68
Chapter 68
Vwoooom-
Boom!!!!
Shatter!!
A Monster Fish just a short distance from Parang was blown to pieces by a sudden laser blast.
A roughly twenty-meter-long Monster Fish, destroyed in a single shot.
I guess a protagonist is still a protagonist, no matter what.
Parang carefully adjusted her speed.
Marianne was moving slower than she had expected.
She kept a reasonable distance so Marianne wouldn't slip out of sight.
She couldn't let a disaster like losing Marianne actually happen.
Current depth: 700 meters. She had just left the Monster Fish Zone.
"The drop at your location is complete. The green one is the EMP Bomb, and the white Ampoule is the Anesthetic. You should only need to inject one Syringe's worth."
Originally, Parang had planned to ignore the man from Cylo and focus solely on luring Marianne.
Watching the front, maintaining coordinates, monitoring Marianne, clearing obstacles, dodging attacks.......
Adding a strategy meeting on top of all that felt like it would be too much to handle.
The man from Cylo seemed to understand, continuing his briefing without waiting for her reply. However,
"An EMP Bomb?"
She just couldn't hold back from asking about that.
"Yes. It's an EMP Bomb. Once detonated, nearby machinery will stop working for about five seconds."
"No, how is that......."
"It works."
Parang decided not to think too deeply about it. Right, well. Sure.
It was better than it not working, anyway.
"The payload has reached a depth of 100 meters. It should arrive in about a minute."
"Anchoring!!"
Bang.
"Retrieve!!"
Then, after a minute that felt like a year.
"Ah!!"
Parang finally spotted a plastic Box sinking toward her from above.
"Haaah!!"
Parang charged madly at the Box, smashing it open and pulling out the items inside.
The metal weights inside the Box tumbled endlessly into the deep sea.
And so, Parang retrieved a green Sphere and three white Syringes.
Parang quickly slipped the Syringes between her fingers and grabbed the EMP Bomb.
"If you squeeze it hard, the bomb will detonate, and our connection will end. I wish you good luck."
"......Understood."
Crack!!
Boom!!!
Bzzzt- Crackle!!
A blue Energy Wave erupted with Parang at the center, and Marianne's Railguns simultaneously stopped working and began to sink into the sea.
Bzzzt- Crackle-
The In-ear must have been completely broken, as it only let out static noise.
"Huu...."
Swoosh!
Parang moved at maximum speed, putting a bit of her emotions into it.
She Dashed toward Marianne.
And then,
"Close your eyes!!!!"
Thwack.
She forcefully jammed the Syringe into the back of her neck and injected the liquid inside.
Marianne, who had been thrashing around, gradually slowed her movements until finally, slump.
She hung limp, swaying like a Corpse.
"Phew......."
Parang finally relaxed and was about to take a brief rest to catch her breath.......
Gurgle-! Gurgle-!!
Just as she was about to do so.
Marianne, having lost her consciousness, immediately showed signs of breathing difficulty, forcing them to surface right away.
Finally showing their heads above the water, the Cylo Ship waiting at the designated spot picked her and Marianne up and moved to the Falkland Islands.
Taking the Warp Gate back home, it was 4:30 AM on August 8th.
Just like that, without even changing her clothes, Parang splashed into her Water Tank.
She fell asleep as if she had passed out.
#
Meanwhile, at the same time, Shin Yuna.
Clank- Clink-
Clang- Thump-
"Hehe.........ehehehehe......!!"
Messy hair, dark circles under her eyes.
Along with unfocused eyes and the creepy laughter of a madman.
"It's complete...... it's complete......."
Twice as large as before, Nautilus Unit 3 was crafted by her hands.
"You sons of bitches...... you're all dead......."
Yuna rubbed her face against the Unmanned Submersible's brass body with a happy expression until,
"Sleepy......."
She slowly slid down and fell asleep.
#
Shiver-
'A sudden chill.......'
Hunter Association Osaka Branch, 5th basement floor.
Branch Manager Dazai Soseki subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.
Whether it was because the indoor air conditioning was too strong, or for some other reason.
He kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his hand as he brought his eye to the Electronic Authentication Device in front of him.
- Branch Manager, authorization confirmed.
Beeeep-
A single warning tone rang out, then clank. The massive Iron Door opened.
What revealed itself was a long Hallway.
The Hallway seemed a bit gloomier than usual today.
Furthermore, considering his current destination and the person waiting for him there.......
'Ugh.......'
