The Merman's Sashimi

The cold surgical steel sliced through the golden scales with pinpoint precision.

Ah! Elian's scream ripped through the dead silence of the underground lab.

The golden mermanwho had been acting like royalty just hours agowas now clamped tightly to the slaughter table by heavy mechanical arms.

He gasped for air, his chest heaving as his golden pupils shrank to pinpricks. "Vesper, are you out of your mind?! I'm your soulmate!"

I grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his head back, and steadily carved out a second slice of translucent flesh. "Soulmate?" I pressed the flat edge of the blade against his cheek.

"Mermaid tears are flawless diamonds. The blood regenerates cells. The flesh reverses aging Only a complete idiot would waste a top-tier resource like this on romance."

Right now, it's dinner time.

Chapter 1

My name is Vesper. I am the heir to the K City medical empire, and in everyone else's eyes, an absolute lunatic.

Three years ago, at an exclusive underground auction, I bet all my personal shares to buy a half-dead merman. When the custom glass tank carrying him was rolled into our estate, the entire family gasped. Because he refused to submit, the previous buyer had disciplined him mercilessly.

Most of his scales were peeled off, his tail fin was shredded like a dirty rag, and where his ears should have been, there were only two dark holes. He was born deaf.

Mother gripped the edge of the table, her voice piercing the room. "Vesper, are you out of your mind?! Nobody would take this garbage even for free!"

Father slammed his cigar hard onto the carpet. "There's a top-tier Snow Wolf King going up for auction next month. There's still time to return this!"

My sister, Elara, immediately covered her nose and took two steps back, fanning the air in front of her face. "God, Vesper, it reeks."

Everyone said I got played for a fool. I ignored them all.

My eyes were locked entirely on the closed eyelids inside the tank. Only I knew the truth. Those mutilated ear canals and his congenital deafness looked like a severe disability, but they were actually the ultimate mark of deep-sea royal pureblood.

Down in the abyss, they only need to feel ultra-low-frequency vibrations. External ears are useless decorations.Our family's generationally inherited Abyss Journal stated clearly:

[Those born deaf are favored by the abyss. They will shed and grow golden scales, and their cells contain the ultimate secret to reversing aging.]

I was raised by my grandfather. He was dangerously brilliant. But even though he was soul-bound, he still died of old age at three hundred.

On his deathbed, his five-hundred-year-old Komodo dragon let out a low, rumbling whine beside him. In his final moments, Grandfather dug his skeletal fingers into my wrist, forcing out every word. "Vesper our family we don't just want a century of wealth we want immortality"

When he died, his teeth had fallen out and his eyes had shriveled into his skull. He didn't even look human anymore.

I stood in front of his tombstone and poured a glass of vintage Macallan onto the dirt. It was my final goodbye.

Aging is a curse that even a soul-bind cannot fully fight off. I refused to die like that. I am going to stay young forever.

I am going to live forever.

So, I looked at the dying, defective creature in the tank exactly like I was looking at an untapped gold mine.

"He isn't a defect." I turned around and announced to the room. "He is mine."

Chapter 2

I named the merman Elian.

After that, I emptied my savings accounts to install a top-tier ecological circulation system, building a massive aquarium in the basement of the estate to simulate a deep-sea environment. Every day, I personally fed him a custom blend of flown-in A5 Wagyu and premium Beluga caviar mixed with a high-concentration nutrient fluid. I even set up a dedicated research team to monitor his vitals twenty-four seven: heart rate, scale refraction index, rare active enzyme concentrations in his blood

The data streamed daily across the massive screen in my study.

[Day 148: Golden mutation detected in basal pigment cells of scales. Ratio: 0.3%.]

[Day 301: Abnormal telomerase activity detected in newly regenerated tail fin tissue.]

[Day 509: Auditory nerve bundles show signs of spontaneous repair. Reactive to specific low-frequency sound waves.]

Every fluctuation in those numbers brought me one step closer to my goal.

Elara would occasionally wander into the underground lab, wearing her white dresses, looking like an innocent butterfly. She pressed her hands against the aquarium glass, tapping her manicured fingertips against the surface. "Vesper, don't you get bored babysitting a fish all day? He's seriously that ugly."

I glanced at the real-time emotional monitoring graph on the screenthe line spiked sharply into the red zone.

Interesting, I thought. He can sense malice even without hearing a sound?

