Ronin quickly understood what Ging meant.
Whether it was the giant eagles or the Gold and Silver Ingots, after Ronin and Ging entered the dark clouds, none of them chose to continue chasing.
Then could the area covered by the dark clouds be treated as a safe zone?
If so, they could completely use kiting tactics to eliminate as many dangerous beings on the island as possible.
"We can try, but we have to be extremely careful," Ronin said seriously.
After all, what they were facing was a calamity-level existence like the Gold and Silver Ingots. In Ronin's view, there was no such thing as being too careful.
The two quickly told Kurapika and the others about what they had encountered high in the sky. To Ronin's surprise, Abaki also proposed a feasible plan.
"As long as I can see the target, I'm confident I can use my fishing rod to reel it out," Abaki said confidently.
Abaki's fishing rod could cross space and fish a target to another location. This powerful effect did not only work on items she had prepared herself, but applied to everything.
It was just that things carrying her Nen could be easily reeled in by her, while things without her Nen required bait or certain conditions before they could be fished up.
"I want to try and see if I can fish the Gold and Silver Ingots into the dark clouds like you said. If those clouds really have some special meaning to the Gold and Silver Ingots, then this should be able to trigger it," Abaki said.
She had not only thought of fishing them out, but had also considered the possible consequences after the Gold and Silver Ingots were pulled out.
Clearly, she had made this decision after carefully thinking through the information Ronin and Ging had provided.
"I can also help a little," Kurapika said as well.
Ronin knew what Kurapika meant. The Binding Middle Finger Chain might indeed come in handy, but Ronin could create a similar effect even without Kurapika.
However, there was one very special point here.
Could conjured objects also be absorbed by the silver ingot?
Because of that, Ronin felt there was no harm in bringing Kurapika along.
Finally, Ronin's gaze fell on Odo. He had noticed Odo's unusual reaction.
After all, Odo's ability was War Ancient Tree.
And the Gold and Silver Ingots had another name: Plant Weapons.
Did that mean Odo's ability might have some effect on the Gold and Silver Ingots?
Odo was clearly eager to try, but he had not yet fully adjusted from his previous identity, so he had not been able to bravely take that step forward.
Ronin smiled faintly and directly gave him a way in.
"Odo, you come too. Your ability might produce an unexpected effect."
The corner of Odo's steady face lifted slightly, and then he took the initiative to step forward.
When he had first been captured by Ronin and the others, he had been filled with despair. When he had been brought to the Dark Continent, he had felt resentment.
But after all this time, his heart had instead become calm.
As he spent time with everyone, he gradually grew used to the team's situation, and his desire to explore the Dark Continent also began to grow.
In truth, people like them who had been sent to the imaginary continent had all once held certain fantasies about the Dark Continent.
It was only after seeing too many powerful beings on the imaginary continent and hearing too many terrifying rumors about the Dark Continent that the ambition they had back then slowly disappeared.
But now that he had truly been brought to the Dark Continent, that little bit of longing hidden away in the corner of his heart rapidly took root and sprouted, growing into a towering tree.
They did not immediately head high into the sky. Ronin and Ging first rested and made some preparations aboard the ship.
"I always thought things like the Gold and Silver Ingots were special creations guarding the ancient city. Now that they've appeared here, does that mean the ruins on that island in the sky are connected to the labyrinth city in the north?" Ronin guessed.
"That's hard to judge. But what we do know is that there must be some special treasure inside the floating island ruins. Maybe it's the Three Origin Water we guessed earlier. Or maybe it's the panacea herb that exists only in the ancient labyrinth city," Ging also speculated.
No matter which one it was, it filled Ronin and the others with imagination.
Although even if they obtained those things, they might not be useful to them for the time being, obtaining one would at least mean they could gain the Gatekeeper's recognition.
Even if Ronin did not actually care that much about that point, if they truly completed it, he would inevitably feel a sense of accomplishment.
"Compared to that kind of treasure we might obtain, I'm actually more curious about the Gold and Silver Ingots themselves. After all, this thing is called an ancient weapon. And since it's a weapon, there should be a possibility of controlling it. If we could subdue it, it should play a huge role in our future exploration, right?" Ronin said, full of imagination.
"That should be very difficult," Kurapika said while eating a compressed biscuit. "Didn't V5 already know about the Gold and Silver Ingots long ago? They've studied them for so many years, yet they haven't obtained any meaningful results."
"Other things aside, if you really want to seize control of something like the Gold and Silver Ingots, I feel the key might still be inside the ruins. So it doesn't surprise me that V5 couldn't figure anything out by studying them inside Lake Mobius," Ronin said, not placing much expectation on V5's investigations and research.
Although the manga showed that the Ferry Bureau had established an extremely high-standard sealed area to restrain the calamities, V5 also knew what terrifying consequences those calamities would bring to humanity within Lake Mobius if they ever broke out.
So their investigations and research were probably carried out in the most conservative way possible.
And if they used such conventional methods, discovering anything meaningful would truly not be easy.
Ronin felt that if they really wanted to find a way to deal with the Five Great Calamities, they still had to turn their attention to the Dark Continent.
However, since the Gatekeeper had allowed the Five Great Calamities into Lake Mobius back then, he should have judged that humanity had the ability to solve these things.
At least from their previous contact, Ronin did not think the Gatekeeper intended to let humanity go extinct.
In that case, the fact that humanity had not yet cracked the Five Great Calamities could only prove one thing.
Human incompetence.
Thinking of V5's existence, then kingdoms like Kakin, countless small nations, and even the occasional conflicts that erupted between the V5 nations themselves, Ronin shook his head.
"In recent years, V5 has stopped sending genius scientists and scholars into the Ferry Bureau," Veronica suddenly said. "Because V5 discovered that if the Five Great Calamities truly leaked out, they would be enough to destroy human civilization countless times over. So the current approach of the higher-ups is to reduce opportunities for personnel to come into contact with the Five Great Calamities as much as possible."
"Playing ostrich?" Ronin sneered.
"The only calamity actually inside the Ferry Bureau is the Immortality Disease. The other four calamities are all on small islands near the Ferry Bureau. Most of what the Ferry Bureau collects are only fragments of corpses from people killed by the calamities," Odo sighed.
"People who have never come into contact with calamities simply cannot understand how terrifying they are.
"I once worked in the search team. Even just coming into contact with the corpse fragments of those killed by calamities was enough to make me understand their horror. So from here on, we must be extremely careful. One wrong step could bring total destruction."