CHAPTER 205: DEPARTURE IN A WEEK!

A few days later, inside the Hunter Association Chairman’s office...

"This tea is quite good. Where did you get it from?"

"Among all the teas I’ve tasted, this definitely ranks in the top three."

"Even at my level of strength, I can feel some effects after drinking it."

Ging held a small teacup with uncharacteristic delicacy, sipping gently rather than his usual boisterous manner.

After taking a sip, a refreshing tea aroma instantly filled his mouth, immediately invigorating his entire being.

If carried around, this would be quite useful even in places like the Dark Continent.

But most importantly was the flavor - he’d tasted at least several dozen varieties of tea if not a hundred.

Yet he’d never encountered one so refreshing while still maintaining such rich character.

"Like it? I’ve got plenty more - help yourself."

"These things~ well, you could say they were gifts."

Akira sat across from Ging, casually placing a bag of tea leaves on the table - not just paying lip service.

Calling them gifts wasn’t entirely wrong either.

He’d obtained them from one of the V5 leader.

"Gifts? My dear Chairman Akira, you’re not accepting bribes now, are you?" Ging said with mock seriousness.

"You’ve only been chairman for a few days and already pulling these tricks? I might have to report you to the old man."

"One should remain honest - can’t abandon their principles for small favors." Ging declared righteously while simultaneously pocketing the bag of tea leaves on the table, making his words ring particularly hollow.

"You’re absolutely right - then return the tea." Akira didn’t even bother lifting his eyelids.

This guy was shameless and wouldn’t behave without some "discipline."

"Ahem, what tea?" Ging coughed dryly, spreading his empty hands in demonstration.

The moment he’d pocketed it, he’d immediately stored the tea in his small cloth Aura Tool pouch.

"Enough. Let’s get to the point - you didn’t come just for tea drinking and... taking, did you?" Akira emphasized the word "taking."

Hearing this, Ging slowly set down his cup, his expression shifting from fake solemnity to genuine seriousness.

"Pariston is part of your team, isn’t he?"

A flash of surprise crossed Akira’s eyes.

How did Ging know this now?

In the original timeline, Ging only approached Pariston after Beyond’s broadcast with the King of Kakin which is still months away.

Why was this happening earlier?

Akira realized this must be another ripple effect of his actions - though which particular event caused it...

"Impressive. He barely showed himself and you already noticed? Have you been keeping tabs on him?" After a moment, Akira didn’t deny it, instead questioning Ging.

If his reasoning was correct, Pariston’s hidden identity being discovered early was indeed related to him.

That time Beyond specifically gathered the team to introduce their new leader - himself.

It was during that meeting Pariston came to headquarters, which was likely how Ging caught wind of things.

Normally, Pariston going out wouldn’t be a big deal, but he just happened to run into the suspicious Ging, which exposed him.

"Exactly, I noticed something was off with him since the last election."

"Too quiet!"

Ging spoke word by word, his tone filled with confidence in his own deduction.

"What kind of person Pariston is, you know just as well."

"Especially when it comes to electing an association chairman—he would never pass up an opportunity to play games."

"Pariston is quite the oddball himself. Normal people like happy, pleasant things, but he actually enjoys being disliked."

"When others show him kindness, he doesn’t feel happy at all. Isn’t that strange?"

As Ging was ranting about Pariston, Akira calmly sipped his tea, giving him a peculiar look.

’You’re one to talk’

After a couple of jabs, Ging seemed to notice Akira’s gaze and stopped his "praise" of Pariston.

Calling it praise wasn’t entirely wrong—at least from Pariston’s perspective.

If Ging had said this to Pariston’s face, Pariston might have laughed even more delightedly.

"At first, I thought Pariston wasn’t stirring up trouble because you were most likely to become chairman this time, and he was intimidated into behaving a little."

"But then I realized I was wrong."

"Because for that guy, there’s only one driving force or goal to keep living!"

"A goal that all Hunters share."

"Some Hunters aim to discover new magical beasts, some want to earn more money, and others seek to see more unknown sights."

"But Pariston’s goal is to have fun!"

"To him, everything has only two evaluations: either it’s valuable for amusement, or it’s worthless."

"You might know some inside information—Pariston was deliberately placed in this position by the old man, just to provide him with some entertainment."

