If problems could be solved by more moderate means, then no one would be willing to choose war.
This was especially true for conflicts between superpowers.
Even a military standoff intended as a mere bluff was enough to trigger international turmoil that would be difficult to quell.
However, Kakin's autocratic actions were tantamount to pushing the circumstances and futures of other nations onto the gambling table known as the Dark Continent. This was something the V5 could never tolerate.
As the supreme ruler of the Kukan'yu Kingdom, Eve, despite her often unconventional and even crazy thoughts and actions, had always lived up to her status as a ruler when it came to major issues concerning the nation's survival and security, always making the most correct decisions.
But this time, the problem before her was indeed one she found deeply troublesome.
She did not want to see the V5 and Kakin go to war, but it seemed there was no other choice.
The potential consequences of war were still preferable to allowing Kakin's wanton recklessness to threaten the situations and futures of all nations.
Eve lowered her head, flipping through the meeting minutes her handmaidens had delivered one after another. She raised a slender index finger and gently rubbed her furrowed brow.
Morrow quietly watched her reaction from the side.
Although he wasn't involved, his knowledge of the original story's situation allowed him to roughly guess the predicament the V5 was currently facing.
In his view, since Beyond was dead, the threat from the Dark Continent that the V5 was worried about no longer existed. This was because Kakin had never intended to truly venture into the Dark Continent from the very beginning.
That Kakin King, with his fat face but grand ambitions, merely wanted to be recorded in the annals of history under the title of an explorer, and to use this as a stage to create the perfect venue for the Succession Contest, which required a large number of sacrifices.
If only the V5 could see through this, resolving this potential crisis wouldn't require such drastic measures at all.
They could even go with the flow and gain some positive prestige from the gold rush stirred up by Hui Guo Rou.
But the problem was, the V5 had not yet realized this.
So, from the V5's standpoint, their final choice to respond with military action indeed carried a sense of helplessness.
In the end, it was nothing more than a trade-off.
Should they firmly grasp the initiative and use military force to suppress the variables?
Or should they entrust the risk of humanity's survival to Kakin's voyage, which might not necessarily fail?
Morrow thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "It seems the situation between the V5 and Kakin is already quite grim?"
Hearing Morrow take the initiative to ask, Eve looked up in some surprise, her long, snow-white hair slipping from her shoulders like satin.
She didn't think Morrow's sudden initiative was out of concern for her current mood.
Having known him for so many years, she could see certain fundamental aspects of his nature.
The reason he was asking now was surely because he intended to intervene.
Otherwise, he would just watch coldly from the sidelines without saying a word.
"Morrow."
Eve didn't answer, but instead asked him directly, "What are you planning to do?"
This time, it was Morrow's turn to look at Eve with a hint of surprise.
Noticing her sharp gaze, he immediately realized that the woman before him was no longer the almost-crazed Nen user obsessed with the Nen System, but a true supreme ruler of a nation.
Morrow immediately adjusted his attitude, carefully considering whether to reveal his upcoming plan concerning Kakin's regalia.
He remained silent for a moment.
Eve's gaze was locked tightly on him.
The bedchamber instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the faint sound of a handmaiden's footsteps receding outside.
After a brief silence, Morrow finally spoke calmly, "From the very beginning, Kakin never intended to truly set foot on the Dark Continent. So that ship will never reach its destination. Even if it luckily crosses the dangerous Dark Waters, it will be absolutely impossible for it to return."
"What makes you so certain?"
Eve's expression didn't change, and her tone betrayed no hint of emotion.
Morrow, however, like she had done earlier, didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Do you know about Kakin's succession tradition and its sacred treasure?"
"I know a little."
Eve's eyes flickered slightly.
She did indeed know something about Kakin's succession tradition.
It was an extremely cruel selection process where only one winner would survive, and it was highly likely that Nen was involved behind the scenes.
And wasn't her own situation the same?
Before ascending to the throne, she too had constantly faced overt and covert attacks from the other princes, and had even come close to dying at the hands of Nen.
But she had also used Nen to turn the tables.
As fellow monarchies, she was well aware that Kakin was quite similar to the Kukan'yu Kingdom in many respects.
She just didn't understand why Morrow would suddenly bring up the Succession Contest and the sacred treasure.
Morrow watched Eve's reaction and said frankly, "You just asked me what I plan to do. I can answer you now. My target is Kakin's sacred treasure, and what I'm going to do next is take the regalia during the Black Whale's voyage."
