20
Chapter 20
Hong Kong. The city that never sleeps, the flower of the South China Sea, the lantern of the World.
B-Rank Hunter Yoo Parang had arrived there.
As she walked up to the Pier, two giant men—who looked two or three times larger than Parang—approached her.
Wearing black suits and Sunglasses, they looked exactly like gangsters straight out of a Hong Kong noir film.
They strode over to Parang and very politely offered her a large bag.
"Thank you."
Parang took it without hesitation and opened it. Inside was a neat Suit and three thick towels.
After drying herself off with the towels, she put the Suit on over her Bodysuit. It was perfectly tailored, revealing her beautiful figure despite being a formal outfit.
"We will escort you."
Parang followed the giants and got into a limousine.
Inside, some sweet snacks and a few Beverages were prepared for her.
Crunch-
Parang picked up a Lotus Biscuit and popped it into her mouth. It was her favorite snack.
Inside the top-tier limousine where not even the sound of rolling wheels could be heard, only a continuous crunching echoed.
And just as one of the trays was nearly empty.
"We have arrived."
The driver announced their arrival to Parang.
The giant who got out first opened the door, revealing a skyscraper towering so high it seemed to touch the sky.
It was the residence of Oceanus's big shot and Hong Kong's richest person, D-Rank Hunter Xiao.
The reason she had so much money was simple. It was because of her Skill.
Millions of Skeletons hauled up a Monster Fish from the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean every ten minutes, so she never ran out of money.
However, since any bones coming above the surface would melt, she spread a Net at a depth of five meters. Once the Skeletons placed Magic Stones and other byproducts there, she would supply them in bulk to the Association every day.
She even secretly sold the surplus that didn't fit in the Association's warehouses to the black market, so she was bound to be filthy rich.
This entire building belonged to Xiao. All her security personnel were hired for life, and each one of them was a high-tier A-Rank or a low-tier S-Rank.
For Xiao, who was essentially powerless on land, such protection was absolutely necessary.
In truth, that applied to everyone in Oceanus. So they all found their own ways to protect themselves and survive.
Russell had set up base entirely on an uninhabited island, and Parang could reach and dive into the ocean within three seconds from anywhere in her home.
As Parang approached the front of the building, the giant guarding the entrance opened the glass door for her and bowed.
"Thank you."
Upon stepping into the Elevator, lasers shot out from all directions to scan Parang.
[----]
[ Yoo Parang, identity verified. ]
Then, without her even pressing a button, the Elevator smoothly began to ascend on its own.
And the top floor. As the Elevator doors opened with a ding-, it revealed a space that was undeniably luxurious at first glance.
It was a massive circular room walled with 360-degree floor-to-ceiling glass. The Floor was lined with gleaming mahogany, giving it a cozy yet high-end feel.
In one corner was a sunken Bathtub that doubled as a swimming pool, and opposite it was a plush sofa and a real wood-burning fireplace.
In the dead center sat a massive round dining table, where Xiao was seated, wearing a silk Chinese Dress.
Parang trudged over and promptly took a seat at the table.
Spread across the table was a monumental feast.
It was the finest meal one could be served in Hong Kong, a mecca for gourmands. Each plate was worth the price of a single Monster Fish.
Befitting a port city, the main courses were seafood. There were whole steamed fish, sashimi, and grilled, blanched, braised, steamed, and fried dishes made from Octopus and Squid. Various Carapace creatures, from Lobster to King Crab and Shrimp, scattered unfiltered red hues everywhere like flowers blooming on the golden table.
The main meat dishes on their plates were surrounded by an abundant bed of green, yellow, and red fruits and vegetables, looking like blossoming flower buds.
And what about the meat itself? There were fatty, juice-dripping steaks, shabu-shabu with a mountain of meat thoroughly boiled into the broth, whole roasted chickens, ducks, and other plump birds, alongside fried pork and deeply steamed beef.
And even xiaolongbao.
Xiao had prepared all these dishes for Parang, who had swam all the way to Hong Kong on an empty stomach.
"Listen while you eat."
At those words, Parang immediately started to munch on the food in front of her. To be honest, she would have eaten even if told not to.
"So, according to what I've found out..."
Munching and chatting. A conversation went back and forth between Parang and Xiao.
More accurately, Xiao said something and Parang roughly nodded along.
"You are listening, right?"
Nod, nod.
"Right, well... I'm sure you'll handle it."
And simultaneously with the conversation, Parang's meal came to an end.
Half the food on the table was gone.
Parang's stomach became incredibly stuffed.
It felt like she had eaten her fill for the first time in a while. As one could tell from her usual antics, Parang's calorie expenditure was truly monumental. It was the reason she didn't gain weight even eating like this; instead, she boasted a spectacularly fit physique.
Regardless, the meal was over.
Before they knew it, the sun had hidden itself from the sky, and the night view of Hong Kong stretched out endlessly below them.
A myriad of multicolored lights embroidered the ground below, making it feel like they were flying over a glowing sea. It was Xiao's favorite scenery.
She poured a glass of wine and elegantly drank it while looking out the glass window.
"You must be tired. Stay the night."
"Sounds good."
Parang went into the guest room far away from Xiao's bedroom... had a good night's sleep, and woke up feeling refreshed.
When she woke up, there was a text message on her cellphone.
