In the midst of the darkness, it seemed like a mountain breeze blew past... In the garden, the grass lay flat, flowers nodded, listening quietly to the thunder in silence...
After Roy swung his sword, he stood there quietly, the young man neither humble nor arrogant, his face neither sad nor joyful... Zeno, who had been watching the battle all along, frowned slightly, suddenly hearing the old man say softly, "Look at the sky."
"Whish~" The sound of the wind splashed, clouds shattered...
Zeno and Illumi simultaneously raised their heads, the latter's empty eyes suddenly contracted, his mouth opening unusually!
A meteor!
"Did that kid Roy cut down the meteor with a single sword?" Zeno blew his beard; the youth exaggerated.
To be precise... "Not cut, but 'pulled'..." Maha's gaze was deep and penetrating as he observed the meteor dragged by the purple [Magnetic Force Dragon], rubbing against the air to form a fireball, rushing straight toward the garden, chuckled lowly, "Finally showing some strength."
The old man smacked his lips: "It's a pity... just a bit slow."
"Boom~" The meteor descended, expanding from a tiny dot to the size of a basketball, so large it could be seen with the naked eye without [Gyo], all within two seconds...
It rolled with "heavenly fire" carrying destructive might... At that moment, scattered throughout the Zoldyck compound, whether they were butlers or magical beasts, felt their hearts react, raising their heads collectively, each letting out a burst of panicked screams!
At that moment, Tsubone was accompanying Killua for afternoon tea... Haseki Dorou was guarding the mountain path, reviewing the gains and losses of yesterday's battle... Wutong, holding a samurai sword, stood by the pond, resting with eyes closed... Listening to the wind, looking at the sky, opening his mouth in disbelief, losing all control of his expression...
'Is this... a natural disaster or... man-made?'
Those not present didn't know what was happening... The usually quiet and somewhat desolate Kukuroo Mountain seemed to "come alive" in an instant, beasts fleeing, birds scattering....
As the meteor drew nearer, even blocking the sunlight overhead...
Silva, holding a "Nen Whip", glanced at Roy indifferently, the young man's whole body drained of telekinesis, barely supporting himself with "Yubashiri" to prevent falling, already at the end of his strength.
"You have the ability to pull, but lack the ability to settle," Silva stepped forward two steps to Roy, facing the meteor, putting away the Nen Whip, vaguely sheltering him... The man said coldly, "Are you planning to destroy this family?"
A wave of weakness surged up from the heart, Roy admitted frankly: "I just wanted to create something of my own, never thought of harming anyone."
What was this... Was it the inspiration of the strong, yet to ordinary people it became an insupportable burden?
"You've grown stronger, but increasingly lack self-awareness." The man, with his back to the youth, coldly dropped a sentence, then with a gust at his feet, conjuring a "Nen Vortex", lifted off the ground, heading straight for the meteor!
Like a tiny ant charging toward a towering giant, the visual contrast in size couldn't help but make people sweat for him!
"Heh heh heh... Your father was right, you're always reaching sudden epiphanies without considering the circumstances..." Maha's timely low chuckle came.
Zeno, accompanying him gazing from the window eaves, couldn't help but glance at the old man, seriously suspecting, the old man was actively pushing the blame... Clearly it was you who provided guidance, the child truly had an epiphany, didn't notice and couldn't hold back, now... why is it all blamed on the child again?
Just to say... People indeed become indifferent to face as they age... Zeno suddenly thought of Netero, had to admit, the "Enhancement" aligns mysteriously in some aspects...
"Boom boom boom boom...."
Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, the meteor dragged a long tail flame, close enough... only then knowing how truly enormous it was!
It seemed to be disdainful, yet mocking Silva for overestimating himself, vainly trying to block its path... Accelerated downward, intending to crush him!
Silva, in mid-air, opened his palms, conjured two "nen balls", seemingly unremarkable, yet... As his palms combined, aiming at the meteor, suddenly shot!
"Boom!" The "Telekinesis Light Wave" transformed into a thick "Light Column", instantly hitting the "meteor", followed by... In front of Roy, Illumi, Zeno, Maha and other Zoldyck owners, butlers alike, even the panicked fleeing beasts and demons, performed a spectacular "firework show"!
"Crack... crack...." The meteor halted, its surface sinisterly crawling with cracks, a second later, exploded thunderously!
The firelight and dust transformed into flowing light, disappearing in mid-air....
The man lightly floated down, with his back to Roy, seeming to have done something insignificant.
As he said: "Welcome home."
Pocketing his hands, he strolled away....
Roy watched his figure disappear into the garden, the corridor, until the second-floor bedroom... Relaxed, spreading his arms, simply lying on the soft grass, facing the sun, lost in thought.
This is [Numerical Value], simple, brutal, unreasonable!
Father is like this, Razor scaring off spiders alone is like this, even Grandpa Zeno's Dragon Star Group, Netero's Hundred Forms of Guanyin... Yesterday, caught glimpses of that great-grandfather's giant surrounded by dark thunder... All unequivocally demonstrate [Numerical Value] or should say [Magnitude] and its crucial importance to a "Nen user"!
"Step... step..." Amid Roy's contemplation, a string of footsteps was heard... It was Illumi.
The foolish Mamen Beans lay down next to the boy, said: "Father asked me to tell you, at this age, he's not as good as you."