Eve's face flashed with surprise upon hearing this.
Putting aside how one would even board the heavily guarded ship of the century during its voyage, the mere act of stealing a superpower's crucial sacred treasure from right under the noses of its top forces...
It sounded utterly preposterous.
But perhaps due to a certain trust in Morrow's abilities, Eve didn't question his seemingly fantastical idea.
She quickly calmed down and asked the most crucial question, "By stealing the sacred treasure, can you stop the Black Whale from reaching the Dark Continent? What is the connection between the two?"
"Because of the Succession Contest."
Morrow gave his answer, then laid out King Nasubi Hui Guo Rou's entire plan to hold the Succession Contest on the Black Whale, using the two hundred thousand passengers as sacrifices.
However, he did not mention that he had already dealt with the Sword of Good Omens from the sacred treasure in order to enhance his persuasiveness.
As for whether the Hunter Association could help him keep this information under wraps...
Morrow wasn't entirely sure himself.
After learning Hui Guo Rou's true intentions from Morrow, Eve finally understood why he was so certain the Black Whale could not reach the Dark Continent.
If this intelligence was true, the V5 would no longer need to worry that Kakin's so-called Dark Continent expedition would worsen the current situation.
But should she make a decision at such a critical moment based solely on Morrow's word?
Eve didn't hesitate for long.
She summoned a handmaiden and ordered her to relay a message to the officials currently attending a high-level meeting.
"Morrow, do you know what decision I just made?"
After waving the handmaiden away, Eve's gaze shifted to Morrow's face.
Morrow looked at her quietly.
Eve said calmly, "I believe the intelligence you provided, and I believe you can do what you say you will. Therefore, in the vote on whether to take military action against Kakin, I voted no. And as long as a consensus cannot be reached, the military action cannot be carried out."
"Is that so..."
Morrow slowly rose from the luxurious sofa, looked at the clear sky outside the window, and said pointedly, "Instead of making a big show of moving against Kakin, it would be better to focus on dealing with the 'calamities.' Your 'no' vote might become a very crucial factor."
"Let's hope so."
When the calamities were mentioned, a trace of gravity crossed Eve's usually calm face.
Just then, she noticed Morrow suddenly turn and walk towards the bedchamber's main door.
"You're leaving now?"
Eve looked at Morrow's back.
She never asked what Morrow's specific plan was, nor did she worry in the slightest that he would fail.
This trust was less in Morrow as an individual and more a firm belief in Nen itself.
For an ordinary human, some things were absolutely impossible to accomplish.
But with the power of Nen, anything was possible.
"The sooner this is resolved, the better."
Morrow left this sentence behind and walked out of the bedchamber.
Four calamities had suddenly appeared on the six continents. How to control and respond to them was, in his opinion, the most urgent matter at present.
But he had no intention of getting involved in how to solve the calamity problem.
If the sky were to fall, there were tall people like the V5 and the International Permit Agencies to hold it up.
However, the reason he was departing immediately was indeed because he hoped to see the V5 quickly shift its focus to the current calamities.
As for the threat from the Eye of Truth that Eve constantly faced, there was no need to worry too much in the short term.
After all, he had just helped Eve remove the carbonization from her body. Even if she were attacked again, she could continue to use the Sonata of Darkness's effect to be immune to death.
After leaving the Kukan'yu palace, Morrow set off for Chimera's location.
The original plan was to rendezvous with Chimera first, then go to the Unexplored Land to ask Kalluto to make him a living paper doll that could locate any passenger on the Black Whale, thereby tracking the ship's movements.
However, the compass he had found in the royal tomb could also point him in the right direction.
He just needed to infuse the compass with Tree Rings energy, and its needle would point to the target he was currently thinking of.
With this compass, Morrow naturally had no need to make a special trip to find Kalluto.
Besides the compass and the sword hilt, the water skin and armor he had also brought out each had their own wonderful uses.
The armor was woven from tortoise shells, and infusing it with aura would form a powerful protective shield.
It was worth noting that currently, only the Post-Mortem Nen of Tree Rings could activate it.
This meant that if Morrow used Tree Rings energy to power the armor, it would be like adding another layer of protection on top of his own aura output.
As a piece of defensive equipment, the armor's function was quite good.
But compared to the water skin, the armor was slightly inferior.