"The two of them are quite ’birds of a feather,’ always making their work more challenging for themselves, constantly trying to outmaneuver each other."

"So here’s the question: do you think Pariston values the old man or the Hunter Association more?"

Ging countered.

Akira pondered slightly, already having a rough idea of what Ging was getting at.

"Naturally, the old man."

"Exactly. There might be other reasons Pariston is willing to stay here, but this is definitely the most important one."

"Then what about a Hunter Association without the old man?"

"On top of that, there’s a new chairman with overwhelming power who might just dispose of him if he misspeaks slightly."

Ging imitated Akira, emphasizing the words "new chairman."

Both of them knew exactly who this powerful new chairman was—the one who couldn’t stand Pariston’s usual way of speaking.

Naturally, it was Akira.

"His source of joy is gone, and in its place is a mountain pressing down on him. He’s bound to think about leaving."

"So I was curious about when he’d go and where he’d head to, which is why I paid extra attention to his movements."

"I did find out where he went, but I didn’t expect his destination to be you—the very mountain pressing down on him."

"That part I didn’t see coming."

Ging gave Akira a meaningful glance before pouring himself another cup of tea.

This tea is really good.

"It’s a long story. I wasn’t originally the team leader, but by chance, I ended up becoming the one in charge."

Akira now fully understood why Ging had noticed him earlier.

It was indeed the butterfly effect caused by him.

"So, this team of yours that gathers all kinds of capable people—it’s probably not just playing some childish game, is it?"

"I want to join." After taking a sip of tea, Ging casually uttered those words.

"Aren’t you going to ask what this team does? You’re deciding to join just like that, without any thought?"

"Back during our first phone call, you mentioned you planned to go to the Dark Continent in the future."

"With Beyond, who has been to the Dark Continent before, along with the ’Stone Wall’ mercenary unit and experts from various fields..."

"Considering all these factors combined, I can only think of one possible goal."

Ging stared straight at Akira, his gaze unusually firm, brimming with absolute confidence in his deduction.

"The Dark Continent!"

Seeing that Ging had already voiced the conclusion, Akira didn’t beat around the bush and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Correct. Our team was assembled specifically for the journey to the Dark Continent and now you’ll be joining us as well."

He had officially accepted Ging into the team.

Ging let out a slight sigh of relief, the intensity in his eyes gradually fading as he stretched and leaned back into the sofa.

"As I thought... the Dark Continent, huh..."

Half-reclined on the couch, Ging stared blankly at the pristine ceiling, his eyes filled with unmistakable anticipation.

"So when do we set off? The team seems nearly ready, and any more members would just make it unwieldy."

"I can’t wait to get started." Ging wished he could teleport to that mysterious continent right this second.

The Dark Continent he’d spent so many years striving to reach.

"Soon. In about a week" Akira said casually, as if discussing dinner plans.

???

Ging sprang up from his reclined position like a carp leaping out of water, now standing in front of the sofa, staring at Akira in disbelief.

"Did you just say... we’re leaving in a week?!"

"Tell me I heard wrong."

Observing Ging’s tense expression, Akira spoke calmly.

"Sit back down. No need for such dramatics. It’s just a week until we depart for the Dark Continent."

Hearing this, Ging sat down again, muttering under his breath.

"One week... just one week..."

Mid-sentence, he paused and looked at Akira again, his eyes reflecting complex emotions.

After all these years of effort, he hadn’t even cleared the first hurdle, let alone reached the Dark Continent.

How had Akira managed it?

By his estimation, Akira should be under special surveillance by the V5—they wouldn’t let him go to the Dark Continent so easily.

’Did he threaten the V5 with force?’

Ging’s imagination ran wild for a moment before he dismissed the thought.

Surely not?

What Ging didn’t know was that his guess wasn’t far from the truth.

Only the "details" were slightly off.

No matter how hard Ging racked his brain, he’d never guess that Akira had infiltrated the Bureau and used Nihilego to control all V5 leaders.

That was far more extreme than mere "forceful threats."

This was also why Akira said they’d depart in a week.

In the original timeline, "X-Day"—when Beyond and the King of Kakin publicly announced the Dark Continent to the world—was scheduled for January 27th of next year.

As for the official departure, that wasn’t until August of next year.

Forget August—even waiting until January felt too long for Akira.

Now that he had control over the V5’s five most powerful leaders, smuggling his team across would be child’s play.

