The reassembled Wall still retained its barrier power.
But through repeated tests, Morrow and Ging discovered that not all intact sections of the Wall were effective.
The two spent an untold amount of effort to screen for the parts that still worked.
Fortunately, they had Biscuit's Miss Cookie on the team, who bought them more time.
Now, the screening and testing were finally complete. The next step was to transport this batch of useful Wall sections back to the six continents.
Then, they would enclose a safe zone on each continent.
Morrow had no intention of interfering with the political regimes and national conditions of the various countries on the six continents, nor did he have the power to attend to the life and death of every single person.
What he could do was build a safe place on each continent for humanity, a place that could shield them from the attacks of the calamities.
Standing atop the towering Wall, Morrow watched an irregularly shaped Slime Calamity rolling about within the walls below. "This is the first batch of Wall sections," he said. "After we transport them back to the six continents, if the situation allows, we might have to come back and continue screening for useful sections. Ging, you..."
"Do you even have to ask?"
Ging stuck his hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the distance. "If one piece isn't enough, we'll get two. If two aren't enough, we'll get three. As long as I can still 'move' them, there's no reason to stop."
"Good."
Morrow glanced at him, then looked away. "It's time to go back," he said calmly.
Before his voice had even faded, a low rumbling sound suddenly echoed from the distance.
They had heard this kind of commotion far too many times during their month of testing.
Usually, it was a sign that some colossal creature was approaching.
They were either fleeing a natural enemy, passing by chance, or heading straight for this place.
Whatever their purpose, their end was always the same...
Everyone followed the sound and saw an upright, lizard-shaped giant hundreds of meters tall, striding toward them on its thick, cylindrical legs.
Its steps seemed slow, but its massive stride allowed it to move extremely quickly.
The group looked at the approaching giant, yet not a trace of panic showed on their faces. They simply withdrew their gazes nonchalantly and looked up at Morrow on top of the Wall.
Morrow stood against the wind and casually raised his right hand.
The Guardian Beast Wolf Spirit instantly appeared in his palm, coiled like a dynamic, shadowy phantom.
With a jolt of Morrow's Nen, the balled-up Wolf Spirit shot toward the sky above the giant like an arrow released from a bowstring. Accelerated by aura, it reached its position in the blink of an eye.
The Wolf Spirit unfurled its body and looked down.
The next second, intense spatial ripples emanated from its triangular, bone-like mask.
A mountain peak several times larger than the giant materialized from within, crashing down with the force of a thousand tons.
BOOM!
The deafening crash resounded into the distance.
Dust and smoke billowed into the sky like a storm, completely engulfing the giant. Only the edges of some limbs were visible, and large amounts of blood soon began to seep out.
Having completed its task, the Wolf Spirit did not retrieve the mountain. It simply floated back to Morrow's side.
During this period, all the colossal creatures that had attacked were dealt with by Morrow in such an understated manner.
Effortless, simple.
There was no need to expend a large amount of Nen, nor did he have to put himself in harm's way.
More importantly, it didn't waste any precious Tree Rings energy.
The others in the team had long grown accustomed to this outcome.
In their eyes, the current Morrow had reached a state of complete mastery when facing behemoth creatures.
Others might rack their brains and exhaust their strength, and still not be able to handle these giant threats.
But what Morrow considered was how to resolve it in a more effortless, more composed way.
With matters here settled, the team soon began their journey home.
—--
January 2002.
Morrow and his group returned to the six continents.
On the vast sea, not a single ship could be seen.
Extending inland from the coastline, all they saw were the ruins of buildings, without a single sign of human life.
The once-thriving human world looked as if it had gone through an apocalypse.
Standing on Chimera's back, the group's expressions were exceptionally grave as they gazed upon the scenes before them.
In the face of the calamities and creatures of the Dark Continent, humanity, which had once proclaimed itself the top of the food chain, was as insignificant as ants.
Their lives and homes were easily crushed.
Conquer a new continent?
Develop brand-new resources?
Those thoughts, born of greed and desire, ceased to exist after the Wall collapsed, not now, and not in the future.
For humanity now, just struggling to survive was an immense hardship.
