According to Lansi's original plan, he was supposed to follow the whale pod into the deep sea. Then, once the whales dispersed, he would swim back to Sunset Bay to find Winsor.
But dreams were beautiful, while reality was cruel.
To keep the whales from losing their way, Lansi sang while guiding them farther and farther from land.
As a result…
He completely forgot that whales also loved singing.
And even more than singing themselves, they loved listening to Lansi sing.
Large whales, small whales—every single one of them had become enchanted by the mermaid's song. They followed Lansi all the way into the vast ocean, yet none of them wanted to leave.
And so, the little white mermaid ended up trapped in the middle of a crowd of gigantic sea creatures, unable to swim anywhere.
Lansi puffed up in anger, crossing his arms as he glared at the sperm whale directly in front of him. He stubbornly stopped singing altogether.
The surrounding pod consisted of every kind of whale imaginable, big and small, but not a single one was willing to leave. Instead, they circled around Lansi, all wanting to touch him.
"Touch what exactly?!"
Every time a whale tried to approach, Lansi would smack its face with his tail to stop it from coming closer.
Seriously, did they not understand the difference in body size?!
He did not want to get crushed to death by a whale.
Fortunately, although the whales were somewhat dumb, they still understood that Lansi disliked being touched. So none of them dared move closer. Instead, they carefully formed a circle around him and continuously sang using their species' low-frequency sounds.
Clearly, they were trying to coax Lansi into singing again.
Lansi could neither laugh nor cry at their behavior.
Why were these whales so stupid?
Stupid… and a little adorable.
[Why—still—not—leaving—]
The little turtle poked its head out from the cloth pouch hanging at Lansi's waist. Looking at the sea of black whales outside, it seemed just as speechless as Lansi.
Yes, Lansi had brought the turtle with him.
After returning to the sea, he casually modified the reserve soldier's belt, tied it around his waist, and used the attached pouch to carry the little turtle inside.
Naturally, the turtle was thrilled.
With Lansi serving as its "mount," it felt incredibly proud and happily followed him everywhere.
What left the turtle most speechless, however, was why this group of whales still refused to let Lansi leave.
It could not wait to see the legendary sea monster "Kilo" at Sunset Bay.
[Are there any mutated whales here?]
After realizing escape was impossible for the moment, Lansi asked patiently among the whales.
[Does any whale understand what I'm saying?]
Unfortunately, none of the whales responded. They simply continued swimming circles around him over and over again.
And it was not just whales in the pod.
There were also dolphins mixed in among them, happily taking advantage of the chaos.
Dolphins were naturally playful creatures. They could not understand Lansi's words at all. Earlier, they had been confused by the singing and followed the whales all the way toward shore, nearly beaching themselves in the process.
Dolphins loved humans by nature.
And they especially loved Lansi's singing.
So they secretly mixed into the whale pod and followed him all the way here.
The moment Lansi opened his mouth, the dolphins assumed he was about to sing again. While the whales remained cautious, one dolphin immediately forgot itself and excitedly rushed toward Lansi, intending to "kiss" him affectionately.
Unfortunately, the dolphin completely forgot the difference in size and strength between them.
The dolphin's impact was not strong for itself—but for Lansi, it was more than enough.
Caught off guard, Lansi was sent tumbling through the ocean by the collision. The force carried him directly toward the massive whales nearby—
"Hey, hey—!"
Suddenly, a chubby black-and-white figure swam out from nowhere and caught Lansi with its body.
Still dizzy, Lansi leaned weakly against the killer whale beside him and spat out a string of bubbles.
Meanwhile, nearby, a young killer whale was furiously beating up the dolphin that had charged at Lansi, cursing while attacking it.
[You little bastard! You dared hurt my fish?! I'll show you why flowers are red today!]
The furious young voice left Lansi momentarily dazed.
The voice sounded exactly like the little stranded killer whale he used to play with.
But somehow… the way it spoke sounded suspiciously like that foul-mouthed hermit crab with the Li Yunlong attitude.
Lansi clutched his chest dramatically, feeling utterly devastated.
The innocent and adorable little whale cub had learned how to swear.
The world was truly doomed.
