17
Chapter 17
Just as the Pelican Eel truly has a mouth like a pelican, the Gulper Eel actually has a balloon in its body.
It takes up a whopping 70% of its size. When fully inflated, it can swallow prey up to five times its own size.
So theoretically, a 100-meter-long Lassus could eat a 450-meter Sperm Whale.
In reality, its appetite is so voracious that if you let the two meet, Lassus would probably actually eat the Sperm Whale.
Whether it could digest it is another matter, but still.
Parang entered inside Lassus.
Since it was pitch black all around, she turned on the Flashlight.
The space ahead lit up, revealing the scenery inside.
- It's cleaner inside than I thought?
It really was cleaner than expected. But that made sense. The Pouch had looked flat when seen from the outside earlier. It was probably empty.
And now Parang was inside the stomach of a fasting Monster Fish. Why?
Because the Objet is here. Originally, Lassus is a species that doesn't exceed 30 meters in length. So at 100 meters, well, that said it all.
It had likely swallowed the Objet and was carrying it inside. That happens when it randomly swallows everything it encounters. You could call it the sad habit of a Gulper Eel that went all-in on its jaw stats.
- Wait, you said it swallows whales, so why is it so cramped in here?
- fr I feel like I'm gonna suffocate to death.
"It's because we're currently inside what is essentially a deflated balloon. The size adjusts according to the prey inside it."
Besides, a 100-meter Lassus doesn't even consider someone like Parang, barely over 1.6 meters, as food.
As Evidence, not even digestive fluids were being secreted inside the Pouch of Lassus.
From Parang's perspective, it didn't matter either way.
She kept the Flashlight on and continued her explanation.
In the pitch-black darkness, only the infinitely small space touched by the round light was revealing itself.
"Because the Pouch of Lassus is incredibly elastic, its base volume doesn't need to be large. In fact, if it were too big, it would just hinder its swimming."
Indeed, an uninflated Gulper Eel just looks like a normal eel with a large mouth. Its swimming is a different story, though. Because the original Gulper Eel put all its stats into its jaw, its swimming ability is abysmal.
So it usually stands vertically like Hairtail or other eel-type fish, using the luminous organ on its Tail to lure and catch prey.
But that's the story of the Gulper Eel. Lassus is undeniably one of the top Predators of the Monster Fish world. Its swimming speed is on par with the Deep Sea average.
So if you can ride inside it like Parang, it's basically like using a free subway in the Deep Sea.
She had actually tried it a few times. The direction was random, so it wasn't very practical.
- Why would you even try that?
- Let's ride it.
- This crazy girl fr...
Parang smiled with satisfaction as she briefly watched the Chat Window.
She didn't see any messages saying they would quit deep-sea diving. She felt a bit annoyed.
She wondered if she really had to make a chant and have them sing it. Something like 'Scary, scary ocean, no more, no more diving' would be just about right.
Parang briefly felt annoyed with the Chat Window.
"Then this time, I'll let you experience what it feels like to be digested inside Lassus. Just think of it as ASMR and listen."
- ?
- ?
- ???
- What
- Wth
Parang looked around for a moment before saying, ah, here it is, and pushed the Camera into a corner. At first glance, it almost looked like a human uvula.
"There are several pillars like this inside the Pouch of Lassus. When the Pouch is full, the prey packed inside touches these pillars, and when a pillar is pushed back like that, it senses it and secretes digestive fluids."
Parang stated calmly.
"From now on, I'm going to touch this and let you experience the feeling of being digested firsthand. Wouldn't such a terrifying experience make you lose the desire to dive?"
- No, it's already gone
"Too late."
Parang headed to the top of the flesh pillar, grabbed it, and slammed it onto the Floor.
Then the flesh pillar swooshed backward, practically lying flat on the Floor.
As long as she kept this pinned down, digestive fluids would continuously spew out.
"Now, as the water inside gradually drains out, highly acidic digestive fluid will fill the empty space. It's about ten times more acidic than a Human's gastric acid."
- Damn, then is the pH 0.5?
"I think it was around there."
Since it was official info from Bertea, well. It should be reliable.
Anyway. Parang began to be digested inside the Monster Fish.
Gurgle-
"That's the sound of the digestive fluid coming out."
Parang whispered.
And then, silence. The water gradually grew cloudy, perhaps due to the gastric acid.
[ The Skill, 'Clear Mirror, Still Water', is currently active. ]
One piece of common sense for Hunter life. A Hunter can control the power of their Skill.
It's the same principle as a Human being able to control the force of swinging their arm.