Morrow entrusted the task of communicating with the V5 to Ging and Gel. His first stop, naturally, was the Kukan'yu Kingdom.
This was a matter of course, due to their connection.
If only one of the V5 could survive this apocalypse, Morrow would choose Kukan'yu without hesitation.
When he saw Eve on a high mountain peak, she no longer possessed her usual aloof composure. Her face was etched with clear sorrow and exhaustion.
But the moment Eve saw Morrow, her eyes suddenly lit up.
It was the reaction of someone who had been trekking desperately through the cracks of disaster and had suddenly glimpsed hope.
Faced with Eve's hopeful gaze, Morrow did not disappoint her.
"I can create a safe zone within Kukan'yu's borders that is completely unaffected by the calamities. But the area is limited, and the number of people it can accommodate... is not large."
"Completely safe?"
Eve suppressed the turmoil in her heart and asked the most crucial question.
Morrow nodded. "Yes, like a scaled-down version of the area within the Wall. However, if you want all your citizens to be sheltered, I have another proposal."
"Morrow."
Eve suddenly interrupted him softly, her eyes fixed on his. "When did you get back?" she asked.
After confirming the authenticity of the safe zone, her tense heart finally relaxed. She wasn't in a hurry to hear the proposal; instead, she was in the mood to ask a seemingly unrelated question.
Morrow, however, was used to her occasional leaps in thought and didn't mind. "Today," he replied.
Eve suddenly smiled.
The worries that had accumulated for days silently dissipated with that smile.
She understood that at this critical juncture of life and death, Kukan'yu always held the first place in Morrow's heart.
That alone was enough for her to stop worrying about the country's future.
"Morrow."
Her tone was firm and unhesitating. "Whatever your proposal is, my country and I will accept it."
"Don't agree so quickly. Hear my proposal first before you decide."
Morrow looked at her, his voice still calm.
"My Nen space can accommodate a population roughly equivalent to one Mitene Union, which is about twenty million people. But once inside, the safety of every single person will depend on my whim. The choice is entirely voluntary."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
A smile appeared on Eve's face, then slowly faded.
The number of safe spots was limited...
Given humanity's current situation, was that even a concern?
In the three months the calamities had raged, the world's population had plummeted, and countless lives had been lost.
It was common for a small country to be annihilated in a single day.
Of the slightly larger nations, some had fallen apart, while others barely maintained a minimum level of operation.
However, when a country could no longer provide shelter, its hopeless citizens would also choose to abandon their homeland and flee to places they believed were safe.
Even a superpower like the V5 could only barely hold up a relatively stable sky for its people.
But as the threats grew more severe, even the V5 began to struggle.
Military means and Nen user units ultimately couldn't eradicate the calamities; at best, they could only delay their consumption of a refuge area.
Just as the nations were on the brink of despair, the return of Morrow and his group could be said to have brought a glimmer of dawn.
With the exception of the Federation Of Ochima, the other V5 nations unhesitatingly spread this uplifting news throughout their territories.
This news was like a spark that ignited hope in the hearts of the people.
"This is great, truly great..."
"With Morrow here, there must be a way!"
Morrow's feats of defeating the Death God and that colossal beast had long made his name almost mythical in the minds of ordinary people.
The V5's upper echelons were, of course, aware of this.
From the perspective of those in power, they shouldn't have allowed an individual's prestige to swell to such an extent.
But in this desperate situation, it was a choice they had to make. They could only let Morrow's image be deeply ingrained in the heart of every human survivor.
Fortunately, after communicating with Ging and the others, they realized that Morrow had no ambition to "control the world" and merely wanted to contribute to the continuation of humanity.
The opportunity to control the world was right in front of him, yet he remained indifferent.
Did such a person really exist in the world?
The V5's leaders naturally found this difficult to comprehend.
In fact, to Morrow, this was more like a transaction.
The V5 was willing to do its utmost to collect Post-Mortem Nen objects in this desperate situation, so after Morrow accepted them, he would naturally provide corresponding protection.
Although Morrow truly did not want to witness the extinction of humanity, the essence of this matter was indeed a transaction.
