The Celebration’s Grim Turn

At the mention of ‘celebration’, Anna’s eyes snapped toward her.

She had already divulged all she knew about the nun to the powerful, white-haired wanderer. This celebration, she realized, presented the sole opportunity to approach the nun. Consequently, a flicker of excitement crossed her features.

Noticing this, Ming Yu instantly understood. She subtly swept her gaze over the approaching figures, detecting no discernible threat, and a quiet confidence settled within her.

It would be a worthwhile visit, an opportunity to broaden her horizons.

****

Ming Yu had assumed that any typical celebration would unfold within a grand hall or a sprawling public square.

Upon reaching their destination, however, she found herself rather surprised.

The venue resembled a valley, nestled in a low-lying basin. A vast platform dominated its center, encircled by a wide, ribbon-like expanse of water.

From her vantage point, Ming Yu surveyed the celebration grounds below, a subtle shift in her expression.

“A pleasure to meet you, hunter from the Sea Fortress.”

An aged voice resonated from behind her.

Escorted by a retinue of soldiers, an elderly man entered her field of vision. His face was serene, making him appear no different from any ordinary old man.

Ming Yu glanced back at him, offering a brief nod of acknowledgment.

His gaze swept past the two women, finally sharpening as it landed on the White-feathered Sea Eagle perched on Ming Yu’s shoulder.

“That sea eagle…”

The old man removed his military cap, entrusting it to the adjutant beside him, and let out a soft chuckle.

“As it happens, a disobedient falcon went missing from the island not long ago. We’ve all been quite concerned about it.”

“Is that so?”

Just as Ming Yu was about to speak, a furious accusation suddenly echoed within her mind.

‘Waaah! That old geezer is full of hot air! He definitely wants to tear me to shreds right now, don’t believe a word of his nonsense!’

The White-feathered Sea Eagle’s loli-like voice was thick with disdain and indignation.

Maintaining a careful distance from Ming Yu, the old man waved his hand. Immediately, the fully armed soldiers behind him raised their rifles in unison, aiming them squarely at Ming Yu and Anna.

His gaze, once peaceful, now hardened with ill intent.

“But to get to the point, if I’m not mistaken, you, much like the sea beast hunters who came before you, are hoping to secure a vessel to depart from this island, aren’t you?”

“Precisely.”

Ming Yu arched an eyebrow faintly. It was certainly plausible that other sea beast hunters had ventured here in the past, interacting with these very people and even securing passage home.

“I imagine that even if you were to lurk in the shadows and forcibly seize a ship, we might not be able to stop you. Similar incidents have, regrettably, occurred in the past.”

“One group of sea beast hunters, using that very pretense, slaughtered hundreds of our soldiers and civilians.”

“I have no desire for such events to transpire again, which is why I’ve personally brought my troops to meet you.”

He paused, a dry chuckle escaping his lips.

“Aside from those who prefer to lurk in the shadows, dealing with you sea beast hunters typically amounts to little more than emptying a single magazine…”

“You don’t seriously believe you can dodge bullets, do you?”

****

The Falling Star Archipelago: Extreme Mode, a one-life speedrun.

Unlike the unburdened slaughter of sea beasts, Ming Yu rarely unleashed her full destructive power upon fellow humans. Yet, this hardly meant she was incapable of doing so.

As the old adage went: if one harbored the intent to kill, one must be prepared to be killed in return.

Having resolved the immediate threat, Ming Yu made her way to the celebration platform, where she helped Anna locate the nun, who lay unconscious and heavily scarred.

Just then, a terrifying shriek erupted from the murky depths of the water encircling the platform.

Ming Yu’s expression instantly faltered. She had heard similar sounds countless times during her voyages at sea.

A sea beast.

Along the water’s edge, oblivious crowds continued to cheer, loudly acclaiming the “Lord of the Storm,” utterly unaware of the looming catastrophe.

Ming Yu spun around sharply, her gaze falling upon the nun chained to the platform and Anna, who was frantically attempting to sever those bonds. A sudden, unsettling premonition gripped her heart.

