Under the thunderous sky, the giant shark covered in layered scales was split in half midair.
It then swept past both sides of the Purple Smoke, leaving behind a torrent of blood before vanishing into the towering waves in the blink of an eye.
The enlarged Black Sword, which still has great momentum, dissolved into Nen in the next instant and returned to Moses's body at the speed of light.
Before this, the companions, who were familiar with Moses's abilities, had ever seen him use them in such a way. Their faces showed astonishment, mixed with a sense of having narrowly escaped disaster.
The dangers of sailing through Uncharted Waters far exceeded their expectations.
If not for Moses's ability to enlarge his Black Sword, no one could have prevented the Purple Smoke from being crushed by the armored giant shark.
A rain of blood and seawater dyed the ship's hull crimson, with Moses himself drenched head to toe in red.
Whether the blood contained harmful substances, toxins, or pathogens was something no one could afford to consider at that moment.
Their only thought was to push through the storm, to survive the endless perils.
Facing the doomsday-like storm, the Purple Smoke leapt through the waves. Although small, it was also unyielding.
By the time the Purple Smoke finally broke through the storm, nearly everyone on board had been drained of both stamina and Potential Aura, and they all collapsed to the ground.
Only Moses and Morel remained in relatively good condition.
The reason for that is because Moses has a much higher total Potential Aura than the others, and since Morel is responsible for steering the ship, he does not need to pour his Aura into the Divine Script, so his Aura consumption was negligible.
If there is any loss, it is his mind and spirit.
But even now, Morel couldn't afford to rest. Gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain in his temples, he forced himself to stay focused, keeping watch over the sea.
This-
Was just the beginning.
Moses stood at the bow, looking at the relatively gentle waves ahead with a slightly tired look.
Having experienced the dangers and hardships of the voyage firsthand, he made a firm decision.
Once they crossed the Uncharted Waters, no matter what, they would seek out the Gatekeeper and ask for their assistance...
Only then could they significantly reduce the risks of traversing the Dark Waters.
'Those Ancient Pipelines… What a shame.'
A complex emotion flickered in Moses's eyes.
The dangers of the voyage had made him deeply aware of the greatness and value of those Ancient Pipelines.
It was hard to imagine how people of ancient times had overcome countless obstacles to sail across the oceans to the Six Continents in that era, establishing those Ancient Pipelines akin to Noah's Ark.
Truly worthy of respect.
For the next several days, they encountered no further dangers.
This outcome lifted the group's spirits.
…
Time passes slowly.
Forty days later.
After enduring countless hardships, the Purple Smoke finally reached the boundary between the Uncharted Waters and the Dark Waters.
Originally, given Purple Smoke's speed, it would take less than twenty days to reach the boundary.
But plans never keep up with changes.
The difficulty of navigating the Uncharted Waters had far exceeded expectations, so much so that the crossing time was more than doubled.
Thanks to Knov's Hide and Seek capabilities, they never ran short of supplies.
But the bad news is that Knov and Palm had already disembarked halfway.
In fact, during the voyage, Cheadle and the others had still held onto hope and tried to use the more than two months of voyage time to continue to persuade Knov.
However, the unimaginable dangers they faced along the way only strengthened Knov's resolve never to cross the Far Ocean Boundary.
After all, compared to a medium-sized ocean-going ship like the Purple Smoke, the behemoth-like Black Whale 1 offered a far greater sense of security.
With Knov and Palm's departure, Moses's team was reduced to twenty-five members.
On this day-
Morel stayed behind on the Purple Smoke, while the others went ashore and headed to where the Gatekeepers were.
Regarding the Gatekeepers-
Existing records indicated that the Gatekeepers was the only known magical beast capable of granting passage to the Dark Continent.
Without their help, the voyage to the Dark Continent would be nearly impossible.
But on the other hand, if they can get the help of the Gatekeepers, they will have to bear the oath of 'bringing back a Calamity'.
If there is no solution to the Calamity, it could spell doom for humanity.
This seemed to be the price of obtaining the 'entry ticket'.
Or it can be said to be an equal exchange.
Moses thought to himself, 'Whether it was the Hunter World or outside the Hunter World…'
'Vows and Limitations, equivalent exchanges...'
'These principles remained constant.'
Moving inland from the coastline, the first thing that greeted them was a barren, lifeless expanse of land.
Because the terrain was flat, the team saw a building that looked like the Great Wall standing in the distance in less than an hour.
The wall, which didn't appear particularly tall, stretched along the horizon as far as the eye could see.
As they drew closer, the group saw that the wall was constructed from stones of varying sizes, meticulously shaped and stacked like building blocks, exuding an ancient, weathered atmosphere.
It seemed the builders had used whatever materials were available, carving and arranging the stones into this imposing yet simple structure.
"Where is the gate?"
When everyone came to the base of the high wall, Kanzai first looked to the left, then looked to the right.
Without waiting for others to respond, Kanzai said, "Why don't we just climb over?"
As he spoke, he looked at the height of the wall. It was no more than a dozen meters, so it is practically effortless to scale them.
Cheadle shot him a look and reminded him, "The Gatekeeper despises those who lack manners the most."
"Really?"
Kanzai habitually raised his hand and touched the tiger-tail-like braid at the back of his head.
Everyone nearby couldn't help but glance at him.
The members of the intelligence unit had compiled all known information, but this illiterate Zodiacs' member clearly hadn't absorbed a single detail.
"Let's follow the wall to find the gate."
Moses suggested.
With no way to determine its location, they had no choice but to resort to the simplest method.
…
Half a day later.
They arrived at the only gate in the great wall, which was about the same height as the Testing Gate of the Zoldyck Family.
Moses took a quick look at the wooden double-sided door in front of him, then stepped forward and knocked on the wooden door.
Moments later-
A deep, rumbling sound, like massive stones grinding against the earth, echoed as the wooden doors slowly swung outward.
Judging by the noise, the doors were far heavier than they appeared.
Everyone looked at the slowly opening door, and a muscular figure over three meters tall emerged from it.
It was a half-human monster covered with thick black hair.
Moses looked closely and saw that the other party's upper body muscles were as bulging as rocks, but its lower limbs were slender and oddly curved, making one wonder how they could support such a massive frame.
Moreover, on the elongated head, there is a pair of equally severely curved black horns, which has a bit of devilish charm.
Seeing this so-called Gatekeeper, everyone held their breath.
Because of the other party's Manifested Aura...
Was utterly staggering!
They wondered how many years it will take to reach this level.
The Gatekeeper, with his golden vertical pupils and black horns, swept his gaze over the visiting humans.
Then, his calm, unreadable eyes settled on Moses.
To be more precise-
He was looking at the eyeball from Mammon that Moses had held in his hand in advance.