If they could leave early, why wait?

The only thing requiring time was final preparations—tying up loose ends before setting sail.

Hence the one-week gap.

At the same time, he could use this opportunity to deal with some lingering "matters."

He had been far too lenient in letting the remaining three members of the Seven Deadly Sins live until now.

It was about time to send them to join Wrath and the others.

Originally, before the New Five Strongest meeting, Worm had sent him a message saying that Pride had already gathered forces to seek revenge.

But after that, there was complete silence.

Most likely, they had been frightened by his performance at the meeting and retreated into their shells again.

Even though he hadn’t been present in person, the fact that the top five Nen Users had openly admitted they were no match for him was enough to terrify Pride into abandoning any thoughts of revenge.

And that was before everything that followed—him fighting Jed, then the Ant King.

Pride wouldn’t dare seek revenge now.

At first, Pride had been furious that his members had been defeated by some "brat."

But now, he could even take pride in the fact that his members had been killed by Akira.

After all, Akira’s current status was incomparable to what it had been back in the Moros Ruins.

Back then, he was just an unknown young man.

Losing two members to him had naturally tarnished Pride’s reputation.

But now, Akira’s fame had reached its peak—he was the undisputed top celebrity across the six continents.

To the point where "there’s no one in the world who doesn’t know him."

Just his titles alone could fill a long list and each one was world-class.

For example: [The World’s Strongest], [The World’s Strongest Nen Exorcist]...

As Akira’s reputation soared, so too did Pride’s prestige by association.

He could even boast about how ’his members had the honor of being defeated by Akira’.

But only the few remaining members knew the truth—they lived in fear every day.

Afraid that one day, they might close their eyes and never open them again.

Now, they wouldn’t have to live in constant terror anymore, because Akira would help them "escape their suffering."

"By the way, if you’re going to the Dark Continent, what about your position as Chairman?" Ging suddenly thought of this and asked.

"That’s easy. There’s still Beans and after Pariston leaves, it’s likely Cheadle or someone else will take over as Vice-Chairman."

"With them handling things, it doesn’t make much difference whether I’m there or not. And if there’s an emergency, I can return in a short time."

Akira waved his hand dismissively—this was no issue for him.

"True. Even when the old man was in charge, he barely did anything. He just left everything to Beans and Pariston."

"And you were elected Chairman unanimously. By every measure, you’re the best candidate."

"You have no idea how absurd the voting results were back then."

"Out of over 600 Hunter Association members, nearly 500 voted for you."

Ging clicked his tongue repeatedly.

Even now, recalling it still amazed him.

It also showed just how much support Akira had—his rise to Chairman was the outcome everyone wanted.

At the same time, Ging noticed something noteworthy in Akira’s words.

’Even if he goes to the Dark Continent, he can still return to the six continents in a short time?’

That was what truly surprised Ging.

If it were just about moving freely within the six continents using the digital world, that would be one thing.

But being able to traverse such a vast distance back from the Dark Continent in such a short time—the implications of these two scenarios are entirely different.

The latter completely eclipses the former!

Such a terrifying ability—truly befitting of Akira.

"You don’t have to resign as chairman, but I do need to step down from The Twelve Zodiac."

"I’ve had enough of this position anyway. Constantly attending this meeting and that—it’s quite a hassle."

"With the upcoming expedition to the Dark Continent, there’s no need for me to remain as the Boar anymore."

Ging let out a soft sigh, his heart filled only with anticipation for the future.

"Though there are many meetings, you hardly attended any, didn’t you?"

"And while you criticize Pariston, the truth is..."

"You and him are cut from the same cloth."

"Without the old man in the Association, you don’t see much point in staying either, do you?"

Ging’s breath hitched slightly as he met Akira’s gaze—those eyes saw right through him.

"Ha." Ging chuckled wryly, sounding somewhat resigned.

"Can’t hide anything from you. I knew you were extraordinary from our first conversation."

"You’re right. With the old man gone and the Dark Continent ahead, I might as well resign from this useless ’Boar’ position."

"Pariston is giving up even more—not just the ’Rat’ title but his vice-chairman role too."

"So why would I hesitate?"

"My goal has always been one and the same~"

"Exploration!"

"To witness the unknown, even..."

"The dangerous!"

"That’s my purpose as a hunter!"

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