Chapter 132 - Hunting the Hunter - 1

Steam City, Base of the Pirate General Ho Ri-Na.

In the usually lively and noisy city, there was an unusual silence that made all the inhabitants uncomfortable. The Steam Goddess, the ruler of that territory, had returned victorious after the clash with Pirate General, Son of Wind, Hong Shin, ending the illegal drug trade that haunted the islands of the Forgotten Ocean.

With the fall of their commander, the teams under Hong Shin's command that didn't participate in the clash went in disarray, and Ho Ri-Na swallowed the territory of her defeated enemy in the blink of an eye. She thus acquired an enormous sum of money and resources, increasing the overall strength of the men under her service. Yet despite the fact that these results were usually a source of joy and celebration, no one was in the mood to celebrate.

Unexpectedly, something that nobody expected had happened during the battle. Ho Ri-Na, after the victory over Hong Shin, was blackmailed by a couple of young martial artists who threatened the life of her younger sister, Ho Yeon-Hong. Such an unexpected development surprised everyone who listened to the result of this clash as they couldn't believe that a couple of spirit apprentices had been capable of such a bold gesture. Fortunately, a few days later, Ho Yeon-Hong had returned safely to your sister's home - the kidnappers had kept their word.

But in addition to Ho Ri-Na's victory and that unbelievable kidnapping, another news shook the inhabitants of the islands, especially those used to travel across the Forgotten Ocean. The Red Devil Jin-Sang had defeated his lifelong rival, the Storm Lightning, Kan Ki-Nam, thereby reducing the number of Four Pirate Generals to just two. As a result, there was now no one who could stop the advance of the Red Devil except the Steam Goddess. However, only very few people thought Ho Ri-Na could have the power to face Jin-Sang. The ferocity and strength shown by the Red Devil dominated the elegance and skill demonstrated by the Steam Goddess.

Therefore, what everyone was wondering was when Jin-Sang would launch his attack and consolidate his power, becoming the Pirate King for the first time since Hae Sang happened. But while everyone was excitedly awaiting the occurrence of such an event, shocking news circulated again in the entire Forgotten Ocean.

"Big sister, big sister!" Ho Yeon-Hong shouted as she ran through the villa corridors to go to her sister's office. Receiving no response, Ho Yeon-Hong forcibly opened the door, heedless of disturbing her sister.

Ho Ri-Na was sitting behind her desk with her hands on her forehead, and her head bowed. Next to her stood her right arm, Won‌ ‌Byung-Chul‌. Sitting on two chairs in front of the desk, there were the remaining two spirit soldiers, Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su‌ and Sok Yeong-Gi.

"Big Sister. Is what I heard true?" Ho Yeon-Hong asked as she gasped for shortness of breath due to running up to here.

"Yeon, I knew you would come. Yes, what you've heard is true. Even I can hardly believe it, but all the inhabitants of the Blue Lobster City have confirmed what happened."

Receiving the confirmation of her sister, Ho Yeon-Hong opened her mouth surprised by the news, but she soon recovered to ask, "Big sister, what do you want to do?"

*

Lobster Island, Blue Lobster City.

In the crowded market of this city, Hei and Lian were slowly walking through the commercial streets looking at the goods displayed by the various retailers. Their heads were covered by a long black cloak with a hood, which made it difficult to even peer at their faces. Yet no one was paying attention to it; after all, it wasn't unusual to see people who wanted to keep their identity hidden.

The two made their way to one of the food stalls neatly located at specific points in the city. Each of these stalls was assigned a precise location so that there were no quarrels between the owners. After all, fights in public places were terrible for doing business. Nonetheless, it wasn't uncommon to see stall owners standing in each other's way in order to acquire a better area to do business.

After ordering food, Hei brought out Ye and Xing, and together, all four of them ate their meals. The stall owner made an angry face at the sight of two animals eating where only humans were supposed to eat. However, he made no complaints due to the high number of orders Hei was making.

"Are you satisfied, or would you like to order again?" Hei asked Lian and his two little sisters.

The three of them replied with a negative nod. Although it wasn't strange for Lian, it was surprising that the two little divine beasts hadn't asked for more to eat. But there was a valid reason - the Blue Lobster City was one of the cities where the influence of the Red Devil Jin-Sang was strong. It wasn't strange, in fact, to see men belonging to his crew or affiliated crews walking on the street. So it was understandable that they were somewhat tense since they were in enemy territory.

The reason Hei decided to venture into a city so linked to their enemy was due to the plan he had set up. To continue with what he had in mind, he had to prove to Ho Ri-Na that he had the strength to support his words, and that meant killing the spirit soldier sent by Jin-Sang. And it wasn't that he could do it through some sneaky subterfuge. No, he had to defeat and kill that spirit soldier in frontal combat in front of witnesses who could confirm the outcome of the battle to Ho Ri-Na.

Therefore, Hei chose the Blue Lobster City because of its link with the Red Devil Jin-Sang. Exposing himself to a city under the influence of the General Pirate would have facilitated the task of finding him to his pursuer. In that way, the pirate would not have been forced to wander far and wide to look for them. And as Hei had predicted, the spirit soldier who believed they were the hunter in this hunt caught Hei and Lian's tracks up to Blue Lobster City. The pirate was now able to complete the task assigned by the Red Devil.

