Deep Sea finally caught on.
Furious, he planted both hands on his hips and strode right up to Qi Li. Mimicking a certain someone, his gaze turned sharp as he glared intently, radiating intimidation.
"Kid, it seems you don't realize who I am. I'm—"
Qi Li cut him off again with an airy remark. "I know. The guy who fucks fish."
Deep Sea froze. As if his deepest secret had been exposed, his hands dropped from his hips, and he flusteredly blurted out denials, "No, no, no! I never fucked any fish! I was just with... Fuck! I just didn't!"
Qi Li merely gave him a look that said, *Lie all you want.*
Deep Sea felt the world held far too much malice toward him. There was always someone eager to wound him with the most vicious words.
He gave his head a hard shake, replanted his hands on his hips, and glared at Qi Li with an even fiercer expression than before.
"You stole my docklands mission! And now you slander me with vicious lies! You're in big trouble, kid, you hear me? Prepare to face the wrath of the Lord of the Seven Seas!"
The words rang out.
Qi Li's expression... didn't change in the slightest.
Naturally, he had recognized Deep Sea right away—one of the Super Seven.
Yet meeting him in person, even as Deep Sea put on an arrogant, fury-filled posture like he wanted to tear someone apart, Qi Li only felt like laughing. No matter how the guy tried to act tough, he still exuded an undeniable sleaziness.
Besides, from what Deep Sea had said, he believed Qi Li had stolen the Shining Light mission that was rightfully his, depriving him of the chance to bask in the limelight, which was why he had come looking for trouble.
As for the wrath of the Lord of the Seven Seas, Qi Li couldn't care less.
Instead, he asked out of pure curiosity, "I hear you can communicate with all aquatic creatures, and they understand human speech? Dolphins, whales, octopuses—fine, that barely surprises me. But catfish, crucian carp, grass carp, shrimp, crabs... You can communicate with those too? Are you sure you're not mentally ill?"
Fish having intelligence?
What a joke.
Back when Qi Li watched the ocean specials Deep Sea hosted on television, he had constantly wanted to roast him.
Now that he was face-to-face with the man himself, of course he had to ask.
At that, Deep Sea rolled his eyes in exasperation.
This was hardly the first person to ask him that.
Still, so people wouldn't view him as a freak, he couldn't resist explaining every single time.
Just like now: even though he was supposed to be unleashing the wrath of the Lord of the Seven Seas, Deep Sea reflexively followed Qi Li's lead and rattled off an earnest, rapid-fire defense.
"You were right about the first part. I have plenty of dolphin, whale, octopus, and squid friends, and they're smarter than humans. But fish, shrimp, crabs, and the rest—they're living beings, and they have intelligence too, okay?
"Stop repeating that bullshit about fish only having a seven-second memory! A goldfish's memory lasts well over a month. Zebrafish can learn to navigate mazes. Sea bream can distinguish individual humans. You can't hear what's in their hearts because you don't possess the gift. Just like ordinary people can't hear ultrasound.
"And I, the Lord of the Seven Seas, can hear everything they say! It's my peerless gift! It's what sets me apart from all of you, and it's my pride! Understand?!"
Having finished his rant, Deep Sea deliberately tilted his chin up, looking thoroughly desperate to prove his superiority.
Qi Li said out of nowhere, "You're positive it isn't delusions?"
"Fuck!" Deep Sea slapped a hand over his face. Everything he had just said was completely wasted.
"All right, whatever." Qi Li waved dismissively and turned to leave.
He might not know all the ins and outs of marine life, but he understood basic biology.
Given a fish's brain, it simply couldn't hold normal conversations with humans.
In his view, Deep Sea's ability to chat with any aquatic creature like an ordinary person meant either he was psychotic, or his superpower temporarily granted aquatic creatures intelligence, or he was projecting his own thoughts onto them—the fish weren't actually smart; his power was just "speaking for them."
Naturally, Deep Sea would never agree with that.
And Qi Li couldn't be bothered to argue.
As far as he was concerned, fish had no damn business acting like human beings.
"Hold on! Did you forget something?" Deep Sea suddenly lunged forward, cutting off Qi Li's path.
He had almost let this punk talk him in circles and forget his real purpose.
How dirty!
Deep Sea said coldly, "If you think you can play dumb to escape the wrath of the Lord of the Seven Seas, think again."
Qi Li chuckled. "Play dumb? Sorry, I was just worried the illustrious Lord of the Seven Seas might end up missing an arm or a leg."
Deep Sea blinked, then his eyes widened in disbelief. "You... you actually think you can take me?"
"Why wouldn't I, you fish-fucking idiot?" A smile lingered on Qi Li's lips, but his gaze turned genuinely suffocating in an instant.
He hadn't forgotten that Deep Sea was the one picking a fight.
Before Deep Sea could react,
Qi Li lunged forward, clapping a hand onto Deep Sea's shoulder. Catching him completely off guard, Qi Li pressed his other hand against Deep Sea's battle suit and jabbed his fingers hard into the gills on Deep Sea's abdomen, hooking them viciously.
Deep Sea gasped sharply, the searing agony causing his entire back to arch over.
Leaning in close to his ear, Qi Li mocked in a faint sneer, "Our beloved Lord of the Seven Seas. Indeed, you should do everything you can to hide those hideous gills. They didn't just turn you into a freak; they're a fatal weakness, aren't they?"
With that, Qi Li dug his fingers deeper into the gills through the battle suit, exerting even more pressure.
"Fuuuuck—"
With his deepest insecurity laid bare, Deep Sea was nearly bursting with shame and fury.
Yet in the next second, the piercing pain reduced him to gnashing his teeth and gasping for breath.
He tried to pull away, only to discover the hand pinned to his shoulder held terrifying strength.
At that moment, Deep Sea couldn't help glancing up. Looking into Qi Li's intensely intimidating eyes, he felt as if he caught the shadow of a certain acquaintance, and a shiver ran through him.
He quickly blurted out, "Okay! Okay! I just came to ask a few questions! Let's call a truce!"
Qi Li released his grip and patted Deep Sea on the shoulder. "I honestly don't know whether your brain is as stupid as a fish's.
"The mission is already done. What's the point of coming after me now? Just to vent your fish-brained rage? Vought assigned that mission to me on their own initiative. Tell me, if they find out you came here to harass me, how will Crime Analytics view you? How will Madelyn, who manages you guys, view you? And how will Vought's CEO view you?
"Stupid! Incompetent! Ridiculous! Uncontrollable!"
With every word Qi Li uttered, Deep Sea's face paled another shade.
"I'm telling you this for your own good."
Finally, Qi Li patted Deep Sea's shoulder once more and turned to walk away.
This time, Deep Sea didn't try to stop him.
He stood frozen, his expression flickering between dread and humiliation. He watched as Qi Li pulled out his phone and sent a text. Moments later, with a crisp pop, a curly-haired boy holding a platter of seafood sushi suddenly materialized beside Qi Li.
"Percy Delivery, thank you for your patronage. That'll be fifty-five dollars."
"Here."
"Thanks, boss!"
Deep Sea listened to the exchange, then watched Qi Li pick up the seafood sushi and casually eat it as he walked along.
His eyebrows twisted into a knot, and he couldn't help muttering under his breath, "Fuck you!"
"Hm?" Qi Li whipped his head around.
Deep Sea instantly slapped on a smile, waving goodbye. "See ya!"
Chapter 64