Fearless in the face of any challenge, daring to confront any danger.
To rise again from the place of failure, even if a thousand mountains stand in the way… never retreating, never giving up.
This is Beyond's life creed.
He shares similarities with Nasubi Hui Guo Rou. In terms of ambition and goals, both strive to be the unparalleled pioneers, unmatched by any who came before or will come after.
Now that Nasubi has finally achieved his wish and has his name engraved on the monumental event as the 'Pioneer of the New World', Beyond naturally refuses to fall behind.
The faintly visible coastline shrouded in mist fills him with exhilaration, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
'This time… I will not fail.'
Beyond suddenly raises his arm high, his face full of vigor.
Behind him, his teammates, who have also come for the Dark Continent, all showed expressions of great anticipation.
No matter what dangers lie ahead...
They all want to carve their own names on this vast land.
Unbeknownst to Beyond and his team, who are brimming with excitement for their future journey, the Hunter Association's team, led by Moses, has already beaten them to it.
Not only did they obtained a Hope, which is capable of accelerating plant growth, but they had also resolved a Calamity known as [Black Hole].
The mechanism of this Calamity involves the concept of light and shadow, which is a formless, intangible existence.
To put it simply, it is a two-dimensional entity similar to a shadow.
Its size is no larger than a disc, and its form resembles a shadow, allowing it to move freely across flat surfaces.
Its method of attack involves assimilating the target's shadow, then dragging the target's 'existence' into the depths of an abyssal darkness.
It is like a two-dimensional eraser that can forcefully erase three-dimensional beings with terrifying efficiency.
This ability to erase things silently could theoretically pose a fatal threat to most of the existences in the Dark Continent.
But as fate would have it-
When the Hunter Association's exploration team encountered the Black Hole, it was Moses who had become the Black Hole's first target.
However, perhaps because Moses had no shadow, Black Hole's attack failed to do anything.
This fortunate coincidence became an opportunity for the Hunter Association's exploration team to resolve the Black Hole.
During the process, they discovered that that Black Hole was weak against concentrated beams of intense light. And coincidentally, the team carried the necessary lighting equipment.
As a result, the Black Hole, a Calamity that was definitely ranked as A-level, was resolved without much difficulty.
While the entire process was not particularly arduous, most of the team members felt as though they had narrowly escaped death.
Especially Moses-
He had brushed shoulders with death itself.
And this was only one of the many dangers they faced during their expedition.
Fortunately, they had a Guide with an ability called [Super Danger Perception], which allowed them to avoid many threats in advance.
However-
Guide's ability had a flaw.
It will simply ignore those that pose low-level threats.
Under this premise, anything that posed no danger to the Guide itself would also be disregarded.
For example, the Black Hole that almost took Moses's life triggered no warning from the Guide.
This was because the Guide, much like Moses, had no shadow. It was an existence akin to a rootless entity. Thus, Black Hole could not erase it either.
But all in all, the role of a Guide is still irreplaceable.
Thanks to it, the team avoided over 70% of the bizarre and deadly entities lurking in the Dark Continent.
Compared to these strange beings with their myriad supernatural abilities, huge creatures were far easier to deal with.
Over the past few days, most of the giant creatures encountered by the team had been dealt with by Moses.
Because his Black Sword could expand freely, as long as Moses can find the right spot to strike, he can basically kill these massive creatures with a single strike.
In this way, Moses's proficiency in using the sword to kill giant creatures became higher and higher.
On another note-
The huge ecosystem means the team never had to worry about food.
Hunting just one giant creature allowed them to solve the food problem for a long time.
Furthermore, there are experts like Menchi, Sanbica, and Gel in the team, so there is basically no need to worry about whether it can be eaten.
This was the advantage of teamwork.
Each member played their part, like cogs in a well-oiled machine, meticulously addressing every challenge the team faced.
They had secured Hope and also resolved a Calamity.
Moreover, they had filled over a hundred pages with invaluable records and intelligence.
Such achievements were enough to leave an indelible mark in the history of mankind's expeditions to the Dark Continent.
When Moses and the others realized that the first phase of their exploration mission was complete, the team encountered another threat.
They traversed forests, crossed plains, delved into caves, and eventually arrived at another dense, thriving woodland.
While there is no need to worry about food, water is a problem.
When arriving in this humid forest, the team did not plan to go deeper, but only wanted to find enough drinking water and leave.
It only took them half a day to find a source of drinkable water, but on their way back, they unexpectedly encountered a group of humanoid creatures.
The Guide had not given any prior warning.
Thus, these humanoid creatures abruptly appeared at the edge of the group's line of sight.
The humanoid creatures had stone Buddha heads covered in stains resting atop their necks.
The Buddha heads were as large as millstones, but the bodies below them looked no different from those of ordinary human males.
There was not a single piece of clothing on their bodies, and their skins were as white as jade, forming a sharp contrast with the large, dirty Buddha heads.
After these Buddha head creatures stepped into the edge of Moses and the others' vision, they did not advance further. Instead, they stood motionless, as if silently observing humans they would never normally encounter.
'Eleven...'
Moses's gaze swept swiftly over these unknown creatures with Buddha heads and human bodies, instantly counting their numbers.
The rest of the team also adjusted their positions immediately.
The members of the defense unit guarded the four directions, while the members of the logistics team stayed in the center of the formation.
Standing at the outermost perimeter were the smoke soldiers summoned by Morel immediately after seeing the creatures.
In an environment like the Dark Continent, the offensive power of the smoke soldiers is so weak that it can be ignored, but their utility for reconnaissance was irreplaceable.
"No sign of Nen, but don't let your guard down."
Ging moved to Moses's side, his eyes fixed on each of the Buddha-headed figures within sight.
Dirty Buddha heads, pure white bodies...
This bizarre combination gave him a faint sense of familiarity, as if he had seen something similar somewhere before.
"Bodyless Buddha..."
Suddenly, a voice mixed with astonishment came from the center of the formation.
The person who spoke was Tommen, a member of the medical unit.
As a Hunter whose profession was that of a doctor, Tommen has a fair and gentle face. He wears a pair of thick black-framed glasses, and exudes a scholarly air.
In fact, reading books is Tommen's hobby.
It's just that he was particularly fond of obscure, bizarre, and rare books.
It was one of these very books that allowed him to immediately recognize the origins of the group of Buddha-headed human-bodied creatures around him.
Tommen's pupils trembled, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his fair face: "Why... why are the Bodyless Buddha that was made up in [The Strange Tales of Gui Mountain] appearing here?"