With enough time, one might be able to decipher the Divine Script runes inside the Klein Bottle.
The problem was, if the Klein Bottle couldn't be activated, then even completely mastering the secrets of these Divine Scripts would be of no practical use.
This was because the Klein Bottle's vessel was a Nen tool that had survived through death.
So even if one could replicate the Divine Script without a single error, without the corresponding vessel, it would likely be impossible to recreate its ultra-long-distance teleportation ability that spanned from the six continents directly to the Dark Continent.
On the other hand, the function of these ancient Divine Scripts was more of an enhancement.
During his research, Ging had realized that the primary function of the Divine Script inside the bottle was not to enhance the Klein Bottle's teleportation effect, but to fix a specific coordinate within it.
Using this as a starting point, Ging speculated that the Vow effect for the Klein Bottle's teleportation ability was to achieve an unimaginably long-distance transfer, while the corresponding Limitation effect was likely the randomness of the teleportation.
Therefore, to overcome this randomness, ancient humans had used Divine Script to enhance it, ultimately succeeding in implanting a fixed coordinate into the Klein Bottle's system by leveraging the script's properties.
Of course, all of this was still just Ging's speculation for now.
The only way to verify it further was to actually activate the Klein Bottle's ability.
This was the core reason he had gone to such great lengths to recharge the bottle.
Unfortunately, limited by his own abilities and despite pouring all his knowledge of Divine Script into it, he had only managed to restore the Klein Bottle to 5% of its state.
Under these circumstances, to be on the safe side, he naturally didn't dare to rashly test his hypothesis.
Even if he were to try, he would first have to obtain Morrow's consent, as the bottle's ownership belonged to Morrow.
Ging had forcefully suppressed this impulse at the time. For someone like him, who thirsted for knowledge, this process was undoubtedly an ordeal.
It was for this very reason that when he now saw Morrow so casually and completely activate the Klein Bottle, he was momentarily unsure whether to laugh or cry.
After transferring the necessary Tree Rings energy to the Klein Bottle, Morrow inconspicuously glanced at the back of his hand.
The fifth energy ring, which had been close to 58%, had now dropped to around 49%.
Completely activating the Klein Bottle had consumed about 9% of his Tree Rings energy, which was within an acceptable range.
More importantly, this successful activation had also essentially verified a possibility.
The energy converted and absorbed by the Tree Rings could not only re-hatch a Chimera from its stone egg form but could also be used to activate Post-Mortem Nen tools that had lost their "activity."
In other words, without needing to use "rewind," the versatility of the Tree Rings energy seemed even greater than he had imagined.
An image of the Kakin Empire's Seed Urn, which could bestow abilities upon the participants of the succession contest, suddenly flashed through Morrow's mind.
That Post-Mortem Nen tool, passed down since the Age of Contention, was the key asset that allowed Kakin to rise from a small border nation to a colossal power.
And a Nen tool that had survived through death had somehow managed to remain operational to this day.
Perhaps it was because Kakin possessed some unique method of recharging it, or perhaps this Seed Urn regalia had not yet truly reached the end of its life.
In any case, using the Klein Bottle as a reference, things left behind after death clearly could not exist forever.
They would one day run out of energy and be reduced to ordinary objects.
And the Tree Rings energy Morrow possessed had the ability to turn them from scrap back into treasures.
If there were more inactive Post-Mortem Nen tools like the Klein Bottle on the six continents or the Dark Continent, then the value of the Tree Rings energy would become even higher.
But thinking about these things now seemed rather pointless.
Morrow reined in his thoughts and lowered his head to examine the activated Klein Bottle.
Wisps of smoke-like black Nen swirled around the peculiar bottle's body. The deep mouth of the bottle seemed to reflect an endless darkness, dotted with star-like points of light.
Looking closely, one could see it was actually the faint glow emitted by the Divine Script inside the bottle.
"Let me see."
Ging walked over to Morrow's side and held out his hand.
Morrow casually handed the bottle over.
Ging took the Klein Bottle, a little excited.
Now that the bottle was charged and activated, he could test his hypothesis without any burden.
"By the way, Morrow, the energy you used to activate the Klein Bottle, that was Post-Mortem Will, right?"
Ging suddenly looked up at Morrow.
Morrow didn't hide it, nodding. "Yes. You can think of it as a way for me to transfer Post-Mortem Will. Of course, it can't be transferred just like that; it can only be done with a special vessel like the Klein Bottle. And this was my first time trying."
"I see."
