Her 4.3 Billion Years | Chapter 34 | Warmth in the Frozen Sea | Novela.app

Fan Li certainly wouldn't take the initiative; she spent the entire time in a state of utter bewilderment. Su Shiye was simply too attractive to her. She truly didn't want to admit that she could fall for a man in such a short amount of time, but the fact remained: from the first moment she saw him, her primal instincts had been arguing for the existence of "love at first sight." In this state of severe infatuation, her remaining rational mind told her that something was wrong. Kai Mo, a mediocre-looking second-generation elite, had countless beauties fawning over him. Xing Hai, a mixed-blood whom many Hunter Tribe members looked down upon, was asked to mate by a pure-blooded beauty on a public transport vessel simply because he had a handsome face. One could guess the quality and quantity of women around Su Shiye without even trying. His former fiancée was Princess Feng Jin. When they were engaged, Su Shiye hadn't yet become the Dictator, and the Red Moon Sea hadn't yet submitted to the Holy Capital Party. Now, the Holy Capital Party’s influence was growing by the day, stifling the Storm Party. Consequently, Su Shiye’s status in the Light Sea was reaching unprecedented heights. He was young and a walking personification of pheromones; naturally, he would attract women of even higher status than Princess Feng Jin—if such women even existed. How could a man who held the heavens in one hand take an interest in a poor student like her? Especially when her body belonged to his rival sister. Did he still suspect she was Su Yi? No, he had laid all his cards on the table last time. A man like Su Shiye wouldn't have revealed the truth if he still harbored even a one-percent doubt. This was truly, truly unscientific and surreal. Fan Li didn't want to believe Su Shiye was interested in her, yet every single thing he did sent her the same message: he liked her. Could it be that she had transmigrated into some "The Overbearing Dictator Falls for Me" Mary Sue world? Was this life's script really that overpowered? The entire meal was an ordeal for Fan Li. She had to maintain her composure to figure out why Su Shiye was being so proactive, while simultaneously struggling to resist the very proactivity she liked so much... All she could do was bury her head and eat, consuming two or three times her usual amount. By the end of the meal, she had the illusion that food was backed up all the way to her throat. Su Shiye took her for a stroll around the Resurrection Sect’s Divine Palace to relax. He didn't touch her again, but whenever she spoke, he would gaze at her with a gentle, earnest intensity, listening with a smile. He remembered every word she said and occasionally asked questions she particularly enjoyed answering. By the end of the evening, she discovered for the first time that she actually had the potential to be a chatterbox. Later, when it was quite late, they wandered together beneath a massive stone colonnade. They were at a high point of the Divine Palace, offering a view of most of Geyameti City, the desolate rocky basins in the distance, and the underwater mountain ranges that the ancient civilized city leaned against. "Those mountains were volcanic islands hundreds of millions of years ago, submerged by the sea after becoming extinct volcanoes," Su Shiye explained thoughtfully, noticing Fan Li looking at them. "But they are part of a chain; some parts still protrude above the sea surface and frequently erupt with magma." "Will that affect the cities in the sea?" "No. Their lives are separate from ours. In four hundred and fifty million years of history, we have almost never interfered with one another." "They?" "Yes, the Flame Tribe." "Eh? What does 'Flame Tribe' mean? Are they the descendants left behind by the Lord of Flame?" Fan Li recalled what she had learned in history class. "Clever. The Flame Tribe is a race even more violent and unrestrained than the Ocean Tribes. If it weren't for the fact that their remnants are so few and Deep Blue left them so little living space, we probably wouldn't be able to coexist in peace." "Then... where do they live?" Fan Li thought of a hypothesis that gave her goosebumps. "It couldn't be... inside the magma, could it?" "It is." "..." The goosebumps were practically being washed away by the seawater. Fan Li shuddered. "So hot, so sticky." "When they see us, they probably think the same," Su Shiye mimicked her and shuddered as well. "So cold, so wet." Fan Li burst into laughter and didn't stop for ten seconds. Su Shiye simply smiled. Then, she turned back into a curious child. "Then, when the extinct volcanoes sink into the sea, are they affected