With the swimming tournament behind them, the two leave the stadium together, ready to continue their search for cards across Greed Island. Their first stop is the player waiting for them outside the stadium entrance: Michiro.
"Hi." Kai raises a hand to catch his attention as he and Biscuit approach. "I'm glad you remembered our agreement."
To avoid the prying eyes of other players, the three move to a more secluded area on the outskirts of the town before exchanging the "Fledgling Musician" for the "King White Stag Beetle."
"Okay, that completes the transaction. Goodbye." Michiro says, turning around after the exchange of cards.
"Wait." At Kai's voice, Michiro stops dead in his tracks.
Holding "Fledgling Musician" in his hand, Kai watches as the card transforms into an ordinary "Rock" card under the effect of the Paladin's Necklace.
"This card is a forgery. You have tried to scam me."
Terrified that he has incurred Kai's anger for having tried to deceive him, Michiro quickly turns around and approaches him again, the real "Fledgling Musician" card already in hand.
"I'm so sorry! It was an unfortunate mistake! I had that one set aside for a different exchange! This is the right one! Please forgive the error!" Michiro says nervously as he hands the card to Kai.
"Okay. Now we're actually done. Bye-bye." Kai turns around and walks away with Biscuit, leaving Michiro behind.
"Now I see why you haven't wanted to interact with other players until now. There are a lot of opportunists roaming around this island. That necklace is certainly useful." Biscuit remarks, glancing at Kai's neck.
"You have no idea. Book." Calling forth his binder, Kai places his new card into its designated slot and takes a moment to review his collection. "Well, I think we should restock the card we just lost before we continue looking for new ones."
Drawing on his past experience, Kai starts leading Biscuit through the open forest near Antokiba, After several minutes of running, they arrive at the giant tree with the large notch that Kai had previously visited to obtain the A-rank card.
Sitting beside the tree with his large hammer, the NPC in charge is resting until he notices the couple arriving.
"Hey, long time no see. What brings you back here?" The man asks, rising from his seat.
"Well, what else? I've come to try and get another King White Stag Beetle. Is that okay?" Kai replies casually.
"Ha ha ha. Sure, that makes sense." The man holds the hammer out toward Kai. "So, what do you say? Want to try your luck with the hammer this time?"
Instead of answering, Kai turns his gaze toward Biscuit, who looks back at him.
"Me?" She points to herself in surprise.
Why not? Come on. Go ahead and give it a try. It'll be fun." Kai encourages her.
Biscuit fidgets slightly before answering. "Alright, fine. But don't get annoyed if I don't manage to catch anything."
"Don't worry. If you fail, then I'll give it a try. Although I highly doubt you'll fail, seeing how well you swim." Kai speaks as the NPC hands Biscuit the hammer.
"Go right ahead, miss. Don't worry and give it everything you've got." The NPC says.
'Everything she's got... If she were to actually do that, she'd turn this entire tree into splinters.' Kai thinks, crossing his arms and watching Biscuit intently.
Assuming the proper stance, Biscuit draws the large hammer back and grips the handle tightly, preparing to strike. With swift, perfectly coordinated movement, she slams the hammer into the notch with such force that the massive tree shakes, sending several insects tumbling down from above.
"Wow! It's raining bug!" Biscuit exclaims, covering her head with her arms.
"Nice shot. I knew you'd hit it hard enough. Come on, let's look for the King White Stag Beetle." Kai begins searching through the insects scattered across the ground. "Centipedes... dung beetle... grasshopper... caterpillar..."
"I got one!" Biscuit calls out.
Kai turns toward her and sees her holding a King White Stag Beetle in her hand. The moment she captures it, the insect transforms into a card.
"Great, Biscuit. Let's keep looking for more." Kai continues rummaging through the insects for a while before suddenly spotting something. "Ah! There it is!"
A short distance away, he crouches down and picks up another King White Stag Beetle, which transforms into a card and is immediately stored in Kai binder.
