Ronin did not need to build a ship at all.
He used the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly above the sea, casually pulled out a packed-up Fun Fun Cloth, and as it unfolded, more than a dozen ships dropped directly onto the surface of the water.
The unfolded Fun Fun Cloth fell downward as well. Ging's figure appeared over the sea, intercepting the bundled cloth before it could hit the water. As Ronin descended, Ging handed it back to him.
"Board the ship."
Ronin called out and leapt straight onto one of the vessels.
But just then, two large ships rounded the reefs in the distance. Several people stood at the bow of each ship.
"Stop your vessel!"
A warning voice came from the large ship. At the same time, the cannons on board turned and aimed directly at the ship Ronin and the others were on.
"So you finally couldn't sit still?" A cold smile appeared at the corner of Ronin's mouth.
The ship beneath his feet showed no intention of obeying the other side's order. Under Kurapika's control, it began sailing out toward the open sea.
Bang!
Seeing that their warning had no effect, the cannon on the distant ship immediately glowed blue, and a missile shot out.
However, the moment the missile approached their ship, its direction shifted. Then it was pulled by a powerful suction force into a strange vacuum cleaner.
It was Shizuku.
Blinky was already in her hands. The instant it sucked in the missile, the missile appeared again and flew back along its original path.
Ronin's gaze fell on the missile.
If it was remote-controlled, he would use Susanoo to block the blast the moment it exploded. If it could not be controlled, then the other side could enjoy the consequences of their own attack.
And the answer was: there was no remote control.
The missile rapidly closed in on the large ship. A person leapt from the bow, raising a blade in midair to slash the missile apart.
But before his raised sword could fall, his high-leaping figure froze in midair.
It was Amenotokotachi.
Ronin had fixed the space around the man's chest, causing him to hover briefly in the air.
The long sword could not come down, but the missile had no intention of waiting for him. The instant Amenotokotachi vanished, it slammed directly into the man's body.
Boom!
An explosion erupted in midair. The swordsman, burned black, fell toward the surface of the sea like a streaking meteor.
Seeing that missiles were useless against them, the large ship simply began accelerating.
Judging from its movement, it actually intended to crush their vessel with its superior tonnage. But Ronin felt the other side was thinking too optimistically.
The Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique began taking effect on their ship. Slowly, the new vessel started floating into the air.
By the time the large ship rammed toward them, Ronin and the others were already above it.
The expressions of the V5 members on the ship were spectacular.
No one had expected a vessel that should have been sailing on the sea to suddenly fly into the sky for no apparent reason.
Should they attack?
The people on the ship fell into chaos.
If they attacked, how were they supposed to attack? If they did not, were they just going to watch the other side fly away?
But they actually did not need to think that much, because as Ronin's ship flew away, a massive gorilla on the shore had already lifted a boulder and hurled it fiercely toward the large ship.
Boom!
The ship shook violently. Alarms rang one after another, accompanied by screams and panicked shouting.
"Turn around! Attack that damn gorilla!"
The captain leading the large ship looked at Ronin's vessel flying farther and farther away and finally made a decision.
What made him want to cough blood, however, was that after the gorilla launched its attack, it immediately turned and ran.
Damn it!
Ronin watched the situation below from the railing. Everything was more or less as he had expected.
Lance's body was too large. His ship was not enough to carry it, so leaving it on the imaginary continent was a good choice.
As for taking it away with Fun Fun Cloth, Ronin was not very interested.
The information Lance possessed had already been squeezed out almost completely. Its strength was only so-so in Ronin's eyes, and it had no particularly special ability, so leaving it behind was fine.
Odo and Veronica, however, Ronin had no intention of abandoning. He directly brought the two of them onto the ship.
The two of them really wanted to say, "We're not interested in the Dark Continent!"
But Ronin felt their abilities might still come in handy, so he simply brought them along.
As for whether the two of them were willing, that was not important.
From the moment they chose to track him down, both sides were already enemies. And kindness toward an enemy was cruelty toward oneself. Ronin understood that very well.
In addition, judging from the attitude of the interceptors, it was not hard to see that the other side did not truly have much resolve to stop Ronin's group.
Perhaps, just as Lance had said, the ability users stationed here really were the kind who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
After flying several kilometers away, Ronin canceled the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique, allowing the flying ship to descend back onto the sea.
From here, they were not far from the Dark Gate. According to Lance's explanation, a voyage of around three days would be enough.
Ronin could not help feeling anticipation rise in his heart.
From this point onward, strange fish began appearing in the sea.
But they were only strange. They often lingered near the ship, neither attacking nor making noise. They simply emitted a special light.
They glowed day and night, regardless of how the people aboard tried to drive them away or clear them out.
It was as if there were something special aboard the ship attracting them.
But Ronin and Ging had already installed the equipment they had used before onto the ship. Whether they turned it on or off, it had no effect on these glowing, barracuda-like strange fish.
Gradually, although everyone had all kinds of guesses in their hearts, they patiently waited.
They wanted to see what these strange fish, which were never mentioned in Lance's information and which even Odo and Veronica had never seen before, were trying to do.
The answer was revealed two days later.
Under the night sky, as the ship sailed smoothly forward, a chilling song suddenly reached their ears.
Looking in the direction the song came from, a battered ship slowly emerged within their line of sight. Many green lanterns hung from it, and the song was coming from that incredibly old and broken-looking vessel.
"Want to go take a look?" Ronin asked.
"Of course." Ging's eyes shone. "I've never seen a ghost ship before."
"It's those fish!" Neon shouted from the railing, passing the information to the two of them.
Ronin and Ging came to the railing and saw the same strange fish circling around the ghost ship as well. That only made them even more curious about what was aboard.
Also, they were already very close to the location marked on the map as the Gatekeeper's position.
Perhaps after a few more hours, once dawn arrived, the ship would reach its destination.
"Be careful," Kurapika could not help reminding them before they left.
"Don't worry."
As Ronin responded, he had already pushed off from the ship and leapt onto the deck of the ghost ship.
However, the moment he landed, he felt his footing vanish.
The wooden planks had collapsed under the weight of his landing.
~~~
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