After realizing that, I even put aside the heavy workload at the corporation. I buried myself in obscure volumes on merfolk psychology, tracking his every need down to the minute.

Everyone thought I was obsessed. Crazy for him.

The shedding happened on a full moon night without any warning.

When the alarms shrieked, the security feeds showed the entire aquarium erupting in blinding, violent golden light!

The water spun into a chaotic vortex. Elian curled up in the center of the whirlpool, letting out an agonizing, low-frequency roar. Through the audio sensors, it sounded like a tornado tearing through sheet metal.

His old scales peeled off piece by piece, bleeding out into the water.

But fresh armor grew over his flesh right before my eyes, every single scale gleaming with the luster of pure gold!

The transformation was over fast. Elian's silver hair spilled around him, and his eyes burned like liquid sunlight. When his tail fin flared open, the sheer radiance of it lit up the entire courtyard. He got his hearing back, and his tail could now shift into human legs at will.

The very first thing he did after surviving the shedding was pull me into a crushing embrace. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, smelling like the deep tide, rubbing his cheek against my collarbone.

For a second there, my own heart skipped a beat.

Actually, mermaid nails and hair work for anti-aging too. Maybe I should just cut out his appendix and eat that instead

The birth of a Golden Merman didn't stay a secret for long. The news tore through the elite circles like a hurricane. Congratulations, spies, and greedy vultures came flooding in. Everyone said I hit the ultimate jackpot, casually picking up a mythical Golden Merman off the clearance rack.

"The family documents state it loud and clear," they muttered. "Once you soul-bind, you'll live at least three extra centuries!

Vesper, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Lock down that bond immediately!"

But there was a catch. A mermaid bond required a soul compatibility score of at least 70% to trigger. And our test results flatlined exactly at 60%. An incredibly awkward number.

So, the consensus was that we just needed more time to "build feelings."

My parents, meanwhile, were already treating Elian like their golden son-in-law, grinning from ear to ear every time they saw him.

But no one noticed Elara. My quiet, frail little sister who majored in music. Ever since the night of his shedding, her eyes practically glued themselves to Elian. She had covered her mouth that night, the words slipping out in a breathless gasp: "So so beautiful"

The shift happened quietly. Elian, who used to shadow my every move, suddenly started bumping into Elara. A lot.

Out by the morning dew in the garden, or next to the rippling water of the pool, her ethereal singing voice would drift through the air. Elara had started practicing ancient mermaid melodiestunes she "accidentally" found on some torn sheet music in my study.

Elian, who had finally gotten his hearing back, stopped swimming. He rested his arms on the edge of the pool, his golden eyes staring unblinking at her.

I even caught Elara joking around with him, telling him she'd been having this same dream ever since she was a little girl.

Chapter 3

"I used to have this recurring dream about a giant golden fish glowing in the dark. I felt so sad for him I just wanted to save him," Elara murmured.

"Now that I've met you, Elian I finally get it. Maybe that was you! Maybe we knew each other in a past life!"

The tips of Elian's ears flushed a deep crimson.

Later, at a massive family gala, the ballroom was packed with the elite, buzzing with overwhelming noise. A low rumble echoed from Elian's throat. His rough tail fin repeatedly slapped against the marble floor, leaving streaks of water in its wake.

Just then, Elara picked up her violin. A smooth, melodic tune drifted through the room, miraculously smoothing out his tense posture. When the song ended to a round of applause, she looked at me through her lashes, biting her lip. "Vesper did I steal your spotlight? I just saw Elian was uncomfortable"

Later that night, Elian looked at me and said, "Elara is so warm. She's not like you."

From that moment on, I watched the shift happen right in front of me.

One afternoon, Elara "accidentally" spilled a cup of scalding tea across the back of her hand, letting out a sharp cry. Elian, who had been on his way to my study, bolted across the room in a second. He grabbed her hand without hesitation, humming a low, resonant mermaid healing incantation.

A pale golden light pulsed from his palms, and the angry red burn melted away before my eyes.

Elara tilted her face up, a single tear clinging to her eyelashes. Her voice was breathy and soft. "Thank you, Elian. Vesper never worries about me like this."

The rigid line of Elian's shoulders dropped.

It didn't take long for Elian to start skipping the compatibility-boosting training sessions I'd set up for him. He announced to the staff that he wanted to spend more time learning "human art" from Elara instead. He even started swiping my black card to order rare, immortal deep-sea corals for her, serenading her with mind-bending mermaid love songs under the moonlight.