Bertea: I don't know about something like that either. I've never seen it, and I don't even know what its original creature is. If you happen to find more...
Below that were various requests, asking her to pluck out just the eyeball, slice it in half, or soak it in acid.
Yoo Parang: k
Parang sent a quick reply for now. If she encountered more, she could just run those experiments.
And now, it was time to work. Parang packed her bags early in the morning.
On her way out, she looked for Xiao to say goodbye to the host, but found her sprawled out in her bedroom, fast asleep.
Well, it couldn't be helped. Parang left a brief thank-you text, ran to the sea, and dove right in.
Then she submerged at an incredible speed. She just wanted to finish this quickly and go back.
She fundamentally liked staying underwater, but it was a different story when it became work.
Before long, that massive conch shell from before came into view. Just like last time, she only needed to quickly take care of her business and leave, so Parang moved without hesitation.
By nature, the discomfort caused by a space like the Hive was beyond imagination. She could guarantee that there wasn't a single weirdo who would want to stay here for long.
Inside the colossally enormous kitchen, Parang darted around, searching for what Xiao had mentioned.
A red pot... a red pot. Is it that one? Ah, not this one. Hmm, we just made eye contact.
If she brought out the Kraken here, all the monster fish in this space would immediately rush in, so she kept it put away for a moment. It wasn't that she couldn't handle it, but it would take a long time and be annoying.
Parang took care of a seventy-meter-long shrimp inside a red steamer in a flash. She pierced it instantly from head to tail, turning it into a shrimp skewer, and looked around.
Then, a red object sitting on the stove opposite her entered her field of vision.
Thinking, right, that's it, she swam over with a blub-blub, and approaching it, it was undeniably a pot.
Standing on one side of the pot and estimating by eye, the diameter was roughly a hundred meters.
If the target's length was between fifty to three hundred meters, Parang's visual estimation was quite accurate.
That was bound to happen when she faced monsters of that size every single day.
Parang peeked her head into the pot.
Surprisingly, there were no monster fish. Well, it was possible. Parang dove into the pot.
It was a pot with a depth of over a hundred and twenty meters. This meant one could boil the Statue of Liberty in this pot.
There is a kind of fear that only familiar objects can invoke.
This was also the reason why a strange sense of fear, along with a feeling of detachment, washed over her whenever she faced an objet.
Even Parang, who was already hardened and experienced, sometimes felt strange emotions at times like this.
Anyway, the floor of the pot. As Parang scoured every corner, she discovered a pile of bones gathered in one spot.
Removing it revealed a small hole in the floor. It was about the same width as the hole she had entered when catching the Macula.
Going inside, the passage was structured to gradually narrow. Towards the end, the diameter shrank to almost the width of Parang's shoulders, forcing her to squeeze her body through.
It was a good thing Parang had a slender figure; if her chest had been even slightly larger, she would have gotten stuck inside, unable to move forward or back.
Although Xiao had sent a skeleton in advance to take exact measurements, trying to squeeze into such a cramped space honestly scared Parang a bit too. It was enough to give her claustrophobia she never had before.
The space was so narrow that even the minimum movement required to move forward was a struggle. Just as she started thinking thoughts like, did Xiao measure wrong, am I going to die stuck here, did I eat too much yesterday, and if I knew this would happen I would have eaten even more.
Pop!
With that sound, Parang emerged from the ceiling of some place.
Considering the layout, since she had pierced through the floor of the pot on top of the stove and come down, she was probably inside the stove.
Of course, it only looked like a stove from the outside. The inside didn't actually look like the interior of a stove.
If she had to find a comparison, it was like a submarine cave.
For some reason, the surrounding water was entirely red. Was there an iron ore vein nearby? Parang, knowing nothing about science, just figured it was something like that.
But still, water being red made her feel a little uneasy.
[ Skill, 'Clear Mirror, Still Water' is activating. ]
She expanded the range of Purification to the maximum.
Then, the surrounding water that was completely red became clear, centered around Parang.
With exactly a five-meter boundary, there was red water on one side and transparent, clear water on the other, giving her the very strange sensation of being inside a water droplet underwater.
Parang looked around and saw thick and thin pillars jutting out from the ceiling, extending far down out of sight.
She thought it was weird since she had definitely entered a sink, but there was no mistaking it; it was undeniably a cave. Judging by the fact that the floor couldn't be seen from the ceiling where Parang was, it seemed quite deep. Or the water was just extremely murky.
First, she had to remember the location. It would be a disaster if she had to search for such a small hole again in this vast cave. The Mapping skill was only useful when finding known coordinates, and Parang didn't even know the coordinates of this hole right now.
It wasn't unreasonable, considering how winding the passage had been. Still, it was a relief that it wasn't completely hopeless.
Parang clicked a button on her wrist—specifically, the spot where that friendly neighborhood spider shoots webs.
Then, something like a glowing blue jelly bubbled up and plopped out.
It had a complicated name like QCX14... something, but Parang just called it luminous jelly.
Parang slathered the luminous jelly all around the hole she had emerged from.
Then, as she smoothly descended, she could clearly see a blue ring even from about five hundred meters away.
The performance was highly satisfactory.
Right there, Parang slathered more luminous jelly onto a nearby pillar.
By marking the path like this, there would be no worry of getting lost.
She felt like Hansel and Gretel.
How long had she been wandering the cave like that?
'It' finally entered Parang's line of sight.