“Are you here to seize my abs again tonight?”

The question both confirmed his identity and was a playful tease.

Bai Ling felt his pocket and blurted out, “I didn’t bring a biscuit today.”

The implication was clear: if he had brought a biscuit, he would have wanted to do it again. Yu Chen listened and couldn’t help but smile.

What a bold little bird.

Elsewhere, the AI butler sucked in a sharp breath of coolant. No wonder! So that’s where the Master had gotten that cheap biscuit. It was…

It was a sales pitch from this “Little Bird” brand domestic robot!

Master accepted the biscuit and invited him to touch his abs. According to human logic, that’s basically an invitation for… more.

A light flashed in the AI’s camera. Master, leave it to me!

It glided over, pulled Bai Ling outside, and said mysteriously, “Brother, so you’re in that line of work. You should have said so earlier! Our master… appreciates you. I’d like to ask for your basic information, is that okay?”

Bai Ling froze. “What kind of information?”

The AI counted on its pincers. “Are you under contract? Number of uses? Service life?”

Generally, domestic-type robots were dispatched by a company, but some “androids” worked freelance.

The latter type usually had a more exquisite appearance and more functions, but of course, their price was much higher. After all, a pretty face and soft-fill materials were expensive, driving up the cost.

Looking at the “android” in front of it: his features were cold and stunning, and the white-hair-gray-eye color scheme gave him a high-class, inorganic feel. Based on the face, he must have been crafted by some industry-leading designer. He was gorgeous.

However, his body had a severe defect—

The right leg was cleanly severed 5cm above the knee. Such severe damage hadn’t even been repaired and was carelessly fitted with a prosthesis. He looked less like a product and more like a piece of private property that had escaped from an abusive situation.

If he was under contract, its Master couldn’t hire him.

Therefore, the AI had to ask clearly.

“Contract?” Bai Ling thought for a moment. He hadn’t reported to a mecha association yet. “I’m currently a free agent.”

As for “number of uses” and “service life”… Was the robot asking about his breeding history and his age?

He was still in his first differentiation, not yet in his second. The “number of uses” was clearly zero.

He organized his thoughts and used terminology the robot would understand:

“My ‘service life’ is 19 years. As for ‘number of uses,’ you could say I’m ‘unopened.’ Are you asking this because you need my help with something?”

Bai Ling didn’t find these questions strange.

In his past life, he had specialized in salvaging and repairing secondhand carriers and often dealt with less-intelligent robots. The questions those artificial-idiots asked were even more nonsensical. So, he naturally assumed the robot was asking if he could help with repairs or something similar.

The AI mysteriously lowered its voice. “Exactly! To help promote your business, you know?”

Bai Ling nodded. He understood: it really wanted him for repairs.

His gaze swept the corridor. It was certainly opulent, but the lights were dim and wires were exposed. It looked like it hadn’t been maintained in years. Combining that with the lean, powerful body inside (which didn’t fit the tyrant’s aesthetic at all), he came to a logical conclusion:

This is a ‘deposed’ concubine who wanted him to… fix a lightbulb.

Wait… this scenario is a little weird.

It’s like he was sneaking around with the tyrant’s omega while the tyrant was away.

At this thought, Bai Ling hesitated. He had only just arrived and was moving around under a false identity. Causing this kind of trouble would surely bring disaster.

He should probably refuse for now.

Just as he was about to speak, the AI glanced at a message and said in surprise, “Oh! Master says he’d like to invite you to stay and eat.”

The moment “eat” was mentioned, Bai Ling’s programming kicked in. “Eat what?”

The AI replied with perfect articulation and an enigmatic smile: “Meat.”

---

Hearing there was meat, Bai Ling didn’t actually get his hopes up.

In recent years, thanks to the tyrant Kaide’s relentless efforts, the Empire’s inflation had hit new highs, well on its way to catching up with the Zimbabwean dollar.

With prices skyrocketing, ordinary families had to check their savings just to buy fruits or vegetables. As for fresh meat, it was completely out of the question.

Therefore, Bai Ling figured the “meat” the man was offering was definitely synthetic.

But it was better than nothing.

At that moment, on the elegantly patterned tablecloth, a thick steak sat on a gold-embroidered plate. The ) is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars to create melanoidins, the compounds that give browned food its distinctive flavor. Seared steaks, fried dumplings, cookies and other kinds of biscuits, breads, toasted marshmallows, falafel and many other foods undergo this reaction.</p> <p id='paragraph-47' data-paragraph-id='47' ><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-116781" src="https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Maillard1preview-051de31-1003x1024.webp" alt="" width="1003" height="1024" /></p> <p id='paragraph-48' data-paragraph-id='48' >" footnote="false"]Maillard reaction had given it a perfect, seared brown crust.

