Liam White went again to observe the rooms of Lucy Carter and Andrew Carter. He carefully compared them and found that the mermaid sculptures in these rooms were indeed closer to human skin color than the one in his own room—both in texture and color. Moreover, the sculptures’ facial features were beginning to resemble those of the people living in the rooms.

Chapter 7: Siren Town

Lucy Carter sat at the dining table, looking as if she hadn’t slept well either. She yawned listlessly and leaned against Liam White. Jeffrey Howard was even sleepier, dozing off all morning, with dark circles under his eyes, his skin tinged with a bluish-gray, and his eye sockets sunken. Liam White wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Andrew Carter’s pupils had shrunk a bit compared to yesterday. The whole person exuded a neurotic, irritable vibe that made people uncomfortable, and there was a faint fishy smell coming from him.

Liam White took out a coin and scanned Andrew Carter with it.

[NPC Name: Andrew Carter (Mental value declining, undergoing aberration)]

Andrew Carter was eating voraciously, shoveling huge portions from the hotel’s buffet breakfast into his mouth as if he were pouring food straight down his throat.

Because this hotel was by the sea, most of the breakfast consisted of various fish dishes—fried, boiled, grilled, and so on. The fish soup was glossy and smooth, the fish fillets golden and crispy, all looking very appetizing. But Liam White smelled a pungent, rotten fish stench, like the smell of dead fish surrounded by flies at the fishmongers’ trash heap in the market. As soon as he got close to these seemingly delicious fish dishes, he started to gag, let alone swallow any.

Yet both Jeffrey Howard and Lucy Carter looked as if they found these things delicious.

Liam White took out the coin and scanned them as well. As expected, both showed [undergoing aberration], which was probably related to the mermaid statues in their rooms.

As for Andrew Carter, it went without saying—his way of eating made Liam White uncomfortable. Andrew Carter chewed in big mouthfuls, the wet, slick, dark fish tails slapping against his lips as he chewed. Often, before he’d even finished what was in his mouth, he’d already forked the next piece and stuffed it in.

Lucy Carter cut her fish fillet with a knife and fork, looking at Liam White in mild surprise. “Aren’t you eating, darling? The fish fillets here are really delicious. Even though I’m on a diet, I couldn’t help but eat two already!”

“You really picked a pretty good seaside hotel!” As she spoke, Lucy Carter leaned over to kiss him, but Liam White was choked by the strong fishy smell from her mouth and instinctively pushed her away. After a moment’s thought, he pulled Lucy Carter’s plate closer and pretended to say seriously, “Darling, your figure is just right now. I won’t allow you to lose your beauty over a piece of fish. Let’s have some vegetables instead. The fish fillets here are nothing special.” Liam White crossed his arms and pretended to comment arrogantly.

Lucy Carter was coaxed into delight. Although she was still reluctant to part with the fish fillets, she obediently ate a lot of salad. Liam White also casually served plenty of salad to Jeffrey Howard and Andrew Carter, urging them to eat. Jeffrey Howard ate whatever Liam White gave him, looking a bit absent-minded.

But Andrew Carter looked at Liam White with disdain, sneering, “Could it be that our rich guy is out of money? Before we came, you boasted that everything here would be on you, and now you can’t even let us have a piece of fish fillet. Lucy Carter, look, this is your stingy boyfriend!”

Lucy Carter immediately snapped, “Andrew Carter! If it weren’t for Liam White, do you think you’d be able to eat this kind of high-end fish fillet at a hotel like this? You wouldn’t even be able to stay here! Look at how much you’ve eaten—if Liam White didn’t pay for you, you wouldn’t even be able to leave this hotel!”

“Lucy Carter!” Andrew Carter roared, but Lucy Carter held her head high and stared him down, refusing to back off. Andrew Carter couldn’t do anything to the woman he liked, so he turned to vent all his anger on Liam White. He spread his large hand, clearly intending to grab Liam White by the back of the collar. Andrew Carter was obviously the violent type—he’d rather use his fists than his brain.

Amid Lucy Carter’s screams, Liam White calmly wiped his mouth, looked at Andrew Carter, and smiled. “If you still want me to pay for you, you’d better not touch me.”

Andrew Carter’s hand froze in midair. His nostrils flared and contracted like a bull’s, snorting with rapid, furious breaths. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Liam White, threatening fiercely, “If you can’t do what we bet on tonight, I swear I’ll make you, you useless little prick who can’t even get a woman, regret it!”

His eyes were full of bloodshot veins, as if his rage had gone straight to his head and made him dizzy. But he couldn’t do anything to Liam White, since he still needed him to pay. Just then, a piece of broccoli accidentally rolled off Jeffrey Howard’s plate as he was eating with his head down and landed on Andrew Carter’s shoe.

Andrew Carter was like a balloon inflated to the limit, suddenly popped by that piece of broccoli—his anger burst out uncontrollably. Before Jeffrey Howard could even apologize, Andrew Carter swung his hand and slapped Jeffrey Howard hard on the back of the head, smashing his head into the plate and making him vomit up everything he’d eaten that morning.