I was born a god, the son of the Demon Lord.

Xu Nanyi tightened her grip on her hand a little.

Hailey turned her head to look at her, her blue eyes sparkling in the dim light: "So I know he is my father, he must be. Even if he is still so young in this timeline, before he met my mother, before he became a general... he is still my father."

"And look, even though he's a bit clumsy and can't beat Aunt Yue, he loves me so much! He bought me so many delicious things! He even made me a new tail ring!"

Shen Xizhou muttered, "Then what will you do when you want to go back to your timeline in the future?"

Hailey paused for a moment, then buried her face in the blankets, her voice muffled: "...I don't know. But I'm already so happy that he's still alive in this timeline."

Xu Nanyi didn't say anything, but moved closer to Hailey, rested her little head on Hailey's shoulder, and gently rubbed against her.

The three children huddled together and slowly fell asleep.

The night was quiet underwater, with only the sound of waves gently lapping against the windowpane and the long, deep cries of an unknown sea creature in the distance, one after another, like a lullaby in the deepest part of the ocean.

Early the next morning.

"Knock knock knock!"

"Lily! Open the door! It's Daddy!"

In the room, Hailey was sitting on the edge of the bed, her little hands deftly running through Xu Nanyi's hair.

She divided Xu Nanyi's soft, dark hair into several strands, braided them into thin braids, and then took out a round, pink pearl from a small box next to her, carefully attaching it to the end of the braid.

Xu Nanyi sat obediently without moving, letting her do whatever she wanted, with a piece of coral candy she hadn't finished before bed still in her mouth, her cheeks bulging.

"Alright!" Hailey clapped her hands, admiring her work with satisfaction. "Yiyi, it's so beautiful!"

Xu Nanyi shook her head, the pearls on her braid swaying gently. She liked it too, and smiled at Hailey, her eyes crinkling, "Thank you, Hailey!"

"Quick, quick, my dad's here!" Hailey jumped off the bed, flicked her tail, and swam toward the door, pulling open the latch.

Outside the door, Wei Shenglan was carrying a large seashell food box in her left hand and a seaweed mesh bag in her right hand, which was bulging with several small jars.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding!"

Wei Shenglan held the food box forward, lifting the lid halfway, and a fresh, sweet aroma immediately wafted out. "Sea Clan breakfast! Father specially went to buy this early this morning!"

Hailey leaned closer and peeked inside, her eyes instantly lighting up: "Wow! Let me see! Let me see!"

Several items were neatly arranged in the food box.

The golden-yellow steamed sea urchin egg is sprinkled with fine red coral powder. The palm-sized pearl tart is decorated with caviar and a touch of emerald green seaweed flakes on its flaky crust. Next to it is a plate of crispy fried anchovy balls, each one coated with a thin batter and glistening with oil in the morning light.

The small jars in the net bag contained seaweed honeydew, coral flower tea, and a small jar of pickled sea anemones. As soon as the lids were lifted, they released a rich underwater aroma.

"Wow! Yi Yi! Xiao Zhou! Come look! My dad bought so many delicious things!"

Shen Xizhou's dragon tail stopped wagging, and he stared wide-eyed at the plate of silver fish balls: "What's this? It smells so good!"

"Silver fish balls! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, they're best eaten dipped in that amber sauce!" Wei Shenglan said as she placed the food box on the table and quickly set out the bowls and plates.

"Come on, eat it while it's hot!"

The three children sat around the table. Hailey first put a pearl tart on Xu Nanyi's plate, then stuffed two silver fish balls into Shen Xizhou's bowl, before happily starting to eat her own steamed sea urchin egg.

Wei Shenglan watched with a smile, occasionally adding a spoonful of seaweed honey to her daughter's bowl, and then straightening the coral flower tea canister that was about to tip over in front of Xu Nanyi, bustling around like a seagull circling a fledgling.

Xu Nanyi took a bite of the pearl tart. The flaky crust melted in her mouth, and the sweet tart meat and caviar exploded on her tongue. Her eyes lit up, and she mumbled something.

"Thank you, Uncle Weisheng! It's delicious!"

With three silver fish balls stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks bulging like a little hamster, Shen Xizhou nodded, "Mmm! Delicious!"

Seeing the children eating happily, Wei Shenglan couldn't help but smile, saying, "It's alright, it's alright! As long as you enjoy it!"

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

Wei Shenglan stiffened her neck and slowly, inch by inch, turned her head.

Lin Qingyue leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, scrutinizing her future "brother-in-law".

Wei Shenglan forced a dry smile: "...Good morning, Miss Lin."

Lin Qingyue hummed in agreement, but her gaze remained fixed on the object.

Wei Shenglan silently turned her head and muttered under her breath, "Lily, why does your aunt look at you like you're a criminal..."

Hailey was engrossed in preparing the steamed sea urchin and egg, not even looking up: "Mother Queen said it's a sign of friendly family affection, you'll get used to it!"

Wei Shenglan almost choked to death on her own saliva.

……

On the way to the Temple of Dreamland, the underwater scenery gradually changed. The corals changed from vibrant light colors to a deep, dark blue, and the seawater also darkened. Occasionally, huge sea monster skeletons were half-buried in the sand, with glowing deep-sea moss growing between the bones, emitting a faint fluorescent blue light.

Lin Qingyue walked at the front of the group, leading the way while explaining the history of their guardians to the three people behind her.

"The deep-sea rift appeared about five thousand years ago. At that time, the first guardian, the Holy Maiden of Azure Heaven, was still alive. A large number of strange beasts emerged from the rift and slaughtered nearly two-thirds of the marine life."

Xu Nanyi followed behind her, her short legs moving incredibly fast just to keep up, but her ears were perked up high.

"Later, the Holy Maiden of the Azure Sky joined forces with the Sea God to seal the rift, using the Dreamland Temple as the eye of the formation to suppress this sea area."

Lin Qingyue paused, glanced back at the three children, and said, "So if we want to go down into the depths of the rift today, we must first get past the temple and obtain permission from the Sea God."

Shen Xizhou tilted his head: "What if Lord Sea God doesn't let us in?"

"Then we'll have to think of other ways." Lin Qingyue said casually, but her brows were slightly furrowed, clearly troubled by the problem.

Xu Nanyi didn't pay much attention to the latter part; her mind was preoccupied with something else—the fruit she ate at the temple last time!

She swallowed hard, wondering if she could manage to pick up a couple more this time...

It would be great if I could bring some back for my father and mother to try.

As she was happily daydreaming, Hayley patted her chest reassuringly, "Aunt Yue, don't worry! I'm the future heir of the Sea God, the Sea God certainly won't stop me from going in!"

Lin Qingyue glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Shen Xizhou immediately retorted, "That's what you said last time! And we both ended up crawling through a dog hole together!"

Hailey's face flushed red: "That's different! As long as I can get in, that's fine!"