The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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108
Chapter 108 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Whoooooosh—
The magnificent vibration emanating from tens of thousands of colossal mana stone engines reverberated through the iron walls of the thick specialized container.
Though enveloped in absolute darkness devoid of light, the steady, unwavering vibrations and the pleasant temperature and humidity control system testified to one undeniable truth: this ash-gray box was a premium cargo hold reserved exclusively for VVIPs.
I activated the terminal from the data bank I’d seized from Ryu Jin-hwan. A holographic screen bathed in blue light dimly illuminated the container’s interior. On the display, a crimson dot representing the transport ship’s current position moved rapidly southward.
The altitude shown on the screen was 3,000 meters above sea level—the same elevation as the Upper Levels where only VVIPs resided. Yet this massive cargo ship we rode did not encroach upon the opulent residential zones of the Upper Levels.
To prevent the sacrilege of Lower District and Middle District logistics passing over the heads of those esteemed VVIPs, the transport ship circumnavigated the outer airspace of Neo Seoul in a wide arc, silently following the exclusive flight corridor through the empty southern sky.
“Everyone, let’s begin preparations. We’re almost at our destination.”
My companions, who had been crouched in the darkness, began moving in unison. Seo Eun-ha stretched her stiff body, and a tiny spark flickered from her fingertips, warming the container’s air and granting us visibility.
“It’s more comfortable than first-class on an airplane, but I can’t see outside, so it feels a bit stuffy. Where are we now, Tae-hyun?”
“We passed over Chungcheong Province long ago, and just crossed the airspace above the Ruins near Jirisan. At this speed, we’ll arrive above the waters off Geoje Chilcheon Island in about fifteen minutes.”
In response to my answer, Park Jae-jung silently tightened the seams of his mithril gauntlets. Han Su-jin gripped the cross-shaped holy ring tightly and took a small, deliberate breath. Han Ae-ri, stationed in one corner, scrutinized the mana circuits of the deep-sea operation suit that Dr. Junk had customized for her with sharp eyes. No words were exchanged, but each of us prepared in our own way.
“Let’s change into the suits.”
I retrieved the deep-sea operation pressure suit—a dark blue-green color—from my backpack. Crafted from the hide of a deep-sea kraken, the suit felt extraordinary to the touch. Tough and cold, yet the moment I donned it, the fabric clung perfectly to my body, constricting around my muscles with flawless precision. Along the joints, delicate mana circuits glowed with azure light, spreading like veins to withstand the crushing pressure of the deep.
We each removed our outer garments and swiftly donned the pressure suits.
“This thing is incredibly tight. It’s hard to breathe.”
Seo Eun-ha grumbled as she zipped up the collar to the top, but she too understood that this suit was our only lifeline against the murderous water pressure of the deep sea.
Finally, I fastened the gill mask around my neck—a device that converts mana into oxygen underwater—and confirmed the securing mechanism was firmly in place.
“Ten minutes.”
I spoke while checking the GPS coordinates on the terminal. The crimson dot on the holographic map was rapidly approaching the complex coastline of the South Coast.
“The problem begins here. Since the transport ship heads directly to Neo Busan without reducing speed, we’ll have to jump out of the ship while flying at hundreds of kilometers per hour at 3,000 meters altitude.”
“A freefall from 3,000 meters with no parachute? If we hit the water at terminal velocity, it’ll be like slamming into concrete.”
Han Su-jin asked with an anxious voice. Even with an S-rank physique, the physical impact of colliding with the water surface at terminal velocity could shatter bones to pieces.
“During the fall, Eun-ha will need to control our descent and trajectory.”
“Control the wind?”
Seo Eun-ha’s eyes sparkled as she stroked her chin.
“Wind isn’t my domain, but I can create a massive updraft by pushing temperature differences to their extremes. Like the principle of a hot air balloon. I’ll create a column of hot air beneath our falling trajectory to slow our descent.”
“Sounds good.”
I turned off the terminal and tucked it deep into my backpack, then sealed it completely with a waterproof pack.
“Time to go. I’ll open the door.”
