Kurapika hung his head low, his shoulders trembling involuntarily, his Scarlet Eyes shining brilliantly.
This also signified the intense emotional turmoil he was experiencing.
In other words, he was deeply moved.
Ever since his clan was annihilated, he had felt utterly alone in this world.
It was only later, after meeting friends like Gon and Killua, that this loneliness eased somewhat.
Yet, none of that changed the fact that he was homeless.
Not until today did he finally have a home of his own again—no longer adrift across the six continents alone.
Enke and the others gathered around him, their eyes filled with sympathy and sincerity, welcoming Kurapika wholeheartedly.
After a long while, Kurapika finally regained control of his emotions and whispered.
"Thank you, everyone."
"And..."
He turned to Akira beside him, speaking with heartfelt sincerity, "Thank you, Akira."
Seeing the Elder and the others' confusion, Kurapika took the initiative to explain the help Akira had provided.
From aiding in the extermination of his enemies, the Phantom Troupe, to later helping recover the lost eyes of his clansmen...
Akira had offered immense assistance in every matter, making him the person Kurapika owed the most gratitude to in this world.
The Elder turned and led the others in expressing their thanks to Akira.
There was no reason for Kurapika to lie—meaning Akira was Kurapika's greatest benefactor.
And thus, the benefactor of their entire clan!
After some casual conversation, Kurapika, at the Elder's enthusiastic invitation, decided to stay here for a while.
Akira naturally received an invitation as well.
The vanguard team could manage affairs perfectly well without Kurapika, relying on the others to handle matters big and small.
...
The next day,
Under the Elder's direction, the entire clan gathered in one place, waiting for the Elder to make an announcement.
This was not an uncommon occurrence—whenever something significant happened, the Elder would address the clan publicly.
This time, Kurapika, the central figure, stood alongside the Elder, facing countless unfamiliar faces.
"Today, I've gathered everyone here to announce something."
"Our clan has gained a new member—his name is Kurapika."
With Kurapika and Akira's arrival, the Elder and the other elders had deliberated and reached a decision.
They would reveal the history they had previously kept hidden.
They would tell everyone about how the clan had split into two groups in ancient times, as well as the matter of the island in the lake.
As the Elder spoke one sentence after another, murmurs of astonishment rose from the crowd.
They had never imagined such a place existed in the world.
If what was said was true, it sounded like a wonderful place—safe and peaceful, ideal for a tranquil life.
But when they heard about the massacre of the Kurta Clan, the crowd was stunned, followed by a surge of fury.
They never thought such a tragedy could happen even in a place like that.
Even less did they expect so many of their clansmen to meet such a cruel fate.
Thus, Akira witnessed a truly spectacular sight.
Across the entire grassland, hundreds of pairs of Scarlet Eyes gleamed, their crimson glow radiating intense emotional turmoil.Not to mention their overall strength was quite high, averaging between B to A-rank.
Many had even reached A+ or even S-rank levels.
If this force were placed across the Six Continents, they could rival the entire landmass—assuming technological power wasn't factored in.
If the Phantom Troupe were resurrected and appeared here, they'd likely be torn to shreds in an instant.
Ding!
Pokémon incubation complete!
Amidst this atmosphere, a progress bar in his mind finally reached its end.
Clearly, this wasn't the incubation bar that had appeared after entering the Secret Realm—it was one that had started much earlier.
Focusing his mind inward, the new Pokémon was revealed before Akira's eyes.
However, this Pokémon's appearance was extremely peculiar, completely unlike any normal Pokémon.
It was nearly two-dimensional, its entire body existing as if on a single plane.
Its color scheme was black and white, with a black, rod-like pillar protruding upward, connected below to a circular eye.
The eye was outlined in black, with white sclera and a half-lidded black pupil at its center.
Undoubtedly, this was another Unown.
Unlike the previous O-shaped Unown, this time, an exclamation mark-shaped Unown had been incubated.
'As expected, it's an Unown.'
Akira wasn't particularly surprised.
Given his prior experience, he had already guessed it would be an Unown.
If anything, he hadn't expected it to be the exclamation mark variant.
Unown could be considered a highly unique type of Pokémon.
Their bodies resembled ancient script, with 28 different forms corresponding to the 26 Latin letters, as well as an exclamation mark and a question mark.
They often appeared in ruins, seemingly the key to deciphering ancient texts.
In comparison, the exclamation mark and question mark variants were more unusual, standing apart from the other Unown.
Back then, he had been puzzled as to why it was an O-shaped Unown.
Now, he was still uncertain—just as he didn't understand why an exclamation mark Unown would appear among the Kurta Clan.
At present, randomness seemed the most likely explanation.
He also wondered what this Unown's emergence might bring him.
Based on the previous Unown, he should be able to effortlessly master the Kurta Clan's language, culture, and so on.
The question was whether there was anything beyond that—such as Illusion?
Unown's power manifested collectively.
A single Unown was weak, but when multiple Unown combined, they could generate immense power.
This was glimpsed in the anime.
Just five Unown could plunge an entire city into darkness.
Thus, Unown's special ability was [Materialization of the Mind]—manifesting thoughts into reality.
One Unown might not achieve much, but two could be significantly stronger?
Like the previous one, this Unown also couldn't use Restriction and Vow.
Name: Unown (Exclamation Mark)
Ability: Levitate
Type: Psychic
Strength: Undefined
Moves: Hidden Power
[Unown's Power]: Can materialize thoughts into reality. The more Unown present, the greater the power that can be unleashed.
