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Below the sea, the Gatekeeper and the [Limit Breaker] still drifted on the surface, not sailing.
"Dark Continent..."
Illumi, at a thousand meters high, looked at the huge island turtle slowly swimming towards the interior of the Dark Sea region. In his heart, he felt both an inexplicable excitement and an unknown fear and curiosity.
"Should I go take a look?"
Illumi looked at the massive island turtle, resting his chin in his right hand, pondering for a moment.
He recalled the Gatekeeper's actions before, which indicated that this type of giant island turtle was dangerous. He decided it was better not to seek death.
"Let's go back."
Illumi took a deep look at the island turtle, controlled the black giant eagle to dive down, and in an instant returned to the cruise ship deck.
At this moment, the deck was already crowded with many experts and some fully armed soldiers ready for battle at any time.
Boom!
A sonic boom, mixed with a gust of wind, assailed the crowd on the deck.
The giant eagle controlled by Illumi suddenly landed above their heads, hovering there.
"Ahhh~!"
"Monster!"
The terrifying giant creature with a ten-meter wingspan immediately made most of the people in the crowd scream in panic. The soldiers "clanked" as they raised their weapons and aimed at the giant eagle, their arms trembling slightly, their expressions tense. With the slightest provocation, they would open fire.
"Don't be nervous."
Just as the soldiers were feeling extremely nervous, a broad hand rested on the shoulder of the soldier at the very front. The soldiers subconsciously looked towards the sound.
Looking at King Bradley's kind smile, the soldiers, for some reason, felt their nervous emotions ease considerably.
"Sir, please step back. It's very dangerous here."
The soldier whose shoulder King Bradley patted urged him with a respectful tone, then again raised his weapon and aimed at the giant eagle.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt anyone."
King Bradley's tone was firm. At the same time, a figure leaped down from the giant eagle hovering overhead. With a soft "thud," he landed steadily.
After Illumi landed, the giant eagle hovering above him immediately turned into wisps of black threads and scattered into the air, disappearing without a trace.
"So it's a Conjuration Nen Beast."
Beyond stroked his long beard. His eyes, looking at Illumi, showed deep interest. This ability to fly was too convenient for humans.
Whether on land or in the vast ocean, or fighting others, being able to fly was a huge advantage.
"It's necessary to make contact with King Bradley's team, preferably to cooperate. If we encounter a crisis, we can even have them take us away by air."
Cervantes came to Beyond's side and whispered.
"Don't worry, I'll make them our partners."
Beyond stroked his beard and grinned. With his face, he was a perfect replica of Netero.
Beyond had strong self-confidence. He believed that his abilities and charisma were no less than anyone else's. However, turning people from a neutral state into companions required more time to interact.
Moreover, he had never done anything to damage the other party's goodwill. Even if they couldn't become companions, they wouldn't become enemies.
Furthermore, the young man from that group who had the Conjuration Nen Beast that looked like an eagle—he knew his identity.
This trip to the Dark Continent would also require the concerted efforts of the two teams.
"Mr. Illumi, did you observe anything in the sky?"
Captain Orson stepped forward to inquire. He really wanted to know what Illumi had observed in the sky, at least, to gain some information.
"Just an island turtle."
Illumi replied casually, no longer explaining anything to them. He walked with King Bradley towards the cruise ship's cabin.
"You mean a turtle as big as an island."
Captain Orson looked at the giant turtle in the distance. The sight had given him a huge fright. If such a giant turtle attacked their ship, they would be completely doomed.
"Fortunately, we have a guide, otherwise we would have been buried at sea long ago."
Captain Orson wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, startled. He turned to the soldiers and ordered them to stand down.
The Gatekeeper then drifted on the sea with the cruise ship for about thirty minutes. The giant island turtle blocking their way gradually moved away, finally disappearing from sight.
Clatter, clatter...
But after the giant turtle left, the Gatekeeper again dived beneath the surface, leading the [Limit Breaker] towards the Dark Continent coastline.
Evening, 8:00 PM sharp.
Thump, thump, thump...
