"Has the plan already been arranged, senpai?"
Seeing that Netero had no intention of speaking first, Ron took the initiative to ask.
Netero nodded, then said, "Knuckle's ability is very special. Together with Shoot and Morel, they should be able to restrain one Royal Guard for a short time. Ron, you can handle another. If Knov is able to trap one inside his dimensional space, then that takes care of the last. For now, let them gather intelligence. I need some time to adjust my state. It has been a very long time since I fought a battle of this scale. I need a moment. This is a fight where I don't want to leave any regrets."
Ron asked, "How do you intend to divide the battlefield when the time comes?"
"Do you have any method in mind, Ron?" Netero countered.
"To scatter them, I think we need to create an attack of sufficient scale, power, and destructive force."
In the original course of events, Netero had asked Zeno to unleash the Dragon Dive, covering the entire palace of the Republic of East Gorteau and more beyond. But with Ron here, there was no longer any need to call Zeno.
"I can try that."
Netero hesitated. "After using such an attack, will you still have the strength to fight a Royal Guard?"
"In terms of aura, you don't need to worry about me," Ron replied. "Compared to others of the same level, I have far more aura. And I also possess a unique method of replenishing it."
Netero nodded. "Good."
Ron glanced at the crystal ball before him. The progress displayed had already risen past sixty percent. According to his plan, after the great battle against the King and the Royal Guards, it would reach one hundred percent—perhaps even during the battle itself.
For now, Ron and Netero took no immediate action. Killua, Gon, Morel, Knov, Shoot, and Knuckle each approached the palace of East Gorteau from different directions. Their goal was both to gather intelligence and to draw the Chimera Ants together.
The appearance of the Chimera Ants had been within humanity's plan. Bringing the King to East Gorteau was also part of the plan. But the purpose was not the destruction of the country. It was to use the King to conduct a thorough purge of East Gorteau's ruling class.
By now, the purge was already nearly complete. The King and his Royal Guards did not need words. They directly seized control of the nation's leadership through sheer violence, and no one in East Gorteau could resist.
What remained was the eradication of the Chimera Ants within the country. Concentrating them inside the palace was the best option. If they remained too scattered, exterminating them all would become far more difficult, and manpower was limited. A drawn-out battle would only introduce greater risks, giving the Ants more time to deepen their understanding of Nen and of human society, which would make eliminating them far harder.
"Ron, let's play a game of Go," Netero said, producing a board.
"Alright." Ron nodded, pulled up a chair, and sat across from him.
The sight brought back memories. Back at the Zoldyck estate, Ron had often played Go with Maha Zoldyck.
"It has already been a long time since I last returned to the estate," Ron thought. "A long time since I last played with Great-Grandfather."
He moved a white stone onto the board.
"Ron, you've already found your own path, haven't you?"
"More or less."
"How enviable," Netero murmured, placing a black stone. "At your age, to already be touching that level. When I was your age, I was nothing. You are like Ging. And what I envy even more is that you both were born into a good era. The Chimera Ants may allow humanity to take a step forward. The vast Dark Continent—boundless, limitless—no one knows what lies there, no one knows what can be gained. But at least one thing is certain:
S-rank is not the limit of living beings. You both have the hope of reaching even greater heights. Who knows what kind of sights you will see then."
Ron hesitated before asking, "Netero-senpai, you went to the Dark Continent in your youth, didn't you?"
"I did," Netero said. "I went with many others. I went with Zeno's father Zigg, and Linne from Gourmet Paradise—they were my companions at the time, and among the very few who made it back alive."
He sighed. "Out of tens of thousands in that expedition, only a handful survived. And the gains we brought back were not of particularly great value. That is why humanity has restrained itself from exploring the Dark Continent further, and why I forbade the Hunter Association from sending expeditions."
Ron looked at him. "Netero-senpai, would you tell me about your journey there?"
"I can," Netero nodded. "You will surely go there yourselves one day. My experience may serve as some reference—or it may not, for the Dark Continent is far too vast, and its circumstances far too complex. What you encounter could be entirely different from what I faced.
"It was a dense and eerie jungle. The moment we entered, the atmosphere pressed down on us. Many could not bear it and went mad immediately, fleeing the team. Half of the people who had reached the Dark Continent were gone on the very first day. Yet not a single body was ever found. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
"The air was damp, carrying a salty tang. Deeper in, the jungle birthed monsters. Their appearances cannot be described in words, and their methods of attack were unspeakably bizarre. In those days, we lost countless people. Only much later did we finally discover something of value. But acquiring it was not easy. Anything valuable was always guarded by a monster. We sacrificed many, many lives to claim even a little. After that, we left.
"By the way, in your Zoldyck estate, there is something that was brought back from the Dark Continent. I do not know if you have ever seen it."