After beating the dolphin away, the little killer whale happily swam back toward Lansi.
[Lansi, Lansi! Do you remember me? My brother and I came to take you home~~]
Lansi finally snapped back to his senses and looked at the killer whale cub in surprise.
[You're the little killer whale that got stranded before?]
[Yep!]
The little killer whale happily spun in a circle in front of him.
[The hermit crab saved me, so I'm completely fine now!]
[How did you end up here?]
Lansi felt genuinely happy. Unable to resist, he swam closer and held onto the little killer whale's fin as they moved through the sea together.
Thank goodness.
His efforts back then had not been in vain after all.
[We came with the humpback whales.]
The little killer whale answered proudly.
Then it secretly rubbed against Lansi again.
The moment the little killer whale rubbed against Lansi, several of its companions nearby immediately stopped beating up the dolphin.
Apparently afraid that Lansi would only pet the little killer whale and ignore them, the other black-and-white troublemakers quickly swam over as well, surrounding Lansi while crying out "ying ying ying," demanding attention.
Lansi looked at the group of killer whales in front of him and pressed a hand against his forehead speechlessly.
What kind of sea gangsters were these?
And why were all these black-and-white chubby creatures exactly the same?
Lansi suddenly felt that one day, he absolutely had to teach the little killer whale what a true "Godfather" was supposed to be.
A proper gangster should be elegant and imposing.
Not like these noisy little hooligans.
They had absolutely no style at all.
[Are you Lansi?]
At that moment, a melodious and gentle voice echoed through the sea.
Then, a massive white figure slowly approached from the depths.
Holding onto the little killer whale, Lansi stared blankly at the enormous creature drawing closer, suddenly feeling as though the scene before him was unreal.
The gigantic white creature swam upward from beneath him.
Its body was so huge that when it neared the surface, its blowhole rose directly above the sea.
Under the sunlight, the mist spraying from its blowhole refracted into colorful rays of light, while its pure white body seemed coated in a layer of golden brilliance.
It was a rare albino humpback whale.
And clearly, it was mutated as well.
Lansi stared at it in a daze, faintly seeing gentleness and helplessness reflected in the whale's eyes.
Oh my God.
He was not even as big as one of the whale's eyes.
That thought kept echoing blankly in Lansi's mind.
[Lansi?]
The humpback whale's warm voice sounded close beside him, finally snapping Lansi out of his daze.
"Y-Yes, hello."
For some reason, facing the humpback whale made Lansi incredibly nervous. He stammered awkwardly, like a student suddenly called on by a teacher.
"My name is Lansi. I'm… a mermaid now. I—I've heard about you before, you…"
Back when he used to lurk in the sea monster chat group, Lansi had already learned about the humpback whale.
It was considered the leader of the sea monsters—a gentle existence with immense strength.
It was practically the only sea monster in the entire group capable of staying calm and making rational decisions. The rest of the sea monsters trusted it completely.
Lansi secretly glanced at the little killer whale beside him and once again sighed inwardly at how incredible the humpback whale truly was.
From the little ocean knowledge Lansi possessed, killer whales were basically the gangsters of the sea.
Meanwhile, humpback whales were practically the ocean police.
Normally, killer whales and humpback whales could barely stand each other. Sometimes they would even fight on sight.
Yet somehow, this little killer whale had actually brought the humpback whale here—and judging from their interaction, the two seemed to get along surprisingly well.
Good heavens.
At this point, Lansi felt the humpback whale in front of him was less like a whale and more like a homeroom teacher.
Seeing Lansi's nervousness, the humpback whale smiled gently before thoughtfully explaining the situation first:
[I heard your singing, as well as the songs of the other whales. I was worried something had happened, so I hurried over to take a look. It seems you need my help.]
As it spoke, the humpback whale noticed the little killer whale secretly leaning against Lansi again and sighed helplessly.
[Alright, little killer whale. Be gentler. The mermaid is very small. Don't hurt him.]
Lansi blinked blankly before realizing the little killer whale really had been pressing too close to him.
[Okay…]
The same little killer whale that had just been violently beating dolphins earlier immediately obediently moved farther away after being scolded by the humpback whale.