One afternoon, I wrapped up a board meeting early and walked into the estate, only to catch Elara whispering to Elian in the glass greenhouse. "Elian Vesper treats you so well. Are you really going to soul-bind with her?"

She paused, letting out a perfectly timed, choked breath. "Then what about me? Will I will I not be allowed to see you anymore?"

Elian shook his head hard, without a single second of hesitation. "I only see her as my savior. Nothing more. Elara, you're the only one who actually touches my soul."

The whispers in our elite circles started spreading like wildfire.

"So what if Vesper is the CEO of the empire? So what if she's flawless?"

"Money still can't buy real love. That merman is getting poached right under her nose by her own little sister!"

Chapter 4

I ignored every single one of those rumors. I kept adjusting Elian's vitals every single day.

But that afternoon, I walked into the lab carrying a vial of deep-sea giant kelp extract I had won at a heavy price on the black market to stabilize his cellular mutation. The bitter, pungent smell filled the room.

Elian immediately wrinkled his nose, raising a hand and shoving me back without a second thought. "Vesper, your medicine always tastes like garbage! I hate it!"

At that exact moment, Elara strolled past. She carried a small plate of overly sweet, handmade pastries. "Elian, taking medicine is so tough on you. Have something sweet to wash it down."

She looked at me, her eyes wide and innocent. "Vesper, please don't be mad. I just feel so bad for him."

At those words, the golden light in Elian's eyes shifted. Then, right in front of the lab equipment, he swung his tail and swam directly toward Elara. He announced he had found true love.

"I love Elara's voice! Her singing calms me down better than any of these chemicals!"

He grabbed the edge of the tank. "I want to soul-bind with her!"

He turned around. His golden pupils locked onto me, his chin tilting up slightly, and the corners of his mouth pulled into a tight, hard line. "My kind worships pure love.

But you? You've only ever looked at me like a lab rat, measuring me for your own gain!

You don't deserve my heart, and you sure as hell don't deserve a bond with me!"

He raised his wrist, flashing the two faint glowing rings that displayed our compatibility scores. "Look at it! My compatibility with you is a miserable 60%.

But with Elara? It's a flawless 100%! We are made for each other! Elara is sick right now.

She's dying! The only way to save her is for me to soul-bind with her and share my life force!

If you actually cared about me at all, you'd step aside and let us be together."

My parents rushed into the room upon hearing the commotion, freezing in their tracks.

As if on command, Elara's knees buckled. She collapsed perfectly into Mother's arms. Her face was as pale as paper.

Her chest heaved with visible effort as she squeezed out a weak, breathy voice from her throat. "Mom it's my fault. I couldn't control my feelings But my bond with Elian it really is destined by fate"

Then, she let the tears spill over.

My parents' eyes finally landed on me, heavy and complicated.

As the heir to the empire, I was raised by my grandfather, learning cutthroat corporate politics and rules since childhood. Naturally, I was never the cuddly, affectionate daughter my parents wanted. That was Elara.

We were twins. But because of complications in the womb, she was born frail.

Six months ago, her medical report dropped like a bomb. She was diagnosed with a rare, fatal genetic defect. Even with the most advanced biotech on the planet, we could only barely slow it down. The top specialists privately admitted she was running out of time.

But I had pulled her medical records and pharmacy logs. For the past three months, she hadn't been taking those "life-saving" pills at all. She was weaponizing her own failing health, staging a desperate, do-or-die performance to get exactly what she wanted.

So that night, they cornered me in the living room for a family talk. The amber lights were warm, but the air felt like ice.

Mother spoke first. "Vesper, there are things I've held inside for years When you two were born, you weighed over a pound more than her. Your cry was so loud.

If you hadn't stolen all the nutrients from her in the womb, Elara wouldn't have been born sick. The delivery doctor said your umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck three times!

You were born vicious! You owe Elara a debt you can never repay in this lifetime! This time, you need to step aside for her!"

Father chimed right in. "The test results don't lie. Their compatibility is 100%. They are a perfect match.

It's destiny, Vesper. You can't force these things. That 100% score is God giving Elara a way out, and giving you a chance to pay back what you owe!

Elara is dying. She doesn't have much time left. Elian is her only hope of survival!"

Hearing this, Mother jerked forward, her fingers digging hard into the edge of the sofa as her voice jumped up an octave. "Exactly! You've had the best of everything since day one! Grandfather's personal grooming, the CEO seat at the corporation!

