Hong Kong. The city of lights, the flower of the South China Sea, the lantern of the world.
There, B-grade Hunter Yu Parang has arrived.
As she climbed up to the dock, two massive figures, looking two or three times larger than Parang, approached her.
Dressed in black suits and sunglasses, they seemed like gangsters straight out of a Hong Kong noir.
They strode up to Parang and politely handed her a large bag.
“Thank you.”
Parang accepted it without hesitation and opened it. Inside was a neatly tailored suit and three thick towels.
After drying off with a towel, she donned the suit over her bodysuit. Even though it was a tailored suit, her beautiful figure still shone through.
“We’re at your service.”
Parang followed the giants into the limousine.
Inside were sweet snacks and a few drinks prepared for her.
Crunch—
Parang popped a Lotus biscuit into her mouth. It was her favorite snack.
In the luxurious limousine, where not even the sound of the wheels rolling could be heard, only the crunching noise echoed.
And just as a tray was nearly empty.
“We have arrived.”
The driver informed Parang of their arrival.
As the giant who got out first opened the door, a skyscraper towering as if to touch the sky came into view.
Oceanos’ big shot, Hong Kong’s richest person. D-grade Hunter Xiao’s residence.
The reason she is rich is simple. It’s because of her skill.
Skeletons numbering in the millions catch monster fish from the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean at a rate of one every ten minutes, ensuring she never runs out of money.
However, the bones that rise to the surface all melt away. So, she spreads her nets at a depth of 5 meters, places the skeletons as byproducts, and delivers them in bulk to the association every day.
Even the quantities that don’t fit into the association’s storage are sold in the black market, causing her profits to overflow.
This entire building belongs to Xiao. Security personnel are all permanently employed. Each one is top-tier A-grade or lower-tier S-grade.
In fact, for Xiao, who is virtually powerless on land, this is essential.
The same goes for everyone in Oceanos. So, they find ways to survive as best they can.
Russell has set up camp on a deserted island, and Parang can dive into the ocean within three seconds from anywhere in her house.
As Parang approached the building, the giant guarding the entrance opened the glass door and bowed.
“Thank you.”
As she entered the elevator, lasers scanned her from all sides.
[－－－－－]
[ Yu Parang, confirmed. ]
Without even pressing a button, the elevator began to rise smoothly.
And on the top floor, ding— the elevator doors opened to reveal an obviously luxurious space.
A large circular room with walls made of 360-degree floor-to-ceiling glass. The floor was covered with gleaming mahogany wood, giving a warm yet luxurious feel.
In one corner, there was a bathtub that also served as a pool, and on the opposite side, a cozy-looking sofa with a real fireplace.
In the center sat Xiao, dressed in a silk cheongsam, at a massive round dining table.
Parang walked over and plopped down at the table.
An extravagant feast laid out before her.
The finest meal served in Hong Kong, a culinary paradise. Each plate could easily cost the price of a monster fish.
Being a port city, the main course was seafood: whole steamed fish, sashimi, grilled octopus, squid, boiled dishes, stews, braised dishes, fried dishes. Lobsters, king crabs, shrimp—a dazzling array of crustaceans lay on the golden table like a floral display.
Surrounding the main meats on the plates were an abundance of green, yellow, and red fruits and vegetables, looking like blossoming flowers.
And the meats? From dripping, juicy steaks to towering piles of shabu-shabu, dishes of whole roasted chicken, duck, and other plump birds, fried pork and deeply steamed beef.
And even xiao long bao.
These were the dishes prepared by Xiao for Parang, who swam to Hong Kong without eating.
“Go ahead and eat as we talk.”
At those words, Parang began to munch on the food in front of her. To be honest, even if she had been told not to eat, she would have.
“So, according to what I’ve learned…”
And thus, while munching and chatting, a conversation flowed between Parang and Xiao.
To be precise, Xiao would say something, and Parang would nod along.
“You’re listening, right?”
Nod, nod.
“Well… you’ll figure it out.”
And as the conversation continued, Parang finished her meal.
Half of the food on the table had disappeared.
Parang’s belly was now quite swollen.
It felt great to finally eat until she was full. Given what she usually did, her calorie expenditure was ridiculous. Eating so much without gaining weight was the reason she stayed in good shape.
Anyway, meal over.
As the sun gradually hid in the sky, the night view of Hong Kong sprawled endlessly beneath them.
A myriad of lights below decorated the landscape, making them feel like they were flying over a shimmering sea. It was Xiao’s favorite view.
She looked out the window and gracefully sipped a glass of wine.
“You must be tired. Get some sleep.”
“Sounds good.”
Parang headed to the guest room, far from Xiao’s bedroom, and sank into a deep sleep before waking up refreshed.