I approached the container’s thick iron door. Though designed to open from the inside, the external pressure differential and the tremendous wind force made it impossible to budge with ordinary strength.
“Park Jae-jung.”
Park Jae-jung stepped beside me and pressed his massive shoulders firmly against the container door. The tremendous strength from his reconstructed body through the substitution surgery surged through his entire musculature.
“Hnngh—!”
Crash!
The moment Park Jae-jung violently shoved the door outward, the insane tempest at 3,000 meters altitude roared into the container like a wild beast.
The biting, ice-cold gale of the high altitude lashed against my entire body. Though the ferocious wind made it nearly impossible to open my eyes, I gripped the metal frame tightly and forced my head up to gaze down at the landscape beyond the container.
And in that instant, the sight before my eyes seemed to freeze my heart.
“What the hell… what is that.”
Seo Eun-ha beside me was struggling against the wind just as much.
Thousands of meters below our feet, the waters off Geoje Chilcheon Island sprawled in a sight utterly unlike the azure sea we knew.
The sea was boiling. Across an endless expanse of pitch-black surface, seawater spanning dozens of kilometers in radius surged in frenzied reverse currents, spawning towering tsunamis and whirlpools of overwhelming magnitude.
It bore no resemblance to a natural disaster. From the depths of the seabed at the heart of the colossal maelstrom, a core energy the color of blood erupted like an active volcano, mercilessly tainting the entire ocean.
Where seawater collided with core energy, massive thunderstorms raged above the surface, unleashing relentless lightning, while between those brilliant flashes, shadows of house-sized tentacles and grotesquely swollen deep-sea monsters repeatedly leaped and sank across the water.
It was not the sea—it was the gateway to hell itself.
The transport ship glided over it indifferently, pressing forward toward its destination. Now was the only moment to jump.
I turned to look at my teammates.
Park Jae-jung gripped the doorframe with both hands, staring downward, his jaw clenched tight. A single nod confirmed his readiness. Han Su-jin held the ring firmly against her chest, steadying her breathing, her eyes burning with resolve rather than fear. Seo Eun-ha had already released her hands, rolling up her sleeves past her shoulders, her gaze sharp as she read the currents below.
And Han Ae-ri stood wordlessly on the container’s edge, gazing down at the roiling sea three thousand meters below with an expression utterly devoid of emotion—as casually as one might peer around a street corner.
What on earth could possibly frighten her?
“Masks on!”
I shouted into the fierce gale, pressing the gill mask firmly against my mouth and nose. With a metallic click, the mask locked perfectly against my jawline, connecting to the suit’s mana circuits. My teammates swiftly donned their masks and nodded in acknowledgment.
“Jump!”
At my command, we hurled ourselves without hesitation from the container of the massive cargo ship hurtling through the sky at three thousand meters altitude.
Kwaaaaaaa—!
The instant my body left the container, a deafening sonic boom engulfed my entire being, and gravity began dragging my flesh downward with merciless force.
Park Jae-jung tilted his massive frame sideways to distribute air resistance. Han Ae-ri positioned her body vertically like an arrow, descending with the sharpness of a blade. Even as the tremendous wind pressure made it impossible to open my eyes, I continuously tracked my teammates’ positions while plummeting ferociously toward the sea thousands of meters below.
The falling speed transcended imagination. We pierced through the dense cloud layer in an instant, entering the heart of the thunderstorm where biting cold and flashing lightning seared the skin.
“Eun-ha! Now!”
As I infused my voice with mana while suspended in the air, Seo Eun-ha, falling at similar velocity, spread her arms wide. Vast waves of flame mana erupted from her body, instantly heating the frigid atmosphere below to hundreds of degrees.
The superheated air expanded and surged upward, and a massive thermal updraft began supporting our bodies from beneath like an invisible parachute.
“Ugh!”
The sudden deceleration sent a searing pain through my organs as they shifted violently. Yet thanks to Seo Eun-ha’s perfect thermal control, our plummeting trajectory miraculously stabilized.
The sea drew closer. One thousand meters. Five hundred. One hundred.
Flashing crimson lightning above the water’s surface and colossal monsters surging upward in hunger for core energy became clearly visible. The boiling waves churned in whirlpools the size of mountains.
