After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Capturing the Mermaid

The Military-Political faction deployed additional troops, and while the other two factions were wary, the temptation of the mermaid was so immense that they began to resort to underhanded tactics.

Imperceptibly, a wave of “Capturing the Mermaid” fervor began to spread among the populace.

Everyone knew that consuming a mermaid’s flesh and blood could repair one’s spiritual energy, and that capturing a live one could even allow for personalized spiritual guidance. Now, Fang Ziyue and Ling Qiu had become the targets of a global manhunt.

To survive, some people were capable of anything.

Looking at the “fanatical” and bloody comments on the StarNet, and then checking the coverage of her vegetable distribution, Fang Ziyue finally decided to publish the ingredient ratios for the nutrient solution.

Over the past few years, the military had earned a significant amount of money through the high-grade nutrient solution production methods—enough to cover their military expenditures. Two days ago, General Shang had even sent a message telling her that, if necessary, she could release the production methods publicly under her own name.

Once that happened, everyone would be able to treat their own spiritual energy. They would use the free vegetables obtained from Fang Ziyue and the free production methods she provided to create the medicine to save themselves. After that, anyone who dared to lift a finger against Fang Ziyue would likely become a public enemy.

“It’s been sent?” A clear, pleasant voice rang in her ear.

Without turning her head, Fang Ziyue reached out to embrace the little mermaid who was leaning on her back. She rubbed her hair and laughed, “How is it that you, a mermaid, are like a cat? You walk without making a sound.”

“Why would I need to make a sound? Sound would scare the fish away,” Ling Qiu said, taking a nip at Fang Ziyue’s ear. Her sharp teeth ground against it gently.

Now, her dark blue eyes held a deep, profound light and her expression was cool. The mermaid, having fully regained her wits, possessed an indescribable sense of cold arrogance. However, in front of Fang Ziyue, she still couldn’t help but want to act spoiled. Just like when she was the “little” mermaid, she nuzzled against her and clung to her, letting Fang Ziyue pamper her.

When Ling Qiu had finished grinding her teeth, Fang Ziyue turned around and indulgently pinched the tip of her nose. With a smile in her eyes, she asked, “Did you win?”

Since Ling Qiu had recovered, she frequently sparred with the members of the mercenary group. Her natural combat instincts as a mermaid allowed her to win very easily every time. Consequently, the group had come up with a different tactic: they began to compete with her using weapons.

In the ocean, mermaids hunted using their tails, claws, fangs, spiritual power, and songs; she knew absolutely nothing about the weapons of the human world. For a while, Ling Qiu suffered crushing defeats, failing to win a single match. This gave the mercenaries a chance to vent their frustration. To think that they, who had fought through battlefields and waded through blood, couldn’t beat a mermaid? It was simply too outrageous. Their stubborn competitive spirit made them completely ignore the fact that different species have different strengths and weaknesses.

“Of course~”

Hearing this, Ling Qiu narrowed her eyes and sat in Fang Ziyue’s lap as if claiming a reward. She wrapped her slender arms around Fang Ziyue’s neck and rested her head in the crook of her shoulder, acting sticky and spoiled: “I won. What are you going to reward me with?~”

During the time Ling Qiu was constantly losing to the mercenaries, her own competitive spirit had been ignited. She began practicing the use of various weapons day and night. Fang Ziyue told her to rest, but she refused. Later, Fang Ziyue simply told her, “If you win once a day, I’ll give you a reward, but only one per day.”

“But we spar many times a day,” Ling Qiu had complained about the proposal. If she won many times but only got one reward, she would be depressed to death.

“So you can agree with them to only spar once a day,” Fang Ziyue had said, holding her wife and using every method to coax her.

Ling Qiu had lowered her eyes and thought about it. It seems… it seems that makes sense…

Thus, the several matches a day turned into one. This gave Ling Qiu plenty of time to master those weapons, and gave Fang Ziyue the chance to catch her wife and make her eat and sleep properly. Heaven knew how painful it was to spend a night in an empty bed after getting used to the feeling of her wife sleeping warmly in her arms.

“So, what reward do you want?” Fang Ziyue stroked her cheek, intentionally teasing her.

