June 14 – Dark Continent – Ancient Labyrinth – Castle Tower, Top Floor
Purple patterns lit up. A lantern appeared, followed by four figures and four small creatures emerging from the shadows.
After the messenger creature vanished, Germain put away the lantern and checked what he had picked up during their latest expedition through the treacherous mountain range.
[Negative Trait: Frail] – Reduced resistance to disease, making infections easier to catch.
[Disease: Fatigue Syndrome] – Greatly reduces the probability of gaining virtues.
As usual, Germain injected himself with a "Herb for All-illnessesal Serum", immediately curing Fatigue Syndrome.
As for "Frail", he could only find a way to deal with it once they returned to Greed Island.
Compared to other negative traits, "Frail" ranked fairly high on his personal Exorcism Priority List.
At that moment, Bisky stretched her body, her joints cracking loudly.
Shizuku crouched nearby, watching him with concern, like a curious cat.
Morel, meanwhile, rang the bronze bell atop the tower.
Dong—Dong—Dong—
Their latest hunt had been a success. They had defeated two "Champion-Class Mutants" lurking deep inside the mountain caves.
Before that, they had waited patiently in the treacherous mountain range for quite some time.
The collapsed cavern had already been cleared out day and night by "Pap the Human-Keeping Beast," restoring it to a spacious environment.
The beasts willingly injected all their stored electricity into the ground, gradually awakening "Tongue of Theft" and "Fissure of Ecstasy."
Of course, the final fate of those Human-Keeping Beasts was to end up as dried corpses.
The first to be resurrected was "Tongue of Theft." The group immediately took advantage of its weakened state and attacked together, wiping it out once again.
Fifteen minutes later, "Fissure of Ecstasy" was reborn as well.
At that moment, Germain realized that their revival time was closely tied to the time of their deaths—there was some variation, but the difference wasn't significant.
So, Germain instructed Shizuku, Bisky, and Morel to keep "Fissure of Ecstasy" occupied for now.
After delaying for a minute, they finally killed the weakened "Fissure of Ecstasy."
This way, the respawn timings between "Fissure of Ecstasy" and "Tongue of Theft" would be more staggered, which would be more beneficial for their next hunt.
However, they wouldn't necessarily strike before their respawn next time. This was just a precautionary measure.
Unfortunately, because "Fissure of Ecstasy" and "Tongue of Theft" hadn't come to an agreement, no "Unmanned Rocks" were produced.
Of course, their primary goal here had been achieved—Germain had obtained two more "Teleport Lanterns."
At the same time, they retrieved some corpses of the "Human-Keeping Beast Pap" as well as body tissues from "Tongue of Theft" and "Fissure of Ecstasy."
These were stored in Shizuku's "Blinky," which would later be taken back to Greed Island.
After returning to the Ancient Labyrinth, they met up with the ones who stayed behind—Menchi, Buhara, and Sanbica.
Upon confirming, neither the Moose Centaur representative nor Ging and Knuckle had returned from the "Subhuman Alliance Pact Conference."
They waited until the end of the month—June 30th—when the "Bloodthirsty Apostle" respawned, and Ging and Knuckle still hadn't come back.
It seemed that Ging and Knuckle wouldn't return until July.
Casually, Germain dealt with the "Bloodthirsty Apostle" and obtained one more "Teleport Lantern."
Now, he had 8 free "Teleport Lanterns" in hand.
Meanwhile, Shizuku and the others harvested 71 "Herb for All-illnesses" from the "Bloodthirsty Apostle."
The original plan was for Germain, Shizuku, and Morel to teleport back to Greed Island immediately, not needing to wait here for Ging and Knuckle.
However, Germain noticed that the "Teleport Lanterns" would cool down by July 25th, and an idea crossed his mind.
By July 25th, he could teleport without using the "Silver Triangle," thus saving 3 free "Teleport Lanterns" and completing the teleportation.
