Dark Continent.
The route Oboro had traveled, beyond the desert, to an oasis.
A human figure walked through the dense forest. His pair of demonic eyes hid ferocity, and playing cards constantly changed in his fingertips.
Crimson blood flowed from his wounds, but he paid no mind.
A hundred meters ahead of him, on a tree, grew lush green branches and leaves, swaying in the wind.
But in the next moment, as if awakened by the scent of blood, all the leaves suddenly detached from the branches and flew towards the injured human.
These were unique small life forms from the oasis, called Mysterious Insects.
They could not only transform into vegetation and blend in with the environment but also required extremely delicate perception of life energy to detect their presence. Their bodies were covered in scales that could even block and shield Nen energy.
The ecosystem and food chain in the oasis were far more terrifying than in the desert...
Being injured and bleeding here was equivalent to sealing one's own path to survival. If not treated quickly, it would attract a large number of strange entities.
But the man strolling through the forest was unconcerned.
He looked at the swarm of insects flying towards him, a sinister arc forming on his lips.
Immediately, his killing intent erupted. He flew up into the swarm, his hands waving frantically, sharp playing cards thrown and shot everywhere, or transforming into blades to cut, shredding all the unknown creatures.
Half an hour later, the figure, using the stickiness of Nen to move between tree trunks, finally landed.
Fragments of insect carcasses, like snowflakes, drifted down from the sky.
The man's originally sharp gaze suddenly softened...
His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.
Life energy was rapidly disappearing...
Before this, he had already sustained fatal injuries. The seemingly minor wounds on his body were only a part of the story.
Being able to hold on until now, to reach this point, and to fight again was his limit.
Hisoka.
At this time, Menchi and the other two had just returned to the human world... Hisoka found Menchi and, by prying information from her, learned some things about Oboro. Although Menchi didn't say much, it was enough for Hisoka... He had sneaked into the Dark Continent.
To fulfill a promise with Oboro.
Menchi had originally wanted to stop him, because Oboro had said that no one was allowed to enter the Dark Continent again.
However, Menchi knew about the relationship between Oboro and Hisoka, and the agreement between them, so... Menchi chose to 'turn a blind eye.'
Moreover, Menchi believed that Hisoka would not be able to return alive.
Regarding everything on the Dark Continent, someone like Hisoka couldn't possibly understand...
"You'll understand when you go there... You'll never find the Captain." This was the last thing Menchi said to Hisoka before he left. Menchi was actually quite polite. In her heart, she probably thought Hisoka wouldn't even be able to land before dying in the nearshore waters, taken by those large aquatic creatures.
After experiencing the Dark Continent, Menchi and the other two had gained new insights and understanding of 'energy.'
So... Menchi could also see that Hisoka was different.
Heard... he seemed to have killed the eldest son of the Zoldyck family, the one named Illumi.
With the sublimation of his personal will, Nen, or life energy, had broken through... But that was all.
"Heh heh... You played me..."
"You... really know me well..."
Hisoka lay on the ground, a large amount of blood flowing from beneath him, soaking into the soil.
Hisoka gazed at the sky, glimpsed intermittently through the gaps in the trees, and muttered to himself.
For Menchi, she didn't care about Hisoka's life or death, so she 'kindly' gave Hisoka the map: first the desert, then the oasis... Menchi and the others escaped the desert and, under Oboro's leadership and protection, didn't waste much time.
But Hisoka, from the moment he set foot on this land until now, didn't know how many years had passed... before he barely reached the oasis. Being able to survive until now was thanks to some special 'food' supplies. When facing fatal dangers, he mostly chose to flee rather than fight.
Being able to find the oasis was already a stroke of luck...
According to Menchi's words, regarding Oboro's travel speed, by now... Oboro was probably an unimaginable distance away from him. Even if he sustained his life with some 'hopes,' he wouldn't be able to find the latter.
The gap was too great.
Hisoka believed he had reached the pinnacle of strength in the human world, but now... he finally understood his own insignificance.
Even after making so much effort, let alone Oboro, he probably couldn't compare to Netero and Beyond.
As Oboro had said, from a certain point on, the gap between them would only widen with time, until... he completely lost his goal on the path of cultivation.
Hisoka forcibly raised his hand, took something from his pocket, slowly opened it, and put it in his mouth.
It was a piece of chewing gum.
He chewed it slowly...
