The mermaid lifted her head. Her sapphire-blue pupils rested calmly on Leahy, as though she had not yet realized that this was the name Leahy had just bestowed upon her.
"Caspe."
Leahy lowered her gaze to the mermaid in the water, a soft laugh escaping her lips as she repeated it once more. "Caspe."
The mermaid froze for a heartbeat. Something seemed to dawn on her. Propping herself up, she leaned closer to Leahy and saw her extend a finger, lightly tapping the tip of Caspe's nose, repeating again, "Caspe."
Lin… Feng?
Confusion flickered through the mermaid's eyes. She watched Leahy intently and, imitating her, hesitantly repeated, "Lin…"
Leahy's eyes immediately lit up. Her brows curved with delight as she nodded vigorously, praising her while gently patting her head. "Caspe." Then she pointed to her own nose. "Leahy."
"Qing…"
The mermaid seemed to have a peculiar sensitivity to Leahy's name. The moment "Leahy" was spoken, she reacted, though her pronunciation was still clumsy, repeatedly murmuring the sound "Qing."
"Shu… Qing…"
"Yes, my name is Leahy. And your name is Caspe." Smiling, Leahy asked softly, "Do you like the name I gave you?"
The mermaid could not fully understand her words, yet she had vaguely grasped Leahy's intent. With careful enunciation, she said, "Lin… Feng…"
And so, just like that, the mermaid's name was provisionally settled.
She was called Caspe.
Although Caspe was a mermaid, her capacity for learning was astonishing. In merely a single day, she began responding to her new name and could even articulate Leahy's. Her intelligence was strikingly high.
At the routine group meeting, Leahy introduced the name she had given the mermaid.
"She's adapting very well to her new name so far," Leahy reported, standing before the group. "At present, Caspe's condition has remained stable. She can be fed once every six hours and consumes roughly four to five small green fish per meal. Her appetite is excellent."
Torin nodded in satisfaction, flipping through Caspe's records from the past two days. "Based on our navigation estimates, we should be able to return home in about thirteen days. Information regarding the captured mermaid remains strictly classified. The institute has instructed us to disclose it only once we reach coastal waters, to prevent interference or attempts by other countries to seize her."
She lifted her head and looked at Leahy. "For now, Shu Qing's primary task is to continue caring for Caspe. Everyone else should proceed with their respective research. This expedition was not solely about mermaids—we still need to collect biological and environmental samples from the deep-sea vicinity."
In the far corner of the room, Alexius sat with his arms crossed, rolling his eyes in visible displeasure.
Once the meeting adjourned, Leahy was the first to leave. It was already lunchtime, and she planned to stop by the kitchen to fetch some food for Caspe. A diet of fish alone wasn't ideal—she needed vitamins too.
She wondered if Caspe would like cherry tomatoes.
"Shu Qing, wait a moment."
Leahy had only taken two steps outside when she was called back. Turning around, she saw Torin approaching briskly with a folder in hand. Leahy looked at her in mild surprise. "Senior, is something the matter?"
"You're heading to check on the mermaid, aren't you?" Torin said. "I was just thinking of visiting her as well."
"Sure," Leahy replied with a smile. "But you'll need to wait for me—I have to stop by the kitchen first to get her something to eat."
Torin laughed. "That's fine. I'll go with you."
At present, Caspe's laboratory maintained a rotating schedule of two researchers on duty at all times, recording her diet, daily activity, and sleep patterns. However, Caspe disliked strangers approaching her, so all feeding and close observation had been entrusted exclusively to Leahy.
Watching Leahy skillfully request small green fish from the kitchen staff and rinse a handful of bright red cherry tomatoes, Torin couldn't help but chuckle. "You're really devoted to that mermaid."
Leahy laughed as well. "Of course. I went through so much trouble just to get close to her—I have to make it count."
Torin glanced at the food in her hands but said nothing more, accompanying Leahy to the laboratory.
Caspe seemed to be in particularly high spirits that day. The moment the door opened, she could be seen gliding back and forth through the water. The researchers greeted Leahy and Torin as they entered. Torin nodded in return, her gaze settling on Caspe's lithe figure as she asked, "How is she today?"
"Much better than the past couple of days," one researcher replied. "She's no longer as frightened as she was at first. Aside from refusing close contact, she's begun swimming on her own inside the tank."
Though the tank was large, it was still somewhat cramped for a mermaid over two meters long. After only a short swim, she would reach the end and have to turn back.
Perhaps sensing Leahy's presence, Caspe suddenly burst through the surface with a splash, pressing herself against the glass wall. Her damp eyes fixed on Leahy, luminous and expectant.