And what does Elara have? Just a broken body! And now, you want to steal the only person she's ever truly loved? Vesper, how can you be so cold-blooded!

You only want to bind with Elian to extend your own life. But Elara actually loves him! Without him, she won't make it!"

Chapter 5

Elara immediately let out a few soft coughs. A thin trail of crimson blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes, her voice barely a whisper. "Vesper I never wanted to fight you for anything I know I'm dying.

I know I shouldn't ask for too much But I really, really want to live. I want to live with Elian. Can't you just pity me, just this once?

Please! Please just give him to me Without him, I'm literally going to die."

As she spoke, she angled her face so only I could see her. The corners of her mouth twitched upward, and she shot me a quick, provocative raise of her eyebrow.

Elian stood right next to her, using his thumb to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. But the second he turned back to me, his brow furrowed hard, and he yanked at his own collar.

"Vesper, I'll pay back your three years of charity with three of my tears. That's more than enough to cover your expenses. But my heart already belongs to Elara. And my soul will only ever belong to her!"

Finally, Father slammed his hand hard against the table, ending the argument. "Vesper, you're a businesswoman. You need to weigh the pros and cons. The empire needs a stable, harmonious public image.

If you stubbornly refuse to step aside and something happens to Elara, the PR nightmare will destroy your standing as the heir. I won't be able to cover for you with the board of directors. You don't want to lose your seat, do you?

Besides, giving Elian to Elara is paying off the debt from your birth! Just give him to your sister right now!"

I stood perfectly still, listening to every single word, analyzing every single face in the room. Then, I lowered my head and let out a soft laugh. "Oh a 100% compatibility score That's wonderful."

Looks like his emotional core has finally cracked wide open

The exact text from the Abyss Journal flashed through my mind.

[The secret to immortality is tethered to the Golden Merman's emotional core.]

Merfolk reproduce through external fertilization, prioritizing pure bloodline power above all else. Because nature gifted them with such overwhelming physical abilities, it biologically sealed their emotional cores. It made it nearly impossible for the species to form deep, romantic attachments, preventing individuals from drowning in love and ruining the purity of the bloodline.

And the Golden Mermanthe absolute apex predator of their kindheld his true value exactly inside that sealed core.

Only when that emotional core was violently ripped open did his flesh and blood possess the miraculous power to reverse aging and grant true immortality.

A 70% compatibility score was the absolute minimum threshold required to stimulate that core open through an external bond. The higher the compatibility, the wider the core opened, and the more violently potent the medical efficacy became!

I had spent three solid years just barely dragging that compatibility score to a miserable 60%. I cast a net of warmth and care, waiting for a catalyst to push it over 70%.

I never expected my sweet little sister to be so understanding. She went behind my back and hooked up with Elian, pushing that compatibility straight to the absolute peak100%!

This wasn't just cracking the core open anymore. This was

Absolute, unreserved soul resonance!

"100% That really is perfect."

Chapter 6

I agreed to hand Elian over to Elara, but on one condition: he had to personally settle his "debt" to me. Those three mermaid tears had to be shed for me, stripped of any calculation.

For merfolk, not all tears are treasures. Physical pain only forces out useless, salty drops. Only tears forged through the absolute torment of a genuine emotional coretears of bloodcan crystallize into flawless, radiant mermaid pearls.

Using the excuse of keeping the process "pure" and sparing Elara the heartache of seeing him bleed, I had Elian come down to the soundproof underground lab, walled entirely by bulletproof glass. This was the exact place he underwent his daily medical exams. Now, it would be the place he paid off his debt.

"You finally figured it out" Elian let out a long, heavy exhale. His shoulders dropped, the tight corners of his mouth loosening into a faint curve. "Since you're Elara's sister, you'll be my sister from now on, too."

He flashed a faint smile. "If you really like merfolk that much, once Elara and I settle down, I can take you back to the abyssal territory. I can introduce you to some outstanding younger males"

He kept rambling about his bright future, totally oblivious to the fact that his cooperation was exactly what I needed.

Just like every other invasive exam over the past three years, Elian slipped habitually into the central testing pool. The water was crystal clear. He naturally settled into the massive, custom-built alloy clam pod lined with soft kelp, getting ready to "cry."

I started by looping the exact same tragic movies and somber soundtracks we used for his baseline emotional tests. He played along, squeezing out tears that dripped steadily into the custom collection dish below him. But they were just regular, salty drops. Nothing crystallized.