In less than half a minute, the frequency of his chewing gradually slowed, weakened, and finally stopped.
His eyes also lost their vitality.
Thus... his life ended forever at that second.
A moment later, some small life forms, attracted by the scent of his blood, various strangely shaped creatures appeared nearby.
They swarmed towards his corpse.
...
One day, in another corner of the continent.
A man with black hair and a short stature was helping a group of demi-humans, who resembled magical beasts, prepare some kind of food.
He held a round stone pestle in both hands, repeatedly pressing down on the pile of creatures in the pit before him.
Among them were grasses, vines, and trees, as well as a large number of creature corpses... Under the crushing of the stone tool, the corpses of these creatures were pulverized, and the liquid blood flowed out, mixing with the crushed vegetation.
This deep pit was like a large pot.
The man stood aside, working alongside the demi-humans, having seemingly integrated into this tribe.
He looked around and saw a child of the demi-human race open its mouth, extending a sharp spike like a syringe, contentedly sucking the liquid from the pit, drop by drop.
Life energy.
The man put down his tool and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
If Oboro were here now, he would find that this person's appearance bore a striking resemblance to Ging Freecss and Gon.
That's right, this was the person Oboro had been trying to find all along: Don Freecss.
However... the land area of the Dark Continent was too vast. Even with Oboro's Overlord-level strength, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Just the area controlled by the tree-god alone had taken him a long time...
In reality, Don Freecss was also in this area, but he had entered the 'gate' and stepped into the territory of some overlord. The two might have been very close at some point, but they 'passed each other by.'
It could only be said that fate did not allow it.
A demi-human walked over and spoke to Don Freecss in an alien language.
But Don Freecss seemed to understand, and he replied with a smile, conversing with it.
The structure and system of life on this continent, as well as the simple civilizations formed by the evolution of various tribes, always brought Don Freecss a sense of novelty and wonder. Therefore... even though he had been away from the human world for a long time, he was still enthusiastic and not tired.
He wanted to understand this rich and wonderful world.
Of course, he was also aware of the brutality and rules of the Dark Continent.
However, compared to the 'real' side, he believed... these 'radiant lives' created by various factors were more attractive.
Entering the 'gate,' that is, the 'city.'
The ecosystem here was clearly different from the outside. The most direct manifestation was the increased number of intelligent life forms... whether demi-humans or 'magical beasts.'
After a brief conversation, the demi-human suddenly turned and left, returning after a while with a stone tablet.
It pointed to the images on the stone tablet, then pointed at him.
Don Freecss looked, and was immediately startled.
The carvings on the stone tablet, although crude, conveyed a very clear message.
It depicted a small figure standing on the back of a giant 'snake' between heaven and earth. In the sky, countless thunders were invoked, and in the air, 'raindrop'-like objects floated, which the demi-human explained were 'souls.'
Two terrifying creatures were fighting, and the victor was the small figure.
Human... A human from the Island in the Lake.
The demi-human was asking Don Freecss if he recognized the figure in the stone carving.
Don Freecss's heart trembled. Someone had set foot in the Dark Continent before him, or rather... were there pure-blooded human tribes living here?
Did human ancestors have their own territories in the Dark Continent?
Through the demi-human's explanation, this event happened a hundred years ago. A human had killed an overlord on the continent, and it spread among 'them' like a legend...
"A hundred years ago, humans?"
Don Freecss couldn't believe it.
In the Dark Continent, anything was possible.
Just as Don Freecss thought this was an ancestor of humans who had not participated in 'evolution,' the demi-human chattered a few more words and gestured with its limbs.
This made Don Freecss freeze.
What the latter said was that this small figure had come by boat from the lake...
Extremely terrifying, a master of soul life.
Then it pointed to another small carving on the stone tablet, depicting a scene of humans meeting with gods.
Powerful beings like the Demon King were kneeling around.
"…"
Don Freecss.
At the end of his explanation, the demi-human paused, then tried its best to imitate human pronunciation, uttering a name.
A single syllable.
"Oboro."
____________________
For more advance chapters visit my patreon
patreon.com/kane45
Tier: 10$ Casual Reader - +20 Advance Chapter
20$ Intermediate Reader - +40 Advance Chapter
40$ Expert Reader - +80 Advance Chapter
Update: "Monday to Friday - Update 3 Chapters a Day"
"Saturday and Sunday - Off"