"The cathedral is fine, but we could build an orphanage... Hmm... Sheila said it's better not to call it 'orphanage,' but 'children's welfare center,' as it has a better connotation."
Shizuku put down her chopsticks—she had developed the habit of eating Chinese food with Germain—then she reached up to touch the golden inverted cross.
With her big eyes blinking, she looked at Germain and said, "I think Sheila is right. Starting with our generation, let's make sure there are fewer orphans in Meteor Street."
Germain still couldn't feel the same sense of belonging to that trash-filled, stinking land as Shizuku did. But, just like before, he respected her choices.
Besides, Meteor Street now had a chance to change. At the very least, it could break the cycle of ugliness and exploitation.
Germain said, "Greed Island will also provide funds to help rebuild Meteor Street. If you notice anything else that's needed, feel free to tell me."
Shizuku nodded.
In the afternoon, while Germain was walking through the grasslands, Dwun grabbed him and dragged him toward Limeiro Castle.
"Come, come, I want to introduce you to someone."
Actually, it wasn't exactly a person, because he appeared on the computer screen and called himself a "resident of the cyber world."
The image of the cyber world resident looked like a Mickey Mouse wearing a headpiece, but his eyes were misaligned, making him look more like a mentally unstable person. His headpiece had a "Pe" mark on it, which, as he later explained, meant "edge router."
"This person is Ickshonpe Katocha," Dwun introduced. "Hacker Hunter, One-Star Hunter, and besides that, he used to be one of us."
"'One of us'?" Germain seemed to have some vague memory of the person on the screen, but before he could figure it out, Dwun's words caught his attention.
"Dwun said, 'Ickshonpe also participated in the creation of Greed Island.'
'Think about it, the abbreviation for Greed Island, isn't it 'G.I.'?'
'The 'G' stands for Ging, and now it stands for you, while the 'I' stands for Ickshonpe. The main framework of Greed Island was designed by Ickshonpe, and we mostly just made some adjustments based on his work.'
Germain hadn't expected this old connection, and while surprised, he also thought about Ickshonpe himself.
This person appeared in the original storyline during the Hunter Association election arc, and he was one of the candidates who made it to the later rounds of the election.
The interesting part was that while Bisky and most of the Zodiacs were eliminated, Ickshonpe remained on the list.
And he never even showed up in person; he stayed in the online world and had no interest in the position of chairman.
Ickshonpe started yelling through the computer screen, 'I quit a long time ago. Why are we talking about old matters? Let's talk about the real stuff!'
His eyes moved up and down, showing he wasn't really looking at anyone, but Germain could still tell from his gestures that he was addressing him.
'You're the one who proposed the updated version, right?' Ickshonpe shouted at Germain. 'Well done! Good job!'
Germain thought Ickshonpe was going to scold him, but he was surprised when the other party just praised him, leaving him somewhat confused.
'Ging and Ickshonpe parted ways, one of the reasons being the version update,' Dwun scratched his belly and explained.
'Ickshonpe wanted high-intensity updates every week, but we couldn't handle that workload, so Ging was the one to negotiate with him.'
'Ging proposed a network game showdown with Ickshonpe, and the winner would decide everything. Of course, Ging won…'
'Who decides the outcome in one match?!' Ickshonpe shouted through the screen. Germain could almost imagine his flushed face. 'He won and ran off. Is that my problem?!'
"In short," Dwun brought the topic back, "The recent major update for Greed Island Z has been out for several months now, and the game feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."
"More players are flooding into Greed Island now, and the main quests are getting more intense. We've noticed that three teams are very close to completing the game."
"Which three teams?" Germain asked.
Dwun replied, "One is the bounty hunter team, Tsezguerra, hired by the wealthy Battera. Another is Jia's team, and the third is the Niken's team."
"I think it's just a matter of time before they finish. And both List and I agree that now is the time to start thinking about the large-scale dungeon for Greed Island Z."
"However, soon, List will set off with the Hunter Association's exploration team. They'll establish stations on the small islands along the way, trying to connect Greed Island Z to the fake Dark Continent, and eventually link it to the Dark Continent itself."
"So, designing and perfecting the large-scale dungeon will require more experienced hands. It took a lot of effort, but I managed to bring Ickshonpe back."
"After trying out Greed Island Z, he was very satisfied with the updates, and that's one of the reasons he agreed to come back."
Ickshonpe chimed in, "A mere large-scale dungeon is no problem. But I'm actually more interested in your plan to connect Greed Island to the Dark Continent. Alright, I'll help with both."
Dwun smiled and praised Ickshonpe, "If you're willing, I have no reason to refuse. With your help, we'll definitely finish faster."
"Of course!" Ickshonpe said, his confidence almost making his head tilt back in pride.
It was at this moment that Germain found an opportunity to ask, "What's the main story of the large-scale dungeon?"
Dwun laughed again: "It's the Chimera Ants... the players will challenge the Chimera Ant King—of course, we can only simulate a 'Master level' of combat power, it's not the real 'Ant King.'"
Ickshonpe also laughed: "Although I don't know what you mean by 'Master level,' I understand combat power—cumulative stats, insane attack desire, command reading, and the terrifying mechanisms..."
The two game designers exchanged glances, chuckling evilly as if they could already see countless greedy players on Greed Island suffering.
Finally, Dwun added: "Aside from that, we have our own selfish motives."
"That's to have Palm, Meleoron, Ikalgo, and the others appear as positive characters—just like how they helped the Chimera Ant extermination team back then, they will help the players defeat the 'Ant King and his three royal guards' and clear up any misunderstandings the world has about them."
Although the surviving Chimera Ants had their identities erased, there were still plenty of professional Hunters and high-ranking officials who knew of their existence.
A game like this might allow Nen users to realize that, among the Chimera Ants, there were both brutal individuals and those who were kind-hearted.
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