After spending a few more minutes circling the tree, Kai and Biscuit each find two more King White Stag Beetles, bringing their total to four copies between them.
"Wow! Very impressive, miss. Four King White Stag Beetles from a single strike. You're only the second person to find that many since I started working here as a ranger." The NPC comments.
"The second, huh?" Biscuit turns toward Kai with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe I should give it another try."
"Go ahead and do it. It'll be to our advantage to get more copies to trade now that we have two binders to distribute them." Kai says casually.
*Boom!*
Biscuit's second strike makes three King White Stag Beetles fall from the tree. However, unlike before, only two of them transform into cards.
"It looks like the limit on copies has already been reached with the other players. Even so, I'm going to give it one more try and see if it works this time." Biscuit says eagerly.
"No. If we can't get more copies, we shouldn't keep hitting the tree for fun." Kai glances toward the giant tree before continuing.
"For now, let's head back to Antokiba, buy some supplies, and check the Trade Shop for any special offers. After that, we'll try to search for the Greed Island Port. I heard from other players that there you can get the "Transport Ticket" card, that allows you to exit the game like the "Leave" spell."
"Having several copies of that card will come in handy when we need to trade with other players."
Biscuit frowns, clearly displeased that he stops her from trying again. However, after considering his reasoning, she eventually nods in agreement.
At Kai's words, Biscuit frowns and looks displeased, but—accepting his reasoning—she nods in agreement and uses one of her "Accompany" cards, allowing the two of them to return to Antokiba quickly.
Once they arrive at the town's Trade Shop, Kai begins inspecting the cards on offer. Now that Biscuit is traveling with him, he wants to expand his cooking repertoire and practice preparing a wider variety of dishes. As a result, in addition to ingredients, he also needs more tools to work with.
While checking the copies of "Galgaida" and several other food cards, thinking about what dishes he could practice making, Kai notices several players watching him—and Biscuit as well.
'I suppose it's only natural that we'd attract some attention after the show we put on at the tournament. By the time I return to the game after dealing with the Yorknew situation, whatever rumors are going around should have died down. For now, I'll just ignore it.'
After deciding which cards he wants to buy, Kai heads toward the special offers section. To his surprise, the list of specified slot cards has finally changed since his last visit. "Fledgling CEO" and "Perfect Memory Studio" are now on display, alongside the continuing offer of "Mood Clock."
"It looks like we got lucky. They're all cards we don't own yet." Kai says, examining the cards. "Given how long it took for the list to change, I'd say the offers probably rotate every two weeks or so."
"30 to 35 million jenny each..." Biscuit looks over the cards and raises an eyebrow. "Those prices are a little steep, don't you think?"
"Maybe, but that's fairly typical for the rare cards used to clear the game. And we can afford them." Kai glances at the cards again. "Between the monster cards we hunted this morning and the extra copies of "King White Stag Beetle", we should be able to cover the cost of these and still have enough left over."
Biscuit gives him a sideways glance. "You already worked that out, didn't you?"
"I didn't know whether the selection had changed since the last time I checked it, but I'd already planned to use the money from hunting monsters this morning to buy any new cards they had available, as long as they weren't cards we already owned." He replies.
She lets out a small sigh, though there is a faint smile on her lips.
"Sometimes I wonder if you ever make a decision without thinking three steps ahead."
"I'm just trying to be as cautious and efficient as possible."
"Of course you do."
Kai ignores her teasing remark and signals the cards from the display to the shopkeeper. "We'll take them. Two copies of each please."
Using the money stored in his town account, Kai pays for the groceries as well as two copies of each card on offer, giving them a reserve that can be used for future trades.
Once they finish shopping, Kai places the newly acquired cards in his binder. Biscuit does the same with her own purchases before the two of them head toward the sales counter, where the familiar burly man—with his short beard, spiky hair, and dead-fish eyes—is stationed.
"Welcome to the Trade Shop. What might you be looking for?" the NPC shopkeeper asks as they approach.
"Well, we'd like to sell some cards and ask for some information." Kai answers.