He shook his head to clear away his distracting thoughts.
Right. He was just going to report to his Superior. The chill from a moment ago was probably just the air conditioning.
It was likely because his body was growing frail now that he was past forty.
His footsteps quickened slightly for no reason.
#
Thump, thump, thump.
In the exact same place, a room situated in a corner of the 5th basement floor of the Hunter Association Osaka Branch.
"......Come in."
Clank-
A woman with an eerie aura stared intently at the pot-bellied middle-aged man walking through the thick Iron Door before flashing a soft eye smile.
She was trying to exude a friendly atmosphere in her own way, but the Branch Manager who opened the door and entered looked restless, as if he didn't know where to look.
"Make yourself comfortable. Thank you for working so late into the night."
"A-ah, not at all. This is nothing, haha......."
Natsuko carefully sighed so the Branch Manager wouldn't hear her.
It was a problem when a person had too much charisma.
To think even her own subordinate would tremble as if looking at a wild beast.
Natsuko put on the gentlest smile she could muster.
She didn't want to be etched into the mind of her own subordinate as a terrifying, Monster-like Human.
If that happened, she might get betrayed.
She approached the Branch Manager as slowly as possible, trying to convey with her entire body that she meant no harm,
Plop. She sat across from him.
However, despite Natsuko's desperate efforts, the Branch Manager only kept shivering like a person who was about to be eaten.
The way he tried to control his expression to somehow pretend to be calm was almost pathetic.
At this point, Natsuko decided to just give up and send the Branch Manager back quickly.
It wasn't as if she had a Skill like uncontrollable bloodlust emission.
And it was basic for someone at the level of a Branch Manager of the Hunter Association to not even blink at such things.
So, it would be correct to say that the Branch Manager's reaction, which he couldn't hide no matter how hard he tried, came from pure fear.
The fear toward the Human named Natsuko.
'It's hopeless.'
He was a card that couldn't be used for long.
Natsuko reached out, took the File Folder resting on the table, and spoke to the Branch Manager.
"You may go now. You must be tired, so get some good rest."
"Ah, yes. Yes!! Keep up the good work."
The Branch Manager slipped out of the room as if he were running away.
'I suppose a fatal fall while hiking would be appropriate.'
Natsuko elegantly and smoothly picked up the File Folder and opened it.
There was no use hiding it. The Document the Branch Manager had handed over was none other than the Monster Fish Zone exploration Report.
"Hmm......."
She did not have high expectations, but there was still no news of any noteworthy information.
At best, the Monster Fish called Ghost Ship was somewhat worth looking into.
Natsuko pressed her forehead.
The Monster Fish Zone exploration, did they really have to continue it.
Even though they were still in the very early stages, the harvest they obtained was severely small compared to the costs invested.
'.......'
Natsuko shook her head.
Her beast-like intuition was telling her. There was something in the sea.
It was a place that none other than that Seo Sunwoo had shown interest in.
Unquestionably, there is something.
Seo Sunwoo, Seo Sunwoo, Seo Sunwoo.
Just thinking about him made her head ache.
She could not fathom what was inside his mind, which was like a dark Waterway whose depths could not be seen.
The suspicion Natsuko had toward Seo Sunwoo was almost at the level of an obsession.
It was because of what Natsuko had committed a long time ago.
She did something she should not have done to Seo Sunwoo, and she hid something she should not have hidden.
All of her spasmodic suspicion of Seo Sunwoo fundamentally originated from that point.
Whether or not Seo Sunwoo found out about what she had committed that day.
Natsuko still does not know that.
That was the reason she had frantically dug for information on Seo Sunwoo.
The moment she caught even the slightest hint of circumstances, she intended to kill him immediately.
If Seo Sunwoo had been just a little less competent, Natsuko would have killed him immediately and buried him somewhere without even needing to investigate.
And, as one might expect.
For that long period of time, not even once, not even for a single moment, did Seo Sunwoo show any sign of knowing anything about the incident from that day.
The scene from that day is still vivid before her eyes.
"Na......tsuko? Why, on earth......?"
Inside a burning and collapsing wooden building.
Blazing furniture, the crumbling structure, the shouts coming from outside.
And a woman staring into her eyes in utter shock.
A long-time friend and comrade, the person to whom her irreplaceable childhood friend had sworn to dedicate his life.
An old friend to Natsuko, and the other half of the life of Seo Sunwoo.
Inside the blazing building, Natsuko.
Ate her.