Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

The water in the bathtub wasn't deep, barely covering two-thirds of his body. His large mermaid tail couldn't be completely hidden; two of his tail fins still protruded above the water, resting loosely on the edge of the tub.

Zhou Yanshu's body slumped down, his mind was heavy and unclear, and his cheeks and the area around his eyes were red.

Zhou Yanshu had sensed it beforehand; as soon as he entered the water, he submerged his upper body completely to let the warm water wash away his increasingly restless anxiety.

"...Don't look at me."

Half of his face was hidden beneath the water, revealing only a pair of silver eyes that were already cold and seemed to be clear-headed.

Yu Zhuo's clothes were already soaked through. Seeing this, he simply sat down on the floor and grabbed the edge of the bathtub with both hands. The enamel covering was warm and slippery, and he couldn't tell if it was water or some other liquid.

"Why won't you let me see? This is the first time I've ever seen a fishtail like yours." Yu Zhuo turned his face to the side, his features indistinct in the white mist, only his pure gold pupils remained bright, "shining like the shells of the Mordria coast."

Zhou Yanshu's eyelashes trembled, his pupils turned to the side, and he exhaled a few tiny bubbles from the water.

Like the shells on the coast of Mordria...

He also said this phrase when he was trying to survive by clinging to life.

“It doesn’t look like them anymore.” Zhou Yanshu’s fish tail swayed, and soon they were all squeezed into the bathtub. His voice was muffled as he said, “It doesn’t look like them anymore.”

Yu Zhuo chuckled softly for no apparent reason. He dipped his hand into the warm water and covered the burning cheek of the person below.

“They really don’t look like them…they’re not even half as good-looking as you,” Yu Zhuo said affectionately. “Brother is the best-looking.”

A tingling sensation exploded from inside Zhou Yanshu's spine. He lifted his eyelids and felt the hand stroking his cheek was smooth and soft, as if it had never experienced any hardship.

"……elder brother?"

He tentatively rubbed his face against Yu Zhuo's palm.

Yu Zhuo's fingertips twitched slightly, and he laughed, "Ah...you're hundreds of years old, and I'm only twenty. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to call you grandpa?"

Zhou Yanshu: "..."

Zhou Yanshu turned his face away and swam to the other side of the bathtub, saying, "I didn't mind that you're a virgin, and you dare to complain that I'm too old?"

"...I didn't say that." Yu Zhuo glared, then changed his tone, saying, "Oh—in your heart, I'm just a virgin, right?"

"What about you isn't?" Zhou Yanshu's gaze slowly swept down from Yu Zhuo. "You have a manly charm?"

Yu Zhuo was shocked: "...What?"

"Heh..." Zhou Yanshu submerged in the water, "If I don't tell you, you won't understand."

The water in the bathtub had cooled down, but Zhou Yanshu was burning hot all over. He curled up in the tub, his face flushed red.

Masculinity...

Certain scenes flashed through Yu Zhuo's mind. He looked at Zhou Yanshu, who was already so tired that he closed his eyes and was breathing slowly against the bathtub.

"How do you know I don't smell manly? Smell me, I smell like a man." Yu Zhuo said unhappily, leaning on the edge of the bathtub. "You're the one who doesn't smell manly."

Zhou Yanshu frowned. He opened his eyes and saw Yu Zhuo stand up from beside the bathtub.

"What are you going to do?"

Yu Zhu wrung out his soaked clothes and said, "I'm all wet. I'm going to take a shower."

"What are you doing outside while taking a shower?" Zhou Yanshu lifted his eyelashes and looked meaningfully at the bathroom heater not far away. "The things are right there."

Yu Zhuo: "..."

"Didn't you always tell me not to come near and to go out?" Yu Zhuo's tone was ambiguous. "What's going on now?"

"The past is the past, the present is the present." Zhou Yanshu's eyes crinkled slightly. "You said you smell like a man? Let me smell you?"

Yu Zhuo narrowed his eyes, then chuckled and shrugged, saying, "Fine, whatever you want."

After he finished speaking, he unbuttoned his shirt and stripped himself completely naked in front of Zhou Yanshu.

Unlike Zhou Yanshu's slender physique, Yu Zhuo's body was well-trained, and with the natural physiological advantages of an Alpha, his muscles were clearly defined, outlining several pure white lines under the light.

Zhou Yanshu submerged his face in the water again, his silver eyes emerging from the surface, staring intently at Yu Zhuo's bare skin.

It went up from the bottom, paused for a moment at a certain point, and then continued upwards.

"Can you smell it?" Yu Zhuo picked up the bathroom heater next to him and asked, turning his head to the side.