Illumi, who had just returned to his room after dining in the cafeteria, heard a knock on his door.
The moment Illumi's door was knocked, King Bradley, Pride, Greed, and Sloth in the three surrounding rooms immediately became alert, ready to take action at any moment.
Creak~
With a grating sound, Illumi pulled open the door. A rugged face immediately appeared outside the door.
"Yo, I have something to discuss with you. Mainly, I want to discuss the overall arrangements and planning for investigating the Dark Continent with you and your companions."
Beyond greeted him and explained his purpose. Illumi looked at the two men in black combat suits standing behind him. One of them was Cervantes.
"They are my companions, Cervantes and Sergio."
Beyond stepped aside, allowing Illumi to see them clearly, and introduced them to him.
Illumi scanned them from head to toe, slightly nodded his chin, and then looked at Beyond, introducing himself.
"Illumi Zoldyck."
The moment "Zoldyck" was uttered, except for Beyond, the two men behind him inevitably showed surprised expressions. They seemed to have not expected to encounter someone from the assassin family in such a place.
"The old man has already told me."
"And I've heard of you. I even had quite a few collaborations with your grandfather when he was young."
Beyond, however, grinned, patted Illumi's shoulder, acting like an elder. At the same time, he fumbled for something in the clothes in his embrace. His movements suddenly paused, as if he had found it.
"This is a photo of me and your grandfather when we were young."
To everyone's surprise, Beyond actually pulled out his phone, opened his photo album, and held the phone in front of Illumi, showing him a photo.
In the photo, at the mouth of an active volcano, a young Zeno and a young Beyond sat and stood respectively. Beyond stood grinning, his face beaming with a bold smile. Zeno, on the other hand, sat on the ground, his right hand propping up his chin, looking impatient.
The sky behind them was completely covered by thick volcanic ash clouds, obscuring the sun.
"It's indeed Grandpa."
Illumi was speechless. Although he hadn't seen photos of Zeno when he was young, the expression and face in the photo, besides Zeno, couldn't be anyone else.
The Zoldyck family and the Netero family were indeed very close. Illumi knew this.
"My companions have all gathered in the meeting room. We're just waiting for you."
Beyond put away his phone, his tone sincere.
Click...
As Beyond's words fell, the doors of the other four rooms simultaneously opened. King Bradley and Pride's four people stepped out of their rooms and glanced at Beyond and his two companions.
"Let's go."
Immediately after, Illumi's five people and Beyond's three people walked together to the end of the corridor, heading to the ship's meeting room.
July 3, 1986, Dark Sea Region.
It had been thirteen days since the [Limit Breaker] entered the Dark Sea region. During its voyage in the Dark Sea region, due to the increasingly frequent appearance of deep-sea monsters, the voyage was fraught with danger. The cruise ship had no choice but to continuously avoid crises and change its route under the guidance of the Gatekeeper.
Finally, they arrived at a bay beach on the southeast coast of the Dark Continent.
"Everyone, we have arrived at the Dark Continent. Please prepare to disembark."
In the [Limit Breaker]'s cockpit, Captain Orson instructed the soldiers and expert team standing on the deck.
"Everyone, you are the elites of the human world, pioneers who aspire to the future world. Today, we will go to the Dark Continent to explore this mysterious and unknown land."
"For humanity, for the world, for our descendants."
However, on the deck, besides a thousand soldiers listening attentively, regardless of whether it was the Hunter team or the expert team, none of them were paying attention. They were all listening with one ear and letting it out the other.
"So annoying, quickly put down the gangplank!"
Suddenly, a white-haired old man in the crowd raised his hat and waved it, shouting out the true thoughts in everyone's hearts.
Orson's words paused. Even the old man was annoyed. It seemed he was indeed a bit long-winded, so he announced.
"Disembark!"
As soon as Captain Orson's words fell, the crew in the cruise ship's cockpit operated the instruments to slowly lower the gangplank. When the gangplank reached the beach, Captain Orson also came from the cockpit to the deck.
"First, the Hunter experts."
Orson arranged for soldiers to guard both sides of the gangplank on the deck and looked at Illumi and Beyond's groups.