This water skin was a Nen tool with a storage space effect, its function very similar to the Shadow Beast Owl's Fun Fun Cloth.
Of course, the two were not entirely identical.
In the Hunter Association, there was also a female Nen user who could conjure a lucky bag that served as a storage space.
In the original story, when the Zodiac Twelve were preparing for the Dark Continent expedition, they had seriously invited Knov to assist, considering the need for transporting and preserving supplies. However, Knov refused, and they had to settle for the next best thing, inviting the female Nen user with the lucky bag ability.
The water skin in Morrow's hands was a similar storage Nen tool, with an internal space that could hold about two ordinary cars, making it exceptionally practical.
It was just that this four-piece set of Nen tools...
It gave him the feeling of a long-journey set.
Perhaps in the distant past, a team of Nen users had carried them over mountains, trekked long roads, and walked a seemingly endless journey.
Of course, this was just Morrow's speculation.
Perhaps if he absorbed these four Nen tools into Tree Rings, he could read the memory fragments or information sealed within.
But now that Tree Rings energy was abundant, it was impossible for him to do so.
Besides, each Nen tool was quite practical. Just obtaining them had made this trip worthwhile.
To return to Chimera's side as quickly as possible, Morrow found a remote spot and stepped on Shooting Star, speeding towards Chimera's location at an extremely fast pace.
—--
That evening.
Under the watchful eyes of the public, the Black Whale finally sailed slowly out of the harbor.
Countless gazes were fixed on this ship of the century.
People looked on with anticipation, hoping it would lead humanity to a whole new world.
By then, the dilemmas of population and resources would be solved.
And at the last moment before departure, the negotiation team sent by the V5, along with a small armed squad, were finally granted permission to board the Black Whale.
As for why King Nasubi Hui Guo Rou agreed to contact the V5 at the last minute, it might have been related to the key information Morrow had provided.
People all over the world were watching the Black Whale's departure, including Morena, who was from Kakin.
If it were the old her, she would have definitely tried every means to secure a place on this great ship.
She knew all too well the bottomless darkness of the Kakin royal family.
And an inescapable, sealed space, filled with two hundred thousand passengers, was practically a tailor-made breeding ground for Etude of Love.
What's more, with her ability enhanced by her Chimera Ant body, the infection efficiency and coverage had increased by dozens of times.
If she could get on that ship, she was confident she could tear open a rift symbolizing the end of the world in a short time.
But the Morena of today had already found a more efficient path called "calamity."
So, she naturally looked down on this sacrificial ship that Hui Guo Rou had painstakingly built.
After confirming the movements and intelligence of the four calamities currently invading the six continents with the Death God, Morena came to Meteor City.
This land, tacitly acknowledged by the world's nations as a global garbage dump, had now quietly transformed into a massive den of poison under Gyro's rule.
Moreover, Meteor City had a population of nearly ten million. With the help of Zarzan's modification ability, supplemented by the upgraded effects of Etude of Love, they could continuously create an army of modified human Nen users.
As long as all this could proceed in secret, Gyro and Morena would sooner or later be able to completely destroy this cesspool of a world.
But right now, Gyro was still facing a problem.
When he had taken control of Meteor City, he had promised the council of elders that he would get revenge on Morrow.
But this was obviously not something that could be easily accomplished.
When Morena was about to inform Gyro of the potential help the "calamities" could bring, she happened to hear him mention the name that had once concerned her greatly.
But compared to the lofty ideal of destroying the world, this revenge drama was utterly boring in her eyes.
"Choose between getting revenge on Morrow and our ideal, Gyro."
After calmly stating the potential help the calamities could bring, Morena suddenly posed this question to Gyro in a completely flat tone.
Gyro, however, answered without hesitation, "I will fulfill my promise, until I die."
Why were the people of the NGL Autonomous Region so loyal to him?
It was precisely because of this almost paranoid sense of honor.
"Is that so..."
Morena sighed softly with regret.
"Then you can go die."
Before her voice had even faded, with no discernible physical movement, Gyro's pupils suddenly dilated.
He keenly sensed his heart had stopped beating, and his brain froze along with it.
"You..."
Before he could finish his sentence, his face stiffened and he fell to the ground, dead without knowing why.
"Tsk..."
The Death God materialized from Morena's side, letting out a strange, inscrutable laugh.
"What a pity."
He lamented in a low voice.
(Translated by yourtl.app)