novelraw Chapter 278: The Manhunt Meeting for the Black Hunter
Chapter 278: The Manhunt Meeting for the Black Hunter
At this moment, the Water Spirit Number Three, after enduring the blast, looked like a shriveled, edible jelly cake.
An gently pinched the limp, deflated spirit with her fingers, her eyes filling with deeper and deeper puzzlement.
This was definitely not good news... she sighed helplessly.
A good beast tamer would never abandon their pet easily—unless something catastrophic had happened.
Chen Qi had not taken Water Spirit Number Three when he left.
That meant it was very likely he had failed to escape successfully during the night of relentless artillery.
Under the dawn light, the dazed spirit opened its round, glossy eyes and then turned to look at An.
Fear!
Horrifying human!
Water Spirit Number Three jumped in terror. At the thought of becoming another human’s toy, being used like a rag, it leapt, trying to flee from the human’s grasp!A water spirit would never be enslaved!
But An’s hand, cold and unyielding, closed on it like an iron fist and held the hovering spirit fast.
“Don’t worry. I’ll train you properly.”
The spirit trembled wildly in An’s hand, thrashing to escape her grip.
As expected—without its master, it was terrified... An stroked the shaking creature gently.
She had liked pets since childhood, and a water spirit from the sea was a fine companion.
She could sense, however, that this was no ordinary deepsea water spirit.
Looking at the spirit, she again pictured the scene of the Black Hunter fleeing the island after attacking everyone—right past her.
Ultimately, if she had been a bit faster, she would have fought the Black Hunter.
Although she was confident she could take him down, it would very likely have been a bloody, grueling fight.
Next time we meet, I won’t let you get away... An inhaled deeply and resolved silently: she had to rise to Legendary status as soon as possible and train Water Spirit Number Three into a powerful fighter.
“From now on, you’re an avenger. A fighting water spirit...” An said.
But how could an ordinary pet like a water spirit be made stronger...? A question quickly formed in her mind.
In the Goldenfinch Kingdom, water spirits could evolve into elemental spirits like fire spirits or thunder spirits, but to An those evolutions were too weak.
She had to devise a practical strengthening plan for Water Spirit Number Three.
At that moment, someone walked up behind her holding a camera.
“The sun is really brutal today.”
Pelu adjusted her brown plaid reporter cap and said, “Miss An, the navy and Bonfire Energy Company’s hunter squad are discussing the next operational meeting. They’d like you to attend.”
“All right—”
An turned and instinctively tucked the water spirit into her clothes.
What had she picked up from the sea—round, plump... Pelu’s eyes went curious as she realized it looked like a tiny water spirit.
Are there so many water spirits these days? Speaking of which, the owner of that Water Spirit Restaurant has been missing for a long time. Too bad... Pelu snapped a photo of the sea and said, “Please hurry.”
“Mm.”
An followed Pelu to the meeting.
At that moment, navy high command, Bonfire Energy Company’s Bluefire and Dya, numerous victims of the Black Hunter, all gathered around an open-air sea chart table to discuss the next plan.
They could not let the Black Hunter slip away so easily.
Navy Vice Admiral Gary pointed at the map table: “Everyone, don’t worry too much. A single ship cannot continuously use the space leap engine, and if you preinstall special shielding, we can block its use. Besides, we have a massive navy—capturing the Black Hunter is only a matter of time! But right now, we must know exactly where the Black Hunter went.”
As he spoke, Vice Admiral Gary looked toward old Bluefire.
“Bluefire, manager and former owner of the space leap—can you indicate a specific area?”
“……”
Bluefire fell silent, unable to speak; the blow Chen Qi dealt him was too great—he could not recover in a single day.
Pain—he felt only pain now.
Was my wording wrong... Gary thought for a moment and blurted, “Manager Bluefire, the former owner of the space leap engine, can you point out a specific range? So we can capture the Black Hunter.”
“Former owner...” The lost, disoriented Bluefire suddenly felt his blood pressure rise. His hands had been lost and required expensive mechanical prosthetics. Now someone from the navy—who didn’t know how he’d gotten so big—had rubbed salt in the wound!
Bluefire’s anger surged. He wanted to press his hand to his chest, but he had no hands.
How did this person become a navy vice admiral... Dya glanced at the vice admiral in silence, took out a pen, and placed it on the sea chart table: “The space leap engine’s teleportation isn’t random; it’s linear. In other words, if you draw a straight line from where it disappeared...”
