Unlike the crowds rushing into Cavern Lagoon, Zed and Master Jiro lingered. Capturing Puffer Whales posed no challenge for them—urgency was unnecessary.
Most hastening inside sought not to hunt but to ambush successful hunters at the cave's mouth, seizing their spoils.
"Clever… but futile. Those capable of catching Puffer Whales won't be outsmarted by scavengers," Zed remarked.
Luck alone couldn't secure the elusive prey—not even Zonge's prodigious Food Luck sufficed. The slightest noise triggered the Puffer Whale's lethal self-poisoning. Success demanded Knocking mastery or overwhelming power to kill instantly—neither of which these opportunists possessed.
"Desperation breeds recklessness. Exhausted hunters might fall prey… but more likely, these fools will perish," Master Jiro chuckled.
Inside Cavern Lagoon:
Neither Zed nor Master Jiro required light—their heightened senses pierced the darkness. While Zed lacked Coco's electromagnetic vision, his night sight sufficed.
After a stretch, Zed emitted a faint aura, repelling vermin like Giant Centipedes and Cave Scorpions. Against Devil Serpents, however, such pressure merely dulled their aggression.
Reaching the middle layer, they entered the Devil Serpents' domain. These weaker specimens lurked sparsely here, guarding the path to the Puffer Whale spawning grounds.
"Rooooar!"
A Devil Serpent coiled ahead—a grotesque fusion of serpent and dragon, with three lidless eyes, writhing tentacles, and clawed limbs.
"Leave this one to me, Master Jiro," Zed said.
As Zed spoke, golden chopsticks materialized in his hand. They streaked forward like missiles, piercing the Devil Serpent's skull before it could react. The creature collapsed, lifeless—a testament to the chasm in their Capture Levels. At Gourmet Cell Level 44, Zed eclipsed the serpent's paltry 20, rendering the fight a foregone conclusion.
"Not harvesting the meat? It's prime ingredient," Master Jiro noted as Zed strode past the carcass.
"Prime, perhaps—but this one's dined on humans." Zed gestured to the nest's grisly decor: bones, many human, littered the ground. Devil Serpents regurgitated indigestible remains, and Zed refused to consume a creature that fed on his kind. The deeper layers held untouched specimens; he'd target those.
Master Jiro paused, bemused. Raised by Wolf King Jines, he'd witnessed nature's brutality firsthand. Centuries prior, humanity itself had teetered on cannibalism—Midora, born as livestock feed, devoured his oppressors to survive. To Jiro, only direct human consumption crossed the line. Yet Zed, molded by the Healing Nation's ethics, drew his own.
Crystalline growths bathed the cavern in daylight-like radiance. Beneath glass-clear waters, Puffer Whales drifted, their egg-laying complete. Zed and Master Jiro targeted post-spawn individuals—plump, ideal for harvesting.
"My turn!" Master Jiro brandished his Knocking Gun, eyes glinting. His true prize awaited: Fish Fin Wine, brewed from the Puffer Whale's dorsal fin. Anticipation sharpened his movements as he poised to strike.