inside? Can they still survive?" "Of course. The Lord of Flame was an elemental god with power equal to Deep Blue. The vitality of his descendants is no less than that of the Ocean Tribes." Su Shiye looked toward the mountains, but his gaze traveled further than Fan Li’s, as if he had instantly returned to the world of centuries ago. "Unless extreme methods are used, nothing can completely destroy them." "I see..." Fan Li felt there was a deeper meaning in his words, but she couldn't find the source. "What about the Flame Demon Tribe? Are they the same as the Flame Tribe?" "Do you know of the Glazed Legion and the Fire Sea Legion?" "Mhm. The Glazed Legion was created by Deep Blue using Arcane magic—the highest legion of the Light Sea today still uses that name. The Fire Sea Legion was created by the Lord of Flame, Chi Hong, using Fel energy. The former are the ancestors of the Sea God Tribe, and the latter are the ancestors of the Flame Demon Tribe. The ancestors of the Ocean and Hunter Tribes are creatures created by Deep Blue by merging Arcane magic with marine life. That's why they can intermarry, yet they have reproductive isolation from the one-hundred-percent Arcane lifeforms of the Sea God Tribe." "Not bad, your history is quite good." Having said this, Su Shiye looked back at her, leaning closer to whisper in her ear, "You know that the Hunter Tribe and the Ocean Tribe have no reproductive isolation and can produce beautiful babies, right?" "Right..." Halfway through, Fan Li noticed the mirth in his eyes and her face flushed uncontrollably again. "I—I—I didn't mean it like that..." "Hmm? Like what?" Su Shiye blinked, looking somewhat boyish. "No, no," Fan Li waved her hands frantically. "I just think you're right. I have a mixed-blood friend in my class who I'm close with, and he's quite good-looking." "Do you like him?" "No, no..." Fan Li shook her head again. "We're just friends. But he is a very kind, upright, and just boy, braver than many pure-blooded Hunters..." "You like him." "I don't..." Fan Li lowered her head and suddenly sighed. "When I'm with him, I just feel very safe. I haven't thought about much else." Su Shiye watched her for a moment before changing the subject. "Where were we—ah, right. Both the Flame Demon Tribe and the Flame Tribe are descendants of the Fire Sea Legion. But after Chi Hong was buried in the Abyss, he used his last breath to pour red Fel energy into the ancestors of the Flame Demon Tribe. Therefore, those deep-sea races are much stronger than the Flame Tribe. Even at the bottom of the ocean, when they enter a combat state, their body temperature can reach four hundred degrees Celsius..." No matter what Su Shiye said, Fan Li listened like a student sitting in the front row of a class. Nearby, seaweed pots with branches drooping like willows hung from the tops of the pillars, adorned with colorful starfish and sea urchin shells that looked almost alive. The stone colonnades and rooflines before her formed a grand frame, enclosing a masterpiece titled *Night in Geyameti*. And when Su Shiye’s gaze shifted back to Fan Li, the painting should have been renamed *Beautiful Ocean Girl atop the Resurrection Divine Palace*. The faint light of the seabed was reflected in her eyes, shimmering with the shadows of orange and blue starfish. Seaweed swayed in the water, and her curly short hair, dyed deep red by the night, swayed silently as well. So did Su Shiye’s snow-white hair. In this moment, he remembered many things from the past: the disasters that were now settled history. The towns that had turned into hell at his command. A race that had completely vanished from history. The pale, tearful face of his late fiancée before she died. The brother who had sworn under the statue of Deep Blue to break all ties with a demon like him, preferring to die on the battlefield rather than return to reconcile. His parents' deaths and their final entrustment. The green years when he first wanted to protect a girl. The unrequited love where he first wanted to kiss but didn't dare. "Su Shiye, a man like you will not die a good death," Su Yi had once said to him in prison, her eyes as cold as deep-sea ice. Over two hundred years had passed; people came and went, lives bloomed and withered. None of it seemed to concern him anymore. Only the great ocean remained exactly as it had been four billion years ago. "Lord Su Shiye." Suddenly, the girl's voice pulled him back from his memories. "Actually, I've always wanted to ask you a question..." Fan Li toyed with the hair near her ear, looking a bit embarrassed. "Why are you so good to me?" Su Shiye smiled. "I think you are very simple, as pure as a freshwater stream. Sorry, my metaphor is a