Lansi slept deeply inside the cocoon, completely unaware of the outside world.
Throughout the entire process of eclosion, he remained curled up, holding his tail, dreaming peacefully within the cocoon.
Because Lansi had stored enough nutrients before the process began, this eclosion went exceptionally smoothly.
While Lansi slept with his eyes closed, his nails gradually grew back, and the soft white scales covering his body were replaced by harder, shinier white scales.
The rest of his body continued to evolve slowly. The damaged poison sac regenerated, his injured throat healed, and even his teeth were replaced by sharper ones.
This coming-of-age transformation finally reached its perfect conclusion.
Thanks to Wen Yu's careful attention, Lansi's emergence was remarkably fast. Of course, it might also be because Lansi himself was eager to finish building his nest.
The entire process took only three days.
During moments when Lansi briefly woke inside the cocoon, he took the chance to observe his changes. He would look down to see how his body had transformed or wrap his fish tail around himself.
Since becoming a mermaid, Lansi noticed his bones were much softer than they had been when he was human. Movements that once felt difficult now came easily.
After rolling over with his fish tail, Lansi lowered his head and touched his stomach.
Before the eclosion, he had stored so many nutrients that his belly had become soft and round, with a small circle of flesh.
But during the eclosion, the fat on his stomach disappeared rapidly, until his belly was flat, with faint outlines of abdominal muscles showing.
Seeing this rapid consumption of energy, Lansi suddenly understood why mermaids tried to eat so much during the early stages of nest building.
He could hardly imagine what would happen if he hadn't stocked up nourishment beforehand—he would have been forced to complete the entire process at the cost of consuming his own body.
On the third day, Lansi was fully awake.
He opened his eyes and sensed the water temperature had risen slightly, signaling a new day outside.
Although he was awake inside the cocoon, Lansi had no intention of emerging immediately.
Normally, he would stay inside for another day.
Lansi yawned, settled against the cocoon, and prepared to rest again, giving his body one last chance to check for any weaknesses. Tomorrow would be the perfect day to break free.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, his ear fins suddenly twitched.
Lansi opened his eyes and looked sharply through the white cocoon in a certain direction.
Article 4 of the Mermaid Breeding Code stated:
"The mermaid is highly territorial during nesting. Do not allow others of their kind to approach, or it may cause conflict."
Lansi sensed an unwelcome presence outside. He did not understand how, since Wen Yu's villa had always been sealed tightly, something unfamiliar could appear now.
What made it strange was that Lansi knew very well this intruder was not human.
Although he couldn't explain how he recognized this so quickly, he felt a deep disgust toward the unknown outside presence.
At the same time, Lansi grew anxious. He wanted to go out immediately to drive away this stranger.
This was his territory.
Wen Yu belonged to him, and the villa was his domain. How could something enter without his permission?
But what about Wen Yu?
Where was Wen Yu? Why wasn't he here to watch over them both?
Fortunately, although Lansi was on the verge of rage, his reason won out.
He decided to remain in the cocoon for now. He didn't want to cause trouble unnecessarily.
If the uninvited guest left on its own, fine. But if not...
Lansi bared his teeth in that direction.
The intruder, however, was not nearly as alert as Lansi. After entering the villa, it wandered aimlessly, not sensing Lansi's presence at all.
It drifted through the villa until it reached the pool, where it stopped.
Hidden inside the cocoon, Lansi turned his head and focused on the figure by the pool.
The stranger finally noticed Lansi's presence.
Separated by a thin cocoon, they looked at each other.
Lansi still had no plans to act. He decided to wait patiently. If the intruder crossed further into his territory, he wouldn't hold back.
But the other was oblivious. It did not hear Lansi's mental warning.
Suddenly, it dove into the pool and swam straight toward him.
Lansi was stunned for a moment, then exploded with anger.
He had planned to stay inside the cocoon for a full day, but this intrusion was intolerable.
Even if you invade my domain, do you also want to defile my cocoon?
Lansi immediately gathered his strength and placed his paws on the cocoon near the approaching figure, then suddenly tore it open—
"Wow!"
Water from the pool poured in. Lansi opened his eyes and saw a figure resembling a "mermaid" suspended in the misty water nearby.
What was this?
Similar?
Lansi closed and opened his eyes sharply.
For the first time since emerging, he clearly saw what was in front of him in the water—
It was something very similar to himself.
He could tell at a glance that although they looked alike in some ways, they were definitely two different species.
Lansi decided to watch and see what would happen next.
Under the gaze of the stranger, he slowly enlarged the opening in the cocoon and leaned out.
Throughout the entire process, the stranger remained still, looking at Lansi with a mixture of curiosity and envy.
Lansi dared not move too quickly. After exposing his upper body, he carefully dragged his tail out of the cocoon.
He stretched his tail in the water several times. The white scales reflected the light, sparkling like brilliant diamonds.
At the sight of Lansi's tail, the stranger's eyes lit up suddenly. It swam closer and let out a soft cry.
Only then did Lansi clearly see the stranger's appearance.
The other party's fish tail was deformed, unlike Lansi's delicate fins that fluttered gracefully in the water. This tail had almost no fins at all and resembled a snake's tail more than a fish's.
The upper body was even more chaotic. Although the outline of a human figure was barely visible, it was fundamentally different from the mermaids described in fairy tales.
The opponent's face was smooth, with black eyes, no nose, and a wide grin stretching behind the ears. It looked far more like a fish than a human.
Lansi immediately recognized the creature as Wen Yu's "murloc"—the one they had captured recently.
Compared to the beautiful mermaids who preserved many human traits, this creature was like a clay doll carelessly shaped by its creator—an inferior product.