Bai Ling cut a small piece and put it in his mouth. The instant it hit his tongue, the juices exploded against his teeth. The creamy fragrance of rosemary and fat flowed wantonly, as if proudly declaring—

It was fresh. It was real meat, absolutely not starch-filled synthetic junk.

Devouring it voraciously was the only way to show it proper respect!

By the time he came to his senses, more than half the steak was gone. Bai Ling silently lowered his gaze, forcing himself to put down his fork, fighting his own appetite.

He can’t eat any more of it. Good things have to be saved and eaten slowly.

This was a habit he had developed while wandering around after his decline in his past life. In that turbulent and impoverished era, it was rare to find someone who would kindly offer you a meal.

He peeked at the man at the head of the table. Knowing the man couldn’t see, Bai Ling discreetly wrapped the remaining meat in his napkin, slid it into his pocket, and prepared to take it.

At the long, European-style walnut wood table, Yu Chen heard the slight friction of cloth and the way the omega’s breathing had suddenly become cautious and light. He leaned forward slightly and asked politely:

“Is it to your liking?”

Bai Ling said, “The meat is a generous portion. Thank you for your hospitality.”

Yu Chen calmly lifted his wine glass, took a sip, and said casually, “No need for thanks. By the way, that biscuit… that’s a week’s worth of rations for you, isn’t it?”

He knew that the omegas in the palace were deliberately starved to force them to lose weight.

This was especially true for those with no one to look after them, those who had no family slipping money to the staff to care for them. They were pitiful.

Yu Chen thought of that dry, hard compressed biscuit. He hadn’t been able to swallow it even with milk, yet this omega had braved the wind and hail to bring it back to eat.

It was enough to prove that this child lived through hardships others couldn’t even imagine.

Bai Ling’s lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t answer right away.

He was unwilling to admit that this was the first nutritious, filling meal he’d eaten since his amputation this month. If he included his past life, this was probably the first time anyone had actively offered him meat since his fall from grace.

Everyone else could see he was skin and bones, with a pale face.

Only this blind man had offered him beef.

He would always be grateful.

But he couldn’t admit the truth. He could only tell a lie that befitted the concubine identity he was impersonating:

“Rations is a strong word. It was just a snack. Once my family isn’t so busy, they’ll send someone to bring me food.”

Hearing this, Yu Chen remained noncommittal, but a smile of amusement touched his lips. “What species of bird are you?”

Bai Ling said, “Great Tit subspecies. Black back, white belly, from planet Koro. My human form’s hair is white.”

A Great Tit’s main diet was insects, but they also preyed on small sparrows. It wasn’t inconsistent with eating meat.

The answer was watertight.

But Yu Chen wasn’t so easily fooled.

He gave a low laugh. “So, a weak, broken-legged little shuttlecock also wants to assassinate Izsu Paraiso?”

Weak. Shuttlecock. Every word dripped with contempt.

The words had barely left his mouth when Yu Chen felt the back of his chair yank behind. The next second, a long leg swung over his lap, and he was straddled. His throat went cold. A gleaming dinner knife was pressed against his skin, its flat blade angled just enough to reflect a pair of harsh, icy gray eyes.

“Is this ‘enough’ for you?” Bai Ling’s voice was cold.

Yu Chen yielded to the pressure of the blade, tilting his neck back slightly. His tone remained as elegant as ever. “‘Great Tit,’ you said? I don’t recall hearing that your species of little birds is more aggressive than a hawk.”

Bai Ling’s eyes narrowed dangerously. He was about to ask what the hell the man thought he was doing, but he froze.

This man… he was completely ignoring the sharp blade at his throat. He pressed against the knife, leaning forward inch by inch, forcing Bai Ling, who was sitting on his lap, to involuntarily pull back.

Bai Ling had intended to pin him with his posture, but now the man was forcing him into retreat.

A thin, red line appeared on the man’s sculpted, ivory-colored neck. The color was a vivid red, like the tip of a demon’s tongue, and from that distance, it seemed to lick at Bai Ling’s eyes, making them burn.

 

Yu Chen was perfectly at ease. Bai Ling’s breathing, however, gradually grew strained. It was the suffocating feeling of having initiated an attack, only to be completely overpowered and crushed by an apex predator far above his level.

His gaunt knuckles clenched around the dinner knife, but now his fingertips unconsciously trembled.

He couldn’t bring himself to strike.

That radiant, wavy golden hair was close enough to catch his breath. The cheek he had pressed against was right there. Bai Ling’s breathing was in disarray, and he was completely unaware of how many pheromones he was inhaling. As he tensed and took a step back, his lower back slammed hard against the edge of a table. Pain!

“Ah…” Bai Ling instantly doubled over in pain.

He instinctively reached for the spot, but a long, slender hand took charge of his lower back instead. It was tentative and gentle at first, then the arm tightened, pulling him forward. With the motion, Bai Ling crashed, stunned, into that soft, golden sea, falling against the man’s shoulder—

In an instant, he fell from a hell of strained breathing into a gentle heaven.