The contrast was so shocking that Lansi's gaze kept darting back and forth between the humpback whale and the little killer whale.
Weren't humpback whales and killer whales supposed to hate each other?
"I want the whales to go home, but they refuse to leave me. Do you have any ideas?"
Seeing how reliable the humpback whale seemed, Lansi immediately confessed his helplessness honestly.
For some reason, he instinctively felt he could trust this whale.
The humpback whale pondered for a moment before replying gently:
[Leave it to me.]
The moment Lansi heard that, his eyes lit up instantly.
Honestly, he was genuinely curious about how the humpback whale planned to help him.
...
Then, Lansi witnessed firsthand what it truly meant to combine "police and gangsters" and "black and white working together."
Humpback whales were known as the police of the sea because they loved meddling in things and were always willing to help weaker creatures.
Killer whales, meanwhile, were considered the gangsters of the ocean because they moved in groups, caused chaos everywhere, and enjoyed tormenting their prey before eating it.
But Lansi never imagined that one day he would see mutated humpback whales and mutated killer whales cooperating together to restore order to a completely blocked "transportation hub."
The humpback whale first communicated with all the whales using whale language, then organized them into groups based on the direction they needed to travel.
And then, right before Lansi's eyes, the humpback whale swam to the center and officially became a "traffic officer."
[Alright, whales heading toward the North Pole, line up over here… Thank you for cooperating. Please keep moving and don't stop midway.]
Using its tail and massive pectoral fins, the humpback whale gently but firmly drove away whales lingering around Lansi and allowed the whales traveling north to leave first.
At the same time, to keep the routes clear, the humpback whale used its enormous body to block whales attempting to move east-west across the current path.
[Everyone stay calm. It'll be your turn soon. Please cooperate with traffic management. Thank you.]
After guiding the northbound whales away for nearly half an hour, the humpback whale shifted positions again, now blocking whales heading north and south while directing the eastbound whales through instead.
Lansi stared at the entire operation in complete shock.
Seriously—
Did whales actually develop traffic awareness now?!
Meanwhile, the little killer whales relied on their smaller size and agile movements to dart through the whale groups like hooligans patrolling the streets.
Any whale that tried to cut in line or cause trouble would immediately be surrounded by the little killer whales, who aggressively threatened to fight until the troublemaker retreated in fear.
Watching them work together, Lansi suddenly began imagining a bizarre scene in his mind.
A kind old police officer dressed in white stood in the middle of an intersection directing traffic with patience and professionalism, trying his best to restore order to a chaotic transportation hub.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows nearby, a group of gangsters in black suits held baseball bats while threatening and intimidating anyone who refused to obey the rules.
One played the good cop.
The other played the bad cop.
Honestly, if their body sizes were not so wildly different, Lansi would almost start shipping them as a couple.
Every whale here had a job to do.
As a result, Lansi suddenly became completely useless.
So he simply stayed beside the little turtle, watching the once-in-a-millennium scene unfolding before him with great interest.
"Woooo—"
Of course, no matter where there was order, there would always be one or two troublemakers slacking off.
While the little killer whales busily maintained order, a dolphin secretly swam over to Lansi and cried excitedly at him.
At first, Lansi was startled by the dolphin's sudden ghost-like appearance.
But with everything else running so smoothly, the sudden appearance of a troublemaker was strangely entertaining. Besides, Lansi was bored.
So instead of chasing the dolphin away, he decided to see what exactly it wanted after trying so hard to approach him.
Seeing that Lansi did not drive it away, the dolphin immediately became delighted.
It squealed happily and began circling around Lansi nonstop, proudly showing off its pink belly.
Lansi watched with amusement at first and could not help laughing.
Then his smile froze.
The dolphin had actually turned around and proudly displayed its private parts directly at him.
Pink.
Retractable.
Half a meter long.
"AHHHHHHHHH—!"
Lansi instantly covered his eyes, feeling as though his soul had been contaminated.
On the other side, the humpback whale finally noticed the hooligan dolphin causing trouble.
Immediately abandoning the "traffic control" it had been managing, the humpback whale roared furiously at the dolphin:
[Dolphin, get away from here! Lansi is still young!]