What was this? After emerging from the cocoon, Lansi had to encounter this? What terrible luck.
Lansi did not understand what kind of powers or methods the murloc possessed, so he did not dare make any sudden moves. Instead, he stayed by the cocoon, watching the creature's every action carefully.
"Ai——"
The murloc suddenly screamed at Lansi, wagging its grayish tail.
Lansi blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly. Was the murloc really trying to woo him?
It was. The reason was simple—Lansi's beautiful fish tail attracted it. The murloc had never seen such a stunning tail before.
After the cry, seeing that Lansi did not respond, the murloc thought its sincerity had not been conveyed or its appearance was not appealing enough. It tilted its head and began to change right in front of Lansi.
Lansi stared, his azure pupils widening in shock.
The murloc's face began to transform. The smooth center formed a straight nose, its eyes changed to whites with pupils, and the wide mouth shrank into a small, delicate cherry mouth.
Its chest started to bulge, taking on feminine features.
Within just one minute, the murloc had altered its appearance to resemble a beautiful woman, fitting human standards.
If Lansi had not been watching closely, he might have believed the murloc was an illusion.
However, no matter how beautiful the upper body became, the lower body remained unchanged. The deformed fish tail stayed the same, with no sign of transformation.
Curious, Lansi swam a little closer to the murloc to observe its shape-shifting.
The murloc seemed pleased by Lansi's approach. Under his gaze, it worked harder to perfect its appearance, finally fixing its face into a lovely, delicate woman's with two small dimples on her cheeks.
The more Lansi watched, the more unsettled he felt. He could not shake the feeling that the murloc's altered face bore an uncanny resemblance to his own.
After finishing its transformation, the murloc noticed Lansi's curious gaze and, believing it had captured his attention, slowly and confidently swam toward him.
It seemed unusually enthusiastic. Its tail flicked rhythmically as if dancing, and it opened its mouth to hum a strange, haunting tune.
Lansi simply watched the murloc calmly.
From an outsider's point of view, it would be clear the murloc was courting him.
Interestingly, in nature, males usually court females, but here, the roles were reversed.
Lansi ignored the murloc's attempts and remained cautious.
Seeing Lansi's guarded stance, the murloc tilted its head again, opened its mouth wider, and hummed even louder.
Though Lansi did not recognize the tune, when the murloc hummed, he widened his eyes in surprise.
A powerful, invisible force spread through the pool, causing Lansi to experience a faint hallucination.
He saw the swimming pool walls vanish without a trace and found himself back in the vast sea.
In the deep blue water, a black figure swam slowly from the depths until it revealed itself.
A black-tailed mermaid approached and stretched out a hand, softly saying,
"Come here."
Lansi almost shed tears at the sight.
The vision was of Winsor.
Despite the emotional surge, Lansi remained confused only briefly. Within seconds, he realized it was merely an illusion crafted by the murloc.
He saw through the phantom to its true essence.
His swelling emotions instantly faded.
Still, even knowing it was a trick, Lansi greedily stared at the image of the black-tailed mermaid in his memory.
He longed more than ever to return to the sea, to Winsor.
The murloc noticed Lansi's dullness and believed the illusion had trapped him. Continuing the same tune, it slowly moved closer.
Was it courting? Certainly.
Yet more than courtship, the murloc seemed possessively jealous of the white mermaid before it.
Only two murlocs had escaped the laboratory. Due to territorial disputes, they eventually separated.
One, stronger and more intelligent, moved to the slums, adopting the appearance of a woman in a white dress.
The other, weaker and less capable, hid in the wealthy area's sewers to avoid hunters.
It was there, in the dark sewers, that it met the white mermaid.
Before encountering the white mermaid, the murloc had no awareness of its appearance. It kept its laboratory-born form and hid in the shadows.
It never understood why the stronger murloc had gone through so much effort to fabricate a weaker disguise.
Now, seeing the white mermaid—more evolved and beautiful than itself—the murloc finally understood the difference between beauty and ugliness.
It "laughed" shyly, curving its lips into a harmless smile somewhere between human and animal.
It knew the white mermaid liked to see its smile—even if it was masked by illusion.
The murloc tried to approach Lansi, eyes filled with longing for his tail.
When it was about a meter away, it stopped. It glanced at the cocoon behind Lansi with innocent almond-shaped eyes, then shifted its gaze back to his face.
Lansi seemed unaware of the murloc's unchecked stare. His azure pupils gleamed like jewels, filling the entire sea.
Very beautiful.
This concept vaguely existed deep in the murloc's shallow consciousness.
It stared at Lansi's face for a long time, then its delicate smile began to change.
A crack appeared at the corner of its mouth, stretching toward the earlobe—just like the face that had once bitten Lansi's ear.
Before the murloc could open its mouth, Lansi, who had remained still until then, suddenly sharpened his gaze.
His previously relaxed eyes focused, and he raised his head, opening his mouth toward the approaching murloc:
"Ay——"
The pool water began to boil as a sharp jet blasted toward the murloc's face.
Countless bubbles struck the murloc, while the nearby water heated up from the resonance.
A white light pierced the murloc's vision, and the sharp sound wave hit it like an iron rod.
The massive sound wave surged through the pool and struck the far wall.
The murloc was slammed against the wall, shaking violently as if having a seizure.
When the sound wave faded, it slid weakly down the wall like a broken sack.
It leaned at the pool's bottom, raising its head as its features began to swell with blue liquid, which soon stained the surrounding water.
The murloc looked at Lansi with its remaining eye and let out a sharp cry.
From that moment, the war between it and Lansi was ignited.