"This kind of thing, naturally, we should be the vanguard."
Beyond grinned, leading his team to be the first to step onto the land of the Dark Continent.
Thump... thump... thump...
After Beyond and his group landed on the beach, a series of heavy thuds echoed.
The crowd looked towards the source of the sound. Behind Illumi and King Bradley's five people, a group of fully armed Avenger soldiers were continuously landing on the beach with neat and fast steps.
Their burly figures, three-meter height, iron-like discipline, and the equipment they wore, as well as the pitch-black mechanical exoskeletons covering their entire bodies, all gave people a strong sense of oppression.
Not only that, but every Avenger soldier also carried a supply backpack resembling a large suitcase. Besides some necessary military compressed food and water, it mostly contained batteries.
In other words, they were super large power banks, used for long-term investigations on the Dark Continent. They also had solar charging capabilities.
Each backpack weighed over a hundred kilograms, like carrying a severely obese adult. But for these physically extremely strong Avenger soldiers, it was as light as a feather.
"How did King Bradley get such a professional private army?"
Captain Orson's lips twitched. Besides shock, his heart also held resentment and jealousy. Judging solely from their physique, appearance, demeanor, and discipline, this thirty-person team was simply the most imposing team on this cruise ship.
Remembering what King Bradley had told them, "These are just security personnel from the Umbrella Corporation," he chuckled wryly.
An average height of over three meters, burly figures like bears, strict discipline. What kind of company's security personnel are like this? Even their Kakin Empire's army of thousands could only be suppressed.
If their numbers were a bit larger, the Kakin side wouldn't even let them board the ship.
After Illumi's five people and the Avenger troops disembarked, came the Kakin Empire's army, and the expert team of fifty people, protected by the army, who had arrived at the beach.
Five minutes later, everyone was assembled, leaving only a small number of soldiers to guard the cruise ship, responsible for maintaining communication and the ship's safety.
"Depart!"
Captain Orson was also fully armed, personally leading the way.
But the first to step into the depths of the Dark Continent was the vanguard investigation team, composed of Illumi's team and Beyond's team.
Crack...
Illumi stepped on a dry branch, and it snapped.
Whoosh whoosh
Chirp chirp
In the vanguard investigation team, which consisted of fifty people, including Illumi, everyone was advancing while looking around. This forest was filled with the sounds of various insects and strange animals.
The Hunters were all on high alert, constantly paying attention to their surroundings, and immediately alerting if anything unusual happened.
Bang!
The Avenger soldiers' heavy footsteps pressed into the damp ground, leaving deep footprints. Compared to the Hunters, the Avenger soldiers did not appear as vigilant, but this did not mean they were relaxed.
The Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmets worn by the thirty Avenger soldiers, in addition to having a 270-degree wide field of view, also had a shared vision function.
In other words, even if the Avenger soldiers were always looking straight ahead, their field of view was comprehensive, with no blind spots.
At the same time, the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmets were continuously performing various functions, automatically searching for all abnormalities in the surroundings. Even if it was just an ant, the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmet could accurately capture it.
The screen of the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmet displayed the temperature, wind speed, air quality, oxygen levels, toxic gases, and more in this area. If there was any abnormality, the Avenger soldiers would notify Illumi and King Bradley's five people, who were the authorized personnel.
"So big, this place."
Among Beyond's Hunter team, a female virus Hunter named Sophia looked up at the forest above, exclaiming with emotion.
The other Hunters in the vanguard investigation team also nodded in agreement.
When they stepped onto this land, their first impression was: it's big.
Too big!
Whether it was trees or vegetation, even the snail-like creatures slowly crawling on the ground were as big as adults.
"Wait..."
Suddenly, a thin man with ears larger than normal in the team stopped walking. His neck slightly turned, his ear tilted to one side, and his eyes narrowed, as if he was listening to something.
The others saw this and also stopped, waiting for the big-eared man's result.
"Sammy, did you hear anything?"
A moment later, Beyond saw his expression subtly change and asked.
"There's water ahead. It should be a river."