Beyond was dead.
This event would undoubtedly affect Kakin's departure ceremony in a few days.
After all, one of the reasons Kakin had so strongly supported Beyond as the leader of the Dark Continent expedition team was to use the reputation of his father, the legendary Hunter Netero, to win public trust.
Now that Beyond was dead, all of Kakin's prior media hype and ambitious declarations would become an awkward and feeble joke.
Even if they could find another reputable successor within a few days, they would inevitably leave the outside world with the untrustworthy impression of being hastily thrown together and unprepared.
This was precisely why the V5 had instructed the Hunter Association to hunt down Beyond before the departure ceremony.
As a fellow superpower of considerable influence, the V5 would not easily provoke a direct war, but it could absolutely use such means to curb Kakin's crazed declaration of wanting to shatter the existing balance.
In any case, Beyond's death...
Was, in name, orchestrated solely by the Hunter Association.
To cement this fact, after dealing with the effects of the Post-Mortem Nen, Morrow didn't care in the slightest how the Zodiac Twelve would react and casually finished off the unconscious Nen space user.
The gain in experience, naturally, was close to zero.
Still, for a Nen user of this type to die just like that felt like a bit of a waste.
However, after dealing with Beyond, Morrow planned to continue his research into the possibility of combining Mystic Realm Space and Nen space.
If he could succeed, never mind a refrigerator-like Nen space ability; even Knov's Hide and Seek would be nothing special.
"Ging, contact me when you're done."
Morrow gave Ging a heads-up, then nodded to Kanzai and Gel before leaving directly.
He left so briskly and decisively that he gave the Zodiacs and Beans no room to ask him to stay.
Ging had come to attend the meeting this time in his capacity as a member of the Zodiac Twelve.
Although the problem of Beyond had been coincidentally resolved within the Hunter Association Headquarters, since he was already here, it wouldn't be right for him to leave before the meeting had even begun.
After Morrow left, the gazes of the Zodiac Twelve all fell upon Ging in unison.
Among the last wishes Netero had left behind was the task of bringing back a "hope" from the Dark Continent and concretely resolving one of the calamities.
Although the Kakin Kingdom had now lost Beyond as its leader, the momentum for exploring the Dark Continent had already been built up and caused a huge stir; they would certainly not give up halfway.
Therefore, with the V5's next move still unclear, the Hunter Association also had to prepare in advance to challenge the Dark Continent.
Since they had learned that Morrow had recently returned from there, everyone naturally hoped to secure his assistance, or even have him lead the expedition.
"Don't look at me. I can't make the call on this."
Meeting his colleagues' gazes, Ging, who knew exactly what they were thinking, simply threw up his hands.
"Besides, I already asked him about this before coming to the Association. Unfortunately, he refused without a second thought."
"Why?" Ginta asked subconsciously.
Ging glanced at him. Instead of spelling it out, he asked with a bit more tact, "If Morrow had invited you to go to the Dark Continent on his first trip, would you have agreed?"
Of course not.
The members of the Zodiac Twelve fell silent.
Cluck, the Chicken, in particular, had a slightly unnatural expression.
A few months ago, Morrow had indeed come to see her, only to be driven away before he could even finish speaking.
The other Zodiacs also understood the meaning behind Ging's words.
Morrow, having returned from the Dark Continent, clearly already had a mature team and had no need to cooperate with them anymore.
Moreover, according to the Chairman's last wish, the Association had to bring back a "hope" on this trip, which meant they couldn't persuade Morrow to join by offering to "forgo any gains."
Cheadle sighed inwardly and looked hesitantly toward Gel.
Sensing her gaze, Gel said with a calm expression, "The Dark Continent is more dangerous and trickier than you imagine. So my stance is the same: if you can't get Morrow, then I won't go to that place with you either."
Cheadle opened her mouth at these words, but then hesitated, saying nothing.
Hearing Gel's words, her colleagues around them all looked over.
Kanzai hesitated for a moment but ultimately said nothing.
Since Morrow had already clearly refused Ging, he couldn't use their friendship to put Morrow in a difficult position.
Gel didn't beat around the bush.
"In any case, I feel it's necessary to remind you that place is no different from hell," she said bluntly. "I don't think you can make it back alive. Sometimes, you have to give up when you have to. However..."
She changed the subject, casually pointing a finger in Ging's direction.
"If you can get this guy on board, you can ignore everything I just said."
Everyone's gazes shifted in unison from Gel to Ging.
Ging raised a hand to his chin. After a moment's thought, he made a clear decision.
"I have no personal objections to going to the Dark Continent."
He himself had planned to go to the Dark Continent in person, and he didn't necessarily have to follow in Morrow's footsteps.
If he wanted a novel experience, then traveling with the Zodiac Twelve might be more interesting and offer different challenges.
—--
"That's pretty much the situation."
In an inconspicuous little restaurant in Swardani City, Ging, having just finished the meeting, found Morrow and briefly explained his decision to prepare for the Dark Continent expedition with the Zodiac Twelve.
Morrow didn't say much after hearing this, only stating calmly:
"I'll take some time to thoroughly organize the intel from this trip to the Dark Continent. While it might not be decisive, it can at least help you avoid some potential dangers."
"Alright."
Ging set down his cup and nodded in agreement.
As a Pro Hunter, even if he inherently enjoyed the process of exploring the unknown, there was no reason to refuse any valuable intelligence support.
Therefore, whether it was the information recorded in Don Freecss's book or the information Morrow was providing for free, it was all of crucial importance.
Ging turned his head to look at Morrow and suddenly asked, "You won't seriously reconsider?"
"Do you think the problem of 'profit distribution' is that easy to solve?"
Morrow didn't answer directly, instead tossing a question back.
Ging gave a helpless smile and scratched his forehead.
That was precisely the problem.
Even if the Zodiacs now declared they sought no tangible gains, once they truly held a rare treasure like "hope" in their hands, who could guarantee that people's hearts wouldn't be swayed?
Human nature was also an invisible blade on the Dark Continent.
Morrow picked up the wine pot and refilled Ging's cup, his tone calm.
"You know, my current team is already great. Even for a second trip to the Dark Continent, we're confident enough to achieve our goal."
A large part of this confidence came from the Entropy Bird.
Ging nodded.
He had only been asking again as a formality and had no intention of demanding anything.
Bzz...
As Morrow set down the wine pot, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate.
He took out his phone and looked at it. It was a message from Eve.
That Queen of the Kukan'yu Kingdom had most likely accumulated a considerable amount of Post-Mortem Nen cost again.
(Translated by yourtl.app)