Woo-woo-woo-
BANG!!!!
Monster fish that was slightly away from Parang was suddenly obliterated by a shot of laser.
A 20-meter-long monster fish shattered in a single hit.
Even if it’s rotten, it’s still the protagonist, right?
Parang carefully adjusted the speed.
Marian’s speed was slower than expected.
Maintaining a proper distance without getting out of sight.
Because a catastrophic failure of losing Marian must not happen.
Current water depth: 700 meters. Just gotten out of the monster fish layer.
“I’ve completed the drop at the last positioned point. The green capsule is EMP ammunition, and the white ampules are anesthetics. You only need to inject the amount contained in one syringe.”
Parang originally intended to focus solely on luring Marian without talking to the Silo man.
Eyes forward, maintain coordinates, keep an eye on Marian, remove obstacles, avoid attacks…
If they added a strategy meeting here, it would be too much to handle.
The Silo man seemed to understand, continuing the briefing without waiting for Parang’s response. But,
“EMP ammunition?”
This was too hard to resist asking about.
“Yes. It’s EMP ammunition. If detonated, surrounding machines will stop functioning for about 5 seconds.”
“No, how…?”
“It can be done.”
Parang decided not to think too much. Well, let’s just go with it.
Better than it not working at all, isn’t it?
“The dropped objects have reached a depth of 100 meters. They will arrive in about a minute.”
“Anchoring!!”
BANG.
“Recovery!!”
And after what felt like a year in that one minute.
“Ah!!”
Parang finally spotted a plastic box sinking towards them from above.
“Whaaa!!”
With eyes nearly rolling back, Parang rushed toward the box, smashing it open and retrieving the contents inside.
The metal pieces inside the box began to fall endlessly into the deep sea.
Thus, Parang recovered a single green orb and three white syringes.
Quickly fitting the syringes between her fingers, she grabbed the EMP ammunition.
“Grip it tightly, and the round will explode, and the connection will end. Good luck.”
“…Got it.”
CRUNCH!!
BOOM!!!
Fizz- fizz!!
As a blue energy wave erupted from Parang, Marian’s railguns all simultaneously ceased operation and began sinking into the ocean.
The ear-bud was completely broken, only producing noise.
“Huuh….”
Parang stormed towards Marian with maximum speed, putting a touch of emotion into it.
And then,
“Close your eyes!!!!”
Swoosh.
She jabbed the syringe into the back of her neck, injecting the liquid inside.
Marian’s once thrashing movements started to slow down, finally going limp.
“Huuh…”
Only then did Parang relax, planning to take a breather…
Brrrr-! Brrrr-!!
Just as she planned to rest.
Marian, who had lost consciousness, immediately showed signs of distress and had to come up.
Finally breaking the surface, Marian and Parang boarded the Silo vessel waiting at the promised spot and moved to Falkland Island.
After warping back home, it was August 8th, 4:30 AM.
Parang dived into the water tank without changing clothes.
She fell asleep as if collapsing.
#
Meanwhile, at the same time, Shin Yuna.
Creeak-creeak-
Clank- boom-
“Hehe… Hehehehe…!!”
With disheveled hair, dark circles under her eyes.
Eyes devoid of focus and a chilling, maniacal laugh.
“It’s complete… it’s complete…”
The Nautilus No. 3, twice as large as before, was being formed in her hands.
“Those bastards… they’re all dead…”
With a happy face, Yuna rubbed her face against the brass body of the unmanned submarine.
“I’m… sleepy…”
And then she slowly slid down and fell asleep.
#
Brrrrr-
‘Suddenly, a chill…’
In the Underground Floor 5 of the Hunter Association Osaka Branch, Branch Head Daizai Soseki unknowingly rubbed the back of his neck.
Was it due to an overly aggressive air conditioner or some other reason?
For some reason, he kept wiping the cold sweat dripping from his forehead while placing his eye on the electronic authentication device.
– Chief, authority confirmed.
BEEP-
A warning sound rang out, and clank. The massive iron door opened.
What was revealed was a long corridor.
The corridor looked a little gloomier today.
