carrying the cub into the palace.
A few minutes later, Lin Ran also put on a small, milky white jacket, although his fishtail still swayed as he sat on the chair, curiously playing with his little fishtail.
In the oval fish tank on the blanket beside him was the sea anemone that Ossi had dug out and brought back along with the sand.
He was afraid that A-Ran wouldn’t be used to the new bed, and sleeping in his familiar sea anemone bed might help him sleep better and not be afraid.
The orange sea anemone, which had inexplicably moved several times, was a little dizzy, although he instantly became happy again after A-Ran reached out and touched his head.
Mom! He had his head touched by the beautiful little fish!! He wouldn’t wash his head for three days~
“Can I eat this?”
At dinner time, Ossi was tearing apart a fish, easily removing the plumpest and boneless fish meat from the belly with his sharp merman claws.
After sprinkling some seasoning and grilling it for a few seconds, the aroma of cooked food wafted out.
A-Ran sniffed it and obediently took a bite.
He was also holding a coconut, and the coconut water inside was also sweet.
His originally sickly pale face from the stomachache had gradually recovered. Anyone who saw this beautiful little fish would have their hearts melt.
Perhaps even Ossi himself didn’t realize that the process of personally using his claws to remove the fish bones, grill the fish, and feed it to the cub had an indescribable healing effect.
Just watching A-Ran eat obediently made his heart soften.
“But you can’t eat too much.”
However, after eating two small fish, Ossi wouldn’t let A-Ran eat a third one.
“Mm… thank you, brother.”
Although he still wanted to eat a third one, the sensible little cub still nodded obediently.
He never cried or made a fuss, even when he had a stomachache, he just silently endured it, curled up in the sea anemone.
“…!”
Being called “brother” by the cub A-Ran was truly too much, so much so that even the usually expressionless demon’s ears turned red.
Brother Ossi?
So cute, so, so cute.
Ossi instantly felt that he could swim a thousand meters in the ocean if A-Ran called him “Brother Ossi” again!
Even his irritable mood from waiting so long had been completely forgotten.
“Do you still want to play in the sea? There’s an underwater palace, it’s even more beautiful.”
However, noticing A-Ran’s curiosity about the Scythe Clan’s territory, Ossi, who had taken the cub for a walk on the island, couldn’t help but try to please the cub and asked.
A-Ran’s eyes instantly sparkled: “Really? Can we?”
“Why not? But we need to have someone decorate it, it will only take half an hour.”
Ossi, looking at the cub’s excited expression, couldn’t help but pick him up and go play.
In a sense, the architectural style of the Scythe Clan’s territory was very similar to the expensive children’s playgrounds in shopping malls.
Except that the former was a real underwater palace, while the latter were much cheaper cartoon models.
But for Lin Ran, only during the New Year would Grandma take him to the county town to buy New Year’s goods, and only then could he see this kind of children’s castle, which required tickets or a membership card to enter.
The price of a single ticket could buy a pair of small shoes, and as for a membership card, it wasn’t very cost-effective to only go once a year.
Therefore, every time Grandma stood there and looked at it for a while, and couldn’t help but ask little Lin-zai if he wanted to go play, the cub, who had already learned addition and subtraction, would always shake his head and say no.
His shy and timid appearance clinging to Grandma made Grandma Huang Guiying think that the little guy was afraid of the crowds inside and didn’t want to go.
Then it would be good to buy Lin-zai another cotton-padded jacket. Grandma was always very good at budgeting in this aspect.
Therefore, by the time Lin Ran grew up and could finally afford a ticket, he was no longer interested in this kind of children’s playground, although he would occasionally stop and listen to the laughter inside when passing by the mall.
At this moment, he was unexpectedly given this small wish by Ossi!
So during this time, the Ross Sea had been urgently decorated by the sea demons under orders, and the huge, long-sealed palace on the seabed once again revealed its former grandeur.
[This really makes one nostalgic…]
[Isn’t it? It’s like many years ago!]
The demons looked at the palace in front of them, feeling a bit emotional.
They were puzzled and curious about Dilan Ossi’s order, what made him suddenly decide to open this huge palace?
It wasn’t until Ossi, holding the little fish who wanted to swim by himself, slowly swam to the palace that all the demons instantly widened their eyes.
My god!
Could this be His Excellency Dilan Ossi’s descendant!?
But… he didn’t look like it at all. This little fish had rare black hair and black eyes, he didn’t even look like a sea creature, but more like a human from the mysterious East!
And his pearly white fishtail was so agile and cute, the scene of him being held tightly by his guardian and trying to swim was incredibly adorable.
However, A-Ran was a bit puzzled as he was led by Ossi into this underwater palace.