Next, I switched the massive monitors to play three years of our daily logs: me adjusting his water temperature in the dead of night, hand-feeding him, clumsily trying to speak the abyssal tongue The rims of his eyes finally flushed red. A faint trace of blood mixed into the tears, but they still shattered into saltwater upon impact.

It was the ultimate proof that I meant absolutely nothing to him. That was, until his eyes accidentally dropped to his own wrist. Right on the cheap, colorful hair tie Elara had given him.

His golden pupils shrank to pinpricks.

A choked sob caught in his throat, as if a rusted blade had just twisted between his ribs.

The first perfectly round, deep crimson tear of blood finally swelled at the corner of his eye.

Clink. It hit the white collection dish, blooming into a blinding, piercing puddle of crimson.

He didn't notice a thing. He didn't realize that the water in the pool today wasn't our meticulously balanced deep-sea saltwater. It was pure, highly conductive freshwater.

And he definitely didn't notice the perfectly camouflaged grooves sliding open along the inner walls of his familiar clam pod. Cold titanium shackles shot out like a predator's fangs.

Click. Click. Clack.

They snapped shut with terrifying precision, locking down his wrists, his ankles, and pinning that magnificent tail fin dead to the metal.

"Argh!" Elian jolted awake from his emotional trance. He thrashed forward, only to realize the pod that had pampered him for years was now an inescapable slaughterhouse cage.

Flesh and blood cannot fight industrial pneumatics. The shackles didn't give a single millimeter.

The color drained from his face. His entire body shook, his teeth digging into his bottom lip until it bled, exactly like he did three years ago when I dragged him out of that pitch-black auction tank.

"Vesper! Whatwhat are you doing?!" His voice cracked up an octave. His tail thrashed weakly against the titanium, splashing water onto the floor.

"Let me go! You think locking me up is going to make me submit?! I'm telling you right now, I'd rather die than betray Elara!"

I didn't say a single word.

I just slowly walked over to the stainless-steel prep counter. I picked up the fresh black truffles, the cold-pressed olive oil, and the Dijon mustard I had laid out, tossing them methodically into a handmade mortar. I picked up the heavy stone pestle and began crushing the ingredients. The sharp, pungent aroma filled the sterile air.

I had never eaten mermaid flesh before, so I prepped some Mediterranean sea salt and caviar just to be safe. And of course, I didn't forget the Texas smoked BBQ saucethe kind that makes even a rubber shoe sole taste good.

I even prepared a plate of dry rub just for grilling.

[If it still tastes bad, I'll just deep-fry it.]

I glanced sideways at the pre-heated industrial deep fryer sitting on the counter. The golden oil was perfectly still.

[Everything tastes good when it's deep-fried at 400 degrees.]

Chapter 7

Over there, since I was ignoring him, Elian probably assumed this was just some twisted revenge tactic or hazing. He was still straining, trying to squeeze out a second and third tear of blood.

Until I hit another button on the console.

The mechanical arms clamped around him whirred to life, lifting his massive frame slowly out of the freshwater pool. With a heavy metallic clank, they dropped him onto a prepped titanium table. The size and height of the platform were unmistakableit was an industrial cutting board designed for butchering massive deep-sea catches.

The second his skin hit the freezing metal, Elian stiffened.

Only then did I turn around to face him, slowly pulling on a pair of sterile white surgical gloves. The latex snapped sharply against my wrists. In the dead silence of the lab, it sounded like a gunshot.

"You were right. I am purely transactional. The very first time I laid eyes on you at that auction, I knew. You are the rarest, most exquisite ingredient on the planet."

I tapped the console, adjusting the pneumatic locks, forcing him to lay flat in a more accessible angle for prep. "Your tears crystallize into flawless gems. Your blood regenerates cells.

Your flesh reverses aging That is your actual value. Only a complete idiot would give that away for free."

I hovered the tip of the surgical steel just millimeters above the line where his abdomen met his golden scales.

I lifted my gaze, locking onto his golden pupilsnow blown wide, the irises trembling slightlyand smiled. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to kill you.

You're the goose that lays the golden eggs. Why would I ruin a perfectly good harvest? I'm just going to eat you piece by piece."

Elian's face twisted, the muscles in his jaw ticking frantically. No matter how breathtakingly beautiful his features were, right now, he was nothing more than a slab of meat waiting to be carved