Hearing this, Ging couldn't help but sigh in admiration. "Your Nen exorcism ability was already the strongest I've ever seen. I didn't expect you could also mitigate the risks in such a way. Still, depleted post-mortem relics aren't common."
"Indeed. You could say they're a once-in-a-lifetime find," Morrow said, his expression unchanging.
Normally, Exorcists would temporarily transfer the powerful Post-Mortem Will they removed onto themselves, then gradually digest and sublimate it through various methods.
Therefore, until the Post-Mortem Will was completely sublimated, the Exorcist had to constantly bear the risk of a backlash from it.
One could imagine just how special a method that could easily transfer Post-Mortem Will was.
This was the fundamental reason for Ging's admiration.
But in essence, Morrow never had to bear this risk from the very beginning, making him the most unique among Exorcists.
This was his secret.
Ging had no way of knowing this.
He lowered his head slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll help you keep an eye out for such items in the future. After all, it's a way to safely mitigate the risks of Exorcism. It's best to have one on hand, just in case."
"Alright."
A subtle glint briefly flashed in Morrow's eyes before they quickly returned to normal. He replied, "You travel around a lot, so you're indeed more likely to come across such items."
"Mhm."
Ging looked up and smiled at Morrow, then focused his attention back on the Klein Bottle.
"We can now try using its teleportation ability. First, let's verify the authenticity of the coordinate. If my speculation is correct, then this coordinate..." As he spoke, his eyes shone with a bright light, "is very likely the spot where you will land on the Dark Continent in the future. It might also become my future landing point."
"Then let's give it a try," Morrow said with a slight smile. "If the Klein Bottle's teleportation ability is stable enough, I actually have an idea."
"Oh?"
A look of curiosity appeared on Ging's face.
Morrow raised a hand to his chin and smiled. "This idea might be very interesting, but it might also fail."
—--
Two days later.
Morrow and Ging arrived at the location where the other team members were.
Everyone gathered inside a house, where Ging explained everything about the Klein Bottle in detail.
After listening to his account, even the well-traveled Biscuit couldn't help but show a look of astonishment. "You're saying, this bottle might be able to teleport someone directly from the six continents to the Dark Continent?"
"That's right."
A faint light gleamed in Ging's eyes. "Although it sounds a bit incredible, based on what we currently know about the Klein Bottle's origin and characteristics, it does indeed possess this ability."
Everyone turned their astonished gazes to the bottle in his hand.
Only Gel's reaction was relatively calm, and she raised a key question. "While I'm very curious where you and Morrow got this thing, you haven't actually verified its effects yet, have you?"
"No, we've only confirmed a few things so far."
Ging's gaze shifted to Gel as he explained, "First, the Klein Bottle's transfer is one-way, which means you can't use it to return from the Dark Continent. Second, it can only transfer things infused with Nen. As for the specific situation at the coordinate point, that's exactly what we're about to verify."
At this point, Ging suddenly looked toward Ponzu, who was standing to the side.
Morrow, who had been silent all this time, also turned his gaze toward her in sync.
Their sudden stares made Ponzu startle slightly. She asked, somewhat bewildered, "Wh-what is it?"
Ging smiled without speaking and turned his head to look at Morrow.
Meeting Ponzu's confused gaze, Morrow smiled. "Ponzu, our method for verifying the situation at the coordinate point requires the help of your Infinite Hive Window ability."
"Huh?"
Ponzu pointed at herself in surprise, asking in disbelief, "You need my ability?"
But she quickly understood, realizing that Morrow and Ging probably intended to use the bottle to teleport one of her giant hornets.
Then, they would use the vision-sharing ability of Infinite Hive Window to investigate the situation at the destination coordinate.
"That's impossible."
Thinking of this, she quickly shook her head. "Although my Nen has improved a lot recently, that's a Manipulation distance that crosses the outside of the world; I definitely can't do it."
Hearing her answer, Gel and the others also instantly understood Morrow and Ging's intention.
They actually wanted to use a Manipulation-type vision-sharing ability to scout a coordinate point that might be on the Dark Continent?
The idea was truly a bit too fanciful.
Even with the most severe Limitations, it would be absolutely impossible to achieve.
"Maintaining control of an ability over such a vast distance is indeed impossible," Morrow said with a calm expression. "But Divine Script has this potential. Theoretically, if we inscribe your ability, Ponzu, onto a giant hornet using Divine Script, there's a chance to achieve ultra-long-distance synchronized control of your Nen."
"!!!"
These words instantly caused everyone present to reveal looks of shock.
