Hunter of Mysterious Creature

"How do you know without trying?" Shino shouted, "Running upward is a dead end, going downward might be our last chance!"

At that moment, Sun Hang suddenly stopped.

He shook his head and said, "No, going downward is too late."

"What?!" The Fisherman was stunned, "Are you sure?"

"The third underground level of the Nameless Island Research Institute is a huge network of tunnels. Even if we could teleport to the entrance of this level right now, it would take us at least fifteen minutes to reach the nearest escape route. According to the design plan for the Nameless Island Research Institute, the entire underground portion will completely collapse within eight minutes once the explosives are detonated... So, it's too late."

"Then aren't we doomed?" The Fisherman's face turned pale, "Damn it, I haven't even held a woman's hand yet..."

"But there is another way," Sun Hang said, "A... 'hidden passage.'

The three-dimensional image of the research institute's underground structure gradually became clear in his mind, revealing a passage that originally wasn't on the design plans.

"Follow me," Sun Hang said.

...

Relying on his memory, Sun Hang quickly led the two to a place that seemed to be a ventilation duct entrance. In the state of "Sharp Blade," the Liquid Metal Blade cut open the rust-sealed steel cover in no time, and a faint smell of the sea mixed with rust drifted out from the duct.

"Where does this duct... lead to?" Shino couldn't help but ask.

The underground structure of the Nameless Island Research Institute is extremely complex, with thousands of tunnels for people and goods, and tens of thousands of ventilation, sewage, and drainage ducts. As skilled as Shino Seiichi is with his memory, it's impossible for him to remember the location and route of every single duct.

"Seems like... it leads to the sea?" The Fisherman leaned over the opening and sniffed forcefully, hesitating as he spoke.

"Get in!" Sun Hang glanced at the support steel structure above, already starting to deform, and kicked the Fisherman in the buttocks, sending him entirely into the duct.

"Hurry up, this place is about to collapse!" Sun Hang said.

"Don't kick me, I'll go in by myself," Shino quickly said, walked over to the opening, took a deep breath, and jumped directly inside.

Sun Hang was the last to enter the duct.

The inner wall of this duct was different from those used for ventilation or drainage; it seemed to have a special coating on the inside, making it extremely smooth. The Fisherman began sliding all the way down as soon as he was kicked into the duct, and in the blink of an eye, he had moved nearly a hundred meters inside.

For some reason, the Fisherman suddenly remembered a childhood memory when his father took him to the southern amusement park to ride a duct slide... He remembered clearly how he cried from the dark and narrow duct and how he fell into the water at the outlet, swallowing a belly full of dirty water, leading to diarrhea for two days and nights.

The surge of childhood memories made the Fisherman a bit nervous, but his father's expression, torn between laughter and worry after he choked on water, left him feeling somewhat nostalgic.

Damn, am I dying? The Fisherman's heart tightened. Why are those scenes that seemed impossible to recall suddenly appearing like a carousel?

He simply closed his eyes,

This time, it seems like I'm really going down there to accompany my father.

Not sure if the red sausages burned for my father during the Radonitsa Festival have been eaten... He won't be getting any more...

The task my father left me before passing—find a wife—wasn't completed, nor was the Hunter's ascension trial... Truly, this life has been full of failures...

If a Hunter dies during a mission, the Federation Government should issue a generous compensation... But it seems like I don't have any direct relatives to collect the compensation...

Should've signed a donation agreement... What do people from Xiazhou call this? Oh, right, "accumulate merits"... I heard it might lessen the suffering in hell.

No way... Someone like me hasn't done anything bad, shouldn't I be going to heaven?

Oh, I don't believe in religion... Then never mind...

While the Fisherman was lost in thought, the duct suddenly became winding and twisting, and the speed of the downward slide gradually slowed.

"Speed bump?" The Fisherman felt alarmed, those strange thoughts instantly vanished from his mind. He pressed his elbows against the inner wall of the duct, struggling to turn over.

He had just completed the position change when the duct's inner wall suddenly disappeared, accompanied by a massive impact. The Fisherman felt as if he had crashed heavily onto a soft sponge mat.

He shook his slightly dazed head vigorously and had just stood up from the mat when another person fell from above, firmly stepping on the Fisherman, collapsing back onto the mat.

"Hey, damn!"

The person who landed on the Fisherman was none other than Shino, who jumped into the duct second.

In comparison, Sun Hang landed in style—a liquid metal morphed into a flexible wire net that caught the exit of the duct. After neutralizing most of the inertia, the metal net retracted, allowing Sun Hang to land gently on the mat, lifting the other two out with one hand each.

"Damn... I... I think my ribs got crushed..." The Fisherman mumbled under his breath.

Sun Hang reached out and gave him a firm slap on the back.

"All right, it's set."

"Hiss..." The Fisherman gasped in pain, "Breaking a bone was nothing, that slap almost knocked the wind out of me."

On the other hand, Shino's injuries were much milder, only a few scrapes and soft tissue bruises—he stepped directly on the Fisherman's back when he slid out of the duct, turning the latter into Shino's human cushion...

"Sorry... I couldn't control it..." Shino quickly apologized.

"It's okay, no big deal, I'm thick-skinned." The Fisherman waved his hand, "These little injuries will heal in no time... By the way, what is this place?"

The three of them surveyed their surroundings—a small room resembling a cell at the duct exit, small in size, barely ten square meters at most. Apart from the extremely worn-out sponge mat directly below the duct exit, there was nothing else in the room.

The air in the room was very humid, the salty and fishy smell of sea water intertwined with the odor of decay, and mold spots crawled over the mottled walls. A rusty iron door stood at the end of the room, unlocked.

"Underground dock," Sun Hang said.

"Underground dock?" Shino raised an eyebrow, "This place wasn't on the Nameless Island Research Institute's design maps!"