Upon waking, she noticed a message on her phone.
Vertea: “I don’t even know about that. I’ve never seen it, nor do I know what the original creature is. If you find anything else…”
Below that were various requests like ‘pull out the eyeball,’ ‘cut it in half,’ and ‘soak it in acidic solution.’
Yu Parang: “Okay.”
She replied, thinking she could experiment if she encountered more.
And now it was work time. Early in the morning, Parang packed her things.
On her way out, she searched for Xiao to say goodbye but found her sprawled out and sleeping in her bedroom.
Well, there’s nothing to be done. Parang left a brief thank-you text and rushed to the sea to dive in.
And she plunged at a processing speed. She was eager to finish and return.
She basically liked staying underwater, but when it became work, it was a different story.
Not long after, she began to see that enormous conch shell again. Just like last time, this was a quick task to handle.
Parang moved without hesitation, knowing the basic discomfort of being in Hive was beyond imagination. Surely, there were no perverts who wanted to stick around here.
In the enormous kitchen, Parang was scurrying around looking for what Xiao had mentioned.
Red pot… red pot. Is that it? Ah, not that one. Hmm, making eye contact.
If she took out the Kraken here, all the monster fish in this space would rush at her, so she planned to store it for a bit. She could do it, but it would take time, and that was a hassle.
She quickly dealt with a 70m shrimp in the red steamer. She skewered it from head to tail and glanced around.
Then something red caught her eye sitting atop the stove.
Aha, that’s it, she thought, swimming over and confirming it was indeed without a doubt a pot.
Standing next to one side of the pot and estimating, it had a diameter of roughly 100m.
If the target’s length varied between 50m and 300m, Parang’s rough estimate with her eyes was pretty accurate.
After facing monsters of that size daily, she should be good at it.
Peering into the pot, Parang looked inside.
Surprisingly, there were no monster fish. Well, that can happen. She dove into the pot.
It was a pot deeper than 120m. She could boil the Statue of Liberty in this pot.
Familiar objects can invoke a sense of fear.
Every time she faced an object, a strange fear mixed with disorientation surged up inside her.
Even Parang, seasoned as she was, occasionally felt strange emotions at times like this.
In any case, at the bottom of the pot, while searching thoroughly, she discovered a heap of bones.
Once she cleared that away, a small hole emerged in the bottom. It was similar in width to the hole where she caught the Makula.
As she entered, the passage narrowed steadily. At the end, its diameter shrank to nearly her shoulder width, forcing her to wiggle through.
Thankfully, Parang had a slender figure; if her bust were any larger, she’d likely be stuck.
Xiao had previously sent the skeleton to measure it accurately, but honestly, squeezing into such a tight space made Parang a bit scared. She felt a hint of claustrophobia creeping in. She thought, “If I’d known, I’d have eaten more.”
Finally, she pushed through with some effort.
Pop!
With a sound, Parang emerged somewhere on the ceiling.
Considering the structure, she must have tunneled through the bottom of the pot atop the stove, meaning she was now inside the stove.
Of course, it only looked like a stove. The interior didn’t resemble one at all.
If she were to compare it to anything, it would be an underwater cave.
For some reason, the water around her was entirely red. Was there an iron ore vein nearby? Parang, who didn’t know science, just shrugged it off.
However, the presence of red water made her a little uneasy.
[ Skill, ‘Clear Reflection,’ is now active. ]
She maximized the range of purification.
Suddenly, the surrounding red water cleared around her, centered on Parang.
There was a clear line at 5m where red water met crystal clear water, making it feel like she was inside a droplet underwater.
Looking around, she saw thin and thick pillars rising from the ceiling down to the invisible depths below.
“I surely entered into a sinkhole, but what is going on?”
Despite her confusion, it was undoubtedly a cave. Based on how she couldn’t see the ground from where she hovered below, it appeared quite deep.
For now, she’d better memorize this location. If a disaster occurred trying to find that narrow hole again in such a vast cave, it would be troublesome. Mapping skills are useful only when locating known coordinates, and Parang didn’t even know the coordinates of this hole.
Given how twisty the path was, that wasn’t too surprising. Fortunately, though, there was still a way to help her.
Parang pressed the button on her wrist, where her friendly neighborhood spider shoots webs.
Immediately, a blue jelly-like substance swelled and plopped down.
Although it had a complicated name like QCX14 or something, Parang simply called it glowing jelly.
She smeared the glowing jelly around the hole she emerged from.
Looking down, she could see a bright blue ring even from about 500m away.
Its performance was truly satisfying.
Parang applied more glowing jelly to the pillar nearby.
As long as she marked her path like this, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost.
She felt like Hansel and Gretel.
After wandering around the cave for a while, finally, ‘it’ came into view for Parang.
