Above the vast ocean, the azure blue merged with the horizon into a single expanse.
A massive whaling ship was cutting through the waves, its hull rising and falling slightly with the ocean swells.
On the deck, over a dozen sailors ran about busily. The steel cables of the winches were pulled taut, clearly dragging something heavy from below.
Beneath the surface, a massive shadow struggled desperately, attempting to dive into deeper waters.
It was a Blue Whale, the largest creature on Earth, over thirty meters long and weighing over a hundred tons.
But at this moment, it was firmly hooked by the whaling ship's harpoons. No matter how it struggled, it could not escape those lethal restraints.
Blood gushed from its wounds, staining a small patch of the sea red.
Yet to this boundless ocean, that bit of crimson was but a drop in the bucket, quickly diluted and swallowed by the waves.
However, the humans on the ship were currently filled with excitement.
"Baka! Pull it up for me, quickly! Don't let it escape!"
A man wearing a black kimono rushed to the bow, staring at the sinking shadow beneath the water, his eyes full of anxiety and greed.
He pointed at the sailors by the winches and urged them sternly.
"Use your strength! Everyone, get to it! This is a tribute for Lord Sato. If anything goes wrong, you will all commit seppuku to atone for your failure!"
The sailors' faces turned pale, and they turned the winches even more desperately.
Since that earth-shaking battle in Tokyo, the entire Island Nation had fallen into an unprecedented depression.
Tens of millions of people had turned into a frenzied swarm, crushed into ashes along with the Ghost Prison by that top-ranked individual, [Ye].
Only endless zombie flesh remained to prove the reality of that battle.
The Island Nation, which once prided itself as the little hegemon of East Asia, had fallen to rock bottom overnight, becoming a choice piece of meat in the eyes of various Factions.
If it weren't for that great god from the Dragon Country suppressing them and making all coveters wary, the Island Nation would likely have been carved up long ago.
But this also gave them a chance to catch their breath.
As long as they could collect enough Blue Whales for Lord Sato...
"As long as we collect enough Blue Whales for Lord Sato, he can refine them and become an existence comparable to SSS-Rank Hunter!"
The man shouted, his voice full of fanaticism.
"When that time comes, the Island Nation will also be able to recover its former glory, and even eliminate those lingering troubles left by the Hive Lords!"
The sailors' hearts surged with excitement as they heard this, and their movements became even faster.
After the Island Nation's cataclysm, the entire country was almost slaughtered to extinction by zombie flesh.
Just as everyone fell into despair, Lord Sato stepped forward, temporarily repelling those zombies with a powerful posture and allowing them to breathe.
Now, Lord Sato was their only hope.
And the only thing they could do was collect enough Blue Whales for that lord to help him refine and break through.
The steel cables grew even tighter.
Beneath the surface, the Blue Whale's struggles became weaker and weaker.
Victory was in sight.
However, at that moment—
An inexplicable chill enveloped the entire whaling ship without warning.
That chill didn't come from the sea breeze or the weather, but from the depths of their souls.
Everyone on the deck froze simultaneously.
Following that, a massive shadow slowly glided past the bottom of their ship.
The shadow was so vast and deep that it enveloped the entire whaling ship within it.
The sunlight was blocked, the sea surface turned dark, and that moving darkness was reflected on everyone's faces.
"What... what is that..."
Someone asked with a trembling voice.
Several sailors ran to the ship's railing, peering down into the bottomless sea below.
Then, they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives—
Beneath the surface, that struggling Blue Whale's massive body was suddenly split in two!
It wasn't torn by harpoons, nor was it snapped by the steel cables.
It was bitten in half by a bloody, gaping maw that emerged from the deep sea!
Blood sprayed out like a fountain, instantly staining that area of the sea red.
The severed whale carcass tumbled in the water, its internal organs and shredded flesh drifting everywhere.
