A person in Tokyo becomes a demon god

Chapter 155 The Age of Exploration

Hokkaido waters.

Splash, splash, splash~~
The sound of seawater crashing against the outer walls of the cabin has become a daily occurrence for Jinpei Matsumoto, replacing his wife's gentle caresses.

Dangdang Dangdang!
"Get up! Everyone get up and get to work!"

The sharp, buzzing sound of iron bars striking the ladder, along with the menacing noise, forcibly roused everyone in the cabin; one by one, haggard men rolled off the densely packed hammocks, opening their numb, despairing eyes to face the cold reality.

Like Matsumoto Jinpei, these 'crew members' would casually wipe their faces with a wet towel, their bodies smelling sour and foul, before starting their day's work.

This is a deep-sea squid fishing vessel named 'Hokuto Maru', and its job is naturally to process squid.

Squid are creatures with very high requirements for their living environment.

This prevents large-scale farming—most of the squid people eat is seafood.

The deep-sea squid fishing vessel is engaged in squid fishing: as the crew members walked onto the deck, they looked up and saw that the sky was pitch black, except for the two rows of lights on this rusty deep-sea vessel.

This is a metal halide lamp. The intense light will cause squid attracted by the 'fish-attracting lamp' in the sea to reflexively swim to the relatively dark bottom of the ship.

Here, fluorescent baits disguised as small fish and shrimp are twitching, waiting for fish to bite.

Then, the automatic fishing machine started turning and pulled up the hooked squid.

This converted boat, which has long passed its scrap age, has a dense array of automatic fishing devices constantly rotating on both sides, much like the numerous cranes on the dock.

The squid are caught one by one, thrown onto the assembly line, and then slid onto the deck where the crew sorts, processes, and freezes them.

The whole process was cold and efficient, like a machine.

Crew members like Jinpei Matsumoto are also cogs in the machine.

"Seriously, everyone!"

The sailors, wielding iron bars, had menacing faces and exposed tattoos; unlike these apathetic crew members, they were members of the 'Wuling Club'.

He's the supervisor, not the screw.

Under the overseer's patrol, many crew members began their numb work.

As he sorted and processed the squid, Matsumoto Jinpei felt as if he had returned to a few years ago.

that time,
He runs a squid-grill restaurant in Osaka.

He used to have a beloved wife, a well-behaved daughter, and a respectable job. However, due to the turmoil of the past few years, his shop's customer traffic plummeted, and his savings were exhausted. To pay the shop rent, employee salaries, and family expenses, he had to borrow money from a financial company.

Who knew that the upheaval would last so long?
As a result, Matsumoto Jinpei was forced to borrow money from another affiliated loan shark company on the 'advice' of the finance company, and the debt snowballed. In just six months, with interest compounding, the total debt quickly exceeded 2000 million yen.

At this point, the "Wuling Club" behind these financial companies officially came to light, vandalizing shops, stalking and intimidating wives and daughters.
Under immense pressure, Matsumoto Jinpei had no choice but to accept the "Wuling Club's" offer of labor in exchange for debt.

Deep-sea fishing.

The crew members were all like him, people who owed money to the "Wuling Club".

On this ship, they were completely cut off from the outside world, and had nowhere to run. They were truly "illegal workers": apart from the transport ships that came to deliver fuel, food, and take away the squid, there was no other communication.

Over the years,

They all had a numb, inhuman appearance, neither human nor ghost.

This is also one of the classic 'industrial chains' of the island nation's yakuza. As long as you owe them money, they will exploit you to the bone!

Women could go to Kabukicho to sell their bodies; men could be sent to Hokkaido and various deep-sea fishing vessels to work illegally. All they needed was food and water, and a vague promise, to become a hardworking 'crew member'.

It's worth much more than simply 'selling organs'!

Normally, the wages for this type of deep-sea fishing job are very high.

After all, drifting at sea is no different from being in prison.

No, the prisons in island nations are much more comfortable than those on these deep-sea fishing vessels; they even offer reading, exercise, television viewing, and mental health services.

Perhaps, I should have chosen to go to jail instead.

Supported by the 'memories' in his mind, Matsumoto Jinpei numbly continued with his work.

until--

There was no more squid in front of me.

As dawn broke,

slap slap slap,

"Attention, everyone!"

As the applause began, all the crew members instinctively stood up straight.

Because their 'captain' appeared.

The captain, who emerged from the cabin, was not tall, with a cigar in his mouth and a pistol hanging at his waist: this was the source of his captain's authority and a symbol of his power of life and death!
If the captain wanted, he could kill any of his crew members and throw them into the sea.

In any case, the number of 'missing persons' in the island nation has been rising steadily in recent years, and is now approaching the 100,000 mark; coupled with the return of supernatural forces, things are becoming increasingly chaotic, so what difference does it make whether a few people or a few ants die?

Did the crew resist?

Without him as captain,
These idiots who can only handle squid can't even get this ship forward a nautical mile!

“Fools,”

"I have some good news for you."

The captain paced back and forth on the deck like a lion surveying its territory.

"You don't need to deal with squid anymore!"

? ?
The news came so suddenly that many of the 'crew members' were stunned and speechless.