Moreover, thinking about the destination he was heading to and the person waiting there…
‘Ugh…’
He shook his head, trying to shake off the wandering thoughts.
Yeah. It’s just going to report to the boss about work. That chill was probably just from the air conditioning.
He must be getting weak since he turned 40.
His steps, for some reason, quickened a bit.
#
Clank, clank, clank.
Just like that, in a corner of the Underground Floor 5 of the Hunter Association Osaka Branch.
“…Come in.”
Clang-
As the middle-aged man with a potbelly entered through the thick iron door, a woman with a chilling atmosphere stared at him intently before gives a slight smile.
She was trying to project as friendly as she could, but the Branch Head, upon entering, looked as if he didn’t know where to put his eyes and was restless.
“Please sit comfortably. Thank you for working until dawn.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Hahaha…”
Natsuko sighed carefully so that the Branch Head wouldn’t hear.
Being too charismatic can be a problem too.
If your subordinates tremble like they’re facing a wild beast…
Natsuko forced a gentle smile.
She didn’t want to be remembered as a terrifying, monster-like figure by her subordinates.
If that happened, they could betray her.
She approached the Branch Head slowly, trying to convey her non-threatening intent with her whole being and plopped down in the chair opposite him.
However, despite Natsuko’s strenuous efforts, the Branch Head was shaking like he was about to be eaten.
While trying to maintain a composed expression, he looked almost pitiful.
At this point, Natsuko decided to give up, thinking she needed to send the Branch Head away quickly.
It wasn’t because she had some uncontrollable killing intent skill or anything.
For someone of the Branch Head’s status in the Hunter Association, he would ordinarily not bat an eye at such things.
So, the Branch Head’s inability to hide his reaction was likely stemming from pure fear.
Specifically, fear of Natsuko.
‘Oh no.’
She wasn’t going to be able to use him for long.
Natsuko reached out and grabbed the file on the table, addressing the Branch Head.
“You may leave. You must be tired; rest well.”
“Ah, yes. Yes!! Then, thank you for your hard work.”
The Branch Head hurriedly exited the room like he was escaping.
‘Maybe a mountain hiking accident would be adequate.’
Natsuko gracefully and gently opened the file she picked up.
What was there to hide? The document the Branch Head handed over was a monster fish layer exploration report.
“Hmmm…”
Not expecting much, she observed that there was still a lack of noteworthy information.
At least the ‘ghost ship’ monster fish was something worth considering.
Natsuko rubbed her forehead.
Should they really continue the monster fish layer exploration?
Even though it was still in its early stages, the returns were seriously low compared to the costs incurred.
‘…’
Natsuko shook her head.
Her beast-like intuition was telling her there was something in the sea.
None other than that ‘Seo Sunwoo’ had shown interest in the location.
There was definitely something there.
Seo Sunwoo, Seo Sunwoo, Seo Sunwoo.
Just thinking about him made her head pound.
She couldn’t grasp what was on his mind, which was as murky as dark waters.
Natsuko’s suspicions toward Seo Sunwoo could be seen as almost obsession.
This stemmed from something she did long ago.
She had done something she shouldn’t have to Seo Sunwoo and hid something she shouldn’t have hidden.
Her frantic suspicions about him fundamentally originate from that point.
That day, whether what she did was found out by Seo Sunwoo or not.
Natsuko still doesn’t know.
That’s why she has been frantically digging up information about Seo Sunwoo.
The moment she caught even a sliver of evidence, she would immediately kill him and bury him somewhere.
If Seo Sunwoo had been just a little less competent, Natsuko wouldn’t have needed to do any background checks and would have simply killed him right away.
And, as expected, during all that time, Seo Sunwoo never once showed any indication he knew something about that incident.
The scenery from that day still remains vividly clear in her mind.
“Natsuko? What on earth…?”
Inside the burning and collapsing wooden building.
Burning furniture, crumbling structures, and the sounds of shouting from outside.
And a woman staring at her in horror.
Her long-time friend, comrade, and the one person who vowed to dedicate her life.
Natsuko’s long-time close friend and Seo Sunwoo’s soulmate.
Inside the burning building, Natsuko—
She devoured her.