The transaction goes smoothly. To cover the 190.000.000 jenny spent on the specified-slot cards, Kai has to sell all the monster cards he hunted that morning, as well as one of the extra "King White Stag Beetles", an A-rank card.
In addition, he pays the attendant a fee of 3.000 jenny to tell them how to reach Greed Island Port. Although Kai already knows the route from his knowledge of the series, he makes the inquiry anyway to avoid giving Biscuit any reason to question how he knows so much about the island.
"Go to Masadora, the City of Magic, and from there travel 50 kilometers west. Following that route, you will find the unique port of this country." the NPC shopkeeper explains.
"The director in charge is a rather nasty fellow who demands unreasonable sums from travelers wishing to board the ships. If you bribe him, he'll let you pass, so you'd better have a large sum of money ready before you see him."
"What amount of money are we talking about?" Biscuit asks.
"It varies depending on his daily mood." He answers. "Another way to get a ticket from him is by defeating him in combat, but he is quite strong and tends to take it out on his opponents. So, be very careful about which option you choose."
Kai glances at Biscuit. "Well, I suppose that gives us two options."
"I'd say the second one sounds more interesting and affordable." Biscuit states with a small smile.
"I agree. I'm curious to see how strong that character really is." Kai replies.
Biscuit nods, apparently just as interested in finding out. "Then let's go see what he's made of."
After stocking up on supplies and tools and receiving directions on where to go, Kai and Biscuit use the "Accompany" spell again—this time teleporting to Masadora. From there, they head west, and After roughly ten or fifteen minutes of running for 10 or 15 minutes across mountain ranges and deserted villages, they spot the Greed Island Port.
Despite being called a port, it is more like a small, self-contained town with no notable attractions aside from the harbor itself, which serves as one of the few exits from the island. Therefore, by simply following the road toward the waterfront, they eventually reach the end of the pier, where a small building houses the Harbormaster's office.
"Do you want me to go again?" Biscuit asks.
"No. This time, I'll go. Since so few Nen users on the island can defeat him, I want to find out firsthand just how strong this NPC is." Kai explains as he starts walking toward the office.
"Okay. Good luck." Biscuit gives him an encouraging wave from behind.
Upon entering the harbor building, Kai spots the supposed Harbormaster leaning back in his chair, taking a nap and snoring thunderously. Snapping his fingers sharply, Kai startles him awake.
"What do you want?" He grumbles, glaring at Kai as though being disturbed were somehow his visitor's fault.
"I'd like a ticket to leave the island." Kai replies.
"Naturally." The Harbormaster rolls his eyes. "That's all anyone ever wants when they come crawling in here."
The Harbormaster leans back in his chair again, rubbing his eyes before looking Kai over from head to toe.
"Well..." He pauses deliberately, a smug grin slowly spreading across his face. "I suppose I could let you have one for 150.000 jenny today."
'So that's more or less the price range.' Kai thinks before answering. "I don't have that much money on me. I've heard you also give a ticket to anyone who manages to defeat you."
Kai takes a step back, shifts one foot behind him, and raises his open left hand while bringing his clenched right fist up beside his abdomen, settling into his fighting stance.
"I'd like to try."
The Harbormaster's expression immediately sours.
"Oh, so that's what you're here for?" He slowly rises from his chair and cracks his knuckles, one finger at a time. "Listen, kid. I don't go easy on arrogant punks who come marching into my office thinking they can beat me."
He rolls his shoulders and flashes a self-satisfied grin.
"You should think carefully before you make a fool of yourself. I'm feeling generous today, so apologize for that attitude of yours, and I'll pretend this little incident never happened."
Kai remains completely expressionless.
"Come whenever you want." Kai flatly states.
Growing increasingly irritated by Kai's dismissive attitude, the Harbormaster grits his teeth and raises his hands, eager to attack.
"Damn bastard. Don't say I didn't warn you. PREPARE YOURSELF!!!" With a furious shout, the Harbormaster lunges at Kai like a rabid animal.