bit cheesy. But that is my true thought." "But my body is Su Yi's. Don't you find it... strange?" "I don't see you as Su Yi. You are nothing like her. Su Yi was a woman with a strong desire for control, calculating, and far too clever for her own good—I'm not insulting her; on the contrary, she might be quite happy to hear such an evaluation. She hated nothing more than people underestimating her intelligence, especially a man like me. It's just that such women don't attract me. I still prefer simpler girls, like you. You are like a blank sheet of paper, having experienced nothing, filled only with longing and passion for life." Fan Li was made even more self-conscious by his praise. "I'm not that great. I'm just an ordinary student. There are many girls like me at school." "No, you are different." For some reason, the expression he wore when he said this reminded Fan Li of Xing Hai. But it was only for a fleeting second. Then, he returned to being very much Su Shiye. "You might think I'm being chauvinistic, but I truly hope to protect you and let you keep this innocence forever." At this point, his smile wasn't deep, but it was confident. "And I have the power to do so." The next day, they embarked on their journey to the Winter Sea. Moving from a place of extreme heat to one of extreme cold, the seawater gradually became turbid, filled with nutrients and plankton brought up by upwelling currents. Ninety percent of an iceberg is submerged in the sea. Antioch, the capital of the Winter Sea, was an underwater ice city built upon a submerged iceberg. The biosphere here was vastly different from the Red Moon Sea or the Resurrection Sea. Above were fat polar bears; below were giant isopods ten centimeters long. The entire city exhibited severe polar gigantism: wild sponges could grow to two meters high, and the production of bioluminescent krill in the aquatic zones weighed between one hundred to five hundred million tons. In winter, there were copepods submerged below three hundred meters. In the open waters above and around Antioch, right whales were everywhere, along with dreamlike creatures like belugas and narwhals—they migrated here for the winter, and when spring arrived, they would follow the cracks in the receding ice to feed and live in the frozen fjords. For now, they would only occasionally dive below five hundred and fifty meters to hunt Greenland halibut and polar cod. In this season, periwinkles lived in the minus-fifteen-degree sea, having already dehydrated themselves to prevent ice crystals from forming inside their bodies. Due to political reasons, they did not sightsee inside Antioch. Su Shiye said he would take Fan Li out to sea to watch the aurora. Fan Li only caught one opportunity to pick out antifreeze in a specialty shop outside the city. "This one seems even better than the Matthew Ice City Silverfish Sugar Peptide Antifreeze." Fan Li compared several tubes with different packaging, muttering to herself, "Hmm, the probability of these sugar peptides attaching to ice crystals is 96.8%, which is indeed 3.2% higher than the ones from the Ice City. Winter City truly lives up to its reputation..." Matthew Ice City was located in the Red Moon Sea and, like Winter City, was famous for its silverfish; it was also Teacher Yinbeier’s hometown. Marine organisms use antifreeze in their tissues to prevent themselves from freezing when the water temperature is too low. In extremely cold waters, over sixty percent of fish (including silverfish) utilize antifreeze mechanisms, living in a "supercooled" state where their body temperature drops below the freezing point. These fish only use more than eight types of antifreeze called "glycopeptides" during the winter, making them much more cold-resistant than fish in other waters. Consequently, the antifreeze they naturally produce is the best and most durable in the entire Light Sea. Adding it to fresh meat allows it to remain delicious and fresh for a long time, even in a refrigerator. "Why buy antifreeze? Luoya isn't that cold," Su Shiye said beside her. "No, I'm buying it to use for cooking..." When she turned around, she realized the distance between them was too close; her poor heart couldn't take it. Just as she was about to step back, Su Shiye gave her a light kiss. "Buy them all. Give them to the secretary to settle the bill. We need to hurry out to sea, or we'll miss the aurora. I'll wait for you outside." "Okay." Despite her words, Fan Li’s brain had short-circuited. What was that quick peck just now? Su Shiye turned and walked out. Fan Li covered her lips, standing there like a mess in the wind—no, a mess in the water. How could Lord Su Shiye be so casual!! But she liked his casualness so