“Why did you play hide-and-seek at the beginning?”
The cub softly asked his already familiar guardian.
Ossi, being asked this question, realized that A-Ran had noticed that he was hiding from him from the beginning.
“I was worried that I would turn into a monster and hurt you.” Or scare you.
After a long silence, Ossi still honestly voiced his concern, without any intention of hiding it.
“So if I become strange, remember to run away first, don’t stay.”
Ossi held little A-Ran’s hand and seriously reminded him again.
The cub with big, dark eyes clearly didn’t understand this.
After all, Brother Ossi was so handsome, how could he turn into a monster?
“Then can you never turn into a monster? This is already very good.”
Lying on his guardian’s shoulder, the cub asked seriously.
“…Okay, I’ll try, okay?”
Ossi couldn’t help but make the promise, even though this promise was like asking a ferocious beast to willingly control its raging power.
But feeling the weight on his shoulder, Ossi suddenly felt that he could do it.
“Then you have to try very, very hard, like trying to get a 100 on a test.”
The cub who received the promise even made a pinky promise, and when he looked at the monster guardian with a smile, he didn’t notice the change in him.
If A-Ran wanted him to, he would do it a thousand times.
Watching as A-Ran explored the palace with interest, Ossi, staying in the familiar tall atrium, couldn’t help but look around this former palace.
Back then, he was still a cub protected by his brother, and his brother was always very nervous about him, even a bit overprotective sometimes.
“Ossi!? Your condition… seems to have improved a lot?”
Just as Ossi was reminiscing about the past, the demon who rushed here after hearing the news looked at his old friend, who was finally willing to show his face again, and couldn’t help but ask excitedly.
Shaman, the little shark from back then, had also completely grown up, although he still liked to sneak ashore and play soccer with humans occasionally.
But at this moment, Shaman was clearly more worried about his friend, even though Ossi might forget everyone after going berserk.
Ossi also turned to look at Shaman, he didn’t expect to see his old friend again.
“At least it hasn’t worsened.”
Ossi’s response made Shaman even more excited.
“I heard that you picked up a Scythe Clan cub? Is this him?”
However, after chatting for a while, Shaman still asked about this big news from the seabed.
Ossi nodded, not explaining the reason for A-Ran’s appearance.
“But since you let him play in this palace, have you told him not to enter that room… although this might be a bit offensive.”
It wasn’t until Shaman carefully asked this question that Ossi’s expression suddenly changed.
And Lin Ran, while swimming and playing, had unknowingly entered the depths of the palace, feeling like he had heard a faint singing voice.
Was someone singing? And it sounded very good.
When the small white fish pushed open a large door, he found that there were many unusually tall silver pillars inside.
Lin Ran looked up at these pillars, feeling that the style seemed different from other parts of the palace.
But there were beautiful pearls on the floor not far away.
They were dark blue, a bit like black pearls.
Hesitantly wanting to pick one up and take it back to show Ossi, the cub wagged his fishtail and easily swam through the gap between the tall silver pillars.
After picking up this mysterious dark blue pearl from the floor, he found a dark blue fishtail tip in front of him, and the owner of this huge fishtail was hidden in the darkness.
“Who let you in?”
This ethereal voice had a slight echo, resonating throughout the deep-sea prison.
“Sorry, is this yours? I thought it fell on the floor, I’ve already put it back.”
The cub was a little scared and apologized softly.
“These are my tears, do you like them very much?”
The owner of the voice seemed to have a strange smile and asked patiently.
They were his tears?
Lin Ran widened his eyes slightly and looked at the dark blue pearls: “So are you sick? That’s why you’re sad and crying.”
But there was no one here, no one would know if he cried.
That would be very pitiful.
“Yes, I’m sick, so you entered my cage, this is very dangerous.”
The voice admitted this after a moment of silence.
Cage?!
Lin Ran turned around and realized that those silver pillars weren’t decorations but part of this huge cage.
However, for a small cub, the gaps between the bars weren’t enough to trap him, and Ossi’s aura on him also happened to deceive the restriction on the cage, allowing Lin Ran to swim in directly.
And at this moment, Ossi and Shaman finally rushed here and saw the terrifying scene at first glance.
His brother, Atylanthos, who had been in a deep sleep, had actually awakened.
He had even instantly transformed from his berserk beast form into human form, standing behind A-Ran, who had turned around.
He reached out as if he wanted to do something to the cub!
“Brother, don’t hurt him——!”
His own power as an adult was far greater than his brother Atylanthos’, but if his brother entered his berserk beast form, he would no longer be his match.
Because a berserk beast with no memory had no weaknesses.
And he still retained the last bit of his rationality as a demon and would still feel emotional pain when his brother’s claws mercilessly pierced his shoulder blade.
