35. Jet-Black Flashlight
Lost in the kiss with Jinri, I'd completely ignored our surroundings, but I snapped back to reality and looked around.
We were supposed to be facing the Electric Kraken, a mid-boss-like entity.
When I turned my gaze, the Kraken's head was deflated, like a hot air balloon drained of air, completely collapsed.
The cutlassfish blade in my hand explained why.
The Electric Kraken's golden ink was so delicious that 99.98% of the marine creatures in the power plant's electric sea—vaster than Earth's Pacific Ocean—had swarmed here, kissing its wound and sucking out the ink before departing.
As a result, the pitiful Kraken, stripped of every drop of its golden ink that also served as its blood, had enriched the sea's happiness concentration and fulfilled its life's purpose.
"In the end, it was a good guy," the cutlassfish blade remarked.
"It was usually arrogant, bullying or eating other creatures as the sea's tyrant. But to share its delicious life with the very creatures it tormented—that was moving. It was a dramatic scene, like all its past sins were forgiven in an instant."
"I see," I nodded curtly, swiftly shifting my focus to the next action.
"We've taken down the mid-boss. Let's head to the power plant. Nothing should stand in our way now."
"Yeah, we'd better hurry," Jinri agreed, spurring me on.
We finally crawled out of the electric sea and set foot on land.
We reached a resort-like area near the power plant.
It was a sparkling beach made of photon sand, a popular tourist spot.
Stepping barefoot on the silky sand sent a ticklish, pleasant sensation through us. Above, a massive nuclear fusion sphere shone in place of the sun, instantly ionizing and drying our drenched high-end uniforms.
As we walked, adjusting our attire, we arrived at the entrance of the power plant's building.
At the entrance stood a roughly seven-year-old security guard in a pale blue and red uniform, yawning boredly.
The flashlight in his hand, in stark contrast to the bright surroundings, emitted a jet-black light that illuminated the area.
Noticing us, the guard pointed the dark beam at our faces.
The darkness was so intense that I raised my hand to shield my eyes, as if blocking blinding light.
"Who are you?" the small boy asked.
His voice tinged with unease, I responded in a tone meant to reassure a child.
"We're rich."
"Huh?"
Seeing his confusion, I elaborated.
"We were penniless at first, but to buy train tickets, we hit the casino and ended up filthy rich by accident. That made our load too heavy, and we couldn't stay on the train—actually, we derailed it."
"So?" the boy asked, still skeptical.
"So, we came here to slim down," I said.
"You're both slim already! You don't need to diet with bodies like that!"
The boy, shocked, alternated his jet-black flashlight between Jinri and me, as if trying to peer into our essence with its dark light.
"It's not about that," Jinri chimed in, taking over with a soothing tone, as if comforting a child.
"We're not trying to diet the visible parts."
She approached him slowly.
The boy backed away, like a kid encountering an unleashed bulldog. But Jinri exuded the aura of a clever, adorable papillon.
"We're dieting the invisible parts. Get the difference?"
"I don't get it!" the boy shouted, gripping his jet-black flashlight like a kitchen knife, as if arming himself against a burglar.
"Stay back! I'll report you! This is trespassing!"
"What? You need permission to enter here?" I asked.
"Of course!" he retorted, as if it were obvious.
"This is private property, and it's the most important facility in this city—the power plant!"
"But isn't this run by the city? That wouldn't make it private property, right?"
"Wrong!" the boy yelled, rejecting the idea.
"This entire Tropical Night City is the private property of one humanoid robot! Even the mayor is just someone hired by that robot!"
"Who's that humanoid robot?"
"You don't know?!"
The boy, more shocked than ever, jumped exaggeratedly and began explaining.
"She's the one who built Tropical Night City from scratch! The reason? She was lonely. Apparently, her owner didn't want her meeting anyone. So, no humanoid robot has ever seen her. But her presence lingers in every corner of this city. Live here long enough, and you'll naturally sense it!"
"Alright, whatever," I cut off the trivial talk, getting back to the point.
"Look, we just want to get inside this power plant."
"What for?"
The boy's jet-black flashlight pierced my eyes again.
Slightly annoyed but staying patient, I explained.
"We want to go in and spend money like crazy. This is the place to burn through cash in this city, right? We can blow our fortune here."
"You want to turn money into energy? What for?"
"Just to pump it back into the city. Someone'll use it. I'm not interested in the details."
"We don't need that much energy!" the boy snapped, spitting as he ranted.
"We're already getting more than enough from the sun! This power plant is just a storage facility for emergencies! No matter how much money you have, if we refine and store any more energy, this place might explode!"
I countered with a sharp question.
"But that's weird, isn't it? This is a power plant, not a storage unit. It's supposed to generate energy, not just store it."
"It's all backwards now!" he shouted.
"Anyway, you don't have the right to enter! Even if you get in, leave immediately! How did you even get here?"
"The electric sea," Jinri answered.
The boy's eyes widened as he pressed further.
"What?! How?! The terrifying, gigantic Electric Kraken lives there! It's super dangerous, and humanoid robots are its favorite delicacy! Hardly any robots come to the depths of the electric sea, so the Kraken's been starving for humanoid robots. If it found you, it would've devoured you, leaving not even a bone! There's no way you survived!"
"We ate the Electric Kraken," I replied.
The boy's expression turned fiercer as he snapped back.
"No way! You're saying you fought and beat the Kraken?!"
"We beat it!" Jinri said, mimicking the boy's excited tone, her glowing blue eyes fixed on him. Overwhelmed by her intensity, he took another step back.
"Show me proof!" he shouted.
The jet-black light from his flashlight grew even darker.
I thought for a moment before answering casually.
"Got any fishing gear? Like a fishing rod? If you do, I might be able to show you proof."
The boy hesitated, then bolted off.
Following his small figure, I saw him head toward what looked like a tiny security office, just big enough for one person. Inside, colleagues glanced at us while talking, then quickly handed him a fishing rod. He rushed back with it.
"Here!"
He offered a rod longer than his own height, a high-quality piece with sophisticated, premium parts, clearly a top-brand item.
Wearing our own high-end uniforms, we accepted it naturally. Its weight and texture were impressive, as expected.
"Now show me!" the boy shouted, his voice booming like the start of a track race.
"Proof you defeated the Electric Kraken!"