Leahy turned to Torin. "Senior, I'll go feed her first."
Torin nodded. "I'll come with you."
Leahy climbed up first. She crouched at the edge of the platform and gently tapped the surface of the water with her hand. Caspe immediately swam over, resting herself right in front of her.
Leahy couldn't help thinking how obedient she was.
"Five little fish today, all right?" Leahy said, stroking Caspe's head. She then picked up a plump cherry tomato and lightly touched it to Caspe's pale pink lips, lowering her voice. "You should eat some fruit too—vitamins are important."
Caspe lifted her beautiful eyes to Leahy. She didn't understand the words, but she could faintly smell the fresh scent emanating from whatever touched her lips.
Food?
She hesitated for two seconds, then slowly opened her mouth and swallowed the cherry tomato from Leahy's fingertips in one bite.
The moment she bit down, juice burst across her mouth. Startled, Caspe clapped a hand over her lips as bright red liquid spilled from the corners of her mouth, trailing down her fair neck.
She blinked, startled and astonished. With a sudden turn, she plunged back into the water with a splash, swimming two quick laps before cautiously returning.
Leahy laughed at her reaction, tapping the water lightly. "Caspe, don't be afraid. The red isn't blood—it's juice. It's sweet. Try it."
Hearing her name, Caspe swam over again, spat out the remains of the tomato, and shook her head emphatically, signaling her dislike.
"You don't like it?" Leahy sighed and popped one into her own mouth, chewing noisily. "There isn't much fruit at sea. Once we're back on land, I'll buy you lots and lots of delicious fruit."
Caspe watched Leahy's puffed cheeks intently. Before she could observe further, she noticed Torin standing in the corner.
The moment their gazes met, Caspe froze.
"Hi, we meet again," Torin said as she stepped closer, looking down at Caspe with a broad smile. "Do you remember me? I'm the one who pulled you out of the sea."
Caspe stared at her for a long while. In the end, she didn't even touch the fish in Leahy's hand, turning instead and diving back into the water.
Leahy froze for a moment. After a pause, she gave a wry smile and said to Torin, "She's holding a grudge, isn't she?"
Torin chuckled and crouched by the water's edge.
Caspe hadn't swum far. Through the rippling surface, her figure was still visible. Her long, beautiful hair drifted and surged within the tank, her eyes fixed warily on Torin as she quietly retreated a step.
"She probably is," Torin said helplessly. "She's quite clever—she remembers that I was the one who gave the order to capture her."
Leahy set the small bowl of fish aside and patted the water gently. "It's all right, Caspe. This is my senior sister. She's not a bad person."
Caspe resisted fiercely, refusing to come back up.
"If she doesn't want to, that's fine," Torin said understandingly. "I just wanted to see how she was adapting."
"She's doing well," Leahy replied, watching the mermaid in the water. "Once she fully trusts us, she won't be so resistant."
"Mm." Torin nodded. "It's fortunate she still has some fondness for you. Otherwise, we'd all be at a loss."
Torin walked around the laboratory for a bit longer, flipping through the files before leaving.
As soon as Torin was gone, Caspe quickly surfaced, swimming slowly to Leahy's feet.
"You really are something," Leahy murmured, rubbing Caspe's head with a helpless smile. "Are you hungry? Want some fish?"
Caspe braced herself and lifted her upper body out of the water. Her long blue tail curled onto the platform, splashing water everywhere and soaking the surface. She picked up the small bowl Leahy had set aside and grabbed the fish inside, eating contentedly.
As she ate, she lazily swished her tail across the water.
At that moment, Leahy suddenly noticed a conspicuous wound on Caspe's beautiful blue tail.
It was a triangular gash. From top to bottom, a large chunk of flesh near the tail had been sliced clean away. A white, viscous substance coated the wound; the flesh had begun to pale, as though necrosis had already set in. Faintly, stark white bone could even be seen beneath.
"You're injured?" Leahy exclaimed in shock. She initially assumed the wound had been caused during the capture, but upon closer inspection, she noticed numerous pale scars scattered along the end of Caspe's tail—some fresh, others clearly old.
The deepest of them all was this triangular wound, which had carved away an entire section of flesh.
Caspe finished her meal in just a few bites. Noticing Leahy staring at her tail, she quickly slipped it back into the water.
Hiding it.
Leahy frowned, looking at the slightly guilty mermaid before her. "What happened to your injuries? Why are they so severe? Do you need us to treat them?"
Caspe stared fixedly at Leahy, blinked softly, then turned and plunged back into the tank, fleeing in a flurry of motion.