Roy remained silent.
Illumi turned over to look at him, tugged his collar open, revealing his chest: "Don't you usually eavesdrop on others' thoughts? Listen to mine, won't you know whether it's true or not?"
"Get lost!"
"Alright."
Illumi turned over, leaving Roy with only his back. ·
As noon approached, the Zoldyck brothers lay on their respective sides, basking in the sun.
Not far from their feet was Milluki, dragged into the garden by a butler like a dead dog...
A bit further away, under Tsubone's command, the team of butlers began to clean up the aftermath. The old butler with two pink pigtails occasionally glanced at Roy... Having recovered a bit of Nen, the young man flipped over and rose from the ground, grabbing "Yubashiri" in one hand and the staff blade in the other, and walked slowly toward his bedroom under her gaze.
It's noon, and he was hungry, his stomach starting to rumble... Wutong had been sent to wait by the pond... Grandpa Zeno had taken over the task of delivering the meal...
"Your great-grandfather wants you to make some new dishes for him to try tomorrow." The old man hadn't tasted Roy's cooking for a long time and specifically asked for the young man to cook.
Zeno, wanting to have a taste for himself, came to Roy's bedroom on his own, pulled up a chair at the dining table without waiting for him, cut a piece of steak and tossed it into his mouth, then threw Roy a book.
Roy sat down opposite him, grabbed it with one hand, and tore off a piece of pizza, eating as he looked at it... The book was a bit old, with a few large handwritten characters on the title page—
"Records of the Western Continent"
It instantly made Roy's gaze focus!
He clearly knew that the "central island" surrounded by Mobius Lake didn't recognize the concept of "East" or "West" continents....
Unlike "Urubian Continent" or "Azian Continent," the so-called "East" or "West" specifically referred to— the Dark Continent!
"This is a notebook your Grandpa Jager left behind during his exploration of the Dark Continent. You can consider it as the second volume of the book you hold." Zeno said vaguely, and as Roy's eyes flickered, he thought of someone— Ging's ancestor, Don Freecss!
It's rumored that more than three hundred years ago, he ventured alone into the Dark Continent,
After many twists and turns, he created "The Journey to the New World," which was divided into an Eastern Chapter and a Western Chapter.
The Eastern Chapter was known to have been found by V5 and Ging together, but the Western Chapter had not been mentioned since.
According to Ging's speculation, either it has already disappeared, or... Don Freecss simply did not complete his exploration, or finished it but didn't write about it. In fact, at this point, nobody even knows if he is still alive.
It's important to know: the Dark Continent also has miraculous crops like "Longevity Rice," which can significantly extend one's life and maintain a certain degree of "eternal youth" after consumption...
Roy stared blankly at the "Records of the Western Continent" in his hand, not opening it immediately, but increasingly feeling that his Grandpa Jager was not dead, and even...
The "Gate of the Dark Continent" standing in his cognition was truly connecting to the real Dark Continent, including...
Jager's Nenryoku [re: The Game of the Dead] was also created based on the real Dark Continent... The reason he could repeatedly "resurrect" relying on "mental power" was related to his "reincarnation" or "traveling between worlds," which activated the "Gate of Cognition"!
'The world is [material], but also [idealistic], what you think is [real] may be [false], similarly...'
The young man took a bite of pizza, squinting his eyes: 'Memory may not be [false], what you think is [false] is just a "thought"....'
"What are you thinking?" Zeno took a sip of cream mushroom soup and glanced over... The young man casually smiled and said: "Nothing, just feels somewhat unreal."
"Tell me about it."
"For example, great-grandfather clearly doesn't want me to go to the Dark Continent, yet he gives me books to read, it's contradictory."
"Ha ha... Just because he doesn't want you to go, are you not going to go?" Zeno pulled out a napkin, wiped his mouth, and looked deeply at the young man: "Don't overthink it, giving you the book is just so that when you later commemorate your Grandpa Jager, you have some prior knowledge, which will make entering the [game] a bit smoother, as for..."
"The real Dark Continent, it's not a place you can go just because you want to."
Indeed, entering and exiting the Dark Continent requires clearance documents from the port authorities, a guide to aid navigation, backing from major nations like V5, as well as a sturdy... ship that can make it to the Dark Continent... You can see this from how Beyond prepared for most of his life for it, going so far as to kill his father.
But,
'I have a gate.'
Roy said calmly: "I understand, Grandpa."
"Hmm." Zeno responded noncommittally with a soft hum, then vanished, leaving only an echo in Roy's ear: "Since you're back, visit your Grandpa Jager more often."
"Yes." Roy finished his lunch and placed the book and the medal Netero gave him in the drawer.
He turned over onto the bed, planning to take a short nap to restore his energy while slaying a few demons to accumulate some life energy, and soon, he fell into a deep sleep.
Dazed and confused...
The young man once again traveled through the colorful dream passageway, arriving at the familiar Sea of Cognition, silently standing in front of the locked "Gate of the Dark Continent" for a moment, then reached out to push open the "Demon Slayer" gate.
[Notification: "Life Energy" +2+3+5+4....]
One evil ghost after another fell,
Amidst the dim starlit night...
Roy looked down at the intelligence by the moonlight, stepping into the territory of Spider Mountain!