Chapter 336: Happy Birthday |
A seabird spread its wings, gliding at high speed just above the sea surface.
With a high-pitched cry, it suddenly extended the sharp talons tucked against its belly and plunged them into the water. A splash erupted as the seabird flapped its wings twice, soaring back into the high sky. In its grasp, a palm-sized sea fish struggled violently.
Asaba Shinichi lay on a beach chair with one hand resting behind his head, while his other hand formed the shape of a gun, taking aim at the seabird that had just succeeded in its hunt.
"Bang."
He voiced the gunshot himself, and it was as if a black bullet truly fired from his fingertip.
The "bullet" grazed the seabird's feathers. Startled, it frantically flapped its wings and vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
The crunching sound of shoes stepping on the beach gradually approached. Just from the sound, one could tell it was a girl with a light and graceful figure.
Sure enough, the newcomer stopped behind him and asked directly, "Asaba-san, have you seen my brother?"
Asaba Shinichi let out a yawn and drawled lazily, "Your brother, Hoshino? I saw him perfectly well. He's at the seabed."
Asaba Shinichi chuckled and replied casually, "He's probably catching ghosts."
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. "Oh, the ghostly aura has vanished. It's probably over already."
......
With a bizarre shriek, the terrifying sea ghost—with its red eyes, cyan skin, and mouth full of fangs—dissipated like smoke. Only an ivory pearl the size of a ping-pong ball remained floating in the water, slowly descending toward the decayed deck of the shipwreck.
Before it could land, Hoshino Gen reached out and caught it. He turned his head; not far behind him, Shimizu Yu stood inside a bubble, staring intently in his direction.
"It's... it's taken care of?"
Hoshino Gen had always been too lazy to repeat the obvious. Gripping the pearl, he forcefully invaded it with his power to interpret the utility of this containment vessel.
After a moment, his eyebrows twitched upward. According to the Special Affairs Group's classification of containment vessels, the one currently in his hand probably belonged to the lowest tier, Grade 1.
This was not particularly surprising. After all, that blue-faced, fanged vengeful ghost only looked somewhat hideous; its actual strength was truly dismal. Shortly after they entered the wreckage of the shipwreck, they had crossed paths in a narrow cabin. He had stepped out of his bubble and casually delivered a single slash, causing the sea ghost to scream and perish on the spot.
It was only normal for a monster of that caliber to drop equipment of a corresponding tier.
However, this item... It required a drop of the owner's blood to activate. While active, it would continuously devour the user's lifespan while granting them the ability of sea ghostification.
"......" Hoshino Gen fell silent for a moment. Although it was quite useless, it was still a containment vessel. Despite its poor quality, calling it a treasure wouldn't be wrong. Leaving aside the ominous special ability it contained, just looking at its appearance—a flawless, ping-pong-ball-sized pearl that was perfectly spherical—made it practically invaluable.
It was decent enough for a gift... Of course, it would require a little modification.
As he was pondering, his eyelids suddenly twitched. He put the pearl away, immediately dashed toward Shimizu Yu, and slipped into the bubble.
However, the very next moment, a loud crash echoed through the hull. The rotten wood was instantly shattered from the outside. Under the illumination of two glowing orbs, Shimizu Yu clearly saw what the behemoth that smashed the shipwreck was—
A shark, its gaping maw wide open, lunging toward them, fierce and aggressive.
"......!" Shimizu Yu's face paled. Just as she was about to scream, a cool sensation wrapped around her wrist. Even though the giant shark was already biting toward her, its jagged, gleaming white teeth mere inches away, the moment she felt that touch, she subconsciously turned her gaze to her side.
A deeply intrigued smile played on Hoshino Gen's lips. Shimizu Yu felt a sudden pull.
The bubble shrank to cover their skin. Pulling Shimizu Yu along, Hoshino Gen circled the shark's mouth with extreme agility and darted out through the large hole the creature had smashed in the side of the ship.