Kai simply steps aside, allowing the punch to pass harmlessly by. The blow crashes into the ground instead, cracking the surface and sending a cloud of dust into the air. Emerging from the dust, the Harbormaster immediately launches into a barrage of punches and kicks.
Kai relies on his martial arts experience and quick reflexes to deflect the incoming strikes, feeling the force behind each blow through his hands as he blocks them and effortlessly maneuvering around his opponent. All the while, he evaluates his capabilities.
'Despite his size, his speed is only slightly below that of a Hyper Puffball, while his physical strength seems comparable to a Cyclops. His fighting style, however, is crude and unrefined. He relies almost entirely on punches and kicks, albeit ones delivered with considerable power and speed.'
'He might prove troublesome for someone lacking proper combat training, but for a well-trained fighter, he's not particularly difficult to overcome.'
Suddenly, the Harbormaster reaches into his trousers and pulls out a chain hidden inside them. With a furious swing, he sends it whipping toward Kai, but the attack misses and smashes into a nearby table instead.
'So he also has a hidden chain attack for opponents who try to keep their distance. That can catch an inexperienced fighter off guard and deal considerably more damage. No wonder low-level players have trouble defeating him.'
The Harbormaster continues trying to close the distance with Kai, swinging his chain repeatedly in an attempt to catch him. But Kai's swift and agile movements allow him to evade every strike, infuriating him even further.
"Gah! Stop dodging around and fight me properly, you scum!" The Harbormaster roars angrily as he begins spinning the chain over his head.
"Very well. I've satisfied my curiosity. I'll take you seriously now, as you asked." Kai's provocation has the desired effect.
The Harbormaster's face turns red with rage as he swings the chain downward with all his strength. The chain slams into the ground with tremendous force, shattering the surface beneath it.
Kai, however, has leapt onto his Barrier Orb platform to dodge it, and using it to launch himself forward, he closes the distance in an instant and delivers a perfectly timed counterattack. His kick crashes into the Harbormaster's stomach, sending the much larger man flying backward and slamming into the wall.
The Harbormaster lies unconscious on the floor for several moments before finally coming to. As his vision clears, he finds Kai standing over him, his expression cold and intimidating.
"I won, so you have to give me the ticket. Right?" Faced with the implicit threat in Kai's words, the Harbormaster trembles for a moment before finally sighing in defeat.
He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a paper ticket, and reluctantly hands it to Kai. The moment Kai takes it, the item transforms into a card.
Card No. 266 — "Transport Ticket." B-150.
Having achieved his goal, Kai leaves the small office and rejoins Biscuit outside to show her the card in question.
"So? How was he?" Biscuit asks curiously.
"He wasn't anything special. His physical capabilities are good, but his technique is poor. By my standards, he's nothing remarkable. All things considered... he's no harder to beat than a B-Rank monster."
"Seriously? I thought he'd be more impressive, considering how many Nen users apparently can't defeat him." Biscuit looks back toward the office. "Maybe I should wait for him to recover and test him myself. With a conversion limit of 150, we could get quite a few copies to trade."
"You'd have to wait here until tomorrow. According to the Harbormaster himself, no matter what you do to him, he won't issue more than one ticket a day. It must be part of his programming."
"Are you sure about that?" Biscuit asks.
"I was quite explicit about what I was willing to do to convince him, but he still wouldn't budge. So yes, I'm pretty sure." Kai recalls the various "arguments" he used to pressure the Harbormaster into giving him additional tickets.
"Well, what can we do? I'll try it tomorrow after helping you with your morning workout." Biscuit says, shrugging resignedly. "So... where are we going to go now? Should we try to get more cards or did you have something else in mind?"
"That's the plan. But right now, I don't have a specific place in mind." Kai considers their options for a moment before adding, "Book."
He summons his binder and flips through the pages until he reaches the free slots, where he pulls out the "Clairvoyance" spell card.
"It's time to research and contact the players we've encountered so far."