An Unown incubated in a certain location allows its Trainer to intuitively grasp the local culture, language, and script.
When all forms of Unown are gathered, the God who created all things shall descend.
Current count: 2
...
Good news—the surprise after collecting all Unown has been revealed.
Bad news—the exclamation mark Unown isn't particularly special, and there are still a full twenty-six Unown left to collect.
Akira skimmed through the information and found little difference from the previous Unown.
The biggest difference was that the so-called "surprise" had been fully unveiled.
The surprise referred to the descent of the God who created all things.
Below it, there was also a progress bar resembling a gestation meter, clearly divided into twenty-eight small segments.
The first two segments had already been lit.
The God who created all things—this was unmistakably clear. At least, Akira could only think of one being.
The Creator God—Arceus.
Due to its appearance, it was also referred to by people as "the llama."
As the being that created all things, Arceus's status was undeniably supreme.
It was an absolute deity.
With such an existence, the Dark Continent would naturally be no challenge—even rewriting the laws of the world would be possible.
Akira had no doubts about this.
What truly troubled him was the condition.
There were twenty-eight types of Unown, and so far, he had only collected two.
He had no idea how many years it would take to gather them all.
By Akira's estimate, even with decent luck, it would take at least three to five years.
If luck wasn't on his side, who knew when he'd finally complete the collection?
Fortunately, with so many life-extending fragments of Hope, Akira had all the time in the world to spare.
And compared to the rewards, this effort was nothing.
Gathering his thoughts, Akira noticed that The Elder had just finished announcing something and was now walking toward him.
The Elder led him back to his home, intending to discuss another important matter.
"Akira, there's something I'm quite curious about. How exactly did you bring Kurapika here?"
The Elder sat in his chair, his expression filled with curiosity.
Truthfully, he had been surprised and intrigued by this since yesterday, but the timing hadn't been right to ask.
Glancing at Kurapika beside him, Akira slowly replied.
"Actually, I possess the ability to traverse space. I can travel between the Six Continents and the Dark Continent in a relatively short time."
"Provided I've been to the corresponding location before."
Pausing, Akira added, "And I can bring others along."
He could roughly guess what The Elder was about to say next—and it would be to his benefit as well.
The Elder was visibly startled, his previously drooping eyelids snapping wide open.
To think such a thing was possible?
He had never heard of anything like this—at most, he had only fantasized about it in dreams.
Never had he imagined that Akira before him could truly accomplish such a feat.
After a moment of contemplation, The Elder recalled Akira's earlier words and asked again:
"You just said… provided you've been to the location before?"
"So you mean… you ventured deep into this continent step by step on your own, all the way here?"
Akira gave The Elder a meaningful look and nodded slightly.
"Tsk—"
The Elder couldn't help but tug a little harder at his beard, pulling out a few gray strands.
His aged eyes were filled with astonishment.
He hadn't expected Akira to be capable of such a feat—to have penetrated this far into the region.
Such strength was truly astonishing.
Even the strongest within the clan couldn't confidently claim to achieve this.
After all, the Dark Continent was teeming with bizarre and unpredictable [disasters], and no one could guarantee absolute safety.
Beside him, Kurapika recalled yesterday's doubts and seized the opportunity to ask Akira:
"Akira, was that vast area destroyed by the aftermath your doing?"
He still felt this incident was connected to Akira.
Akira pondered for a moment before slowly nodding in admission.
The Elder's jaw dropped in shock, his wrinkles bunching together in disbelief.
That day, he had also gone out to witness the earth-shattering battle, but after just one glance, he had turned and fled back.
The sheer pressure radiating from the fight had been unbearable for him.
Even from such a distance, he couldn't even spectate properly.
Yet now, he was being told that one side of that terrifying battle was the young man standing before him?
It was truly unimaginable.
Akira spoke up, "It's not entirely accurate to say it was all my doing. The other side also caused significant destruction."
"That giant Snake was an entity from the depths of Dark Continent 2.8. What descended a few days ago was merely a fragment of its true form."
"In the end, I destroyed the fragment, but the main body must have suffered considerable damage as well."
By his estimation, the Snake Lord's Rule Ability shouldn't have recovered yet.
The effects would likely persist for at least several months.
"So that massive emerald-green pillar of light... that was your doing?"
The Elder was dumbfounded, his eyes glazed over in bewilderment. As an old man, he found this hard to accept.
It sounded too much like a fantasy.
Since explaining Aura Beasts would be too complicated for the Elder, Akira simply put it this way—it was simpler.
What Zygarde did, he did.
The Elder fell silent, staring at Akira with a faint red glimmer in his aged eyes.
This meant his emotions were far from calm as he struggled to process this revelation.
He never would have imagined that one of the forbidden beings responsible for such chaos—forcing everyone to hide in the Secret Realm—was none other than Akira himself.
This truly broadened his horizons.
Beside them, Kurapika felt a deep sense of relief upon hearing Akira's admission.
As expected, his intuition hadn't been wrong.
Such large-scale destruction fit Akira all too well.
Kurapika suspected that even if Gon and the others had been present, they would have immediately assumed it was Akira's doing.
After witnessing one unforgettable event after another, their impression of Akira had long been set in stone.
Hmm...
The Invincible Destroyer.
Both unbeatable and prone to causing destruction.
---------
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