[127]: Edible

A beauty… or a fish?

Sssss— sssss—

A faint rustling sound echoed through the water. It resembled the movement of some unknown creature slithering—or perhaps an eerie underwater vibration.

The noise came from all directions, impossible to pinpoint.

Yet, the water itself remained undisturbed. No visible anomalies.

At some point, the group had fallen silent.

Gon and Killua, who had been enthusiastically identifying the corpses moments ago, had also quieted down for no apparent reason.

Holding their breath, they waited.

Waited—

Only the occasional tiny bubbles rising from the marine plants could be heard.

Nothing happened. Everything seemed safe.

The tension in Gon and Killua's bodies slowly eased as their hair, which had been standing on end, relaxed.

"We just instinctively went quiet for a second there…" Gon muttered.

"Yeah," Killua exhaled, relieved.

But in the very next second—

Both of them tensed, their faces paling. In a flash, they leaped into the water, twisting around.

Something had wrapped around their ankles.

Black. Wriggling. Vine-like tendrils.

The slimy appendages slithered upward, coiling around their legs, creeping over their chests, even binding their arms.

Cold. Slick. Covered in a thin layer of mucus.

Despite feeling soft, the tendrils refused to be pried off.

"What the hell is this?!" Killua flailed, struggling.

"It's so slippery…!" Gon gritted his teeth, trying to push the tendrils away.

"Hmm… seaweed?" Cyr mused, looking at the dark tendrils wrapped around him. He lifted one up, inspecting it curiously—then, without hesitation, opened his mouth and took a bite.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Killua shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.

Was he that hungry?! He was actually eating this thing?!

"It's edible," Cyr said casually, chewing.

Surprisingly, it had a crisp texture.

The tendril that had just been bitten twitched violently, as if it possessed awareness. It hesitated for a moment before attempting to retract.

"Oh no, you're not running away," Cyr muttered, grabbing hold of it.

This thing could make a great cold dish—its texture was just like kelp.

"Wanna try? It's actually pretty good," he said between bites, glancing at the stunned Killua and Gon.

Come to think of it… did this count as seafood?

Chewing thoughtfully, he pondered the classification.

Something that had initially seemed terrifying suddenly lost its menace.

Killua and Gon exchanged glances—then turned their gaze to the tendrils wrapped around them.

If they thought of it as a monster, it was terrifying.

But if they thought of it as… food?

"You sure it's edible?" The thought had taken root in both their minds.

"…It really is! Killua, it tastes kinda good!" Gon, already convinced, chomped down without hesitation and excitedly shared his taste review.

"…" Killua twitched. He looked down at the tendrils wrapped around him, his expression shifting to mild disgust.

Nope. He couldn't bring himself to bite it.

The tendrils, having suffered multiple bites, panicked. Within seconds, they retracted completely, vanishing from sight.

All except the ones still wrapped around Cyr—apparently, they had abandoned his limbs entirely.

"This thing really might be seafood…" Cyr muttered, glancing at his arm.

A patch of red, swollen skin had begun to appear.

Well, it made sense. It was a sea creature, after all.

It might feel like kelp, but kelp was a plant.

Meanwhile, he… was allergic.

Cyr sighed, realizing he hadn't brought any medicine.

And judging by the way his skin was reacting, the thing was probably venomous, too.

Red, blotchy patches darkened into a purplish hue, radiating a burning heat. A prickling, itchy sensation spread across his skin.

It wasn't unbearable, but still—

"Gon, that thing was poisonous," Cyr informed him casually.

"Huh? HUH?!!" Gon jumped in shock. "Now that you mention it… I do feel kinda itchy… and warm…" He rubbed his arms.

Come to think of it, that was odd.

They were underwater, and thanks to the capsules, they weren't supposed to feel temperature changes.

So why was he feeling hot?

"Hey, are you okay? Is the poison serious?" Killua asked, his sharp gaze shifting between Gon and Cyr.

Cyr's reaction looked way more severe.

His arms and legs were practically covered in red welts—hell, even his face…

"…It's just an allergy. The poison isn't too bad—I don't really feel anything." Cyr scratched his cheek.

"I'm fine too, just a little itchy," Gon said, bouncing in place twice.

"What even was that thing just now?" Killua frowned, trying to recall.

"Just some sea creature. Let's move on and check out the rest of this place," Cyr said as he continued forward. "Oh, by the way, the capsules you're using only last for two hours."

"If you're still down here after that…"

"You're dead!" He chuckled, his tone light and cheerful, as if he wasn't talking about something life-threatening.

"This guy… and he's only telling us now?!" Killua clenched his fists.

His fists tightened—one day, just like Gon did to Hisoka, he would punch this guy.

Punch him so hard his face would swell like a balloon.

"Do you think those corpses back there had anything to do with that thing?" Gon glanced over his shoulder at the standing corpses before turning back to ask.

"Maybe a few, but that thing wasn't very strong," Cyr said casually.

Ordinary people probably got killed by it, but Hunters and martial artists? No way.

Which meant… something else had killed them.

And in the deep sea, something else could be anything.

There were way too many things lurking around.

Enough to give him a headache just thinking about them.

"I see…" Gon sighed but quickly brightened up. "Let's see what's ahead!"

Delicate, glowing jellyfish floated gently in the water.

Neither Killua nor Gon reached out to touch them.

Because they had touched them before.

And Gon had gotten a nasty shock, while Killua's hand had swollen up from poison.

Different-colored jellyfish had different survival and attack mechanisms—they weren't just decorative creatures.

They were deep-sea predators.

Along the way, they found numerous clay jars, but all of them were empty. Not a single trace of gold or treasure.

Instead, what they found were corpses.

Some were unrecognizable remains of sea creatures. Others… were human.

The deeper they went, the more it felt like they were walking through a silent, underwater graveyard.

This place wasn't the kind of ruin described in legends, where treasure lay in wait.

So… was it even a ruin at all?

Or had someone else already looted everything valuable?

With these doubts in mind, they reached the very center of the structure.

From a distance, they saw it—

A massive head.

As they moved closer, an enormous stone statue came into view. It towered nearly a hundred meters tall.

Perched on the sculpture was a giant octopus, its tentacles stretching over dozens of meters. At the sight of the group, it lazily slithered off and swam away.

The statue…

Neither fully human nor fully fish.

Its body was humanoid, but its feet were fused into webbed appendages. Its ears resembled fish fins rather than human ears.

It had no hair—its bald head was smooth and featureless.

Its facial features were flat, with only two small holes where a nose should be, seemingly for breathing.

Its mouth, however, was huge. The corners stretched all the way to the back of its head.

Its chest was completely flat, without any hint of muscle definition, yet its body was distinctly streamlined.

Its lower half was a thick, powerful fish tail, devoid of any clear gender.

Its face…

To call it human would be a stretch.

To call it a fish felt just as wrong.

"…" Cyr stared at the statue, the corners of his mouth twitching downward.

There was no way this thing was a mermaid.

He refused to accept this ugly creature as a mermaid.

This was a Deep One, plain and simple!!!

°°°

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