As for controlling the world...
Morrow had never had such a thought.
Rather than focusing on the endgame of the six continents, he was more willing to traverse every corner of the Dark Continent, to face the seemingly endless calamities, and to pursue the countless precious hopes scattered within.
The sense of reward from that exploration was far more captivating than ruling the world.
—--
The day after Morrow and his group returned to the six continents, with the unified support of the V5, the plan to demarcate safe zones was swiftly launched.
With the help of the Wolf Spirit Space and Chimera, constructing the Wall was not difficult; it could even be described as effortless.
The only difficulty lay in the seams between the Wall sections, which required Ging to inspect and confirm one by one.
The Mobius Snake Incantation currently engraved on the Wall had become a key focus of Ging's in-depth research.
After all, this incantation was directly related to the future of humanity, so no matter how difficult, he was determined to master it completely.
And so, Morrow's team deployed the Wall while receiving a continuous stream of Post-Mortem Nen objects from the V5.
The operational capability of the superpowers was truly astonishing.
Even in the dire situation of rampant calamities, they could still mobilize vast manpower to search every corner of their continents and gather all the Post-Mortem Nen objects they could find.
Morrow accepted them all without ceremony.
With these resources, he wouldn't have to worry about his Tree Rings energy reserves for a long time.
It was just that the capacity of the Tree Rings energy gauge was limited, making it impossible to convert such a large number of Post-Mortem Nen objects into stored energy all at once.
It was also fortunate that he hadn't used up all his rewind chances.
Otherwise, when all the Tree Rings turned gray, he would likely have lost even the ability to convert energy, let alone store Tree Rings energy.
As sections of the Wall rose from the earth, the surviving humans finally saw hope.
Where there is calamity, there will be hope.
Just like the law of Nen abilities: where there is a Limitation, there is a Vow.
Everything in the world seemed to follow this fundamental principle.
But all the survivors knew that this hope, born from the cracks of disaster, was brought by Morrow.
The leaders of the V5 keenly sensed the shift in the public's attitude toward Morrow.
Gratitude, even fanaticism.
The surge of this emotion even exceeded their expectations.
A few of the powerful who were accustomed to controlling life and death couldn't help but harbor other thoughts.
However, the moment they saw Morrow from a distance, all their dark thoughts melted away like ice and snow, leaving only the inescapable foolishness outlined by their desires.
"Before that man, we are perhaps even smaller than ants."
There were no mishaps, no obstructions.
The Wall project proceeded steadily.
Whenever they encountered an attack from a calamity or a giant creature, Morrow would always appear at the first moment and completely resolve it under the watchful eyes of the masses.
Those beings that had left the V5 helpless were as fragile as cotton fluff before Morrow.
This savior-like posture was like a shot of adrenaline, dispelling the clouds of despair that had long hung over humanity.
The Kukan'yu Kingdom, the Minbo Republic, the United States Of Saherta, the Begerosse Union, and other countries in the international organization successively received their safe zones.
Only the Federation Of Ochima never made contact with Morrow's group, who had returned from the Dark Continent.
They chose to hide in underground shelters.
Unfortunately, this layer of protection ultimately failed to bring hope.
A calamity called "Black Thread Puppet" silently infiltrated the underground through the cracks.
It randomly burrowed into a human body and controlled its host to begin a massacre.
The Federation Of Ochima's army reacted swiftly, shooting and killing the host that had caused the chaos.
However, the Black Thread Puppet silently emerged from the corpse and slipped into a soldier's body.
Click, clack.
The soldier's teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, making a strange, crisp sound.
Immediately after, he raised his rifle, aimed at his comrade beside him, and pulled the trigger.
Rat-tat-tat...
The sound of slaughter gradually spread to every corner of the underground shelter.
The Federation Of Ochima met its end here.
When the other V5 nations learned of this news, their complex emotions were a mix of lingering fear and relief.
—--
January passed, and February arrived.
Under the protection of the Wall, humanity regained peace.
And Morrow's name was engraved deep into the soul of every survivor.
If Morrow had intended to become king, he would only need to raise his arm, and the position of King of Humanity would be his for the taking.