“Little liar.” The low voice vibrated against his ear, making his heart tremble along with it.

Bai Ling gritted his teeth. “I didn’t lie,” he snarked.

“You didn’t?”

A strand of hair brushed against Bai Ling’s cheek, and his heart sped up for no reason. The man bent slightly, felt around in Bai Ling’s pocket, and pulled something out. He tossed it onto a dinner plate and asked:

“You didn’t lie? Then what is this?”

Half a piece of beef rolled out, landing wretchedly in the corner of the plate, as if it were criminal evidence.

Yu Chen asked slowly, “Is this one of the vile habits you learned while you were homeless?”

His tone was condescending, carrying a faint condemnation.

Vile habits.

An indescribable emotion surged up all at once.

Compared to the countless insults he had heard before, those two words should have been harmless. But coming from this person, who had just shown him such kindness, Bai Ling’s heart couldn’t help but feel a deep, sharp sting.

He struggled hard to break free from the hold. Balancing on his broken prosthesis, Bai Ling lowered his gaze and began to limp toward the door.

Yu Chen turned his face toward him. His voice deepened, like a command. “Come back.”

He stopped. Bai Ling’s breathing was chaotic, his rigidly straight spine swayed like a small tree in a storm. He turned back with a cold sneer on his face as he bit out:

“A blond aristocrat like you… you’ve never known the taste of starvation, have you?”

Yes, he had lied.

“…I’m just a despicable, low-class stray.”

I have no family who loves me.

I’m just a cripple, kicked out of the army, a piece of trash betrayed by his friends years later.

“…But I absolutely did not steal from you.”

I just wanted to save that piece of meat for tomorrow.

The room was silent, save for the low, lonely hum of the central air.

Yu Chen sat up straight in his high-backed chair, lacing his fingers. “There won’t be a next time,” he told him.

Bai Ling’s eyelashes lowered. His thin, pale eyelids trembled. With a stiff tone, he declared:

“I won’t come back.”

…Asshole.

He turned to leave.

“I meant—” Yu Chen pressed his temples, exasperated. He fumbled for his cane, pushed back his chair, and stood up. “Next time, you’re not allowed to hide it in a napkin. It will breed bacteria. If you want to eat, eat it all right then.”

“If you want to take a portion home, just tell me. I’d be happy to pack it for you.”

Bai Ling froze, staring at him.

The scratch on the man’s neck was healing at a visibly rapid pace. He wiped it with a white napkin, and the flesh became perfect, like a Renaissance statue.

Yu Chen leaned on his black cane and walked over slowly. As he drew near, he asked, “Where are you?” and added in a low voice, “I apologize. My choice of words just now was poor…”

He was actively apologizing.

He raised a hand to feel his way, but the space between his long fingers was suddenly filled by a tuft of soft hair pressing into his palm.

Such a stubborn and honest little white-hair.

Yu Chen stroked the head that had been offered to his hand.

He was very happy. He hadn’t felt this at ease in ten years.

It was as if, after a long period of exhaustion, he was struggling to walk, and he accidentally stepped on the tail of a stray dog he’d only just met. When he crouched down to apologize, the dog had already forgiven him.

He also understood the meaning of that half a piece of beef.

Only an unloved stray dog would learn delayed gratification. It would pick up a meat-covered bone from a passerby, lick it twice, and then reluctantly hide it away in its tattered den. Only at night, when it would rest its little head on its prize, could it fall asleep.

It didn’t expect another handout. It didn’t dare to expect it.

It would just wait, hoping that one day, on a whim, you would stop.

The hand stroking his hair was gentle. In a daze, Bai Ling recalled that unexpected embrace on the terrace. In the darkness, the man had shielded him in the corner, gently offering him such thorough mental soothing…

It had been comforting and considerate.

The beef was digesting in his stomach. The process of protein breaking down into polypeptides made his whole chest and abdomen feel warm. That sense of stability, of being filled with food after being on the verge of collapse from starvation, gave rise to a vague, forbidden hope:

I like this so much.

I wish it was mine.

But this was just a fleeting, unrealistic fantasy.

“Please… don’t hold me.” Bai Ling stepped back, avoiding those warm hands. The glittering crystal chandelier shimmered in fragments in his peripheral vision. He turned his face away in a daze, and muttered:

“If I eat good food every day… I’ll get addicted.”

“Then come every day,” Yu Chen whispered.

Bai Ling looked up. The man stood among the overlapping shadows and light, backlit by a halo, made his features blur. He seemed like the splendor of a bygone era, an old dream resurfacing. He was like a comforting dream that a dying person might have in the dread of their last night.