Boom—

With several resounding crashes, colossal tentacles erupted from the water, lashing out at the celebration platform. They snatched the chosen sacrifices, their corrosive mucus effortlessly dissolving the chains, before dragging them back beneath the surface.

As fate would have it, unaware staff members standing on the platform were also caught in the chaos. Their agonizing screams, rather than silencing the distant cries of their compatriots, only seemed to further fuel their excitement.

For every unfortunate soul caught on the platform had been specifically chosen as a wanderer.

Even when confronted by countless gaping muzzles, Ming Yu had never displayed an expression as grim as the one she wore now.

“To create such a disturbance, it must be at least A-class, and very likely an S-class sea beast…”

The sheer pressure exerted by a high-tier sea beast was something no human military force could ever hope to rival.

Ming Yu’s grip tightened on the gene injection in her hand, her mind consumed by internal conflict.

While her internal and external wounds had mostly mended, the cellular stimulation from gene enhancement would likely leave her overly sensitive for a while. Furthermore, she had lost her thermal cutting blade. Without a suitable weapon, it felt as though her sharp claws had been blunted, leaving her with immense power she couldn’t effectively wield.

The fundamental difference between humans and beasts lay in their capacity to create and utilize tools. By physical strength alone, Ming Yu was naturally no match for an S-class sea beast. The ability to hunt them with such ease was largely thanks to her unstoppable thermal cutting blade.

This battle was perilous.

Ming Yu was utterly baffled.

Why would a high-tier presence manifest within the archipelago itself? Hadn’t it been said that no sea beasts roamed near these islands?

Surely, it couldn’t be that this particular sea beast was so powerful it had devoured all others or simply terrified them into staying away. How could such a thing be possible? Not even an S-class sea beast possessed such capability.

Absolutely not.

Before she could delve deeper into her thoughts, an endless surge of tentacles swept across the platform, dragging everyone beneath the water. Only Ming Yu remained, struggling fiercely against their onslaught.

There was no time for such considerations now.

The first lesson drilled into every sea beast hunter was clear: battles against sea beasts could take place on land, in the air, or upon the water’s surface, but never, under any circumstances, beneath it.

Ming Yu gritted her teeth, her hand tightening around the gene injection.

Injection. Enhancement.

A terrifying, tearing sensation ripped through her entire body.

Yet, not all tentacles were created equal.

Tentacles that she would ordinarily sever with ease now effortlessly sent the unarmed S-class hunter flying.

Carried by the immense force, Ming Yu was flung bodily into the air.

Just as her momentum waned and she began her descent, the White-feathered Sea Eagle caught her, frantically beating its wings to escape the tentacles’ reach.

“Hurry, cough, cough—”

Ming Yu coughed violently, a mouthful of blood splattering from her lips.

Utilizing the elevated vantage point, she quickly pinpointed the port’s location, signaling to the White-feathered Sea Eagle to fly in that direction.

Her entire understanding of sea beasts had been utterly overturned.

Neither the Kraken nor the Leviathan had ever inflicted upon her such a suffocating sense of defeat.

Could this truly be merely a sea beast? Or was the so-called “Lord of the Storm” truly a deity?

Ming Yu found it almost impossible to believe.

As for Anna and the nun she had sought, Ming Yu could no longer spare them a thought.

Had the White-feathered Sea Eagle not noticed the anomaly and bravely flown into the valley, Ming Yu might not have evaded the tentacles’ assault, let alone ensured her own survival.

“W-w-what is happening?”

“I don’t know…” Ming Yu’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Are you hurt again?”

“Perhaps…”

She felt her consciousness fading, yet a strange, sharp pain deep within her skull prevented her from succumbing to unconsciousness.

Below the platform, the terrifying shriek echoed once more, laced with the frustration and fury of a prey that had escaped.

This shriek was more than just a sound wave; it contained an inexplicable, mysterious power, like an invisible hand closing its five fingers around Ming Yu in mid-air.

In that instant, a sense of disorientation washed over her, and her vision was consumed by a kaleidoscope of bizarre, shifting images.