Three minutes after Moses inserted the black needle.
The black tendrils had completely enveloped the Guide, and an Eye of Sight sprouted on its shoulder.
Kyoka Suigetsu had activated two minutes earlier than expected.
This was likely because the Guide's strength was weak, especially in terms of Manifested Aura. To Moses, the Guide felt like a Nen User who had only just mastered the basics, barely grasping the concept of Ten.
Moses walked straight up to the Guide.
His actions drew the attention of the rest of the team.
"Did it work?"
Ging stopped drawing the Divine Script and looked up at Moses.
Moses nodded at him.
"What are you two talking about?"
Pyon suddenly leaned in, her scrutinizing gaze flicking back and forth between Moses and Ging.
Moses stretched out his right hand, pressed his palm against Pyon's forehead, and then pushed her aside.
"Don't mess around. This is serious."
After explaining briefly, and without looking at Pyon's resentful gaze, Moses turned to look at the guide and asked calmly: "How long can you sustain yourself?"
Hearing Moses's question, the Guide tilted its head slightly and replied in a neutral, genderless voice:
"I don't know, but speaking and moving less can extend the duration."
Moses raised an eyebrow when he heard this, 'It really is just like Rat Jewel.'
'No wonder the Guide usually stood motionless on the ship's bow like a statue. So far, it had only uttered a single phrase, 'We're almost there.'.'
"Aside from that, is there any other way to prolong your existence?"
As his thoughts raced, Moses pressed further.
The Guide stared directly at Moses's face and answered, "Absorb life energy."
"How to absorb it?"
Moses knew that the life energy the Guide referred to was Nen, so he cut straight to the method.
"Eat."
The Guide raised its wing-like arm and pointed at its mouth.
Seeing this, Moses casually condensed a fist-sized Nen Sphere in his hand and tossed it toward the Guide.
The Guide's eyes locked onto the incoming Nen Sphere, and it suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed the Nen Sphere whole.
Just as it swallowed the Nen Sphere, Moses discovered that although the Guide had a face that seemed to have been carefully carved, its mouth was filled with densely packed sharp teeth.
Without paying attention to such a small problem, Moses shifted the topic to the Gatekeeper.
However, the Guide knew nothing about anything.
Perhaps, the moment when the Guide is conjured by the Gatekeeper is the moment of its 'rebirth'.
Therefore, in the Guide's cognition, its sole purpose was to lead the way, and it has no memory of about the Gatekeeper.
Moses was quite disappointed that he failed to get the information he wanted, but he didn't continue to dwell on the matter.
Just as he was about to ask about the Guide's abilities, Kanzai and the others suddenly returned along the original route of the cave.
"The tunnel leads to land. After exiting, we only saw flat terrain, and further ahead was an extremely dense forest."
Upon returning to the cave, Botobai briefly summarized the situation on the other side of the tunnel.
No one was particularly surprised by this result.
Given the towering, fortress-like structure of the coastal reefs, an upward-leading tunnel was naturally expected to reach the surface.
The only thing they should worry about is whether there is any danger hidden in this tunnel leading to the ground.
After all, this is the Dark Continent, and they must remain vigilant even at the outermost edges.
After learning about the situation of the tunnel from the scouting team, everyone shifted their attention to the Guide.
"Chairman, it..."
Ginta, with his signature afro, stepped closer. He first glanced at the Guide, then looked at Moses, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Moses knew what Ginta wanted to ask and nodded at him.
Ginta and the other Zodiacs had already witnessed the effects of his 'Manipulation-Type Ability' firsthand that night.
Only Gel and Cluck seemed slightly uncomfortable.
After all, they had been among the 'victims' of that ability.
Moses withdrew his gaze from Ginta and finally asked the Guide about its ability.
"How do you always find the safest route?"
"I possess an ability called [Super Danger Perception]. It allows me to constantly sense dangers lurking in the surroundings. However, it also causes me to unconsciously overlook threats below a certain threshold."
In response to Moses's question, the Guide answered without reservation.
"Overlook low-level dangers...?"
Moses was slightly startled, and the others also showed varying degrees of reaction.
What it means is...
The Guide's [Super Danger Perception] couldn't detect threats of minimal severity.
That being said, during their voyage across the Dark Continent's waters, they did encounter some dangers that could have been resolved easily, the ones the Guide hadn't warned them about.
However, compared with the advantages of this ability, the disadvantage of not being able to provide early warning of lower threats is nothing.
"At any rate, with the Guide's early-warning ability, the risks of our exploration will be significantly reduced."
Moses looked around at his companions, raised his hand to his chin and said, "That being said, we must remain 100% vigilant during the exploration."
Everyone already knew the stakes without Moses's specific reminder.
"So, do we proceed as originally planned?"
Cheadle glanced at the motionless Guide and asked.
Moses met the group's expectant gazes and replied calmly, "Yes, we have to find a Hope and resolve a Calamity before Beyond's team lands. Then, we will kill Beyond's team team as the 'victor'."
Although the words were delivered evenly, they carried an unmistakable edge of killing intent.
Hearing this, most of the people present looked a little solemn, except for Hisoka and a few others who remained unfazed.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Moses continued: "We will depart as soon as preparations are complete."
The 'preparations' he referred to were, of course, the Teleportation Divine Script to be inscribed within the cave.
…
Meanwhile-
At Dark Waters.
A crimson rain fell from the overcast sky, vanishing almost instantly into the churning waves.
A medium-sized ocean-going vessel cut through the storm, its bow slicing through the blood-tinted waters.
This was Beyond's ship.
During the two-month voyage of the Black Whale 1 to the hypothetical continent, the Kakin Empire's Succession Contest had concluded, and Beyond set out from the hypothetical continent and embarked on the journey to the Dark Continent.
Standing at the ship's prow, Beyond paid no mind to the blood drenching his body-
Or the flecks of minced flesh mixed within it.
This was obviously not some strange weather… it was the aftermath of something in the skies above being torn apart.
"I really didn't expect that..."
Beyond, who is drenched in gore, looked at the turbulent sea ahead.
He didn't expect the Hunter Association to act so quickly.
He also didn't expect that in the Kakin Empire's Succession Contest aboard the Black Whale 1, a complete monster would be 'cultivated' from the Gu Jar Method.