much... Heavens, how could she like his casualness? Liking it this much made her seem even more casual! Aaaah, she was so useless... Her mood had been up and down for the past two days, leaving her utterly conflicted. Now that she had been kissed by Su Shiye, she was so flustered she wanted to ram her head into the antifreeze shelf. She had intended to pay herself, but the secretary rushed to pay for her. Fortunately, Su Shiye didn't provoke her further on the way, allowing her to finally regain her senses. Re-entering the cabin, she sat beside Su Shiye and pushed the money for the antifreeze toward him. "Miss Fan Li, are you trying to amuse me?" Su Shiye looked at the handful of humble coins and raised an eyebrow. "I haven't paid for accommodation or travel this whole way. It's better to settle the bill for the souvenirs." "I am a man. If I invite a girl out and let her pay, what kind of image would I have left if word got out?" Su Shiye pushed the coins back. "Keep them. Consider it a gift for your company these past two days." Su Shiye always had a way of saying things that were impossible to refuse, as if rejecting his kindness was doing him harm. Fan Li could only take the money back. "Then next time you come to Luoya, I'll treat you to dinner." "Home-cooked?" "I can do that. As long as you don't mind..." "Deal." Fan Li knew from books that the Winter Sea had two territories at the coldest ends of the Light Sea. Once they went ashore onto the glaciers and saw polar bears, foxes, Greenland seals, and Brünnich's guillemots nesting on the sea cliffs, she was certain: the Winter Sea was the region near the North and South Poles. Moreover, the scenery here was colder and more vast. Aside from those white-colored creatures, only water molecules remained. The water molecules even formed a trinity of wonders: water in the sea, ice in the sea, and mist in the sky. At this moment, Fan Li deeply felt the magnificence of nature and the greatness of the Lord of the Endless Ocean. However, there were also things that could make one completely forget such magnificence and greatness. The sky at the poles darkened early, and the night grew increasingly cold. Su Shiye opened his palm, and countless starlights flew out, rising into the sea mist and illuminating the glacier as if it were day. He was practically like a god... "You're so-so-so-so-so amazing, and it's re-re-re-re-really beau-beau-beau-beautiful here, but it's also way too co-co-co-co-cold..." Fan Li shivered in the freezing wind, the tip of her small nose turning red from the cold. Seeing her like this, Su Shiye couldn't help but laugh. "I told you to wear more clothes earlier." "But you-you-you-you're wearing le-le-le-less than me..." "Our constitutions are different." "Fine-fine-fine..." Fan Li scurried around shivering, chasing a few small seals that scurried away from her. But the polar climate was truly not something an ordinary Ocean Tribe member could endure. She felt that only the centers of her palms and the soles of her feet were slightly warm; her ten fingers and ten toes felt like they were made of popsicles, completely disconnected from her body. When she yawned, the tears froze into ice on her face within seconds. She took off a glove to feel the downy fur of a white seal pup—these pups could be completely independent in twelve days—and her entire hand throbbed with pain as if pierced by tens of thousands of steel needles. Su Shiye knew exactly what her constitution was like. After watching her struggle for a while, he thought she was quite resilient. He waved her over. "Come here, I'll help you stay warm." "Huh? Me?" "Who else? Am I supposed to keep the seals warm?" "That's not a bad idea!" Despite her words, Fan Li was very happy—she had almost forgotten that the man before her possessed Arcane strength no less than any famous Great Arcanist. He should know heating spells. So, she let go of the seal she had been rubbing until it fled and quickly ran to him. Instead, he unfastened her shawl, opened his arms, and pulled her entirely under his fur cloak. His body temperature was completely different from when they were in the sea; he was as hot as if he had a high fever. To Fan Li, it was as comfortable as being fished out of a frozen sea and placed next to a furnace. She was so happy she felt dizzy. If it weren't for her modesty, she would have wanted to hang off him entirely, completely forgetting to ask why he didn't just use Arcane magic. "Is this better?" Su Shiye whispered in her ear. There was no one else here but the two of them, yet he still spoke in a whisper—gentle and alluring, making her heart race wildly. She finally realized that this method of warming up was far too intimate. But, just