However, despite its massive size, the shark's highly adapted aquatic anatomy granted it an agility devoid of any clumsiness. It smoothly spun around in place, its tail fin thrashing vigorously as the ferocious, angry man-eater gave chase in the direction Hoshino Gen had fled.
As a top predator of the ocean, the shark's speed was naturally terrifying. At one point, it even caught up and closed in on the rapidly fleeing Hoshino Gen and Shimizu Yu.
Looking down at the terrifying man-eater that repeatedly opened its giant jaws to bite, only to snap at empty water time and time again, Shimizu Yu couldn't help but feel waves of panic, even though she firmly believed Hoshino Gen could protect her. "Can't we go faster? It looks like it's catching up!"
Hoshino Gen glanced down at Shimizu Yu's expression and laughed. "I can, but wouldn't it be boring if we just left it in the dust right away? Don't you like exploring and treasure hunting? Although that vengeful ghost just now was very weak, it wouldn't have been good for you to stay in the same confined space with it for too long. But a shark is different. It provides a sense of thrill without actually posing any real danger."
"......" Shimizu Yu was left speechless. 'Wait, you fled so decisively just now, I thought we were actually in a life-or-death crisis! And you're telling me it was just to provide a sense of thrill?'
"Can you beat it?" Shimizu Yu couldn't help but ask.
"Heh." Hoshino Gen just chuckled without saying a word.
Shimizu Yu understood. Seeing the man-eater still in relentless pursuit, even though she couldn't suppress her nervousness and fear, she inexplicably felt a tinge of pity for the big shark.
'Seeing how desperately it's chasing us, it must be starving, right? It probably has high hopes for this hunt, doesn't it? Yet after expending so much effort to pursue its prey, little does it know it's just being played with like a toy...'
She tilted her head up and looked at Hoshino Gen's profile. "I thought that with your personality, if you could beat it, you would have drawn your blade and hacked at it the moment it crashed into the cabin..."
"If I were alone, that's probably what I would have done." Hoshino Gen smiled again. "But didn't you mention before that next week is your birthday? I'm not interested in birthday banquets and such, so I decided to give you this gift called 'treasure hunting' in advance. And since it's a treasure hunt, it naturally needs a bit of thrill to be complete. Don't you agree?"
"......" Shimizu Yu was somewhat at a loss for words.
The seawater before them had transitioned from deep blue back to light blue, indicating that the sea surface was not far away.
Shimizu Yu noticed that the shark's speed was increasing, but the rate at which Hoshino Gen was pulling her upward was accelerating as well.
Finally, the bubble broke the surface of the water, sending a massive spray flying across the sunlit sea level. Hoshino Gen pulled Shimizu Yu into midair. The shark below also breached the surface, making one last futile snap of its jaws before splashing uselessly back into the sea, once again kicking up a myriad of water droplets.
The sky remained a brilliant blue, painted with continuous stretches of white clouds. The sun felt wonderfully warm, especially that first ray of sunlight hitting their bodies after escaping the deep sea.
Hoshino Gen let go of the wrist he had been holding. However, before the panic could even surge in Shimizu Yu's heart, she quickly realized that she was still floating in midair.
Then, she looked up and saw Hoshino Gen raise his hand. A large burst of flames ignited within his clenched fist, only to extinguish just as swiftly. He opened his fingers, revealing the sole reward of this treasure hunt resting in his palm.
The beautiful pearl shimmered with a magnificent and dreamy luster under the sunlight, serving as the perfect punctuation mark for this treasure hunting journey.
"I burned away part of the activation cost and feedback effects. Its power is greatly reduced, but the side effects are also much smaller now. It will currently activate at the cost of continuously draining a bit of your blood. While active, you can hold it to breathe underwater. When not in use, wrap it in talismans for storage, and do the same when carrying it with you. Unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to use it more than once a week, and try to keep each use under fifteen minutes."
Pausing for a moment, he smiled and said, "I won't be attending your birthday banquet, so I'll wish you in advance: Happy Birthday."