When Netero mimicked Pariston's words, he nailed the tone so perfectly, it was like Pariston himself was standing there, speaking in that fake polite, overly proper way of his.
A lot of people would get absolutely furious at how Pariston made everything sound so natural and innocent.
But the two people here weren't among them.
"Sometimes, I really don't know what to do with that guy. His skin is thick enough to shoot someone right in front of me, then calmly shove the gun into the victim's hand and claim it was suicide—like it had nothing to do with him."
Netero finally pulled out a stack of documents and tossed them onto the table.
"Take a look."
Germain opened the first page. Bold black letters printed in large font stared back at him: "V6 Member Nations."
His tongue stopped moving, and the plum candy rolled still in his mouth.
"Just one glance, and you get it, right?" Netero said, settling back onto the couch.
He crossed his arms, sliding his left hand into his wide right sleeve, and right hand into his left sleeve.
Germain kept reading quickly, eyes scanning the documents while listening closely as Netero explained.
"This is what's been happening while you've been away from the Six Continents these past few months—the world's shifted."
"The V5 countries… have become the V6."
"Begerossé Union, United States of Saherta, Federation of Ochima, Mimbo Republic, Kukan'yu Kingdom… and the newest member—the Kakin Empire."
The Kakin Empire had long harbored ambitions to join the V5.
King Nasubi took it a step further—he shocked the V5 with a bold declaration: he would lead all of humanity to colonize the Dark Continent.
This move gave the Kakin Empire a major advantage in public opinion.
And with Kakin's growing power and influence, the V5 couldn't afford to take them lightly.
Germain flipped to the relevant section in the report.
It included a transcript of the live broadcast, where King Nasubi and Beyond made their grand speeches to the world.
Their words were full of bold promises and ambition.
Chairman Netero let out a few amused chuckles before continuing.
"To salvage a situation that was quickly spiraling out of control, the V5 had no choice but to accept Kakin into the group, forming what we now call the V6."
"They also agreed to 'cooperate' on the colonization of the Dark Continent and to share the profits."
"Of course, this was just for show—an official statement meant to guide public opinion. The Kakin Empire never truly intended to colonize the Dark Continent."
Chairman Netero leaned in, reached out, and flipped to a specific page for Germain.
He pointed to a simplified sea chart.
"The so-called colonization fleet, led by King Nasubi and Beyond, will depart aboard a massive ship named the 'BW1'."
"At the same time, the V5 will send five other ships, led by our Hunter Association, to accompany them on this so-called 'colonial voyage.'"
Germain looked at the comparison between the V5's five ships and the BW1.
It was like a blue whale sailing beside five little orcas.
In this setup, the Kakin Empire completely stole the spotlight.
If this expedition bore any fruit at all, history would surely remember it in bold letters—praising the Kakin Empire as the great power that led the world.
At that point, King Nasubi and Beyond's reputations would reach their peak...
Of course, that's assuming Germain's side didn't exist.
What most of the world didn't know—was that Germain's group already held three of the five major hopes for humanity's future.
Chairman Netero pointed to the clear two boundary lines on the map of the sea regions.
"This journey will start on August 8th, and the estimated duration is about two months."
"In three weeks, ships like BW1 will cross the first boundary line. Beyond this sea area, it's a region that humans have not fully explored."
"Five weeks later, ships like BW1 will arrive at the area that V6 publicly calls the 'Dark Continent'…"
Chairman Netero moved his finger and pointed to a continent.
"However, this is actually a distraction. It's not the real Dark Continent. It's just the 'outpost' where the Kakin Empire's colonial army and the Hunter Association will be stationed."
"We, the ones in the know, refer to this place as the 'Imaginary Dark Continent.'"
Imagining the Dark Continent…
Chairman Netero's finger didn't linger long on the small island that appeared tiny on the map of the sea; it continued moving to one side.
"Now comes the main event, the true exploration of the Dark Continent."
"The Hunter Association's exploration team and the Beyond Exploration Team will continue sailing from here, passing through the second sea boundary, and reaching the 'Gatekeeper's' door."
"We will cooperate to get past the Gatekeeper, and then, with the help of the 'Guide,' we'll navigate the most dangerous and treacherous 'Dark Sea.'"
"Once we reach the true Dark Continent, that's when our two teams will go separate ways, heading for our respective objectives."
"The primary goal of the Hunter Association's exploration team is, of course, to rendezvous with you, located at the Ancient Labyrinth station on the Dark Continent."
"This will create a land and sea connection, stretching across half of Mobius Lake, linking Greed Island, oil stations, the imagined Dark Continent, the transit base, and the real Dark Continent with the Ancient Labyrinth."
"After this, we can start announcing that we have found 'Hope,' and based on this land and sea route, we will establish a stable path for humanity's future return to the Dark Continent."
Germain quietly listened, watching as Chairman Netero stopped speaking and casually picked a date from a pile, tossing it into his mouth to chew. Only then did he speak up.
"So, this time you brought 'them' with you to Greed Island, to prepare for everything, right?"
Chairman Netero let out his signature 'Oh-ho-ho' laugh.
Germain could see the chewed date pulp and an intact pit inside his half-open mouth.
At last night's feast at Limeiro Castle, it wasn't just Chairman Netero and the A-class personnel from Greed Island who were there. Many of the Hunter Association's heavyweights were also present.
Kanzai, Mizaistom Nana, Ginta… all of the "Zodiacs," except for Ging Freecss, were present.
Even Ging's disciple, Kite, was here.
Due to the colonization expeditions of the Kakin Empire, many internal affairs had to be rushed and completed quickly, with more manpower and resources allocated to the colonization efforts.
Kite and his team's investigation mission was therefore cut short, and he had to come to Greed Island.
When Germain saw them last night, he was quite surprised. Then he turned around and saw Chairman Netero's mischievous smile, realizing he had been tricked again.
Chairman Netero had calculated the cooldown time for Germain's "Teleportation Lantern," and had waited alone in front of the teleportation point in the Limeiro Castle dungeon hall, just for this moment.
It sounds ridiculous, but this is exactly the kind of thing Netero would do. He just wanted to see the look of astonishment on Germain and the others when they saw what had been prepared.
********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/Unique_Writer