I seem to…

Have seen this face somewhere before…

Who is he…

Bai Ling tried to grasp that feeling, but a sharp pain flooded his mind, as if it were trying to conceal some unforgettable, deep-seated emotion.

He couldn’t help but say in a low voice, “I don’t need your charity. And I have nothing to repay you with.”

Yu Chen’s reply was gentle, yet permitted no argument:

“If kindness requires repayment, then it shouldn’t be called kindness.”

---

Author has something to say:

It’s a doting daddy who apologizes first…

---

Reviews from JJWXC readers

Review 1

Just finished reading the main text of “The Merman Emperor is a War Prize.”.
I believe this is my favorite novel so far in 2025, without a doubt. The author is undoubtedly someone with exceptional literary skills and profound historical knowledge. Both the plot development and emotional progression are perfectly executed.
What exceptionally stands out is the character development. I can confidently say that among the novels I’ve read in the past two years, few possess such well-rounded character portrayals. Whether protagonists or supporting roles, each character—from their appearance and personality to emotional evolution and combat style—exhibits distinct traits, all of which are captivating. The protagonist’s character is particularly well-crafted, emerging from hardship. While upright characters are common in novels, the author makes great efforts to showcase his uniqueness and emotional depth.
From the perspective of the entire novel, there isn’t a particularly grand or novel worldview. What keeps readers engaged in such a lengthy work is the tight pacing of the plot, the cleverly laid-out foreshadowing, and the well-balanced depiction of war—neither too dry nor too tedious. The well-timed intimate moments between the main characters, while maintaining high sexual tension, are cleverly interspersed throughout the story, preventing reader fatigue from excessive displays of affection or a lack of emotional depth.The dramatic twists and turns of the plot are balanced with a stable emotional arc, creating a sense of immersion where even their successes bring tears to my eyes. Near the end, I was moved—despite being a happily-ever-after, feel-good conclusion, it truly gave me a sense of achievement as if I had weathered countless storms.
I hope this novel can make it into my top three by the end of this year

Review 2(may contain spoilers)

First of all, I’m very grateful to the author for creating this long novel, The Merman Emperor is a War Prize, and for telling us the story of Lao Yiand Bai Ling. I remember stumbling upon a post about a week ago, and the premise really appealed to me, so I searched for it on JJWC and read it. After reading it, I can only say it was thoroughly enjoyable and logically consistent.

I’m so glad I clicked on this story out of interest, and had the opportunity to experience the author’s story firsthand, witnessing the equally matched love between a hero on a desperate path and a lonely emperor; I’m also glad it was already finished when I read it, allowing me to read over 300 chapters in one go without the agonizing wait of following a serial novel; and I’m also glad to find so many settings that fit my personal preferences in one story. However, I also regret not discovering this wonderful novel sooner, not witnessing its rise on the charts, not being able to offer timely support when the author was sick and hospitalized, and not being able to confidently say, “Author, you don’t need comparisons to prove how excellent you are,” when the author was embroiled in controversy.

At first, I worried that with so many elements, so many couples, and so many settings, wouldn’t it feel like a hodgepodge? However, the author’s writing skills are truly outstanding. The outline is presented in a clear and engaging manner, without any rote memorization. Instead, the world is presented from different perspectives, revealing a sense of rationality within absurdity, a blend of humor and pain. I can’t even imagine the immense effort required to achieve such a vast worldview, complex situation, and diverse characters, maintaining a logical coherence and foreshadowing throughout. Religion and faith, old systems and new laws—beneath the lighthearted writing lies the tragedy of an era. I admire Bai Ling, the hero at the end of his rope. Even his first life’s demise was dramatic and spectacular. The emperor, facing certain death, held onto his scepter. It’s not a clichéd, world-destroying alliance of powerful figures; they were all once broken and destitute. They loved each other but were not dependent on one another. They could be online friends comforting each other across the internet, only to become solitary heroes in the end.

I really loved that line in the author’s article, “With nutrition, I too can bloom.” Bai Ling’s past life was incredibly difficult. He tried to rebel, but ultimately failed. He struggled to live, even in his most painful moments, thinking only of how to survive. Humiliation and dignity couldn’t compare to a hot meal. His hysterical outburst in his memories made me truly appreciate his charisma for the first time. His death was a death wish, but he would desperately grasp at any glimmer of hope to live.

Perhaps everyone feels inferior in front of their loved ones. The scene where Bai Ling meets Mr. D is, in my opinion, an incredibly well-written part, bittersweet and desperate. Their first meeting wasn’t exactly dignified, and at that moment, I truly felt sorry for Bai Ling. He could have approached Mr. D with pride.

Honestly, it’s rare to see a supporting cast written like protagonists. Whether it’s the secondary couples, the concubines from the beginning, or the warriors recruited later, you can see their growth. They aren’t just background characters or NPCs driving the story; they are beings with independent behavioral logic. I sincerely admire the author for this.