25
Chapter 25
Ding.
The elevator stopped at the top floor with a classic chime.
When the doors opened, only a white hallway stretched out before her.
Parang tapped on the wall.
Given the dull thud it produced, the inside didn't seem hollow.
Walking a bit further, a highly cybernetic door appeared, featuring white metal accented with blue neon.
It was a similar style to Parang's home.
Intrigued, she approached it, and the door slid open with a whir.
The inside was a room with an atmosphere much like Parang's place. A futuristic space where white and sky blue blended perfectly.
The lack of water tanks placed everywhere made it different from her home, but the familiar interior put her at ease anyway.
Gasp, I need to stay sharp. This might be a trick to make me lower my guard.
Still, she couldn't help but feel relaxed in a space she liked.
The wall directly in front of Parang was made entirely of glass, offering a clear view of the city's night skyline, and in front of it sat a desk like the ones a chairman would use in a drama.
And sitting upright at that desk was a man wearing glasses and a suit.
Contrary to Parang's expectations, he looked quite young. Mid-twenties or so.
"Please, take a seat."
His voice was soft. Neither overbearing nor commanding.
It was purely a suggestion, implying it would be uncomfortable to stand.
On the surface, he showed no hostility toward her whatsoever.
Even so, Parang sat down in the chair, remaining tense.
They faced each other with the desk between them. The chair's height was just right, putting her at eye level with the man.
"You must have a lot of questions."
"You guessed right."
She had a ton of things she wanted to ask.
"We also have a ton of things we want to tell you. I'm not entirely sure where to begin explaining."
That had to be a lie. They wouldn't have called Parang here without sorting that out first.
"First of all, who are you? I'm asking about your position within Cylo, and how much information you know."
That was an important point.
"Our internal organizational chart is quite complicated. However, the amount of information I possess is not small."
It was an unsatisfactory answer. Parang stared intently at the Cylo man.
Reading the room, the man added another remark.
"I can tell you that whatever Cylo knows, I know as well."
Whatever Cylo knows, he knows too.
She understood that he was someone with a fairly high status. She didn't know if it was the truth, but she'd figure that out as they talked.
"Why did you call me now? At such impeccable timing."
Right after Xiao's Dive had ended. The moment Parang stepped into a suspicious incident, they called her in.
It was a highly suspicious situation.
The man replied to Parang's question.
"Originally, I had no plans to meet Hunter Yoo Parang right now. However, it seems you ended up witnessing a scene that requires an explanation no matter what."
"How did you know that?"
Parang lowered her voice slightly and growled.
"We can wiretap every sound heard around the World. Have you ever wondered why Cylo allowed other businesses to operate freely, yet kept a tight grip on electronics?"
They were wiretapping. Shady bastards.
Since she owed them for saving her, she held back this once.
"You said you originally had no plans to meet me."
"Originally, we intended to meet Hunter Yoo Parang on August 4th at 2 PM."
August 4th at 2 PM.
That was the time Manager Choi had told her to visit the Hunter Association.
"I was scheduled to contact the Hunter Association then. You guys never even reached out to me in the first place."
"We did reach out. Manager Choi Janghyuk, whom you know well, and the Hunter Association's Asia General Branch Manager, Seo Sunwoo. Both of them are our people who infiltrated the Hunter Association."
A massive piece of information suddenly dropped.
But the man continued speaking, unfazed.
"About a month ago, Igarashi Natsuko suddenly became the Association President of the Hunter Association."
That was certainly true. It had caused quite a stir because it was such a sudden replacement.
"It was a sort of coup. She wiped out the existing Executives and seized power. Taking advantage of the chaos, we had Seo Sunwoo infiltrate their ranks."
This was a fact Parang obviously hadn't known.
To think that a top executive of the Hunter Association belonged to Cylo; if this were revealed, it would cause a massive storm.
"Then what about Manager Choi?"
"He is Association President Seo Sunwoo's Subordinate Employee."
His tone remained calm as expected.
"You're suddenly telling me all this?"
A bit dumbfounded, Parang immediately asked back.
"That's right. It's information treated as highly classified on our end as well. And to easily reveal this to Hunter Yoo Parang means..."
"Hmm...."
It meant they were desperate to gain her trust.
Was that piece of information just now like an admission fee to open up a conversation with Parang?
If so, Parang was willing to show some of her cards to dig out more information. After all, they had shown their intent to exchange first.
"Why is the World Government trying to kill me?"
"Starting with that, I see."
Parang didn't want to lose the initiative in the conversation. She was determined to find out all the information she wanted before leaving.
"The reason they are trying to kill you is because you are a major obstacle to their plans."
"So what exactly is that plan? If you're just going to state the obvious―"
"Your stream, Hunter Yoo Parang."
"...What?"
"We haven't grasped the entire truth either. However, they want to push people into the sea."
"What did you say?"
So they tried to eliminate Parang for stopping people from entering the sea, is that it?
'Wait, my stream had that much impact? No matter how I looked at it, there was no talk about quitting diving in the Chat Window.'
Parang's questioning thoughts were clearly displayed on her face.