like the kiss, she didn't reject his embrace. In fact, she quite liked it... She was too bashful to even say "mhm," so she could only nod silently and then whisper, "Lord Su Shiye, why is your body temperature so high?" "Different constitution." True, for a superhuman body like his, having a heating function in cold places seemed like a trivial matter. While she was very attached to this fiery embrace, she also felt that Su Shiye doing this was perhaps not quite appropriate. Su Shiye saw Fan Li looking up at him. Her eyes were more beautiful than the sea behind them, a deep, profound blue, but this deep blue was filled with helplessness and shyness. The tip of her nose was still red, which, against her snow-white face, made her look like a cute little snowman with a carrot nose. "Your body is still very cold inside, isn't it?" He covered her ears with his fingers, saying tenderly, "You're almost frostbitten." Compared to the cold of the weather, the trembling of her heart was what Fan Li cared about most. Locking eyes with Su Shiye was truly the boldest thing she had ever done. Under the light of the Arcane magic, his pupils were slit-like, looking like a predator in its most ruthless state. Yet, he breathed slightly, exhaling white mist, and because of the subtle emotions in his words and gaze, he possessed the depth and gentleness of an ocean current. It was as if a pair of hands had grabbed her feet in the abyss, dragging her into a bottomless temptation. If she kept looking at him like this, she was going to sink... "Mhm, it's okay." She blinked rapidly, trying to stay conscious. "Lord Su Shiye, actually, although it's cold here, it's very..." The hand covering her ear slid down slightly, touching her cheek. Then, he lowered his head, his yellow sapphire earring flashing sharply in the cold air. While she was still speaking, he used his lips to deliver a scalding heat into her mouth. Fan Li froze. Then, slender fingertips threaded through her curls, cradling the back of her head... Pressed against her lips, he whispered, "How about this? Is the temperature okay?" "It... it's okay..." Fear, warmth, excitement, tension... countless complex emotions mixed together, leaving Fan Li completely unsure of how to react. "Need it to be a bit warmer?" "No need..." "Then I'll keep it at this temperature." He sent a bit more warmth into her mouth, holding her tightly in his burning, firm embrace. The polar wind blew past, lifting her youthful, lively curls and revealing her smooth forehead and small chin. It also ruffled his snow-white hair, revealing the sharp, lean contours of his jaw, his canyon-like brow, and the bridge of his nose. A man with such fierce features, yet the touch of his lips was so soft it sent an electric shock down her spine. This wasn't nearly enough... But no matter what position she was in, she shouldn't ask for more from him. She didn't even know what she was doing. Suddenly, something touched the tip of her tongue. Her eyes snapped wide. Then, Su Shiye held her head with both hands and formally entered her mouth, teasing the tip of her tongue twice before deepening the kiss. The current on her spine struck her brain directly. Just when she thought she was about to faint, he withdrew slightly, continuing to gently brush against the tip of her tongue. The current trembled, attacking her central nervous system. But the moment she relaxed, he suddenly kissed her deeply again, almost reaching her throat... The circuit struck her heart. She died inside once more. What should she do? This felt so wrong... but she liked everything about Su Shiye. When he kissed her, he usually kept his eyes closed, but occasionally he would open them, inadvertently revealing a cold and sexy gaze that made her brain stall and her whole head buzz, completely losing her usual calm. "Lili, you're so cute," Su Shiye stroked her hair, his lips against hers as he said softly, "I like you so much." A confession like an aphrodisiac. An inescapable sinking. She didn't want to stop. She was even led into a daze by him and began to respond... Her initiative made Su Shiye’s breathing grow heavier. No matter how gentle his speech was, the dominance in his instincts could not be changed. She had only just begun to "counter-attack" for a second before he took control again, kissing her back with overwhelming aggression. Later, the aurora finally descended upon the night sky, drawing a long, soft river of stars across the deep blue curtain, rolling in layers, flickering on and off, so beautiful it made one forget to breathe. But they missed the scenery for something even more beautiful. And the reason they forgot to breathe wasn't the aurora, but this even more beautiful thing.