July 25th, an airport somewhere on the Yorbian Continent.
People came and went in the departure hall. Leo sat in a corner seat, his gaze falling on the Airships taking off and landing outside the window.
In the past half month, he had dealt with two more B-Rank wanted criminals. He didn't even bother to check the bounty once it arrived in his account.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Dean's number.
After two rings, the call was picked up.
"Hello, Mr. Leo. This is Dean."
Dean's voice was as respectful as ever.
"I'll be heading over in two days,"
Leo said.
"Understood. Everything is ready."
Leo gave an affirmative grunt and hung up.
He stuffed the phone back into his pocket and leaned against the back of the chair, looking through the transparent glass curtain wall toward the grayish-blue horizon in the distance.
The contrails of the Airships trailed long white lines in the sky, slowly dispersing before finally vanishing into the wind.
His thoughts drifted—
It had been quite a while; Colton's side should have collected a fair number of organisms by now.
Although Vivian had slowed down the acquisition speed to raise funds for the underground auction, he had transferred a sum of money over, so the quantity shouldn't be too small.
Furthermore, his current team was basically complete.
Sophia, Shizuku, Kastro, Nico, Goreinu, and Ashir, who had joined later. Everyone was improving, and their coordination was becoming more seamless.
More importantly, his ability had evolved after the battle with the Doctor.
"Proof of Humanity" not only allowed him to absorb Life Energy to strengthen himself, but it also granted him immunity to abnormalities, increased his lifespan, and gave him the means to heal others.
As long as it wasn't a one-hit kill, he could pull someone back from the brink of death.
He could speed up his pace now.
It was time to put the exploration of the Dark Continent on the agenda.
Leo closed his eyes. Most of his memories regarding the Dark Continent came from the manga and anime he had seen before his Transmigration, while a small portion came from that hide map Satotz had deciphered.
The Ancient Kape Civilization fled from the Dark Continent and took root again on a small island in Lake Mobius—which is the current world.
They left behind maps, hoping that one day they could return to their homeland.
He remembered clearly those routes recorded on the hide and the warnings marked in the corners.
In the original work, the Kakin Empire's journey to the Dark Continent involved arriving at the Imaginary New Continent first, and only after departing from there would they truly reach the Dark Continent.
And there were many small islands along the way that could serve as supply points and transit stations.
He didn't need to make a grand spectacle like the Kakin Empire, nor did he need to establish some sort of stronghold on the Imaginary New Continent.
He only needed a small island—an uninhabited one near the border of the Dark Continent.
Setting up a transit base there would serve as both the starting point and a fallback for exploring the Dark Continent.
Constructing this base would require a massive amount of capital.
It wasn't a problem that a few billion jenny could solve; it would take tens of billions, or even more.
He couldn't handle such a thing alone; even if he poured in all the bounties earned from capturing wanted criminals, it would be a mere drop in the bucket.
But he didn't need to do these things personally; he could find someone to do them for him, and the Colton Gang was an excellent choice.
Vivian was a smart person, and smart people know how to invest and how to bet on the right person.
He would help the Colton Family clear away obstacles, and Vivian would build the base for him; this deal was beneficial to both parties.
Supporting Vivian to take a seat among the Ten Dons would allow him to use her vast influence to complete the tasks he couldn't do alone.
Leo's finger tapped lightly twice on the armrest.
Ashir's ability was the most critical step.
Ultra-long-distance teleportation; as long as there was a medium, he could send someone to the other side of the world in an instant.
With this ability, the risks of exploring the Dark Continent would be minimized.
No matter how far they went or what they encountered, as long as Ashir was alive, he could retreat.
There would be no worries about the future.
As for the Kakin Empire's ship, the B.W., he never intended to board it from the start.
There was something wrong with that ship, a very big problem.
Fourteen coffins were prepared on the ship, and the floor where they were placed had a very complex pattern made of many lines.
These patterns formed by lines were very similar to the lines in the starting room of Greed Island; Leo felt that this thing was the most mysterious 'Divine Script' in the hunter world.
Furthermore, King Nasubi Hui Guo Rou of the Kakin Empire had personally said—let the Succession War play out to the fullest on this ship laden with 200,000 living sacrifices.
The weight of this sentence was enough to make anyone with a brain stay far away from that ship.
Two hundred thousand people—not twenty, not two hundred, but two hundred thousand living human beings.
The Succession War required sacrifices, and those ordinary people sent onto the ship were the best sacrifices.
The power that could be obtained from sacrificing two hundred thousand people was far beyond anyone's imagination.
The planning behind this was far too bloody and far too vast.
Even with his strength, he couldn't stop the general trend.
Even if he exposed it in advance, to those ordinary people who knew nothing, he would just be a madman—a madman fabricating a horror story.
No one would believe him.
There was still more than a year before the Succession War began; that was enough.
Enough for him to make preparations, enough for him to find his own path.
The announcement sounded, notifying him that his flight was beginning to board.
Leo opened his eyes, stood up, and walked toward the boarding gate.
Two days later, Tote City.
Everything was as usual.
Dean's convoy appeared outside the airport arrival hall on time—black suits, black cars, low-key yet striking.
Leo sat in the car, and the convoy slowly drove out of the airport, through the city, and toward the farm in the suburbs.
The street scenes outside the window flashed by. He watched all of this calmly, his mind still revolving around those plans.
They arrived at the farm.
Dean did not follow him in; he simply took his leave respectfully as usual and left with the convoy.
After Leo activated 'En' to finish checking the surroundings, he walked into the area enclosed by fences.
Over fifteen thousand organisms.
Cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and some wild beasts he couldn't name were separated into different pens.
The air was filled with the characteristic scent of livestock, mixed with the smell of feed and soil.
He stood by the fence, not rushing to act. He released 'En' again to confirm there were no extra eyes or surveillance equipment around.
Then he began to work.
It was still the old method. No fancy techniques, no redundant movements.
Clean and efficient, every strike of the Nen Bullet hit a vital spot precisely.
Life Energy turned into a warm sensation, flowing along the patterns into the back of his hand and into his body.
It wasn't fast, but it was steady.
Two days, a full two days; he never left this area.
When he was hungry, he ate the food Dean had prepared; when he was thirsty, he drank a few gulps of clean water prepared at the farm.
He wasn't worried about anyone poisoning it; with his current physical body, no abnormality could invade him.
He didn't feel tired, nor did he feel bored.
Every fallen organism pushed his Rank up a little bit more.
On the second night, the last organism fell to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Leo withdrew his Nen and looked down at the tattoo on the back of his hand.
The warmth was still there. [Rank: 77 (33%) → 78 (36%)].
He let out a soft breath and shoved his hands back into his pockets.
Over fifteen thousand heads, and he only went up one level.
Leveling up was getting harder and harder; the Life Energy required for each level was increasing.
If this continued, relying solely on purchasing livestock and wild beasts would soon be insufficient.
He needed stronger organisms and more Life Energy.
Hunting wanted criminals couldn't stop; that was a very good source for leveling up.
Leo pulled out his phone; there was an unread text message.
Nico had sent him a message, successfully tracking down a B+ Rank wanted criminal.
Leo pulled the teleportation medium from his pocket and conveniently sent a message to Ashir.
Eight seconds later, the light door emerged.
Leo sent another message to Dean, put his phone away, stepped through the light door, and vanished from the farm.