Zhou Yanshu didn't hold back at all: "I can't smell it, you need to get closer."

Yu Zhuo pulled up the curtain next to him.

The thin curtain was semi-transparent, casting a nude-colored shadow in the light.

Zhou Yanshu surfaced, grabbed the edge of the bathtub and looked inside to make sure that Yu Zhuo had covered the inside completely, with no corner showing.

He pretends to be experienced and knowledgeable, but in reality, he's still an inexperienced newbie.

Zhou Yanshu lay back down in the bathtub, tilting his head back to smell the pheromones floating in the air, his body slowly relaxing.

elder brother……

Masculinity...

Zhou Yanshu narrowed his eyes and unconsciously furrowed his brows.

He has been waiting for some time.

From the very beginning until now, he has never seen a spherical system appear.

In the previous world, this spherical system would automatically locate the core soul fragment and bind to the host to approach it when the opportunity arose.

Whenever it appears, the core fragments will be instinctively attracted and consciously move closer to it.

However, until now, Yu Zhuo has shown no signs of deliberately approaching anyone. Similarly... the Survival System, responsible for collecting core fragments, has not appeared either.

It encountered a problem along the way, which is why it hasn't entered this world yet.

Or is it still in the latent stage and hasn't found a host yet?

Zhou Yanshu felt inexplicably worried. This was the last fragment of his soul, and if he failed to survive, everything would be in vain.

He should go out and look for it.

*

Yu Zhuo took a cold shower inside. He didn't take long, and when he came out, he made sure to wrap himself up tightly in a bathrobe.

He had just caught a faint, pleasant fragrance in the air, perhaps from Zhou Yanshu's pheromones.

He had been injured before, and now, due to the special circumstances, he was further agitated and suddenly lost control of everything.

But we still need to wait a while longer.

Yu Zhuo pulled back the curtain, wiping the water droplets from his hair as he walked outside: "Earl, tonight I..."

He paused in his speech, and Zhou Yanshu's face was no longer visible in the bathtub. His silvery fishtail dangled over the edge, and his entire body drooped, almost completely submerged in the water.

Yu Zhuo was startled. He quickly walked over and saw many slightly curly, pure gold hairs floating on the water.

Zhou Yanshu buried his face in the water and had fallen asleep.

Yu Zhuo: "..."

Fish are like that; they only feel safe in the water. Zhou Yanshu took it to an extreme degree, beyond description.

Yu Zhuo stepped forward and pulled Zhou Yanshu out of the bathtub a little, supporting his forehead so that he could lean against the edge of the bathtub.

Zhou Yanshu frowned, only opening his eyes a crack.

Yu Zhuo's figure swayed before him, blurry and indistinct, forming a faint gray-white line. A few drops of warm water cascaded down his tail, flowing over the cracks above, moistening his already somewhat dry scales.

Zhou Yanshu curled up, his tail fin twitching slightly, and closed his eyes, retaining a sliver of consciousness.

Yu Zhuo hadn't noticed any of this yet. After watering Zhou Yanshu's tail, he adjusted the water temperature back to a suitable level.

Sleeping in bed at night was out of the question, so Yu Zhuo squatted down on the edge of the bathtub again. He gently rubbed Zhou Yanshu's face with his fingertips and, taking advantage of Zhou Yanshu's drowsy state, lowered his head and licked the corner of his lips.

A touch that feels both distant and somewhat unfamiliar.

Yu Zhuo withdrew his tongue, as if he felt something was strange, and after a few seconds he licked it again for a moment.

He knew how to maintain a proper balance, stopping only at the periphery and not venturing inside. He simply moistened and soaked that area, adding a touch of warmth.

"Do not……"

Zhou Yanshu tilted his head back, making an indistinct sound in his throat.

Yu Zhuo immediately sensed something, so he stepped back and lowered the water temperature slightly.

Zhou Yanshu was breathing heavily, but he was still asleep. He leaned against the edge of the bathtub, the faint blush on his face still lingering.

"Fine, if you don't want to kiss me, then don't." Yu Zhu muttered, rubbing his cheek against Zhou Yanshu's hair before getting up and turning off the bathroom light.

The door was half-closed, and the bathroom was pitch black inside, with only a beam of pale yellow light shining through the crack in the door.

Soft breathing filled the room, and the water rippled gently. Zhou Yanshu silently opened his eyes, licked his lips, and squinted at the doorway.

Yu Zhuo's figure was reflected on the door, occasionally moving around a bit. After about a minute or two, the incandescent light in the inner room was also turned off, and Yu Zhuo pushed open the bathroom door again and came in.