Although their knowledge of Divine Script was limited, the possibility Morrow described, even if there was only a sliver of a chance, was incredibly unbelievable.
"As for the one-way transfer problem, that might also be solvable with the help of Divine Script. But before that, we first need to verify the possibility of combining Divine Script and Infinite Hive Window."
Speaking of which, Morrow turned his gaze to Ging. "Simplifying the Divine Script that has the 'hosting' characteristic and inscribing it onto a hornet with extremely fine technique; this highly difficult task happens to be Ging's area of expertise."
"Don't have too high expectations of me."
Ging raised a hand to scratch his forehead, but his tone was filled with eagerness. "Anyway, let's give it a try first."
The concept was proposed by Morrow, but whether it could be realized still required practical verification.
The first step was to successfully inscribe a miniaturized Divine Script onto the hornet.
Even for Ging, facing such a delicate operation, he wasn't completely confident.
Ponzu immediately summoned a larger hornet from her hat and asked, "Do I need to withdraw the aura from it?"
"No need," Ging shook his head and explained. "On the contrary, it needs to be preserved. What I'm about to do is use your aura as ink to inscribe the Divine Script. This is the most challenging step in the entire process. If you had mastered Divine Script yourself, things would be much simpler."
"Uh..."
Ponzu was momentarily at a loss for words.
In her view, Divine Script was a field that only top-tier Nen users like Ging and Morrow could master.
As for a beginner like her, she would be lucky to master even a tenth of their level, let alone achieve mastery.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ging's eyes lit up with a torch-like aura.
He gently supported the giant hornet's body with one hand, while the fingertip of his other hand condensed a strand of aura as thin as a hair.
Merely compressing aura to such a precise degree was enough to secretly startle the observing Biscuit and Gel.
So this is the power of one of the world's five greatest Nen users...
The two of them sighed in their hearts in unison.
Beside them, Morrow was intently observing Ging's every move.
He saw that the hair-thin strand of aura could not only engrave the form of the Divine Script but also skillfully guide the aura Ponzu had left on the giant hornet.
Of course, this was also thanks to the fact that Ponzu had not set any resistant will within her aura.
About ten minutes later, Ging completed the entire operation, succeeding on the first try.
As the final character was inscribed, the last wisp of aura lingering around the giant hornet was also drawn into the Divine Script.
"It's done."
Ging released his hand, letting the giant hornet fly in the air. "Try and see if the vision-sharing ability is working normally."
"Okay."
Ponzu immediately shared her 'Shared Window' ability with Morrow.
The next second.
The giant hornet's vision unfolded clearly in Morrow's mind.
"The ability is functioning normally," Morrow said immediately. "Next is to teleport it to the coordinate point."
"Mhm."
Ging's face couldn't hide his excitement.
Morrow was also full of anticipation as he briskly activated the Klein Bottle.
As a portion of the Post-Mortem Will was consumed, the light at the bottle's mouth suddenly distorted, forming a vortex like a miniature black hole that instantly twisted and sucked the giant hornet in.
The next instant.
Both Morrow and Ponzu's expressions trembled slightly as an endless sea of sand unfolded before their eyes at the speed of light.
As far as the eye could see, yellow sand filled the sky, with no end in sight.
There were no exposed rocks, nor any growing plants.
Not even the slightest trace of life could be seen.
All that could be seen, touched, and felt...
Was sand.
"The transfer was smooth, but the coordinate point is a desert. Based on such geographical features alone, it's hard to determine if this is the Dark Continent," Morrow explained to his teammates beside him while observing the desert through the hornet's vision.
Seeing his idea come to fruition, Ging was now less concerned with the specific situation at the coordinate point; he just found it incredibly interesting.
It made him feel that spending all that time and effort to study Divine Script was the most correct decision he had ever made.
The others also wore looks of amazement, not expecting that such a thing could be done.
If that desert really was the Dark Continent, then theoretically, they could use Ponzu's giant hornet to scout the situation first without having to go there themselves.
Ponzu now had a look of novelty on her face. "It's true, I can't see anything but sand. I wonder..."
Halfway through her sentence, her body suddenly trembled, and the look of novelty on her face froze.
Right at the edge of the hornet's vision, a sky-blotting gale carrying endless sand had instantly formed into an incomparably massive sandworm!
Morrow saw it too, and his expression instantly tensed.
Seeing their reactions, the others asked one after another, "What's wrong?"
"It's confirmed."
Morrow took a deep breath. Without explaining the situation, he stated with conviction, "That place is the Dark Continent...!"
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Bonus chapter @1000powerstones