Ling Qiu felt comfortable being touched and couldn’t help but tilt her face up, squinting her eyes to let her continue. Seeing that the mermaid in her arms was about to be stroked to sleep, Fang Ziyue quickly shook her legs to wake the dazed mermaid up.

“Mmh, don’t move~” A dazed Ling Qiu was the most clingy. She groped around to hug Fang Ziyue, her small face buried deep in her shoulder, her pink lips mumbling dissatisfaction at being disturbed.

“Sigh…” Fang Ziyue helplessly pulled her coat from the side and draped it over her.

Today, Ling Qiu had probably fought another hard battle to achieve victory; otherwise, she wouldn’t be this tired. Although there were various physical supplements and nutrient solutions for them to use after sparring, after all, they weren’t in the ocean. If she were in the ocean, Ling Qiu wouldn’t be this exhausted.

She had to speed up and take Ling Qiu back to Planet Ruize soon.

Carrying her to the bed, Fang Ziyue went out to discuss her plan with the mercenary group.

“The method is feasible, but where do you plan to go afterward?” someone asked, inquiring about her future considerations. While publishing the production methods would indeed put the people on her side, it would also make her the center of global attention. As far as they knew, neither Fang Ziyue nor Ling Qiu were people who enjoyed the limelight.

Moreover, they didn’t like the Imperial Star.

She and Ling Qiu were determined to return to Planet Ruize, but currently, Ruize was surrounded by the starships of the three major factions. As soon as the middle-aged merchant confirmed Ling Qiu was a mermaid, he had seized control of Liang Xiuyue. The Merchant faction had even investigated Liang Xiuyue’s ancestors for generations, eventually finding the coordinates of Planet Ruize in his father’s travel records.

Now the Merchants were bringing that “soft egg” Liang along, hoping he could play the emotional card with Ling Qiu? The mercenaries sneered at this. Why wasn’t Liang Xiuyue good to Ling Qiu before? And his father had even deceived an innocent little mermaid. Now that he knew she was a mermaid and her value had skyrocketed, he was regretting it and wanting to beg her to come back? To do what? To continue being a tool for his spiritual guidance?

But it wasn’t just that.

Shrunk in a garbage room, gnawing on a cold nutrient block, the skeletal Liang Xiuyue stared out the window with eyes that seemed ready to bulge out of his skull. Outside, a man and a woman were trysting, and one of them happened to be his beloved wife, Gu Qiaorou.

Back on the day before they left the Desolate Planet, Gu Qiaorou insisted that the old butler of the Liang family witness her becoming the mistress of the house, so she had insisted on a rushed wedding. At that time, Liang Xiuyue was full of love for her, so whatever she said, he did. Later, they followed the merchant to the Imperial Star. On the way, the two had painted a beautiful future, even thinking they would become the second-in-command of the Merchant Alliance.

Unfortunately, upon arriving at the Imperial Star, Liang Xiuyue discovered why his father had insisted on abandoning the family business to build a safety zone on the Desolate Planet, and why the old butler didn’t want him to come to the Imperial Star. The Imperial Star was a demon’s den that ate people without spitting out the bones!

There, Liang Xiuyue’s money was swindled away. They were starving and shivering on the streets when the man who brought them there “rescued” them just in time. At the time, Liang Xiuyue and Gu Qiaorou were moved to tears and swore to serve him like oxen and horses for the rest of their lives to repay him. Because of this, the man truly treated them like animals. During that time, Gu Qiaorou couldn’t take the hardship and simply followed a plain-looking merchant, even returning in flashy clothes to insult him. She called him useless, saying he couldn’t even protect his own woman.

But in the end, wasn’t she beaten back by that man’s legally wedded wife? Even her reputation was dragged through the mud. The discarded Gu Qiaorou crawled back to his feet on her knees, begging for forgiveness. But this time, Liang Xiuyue grabbed her by the arm and sent her out to service guests. On the Imperial Star, the dignity and personality of the poor were worth absolutely nothing.

Liang Xiuyue looked away and took a bite of the nutrient block; numbness and apathy filled the very marrow of his bones. His only wish now was to beg Ling Qiu for a change of heart—not just because of the threat from the Merchant Alliance, but more importantly, because he couldn’t survive without her. He couldn’t leave the kind woman who had silently provided spiritual guidance for him for three years without claiming credit or asking for a reward.

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