Zhou Yanshu immediately closed his eyes.

After Yu Zhuo came in, no one knew what he was doing. All the rustling sounds disappeared, and Zhou Yanshu could only smell the faint scent of pheromones in the air.

It soothed his nerves, his body, and the bones that were inexplicably aching.

"Goodnight, my love."

*

Zhou Yanshu had fallen completely asleep, leaning against the edge of the bathtub without moving an inch. Yu Zhuo poured water on his tail several times, and later secretly planned to buy a larger bathtub.

It was already past 3 a.m., and Yu Zhuo was feeling a bit tired.

He sat to the side, looking at Zhou Yanshu's face, but for a moment he couldn't see it clearly.

Five hundred years have passed... Zhou Yanshu's appearance remains unchanged.

No, it has changed a little.

His nose was high and straight, and his eyebrows and eyes no longer had the kind and gentle look they used to have, nor were they upturned in a cheerful manner. His features... had become sharper and more intimidating than before.

He was no longer the same person Yu Zhuo had seen before, yet he still captivated everyone's attention.

—Just like when Yu Zhu first met him.

Yu Zhuo closed his eyes, the warm water in the bathtub filling the air. He gently stroked the scales on the silver tail. They were damp and slippery, and in Yu Zhuo's mind, its original appearance slowly emerged.

That was the scene Yu Zhuo first witnessed, ten thousand meters below the abyss.

Countless years have passed, and when Yu Zhuo looks back now, all he remembers are those bottomless whirlpools and darkness.

Ten thousand meters below the abyss, besides the empty valley, there is only the stagnant, black water tightly surrounding it.

Yu Zhuo has been looking at this scenery since the day it was born.

The water here seems stagnant, a deep, dark black, devoid of life. The valley is even more so, empty and desolate, where life dies long ago, and even seaweed is not allowed to grow.

Yu Zhuo had no idea where he was. No one spoke to him, and he couldn't walk. Like a wild beast that didn't know its way home, he often crawled on all fours along the edge of the valley.

Thousands of data cables are connected to his body, from his head to his chest and abdomen, and all over his limbs.

Every day, a large amount of clear energy flows into his body through the data cable. He has no heart, let alone internal organs; the electrical box embedded in his mechanical chest is his activation device.

This state lasted for an unknown period of time. The energy flowing into his body changed daily, and his body changed along with it.

The energy grew increasingly rich, and Yu Zhuo's mechanical arm slowly softened. He grew white hair, his rotating plastic eyes turned golden, and flesh and blood slowly grew inside his body, forming internal organs and viscera similar to those of a human.

The moment Yu Zhuo's heart was fully developed and began to beat, he learned to walk.

The thousands of data cables wrapped around his neck shimmered with multicolored light.

Yu Zhuo often looked up, and everything above the abyss was pitch black, with only the clear color of the data cable standing out.

They are bent and twisted, yet they continuously nourish Yuzhuo, like a mother's umbilical cord.

Yu Zhuo began to grow slowly, but bound by the data cable above, he couldn't go very far. He was like a butterfly stuck in a spider web, struggling yet bound, constantly groping in a completely dark world.

Until one day he saw the other creatures outside.

It was something he had never seen before: a pure silver tail that stirred up the stagnant water as it swam, creating tiny bubbles that shouldn't have been there.

"Little Prince, you can't go there! There are sea monsters there! Oh dear... my little darling, come back quickly!"

The figure swam quickly past Yu Zhuo's eyes, golden hair floating and curling into small circles, which also made his face exceptionally bright.

They were saying something in a language Yu Zhuo could hardly understand. Within this abyss, no one contacted him; he had no external language, let alone the ability to communicate with other creatures.

Yu Zhuo saw the person in front of him raise his silver eyes slightly and then accelerate down into the abyss.

"boom!"

The barrier below trembled upon impact, and Yu Zhuo felt the same force. The data cables on his body swayed, and he saw the mermaid on the other side of the barrier cover her head with one hand, her face contorted in a frown, and take a step back.

"What is this?"

The mermaid was not very big, with a thin face and a pair of round eyes staring straight into the barrier.

Yu Zhuo instinctively wanted to hide inside, but seeing the mermaid groping around on the other side for a while with a puzzled expression, he immediately realized that he couldn't see him.

"Little Prince! Oh my god... you're bleeding! Quick, let's go! There are giant beasts in this abyss; they'll come smelling us!"

The mermaid who arrived from behind grabbed Zhou Yanshu, his face filled with extreme tension, and quickly fled from the edge of the barrier with the still young Zhou Yanshu in his arms.