At least for now, his free "Teleport Lanterns" were still quite scarce.
Well, let's just wait another month. After all, it's only one month left.
With a valid reason like this, Morel was also quite concerned about Knuckle's situation, so he reluctantly decided to wait a little longer.
Shizuku didn't mind waiting an extra month to return to Greed Island, since she could live just fine here.
After all, the two people she cared about most—Germain and Bisky—were both here.
Finally, on July 15th, Ging and Knuckle returned.
They were tired from their travels, their exhaustion from the journey clearly showing. But when they saw Germain, Shizuku, and Morel, they were surprised.
"Why are you still here? I thought you all left last month and went back to Greed Island."
Germain explained the situation, and only then did Ging and Knuckle understand.
"Tell us about your trip," Germain asked.
Everyone gathered around, interested in hearing about it.
Menchi's leg injury had healed a long time ago, and she cooked a big meal for Ging and Knuckle.
Knuckle devoured the food quickly, not having time to speak, so Ging had to tell the story of the past two months.
The hardships and dangers they faced were quickly skipped over, and Ging jumped straight to the "Subhuman Alliance Pact Conference."
"Honestly, I'm disappointed," Ging said, his chin covered in a beard he hadn't shaved in a while, looking almost like a scruffy goatee.
"The 'Subhuman Alliance Pact Conference' was just a gathering of a few small tribes. It wasn't as grand as I had imagined."
"There weren't any strong enemies at the conference. The strongest was just 'Master-level,' and they were already corrupted."
"They looked down on our existence and even planned to 'take revenge' for the lizardmen. So, we taught them what 'justice' really is with our fists."
"After I killed the alliance leader, the rest of the members scattered, and they cowardly hoped I would become the new leader."
"I have no interest in this. I just pushed Scela to become the leader. That way, we can establish connections with dozens of subhuman tribes through the Moose Centaur Tribe."
"After that, I started gathering information on Don Freecss and the various dark continent languages and scripts they knew."
"They didn't know anything about Don Freecss, but they gave me a huge batch of texts from various races. Unfortunately, when I compared them with the western scrolls, none of them matched."
"However, these languages and scripts are still very valuable. I copied them all and brought them back. When the time comes, you can take them back to Greed Island and give them to Pyon."
This was the experience of Ging and Knuckle's journey.
Although they didn't achieve their main goal, there were still many unexpected benefits.
Control of the conference, contact with dozens of beastmen tribes, numerous languages and texts, and all the experiences along the way...
Both Ging and Knuckle gained a lot from this journey.
And this trip marked a significant expansion of the 'Stagecoach Group's' range.
In every area within the scope of their activity, there was a beastmen (Subhuman) tribe as a foothold, which would make their future actions easier.
Since Ging and Knuckle returned safely, there was no reason for Germain and the others to stay in the ancient labyrinth.
Before leaving, Morel even asked Knuckle if he wanted to return to the Six Continents with him.
Knuckle refused. This journey had obviously boosted his courage more than before.
He wanted to stay here and, with Ging, Bisky, and the others, take advantage of their control over the 'Subhuman Alliance Pact' to establish connections with more tribes and broaden his knowledge.
"Teacher, I still remember your expectations for me in the World Tree, in the Republic of East Gorteau... I will definitely become a 'Beast Hunter' who can stand on my own!"
Morel didn't try to persuade him further. As he sighed at Knuckle's growth, they agreed to meet again in the Dark Continent.
This time, Morel would return to the Six Continents. If nothing unexpected happened, he would join the Hunter Association's exploration team, sailing from the sea to the Dark Continent.
And so, Germain, Shizuku, and Knuckle were teleported back to Greed Island on July 26th.
After nearly half a year on the Dark Continent, when they returned to the dungeon hall of the Limeiro Castle, the three of them felt a little disoriented.
What further surprised them was that the person waiting for them at the teleportation point was Chairman Netero.
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