Everyone’s gaze followed Dya’s pen tip.
On the map, the pen’s position moved farther and farther until it quickly reached the edge of the Sea of Calamities.
When Dya’s pen stopped, everyone frowned and looked worried.
“The Dragonflower Archipelago? The Black Hunter’s destination is the Dragonflower Archipelago?”
“That’s right. Why, everyone?”
Dya was born in the imperial capital of Beiguo and was a newcomer to the Witch Sea; he didn’t know the Witch Sea deeply.
Vice Admiral Gary explained, “In fact, we’ve received news from the Flower Witch that she appeared near the Dragonflower Archipelago and encountered an attack by Thunder Dragons...”
“Flower Witch... Thunder Dragons...”
Dya’s eyes showed curiosity; he aimed to be the top Supernova, so he was intrigued by every Supernova.
Gary sighed heavily: “The Dragonflower Archipelago lies at the edge of the Sea of Calamities. It’s a resource-rich place with many floral-aspect and heart-affinity rifts, abundant dragons, and an ancient beast-tamer people. Even before the Dimensional Tide, it was fertile ground full of flowers and ruins. The navy has attempted assaults on the archipelago many times, but most failed. That place is ruled by Dragon Tamer Jie of the Blackfin Crew. He’s an extremely powerful dragon tamer. Under his command, the Dragon Flight Corps has tightly controlled the Dragonflower Archipelago and all nearby seas—the people, the resources, everything!”
Dragon tamer king... everyone’s brows knitted instantly.
The four great pirate fleets were called the kings of their seas because they controlled many island-cities in the Rift Sea.
The places controlled by the Blackfin Crew’s Seven Sea Pirates were the most dangerous parts of the ocean.
Not to mention, in recent naval battles, the Blackfin Crew had suffered almost no defeats, winning by crushing force; their enormous Black Sea Elephants kept destroying navy bases one after another.
In the Witch Sea, one of the Seven Sea Pirates’ generals—Jie—could truly be called the island’s king; on the Dragonflower Archipelago he called himself Dragon King!
Hearing this, everyone felt a surge of reluctance.
This sea region was clearly not territory the navy could enter lightly.
Dya scoffed, “The Black Hunter is insane? A third-tier Transcendent daring to enter Blackfin Crew territory alone? Does he want to overthrow the Dragon Tamer King?”
In the navy’s view, the Black Hunter and the Blackfin Crew were enemies.
An thought for a moment and calmly said, “Maybe he went to assist the Flower Witch. Although the Dragonflower Archipelago has fertile land, it’s full of sea wyrms and flying dragons and thus hasn’t developed a large city. Instead, it’s scattered with many villages and numerous unknown places.”
To come to the Flower Witch’s aid... everyone suddenly understood and guessed at something.
“Sigh...”
Gary sighed again. If the Black Hunter had entered dragon territory, they couldn’t conduct a large-scale pursuit.
The navy was too fragile in the face of the Blackfin Crew.
A chance to capture a third-tier Transcendent for a massive bounty was slipping through his fingers!
Silence fell for a long time.
Dya, however, looked excited and laughed, “Everyone, the Black Hunter is mine. I will never give up the chase. When I get to Moonstone City and buy a new mecha, I will personally pilot it and end the Black Hunter’s life!”
Dya blamed this failure on two causes: he hadn’t spent enough money, and the mecha pilot had been weak.
He vowed that the Black Rock Mecha was only a prototype and that Moonstone City’s flood of steel would forge a stronger mecha!
Next time we meet I will win; Dya brimmed with confidence about taking down the Black Hunter.
An said nothing, but quietly decided that once she had enough strength, she would take Water Spirit Number Three and, with overwhelming force, capture both the Flower Witch and the Black Hunter together!
Vice Admiral Gary drew a deep breath and declared loudly and generously, “I will report this to superiors. Although a major pursuit is unfeasible, small-scale pursuit is still possible. The navy’s assassination unit and the Hunter Association’s elites will let the arrogant Black Hunter learn what justice looks like! Storm Hammer! We are the masters of this sea!”
The third-tier Transcendents present said nothing, quietly speculating about the Black Hunter’s moves. In their eyes, the Black Hunter was strong but not invincible.
Take a gamble; a skiff can become a yacht—what if we win?
Many third-tiers silently considered their next action plans.
After this operation, the Black Hunter would very likely become the most highly bountied third-tier Transcendent in the Witch Sea!