The gatekeeper chanted an ancient, obscure incantation.
The massive gate—one that could not be moved by brute strength alone—slowly began to open.
Beyond the gate lay a wide platform, and at its center was a circular magic array.
Within the array, wave-like patterns curled inward, as if the tides of the sea were converging from all directions toward the center.
Surrounding the platform and the array was a vast, raging ocean stretching endlessly in all directions.
The horizon where sea and sky met seemed to bulge upward, rising like a dome above the flat expanse.
The open view and the brilliant blue of the sea and sky instantly eased everyone's minds and bodies.
Germain stepped through the Deep Sea Gate, descending the moss-covered stone steps until he reached the edge of the circular array.
There, he suddenly felt a strange sensation.
It was the same unease he'd felt when walking through Ancient Labyrinth towers or during the Seed Urn Ceremony.
A deep, unsettling awareness.
Could it be…?
With a sense of realization, he took out his Hunter license.
At that moment, he sensed a new change in his teleportation lantern—
Among the eleven special teleportation lights, another one had been lit.
"Special Teleport Point: Deep Sea Gate."
Just as he suspected.
This place was another pre-existing special teleportation point.
It meant he could now travel here instantly and without cost from any of the other special points.
The gatekeeper showed no sign of noticing Germain's reaction.
With a single, enormous stride, it crossed to the edge of the sea platform.
It bent down slowly.
Its sharp claws touched the shimmering surface of the sea, gently stirring the water in a spiral.
Ripples spread outward, growing larger and larger, as if they would never stop.
Germain put away his Hunter license.
He joined the others at the edge of the platform, silently watching the gatekeeper's strange behavior.
"…Is it…" Bisky asked, "calling the 'Guide'?"
"Most likely," Germain replied.
After a while, Germain sensed something massive rising rapidly from the depths of the sea.
"We should step back a little," he warned.
Everyone took a step back.
The Gatekeeper also withdrew his hand and slowly straightened his enormous body, towering as he stared down at the ocean's surface.
Soon, the sea began to bubble like it was boiling.
Waves rippled out violently, much fiercer than the ones the Gatekeeper had stirred up earlier.
Boom—
In the blink of an eye, a giant, pitch-black, battered ship shot out from beneath the ocean, smashing down onto the surface with a thunderous splash.
The wave it created crashed exactly where Germain and the others had been standing just moments ago.
The ship's bow was sharp like a bird's beak, with fine, jagged teeth showing, making it look like a ferocious beast.
The entire vessel was dripping wet, seawater pouring out of its deck, cracks, and gaping holes as if trying to escape, streaming down like fountains and hitting the ocean with a continuous splashing sound.
"What a sight…"
Morel, his hands wrapped in bandages, lifted the sunglasses on his nose to get a clearer look.
Just as Chairman Netero had described — once someone passed all of the Gatekeeper's trials and crossed the Gate of the Deep Sea, a great ship would come to carry them onward...
Hearing it was one thing.
Seeing it with his own eyes was something else entirely — truly breathtaking.
Soon, a ramp was lowered from the ship for them to board.
Several strange and grotesque figures gathered on the deck, stepping down one by one along the gangplank.
The first to descend was a demi-human exuding a calm and imposing aura. He wore a pirate tricorne hat crusted with barnacles and a black robe that fluttered in the sea breeze.
His waxy yellow face was covered in wriggling tentacles like a gatekeeper's mask, with no eyebrows or any visible hair.
His left hand was a heavy claw. His right hand, an elongated tentacle. One of his legs was a hard-shelled crab limb, making a dull thud with every step.
Behind him were more bizarre-looking demi-humans. They were all dressed in clothes and had humanoid bodies, but their heads were anything but human.
Some had hammerhead shark heads. Some looked like coral. Some were shaped like anglerfish. Others had the appearance of clamshells.
One after another, they followed the first demi-human and knelt in front of the Gatekeeper, bowing their heads low.