What do you mean?
They were fired. No, they were freed?
Is Wuling Club really that kind?
"Fools, now we have a bigger deal to make!"

The captain himself was an important member of the 'Wuling Club', so he was naturally not as ignorant as these black-market workers who were cut off from information and only knew how to work in Japan.

"Don't get too excited. When you get back, you'll miss working here."

Are we just going to set them free like that?

What a joke!
The Yakuza are not a charity: don't even think about escaping until you've paid back all the money.

As for their salaries over the past few years? That little bit of money is far from enough!
The captain knew very well that what awaited these fools was to enter the range of 'Wrath of the Forest' and become cannon fodder.

And his ship no longer needed to deal with squid, because there were new businesses:
Several white trails stretched straight ahead on the sea ahead.

That's a small inflatable speedboat.

This is a tool used by the militaries of various countries for shallow-water landings. The seven or eight American men sitting on it are clearly 'smugglers' from the waters off Alaska.

Indeed, ever since that 'Silver Prince' trampled Yokosuka, the island nation and the United States have fallen out and banned each other's personnel from entering.

So even Americans need to 'smuggle themselves' to come to the island nation.

This was unimaginable before. Now, they can only accept it reluctantly.

What are you still standing there for?

"Lower the rope ladder and prepare to invite the 'guests' up!"

guest?

After half an hour,
"Captain, here is the agreed-upon payment."

Several American men who boarded the squid fishing boat opened a suitcase.

Inside are bright green US dollars: America has indeed suffered some losses, but not enough to fundamentally damage its economy; the purchasing power of the US dollar remains strong.

"Hahaha, you're too kind."

The captain took the suitcase and immediately began greedily counting the contents.

"Ten, fifteen, twenty... Two hundred thousand more? Is this a tip?"

"No tipping,"

His answer was the cold muzzle of a gun.

"It's the money you earned by risking your life."

boom!
???

"What are you doing—"

The social scene, which had just been filled with pleasantries, was suddenly stained with blood on the deck, leaving the tattooed "overseers" both shocked and furious.

Before they could even raise their iron bars, the other Americans drew their guns.

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
A barrage of gunfire erupted, and these usually arrogant and domineering overseers died faster than squid.

Of course, the crew members who stood by and watched the show were not spared either.

Kill and silence!
Thump,

"Ok?"

"Did something fall into the sea?"

The leader of the Americans twitched his ears and heard a discordant noise.

"Major, a crew member jumped into the sea."

Soon, a subordinate reported this.

"Do not use titles here!"

"Call me Mr. Smith,"

The leader, with a sour face, was none other than Commissioner Smith, who had been sent by America to "cooperate" with the island nation on supernatural matters.

Unlike before when he could travel freely, he is now being sent to the 'front lines' and can only cross the border illegally!

“Punch the lungs out of these bodies, throw them into the sea, and then set sail.”

"Mr. Smith, what about the crew member who jumped into the sea?"

Mr. Smith sneered at his subordinate's question.

"This is the waters off Hokkaido,"

Although this area is close to the island nation, the water temperature will never exceed 20°C. Before long, it will become food for marine life due to hypothermia.

"We must act quickly; there is no time to waste."

"Yes!"

Under Major Smith's orders, the rusty squid fishing boat began to turn, accelerate, and head towards the island nation.

A body with its lungs punctured will sink directly into the sea.

As for the crew member who jumped into the sea?
If you're so capable, swim back to your island nation; then you won't need to jump into the sea!

However, these Americans forgot that it was a squid fishing boat.

After a few hours,
The squid fishing boat stopped on the open sea, and the Americans launched their inflatable speedboats and rode towards the coastline.

splash,

A figure emerged from the stern of the ship.

"have they gone?"

With over a dozen fishing lines wrapped around his body, the man dragged here by this ship was none other than Matsumoto Jinpei, who had jumped into the sea to escape.

"Huff, huff, huff, we must get ashore as soon as possible."

After being dragged for several hours, his body temperature had been eroded by the seawater to a dangerous level. If he could not get ashore in time, death would be his fate.

As for climbing onto the squid fishing boat? If you have the stamina, why would you need to consider that?

Splash, splash, splash
The man began to swim vigorously in the sea.

Unfortunately, humans are not fish; those shipwreck survivors at least had a piece of wood to hold.

The coastline was so close, yet it seemed like an unreachable shore. Matsumoto Jinpei numbly waved his arms and legs. No, was he really swimming forward? Even Matsumoto Jinpei himself didn't know.

The body, submerged in seawater, trembled violently—a survival instinct, an attempt to generate heat through muscle movement.

But her hands and feet became increasingly stiff and numb; her consciousness began to blur, until—

The man who was swimming stopped trembling.

Finished

Upon realizing this situation, Jinpei Matsumoto had this thought flash through his mind.

When spontaneous trembling stops, it means the body has exhausted its energy and death is imminent.

hateful,

Am I going to die here?

The images of his wife and daughter flashed through his mind. But tragically:

Jinpei Matsumoto couldn't even remember their faces.

I'm such a useless person.
Just as the man was gradually turning into a floating corpse,
A ball of light, undulating on the waves, was slowly approaching, and then:

He touched Jinpei Matsumoto's body.

(End of this chapter)