"You have a look of disbelief. Would you take a look at this for a moment?"
As the man tapped the desk, a Monitor slid up from below.
What it showed was a graph.
"Do you see this? Since Hunter Yoo Parang's broadcast, the number of diving Hunters has decreased by nearly half."
Just as the man said, the graph, which had been steadily climbing, plummeted sharply at a specific point.
Looking at the date, it roughly coincided with the day of Parang's stream.
'There were actual results.'
Parang felt inwardly proud.
In that case, the World Government wanted to push people into the sea for some reason, and thus tried to eliminate Parang who was interfering with that. Did that mean Cylo had protected Parang in opposition?
However, pride aside, Parang growled.
"Then what is your reason for protecting me? Besides, you guys even developed an Underwater Camera. Isn't Cylo also trying to put people in the sea?"
"We do not want people entering the sea, Hunter Yoo Parang. For the same reason as you. That is also why we developed the camera. If a video of someone being attacked by a Monster Fish was recorded, we intended to spread it widely."
Parang froze for a moment, but regained her composure so quickly it was imperceptible.
"The same reason as me? I don't know if you're saying that knowing what my intentions are."
"There is something on the seabed, isn't there?"
Parang swallowed a groan.
"We at least know there is something that could bring unprecedented chaos to this Earth. However, that is the extent of it. We do not know any more information beyond that."
It meant that Oceanus still held the upper hand in terms of information gathering on the seafloor.
To summarize, the World Government was trying to push people into the sea, and Cylo had explored various means to stop it before seeking out Yoo Parang herself.
It wasn't an unreasonable explanation. However, there was one fatal flaw.
"Why on Earth is the World Government trying to send people into the sea?"
This part remained unexplained.
"We don't know that either. To be frank, the World Government's recent movements are highly suspicious."
"I get that it's suspicious. I'm asking specifically how they differ from the previous World Government."
"Their movements are rough and slow. It means they've become incompetent. Thanks to that, we were also able to protect Hunter Yoo Parang and those around you without leaving any gaps."
The World Government had become incompetent. But the reason was unknown. Parang added a mental note in her head.
And then she was momentarily at a loss for words. It was because she couldn't really think of anything else to ask.
The questions she first harbored when she came here had mostly been resolved.
"It seems it's our turn to open the conversation this time."
As Parang stayed quiet for a moment, the man opened his mouth to speak.
Parang stared at the man as if telling him to go ahead.
"First, it's regarding the 'Departure'."
Parang flinched.
"It's understandable that you're surprised. You can rest easy. Our sole objective is to talk."
Even so, Parang didn't let her guard down just yet. You never knew what might happen.
"We have two questions we are curious about."
"What are they?"
"First, where on earth did you find it?"
Parang thought for a moment before deciding to be honest. She figured it was better to show her hand a little and gain more information in return than to ruin the conversation by clumsily trying to hide things.
"The South China Sea Hive. You know it, right? I even broadcasted it."
"We know. It was impressive."
"I found it deep inside. A companion helped me."
"Do you mean 'Oceanus'?"
Did they already know? It was something she had expected, though.
"...Yes."
"I see. Actually, the second question is the truly important one."
Parang tensed up slightly. What was he about to ask?
"The question I'm about to ask is the main point. It's the biggest secret the Cylo Corporation is hiding, and the reason we brought Hunter Yoo Parang here today."
He was abruptly telling her the biggest secret hidden by the Cylo Corporation.
Parang read two hidden meanings from this.
First, they were desperate. Desperate enough to reveal such a huge secret to her.
Second, Parang was also in danger. Not just Cylo, but any organization wouldn't just leave someone alone who knew their most crucial hidden secret.
In an emergency, they would probably force her to cooperate.
For a moment, Parang's expression turned fierce.
"...Have you already read that far into it? I won't deny it. Still, the proposal we're about to make will absolutely not be a bad thing for Hunter Yoo Parang either."
Parang glared forward with piercing eyes, as if telling him to go ahead and speak.
"To the point. Near that Artifact, was there by any chance another person's Corpse or Skeleton?"
What did he mean?
"When you say another person's Corpse."
"I mean a Corpse other than Matilda Müller's."
"It sounds like you're saying there definitely should have been a Corpse there."
"To be exact, we were hoping there would be a Corpse there."
"What does that mean? Hoping there was a Corpse, just whose..."
"Olivia Cloverfield's."
"...What did you say?"
"You didn't hear wrong, Hunter Yoo Parang. According to the information we have, the place most likely to hold Olivia Cloverfield's Corpse was next to the 'Departure'."
She started failing to understand the way things were turning out again.
Why would someone who had definitely achieved Ascension be found as a Corpse in the sea? As far as she knew, they had no connection to the seabed right up until the moment they ascended. Even in the Ascension scene in the story, there was no link to the Deep Sea whatsoever.
However, what this man was saying completely denied all of that.
"The Slayers did not achieve Ascension, Hunter Yoo Parang. They went to the bottom of the sea, and they died."
"What... did you just say?"
Parang's eyes trembled violently.