In order to become the Great King celebrated by the whole world, Nasubi had positioned himself as the leader of this expedition to the New Continent.
Long before this, he had been meticulously preparing.
The proof of this was the massive black ocean-going ship anchored on the sea at this very moment.
The ship is named the Black Whale 1, and its overall appearance resembled that of a giant black whale.
Black Whale 1 is divided into five decks, with a staggering passenger capacity of 200,000, a testament to its colossal size, which could be called awe-inspiring.
A ship of this scale could perhaps be built in just a few months if financial and manpower resources were poured into it without restraint.
However, researching and developing it would absolutely not be achievable in just a few months.
This extremely ambitious King of Kakin Empire has clearly been waiting for this for a long time.
Yesterday's "Eve Festival" was grandly celebrated, broadcasted live to the world, allowing everyone to witness the royal family of Kakin Empire and Beyond, who would be responsible for exploring the new world.
Today's departure ceremony was also held with great fanfare.
Under the gaze of countless onlookers, the royal family of Kakin Empire boarded the top deck of the Black Whale 1.
The 200,000 selected passengers also boarded the Black Whale 1 in an orderly fashion.
Finally, amidst the cheers and farewells of hundreds of thousands present, the Black Whale 1 slowly departed from its berth.
From here on out-
The ship would spend three weeks traversing the known waters of humanity, and then refueling and resupplying at the boundary of those waters.
Once resupplied, it would truly challenge the uncharted seas beyond the world's mapped territories.
In those waters, the most terrifying threat was not the ocean itself, but the sky.
Storms, tornadoes, lightning-
Not to mention the harsh weather conditions that are common in unknown waters-
The truly horrifying things were the various flying creatures.
Perhaps due to territorial instincts, these flying creatures would fight each other to dominate the skies.
Therefore, for the purpose of exploring the unknown world, the aerial route was absolutely out of the question.
Even a behemoth like the Black Whale 1 would have to seal off its open-air areas once it entered these uncharted waters to avoid damage from attacks by these flying creatures.
According to the route data provided by the International Permit Agencies, it will take the Black Whale 1 about five weeks to cross these uncharted waters and finally reach the so-called 'New Continent'.
"But in fact, that place isn't the Dark Continent at all, but rather a destination prepared to satisfy this gold rush?"
In a not very spacious room, Kanzai mused thoughtfully.
Listening to his colleagues discuss back and forth, he finally grasped some of the details.
It turned out that the estimated two-month voyage wouldn't even get them to the Dark Continent, but would only allow them to reach a continent that had not yet been explored by humans.
What baffled Kanzai was-
Despite a full two months of sailing, they wouldn't even reach the border of the Dark Waters, let alone set foot on Dark Continent's shores.
Given that, if they were to rely on conventional navigation to cross all the seas and reach the Dark Continent, wouldn't it take several 'two-month trips'...?
As Kanzai was thinking about it, he suddenly froze.
As someone who had once been to the Dark Continent, it was precisely because he had encountered these navigation details that he could deeply appreciate the practicality of the [Ancient Pipeline].
Compared to the immense risks and extremely long voyage time, the Ancient Pipeline back then had transported them directly to the Dark Continent in an incredibly short time.
The difference between the two couldn't even be described as night and day.
His thoughts came to a standstill, but after a few seconds, Kanzai's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Since we're not boarding that big black ship, why don't we use those pipelines from back then? This way, we can reach the Dark Continent directly, wait for them to arrive exhausted, and then take them out in one go!"
After making this suggestion, Kanzai couldn't help but grin excitedly.
He felt that Moses must have forgotten the existence of those Ancient Pipelines, which was why there had been no arrangements made regarding them.
"It's 'wait at your ease while the enemy tires himself out,' you idiot."
But instead of Moses's response, Kanzai was met with the ever-present snark.
Among everyone present, only Pyon could deliver such a swift retort to Kanzai.
Kanzai was stunned at first, then his face twisted in anger and he glared at her: "You buck-toothed rabbit!!! Can't you focus on the main point for once?!"
"The main point?"
Pyon rolled her eyes upon hearing this, looked at Kanzai with look usually reserved for the mentally challenged, and scoffed, "Sometimes, I really wonder if you're just forgetful or suffering from intermittent dementia."
"Huh!?"
Several prominent veins suddenly bulged on Kanzai's forehead.
Mizaistom, who was sitting nearby, could not bear to watch any longer. He let out a sigh and then explained:
"Kanzai, if the Pipelines you're referring to the ability that transported you to the Dark Continent last time, then they've already been disposed of by the International Permit Agencies long ago. Besides, this matter has been reported in the meeting before."
At this point, Mizaistom paused briefly and added: "It was the meeting right after you and Pyon returned from the Dark Continent."
"Eh?"
When Kanzai heard this, the rage in his eyes was immediately replaced by confusion.
'There was such a thing?'
'But why didn't I have the slightest memory of it?'
Everyone looked at Kanzai, who showed confusion, and for a moment, they didn't know what to say.
Ging raised his hand and pressed down the brim of his hat.
Regarding those Ancient Pipelines destroyed by V5...
It truly was a shame.
If conditions had allowed, Gin would have wished for those Ancient Pipelines to be preserved.
Even just one would have been enough.
It was precisely because of this regret that Ging had spent that time searching for other Ancient Pipelines.
During the Chimera Ant Extermination Operation-
The reason Moses couldn't reach Ging was because of this.
Unfortunately-
Despite investing considerable time and effort, Ging still failed to find any similar Ancient Pipelines.
Now, hearing Kanzai mention those already-destroyed Pipelines, he couldn't help but feel another pang of regret.
After all-
If they travel to the Dark Continent by conventional means, it will take at least five months to just reach the border of the Dark Waters.
That was far too time-consuming.
As Kanzai fell silent, the meeting room suddenly became much quieter.
Moses looked around at the Zodiacs' members present and said calmly:
"Does anyone have anything else to add? If not... then let's set off immediately. No matter how perilous this path may be, as long as we can arrive safely, we'll undoubtedly be one step ahead of Beyond."
After hearing Moses's words, the Zodiacs remained silent, but their gazes all turned toward Moses.
His tone sounded calm at first, but upon closer listening, there was an absolute confidence in it.
Facing everyone's gazes, Moses suddenly broke into a smile.
"When the time comes, make sure to capture Beyond's belated arrival on camera. Then, once the mission's complete, we can burn those photos and videos for the old man."
"…"
Still, no one spoke.
But there was something new in the way they looked at Moses.
The road ahead was fraught with danger-
And they, as the ones involved, understood that all too well.
Even though they had all steeled themselves for the possibility of never returning, they couldn't remain as composed as Moses.
It was only now-
That they belatedly realized one fact.
The young Chairman before them was, in the history of mankind, the first true challenger to have successfully explored the Dark Continent.