This emotional pain was far more severe than the physical injury itself.
Fortunately, in that great battle hundreds of years ago, his brother had used all his power to suppress his transformation at the last moment, completely sealing himself in this underwater palace and falling into an eternal sleep.
But he had awakened because of A-Ran’s arrival.
At this moment, countless terrifying images appeared in Ossi’s mind, but when he tightly grabbed his brother’s wrist, which was about to fall, he noticed something was wrong.
Because his brother, Atylanthos, had no intention of attacking at all.
“I just want to touch him, is that not allowed? It’s been a long time since a cub appeared in the clan, Ossi, what have you been doing all these years?”
Atylanthos looked at his brother Ossi and couldn’t help but smile, even though his wrist was broken at this moment.
But a merman’s physique was terrifying. Even though it was broken and twisted, after Ossi let go, Atylanthos “clicked” it back into place, and his wrist quickly returned to normal.
But it was A-Ran, who turned around and saw this, his big eyes filled with disbelief.
This tear-dropping monster looked just like Brother Ossi!
And Atylanthos finally reached out and rubbed the cub’s head as he wished, confirming that the touch was indeed as soft and warm as he had imagined.
And the cub, whose head was being rubbed, would even slightly shake his head, curiously trying to look up at him.
“Brother, you’ve recovered?”
While vigilantly hugging A-Ran, worried that his brother would suddenly go berserk, Ossi couldn’t help but ask with a hint of hope.
“Yes, although I don’t know why.”
Atylanthos himself also had a confused look in his eyes.
It was as if he had slept for a long, long time, having an incredibly long dream.
In that desperate dream, he had completely lost control of his power and become a true beast.
Until he was suddenly awakened by a little fish’s cry.
Atylanthos looked at the cub in front of him, bent down, and collected all the pearls the little guy wanted, placing them in his hand.
“Then if I cry, will I also have these little pearls?”
A-Ran, holding these beautiful dark blue pearls, couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“No, you won’t.”
The guardians’ answers were very certain to the cub’s question.
Because A-Ran would never have the chance to shed tears.
Ossi, looking at the curious A-Ran, silently added the second half of the sentence in his heart.
[Ding——All partners in this world have been successfully activated! Coordinate rewards will be officially issued!]
[This is A-Ran’s New Year’s wish: Peace and happiness for everyone, big or small~]
Whether they were big fluffy creatures or small fluffy creatures, he wanted them to live safely and happily in the new year.
This was A-Ran’s biggest New Year’s wish!
So there was no need to be surprised by the miracles that were about to happen~
The Time Mirror happily spun and appeared, once again hugging A-Ran, who hadn’t yet reacted.
However, this time, just as it was about to repeat its trick, hugging A-Ran and running away, the Time Mirror hadn’t gotten far before it was completely locked onto by several demonic auras because of its reappearance.
The space-time turbulence became very lively.
[Ahhh——stop following me! The consequences will be very serious!]
The mirror, holding the cub A-Ran, ran frantically while trying to shake off the powerful demons behind it.
No, no, if they caught up and returned to the real A-Ran with it, wouldn’t that be a mess?
These adult demons were very scary.
The Time Mirror, almost cracking from anxiety, finally made a bold decision.
Damn it, since everyone was so scary, it might as well go to the scariest one.
Let’s see who could snatch him away from him!
So, after returning from the New Year’s hot spring vacation, a certain big lion, who had enjoyed the hot springs to his heart’s content, was happily flipping through travel magazines in his office when he suddenly sneezed.
Although after returning from the hot springs, he had been kicked out of the house and forced to sleep in the office for several days because he had gone too far in the last few days, Shao Mian still felt that traveling and vacationing was great!
And recalling the scene in the hot spring, the corners of a certain big lion’s mouth started to curl up again.
He wagged his tail and started looking for the next vacation destination to take his beloved to.
Tsk, what was the point of always working?
A beach vacation next time would be very good!
Looking at the beach vacation section in the travel magazine, Shao Mian subconsciously tapped his fingers on the desk, deciding to subtly persuade Lin Ran when he went to pick him up from work tonight.
He also had to check the human calendar to see when the next holiday started, it was so troublesome.
Why were there so few holidays in a year of 365 days?
Or should he just buy that crappy game company behind Lin Ran’s back? This way, he could decide when the holidays were?
But if he was discovered, the consequences would clearly be very serious.
Shao Mian considered the possible outcomes, rubbing his chin and carefully weighing the pros and cons and risks.
Until a loud “clang” broke the silence in the office as a mirror suddenly crashed through the window!
And a bunch of demons followed and crashed in after it!