Parang was currently using Purification only on the water within a 5-centimeter radius of her skin. This was to make the experience as realistic as possible.
Soon enough, the water truly grew murky, making it feel like they had entered muddy water. A filthy sludge with an unpleasant tint somewhere between gray and green.
The Flashlight was nearly useless now. It couldn't secure any visibility at all.
Sounds like Sizzle- and Hiss- began to ring out from everywhere.
It was the sound of the leftover Monster Fish scraps inside the balloon melting away.
Parang manipulated her Cellphone and turned off the 'Underwater Audio Optimization' option.
In an instant, even the voices disappeared. Only the muffled sounds you hear when truly submerged underwater remained. Just the sound of rising bubbles and spewing digestive fluid.
Gurgle- gurgle-
Swoosh-
The color of the water was no longer changing. It probably meant that it was 100% filled with digestive fluid.
Thump- thump-
Something floating around bumped into Parang's left arm, tapping against it. Turning her head that way, there was a half-melted, unrecognizable piece of meat.
The piece of meat, which must have once been a bright crimson, was melting away in real time.
Thirty minutes passed like that.
Honestly, Parang hadn't planned on keeping it going for thirty minutes either. She just got a bit lost in thought.
"Hmm, I think this is enough."
Honestly, she was shocked when she looked at the Clock. Wait, had she really been doing this for thirty minutes?
She thought barely five minutes had passed.
- 'Ayeonman' donated 10,000 won! -
[ Teacher, I'll never dive again, so please save me ]
- 'Sky Letter' donated 25,000 won! -
[ Where... am I...? Who... am I...? ]
- 'Jangbaek Suneun' donated 1,000 won! -
[ Streamer, please have mercy ]
Because she had turned off the donation alerts to set the mood, the backed-up messages only just started pouring in all at once.
"Umm, I'm sorry. I originally didn't intend to go this far, but I got a little sidetracked."
She really meant it.
- Never in my life did I think I'd watch a stream of someone being digested inside a fish's stomach
- fr LOL
"Has your desire to go diving disappeared a bit now? If you guys go diving, an experience like this just now might be how you end your lives."
- That was the scariest threat I've ever heard in my life.
- Letting us experience it firsthand before talking makes your threatening skills top-notch.
Parang, wearing a satisfied smile, swung her Harpoon to slice open the stomach of Lassus and came out.
Then, the digestive fluid could be seen flowing out into the surroundings like paint spreading in water.
And Lassus must feel like dying.
------!!!!!!!!!!
Before anyone knew it, the balloon of Lassus had inflated tightly, to the point where its body was almost clinging to it.
And inside that taut balloon, instead of meat, it was completely filled to the brim with highly acidic gastric acid.
Anyone who has experienced hyperacidity would know just how painful of an experience this is.
Plus, Parang had just sliced open the stomach of Lassus and come out.
"It looks like it hurts a lot."
- Applying some rubbing alcohol would be perfect.
That seemed like a good idea. I should try bringing some next time.
Parang created a Water Drop Bomb and shoved it into the stomach of Lassus.
She had a talent for hitting where it already hurts.
----!!!!!!!!---!!!-!!!!-!!!!!!
With cheerful Thump thump sounds, Lassus met its end.
As for the Objet. It would sink along with the corpse, drift somewhere around here, and get eaten by another Monster Fish. Since it was quite small for an Objet, she had attached a tracker made by Elvira to it.
Parang checked the location of the East China Sea Objet No. 2, which was gradually getting further away, on her Cellphone.
She would probably have to come back to hunt it again in a month or two.
You ask why they don't just destroy something so bothersome?
Destroying an Objet is impossible. They had tried blowing it up with the Naval Mine of Elvira and having Diego crush it, but failed. Russell almost broke his Teeth.
Then, since it's small, what about bringing it up to the surface and isolating it?
That's nonsense. Being small is only relative to other Objets in the first place. The East China Sea Objet No. 2 is a massive Sphere with a radius of 30 meters. A diameter of 60 meters. The height of the Statue of Liberty is 93 meters. Where on earth are you supposed to isolate this?
And even if they really did bring it up to the surface to isolate it, it would be a problem. Who knows what kind of phenomenon it might cause.
It could cause a 100-meter-long Dragon to continuously appear.
So what else could they do. They were in a situation where they just had to take turns managing these anomalous Objets.
That was that, and this is this. Parang was slowly starting to get hungry. It was because she hadn't eaten a single meal since this morning.
She needed to finish this quickly and go to Xiao's place to get a free meal until her stomach burst.
Parang increased her speed.