Despite the updraft slowing our descent, we still fell at over a hundred kilometers per hour. Even in a pressure suit, impact with the surface at this speed would be catastrophic.
Fifty meters to the surface. I flipped my body and screamed toward the roiling sea below.
“Eun-ha! Maximum output one more time!”
Seo Eun-ha extended both hands toward the sea, wringing out her S-rank mana to its absolute limit. Thousands of degrees of heat erupted from her fingertips, instantly boiling the atmosphere directly above the water’s surface. The superheated air expanded and detonated, and the massive pressure differential unleashed a merciless updraft skyward.
Kwaaaaaaaaak—!
A horrific deceleration as if we’d slammed headlong into a massive transparent wall. Yet thanks to that explosive air cushion, our bodies—which had been plummeting at terminal velocity—came to a perfect halt suspended in the air for the briefest instant before touching the surface.
And the moment the heat dissipated and buoyancy vanished.
Splash—!
We slipped into the pitch-black waters off Chilcheon Island with all remaining impact absorbed, as smoothly and naturally as diving from a springboard.
There was no terrible crash of impact against the surface, no shattering of bones. I cut through the water first, followed in succession by Han Ae-ri, Park Jae-jung, Han Su-jin, and Seo Eun-ha, each slipping silently into the depths.
The moment my body submerged completely beneath the surface, the deafening roar of the storm and the brilliant flashes of lightning from above were cut off entirely.
An overwhelming silence.
And then the terrible pressure of the deep crushing down on my entire body, the biting cold lashing against my skin.
We had arrived.
My eyes snapped open. Darkness engulfed me on all sides—absolute, suffocating darkness. Yet it was not darkness alone. Core energy erupting from the seabed ley lines stained the entire ocean with its corruption. Water that should have been a deep navy blue was now tainted with a murky, ominous hue—blood red and violet swirling together in a sickening amalgam.
I felt the flow of that corrupted energy through my fingertips. Scorching, violent, and chaotic—vast quantities of core energy scattering in all directions without purpose. My dantian responded. An instinctive urge to purify ignited, burning from my fingertips outward.
‘This magnitude….’
I couldn’t even begin to fathom it. This was an entirely different scale from when I awakened purifying contaminated gas in the sinkhole. The total volume of energy pouring from this deep-sea ley line would be hundreds of times greater than that.
The mana circuits in my pressure suit glowed blue, deflecting the water pressure, while my gill mask emitted sharp, rhythmic sounds as mana converted to oxygen and flooded into my lungs.
I pushed my kinetic vision to its limits, scanning the surroundings. Through the darkness, my companions approached, their blue circuit lights piercing the gloom. Park Jae-jung gave a heavy, deliberate nod. Seo Eun-ha flashed an okay signal through her mask. Han Su-jin raised both thumbs. Han Ae-ri already had her underwater dagger drawn, gripped firmly in her hand.
A three-thousand-meter free fall and water impact. We had executed that insane maneuver flawlessly.
But there was no time for celebration. Our bodies were sinking at a terrifying velocity toward the fathomless deep sea off Chilcheon Island.
From the abyss beneath us, the seabed ley lines ruptured, unleashing a turbulent column of blood-red core energy that corrupted the surrounding water. Within that maelstrom, dozens—hundreds—of grotesque crimson eyes pierced the darkness of the deep, their gaze fixed on the foreign objects that had just breached the surface.
Deep-sea monsters, mutated to colossal proportions by their addiction to core energy.
The nearest one came into focus within my kinetic vision. Its entire body was one massive maw. Hundreds of serrated teeth lined the interior of a circular mouth exceeding ten meters in diameter, all angled inward. A horrifying amalgamation of squid and anglerfish, bloated to twice its natural size by core energy. Its eyes narrowed, fixed on the blue light leaking from our mana circuits.
I felt the resistance of water as I drew Shadow Fang from my waist. Han Ae-ri likewise unsheathed two harpoon-shaped mana daggers from her back. Park Jae-jung struck his Gigas Shield and heavy gauntlets together, releasing a fine spray of bubbles.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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