Screech!

While Hei and his family were drinking tea to digest after that big meal, a strange noise began to be formed, becoming more and more intense.

Bang! Crash!

The stall was torn apart, sending everywhere sharp pieces of wood while a half-meter deep crater was formed on the ground. At the center of this crater stood a man with a height of 1 meter and 90 cm and an athletic build. He had short purple hair and a fair complexion. He had no so distinctive features except for a pair of metallic gauntlets that emitted a dazzling sparkle.

This pair of gauntlets was different from the usual models exhibited in the forges - normally, these protections ended at the height of the wrist or up to the forearm at most; however, those possessed by this individual came to cover the entire arm. Furthermore, instead of leaving the fingers uncovered or giving them a sole piece of protection, it reproduced with accuracy the shapes of the fingers so that the user could move them freely, ending in a pointed claw-like way.

"Excellent reflexes, not bad kids," said the man plunged from the sky, not worried about what he had just done.

"Thank you, but it is you who have chosen a too flashy method. The next time you want to take someone by surprise, I recommend a quieter method." Hei replied as he landed on the ground.

Thanks to Xing's sensitivity to the sound, Hei and the others had managed to avoid the attack in time. They also brought with them the stall owner, who was disoriented by what was happening.

"My stall! Why the hell did you-" the owner began to rail against the man in the crater.

"Sir, I advise you to go away. These are for the damage of the stall, but if you care about your life, you should better disappear from here as if you were being chased by wild beasts." Hei interrupted the poor man and handed him a bag with enough money to buy a new stall.

The owner looked in amazement at the young client who was serving till just now. After calming down a bit, he realized that he had been put into something dangerous, so the owner decided to follow Hei's advice and ran away as fast as he could. It wasn't just him though, the people who were in the vicinity of that part of the city began to run away. Some went to find a safe place, others to look for guards to quell that conflict. Even though they didn't know the details, they weren't stupid - what was happening was an affair between martial artists, and they didn't appear to be weak. There was no way they could intervene directly. It was better to look for the city authorities

"Are they gone? Better this way. Sorry about that, I was curious about what your abilities. After all, I heard so much about the two of you. My name is Mok Tong-Hyon, and I am a spirit soldier serving the Pirate General, Red Devil, Jin-Sang. My captain demands your presence before him - he wants you to join the crew. However, that is after bringing with you what you stole to Ho Ri-Na." Mok Tong-Hyon dismissively smiled as if he didn't care at all what Hei and Lian thought about that proposition.

"Jin-Sang, you say? And does he want to invite us into his crew? What would happen if we were to refuse his invitation?" Hei asked as he looked around to see if there were actually no innocents bystanders around.

"Unfortunately, it is an invitation to which you aren't allowed to say no, and I don't even recommend to do so. I have been ordered to bring you to him, whether with your consent or not."

"I understand, then I fear you will have to force us because I have no intention of following your orders as if nothing had happened."

"Boy, don't get strange ideas. I advise you to think again because you are not up to my level."

Instead of continuing the discussion, Hei replied to Mok Tong-Hyon with his actions. He activated his spirit power by releasing the aura of a first-stage spirit soldier. At his side, Lian also did the same while releasing the silk ribbons wrapped around her body. Xing and Ye remained hidden in Hei's body, for now, ready to unleash their power at any time.

"Oh! Not bad. You have reached the second rank. I don't know how old you are, but it's amazing that brats like you have reached such a milestone so early. However, talent is not all in the world of us martial artists. It would have been better for you to stay hidden until you got stronger instead of getting cocky because of your talent."

Mok Tong-Hyon gave another mocking smile as he put his left arm and leg forward, entering the position of combat. Although he had an overwhelming advantage of cultivation, the target he had to capture wasn't alone.

"Lian, let's go," Hei said as he started to charge, holding his spear with both his hands. The young blue-haired woman replied with a nod following behind him.

Peng!

Hei infused his spirit power into his spear and attempted a lunge against Mok Tong-Hyon. Jin-Sang's spirit soldier stretched his left arm forward to capture the tip of the spear as he tried with his right hand a violent punch against Hei's face.

Seeing that his spear was about to be caught, Hei restrained his charge and lowered his body. With a rapid rotation of his legs, keeping his position down, he turned around Mok Tong-Hyon. As soon as he got behind the latter, Hei rose to his feet again. Meanwhile, Lian had arrived in front of Mok Tong-Hyon and swung one of her ribbons like a whip while she hardened it.

Swoosh!

With quick footwork, Mok Tong-Hyon avoided the combined attack of the two as he moved a few meters apart. He could have attacked one between Hei and Lian, taking advantage of the interval between their attacks, but he decided not to. With the advantage of cultivation, he wasn't worried about facing two newly advanced first-stage spirit soldiers. Mok Tong-Hyon was still euphoric after the battle against the Storm Lightning's crew, Kan Na-Kim, and therefore decided to enjoy this clash. Playing with these brats for a while wouldn't have compromised his mission, or so he thought.