"These are your guides," the Gatekeeper said to Germain and the group. "They will take you through the deep sea. In one day and one night, you will travel a distance that normally takes over half a year."
Germain asked, "What do we need to do?"
"Tell them where you wish to go. They will drop you off at the nearest port."
"I understand. Thank you."
"No need to thank me. This is what you've earned. Anyone who passes my trial is entitled to this treatment."
After saying this, the Gatekeeper turned away and, with a single step, walked back toward the Gate of the Deep Sea.
"You may go now."
He paid them no more attention. The Gate of the Deep Sea slowly closed behind him.
The guides stood up in unison and began to size up Germain and his companions.
The one with the waxy yellow face spoke first. "I am the captain of the Ghost Ferry. I'll be your guide. Since you've passed the trial, board my ship and tell me where you wish to go."
—
Inside the pitch-black cabin, only a few candles flickered, casting long and twisted shadows of the group onto the walls.
Through a small, round window, Germain and the others could see the sea outside — what once shimmered with light was now swallowed in utter darkness.
Under the guide's command, the ship had already submerged into the deep sea for some time, the freezing water completely enveloping the vessel.
The boat creaked and groaned as it moved, each sound from the wooden boards making people wonder if it might suddenly fall apart and sink to the bottom of the sea.
As for the cabin, it was the only place on the entire ghost ferry that remained untouched by seawater.
It looked surprisingly spacious.
Germain could see quite a few beds, along with tables and chairs that had been pushed together.
There were even a few empty wine bottles rolling across the floor.
They likely belonged to the previous passengers—members of Beyond's exploration team—but were nothing more than meaningless trash now.
At this moment, only Germain's group remained inside the cabin.
The captain, who had led them here, left afterward and never returned.
None of the crew had come near this place since.
Shizuku was pulling rations out of a bulging-eyed fish and placing them on the table.
Bisky was helping organize them—this was their lunch.
Meanwhile, Morel stood hunched by a small round window, as if straining to make something out in the pitch-black seawater outside.
Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be having much luck.
"It's too dark out there," Morel said to Germain as he walked over. "Even if some deep-sea creature were right in front of me, I wouldn't be able to see a thing."
Germain admitted honestly, "In this kind of environment, no one could see clearly. The best we can do is rely on Nen to sense anything."
"Yeah." Morel let out a sigh.
For a sea hunter, this was no doubt a frustrating situation.
The Six Continents had the technology to develop submarines.
But whether those submarines could truly dive into the deep sea didn't depend on tech alone—it also depended on the mood of the deep-sea monsters.
Even within the waters of the Six Continents, submarines often got torn apart like canned food once they went too deep, preyed upon by those abyssal beasts.
Now, Morel had finally made it safely aboard a vessel capable of reaching the legendary deep sea—a place few from the Six Continents had ever set foot in.
And yet, he couldn't see anything at all.
How could he not feel disappointed?
Fortunately, this wouldn't be his last voyage into the deep sea.
Before Germain could even speak, he sensed something strange.
He saw Morel's head stretching and flattening, and even the blinking of his eyes and the movement of his mouth slowed down noticeably.
Morel stared at Germain with a startled expression in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, Morel's head returned to normal before Germain — the same sharp-edged, square head as always.
"Did something just happen?" Morel asked, frowning.
He had noticed something was off too, because from his perspective, Germain's head had flattened just moments ago.
Yet despite the bizarre phenomenon, neither of them felt any discomfort in their bodies.
Shizuku and Bisky also looked over in shock, clearly noticing the strange event.
Whatever they had been doing with their hands just now had completely stopped due to the odd occurrence.
Germain touched his own face and said, "Looks like that's what the guide captain meant by 'Shuttle'."
"'Shuttle'?" Shizuku clearly hadn't been listening to the conversation between the listener and those strange guides when boarding the ship.
Germain explained, "From here to the mainland of the Dark Continent, a normal voyage would take more than half a year at best, and that's without any interference."
*******
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