And the owner of that giant mouth finally revealed a glimpse of itself—
Silver-white Exoskeleton, a hideous head, and four crimson vertical pupils that seemed capable of piercing through the soul.
"Mon... Monster!!!"
The sailor who saw it first let out a heart-wrenching scream.
However, his scream was cut short as soon as it left his mouth.
Because a massive blue Bone Tail, like a guillotine, suddenly pierced out from under the sea!
BOOM—!!!
The Bone Tail pierced directly through the bottom of the ship and emerged from the deck!
Then, it carved a graceful arc through the ship!
That large whaling ship, dozens of meters long, was like a fragile toy before the Bone Tail, split in half right down the middle!
The hull broke apart with a roar, capsizing to both sides!
Cargo, equipment, and sailors all fell into the icy seawater!
The three Blue Whale carcasses that had just been captured in the hold also slid out from the broken walls and fell into the sea.
But in the next second—
Another even larger and more hideous maw emerged from the deep sea, swallowing all three Blue Whale carcasses into its belly in one bite!
The silver-white Exoskeleton shimmered with a cold light in the dark seawater, and the four crimson vertical pupils narrowed slightly, chewing with satisfaction.
It was precisely Lilith in her Tyrant Form.
She had originally been hunting Blue Whales in this area and had already devoured several, leaving her only a tiny bit of progress away from completing the Blue Whale Gene collection.
Just as she was preparing to search for her next prey, she heard that piercing 'Baka'.
People from the Island Nation.
At first, Lilith only gave the whaling ship a faint glance, originally not bothering to pay them any mind.
There were plenty of Blue Whales in the ocean; she didn't need the few on their ship.
But that 'Baka' made her very annoyed and irritable!
So, she had the Alien Queen take action to give this ship a little surprise.
And she, conveniently, devoured those few Blue Whales.
At this moment, the broken hull was slowly sinking.
The sailors, Reincarnators, and that Hunter in the black kimono who had fallen into the sea were splashing desperately, trying to swim away.
But in the next second, a massive shadow enveloped them.
The Alien Queen's dark-gold vertical pupils locked onto this group of humans in the water.
In that instant, those who were locked onto simultaneously felt what true terror was.
It wasn't the fear of facing death, but the uncontrollable trembling from the depths of their bloodline when facing a higher-level life form.
The Alien Queen opened her giant maw and swallowed the group of humans whole, even taking care to crush them with her teeth.
Blood seeped from between her teeth, only to be immediately diluted by the seawater.
The sea surface returned to calm, leaving only a patch of floating wreckage and oil slicks.
Lilith just watched indifferently throughout the process, neither stopping nor participating.
However...
"Since the Island Nation is catching Blue Whales,"
Lilith's four crimson vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled into a cold arc.
"Does that mean I only need to take a trip to the Island Nation to complete the remaining Blue Whale Genes?"
She did some calculations.
With the four Blue Whales she just devoured plus the ones she hunted before, the progress of the Blue Whale Genes should be almost complete.
Going to the Island Nation to take some ready-made ones now seemed like a good choice.
And...
She remembered those ruins in Tokyo.
When she left last time, she had left behind zombie flesh and a zombie army she had modified with the T-virus.
Now that so much time had passed, she wondered what those things had evolved into.
Perhaps some interesting mutations would have appeared.
Lilith raised her massive head, her four crimson vertical pupils looking toward the distant horizon.
That was the direction of the Island Nation.
"Let's go."
Her low, youthful voice echoed in the deep sea.
The Alien Queen changed direction, her dark-gold vertical pupils also looking toward that area of the sea.
The two behemoths, one silver-white and one deep blue, tore through the dark seawater and sped toward the Island Nation.
Behind them, the broken whaling ship slowly sank into the deep sea, becoming one of the countless shipwrecks in this region.
As for the Blue Whale remains and organs in the hold that hadn't been devoured, they attracted the attention of a large number of deep-sea creatures.
They swarmed over and began to frantically tear and devour...