But his original intention never changed. He did not interfere with the rebuilt nations, only arranging places for the friends he knew.
Among them were the King and Komugi.
"Why don't you become the King?"
As Morrow was about to leave the Land of Walls on the six continents, the King posed this question to him.
Morrow didn't answer. He just softly bid farewell to Komugi, then led his teammates onto Chimera's back.
Chimera let out a joyous, long cry, beat its wings, and soared into the sky.
With a hint of unresolved confusion, the King looked up at the giant beast flying freely in the air.
The figures of Morrow and his group gradually blurred in his vision.
The sky was so vast.
So much so that the departing Chimera and the group gradually became a tiny black dot on the horizon.
But in that instant, the King felt that the black dot was not tiny at all.
He suddenly understood that the act of ruling the world was utterly insignificant before a much vaster world.
The King silently withdrew his gaze.
He knew that buildings would eventually collapse, and thrones would eventually decay.
But Morrow's name would exist in the long river of time for a very, very long time.
—--
Chimera landed on the coastline of the Dark Continent.
The little girl from the Gatekeeper's clan, whom they had met by chance months ago, had been waiting here for a long time.
She looked at Morrow as he leaped down from Chimera's back, her eyes twinkling with irrepressible excitement.
It was a gaze that yearned to explore the world.
And she knew that as long as she followed this incredible human, she could surely achieve it all in the time she had left.
Suppressing her excitement, she walked quickly toward Morrow.
Kalluto, Kurapika, Ging, Gel, Menchi, Ponzu, Biscuit, Sanbica, Calista, Kastro... and Hisoka.
One by one, they leaped off Chimera's back and landed beside Morrow.
Kalluto approached Morrow and asked, "Morrow, where are we going next?"
"First, to see an old friend."
Morrow smiled.
The old friend he spoke of was, of course, the Lakeside Tribe.
Kalluto nodded and turned his gaze to the Gatekeeper girl who had run up to them. He immediately took out a chili-flavored sugar pancake and offered it to her.
"Want some?"
"?"
The Gatekeeper girl looked puzzled.
Kalluto added seriously, "If you like it too, then we're friends."
The Gatekeeper girl hesitantly took the sugar pancake and took a small bite.
After a few chews, her eyes instantly lit up, and she stuffed the whole pancake into her mouth.
"It's good, right?"
Kalluto smiled.
The Gatekeeper girl nodded vigorously.
Beside them, Morrow couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
Kurapika, remembering a similar past, helplessly raised a hand to rub his temple.
Whether between friends, companions, or different species...
Sometimes, a single sugar pancake is enough to be the beginning of a story.
The End.
────────
Author's Note:
Actually, this book was originally planned to be one million characters long, so the main storyline was finished at less than 700,000 characters.
It's just that while writing, some big shots kept asking if I was going to write about the Dark Continent.
So I changed the plan and kept writing until now.
In my opinion, the Dark Continent is like a canvas that anyone can doodle on at will.
There's no need for logic, no conflict, no structure, you don't even need to consider anything.
You just irresponsibly cram your own wild ideas into it.
I didn't want to write it long because I feel that writing about the Dark Continent this way is no different from a cheap cash grab.
Otherwise, writing another million characters wouldn't be difficult for me at all.
All in all, everything that needed to be handled has been handled, so the journey ends here.
Thank you, my dear readers, for your subscriptions, monthly tickets, and support all along the way.
Thank you for sticking with Piggy until this moment.
Piggy bows to you all!
(Translated by yourtl.app)
----------------------------
Translator's Note:
And that's a wrap.
I'll be honest, I'm a bit disappointed by how this ended. I felt like there was still so much left to explore, and it's a little frustrating knowing it could have gone further. That said, this is still hands down the best HxH fanfic I've read to this day.
To everyone who's been reading and supporting this translation, thank you. Whether you've been here since the beginning or joined along the way, your support is what kept me going.
This isn't the end for me though. I plan to keep translating more works in the future, so if there's anything you'd like to see translated, feel free to recommend it. I'm always looking for the next good read.
See you soon, and thanks again for everything.